wiedefeld: i do. i think it's, again, why the safe track plan and all the implications of that is why i put it out there. mr. meadows: all right. so if we're looking at this board -- and i understand from a board member that you are -- the buck stops with you. they're not going to micro manage, you are going to have complete authority to make this system safe, reliable and a service standard that we can all applaud, correct? mr. wiedefeld: yes. mr. meadows: if that does not happen, will you within seven days let this committee and the oversight committee know that you are being thwarted on the board? mr. wiedefeld: yes. mr. meadows: i guess what i'm saying is, i am making a request if there is an interference by the board on any of the service-related activity, will you report back to this committee and of the oversight committee? mr. wiedefeld: sir, if i may. again, i took this job to tackle these issues. if i am thwarted in any way, that's not the job for me. mr. meadows: all right. so let me go bac

wiedefeld: i do. i think it's, again, why the safe track plan and all the implications of that is why i put it out there. mr. meadows: all right. so if we're looking at this board -- and i understand from a board member that you are -- the buck stops with you. they're not going to micro manage, you are going to have complete authority to make this system safe, reliable and a service standard that we can all applaud, correct? mr. wiedefeld: yes. mr. meadows: if that does not happen, will you within seven days let this committee and the oversight committee know that you are being thwarted on the board? mr. wiedefeld: yes. mr. meadows: i guess what i'm saying is, i am making a request if there is an interference by the board on any of the service-related activity, will you report back to this committee and of the oversight committee? mr. wiedefeld: sir, if i may. again, i took this job to tackle these issues. if i am thwarted in any way, that's not the job for me. mr. meadows: all right. so let me go bac

wiedefeld mr. mr. wiedefeld.nstance all the way up to last year have unfortunately had very similar findings in its come down to andoper training of wmata inadequate emergency response. why didn't metro provide better training and staffing for emergency preparedness. at the raile you operations control center to make sure that this is a repeat itself? : i did replace the operations center in april. i have a new head there. a -- additional staff and have a much more robust training program. we have staffed up. we have a liaison 24/seven. we want the incidents that communication between emergency personnel and someone in the operations center. the fta is monitoring activity her that proper procedures are being followed. we are doing basically we started spot testing of our controllers to make sure that they are part of our exercises and in effect with rocher balls at them during those exercises. balls at themrve during those exercises. question for ms. flowers, too. the committee's concern about 's safety.eld --wma

wiedefeld.i thought i would do is just summarize very quickly what my priority have been since i joined november 30th for the agency. talk about what we're up against and what i'm trying to do about it and wrap up with concluding remarks. my priorities are obviously safety, fiscal management. so what we're up against, i think it's important just to step back and think about the physical nature of what we're up against before we get into the management issues. i think we have to recognize that this is a two-track railroad system which presents a lot of challenges for maintenan maintenance. you add on top of that decades of delayed maintenance and underfunding, that's created a lot of the issues that we're dealing with. on top of that is an aging fleet. the cars, the trains themselves. that's on the rail side. it's also important to recognize that metro is more than just rail. it's also a very major bus system. we do almost 600,000 people a day on the bus system alone. we have a much better fleet

i'm paul wiedefeld, manager of the transit authority also known as metro. what i thought i would do is summarize quickly my parties have been since i joined on november 30 with with the agency , to talk a little about what we are up against and what i am trying to do about it and wrap up with concluding remarks. in terms of what my priorities are, obviously safety and liability and management so what we are up against, i think it's important to step back and think about the physical nature of what we're up against before we get into some of the management issues. we have to recognize this is a two track railroad system which presents a lot of challenges for maintenance because you cannot maintain the system without impacting customers is basically what we have and you add on top of that decades of delayed maintenance and underfunding, much of that creates a lot of the issues we deal with. on top of that is the fleet, the cars, the trains themselves that's on the real side. it's important also to recognize that metro is more than israel, it's also a major bu

wiedefeld says the transit agency will soon publicize all violent crimes the same day they occur. as for the april 12 attack on the red line train we have now learned the suspect had a previous run-in with metro police. he was accused of lewd acts on metro weeks ea police were waiting for a warrant. leon: meanwhile, metro g.m. is considering more security on board trains throughout the system. >> basically, you know, increasing the presence in the system to basically using sworn officers from around the jurisdiction. leon: paul wiedefeld making the promise after acknowledging the system is too big to have officers on every train. the words coming after a capitol hill hearing where wiedefeld updated congress on metro rebuilding plan. maureen: as wait time at airports get longer the transportation security administration has reassigned the head of airport security. administrator says the agency is taking a different approach to speeding up lines without compromising safety. the t.z .a. said the removal of security director kelly hoggen has nothing to do criticism from the republican

they are frustrated but confident in wiedefeld possibility to get -- wiedefeld's ability to get things done. >> the work you are seeing done is paid for a lot of it by the fares. it is a catch-22. jummy: we will continue to stay on top of metro and safety issues as well. brianne carter has continuing coverage tonight at 5:00 and we will have updates all day long at wjla.com. jamie sullivan joins us with a check of our traffic watch. jamie: on any of our area streets you are going to experience wet road. this is right in downtown bethesda near wisconsin east-west highway. it is going to be a wet commute. luckily we got have too much traffic. we will move to our map. a few areas we see some volume on the interlude in closer towards green bell from college park. no problems in d.c. we are mostly in the green and as we move toward virginia on the capital beltway you see a good idea that we are up to speed. there is going to be that road spray so you will need the wipers on. disabled train has us single tracking on the orange line from chevrolet to stadium armo armory. several line operatin

paul wiedefeld's unwavering about whether he made the right choice. he says although it has been challenging, this is the best job he has ever had. they said they faced a terrific choice, cinc orilla after a tyler had fallen into its enclosure. roz plater has with zoo officials are now saying. roz: they are defending themselves. some people around the country are angry with the zoo, a lot are angry with the parents of the toddler. in a single online petition, one of many, more than 232,000 people have called for the police to hold the child's parents responsible. two days after a tyler fell into at theilla cage cincinnati zoo, officials are still defending their decision to kill the 400-pound male gorilla. activists say that video shows that he was trying to protect the child. the zoo director says not so. >> the child was at risk. his head was banging on concrete. roz: he said the animal was agitated by everything going on and there was not enough time to try a trek lies are -- when you try a tranquilizer. >> it works over a few minutes. others say c

first on news 4, paul wiedefeld told adam tuss past incidents may not have been properly addressed. right now investigators are looking into a new problem this morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, we just heard from metro about this morning's fire. the train that you see there on the track that is stopped is a test train. it was used over the weekend for track work and about 4:00 a.m. this morning, it became disabled and a small fire occurred. we've learned that workers put out the fire using fire extinguish extinguisher. metro workers using flashlights throughout the morning have been going over and poring over this disabled train here. they need to be able to move it and run a test so that they can stop the ripple effect of what is happening. . the single tracking that melissa has been following on the or d orange and blue lines. other metro trains are getting by on the other tracks. you might hear a train coming in and through right now. now, over the weekend, paul wiedefeld appeared on today on sunday for an exclusive interview to answer questions about what needs to happen

this guy, paul wiedefeld is six months into his job as general manager.portation reporter brianne carter spoke with him about what he is doing to try and turn everything around. >> to me this is the best job i have ever had. >>brianne: he says it has been rewarding but also challenging job. since he first walked in the office he battled a blizzard on the track, schultz down a system for inspections and fired nearly two dozen employees. through it all what has been the most surprising moment? >> i have had a few of them. clearly just some of the challenges we face. i knew that there were a lot of damages but maybe the depth of them were surprising. brianne: one of the challenges surrounds two words we hear so often when referring to metro. safety culture. >> it's like marriage. it's every day. it's not something that you say i got a great marriage. everything is done. you move on. that is not the way it works. that is not the way the culture of a big organization works. every day we have to work on it. brianne: one thing we wanted to know what is the most

gm paul wiedefeld man afess toes to these managers moving forwara about what is and what is not expected out of them.hem. phrases that are now banned from metro manager's vocabulary include they didn't tell me. and that's the way we've always done it around here. the flyer says that doesn't fly with metro anymore. we want you to take a look at some video we received today. this was another reminder of thn stakes that are up for resolution in this system. this is video on rail transit ops tweeter feed sos a thirdhir rail at the courthouse station. they had single tracking alertsr on the orange line in that areat due to what was described at the time as unscheduled track repairs. in all 650 metro managers were called to stand before the metrr gm at the strat more concert haul in rockville for a first of its kind safety meeting in these managers are what gm paull wiedefeld told fox5 are at-will employees. what does that mean? that meant that you fire them if he decidei they're not doing their job. many managers did not want to to talk to fox5 about what went on behind closed doors, general

metro general manager paull wiedefeld made the call to t close three downtown stationsn along the orangelue andlue silver line for the night. n >> sought video in theght vio in afternoon.n. that's when i decided again in talking that i was going to gngt shut down to replace thehe insulators. >> it continues to be a messcont especially after metro closed co for repairs for basica and basically slut down theal city for an entire day.n tire >> reporter: there were busus bridges from eastern marketrn mt from eastern market tot l'enfant plaza to helpo passengers get around thosed closures but most passengerses are resigned that these willes w probably not be the last. the l if you are planning on taking tk metro tonight or this weekend, w you'll want to go on this web site, another aggressive track maintenance plan is in placee for the weekend. it could mean some bus bridges, it could mean some partial shut downs and a lothu of single tracking a lot oft o delays between trains. t that could be sort of a sign a of what we expect to come when e we hear from general manager paul wiedefeld again

brianne: wiedefeld is altering the plan after the f.t.a.ent the letter to the transit authority demanding that metro prioritize work in three sections of the track. between potomac avenue and east of stadium armory. ballston to east falls church and medical center to van ness. this is as the board members question wiedefeld's decision to not consult the f.t.a. before unveiling the plan last week. >> the chain of directives and the letters back and forth between wmata and the f.t.a. i believe to get broken. we nee

paul wiedefeld is taking action, federal station southwest is close the rest of the night so the third rail insulator can be fully replaced. tom roussey has the commuter chaos. tom: normally federal center be open another hour, but they have a barricade up. on the other side of this, metro employees are working on it to get it reopen hopefully for the morning. >> this is crazy! >> stand back just a little bit. riders heading east hit l'enfant plaza, the train did not go any further. >> three blocks this way, it blocks that way. tom: catching a shuttle bus was not easy. >> it's a mess. >> it is ridiculous. >tom: chaos resulted from not oe but two problems at federal center southwest. before the morning rush-hour, a huge electrical problem involving and arcing insulator. in the evening rush-hour, a small amount of debris was burned on the track. workers are replacing every single insulator on both sides of the >> we plan on having it open by the morning. tom: the insulators are on the electrified third rail. they say the 1 should have fewer issues, but it will take more to placate the ri

paul wiedefeld does not think large track sections will have to close, but it involves a huge amounte an announcement at 11:00. >> adam tuss has been breaking this story all week. follow him in the nbc washington twitter page during the announcement as we break town what the safety plan means for your commute. >> sunday, paul wiedefeld sits downtown what the safety plan means for your commute. >> sunday, paul wiedefeld sits down with adam, his first sit-down interview since his ntsb hearing. you can watch adam's interview on "news 4 today" starting at 9:00 a.m. sunday morning. >>> tonight woodbridge community will hold a vigil for one of its

this about ten minutes, we'll sit town with paul wiedefeld to talk about all of these issues. >>> this morning prince george's county police are invest a murder in lanham. last night they were called to a home on greenfield drive to investigate an assaults. when they arrived, they found a man seriously hurt. the victim did die at the hospital. police are not saying how the man died or who killed him. >>> and a man is dead after a shooting in southeast just before 2:00 this morning. police say the victim died at the hospital. no word on a suspect. >>> the latest now on the deadly shopping center shootings in maryland. we now know why eulalio tordil went on friday's rampage. police say he wanted another car after allegedly killing his estranged wife on thursday. they believe eulalio tordil was trying to go carjack the other two victims, but they resisted. police describing those killed as a happy teacher, an american dreamer and hero. >> malcolm winffel gave his life for somebody he doesn't know in order to protect her from a predator. >> in all tordil now faces three counts of murder. t

brianne: today, paul wiedefeld pushing the message that safety has to come first. issuing this pamphlet to more than 650 metro managers. of the 13,000 employees. he says now that message has to be driven down to the bottom all the way back up to the top. message tonight for the metro employees. put safety first or you may be out of a job. >> the reality is they know where i am coming from. i laid out specifically the things i am expecting. if they can manage that level, fine. if they can't it's not a good fit. >> the point was delivered today to 650 metro managers gathered for the first time altogether with paul wiedefeld. it comes days after this. an arcing ince slater on the track we learn -- insulator on the track that had anthony fox considering shutting down the entire rail system. friday the f.t.a. issued a safety directive to metro to prioritize safety but reduce fire and smoke. >> the issue in the past is that it wasn't clearly communicated as the primary focus for how we should conduct ourselves each day. >> riders getting ready to deal with the long-term

brianne: wiedefeld is altering the plan after the f.t.a. sent the letter to the transit authority demanding that metro prioritize work in three sections of the track. between potomac avenue and east of stadium armory. ballston to east falls church and medical center to van ness. this is as the board members question wiedefeld's decision to not consult the f.t.a. before unveiling the plan last week. >> the chain of directives and the letters back and forth between wmata and the f.t.a. i believe to get broken. we nee f.t.a. is getting everything they need well in advance and they are given privilegedded status. brianne: in response, wiedefeld says he is sometimes impatient and felt urgency to get the plan moving. >> when i sat there at the hearing the other day and i heard through the litany of the decade here, it's reinforced to me i have to go. brianne: days later he outlined the plan. one of the items in question happens in august on the blue, orange and silver line. when will it take place? that is finalized by metro. a person working on

paul wiedefeld does not think large track sections will have to close, but it involves a huge amount of work. they will make an announcement at 11:00. >> adam tuss has been breaking this story all week. follow him in the nbc washington twitter page during the announcement as we break town what the safety plan means for your commute. >> sunday, paul wiedefeld sits downtown what the safety plan means for your commute. >> sunday, paul wiedefeld sits down with adam, his first sit-down interview since his ntsb hearing. you can watch adam's interview on "news 4 today" starting at 9:00 a.m. sunday morning. >>> tonight woodbridge community will hold a vigil for one of its own. someone shot a 19-year-old on darby dale avenue wednesday night and left him hurt in the parking lot of a nearby parking shot. he died at the hospital. several suspects are in custody with charges pending. >>> former virginia daycare worker found guilty of child abuse could spend the next 40 years in prison. sarah jordan will be sentenced today. she worked at the minnieland academy in woodbridge. witnesses testified th

we had an exclusive interview with paul wiedefeld. those updates as he addressed all those issues. >>> and thissi little lady, she knows how to rock the runway. the creative bond between mothers and daughters and all for a great cause. >>> in case you didn't know, you should. today is mother's day. we want to wish all the moms out there a very happy mother's day. >> we got the party started a little bit early. saturday doug kammerer hosted the annual mother/daughter fashion show benefiting the make-a-wish foundation. i was there with my little girl. and there is eun yang and her daughter. this has become a tradition for all of us. and doug's wife and their daughter also walked. looking radiant. and we got to meet kids who are beating the odds and beating cancer p. a t was there. and this morning we want to celebrate our own moms. >> what's up, chin. >> like you said, you are da bomb. p. >> i got some questions about this because of my hair do. this was a couple years ago. but this is me and my mom on the chicago river taking a tour. a

molette green, >> and we posted the entire interview with paul wiedefeld on the nbc washington app.discusses his long term plan. search "metro interview." >>> problince george's county police are offering a reward if you know anything about a deadly shooting on harry s. truman drive last thoonight. a man was shot and killed there. if you know anything, call plouk police. >>> and metro transit police need help to find a person who stabbed a man outside the minnesota avenue metro station. police tell us he was stabbed just after 12:30 sunday morning near the bus bay. he is expected to be okay. police have released a surveillance photo of the person of interest. if you have information, contact metro transit place. >>> nearly 15 year after september 11th, 2001, we're getting a glimpse in to what that day was like for the commander in chief. newly relse by then white house photographer eric draper show president george w. bush in the moments after the attack. they show the president visiting a florida elementary school before he was taken away on air force one. >>> hillary clinton will

m >>> all right.el we want to let that you knowt yw metro gene wiedefeld will be live in our o studio for a live interview this monday on fox5 news fox5 n morning at 7:30. we want to know do you have a question you want him to y answer. tweet it to us using #ask metro gm. >> in prince george's countyce g police have are searching for e man they say shot and killed his wife in the parking lot of high point high school.oint police say around 4:40 you'llou little yo' tordil got into at ta fight with gladys tordil whiledw she was waiting to pick up her h children. a man who saw what was goingt wg on tried to help and that'snd t' when police say tordil pulledl out a gun shot the bystander bta and then shot gladys tordil asda well. the man who was shot ists expected to be okay.ka this happened as the school thes was getting ready to host aos baseball game.llame. fortunately no students weree injured. >>> new reports claim that joem paterno knew as early as 1976s 9 that jerry sandusky may haveans been abusing children. the judge says the claim was clw that paterno he had been molestedd by sa

mandates come as the new metro general manager paul wiedefeld announced a year-long maintenance plan to improve safety. >> t put this off too long. we are all committed to fixing metro. fta says if the deadlines are not met, there could be penalties such as withholding up to 25% of metro's financial assistance or they could also restrict service. roz plater, abc 7 news. kimberly: thank you, roz. metro general manager paul wiedefeld will be live with us tomorrow morning on "good morning washington to discuss rider safety and the track safety plan. tune in to hear him answer your questions. the weather, we had sunshine for mother's day, but you will want to keep the umbrella close. to meteorologist josh knight for what we can expect the rest of the week. josh: unfortunately, that is right, we get the one dry day, then more rain moves back in. we are talking about the wind subsiding overnight, then the daily rain chances. the good news with this week's rain is we will see sunshine fighting through, and i don't think we will be asked chilly as the last couple weeks with the rainy days. r

paul wiedefeld has been on the job for six months. he is being paid $400,000 per year, but many people say that is not enough for what he has to do. he has set a solid foundation to get metro back on track, but we still are very far away from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. he has laid out a year-long master plan to fix the system called that starts on friday. we have had a shutdown under his watch, as well as smoke and fire incidents. we recently sit down with them and he has said he has had a few unexpected surprises. >> we have to be more proactive and not as reactive. right now, we are somewhere between that. there were some things that were worse than i thought. my colleague brianne carter has the full interview and that story tonight coming up on abc 7 news this evening. forye: police are searching the suspect responsible for another shooting of a metro station. she will -- a woman walked up to a metro officer and set a man shot her in the leg. roped off the area and begin investigating the matter. police have not rel

paul wiedefeld compared it to a military operation that will get worse before it gets better. read the plan for yourself right now on wjla.com. customers are eating again at the silver diner in tysons corner, the restaurant reopening just about one hour ago. wednesday afternoon, people rushed to pull for people from a burning vehicle. chef, facesa former multiple charges after the police say he intentionally rammed the entrance. witnesses say he then covered himself in a liquid and started the fire. peaks of sunshine today, but the gray of may may not be done. meteorologist josh knight with more rain on the forecast, but first a gift for mom tomorrow. will get as right we break for one day and mother nature doing mom's the favor. country club, 62 degrees. most of us hang in the 60's through the evening. around the region, closer to 70's further west, where we had more sunshine earlier today. the clouds are moving back in. the satellite and radar in motion, showers and a lot more cloud cover on the way as we head through the evening. closer to the metro, through late tonight, a

paul wiedefeld about in a live one-on-one interview this morning on "good morning washington." watch the entire interview at wjla.com. leon: there was a moment that brought a sigh of relief across the area. the man accused in a deadly shooting spree across two counties captured as they broadcast it live. now we learn why eulalio tordil did not flee the area after friday's deadly shooting. he face adjudge. -- faced a judge. a lot of new details. brad? brad: they have the hearing to determine what the bond will be for someone. in a case like this the people are kept locked up. but they lay out the details. it was a simple pair of eye glasses that foiled this alleged killer's plot. take a look at the video from friday. it shows eulalio tordil in handcuffs moments after the arrest. a peaceful arrest. what we learned today that tordil had been planning to kill his wife for about a month. he wrote notes that police found suggesting he was planning a suicide by cop. he wanted to go out in a blaze of gunfire. but in the end, after he committed his alleged third murder, he went no more

paul wiedefeld compared it to a military operation. the complete on our website at wjla.com. a super night to be a hockey fan, the caps take care of what they need to it home to stay in the series. robert burton is live at the verizon center. they can force this two-way win or go home seventh game, what do you think? robert: i agree, but for now if you are a cap's fan you can stop warring until game six in pittsburgh. that will be a tough one. let's go to the ice, show you how this went down. caps took the lead for good in the second, the game tied at 1-1. alex ovechkin, the one-timer, the rebound goes to t.j. oshie. caps win 3-1, their season still alive as they force game six. later in sports, we are in the locker room, talking with ovie and others. kimberly: thanks. wildfires.raging how much it has grown in the past few hours and the massive exodus underway. josh: and as we work our way through the next few days, showers tonight, beautiful mother's day. a little breezy. the forecast coming up. bacon supreme omelet breakfast sandwich, loaded with peppers, o