as scott thuman reports, some say we are not prepared. scott: concern on capitol hill wednesday -- how vulnerable are the power grids and infrastructures? a cripple entire cities through cyber attacks? a chair said yes and too few are paying attention. >> these are real threats that we need to take serious and anticipatend when a software glitch triggered a massive blackout in northeast, paralyzing new york, airports were shut down, trains halted. 12 people died and took days to restore the electricity. natural disasters also pose threats to the grid, and now the potential for true taxon facilities, some secured only by little more than a chain-link fence. >> not too many folks have been paying attention. ted koppel testified about his year-long research for a book "lights out." ted: we are good at reacting to crises. in the wake of 9/11, tens of thousands of men and women reacted, but we are not good at preemptive action. scott: according to "usa today," they said there is a cyber days on our power grid. >> people are not taking this thre

leon: scott thuman reporting live from the newsroom. appreciate that. right now, the abc7 news team is pressing its sources looking for any more information available on what happened outside the white house. we will bring you that new information as soon as we learn it in the coming hour. alison: okay, leon. also a big story tonight breaking. firings at metro. we are talking about major firings here. abc7 has now confirmed 20 of the transit agencies managers have been let go. abc7 transportation reporter brianne carter is live with what she has learned about this. this is a big deal. brianne: in the last 90 minutes we obtained a memo sent to metro employees announcing the 20 metro managers have been released from the jobs at wmata. we know that 20 of the managers, seven of them said to be senior managers. that one-third of them worked within the rail operation side here of the in this memo, it also says part of the restructuring and the streamlining that paul wiedefeld has been doing he will be reviewing any redun can't -- redundant positions. so this

scott thuman was in london recently and you did a little investigating into pub politics. ott: yeah, that's right. we've been all over the globe for "full measure" covering stories. no matter which country we are in, i'm asked the same question -- is this trump phenomenon for real? an ocean away, on a saturday afternoon at a pub in downtown london, an equal measure of pints and politics. american politics, that is. if you had to sum up what you've seen so far in this presidential cycle, in a few words, what would those words be? matt: bizarre! scott: bizarre? dan: circus. matt: unbelievable pam: total fear. jesse: terrifying. scott: as a whole, do you think brits have a candidate they back more than anyone else. >> anyone but trump. pam: i do hope that donald trump is not the next president. scott: were you just praying there? is that what you were doing? jesse: i think even the non-religious people are praying . scott: is that because you are more aligned with the democratic party or because you just don't think any of the republicans candidates are? jesse: it's fear. it's

chief political correspondent scott thuman is in the newsroom. scott, where is the president right now? scott: yeah, michelle, look, the president left the grounds at 1:00 this afternoon. beautiful day out. he went golfing. he was at andrews air base at the golf course there. the vice president was on white house complex grounds. we are told he was secured when they went in lockdown mode. no issue there. the motorcade was just seen leaving the white house. we don't know if it's him or if he is staying on grounds. meanwhile also from the mayor's office in washington, d.c., muriel bowser, the mayor saying we are aware of situation. i have been briefed by my public safety team and they are coordinating with federal partners. of course, the federal partners involving not only the capitol police and the secret service but the f.b.i. always responds a few blocks away. when you consider the washington field office and the headquarters are close to the white house. you know, it's just one more measure here as you take a look. they already added sharp poin

chief political correspondent scott thuman has more on what it might mean. scott?it claims that hillary clinton ignored rules, where guidelines were violated. in some cases what the "associated press" calls more serious wrongdoing. >> there she is. scott: hillary clinton all smiles on stage but behind closed doors dealing with new possibly damaging result from the inspector general report on the e-mail controversy. the 78-page summary says she disregarded got guidelines and never sought approval from senior managers who w

on capitol hill, scott thuman. abc7 alison: thank you. that is it for 5:00. a developing story. a transgender woman removed from a bathroom. we will tell you about the charges just filed. also right now, new developments in the case of a man who police say intentionally rammed an survivor to the silver diner and set it on fire. the change that would mean a raise for 4 million americans and not minimum wage. a dry cleaner that shut down sees the door reopen so the customers won't be hung out to dry. maureen: this afternoon we was forcefully removed from the women's bathroom at a grocery store in northeast washington. >> a female curl guard 45-46 years old according to the police sources and the witnesses was arrested at the giant today. witnesses tell us that she barred the transgender women won from using the bathroom pushed and shoved the woman out of the store. >> i don't know what happened. nonsense there. >> witnesses tell us there was commotion and noise surrounding the situat

for now at the "live desk," i'm scott thuman, abc7 news. michelle: thank you.ing up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- avoiding an electrifying experience. the hidden danger that could be lurking below the surface if you go boating on a lake this summer. jonathan: plus -- >> that gave me chills. jonathan: it ain't chills. six months in the job what gave general manager the chills and why he says he may not be the best person for the job. >> a security guard finds a third grader lying unconscious beside the dumpster. how she got here. that is up next. michelle: later the unsightly scene the government red tape is leaving at a jonathan: a 9-year-old girl beside a dumpster full of trash. two teens accused of attacking her. there are reports they were laughing while committing the assault. montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is live on a story you will see only on 7. this is infuriating. kevin: absolutely. this happened on the grounds of the apartment complex in the white oak section of silver spring. that is the dumpster where the girl was deserted. the security guards

in arlington, scott thuman, abc7 news. jonathan: it doesn't get dull. coming up next for us, a lost baby beaver. how cute is that fellow? the step that some metro riders took to get the little guy back in the wild. michelle: but first, a brand new e tonight. exclusive preview. saying no isn't easy. see what ha ♪ stand by me vo: for dominion, part of delivering affordable energy includes supporting those in our community who need help. our energyshare program does just that, assisting with bill pay and providing free, energy-saving upgrades. it's more than helping customers, it's helping neighbors. ♪ stand by me michelle: olivia and abby have to put differences aside and work together to take doyle down. edison realizes he may have made a deal with the devil. kidd o'shea wih scoop." kidd: the race for president continues as we see that jake is not someone you want to say no to. presidential hopeful davis calls jake to his office for a meeting and things don't go well for edison. here is your "scandal scoop." >> i call this meeting to tell you man-to-man

chief political correspondent scott thuman has more on what it might mean. scott? scott: this is an internal audit done by the inspector general. it documents where it claims that hillary clinton ignored rules, where guidelines were violated. in some cases what the "associated press" calls more serious wrongdoing. >> there she is. scott: hillary clinton all smiles on stage but behind closed doors dealing with new possibly damaging result from the inspector general report on the e-mail controversy. the 78-page summary says she disregarded got guidelines and never sought approval from senior managers who w refused the request due to security risks over the personal server. >> while people were aware of her use of personal e-mail no one had a complete understanding of the extent. scott: republicans piled on, especially over filings that multiple e-mail had what now labeled classified or sensitive information. >> i is to believe someone got to highest level of secretary of state and foreign apairs should probably know if information is classified or not. >> st it gives

scott thuman is following the story from the terrorism alert desk. scott? scott: the late e, there is widespread speculation that this is a terror attack. that a bomb took down the egyptair flight with 66 people on board. but at this hour no one claimed responsibility. the flight heading to cairo and just around the time that it made its way to egyptian air space, it made a sudden 790-degree turn. then 360-degree turn in the other direction plummeted and eventually disappeared from radar. whether it was fine. the pilot was said to be experienced. had a fine reputation and seemed in good spirits i radio conversations. greek, egyptian, parisian military teams are searching for wreckage and answers. >> let's not try to jump to decide to identify this as a technical failure. if you analyze the situation properly the possibility of having a different action abroad of having a terror attack is higher than having a technical problem. >> we have learned a lot since 9/11 about what is necessary to protect the aviation system. it has not diminished the desire of extr

maureen: chief political correspondent scott thuman continues the team coverage in the abc7 newsroom. bring us up to date. what is the latest? scott: we know the president was offgrounds, he was golfing. he left the white we was at andrews air force base in maryland. so no issue there. vice president biden was on the white house grounds. we are only told by the white house he was "secured" at that point. the media had been sequestered essentially in the briefing room. the office is attacked to the west wing. they were unable to get a lot of information at that moment and kept inside for safety purposes. eventually the lockdown was lifted and we started to get more of the information. but the president was informed while golfing of the incident. we don't know if they had to secure him or get him off the golf course for security tactics. we are looking into that. meantime, important quick note. we continue to see in the past year evolution of added security at the white house because of the scares. fence jumpers or people who are showing up with weapons. all the way back to 2011 when so

to understand the new notions that go beyond male and female, scott thuman explores the new vocabularyf sex. >> i'm about to do something terrifying. i'm coming out to you as a non-binary person. i don't fit within -- i'm getting emotional. i'm so sorry. scott: 20-year-old mauria came out to president obama at a town hall last month. if you were left scratching your head as to what non-binary means, so were we. we reached out to the executive director of the national center for transgender equality. >> a non-binary person believes that the binary, that there are just men and women, that men have to be a certain way and women have to be a certain way -- that that doesn't work for them. scott: she is a transgender woman in transition that age 40. she was arrested in north carolina last month for protesting house bill 2, the new law that requires people to use the bathroom according to their sex on their birth certificate. >> some people, those boxes aren't real. those boxes can't constrain them. they looked for new language to explain that. scott: it is estimated that 4 million-5 million

the chief political correspondent scott thuman joins us to talk about it. now it's all over now. it's officially trump, correct? scott: it is. last night we saw reince priebus the head of the r.n.c. he was the presumptive nominee. that is after cruz got out of the race. now the surprise announcement from john kasich who was supposed to be in washington, d.c., talking to reporters when the plane decided going to columbus to make the announcement. he saw the writing on the walls. the numbers weren't there for him. he was trying to catch up with marco rubio in the delegate count who had been out for quite some time. he had to make the move. now this is trump's forsake of any argument he is going to get the 1237 to move on and be the nominee. leon: kasich made a run and had a taste for it. does it mean he is interested in the vice president spot? scott: he would bring you ohio, presumably. you don't win the white house without ohio. long standing motto. leon: for republicans, that is for sure. kasich talking about decision today. governor kasich: i have always said that the lord has a

scott thuman was at the january fundraiser in question and joins us to follow the money. where is it going? cot: well, keep in mind all of this came to a head because trump critics and members of the media were asking where did the money go? did he donate the $1 million he personally promised? today, answers. >> i'm totally accountable. i didn't want to have credit for it. now actually, though, what i got was worse than credit. scott: holding up a a list of recipient a copy of personal check he gave for $1 million and firing back at the media. he explained he was a bit short of his january claims. right? $6 million. scott: still, $5.6 million raise and doled out to veteran groups. the delay he says was due to a cumbersome process of vetting recipients to make sure they are worthy. >> instead of being thank you very much, mr. trump, or trump did a good job, everyone is saying who got it? who got it? who got it? you make me look bad. others think it's a publicity stunt. >> you think veterans are used as problems? >> yes, i do. scott: he is a vet an and is active -- veteran

scott thuman is following the story from the terrorism alert desk. scott? scott: the late e, there is widespread speculation that this is a terror attack. that a bomb took down the egyptair flight with 66 people on board. but at this hour no one claimed responsibility. the flight heading to cairo and just around the time that it made its way to egyptian air space, it made a sudden 790-degree turn. then 360-degree turn in the other direction plummeted and eventually disappeared from radar. whether it was fine. the pilot was said to be experienced. had a fine reputation and seemed in good spirits i

scott thuman has the prestigious ranking coming to the capital. this is big news. scott: especially for foodies. the coveted michelin stars want to make it fourth city in the u.s. with the distinction. where they go and the restauranturs. jonathan: find the newest hotspots at d.c. refined.com. alison talked to director. there has to be nerves out there. jonathan: there are great restaurants. if you tried something new every night -- scott: never repeat yourself. jonathan: think of the money you save not going to paris. alison: a new study by the mortgage company smart asset finds loudoun county and fairfax county are the happiest places in all of america. jonathan: who knew? alison: yeah. the company looks at unemployment and the poverty rates and median income. howard county seventh on the list. nothing else in the top ten, though, is here in our area. but we did pretty well with three doing a pretty good job there. jonathan: we are happy in arlington. always happy here. alison: that is right. close to fairfax and loudoun. that is why. jonathan: border. coming up n

our political correspondent scott thuman is here. what does it mean for the crazy race? scott: crazy. the man who has been called the presumptive nominee for months is on the race of clinching the nomination. >> if i didn't win by massive majorities, i wouldn't be standing here talking to you today. scott: a few weeks shy of one year since he announced his plans to run, the billionaire is the last man standing. the original massive 17-person republican field. he celebrated at a campaign stop in north dakota today. >> the folks behind me got us over the top. scott: now he turns his focus to the democrats. >> believe me, i'll beat hillary. scott: what has been an ugly campaign from with nasty nicknames, raucous rallies and controversial comments. >> they are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. they are rapists. scott: trump has the goal gaits to secure the nomination -- delegates to secure the nomination it still doesn't mean everybody is on board. speaker of the house paul ryan still seems hesitant to endorse. >> what i'm most concerned about is making sure we have re

but first we will go to political correspondent scott thuman. these are interesting results. two months ago clinton was out in f now it's neck in neck. scott: a lot changed. the headline from the story is if you took an average of the major polls for the first time ever you see donald trump slightly ahead. he has the lead. we haven't seen it the entire election cycle. what is the underlying theme? well, there are a couple of possible reasons for the numbers. one, hillary clinton still hasn't clinched the nomination. inethably if she does we will have a jump in numbers. but look at the people who were republicans and not on board with him yet. we are tarting to see more people say they believe that donald trump represents the party core values. there is a huge disparity from a couple of months ago. only 29% of the people said that way. it has jumped significantly. finally something else to consider here is that donald trump really has some belief starting to act and sou times. some people believe that is starting to sway those who are reluctant to get on board even if they are

scott thuman reports after the meeting the fireworks started online. tell us about it. scott: to some degree, alison, a moment we want to take a snapshot. with the hours after the meeting the house speaker paul ryan tweeted out a photo of himself with school children on the hill. the kamas, "my most important meeting of the day." >> i was encouraged with what i heard from donald trump today. i do believe that we are planting the speeds to get ourselves unified. scott: but he stopped short of endorsing the republican front-runner his bid for the white house. >> you don't put it together in 45 minutes. scott: that seems to be the biggest problem for the republicans right now. especially with deep divide over the policy and the campaign style at the end of a contentious primary season. >> he gets it about being presidential an that is how he acts toward me. in private. he has to be donald trump. that is what got him here. scott: after his meeting with speaker ryan he met with the g.o.p. house and senate leaders and then visited the law firm downtown. in the last few hours,

we bring in political correspondent scott thuman. what is the take-away from the meeting? scott: there is possibly room for optimism between all sides involved in this. we have four different take-aways in this. the first is they are unified on one level. beat hillary clinton. they said no matter what, that is the ultimate goal. that is where they will see eye to eye. of course it doesn't mean that everything went smoothly. there are policy differences from trade to abortion to medicare reform. this is not an endorsement. very hesitant is paul ryan. he wouldn't go that far. support doesn't mean endorse. he blew it off. and that is what we are hearing from the bush family and the previous nominee mitt romney. they are staying back from that particular word. the house and the senate leaders are, of course, saying they had meetings with this, too. this is all about planting seeds and getting past initial stages. they want to create a dialogue to be in this on the long haul. the other thing to mention they are talking about big differences because donald trump republican now ha

let's get answers now from the chief political correspondent scott thuman. we heard about it with the republicans for months and months. now bernie sanders saying we may see another one. >> the mantra of the republicans ted cruz and john kasich saying donald trump won't get to 1237. we can prevent it from happening. on the democratic side, bernie sanders is mentioning it. saying without super delegates hillary clinton won't get to magic number. what he is doing is trying to convince superdelegates in states that have already voted and have aligned themselves with hillary clinton change your mind. you have the ability to your mind. this is a quick clip of him reiterating that point. >> the convention will be a contested contest. i think the evidence is clear. i would be the stronger candidate to defeat trump or any other republican. >> we will see what happens. staying the the democrats here. trump was talking about hillary playing the woman card. it sounds like he will capitalize on that. >> we see it on her website today. looking for the create tave ways to