i'm scott mcfarland. back to you. >>> a home ransacked, first at 4:00, what the suspected crook said to the people inside that led them to believe nothing was wrong. >>> only been open for a few months, but the smithsonian museum mingak zero really can be a hero.ds) get zero down, zero deposit, zero due at signing, and zero first month's payment on select volkswagen models. right now at the volkswagen sign then drive event. >>> in prince georges county, we're learning details about a frightening home invasion. several people posing as police officers, made their way inside a home on franklin avenue. once they were inside, police say they ransacked the place. >> bureau chief, tracee wilkins report, still searching for the suspect. >> reporter: they are looking for several suspects, five to six, at least two of them armed after a home invasion happened. this happened, just before 1:00 a.m., and the 9400 block of franklin street. according to principe georges county, they

take you to twitter where news 4's adam tuss and scott mcfarland first shared the insigss. scott finding the ntsb cha slated to discuss ongoing concerns about metro oversight and that gm paul wiedefeld is called a cooperative partner. adam posting that wiedefeld's 13 pages of remarks will also include more than 150,000 grace period credit announcements of that. news 4 learned that wiedefeld announced that safetrack is under budget and is following federal guidelines. live from capitol hill, justin >>> good morning. i'm landon dowdy at cnbc headquarters. watch shares of starbucks that fell about 4% last night after founder howard schultz announced he's stepping down as ceo to focus on starbucks' i hends stores and he will be replaced by chief operating officer kevin johnson who played a big roll in the roleout of starbucks mobile app. starbucks up more than 500% since schultz returned as landon dowdy. >>> here are the four things to know before you head out the door this morning. president-elect donald trump is nominating former marine corps general james mattis to head up th

in the newsroom, scott mcfarland, news 4. >>> breaking news tonight.accused of killing a 3-year-old boy in a road rage incident is behind bars now in little rock, arkansas. according to police, the man's family convinced him to turn himself in and the child was in the back seat of his grandmother's car last saturday when the man opened fire on it. the boy was shot in the neck and died later at the hospital. >>> donald trump stunned nuclear experts today when he tweeted the u.s. should grow its arsenals. for decades, u.s. nuclear policy is focused on drawing down, not building up. today's tweet came hours after vladimir putin delivered a similar message. trump announced his communication team sean spicer is the former communication director of the republican national committee. hope hicks will be director of jason miller will serve as director of communications. >>> metro is trying to get on the right track with the new administration. it says donald trump's feature will be featured on smart trip cards after all appear on card sleeves. the incoming pres

. >> in the state hunting grounds in maryland, i'm scott mcfarland. coming up, news 4 goes into the woods, finding a rising number of mishaps and incidents of misbehavior by maryland and virginia deer hunters. our report coming up. >> i love this white picture here. here's the nor'easter that gave parts of maine two feet. you can see it moving into canada. look at the flow right across the great lakes. that's why we have the lake effect snow and why we're looking at cold temperatures tonight. that forecast for new year's eve, as thwind continues to >>> if you're planning a champagne toast to ring in the new year, you may have a tougher time finding certain types of bubbly in montgomery county. bethesda magazine reports some shop owners are having a tough time getting some brands. liquor control officials say some suppliers shorted the department. some brands are still available. >> not going to call out the producer who wrote the story because clearly they know them quite well. >> you have probably waiting in a long security line if you traveled. we k

at the live desk i'm scott mcfarland. >>> more breaking news now from charleston, south carolina. just minutes ago jurors found dylan roof guilty of killing nine black members of a church at bible study last year. the verdict was expected. roof had made a videotaped confession. he did not take the stand in his own defense. his lawyers say their real battle is still is ahead, to save his life by getting him sentenced to life in prison. more on that when we go live to charleston >>> the latest now on donald trump's transition. the white house is criticizing the president-elect for his statements about russian interference in the u.s. elections. spokesman josh earnest says trump should stop attacking u.s. intelligence and start supporting the investigation into what happened. today russian president vladimir putin called reports that he was involved laughable. meanwhile, montana congressman ryan zinke is nominated to being the interior secretary. he's a highly decorated navy s.e.a.l. conservationists give him a poor rating because of his support of co coal, gas, oil. >>> the metro bo

. >> scott mcfarland, news4 i team. >> we saw a le in scott's piece, the maryland lottery and gamingtrol agency says it's reviewing its list of excluded players and will make a decision about the form and content of public drix distribution in the future. viz the washington app and click investigation. >>> when we come back, making sure military families have a special holiday season after losing a loved one to war. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gla250 for $329 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. we rely on our courage. the kind of courage that shows up when we need it... and when cancer is least expecting it. courage. just one reason more of us are surviving cancer than dying from it. give now to the american cancer society. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. to beat the local sled jump record, fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can do

as scott mcfarland reports, in three separate cases, federal wurjers from northern virginia have admitted cheating uncle sam at the gas station. >> good afternoon. in this season of giving, we found three local u.s. government workers admitting being on the take from taxpayers and doing so at the gas pump. each admitting using their government issued taxpayer funded gasoline card to fill up their personal vehicles. in each case, the men made off with thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases before the feds caught them and stopped them. including at the pumps, on base, here at ft. investigators say this type of crime and common and they recovered an average of $400,000 in these fraudulent gas purchases in each. in the past several years. >> when you're sitting at a gas station and you see a vehicle without a government tag using one of our obvious government credit cards, that's a red flag in and of itself. >> tonight, we dig into the li local northern virginia cases, where did the men work and how did they get caught. for now, scott mcfarland, news 4. >> got some important information

in a public records request, scott mcfarland and our news 4 i-team obtained copies of every write-in vote. thousands of people didn't just write in a name. >> in a polarized, heated election, many voters chose a candidate not listed. some instead of picking a person for president, wrote in a message of protest. we saw ballots that read, god help us, unacceptable choices, and return us to england. we lost. we did see votes for celebrities, too. tom brady, colbert, and singers bono and paul mccartney included. and 13-year-old ryan staples and his brother gavin got a vote from their father who says the kid are good students and smart and stubborn, though he admits they're both addicted to their iphones. have to work on that. and social studies teacher christopher caldwell got a vote, he thinks from one of his former students. they talk about the election every day for two months in class and said considering how unprepared i would be, they show how disenchanted voters are. maryland voters told the i-team they likely would not read the names of write-in votes so we made the records reque

. >>> i'm scott mcfarland. coming up, news 4 goes into the woods, finding misbehavior and mishaps during maryland's firearms deer hunting season. our report coming up. >>> how d.c. firefighters gave a young boy at georgetown hospital a surprise of a lifetime. >>> and the changes to the rose parade and the special meaning behind some of these floats. >> what are we going to do? >> float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. >> i am the greatest. >>> they're leading to injuries, and in some cases, arrests. talking about a series of mishaps and rule breakers out in local woods in our area's popular hunting season. we found a spike in these incident while reviewing police records in a story you'll see only on news 4. >> it was a long walk out of the woods for two hunters who made a long drive to hunt deer. donny branch said they traveled from dauphin county, pennsylvania, for a day in a gaming area near poolsville. >> 12-gauge shotgone. >> they carry their permits and wear their orange, in part because they're wor

and tonight, scott mcfarland found at least one of those men was caught in the act. >> two of the three northern virginia men worked here. the u.s. army corps of engineers humphries engineering center near telegraph road in alexandria. investigators say one of them, john diggs, swiped his taxpayer funded fuel card at several loca course of months. >> including this sunoco, but they say he filled his personal car, including a mercedes-benz. >> you see the mercedes, not many of those in the government fleet. >> eric radwick investigated diggs' case. >> any fuel purchase with that card is suspicious. on its nature. >> diggs pleaded guilty and was sentenced to repay the thousands of dollars he made off with. frederick, who also worked at the army corps, pleaded guilty to misusing his card, too, for nearly $2,000 in fraud. sentenced in recent weeks to make restitution, also. bobby harris used the gas tank on base at ft. meyer, but that's not his work vehicle, you see, that's his personal lincoln navigator, according to investigators. those investigators spotted suspicious purchases by harris

in rockville, scott mcfarland, new news4. >> doug kammererer with us now. you were talking snow as a possibility? >> back to the west to the blue ridge, send an doha valley. if you are there, you may be seeing some of the first flakes of the season in our area. right now it's on the cold side. temperatures next couple of days are not going to stay on the cold side. one place that's great during the summer is equally as great during the winter. sandy point state park. chopper 4 over there earlier. this is through light displays. the coolest ones were the lighting up crabs. they have crabs all lit there. it's cool. i used to go there as a kid. let's look at it and tell you how things are going back towards the toto mack. 36, winds out of the west at 7 miles per hour. we are on the cool side. not cold just yet. that comes tomorrow. out there right now, 34 gae gaithersburg, 33 at dulles. cloud cover and snowfall keeping them warmer. we always talk about the clouds adding a blanket on top not allowing it to cool off. and look at the snow back towards i 81, back

scott mcfarland uncovered this story yesterday. the investigation involved pirated dvds of the popular show "the west wing." worth about $2800. imported from hong kong from 2011 through 2012 and resold online. immigration and customs agents found more than 1900 dvds at a man's capitol hill home. at least 300 of them were fake. >>> an elaborate hand bag scheme lands a woman into prison time. she was sentenced for 30 months for ripping off department stores around the country. our iteam first reported in june she bought expensive bags, she'd knock off the refund and sell them online. as part of the punishment she must repay the amount of money she stole from them. >>> a vigil planned in the park where rayshand cotton's body was found. a woman found him shot and baddley burned in capitol heights. police say robbery was a possible motive. this morning two teens are behind bars. police found 17-year-old simteo aiken and a 16-year-old in his car not far from the park. >>> days before christmas the american red cross is having to help mor

. >> as scott mcfarland reports, they say those -- what scott found in this report and what we're hearing is this a lot of it has to do with people counting cards, which is not illegal in the state of maryland, but what scott found is a lot of the cas counting cards. the people come to them at the table, haul them right out of there. they're taken out of the area. and then they get put on this list. they're not allowed in casinos and they don't know they're on it. we'll keep following that. we have a lot more coming for did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump reco

scott mcfarland, news 4. >> time now is 7:206789 want to turn our attention to the weather.like. this man, we're on a roller coaster. >> you know, i did a double take. when i come out of my garage, i watch and >> it is warmer now than just a couple hours ago. we're up to around 60 degrees. that's about more than 30 degrees warmer than we were this same time yesterday morning when a dramatic change occurred. thanks to a very stiff southerly wind that is blowing through. question see that this live view from our storm team 4 tower camera. and those floudz are racing in from the south. and they are going to bring rain here in another couple of hours. right now temperatures 60 degrees at reagan national. they're up to 62 while look at cumberland. they're down to 34. yeah, there is a cold front. behind that cold front. it is only in the 30s way out in the mountains. right now leading edge of that rain is coming into the shenandoah valley. just now entering loudoun county in north montgomery county. all this heading off to the east. the rain showers into the metro area. here is th

. >> scott mcfarland is joining us now on the phone with details. good morning, scott, are you there? >> reporter: good morning. he has served his sentence in jail and the last 90 days will be served at his home. jeffrey thompson led a shadow campaign tied to vincent gray. gray was never charged in that case. thompson was sentenced to three months in federal prison. and we are told according to the court filings this morning, he'll be released today to serve the final three months at home in d.c. back to you. >> scott for us, thank you. >>> angie goff at the live desk with new video in of a fire at an amtrak station. this is about 20 minutes south of heartford, connecticut. take a look, this video posted on twitter showing the old berlin station up in flames. service was suspend in the area. no signs of trains being impacted in our region headed up north. no one was hurt. good news there. and the investigation is underway. the fire is under control. firefighters are saying they were able to contain it in the last hour and a half. now back to you. >>>

. >>> our transportation reporter adam tuss and the i-team scott mcfarland have learned what metro's generale manager is expected to say at a house oversight hearing committee today. the purpose is to find out if metro's state track program is really working. paul weedfeld will tell lawmakers the state track repairs are on budget and metro continues to work closely with the fta about safety standards. that hearing starts later this morning in the rayburn house office building. >>> we've got new information on a metro derailment that happened this summer, you remember this scene. federal investigators believe metro knew about track defects years before the incident. this is a look at the train when it went off the tracks outside the east falls church station in july. 63 people were on board. hurt. the ntsb says the spacing between the rails was too wide because of deteriorated wooden cross ties. the agency released a report yesterday and blamed metro's ineffective inspection and maintenance practices. >>> a proposal to cut metro hours remains unresolved. at this hour, despite a commit

scott mcfarland at the live desk with the president's response. >> good afternoon. the president had a long list of things he wanted to talk about, but reporters kept coming back to russia and its nrltference in the u.s. presidential election. the president said his administration was right in not te election that russia hacked in order to help gop nominee donald trump. the president said it was important to avoid interjecting politics into a very delicate intelligence investigation. >> in this hyperpartisan atmosphere, at a time when my primary concern was making sure that the integrity of the election process was not in any way damaged, at a time when anything that was said by me or anybody in the white house would immediately be seen through a partisan lens. i wanted to make sure that everybody understood we were playing this thing straight. >> president-elect donald trump is questioning the conclusion that russia hacked the dnc to help him. he and his team have accused the obama administration and democrats of leaking the information about russia to damage trump

at the live desk, i'm scott mcfarland. >>> alexandria city council will be bringing up pedestrian safety, after the mother of four children was killed. she was struck by a turning suv. julie kerry joins us live from the del ray neighborhood where the victim worked. julie. >> reporter: it is busy here tonight. the community's mission on mount rose cruz was hit, meantime, the city council getting a report with troubling statistics as safety advocates are pushing for more improvements more quickly. you don't have to drive too far in alexandria to find changes that have already been made to improve safety. on king street, traffic lanes narrowed, spike lanes added, crosswalks improved, speed limits dropped to 25 from 45. intersections where all lights go red so pedestrians can cross in any direction. still, the vice-chairman says there is a perception of danger. >> whether it is backed up it doesn't matter. they have the per accepts they're not safe. >> reporter: but the data the council sees backs up the fear. while overall crashes are down, accidents involving pedestr pedestrian fatalities

our scott mcfarland and tracee wilkins broke this story this afternoon on our nbc 4 washington app. let's begin with scott. >> reporter: jonathan pleaded guilty for corruption. he shook down contractors to score bribes and gifts, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth. his wife would go to prison as well. jack johnson was scheduled to be released from prison june 10, 2017, from this federal prison in western maryland, one largest federal lockups in the region. the u.s. bureau of prisons today said johnson is now at a halfway house. the bureau of prisons calls those residential re-entry programs. the federal halfway houses among other things are designed to help inmates get job counseling and getting their finances in order before they're released. we know from court records the prison bureau had been treating johnson in cumberland for symptoms of parkinson's. his case captured nationwide attention. news 4 captured this exclusive video of his arrest in 2010. he will remain under supervised release after his time in the halfway house after june 2017. u.s. bureau of prisons, an arm of t

here's scott mcfarland. >> thousands of federal workers are issued taxpayer funded cards to gas up the vehicles to which they're assigned. the i-team found three northern virginia workers used these cars to fill up their own personal rides. surveillance video shows one of the men in the act. that's bobby harris. and those are the gas pumps on base at ft. meyer. the thing is the feds say that's not his work car but his personal lincoln navigator. investigators say harris misused his card so frequently over two years he made off with at least $5,000 worth. special agent general services administration office of inspector general helped investigate harris' case. >> taxpayers funds paying for the gas. and as a steward of taxpayer dollars, we need to make sure it's spent on what it's intended for. >> harris pleaded guilty and has been order to repay the government, but the i-team has learned harris isn't alone. two employees at the u.s. army corps of engineers center in alexandria have admitted fraudulently using their cards. john diggs filled up at this sunoco station among other gas stati

scott mcfarland explains what the iteam is working on for you this morning. >> reporter: our investigationill show at least four fairfax county public schoolteachers accused of misconduct involving students. all lost their jobs, but all were allowed to keep their teaching licenses for several years. in at the least one case, the teacher managed to land another job in another school district where he was arrested and pleaded guilty to a sex offense with another student. tonight's report also raises questions about whether the school district gave us the full story when we started asking questions about this. state officials said each of these cases is potentially dangerous. >> is this problematic if licenses are left languishing six, seven years? >> definitely. if there is a basis for action passes before the action is taken, that whole interim period is troubling because that person could work elsewhere or secure a license. >> reporter: tonight we hear from the father of one of the victims and why he thinks this happened. and a fairfax county school official tells the iteam they have becom

the news 4 iteam scott mcfarland uncovered this story. pirated dvds of the popular tv show "the west wing." worth about $2800. the dvds were imported from hong kong from 2011 through 2012 and resold on line. immigration and customs agents found more than 1900 dvds at a man's capitol hill home. at least 300 of them were fake. >>> the arlington woman who made hundreds of thousands of dollars is going to prison. she was sentenced to 30 months for running a multi-year scheme to rip off department stores around the country. our iteam first reported in june that she bought expensive handbags and then returned the cheap knockoffs for refunds and sold the real ones online. as part of her punishment she must repay the department stores the same amount of money she stole from them. >>> covering prince gorges county now. a vigil is planned for today in the park where rashan cotton's body was found. a woman found him shot and batly burned in capitol heights monday morning. police say robbery was a possible motive here. two teens were found inside the