sam sweeney shows how to help make the plan. sam: dupont circle is an iconic landmark but underneath the circle is a place few have seen. >> it is spooky actually. people used to stand here to wait for the trolleys to go to work. sam: but for the better part of the last century the gate has been closed. >> it used to be a lively place. lively part of the city. sam: now the group dupont underground is trying to bring life back to the abandon corridor. >> you want to turn the space to an amazing art space. a place open to open thinking. zach right now rail line and creeking pipes, 6 of 50,000 plastic balls that used to call national building museum home are in hundreds of boxes that line the abandoned track. dupont underground believe the balls will change the art scene in the capital. >> having a creative economy and art is critical to having a world class city. >> they need proposals. you think you have an idea of what to do with the balls under dupont circumstance? you have a week to get the idea in. d.c. underground needs mone

sam sweeney takes a closer look at all the new developments. sam: the director of the fbi himself put out a personal message to the american people about why apple should unlock the iphone of the suspected san bernardino shooter. also overnight, the ceo of apple sending a mass e-mail to employees, thanking them for their continued support and reiterating why it is important they do not unlock that phone. the iphone belonging to a san bernardino shooter has started a national conversation over digital privacy. fb the american people deserve a thorough and professional investigation, and to do that the fbi needs apple to unlock the phone. the fbi currently has the cell phone in its custody but it is stuck at the lock screen and they need the four digit pin to get in, where police believe there could be a treasure trove of information. he goes on to say, we do not want to break anyone's encryption or send a master key loose on the land. i hope thoughtful people will understand that. we cannot look for survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirr

sam sweeney is live. what are you seeing in waverly? witnesses say the tornado came out of nowhere and as fast as it came, it was gone. it started in the southwest, came through this field, snapped this power pole, and slammed this house before continuing to town, everything in its path destroyed. by the time it lifted off the ground, three people were dead. >> we hear tornado, tornado. going off. sam: this man was working on the railroad when he heard a tornado alert 90 seconds before the storm touched down in front of him. >> everything is gone, everything is gone. came up over the small town of waverly, virginia, mother nature's fury was evident. dryers in this laundromat were tossed like toys. the path of destruction ripped the side of this home out and blew out windows on main street, before it moved out of town. it killed three people in this mobile home, including a two-year-old child. town,is very sad for this a small town like us. >> it was almost like something out of a movie. sam: back to work railroad, but with a new perspec

sam sweeney just stepped out of that meeting. what can you tell us? sam: a lot is going on here at wmata headquarters. metro board members just grilled staff in that room. the initial findings incident, a breakdown of communication between two people who are now both at fault. at least four safety measures failed during this incident. the train was told to stop it federal triangle, but the operator did not hear the command correctly. protocol calls for the train to repeat the instruction back to eliminate error. he repeated what he thought he heard and the controller replied affirmative despite it being the wrong command. then the train operator went through a red light. operators do but usually go through red lights, but they first must stop and ask for specific position to go through it. the operator never asked. metro calls that a direct violation. and the switch in the track set up for this particular situation was incorrect. the operator of the train should have recognized that. he continued going, causing damage to the track. the final safety ne

sam sweeney. jummy: ok, sam, thank you. also happening, and alert for drivers around the district to the d.c. national guard is hosting a response exercise. reporter: we are at the d.c. fire academy where we are watching rescue situation. this is training for these rescuers were there to be a mass casualty or terrorism attack. joining me is the logistics chief for the virginia national guard. write it down for me here. what is going on? d.c. nationalthe guard and pennsylvania national guard, responding to a simulated terrorist attack for series of attacks throughout the d.c. area. jeannette: for somhi especially important because you have so many people and were there to be an attack, you want to be ready to go. >> we have so many people and also so many buildings. you think of a small earthquake, it would affect a lot of people. because of city streets and tunnels, they can extract people from just the rubble but also they know the infrastructure in the area. when we are in d.c., we get to see all that. jeannette: thank yo

i'm sam sweeney. many other school districts across the region are also closed or starting late because of the snow. you can get all those delays and cancellations sent to your cell phone. let's see how the roads are looking. angela foster is checking on the impact traffic is having. angela: you will have to deal with roads for a mostly. and the wintry mix that is coming down in some of the region. look out for slow-moving traffic. we are actually looking pretty good. on the beltway for the most part. we have just reopened lanes in pg county. on the outer loop, everything is moving at posted speed. a live look at fairfax county. no delays through the area of springfield and annandale. we had bands of snow coming through sterling. route 7.ok at north of montgomery county is where we have the heavy snowfall. i-270, weavel into by are seeing snow as well. now to the final push in new hampshire. voters are lining up to cast their votes in the presidential primary. this is a critical moment in the race. th

sam sweeney is live in fairfax county. it is certainly a balmy afternoon and it does not feel like a day were student to get a two-hour delayed start to school, but that is the case of many school districts across our area. and fairfax county, the buses hit the streets after more than a week. and nearly everyone is going back to school today, but not on time. in northern virginia, fairfax -- lounge county pushed back loudoun county pushed back start time two hours, fauquier county one hour. a weekend evaluation showed many sidewalks and crosswalks were still in passable nine days after the snow stopped falling. some parents agreed that others say enough is enough. >> i do not see a deal a. i am a realtor and i have been on the roads. they are clean, not a problem. surprised butwas i think that with the sidewalks and some of the kids, it has not been cleared yet, it is hard for them to stand at the bus stop. we traveled around earlier and many of the sidewalks are cleared. school officials say there are still some sidewalks

sam sweeney, abc 7 news. jummy: now we move to a happy ending for a dog rescued fairfax county. the dog fell through nice --ice about 10 feet from the shore. rescue teams arrived in under 10 minutes. they found the dog struggling over able to quickly jump in and pull the puppy to safety. medics was evaluated by on the scene and turned over to the owner with no injuries. we should see some help from the sun today. warming is to the 40's. brian is here with a look at your first forecast. brian: we have gone through a couple of ups and downs as of late. today things are finally calming down for sure. we had clouds this morning. we also had a few more clouds starting to build back in. we kind of go back and forth between the clouds in the sunshine. we are definitely warmer to the south. 44 culpeper. 45 at andrews. hagerstown at 38. as we head of the afternoon we may peak have the upper 40's to near 50. they might drop back a little bit throughout the afternoon. we see some clouds moving in. we are looking at a cooler stretch thursday will be a bit cooler. if you can hang in there, 6

sam sweeney, abc 7 news. jummy: the beltway crash snarled traffic for most of the morning. jeannette reyes has a look at how that impacted metro. reporter: that accident on the beltway having some major ripple affects. the twinbrook metro station, this is one of the buses that is getting here nearly an hour late. it was about to get here around 8:25. a lot of passengers wondering what was going on. happening. inot of the buses caught up the traffic on those sidestreets along with those other cars trying to avoid the congestion. listen to what a frustrated rider. told us this morning >> i have been here forever and i am cold. 20 minutes per bus. i have been here since the 8:25 bus. the 8:55 bus is also almost 20 minutes late. i guess that one should be here any minute now. were the the rails best bet to get to work or school this morning. everyone was at least slightly affected by this major crash on the beltway that tied up traffic for the better part of the morning. jeannette reyes, abc 7 news. jummy: now to the race for the white house. what could be a key endorsement for

i will hand it over to sam sweeney. what are you seeing on your end? sam: it is unbelievable how much the weather has changed from this morning to now. rain has pulled away. hopefully the last bands have moved out of the city. few people a trickling off. it has been the same situation all morning. officecoming into the late. some people just chose to stay home. this morning, ice, snow. it was a miserable morning commute. around 6:00, warmer temperatures moved in. at one point, it jumped 19 degrees and less than two hours. melting alle in, the snow and ice. the delays may be great for federal workers and students, it is a punch to the stomach for a lot of the businesses in downtown. this truck i started was started not more than three months ago. i have been dead. i am thinking about going out of business. if the weather does not change soon for me, i do not know how to pay for my bills. sam: it is a struggle for these people who depend on federal workers downtown every day. is, the news snow, ice, moving out of here. that is the latest live from d.c..

reporting live in manassas, sam sweeney, abc 7 news. hundreds of people gathered to remember the fallen officer last night. withormer marine reservist a masters degree in forensic science was sworn in on friday and killed on her first day on the job. services will be held in her honor in her hometown in massachusetts. we will tell you how the victims are being remembered. super tuesday is just one day away. there's a lot of focus here in the commonwealth. donald trump is in radford, virginia right now. campaign rally. been rampings have up attacks, including the front runners refusal to denounce an endorsement from former kkk member david duke. we cannot nominate someone who refuses to condemn white supremacist. s. jummy: translator tweeted he disavowed david duke. trump for notred releasing his tax returns that he and senator rubio have. bernie sanders is hoping to steal back some momentum from hillary clinton. she is also campaigning in the commonwealth today. john gonzalez is at george mason university with details. john: riding the

sam sweeney first brought you this as breaking news. he is live with new details. the police chief here in prince george's county calls this a profoundly sad day. the state's attorney says it's one of the worst days they can imagine. there,yond that car over a two-year-old girl was found shot in her car seat. her mother, a 26-year-old former teacher was also found shot dead on the ground. the 2-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where she later died. dozens of law enforcement officers are combing the area. we don't know why this happened or who police are looking for. sources tell us this was likely a domestic situation. possibly some sort of custody battle. >> the notion that someone would be bold enough to take the life of a child, to take the life of a young woman and think that there would not be consequences is simply unacceptable in prince george's county. >> we will spare no resource in holding that individual accountable. bringing that person to justice. that thisg the signal is absolutely unacceptable in any civilized community that a child should be kil

sam sweeney explains a local startup matches you with locally owned restaurants. sam: the newest app to sweep the d.c. area. it's called spotluck. >> we have a full-fledged belief we will change how people dine locally. sam this started in a basement. thomas left a day job to start spotluck with friends in the basement of his bethesda home. it's the opposite of the dreaded uber surge pricing. this app specializes in the discount pricing with the tap of your screen and spin at the wheel, you will save between 10-35% the next time you eat out. >> we fundamentally felt prices in a restaurant tuesday at 2:00 p.m. when it's raining friday at 6:00 p.m. >> you can call it supply and demand for the restaurant industry. fewer the people the bigger discount might be. idea is catching on. '% in people in d.c. use -- 50% of the people in d.c. use it. >> i went to get wings in leesburg and we paid $8. we got 20 wings. awesome. >> businesses are taking note. >> even the influx of the people on a slow rainy tuesday use the app, those people wouldn't here if it wasn't for the app

police believe about them -- victim was targeted, but as sam sweeney explains, the entire neighborhood is really shaken up. sam: good afternoon. it is quiet right now in the courtyard of the southpointe apartment complex here in prince george's county, but earlier this morning it was a much different situation. who live, residents inside these buildings, say gunshots ran out at about 12:30 a.m. panic ensued. people came outside, and then police flooded in. >> you cannot describe it, because when i last saw him, he was alive, breathing. the she was one of many in apartment complex who will covertly this morning to gunshots. >> i heard shots. they were echoing, so i know it is close. i could hear the eco it was in the building. he was outside, in front of the door. afterolice showed up just 12:30 this morning, found a man wounded from gunshots. they rushed into the hospital, but it was too late. >> everyone ran outside to call for help. he was laying on the ground. he was breathing, like -- if the amulet would have got here sooner, -- ambulance would have got here sooner, he would have l

i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. maureen: u that. d.c. utility regulators struck down controversial $6.8 billion proposal to merge the city electric supplier with exelon. leon: the deal is not exactly dead. it's still very much alive. d.c. bureau chief sam ford on the story and is live with the new conditions set by the public service commission. tell us about it. sam: leon, maureen, i would call it tweaking. more oversight and more putting things ou so for a lot of people it seems that the supporters are happy, the opponents are not. >> the chair votes yes, the motion is carried. sam: the cheering on the yes vote rejecting the pepco-exelon merger came too soon. minutes later the board held another vote saying if pepco-exelon agreed to change certain provisions that the board didn't like in two weeks the deal would be approved automatically. that passed. to the ire of deal opponents. >> we have a well functioning financially stable company that does distribution. now we are going to tie ourselves to the ma mom money-lose -- mammoth, money

sam sweeney was the first on the he hashis morning and the strange details to the story this afternoon. it was a frightening and bizarre situation this morning. a man pulled up to the reston hospital with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. he gets out of his car, tries to go into the hospital, but the door was locked because this is a nonemergency entrance. he then pulls out a gun and shoots at the glass, breaking the glass and getting inside the hospital. hospital staff quickly rushed to help the man. as they tried to treat him, he pulled out the gun again and fired. luckily, no one was hit. security rushes to the lobby, they are able to talk to the man and get him to surrender. putting the gun down, they stabilize him and taken to the hospital. police are praising the hospital staff for a textbook style response. could have been worse, it could have been a tragic situation. ispital staff, from what overused sometimes but i'm told it was heroic actions. they confronted the guy, convinced him to put the weapons down, he did so and they got what they needed. >> it remains unclear why the ma

. -- sam: i am sam sweeney in springfield. i drive to the hoop. i drive a racecar. i have a driver. his name is carl. but that's not what we all have in common. we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xarelto® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. you know, taking warfarin, i had to deal with that blood testing routine. i couldn't have a healthy salad whenever i wanted. i found another way. yeah, treatment with xarelto®. hey, safety first. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bl