kevin lewis explains why. kevin: this is the bethesda split-level that the police say that gary knighting preyed building the disabled elderly homeowner for repairs. he charged $10,000 to patch up the backyard patio fence and $15,000 to install a new roof. in the end, the disabled homeowner paid over $300,000. this neighbor is stunned. >> i guess she trusted him. once somebody does a job for you, i guess they have trust. >> they are good at determining what the victim will pay. kevin: in some cases, victims lose more than a million dollars. >> that is what is so sad as they gain their trust, they confuse them, sometimes intimidate them. before long, they have taken their life savings. kevin: knighting has convictions for crimes including document fraud and identity theft. detectives say the state of virginia suspended his contractors license and in maryland he was working without one. >> i had no idea. it's just awful. i feel really bad for her. kevin: kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kellye: knighting'

kevin: kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kimberly: ahead serving others through snacks. how two women turned their personal hardships into a wildly popular food. kimberly: the university of maryland wants your stink bugs. they can have all of mine. umd is trying to collect thousands of them. if that thought makes your skin crawl, there is good news. researchers will be studying the bugs to come up with effective methods to control them. if it ever warms up. at this time, i'm not convinced. man, they are prehistoric looking. eileen: the thought of having to pick them up, capture them, and give them to the umd students, no, thank you, you can come get them from my apartment. kimberly: we do appreciate the work, though. eileen: great stuff they are doing. tomorrow will be in the 60's. it's better than the 30's and 40's. we are sitting at 43 at reagan national. the average low as 41, so we will be close to that. the wind has started to pick up out of the south that 14. that is bringing the windchill factor to about 36, but we are still dry around town. we will start to see r

kevin lewis has the story. what is going on, kevin? kevin: marches to the major-league groundskeeper what april is to a tax accountant, a hectic month. this year is worse. the nats gave the field a major facelift, with a lot of snow and record low temps. >> another cold day. kevin: nats park, the head groundskeeper feeling foul. the nhl left a mark on nats park. >> once we had the winter classic, there was no way we were coming back. all the equipment, that was four weeks. kevin: they resodded the field with lush kentucky bluegrass within a cluster of snow. >> here we are two weeks away from the first game, and it's going to go like that. : kevinkevin: today's drizzle cap to the grounds crews from working. a tart blanketed the field. -- a tarp blanketed the field. monday, april 6, is the deadline. nats bersus the mets, first pitch at 4 p.m. >> it's a waiting game and we have to be patient and know that everything will eventually come around and work in our favor. kevin: as your week and is getting underway the grounds crew will be back

kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kelly: the police are investigating a deadly pedestrian crash in montgomery county that happened at the intersection of goshen road and east village road -- east village drive. a person was taken to the hospital where he later died. the police say the 18-year-old driver was taken into custody. they are looking into whether alcohol may have played a role. the police major help identifying a man accused of indecent exposure outside of a church in manassas. they say he exposed himself to a woman and inappropriately touched another. richard reid has the video that police are hoping will help solve the case. richard question mark richard: this is just a sad a crime on church property. there are two victims, a woman standing inside of the doorway and another woman who was in the parking lot. the police have only a vague description of the suspect. as you mentioned they have surveillance video that we will see in a moment. they want you to take a close look. outside of this manassas city chu

kevin lewis, abc 7 news. alison: thank you, kevin. searchers are combing remote slopes in the french alps after nearly crashed. it is believed 150 people were killed when the german link plan went -- plane went down. the race is on to find out what caused the crash. jay korff has the latest. jay: on the picturesque alpine mountainside there is only poorer following the crash. among the 150 people presumably who perished, 67 from germany. as night fell in germany, so did tears. 16 high school students coming home from an exchange program in spain were aboard the german plane that crashed in the foothills of the french alps. all 150 people aboard are presumed dead. the town is silent. nothing is happening anymore everybody is in shock. the airbus a320 was traveling to dÜsseldorf win for reasons unclear it to send it rapidly -- when it descended rapidly. the airplane crashed in rugged the brief. -- the airplane crashed in rugged terrain, only bits of debris visible. while inconsolable relatives arrived at the dÜsseldorf airport, they t

live in northwest, kevin lewis abc 7 news. kimberly: right now in the district, people are celebrating the first full day of spring with some of the world's most iconic flowers. even though they are not quite here yet. roz plater is live inside of the warner theatre. who was on stage now? roz: kimberly, the celebration is underway. it is a packed house. on the stage is a classic orchestra musicians playing traditional japanese music. there have been a number of world renowned entertainers some jazz and classical pianists a number of pop singers and bands performing as well. all of this is to celebrate the anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossom trees from japan to the u.s. in 1912. some folks got an early start with a fitness class on the mall, jogging, paddle boating and taking in the beauty of the sites. for locals, the cherry blossom festival signals that winter is really ending and spring is on its way. again, we have the classic orchestra performing on the stage, a number of other musicians will be performing. the o

kevin lewis, abc 7 news. alison: no injuries after a metro passenger released peppers parade on a train. it happened at about 7:00 on a yellow line train near shaw station. the train stopped, passengers evacuated, medical care was offered, but everyone refused it. no word on if there was an arrest. leon: don't get too used to the springlike weather, because there is colder air whipping around. steve rudin is here with how chilly it will get. st today was a tease. the high temperature earlier this afternoon before the cold front moves through 73 degrees at reagan national. fredericksburg 74, charlottesville 75. cooler to the north, middle 60's hagerstown and frederick. the skies have cleared high-pressure overhead. tomorrow morning near freezing highs only in the upper 40's. when will we have another warm-up and what are the chances of snowflakes in the seven-day? that's coming up. alison: developing now three morgan state university football players are recovering from stab wounds after a fight on campus. the

kevin: i'm kevin lewis maureen: kevin lewis is live in bethesda where a woman from new york is charged with kidnapping a dog that belongs to a former friend. kevin: this is the case of two women at odds over a $7,000 loan. their dispute climaxed with a break in at this $1.5 million home behind me. a woman returned to her pricey home, her mercedes-benz missing. inside, no chanel purse or beloved $2000 yorkshire terrier. now for the crime. detectives say she was seeking revenge over an unpaid loan. >> i can't believe that. we have dogs here as well. kevin: days after the break-in she repeatedly help to find the missing dog in exchange for five grand. and then a call from a blocked number, the caller saying your dog is dead during 11:00 tomorrow. detectives reviewed cell phone records and found she was in bethesda on the day of the break-in incriminating because she lives 230 miles away in new york city. >> absolutely not. this is not a way to result the sort of thing. yes it takes time. taking mat your own hand does not usually end in any sort of positive result. >> people get to a break

kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kimberly: right now, a live look outside, dealing with unseasonably cold weather. some of us even getting a little bit of snow today. eileen whelan is live in the weather center with when we will see the warm-up. eileen: probably not until monday, the unseasonably cool weather taking us through the last weekend of march. , on, spring, where are you! there have been some snow showers across the region, mainly northeast of d.c. few and far between. aberdeen, light snow showers, the temperatures well below the average, 60 degrees. we are in the 30's across the board, freezing at washington dulles, but it feels colder when you factor in the wind. 19 is what it feels like in winchester and dulles, 23 degrees in lexington park. tonight, record-breaking lows are possible, especially dulles in the teens to mid 20's in the cities. near record low temperatures tonight, another cool day tomorrow, but milder as we approach 50. heading to the work week, we start to warm up. i will join you from th

kevin lewis is live with reaction to this decision. kevin? >> autria, the contention here, it's centered on proximity. this is the parking lot where cost costco wanted to build that station and right down this hill is a community pool and there's a special needs school and residential neighborhood less than 150 feet away. fear of noxious gas fumes and increased traffic were two of the main issues here and so following five years of tug of war that generated 9,000 pages of testimony and hundreds of exhibits, the montgomery county board of appeals has voted against costco one member saying his decision made easy after he learned there are 25 gas stations within a seven minute drive from where i am standing right now. that, he said, is proof the community did not need another fill-up spot. we did try speaking with costco's legal team about today's decision but it would not comment. >> our community has spent literally tens upon tens of thousands of dollars to fight this fight to this point and i think what you've seen is that a well prepared gro

i'm kevin lewis, i'll have that story after the break. leon: first here's a look at what's coming up tonight on abc. alison: "7 on your side" with the health matters report on dimentia. tonight, a study from the mayo clinic outlines a new system that may help doctors predict the likelihood of memory loss. researchers looked at the characteristics that many people who develop dimentia have in common. and they include alcoholism. early onset diabetes and smoking. scientists then came up with a scoring system that has the potential to predict dimentia risks. dimentia impacts an estimated six million americans. leon: an abc 7 update for you now. the 4-year-old daughter of cincinnati bengals player devon still got some great news today. he posted on instagram that after getting leah's scans back the doctors did not see any active disease in her body. you might remember the story. leah underwent surgery and chemotherapy to battle stage four cancers. as of now, doctors -- actually doctors found a cancerous growth in her abdomen in june. as of no

in rockville, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kimberly: new tonight, a lawyer disputes a claim by police that a california woman's kidnapping was a hoax. police were skeptical of aaron quinn's story that strangers broke into his home abducted his girlfriend and then demanded an $8500 ransom. tonight, the lawyer says huskins was kidnapped and quinn was drugged. huskins was found 400 miles away in southern california. she was unarmed. autria: coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 we can't all be as lucky as the students who were able to meet the president at this week's white house science fair. or can we? find out how you can get an audience with the commander-in-chief. kimberly: a little later, more trouble along i-95 but this time it's the southern end. look at what happens in texas. reporter: plus friends and colleagues are remembering a prince william county mother and daughter killed in a tragic plane crash. coming up we'll kimberly: really more questions than answers after investigators started listening to the flight data recorde

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kevin: i'm kevin lewis in bethesda. coming up next how chris borland's early retirement from the nfl is helping a bethesda company get out its message about the need for sensors on alison: the subject of football and head injuries back in the national spotlight after chris borland announced he's retiring after one season due to concerns about head trauma. also increasing concerns, of course, about helmet safety for student athletes as well? kevin lewis has more. >> a rookie. kevin: 49ers linebacker's chris borland's sudden divorce from the nfl. >> to me it wasn't worth the risk. kevin: an example of safety trumping salary. >> the sport needs to focus on this serious issue. kevin: greg welcomed borland's unexpected announcement. after all, his bethesda based company develops football helmet sensors that track harsh hits. >> this helmet has experienced 55 impact and if the child were to take a big hit, turn on the red warning light. sarah's son gavin played lacrosse at chevy chase high school until a serious injury last y

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis spoke with the driver whose car ended up in a precarious position teetering on a guard rail. >> whiteout conditions along 270 in frederick county. this car slammed into a guard rail another urbana while this vehicle skated into a ditch. >> i'm lucky. i'm real lucky. >> mike snyder stood tall as this ford escort rested on its side. the seat belt and sturdy guard rail kept him safe in this curious crash. >> next thing i know i'm sliding up the hill and my gosh look where i ended up on the guard rail. thank goodness it saved me from going down this ravine. >> someone pulled up next to me and they were like hey, you you got a flat. you need help? >> tyler hit a slick spot while driving in germantown nailed the concrete curb. this was the outcome. >> too slippery. my car is just not good enough to get up those kinds of hills. it's a civic. i call it a honda sled. >> planning for the worst, montgomery county deployed the entire armada of snow plows and salt trucks. drivers say they need space to do their job right. >> trying to maneuver around the traffic

kevin lewis picks up our stormwatch team coverage with more on the winter weather alert. >> flurries along rossville strike cap said drive to church or walk to sunday brunch lead and slow. drivers like this one took the time to stay safe. >> they treated it somewhat on the beltway but it is still ready icy. >> everything is really slushy. i definitely hydroplaned a couple of times. the freezing rain means every time i pass somebody, ice chips fly onto your window. >> the flurries morphed into freezing rain. reminding all of us winter has unfolded just yet. >> march 1. i know. >> is that painful to hear? what i'm thinking 20 more days of this and we are out. >> freezing rain is causing ice to form in parking lots -- sheets of ice on the parking lot floor here. the freezing rain is expected to continue into the evening and overnight -- overnight hours which could cause a treacherous commute tomorrow morning. >> that is why we will be here for you bright and early. "good morning washington" will have all of your closings and >> we are following a developing story out of the district wer

kevin lewis is live to explain why money may have spurred this squabble. kevin: this is a case of estranged friends at odds over a hefty loan. the dispute climaxed with a break in at the $1.5 million bethesda home behind me. sources tell us the 44-year-old seen in this facebook photo went her bethesda friend $7,000. after a number of years, reddy was still trying to collect $4000. police say she journeyed from the big apple to bethesda with a plan to burglarize her friend in an attempt to get even. once inside the home, she allegedly stole a chanel purse had a mercedes-benz repossessed and snatched a $3000 yorkshire terrier. days later, she received an anonymous call saying your dog is dead at 11:00 tomorrow. police say they used cellphone g.p.s. tracking data to link reddy to the dog kidnapping. >> absolutely not. no way is this a way to resolve this sort of thing. we have a court system. yes, it takes time. you can go down to the court. you can file charges civilly. you can speak with us to find out if there are criminal charges that can be pursued. but

live tonight in washington county, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon: thanks, kevin. nine people have been arrested in connection with the terror attack on a museum in tunisia and tonight, isil is claiming responsibility for that massacre. 23 people, mostly tourists, died when two gunmen started shooting and taking hostages inside the building. the siege ended when security forces stormed the building and shot the two attackers. isil released a statement today promising further attacks. join us next tuesday for roundtable discussion of the new terror threat. you can watch the countdown tuesday night at 7:00 on our sister station newschannel 8 and we'll have it on wjla.com. alison? alison: fairfax county investigators are looking into what caused a deadly two alarm house fire in springfield. four people were home when that fire started early this morning on southampton drive at rolling road. three occupants escaped with minor injuries. paul church did not survive. two local landmarks are hoping to open again after a fire overnight there. it happened in silver spring. b

i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. >> thank you, kevin. the icy conditions have kept news chopper 7 busy today. this morning, it flew over the scene of a chain reaction crash involving eight cars on the outer loop near braddock road. hours later, more problems. this time an audi had broken down and caught fire on the beltway near tysons corner. this afternoon traffic cameras caught the aftermath of a truck overturned on i-66 in gainesville. all of these crashes caused traffic delays but we have no reports of serious injuries. arlington drivers have been especially frustrated thanks to a salt shortage in the county. a 2,000 ton delivery is being unloaded right now to help crews catch up. how are the roads looking in the rest of our area? tom roussey is live with what he's seen. tom? >> and we are in northwest d.c. maureen. it is spring lane northwest, a neighbor just told us they never plow here and you can see this storm was no exception. this road has not been plowed. a lot of snow still on a little slippery too, we just saw starting to s

we are live in germantown tonight, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. >> kevin thank you. well three months after a jet crashed into a montgomery county home killing a mother and her two children those who ran into that burning home are now being recognized. and caroline tucker is live in that gaithersburg neighborhood with those first responders and their first-hand accounts. caroline? >> well alison it is quite an eerie scene here in this gaithersburg neighborhood. you can see two of the homes affected by that crash they remain condensed to this day. meanwhile, the third home that bore the brunt of the crash is leveled. meanwhile, there is a memorial that still sits here and you can see the teddy bears and first responders saying this is why this is one of the most horrific accidents they have been to in years. >> got probably one of the most unusual calls you'll get in law enforcement. respond to a jet into a house. you don't hear those very often. >> the memories of december 8th are still very clear in the minds of first responders. >> airplane parts everywhere. jet fu

but as montgomery county reporter kevin lewis explains not everyone is in favor of that plan. kevin? >> well leon consistency or lack thereof that is the issue here. these towers behind me they make up white flint which more or less want a more narrow rockville pike. but as you walk with me here we're now entering rockville city limits and the planning commission here in rockville sees rockville pike in a whole different way. rockville pike is packed. and so the city of rockville wants to rebuild the roadway from white flint to town center. most notably adding two continuous lanes in both directions. >> don't want to see anymore pavement than what's necessary. >> howard feldman is pushing for a more walkable community. he says more lanes means more problems. >> i can't imagine somebody getting caught in the middle of the light and not being able to cross and being stuck in traffic. i worry about the elderly. i worry about children crossing the street. >> so better for bikes. better for pedestrians. >> rockville's planning commission approved the controversial proposal back in

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis live in rockville with the very latest. kevin? >> and leon you might recall this case gained a lot of attention because school leaders kept epps jr. arrest record a secret. it wasn't until abc 7 broke the story. they hired epps jr. to repair cameras up in damascus. the ironic thing is here his actions, they were caught on camera. john, why did you plead guilty? >> john epps jr. chauffeured from court with dramatic flare. >> do you remember telling police in 2013 that you have impulses? >> the security camera technician seen here in december first gained notoriety after this sixth grader accused him of slapping her behind at baker middle school in damascus. >> touched my butt and he's like triple my age. >> today, for the first time, prosecutors played surveillance video of the sex assault. epps jr. sporting a bright yellow t-shirt extends his left hand and gives him a quick pat. the 12-year-old girl turns her head to scurry off in shock. >> it's creepy. >> prosecutors say epps jr. who police have arrested twice before on similar a

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis continues our live team coverage from silver spring. kevin? >> hi leon. yes, it's been 21 hours since the snow stopped falling here in montgomery county, while that may be the case, it was easy for us to find sidewalks that aren't clear. see this one for example, it may be inconvenient for someone my age but flat out dangerous for some older residents. we want you to meet a woman named diane caldwell of silver spring. diane contacted "7 on your side" to complain the sidewalk she uses to get to her bus stop along georgia avenue is totally and completely snow covered. today, the retired teacher demonstrated how she's turned her mini rolling bag to a crutch to stop from falling. we called to see who is responsible for clearing this concrete. it's the park and planning's problem. we called that agency today. it never got back in touch and at this hour, the sidewalk still covered in snow. >> we seniors are in jeopardy when we have to walk on ice to get to the bus stop. and so many of us are dependent on public transportation so safety is my main co

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis uncovered the case first on 7. he's live outside of the circuit courthouse in rockville with video of the sex assault as it happened. kevin? >> leon you might recall this case gained a lot of attention because montgomery county officials kept his arrest a total secret until abc 7 broke the story. now, they had hired the 45-year-old last fall to fix cameras at baker middle school up in damascus. ironically, this whole incident was caught on camera and today for the fist time prosecutors showed us that video of the passing period sex assault. epps jr. seen wearing a bright yellow t-shirt extends his left hand and gives a swift pat to a 12-year-old girl here she turns her head to scurry off in total shock. after watching this video, a judge sentenced epps jr. who police have arrested twice before on similar allegations to five years of supervised probation. he must also register as a sex offender here in maryland which will keep him out of schools and away from children. >> why did you plead guilty? >> when you send y

in nokesville kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, kevin. we have breaking news this hour coming in. u.s. military officials have just announced that bowe bergdahl will be discharged with desertion and mistreatment with the enemy. he was returned to the u.s. as part of a prisoner exchange last may. alison: for the first time today, we heard from the wife of a man found murdered in a d.c. hotel last month. and new details about the person of interest that police want to talk to. brianne carter is live in northwest with the new information today. brianne? brianne: alison new tonight, police are confirming the person seen here in this flyer described as a person of interest is in fact, a woman. one captured on this video here in this hotel behind us on 14th street northwest. now, this also comes as we're hearing as you mentioned for the first time from the wife of the man that was found dead inside this hotel room. today, speaking through tears, kim vuong spoke out about her husband, david messerschmitt. messerschmitt, a lawyer in d.c. was foun

kevin lewis is live in the newsroom with a story you will see only here on 7. kevin? >> well leon, police say gary knighting left his home in rappahannock county in june of 2011 and ended up on a quiet street in bethesda where he knocked on that elderly woman's front door. what happened, detectives say is three years of dramatic price gouging. this is the split level that police say gary knighting preyed on billing the home owner, i 72-year-old disabled woman for falsely, unneeded repairs. invoices show he charged one grand to trim shrubs $10,000 to patch up the backyard patio and fence and 15k to install a new roof. in the end, investigators say the disabled home owner lost $321,000. >> it's heart wrenching. >> the neighbor is stunned. >> i guess she trusted him. you know once somebody does a job, they kept coming back. >> they're very good at determining what will get the victim to hand over their money. >> police say in some cases victims lose more than a million dollars. >> that's what's so sad about these cases, they gain these people's trust. they try to confuse

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is at the live desk with the details on them. kevin? >> leon montgomery county well known for at times its unique and cutting edge legislation, so-called puppy mill and e-cigarette bans definitely fit that bill. we are talking about e-cigarette legislation first and that will restrict the sale of certain liquid nicotine and their containers in montgomery county retail stores. certain amendments were added to the bill that brought in the definition of electronic cigarette to include e cigars e hookahs and e pipes. many laws have restricted smoking in public places only a few like new jersey and utah have limited e-cigarettes. the one that sponsored this legislation said she wasn't willing to gamble with the health of young people by waiting for federal regulations. as for the puppy mill bill, that will prevent montgomery county pet stores to sell dogs or cats unless they get it from the humane organization. there are 10,000 active puppy mills in the u.s. all combined. those facilities turn out more than two million dogs a year. as it sta

lewis. kevin is live with where he found hazardous conditions for pedestrians tonight. kevin? >> hey there, maureen. like you said, 24 hours have passed since the snow stopped falling across the metro area. i can tell you we've been out throughout montgomery county all day long and it's been easy to find sidewalks still covered in snow. take this one, for example, a lot of snow but also it's given way to ice at this point. my boot can't even kick through all of it and for someone like me, my age, it's annoying for older residents that have to walk to say, a bus stop, it's flat out dangerous. >> for days on end, they've been like a solid sheet of ice. >> blasting on to her black rolling bag as if it were a steady crush. diane caldwell labors her way down this icy snow covered sidewalk. the 71-year-old retired teacher en route to this bus stop along georgian avenue. >> i've slipped and i slid. thank god i have not fallen. >> in case you didn't know, after the last snowflake falls in montgomery

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis live now to explain which side won. kevin? >> well leon this is a classic david vs. goliath pairing here. like the biblical story, the underdog in this case where costco was set to build the 16 pump mega gas station and tonight, right down this hill, only a few hundred feet away a neighborhood is celebrating. a five year battle costco vs. this outspoken neighborhood resolved at last. >> today, montgomery county's board of adjustment nixed the plans to build the gas station. karen says it could have affected this nearby special needs school, community pool and dozens of single family homes. >> our community has spent literally tens upon tens of thousands of dollars to fight this fight to this point. and i think what you've seen is a well prepared group of amateurs can indeed be with the big boys. >> public documents show there are already 25 gas stations within a seven minute drive of the wheaton mall. no need for 26 argue opponents like this. >> it is sad and disheartening that our community has put through a nightmare scenari

kevin lewis, abc7. jummy: thank you for watching this morning. you can get more traffic weather, and news updates, major impact on the fast food industry. here's abc's mara schiavocampo. >> reporter: chicken, the golden arches' golden goose in sandwiches sals and, of course those famous mcnuggets. this morning, the world's biggest restaurant chain announcing it will no longer buy chickens raised on antibiotics that are also used in human medicine. >> it's a problem in the hospital. it's a problem in the community. and antibiotics used to raise animals are part of the problem. >> reporter: health experts say the use of some antibiotics in the food chain could create dangerous superbugs linked to an estimated 23,000 human deaths in the u.s. each year and up to $20 billion in health care costs. >> them taking this step may lead to others to do the same. >> reporter: the calls for healthier safer chickens ss has been taken up by panera and chipotle. they'll completely phase in over the next two years only birds without these antibiotics in its u.s. r

montgomery county reporter kevin lewis live with reaction to the vote that we've been waiting on for years now. kevin? >> absolutely alison this is the parking lot where costco wanted to build that 16-pump gas station and right on down this hill is a community pool. there is a special needs school and dozens of single family homes. all within a few hundred feet of here. fear of noxious gas fumes and increased traffic were two of the main issues following five years of tug of war that generated 9,000 pages of testimony and hundreds of exhibits, the montgomery county board of appeals, it voted against costco. one member said his decision was made easy after he learned there are 25 gas stations within a seven minute drive from where i'm standing right now. he said that was proof that the community really didn't need another fill-up spot. now, we did try speaking with costco's legal team about today's decision but it would not give us a comment. >> i think what you've seen is a well prepared group of amateurs can defeat the big boys. >> we're definitely positive and we're definitely goin

i'm kevin lewis. coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 the judge's remarks to a nowtt2wút+o mt7 bt@qsb@ tt2wút+o mt7 "a@qcn$ tt2wút+o mt7 bm@qhe( tt4wút+o mt7" dztq kn@ tt4wút+o mt7" entq ;j tt4wút+o mt7" gzt& "mx tt4wút+o mt7" hnt& 2c4 tt4wút+o mt7" iztq xál tt4wútút+o mt7" jntq jz, tt4wút+o mt7" lzt& r7p >> a jury has now been seated, opening statements took place today in the boston marathon bombing trial. dzhokhar tsarnaev faces nearly three dozen charges in the april 2013 bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260. abc's marcy gonzalez has more. >> it was him. those blunt words today from attorneys defending accused boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev telling the jury of 10 women and eight men he was coerced into carrying out the attacks by his now deceased older brother tamerlan. the prosecution saying when the surviving suspect planted one of the bombs in the crowd two years ago killing three people and injuring more than 260 others he pretended to be a spectator but

we're live in nokesville this evening, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon: conflicting information on the crash. they were reporting that the cover of the second black box had been found with nothing inside. but investigators later disputed that fact at a press conference. as ryan nobles reports, the french government is looking for a full accounting of what went wrong. >> a black box has been found. at this very moment it's being worked on. ryan: the president of france chancellor of germany and the spanish prime minister visited the region where the plane went down. investigators are trying to determine if the crash had anything to do with terrorism. something b.e.a. the french version of the ntsb has yet to rule out. many of the gaps won't be filled until they're able to get information from the two black boxes. the cockpit voice recorder has been found but badly damaged. >> we need to know what the pilots are doing, what they were saying if they were communicating. ryan: meanwhile, the grisly task of recovering the human remains continues high in t

in rockville, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. alison: new england patriots team owner robert kraft testified today in the trial of his former star tight end aaron hernandez. kraft told the court he questioned hernandez about his involvement in oden lloyd's murder two days after it happened. hernandez allegedly said he wasn't involved and he was in a club at the time. hernandez signed a new contract with the patriots prior to that murder investigation. he was later released by the time and the defense rested its case in the boss than marathon bombing trial. defense lawyers called just four witnesses. the lawyers admitted that dzhokhar tsarnaev participated in the bombings but said his late older brother was the mastermind. tsarnaev, if convicted, could face life in prison for the death penalty. leon: you can add the district and new york state to the growing list of places banning taxpayer funded travel to the state of indianapolis understandindiana. as the governor of indiana vows to fix the law. they say it encourages discrimina

i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. >> an american who recently tested positive for ebola is now at the national institutes of health in bethesda. officials say the health care worker who is not being identified right now contracted ebola while volunteering in sierra leone in a treatment unit there. after an examination, n.i.h. doctors say the patient is in serious condition. the patient was transported to the u.s. in isolation on a chartered plane overnight. this just in from prince george's county now. home owners could soon see an increase in property taxes. the proposal to hike taxes was just announced at a budget meeting and tom roussey is live in upper marlboro with how much more people could be paying and where this money is going to go. tom? >> yeah we just attended a long press conference for the county executive here in the county building. a lot of documents they handed out, too, that we're still going through right here. bottom line is he's calling for the first time in 35 years for prince george's county to raise the property tax rate. this is video from the press conference that wr

abc 7's kevin lewis following this case and coming up at 5:00 the obstacles that neighbors say the green family was facing. leon: a d.c. police officer charged with sexually assaulting two girls remains in jail without bond. and now, we're learning more about officer darrell best's previous trouble. so bad, in fact, it led to his demotion. d.c. bureau chief sam ford was in court today and he's got the latest on the investigation. >> most of the kids, this is only meal some of them receive. other than school. so school is out. sam: when we did that piece on darrell best 15 years ago, he was sergeant over beat 711. music director of a.p. shaw united methodist church. today in d.c. superior court, he stood accused of sexual abuse of 16 and 17-year-old girls. allegations that include sex with one at police headquarters while in uniform, sex with the other one at church where at age 45, he had been pastor. today, as he tried to get out on bond, the prosecutor told the judge there could be other victims and that best was busted from sergeant to officer in 2008 for sexually harassing female emp

. >> john lewis biography of came kevin went deeply into his character and personality and interconnected it with his political and other activities. what is the deepest insight into scowcroft that you can connect with his you no his contribution to american foreign policy and american politics? >> he said to me -- this gets to his sort of dedication to national -- may be the duty, honor, country from west point but his dedication to the united states his kind of patriotism combined with his discipline. he told me once he says there is no reason to ever be selfish. i said, whatever when you get sick. he said well, okay. but to think that he is a lot in terms of foreign policy and national security. it consumes him and what he enjoys thinking about and talking about in half hours with deputy gates it really is this how he is i think, quite exceptional in that regard and really an extreme case, case, if you we will, in terms of political science terms or social science terms, he is not representative of most people. this background where he does not seek the thrill, although he has done ver

today, from the series, "the following," kevin bacon. and star of "secrets & lies," juliette lewis. plus, chef daniel boulud helps us kick off "live"'s healthy hearty cooking week. and get ready to play the new game in town. "spin into spring travel trivia." all next on "live." [captioning made possible by disney-abc domestic television] now, here are kelly ripa and michael strahan! [cheers and applause] ♪

we had house majority leader kevin mccarthy decide to attend. perhaps because there was pressure building. >> john lewis says every year he invites every member of congress. he says some of them wait very late to rsvp and there's sometimes not room for them. for instance ted cruz about two days before wanted to go and wanted to make room but there wasn't a lot of room. >> the house speaker. >> that's a head scratcher there, that it took public pronouncements about, wait there's no house leadership there. by the way, president bush was there, chairman of the rnc rsvp'd three weeks early. ae we've got a little everything a little ron, a little isis. >> a remind you can see "meet the press" every sunday on nbc4 after "news 4 today." >>> it was a reenactment more than 100 years in the making. this weeks marks 150 years since president abraham lincoln's second inauguration. yesterday people reenacted it on the steps of the monument. >> imagine if he had all the tools and political advisers too many political advisers surround themselves with would he

another lawmaker expected to be there, georgia congressman john lewis, one of the marchers attacked on bloody sunday. see him there on the ground. let's bring in cnn's athena jones, spoke recently with lewis about that day on the edmund pettis bridge. how did he describe those events athena? >> good morning, joe. i sat down with congressman lewis who talked to me about the shocking violence and the brutality he witnessed on this bridge 50 years ago today and also talked about the legacy of that historic march. >> the bridge of selma is almost a holy place. it is a place where people gave a little blood to redeem the soul of america. in this city people clearly registered to vote simply because of the color of their skin. we had to change that. >> reporter: john lewis was 25 years old. >> i can never forget what it felt like to be on this bridge on bloody sunday. we came to the highest point down below. we saw a sea of blue, alabama state troopers and behind the state troopers we saw men on horseback. so we got within hearing distance of the state troopers. >> disperse go home or go to

congressman john lewis was actually there. and he has the scars to prove it. he spoke with cnn's athena jones on the now famous bridge where history was made. >> the bridge at selma is almost a holy place. it is a place where people gave a little blood to redeem the soul of america. in this city people couldn't register to vote simply because of the color of their skin. so they had to change that. >> john lewis, who has spent almost three decades in congress was just 25 years old. >> i can never forget what it felt like to be on this bridge on bloody sunday. we came to the highest point. down below we saw a sea of blue alabama state troopers. and behind the state troopers we saw men on horseback. so we got within hearing distance of the state troopers. >> you're ordered to disperse. go home or go to your church. >> reporter: >> and the major said troopers advance. i thought over and over again they were going to arrest us. they came toward us beating us with night sticks trampling us with horses. i went down on my knees. my legs went out from under me. i thoug

but they are awe-struck when they look at john lewis and some of the old people on walkers. >> and 103-year-old amelia boynton responsible for calling dr. king. saying there is a problem in selma, people are not allowed to vote you've got to get here. and she's here today in her wheelchair. >> in her wheelchair at 103 years old and just radiant. so the president comes into this moment he's not speaking to this crowd. he's not. he is speaking to history. he's speaking to the ages. and, you know -- his daughters with him. i don't think people understand how important that is to the obama family. >> this is intentional for the president to include the entire family. >> for the entire family to be here. he gives speeches all of the time the girls don't come. he wanted them to be here he wanted them to be able to be a part of history and to understand you have to be here to feel the energy. there is an electricity here. >> there is. >> there is something about coming to selma that you have to experience. and so that's important for him as a father to have his young girls here to take them t