. >> tomorrow paul wiedefeld will testify on u.s. capitol hill before the oversight committee. >>> donald trump will go on the road today. he and mike pence will make trips in ohio. trump reached a deal with a company to keep nearly 1,000 outsource the jobs to mexico. his event kicks off a thank-you tour. >>> it will be the last time as the obamas light the tree as the first family. you can start arriving at 3:00. you have talent like before you head out, be sure to leave a few items at home. >> if you're coming from home, leave it all at home. leave your bags, your umbrellas at home. none of that will be allowed on site. >> now, drivers, this will impact the evening rush in the district. take a look at the closures that will take effect starting at 2:30 in the afternoon. most closures should be lifted by about 7:00 p.m. we've posted the list of other tree lightings on the nbc washington's facebook page. >> breaking new this morning in "first4 traffic" and a major problem. we have a fatal crash investigation under way here. clara bar

an opening ceremony with local transit officials, including metro g-m paul wiedefeld, is set for ten this morning. the redskins ay hopes - taking a big hit this morning. the skins fell short to cam newton and the carolina panthers at fed-ex field last night. and now their season is on the line. robert burton has more. after a roller coaster temperature ride - we've finally reached the end! week ahead. coming up - the warm-up on the way today and tomorrow. - quiet weather for ♪ ♪ ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gla250 for $329 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. - - rain chance saturday and again next tuesday - - no major winter storms to slow holiday travel tuesday: sunny skies, still chilly high: 40 winds: calm to north 5 mph tonight: clear & cold, light wind lows: 24-30 winds: north 5-10 wednesday: mostly sunny & nice, seasonable highs: 44-49 winds: north 5-10 mph looking to grab those last minute holiday shopping the things you should

. >> tomorrow paul wiedefeld will testify on u.s. capitol hill before the oversight committee. >>> donald trump will go on the road today. he and mike pence will make trips in ohio. trump reached a deal with a company to keep nearly 1,000

now, paul wiedefeld wants thets cut backs to last for two t years but d.c. officials are pushing back hard.ard. ward two councilman jack evans says he'll not accept time frame. so, this would be something beot that general manager paul wiedefeld says is absolutelyy unacceptable and won't put the t system back into the good repair that he and federaler officials say it needs to be. so, later councilman jackman evans said that he would now wow consult with mayor bowser toto see what they want to do.o d also wants to let you know aaa midatlantic is weighing in ongn this putting out a statement ste yesterday saying essentiallyenay now been voted on willill basically hurt d.c. businesseses and mean higher traffic in the d.c. region as people usee use their cars instead of using public transportation.rtatn. also aaa saying that this is something again a call foror d.c. maryland and virginia to t get their act together when it t comes to coming up with dedicated funding for the for t metro system but now we have h two weeks to go until the fullhl board meeting. mee

it comes on one year anniversary of when metro manager paul wiedefeld took over. wiedefeld sold a progress report from the last year and gold of 2017. accomplishments lehigh lighted savory repairs, rail cars and budget cuts. >> it's amazing to me to see the transformation occurring out there on the system. feel it as much. but the reality is you know, literally the miles of work we have done it's unbelievable. >> as for next year, wiedefeld hopes to finish more safety work and cut scheduled track delays by 50% and work to fix the limited cell service in tunnels. >> coming up at 10. monday's attack at ohio state university was it inspired by isis. the leads the fbi is looking into tonight. >> and you're looking at brand new video f carolina where protesters are taking to the streets after a police officer was cleared in the shooting death of a plaque man. more on the ruling after the strong s heart... and restoring a father's faith. stronger is being a typical kid... despite a rare disorder. stronger is seeking answers and not giving up until you find them. because

metro general manager paul wiedefeld ha underground wi-fi at all metro stations. this is a major expansion based on positive rider feedback. will be ablers to use their phone to call for help in an emergency at all underground stations. we want to get a check on the traffic. going to start with a look at 95 in virginia, again, today, slow southbound. the look of the southbound lanes of 95, south of the beltway, pretty heavy and slow. towards the heading occoquan, very heavy and slow. towards prince william parkway, it is getting a little better. a little further down, south into stafford time once again today on 95. blockinggomery county, two lanes, here is the jama. jummy: thousands of americans are dealing with holiday travel troubles. blizzard conditions are causing problems from western states through the midwest. in the dakotas, near whiteout conditions have left more than down.les of highways shut authorities issuing a no travel advisory. parts of north carolina, cars are careening off ice covered roads. in nebraska, wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour caused

news 4 has learned that metro's good morning paul wiedefeld has a series of points to make, among them that safetrack is not over budget and also, too, that they are following federal guidelines with their repairs. we broke all of this on twitter where news 4's scott mcfarland and adam tuss tweeted insight into the congressional hearing involving metro, ntsb and scott quote, cooperative partner. adam tweets wiedefeld has 13 pages of remarks including an announcement of more than 150,000 grace period credits. now today's hearing does come after yesterday's metro committee vote to shorten service over two years to ramp up repairs and that, of course, did lead to it tensions at the table and that is because to move forward that measure requires the vote of the full metro board and t also face a veto from the d.c. contingent. erika and eric, back to you. >> justin fitch live on capitol hill thank you. >>> crews will be working on four of the six lines. here's what you need to know about this. starting tonight trains will run every 24 minutes on orange silver and blue lines. safe track work

paul wiedefeld was asked if punishment was on the way. >> what i did immediately was once i basically got informed about what we were hearing and what we were seeing, i started a criminal investigatio prosecutors. that investigation is still open. i do not want to comment further on that. >> reporter: so, obviously, there is a lot of inside at that hearing but a lot of people at home are fired up. i want to show you a post on our facebook. brett davis said, quote, the inspectors that did this should be arrested and charged with endangering the lives of the metro riders. we want to hear from you. if you want to join the conversation, send us your >>> president-elect donald trump picked retired u.s. marine corps general james mattis to be the defense secretary. to be confirmed first congress will have to grant the general a waiver. marley hall is outside trump tower in new york with more. >> don't let it outside of this room. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump leaked a secret during a victory tour rally in cincinnati thursday night. we are going to dog matis as our secretary of d

metro's general manager paul wiedefeld will discuss these developments more tomorrow on fox5 a news morning at 8:00 a.m. > facebook fights line.ke news stories that have a tv star. you see that guy there on the right, does he look familiar, a little bit like tony perkins, > facebook is cracking down on fake news, the social media network say itself it's partnering with outside fact checkers. facebook is also making it easier for you to report fake news. if enough users say a story is paying, the network will pass it to those third-party fact checking organizations. those that can't pass the fact checking will not be removed in ted they will be flagged as disputed and they'll be pushed down lower in the news feed. they need to do something. dozens of fairfax county students got a special stria's today. take a b is ac. one of the stars of the big bang theory. she presented the students with brand new laptops. not just an actress, she also has a ph.d. in neuroscience and says it is more important than ever for kids to learn about science and technology. to

happening today - metro general manager paul wiedefeld in the hot seat on capitol hill. this, as federal investigators are raising new questions about the troubled agency's inspections. sam sweeney is live on the hill this morning. fairfax county girlfriend -- by setting her on fire. a tip. delores williams died wednesday night -- 12 days after she was brutally attacked. a prince george's county police officer is charged wtih assault and misconduct in office. officer juan hernandez was just indicted-- accused of chasing someone in his cruiser-- then striking him with it! that happened back in june. the man recovered. hernandez, an 11 year veteran of the force, had been suspended after the incident. for the third day, the funeral caravan for fidel castro is making it's way enroute to the cuban leaders's final resting place - santiago de cuba. along the way - hundreds of thousands of people line the streets to pay their respects, part of 9 days of mourning. castro's funeral is set for sunday. president obama will not send an official delegation, but two obama administratio

i'm paul wiedefeld, chief executive officer of the washington metro. i want to thank chairman mica, who has a long and distinguished career. thank you for your service, sir. immediately upon joining metro last year, we went to work to restore public confidence by improving safety and secure and making service more reliable. as we work to improve metro, i have sought to and will continue to make clear to our customers and employees the entire region that safety comes before service. the safe track program to safety overservice. the plan significantly expands maintenance, time weeknights, weekdays, including 15 major surges. as i detailed in my written testimony, we have implemented a number of other programs to continue to improve customer and employee safety as well as the customer experience. to sustain this progress going forward, we have proposed a preventative maintenance program to the wmata board. we are asking an additional eight hours a week to do preventative maintenance inspections on the system. the goal of the preventative maintenance progr

metro general manager paul wiedefeld was in attendance and made it clear he's not on board with the recent tweet by jackie jeter. she suggested that metro passengers somehow share the blame for metro's problems. our focus is on what we do. we're here to serve the customers. that's our job. we have to make sure we provide the best product we can. we're trying new things that you everything that we can do for them. that's our job. today's inspection took place just days after the federal transit administration told congress metro was improving but it added there's still a lot more work to be done. 3, 2, 1, look at that. pretty, pretty, pretty. the rain didn't dampen the holiday spirit on capital while tonight. dozens of people came out for the annual lighting of the capital house speaker paul ryan besided over the count down. the 8 # 0-foot spruce was. it will be lit every night until christmas night. i think the ' lit past christmas day, too. it's over. unfortunately there's been a lot to see outside today. did you feel the umbrellas. at least it wasn't terribly cold. although it wasn't com

at's what metro is callingal their safety initiative on the one year anniversary of wheniver paul wiedefeld took over. o >> wiedefeld shared a progress r his goals for 2017. now, as far as accomplishmentsrs he highlighted safety repairs,rs new rail cars and budget cuts. >> it is amazing to me to seeee the transformation that is occurring out there on the system. i know thatin yg heou don't sitr feel it as much but the b the reality is, you know, literally the miles of workk that we've done, it's just unbelievable.unev >> as for next year, wiedefeldre hopes to fin work, cut unscheduled tracked ta delays by 50 percent and work ar to fix the limited self s service in tunnels -- cell-el service in tunnels. tunnels >> coming up, we're learningrn disturbing details about thatboa deadly plane crash in cra colombia. >> a temple built more thane tha 650 years ago is discovered in mexico city. >> as we head to break right hea now here's a live look outside o across the d.c. region. reg 4:51 is the time. the temperature is 56.mper y beauty treatment. what made their skin more radiant? what?! wait! onl

all of thishi considers general manager paul wiedefeld's budget plan which includes raising fares. they're launching a new campaign called "back to good." >> we're going to look at delays due to track issues, car issues, and we're going to improve their environmental, particularly in the stations. >> tomorrow wiedefeld will trump and mike pence will make stops in indiana and ohio. the president-elect is expected to make an announcement in indianapolis at the carrier plachblt he made a deal with the company to keep 1,000 jobs in the state. they planned to outsource to mention koechlt. >>> the first lady will never run for office, that's what president obama is telling "rolling stone" this to get into politics. the #michelle2020 started tweeting after the elections but the president did say he and his wife will continue to be active in public service once they leave the white house. the president says michelle obama, his wife, is one of the most talented people she's ever known, but she's just to smart to do this. >> that's one of the sad things about the first lady. that's sort of a

wiedefeld cut back on that service.ma it used to snatageyback opene ou 3 a.m. he says no more of this late night service because we needsee time for safe track.afe tra safe track will be donefe track sometime next summer they're w trying to figure nex out will ow service be restored but paul pau wiedefeld says no, we're notwe'r going to go back to things the way they were saying thatg t metro does need to claw backo cb eight more -- carve out eightig more hours in the special much schedule to makeur inspections and maintenance gets done on those tracks. we know that was part of the cause of the problemone that bef was not having enough right of o way access to do the minutes the and -- maintenance inspections.insp overwhelming there was oneelmi proposal that everyone even though most people said we prefer not to see service cutvi but if we have to have serviceic cuts this is the one that wene e would be willing to accept and what that looks like would bee 11:30 p.m. and then friday and a saturday from 5:00 a.m. -- friday is 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., saturday 7:00

nonetheless, a metro board general manager paul wiedefeld's proposed plan if approved by tht full board would go into place july 2017 next july whent july safetrack is over.sa here's whattr the new hours woud look like.ik 5:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. monday a through thursday.rs 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. o friday. seven to 1:00 a.m. objectt saturday. 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on p.mon sunday that does allow thatha extra eight hours a week fork fr maintenance and inspections that wiedefeld wanted but dcut officials are pushing back hardr jack evans yesterday during this meeting saying he might veto. >> we are not willing to goo beyond a year. so you can pass mr. augustine's resolution, and at the end ofnd this meeting i will n the the general manager and the boardoa that we intend to exercise our juries dick al veto at the board meeting.me then we go back to 3:00 o'clock immediately. it's not a threat, mr. goldman.n position of the district oft o columbia.lu >> there's no way we're going to have this preventative maintenance program and up and d running and get real data back k in a year. in it's

all this as they considerate paul wiedefeld's plan to raise fares. they're launching a new campaign called "back to good." >> we're going to put a much greater emphasis on customer experience particularly with regard to reducing the number of delays due to track issues, the delays due to car issues, and their environment, particularly in the stations. >>> tomorrow he'll testify on the capitol hill before the u.s. house oversight committee. >> all right. good news if you need to get those christmas lights up. the rain is moving out but do it fast. a closer look at what to expect when we check back in with "storm team 4's" meteorologist chuck bell. >>> did the train carrying the brazilian soccer team run out of fuel. what we're learning. >>> and right now chopper 4 o on this problem. clara barton parkway, a section ?? ?? >>> breaking news. we're seeing traffic move. soon. at least one seconds here has reopened. so we're going get more details on that one and tell you what's going on here in just a second. southbound 295 at nannie helens avenue, new cra

senior leaders will be there, including paul wiedefeld. this meeting starts at 9:00. mysteries in the country is a step closer to being solved. what happened to the water in flint, michigan? the case is tied to our own backyard. is it time for donald trump to sell? the one loophole that might let ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? - i am the power of one. - i am the power of one. - we are the power of one. - by agreeing to have my... both: our... - novec power bill rounded up each month. - my few cents... - added to my few cents... both: added to our few cents... - add up to help improve lives in the local community. - support operation round up by having your novec power bill rounded up to the next dollar. - that's the power of your small change added to others'. - sign up today at novec.com. larry: find that coat once again. veronica: it is chilly out there right now with colder air for the upcoming weekend, an awesome weekend in the first half. mid-40's here, down south as well, but at least three quarters of the country, that will be the continued trend this beltsville, district heig

metro general manager paul wiedefeld said the transit authority needs the cuts to begin preventive maintenance programs when safetrack comes the new hours would start july 1 and last until july 1, 2019. however, the d.c. mayor and the counsel do not support the cut for two years. the board chairman and the d.c. councilmember jack evans said he could use the veto on the measure when it goes to the full board. >> talk to the mayor and the counsel how to proceed here. >> this is not a perfect way forward but a pretty good one. if the district used the veto given this being reasonable and t completely against the spirit. brianne: the committee passed additional buss to supplement the late night rail service on the weekend. this is just a committee vote. it will go to the full board in two weeks. coming up tonight at 5:00, we have more on what the d.c. mayor's reaction is to the committee vote. at metro headquarters, brianne carter, abc7 news. jonathan: president-elect donald trump getting ready to move in the white house. will he have to cut financial that is the opinion of some legal experts who

now general manager paul wiedefeld and transit un federal transportation officials are testifying, there's barbara comstock. the ntsb is telling the panel that maryland, virginia and d.c. could lose $15 million in federal funding because of wamata's oversight. listen to the fight about federal funding. >> federal government is the primary stakeholder in this that federal support for metro is commensurate to its fundamental reliance on the system. as federal stakeholders, i think our organizing principles should be the fate yur of metro cannot be an option. >> so the hearing is still going on, our mark segraves is there and he's been tweeting from the room. he tweeted that representative mark meadows from north carolina, lashed out at the fda saying how many people have to the fta being the federal transit administration. follow mark's tweets and follow our nbc washington app. we'll have updates throughout the day. >>> meanwhile, a proposal to cut metro hours remains unresolved, despite a committee vote yesterday. the committee voted to slash service hours for two full years to allow more t

we asked the general prognosisser paul wiedefeld about what he thought about that. he had a very different take one the union president. our focus is on what we do. we're here to serve the customers. that's our job. our we have to make sure we're can. we're trying new things that you've seen here. the passengers deserveenge everything that we can do for them.them metro union spokesperson gotokes back to us today.y. they said they understood thee reaction to that tweet by p tw jackie jitter.tter they said she has simply gotten frustrated during a conversation about metro's challenges and did not mean to suggest passengers that all stakeholders, thee government, metro, the union, passengers that everybody will move forward and try to advocate for more finances for the system. we're live in greenvilleee tonight. > there is some good news for metro riders, maybe not good news for all passengers. you can now get a cellphone ciggal. they launched commercial on about a one .1 million stretch. blue, orange and silver lines.n. metro signed a contract back inb 2008 for the ca

the neglect over the years got us brad: paul wiedefeld telling us the one thing that comes out of the session like that is the realization that everybody now trying to make metro better again. brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you. you can get text alerts on metro from abc7 news. info on your phone. alison: two men are on the run but a man is dead after a homeowner thought back against people he said tried to force their way in a home in culpeper. this happened in the 13400 block of woodland church road. >> they checked for the evidence marker and used a k9 unit. >> someone shot down the road. >> 6:00 thursday evil 18-year-old amber came knocking, asking the homeowner for help with a broken down car. the homeowner decined caring for an adult disabled son. then they returned with 21-year-old jones who forced his way inside. >> jones made entry in the residence and struck the homeowner on the head. >> then there was a violent the weapon. >> mr. jones then began to get a nave out of ra drawer in the kitchen. >> there were multiple gunshots. jones wounded once collapsed and later died

paul wiedefeld will thereby talking about what they'll do to improve reliable of of the fleet. >> two days away until grand opening of mgm grand hotel and cassie even owe national hosh or. it is so pretty. >> doors on for the first time 11 p.m. thursday and " will thereby. traffic most slirn will thereby too. it will be a big issue. bob barnard will take us inside the traffic xhapd center at 7:30 this morning. >> i was out there last week very pretty. >> more coming up 7:30 and amtrak teaming up with universal for a pets ride free promotion celebrating dvd release of secret life of pets. they'll be able to ride for free this friday toy march of this year. got a nice window couple of dogs and cats must number carrier and cannot weigh more than 20 pounds but they can ride for free as long as you do it now. >> suppose you have three under 20 pounds. take three people with you. >> going on a trip, guys. >> northern virginia elementary school known for energy saving features is in the spotlight today. department of energy officials will tour school in lar ling ton to launch new program to

tomorrow morning, paul wiedefeld will be a guest right here on fox morning. he will discuss the brand rail system and the firing of f six employees. you can catch it right here on fox5. > can you you spot a reel from a fake? in the world of social media where fake news is rampant appears many can't tell what is factor fiction knowledge theicti attack on comic ping upon in d.c. after much pressure facebook says it found out a way to filter out the fake news from your feed. >> facebook is now calling onn traditional news outlets to help spot a fake. the social network says it will focus on the worst of the worst offenders and is partnering witt a network of fact checkers. outlets like the associated press and fact checker. org and that list is likely to expand. it doesn't start with the journalist, it starts with youwh anybody who is on facebook. if you take a look on the screen, if there is a post you suspect to be a fake article yoe click on the upper ri we've done this before. now it gives you the option to report it as a fake news story.. now facebook is ta

metro gm paul wiedefeld says thy system is safer since safetracka work began in june but it stelll needs more time. >>> create more time metro proposed cutting service hoursvu but this is not popular with dc lawmakers. >> last night a board meeting in the distt rict ga ot pretty heaa about how and when and where toe make those service cutbacks. fox5's melanie alnwick live inii northwest now with more.wi m good morning. >> reporte ysys. that hearing on the hill ishe h playing into this controversyonv over how and when to cut backac metro service hours or whetherhe it is going to happen.appe really a test of wills going on right now between the metro board, metro general manager ana d.c. leaders who are vehementlyy opposed to the plan that general manager paul wiedefeld says is so necessary in order to meet te the house's expectations, thehe department of transportation'sio expectations, federal oversight reliable metro service.vice. here is the plan that was approved by the committee lastes night with a strong descension e from d.c. members of thatrs o committee. so they're saying that he

he is also the board chairmanma and has said he only wants any a one year while paul wiedefeld says he'd like these cuts toutst last for two years.ears that becomes the big questionst today. to what is the committee going to i do about it? committee could cd vote it in or they can try to to make some changes. chaes what you really don't want to have is a situation where the board chairman and the d.c. delegation ends up vetoing the bill altogether and then youyou have to go back to the drawingng board what paul we'd field going to do trying to restore metroret back to good working order.rder. again, this is just a first fir vote, a committee votee would have to go to the full committee but there could be some, l could be changes today.y matt ackland is inside and he'll be following this for you guysss later today.la back to you guys.o you guys >> mel, thanks very much. the fear if you do itfearf yo temporarily would you ever goy o back to extendinguld the hoursu again or would it just be the t kind of thing, okay, we're usedw to it now, why change. c >> once you let it out that's it. it.

that does allow that many extra eight hours a week fora maintenance and inspectionsnancp that paul wiedefeld said wasec w needed to keep the system in amn state of good repair after the intensive care is done. don now, wiedefeld said he wants was the service cut backs to lastast for two years but d.c. officials are pushing back hard. hard ward two councilman and metro board chairman jack evers says s he will not accept that time th frame. >> we are not willing to gowill beyond a year. mr. augustine's resolution and at the end of this meeting i will inform the general manager and the boa irdnf that w intend to exercise ournten jurid sdictional veto at the vhe board meeting and then we go back to 3 o'clock immediately.ie and it's not a threat, mr. goldman.go it is what i. >> [inaudible] >> no. >> [inaudible]inau >> it is the position of the district of columbia.uma. >> there's no way we're going g have this preventive maintenance program up and it's just not realistic.eali >> reporter: so, jack evansac e says that he will now go back and consult with the mayor and the city council to see reall

the metro gm paul wiedefeld says it's what the system needs. >> two years is tough to swallow. it's up to the district. we can back to the late night hours of 3:00 in the morning to get ahead of these issues before they come up and get into the cycle of doing that, and that's the whole reason. >> you can find metro's nigh hours on our nbc washington app. they don't take effect until after safe track is complete. >>> usually being under able at a bar would land you on the naughty list, but santa made an exception tonight organ hosted their holiday party. staff pitched in to help santa pass out dolls and games and winter gear and holiday cheer too. this is mald madam organ's annual community christmas party. >>> the angel tree project was kicked off with a huge distribution day today. almost 14,000 needy children around our region are served with gifts. >> looksed like -- merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> the 4-year-old boy named akaro in southeast d.c. today received a new avengers bicycle and five gifts to open christmas day. his mom was on hand. you know, last year for t

wiedefeld was putting out there for cutting back service even after safe track begins. here yesterday.er 5:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. mondayoa through thursday, 5 a.m. to 5 am 1:00 a.m. on friday, 7:00 a.m. a to 1:00 a.m. on saturday andda 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on.m. sunday, that does allow those extra eight hours a week for wer maintenance and inspectionsspecs that general manager paulag pau wiedefeld said he needed tod idd get back. he wants the cut backs to lastat two years but d.c. officialss are pusbuhing back hard.ard. says he will not accept that tha time frame. f >> we are not willing to goillit beyond year. so, you can take t mr. augustine's resolution and at the end of thisolut meeting i will inform the generalth manager and the board that we intend to exercise ouren exe jurisdictional veto at theat board meeting and then we gotheg back to 3 o'clock immediatelymm and it's not a threat mr. goldman, it is what i --whai it is what -- no,. >> [inaudible] >>> it is the position of district of columbia. cumbi >> there's no way we're going g have this preventive this pr

wiedefeld to see exactly how exy things are going. so, they basically made a compromise.co starting in july that is whenn a the metro hours change permanently for two years.rs. remember, up until july ituly will stay the hours that they have set for safe track. >> wow. all right. some big changes coming toomg to metro and needed, too.ded, t all right, matt, thanks.t, t >> reporter: uh-huh.h- >> and just into the news roomte tonight a federal grand juryrand is now indicted the manicd th accused of walking into cometntm ping-pong with a gun. g maddison welch was arrested inin northwest.es police say he told them hehe h came from north carolina to "self investigate those onlinenl conspiracy theories claimings cm high level democrats werets running a child traffickingraffc ring in the pizzeria". those conspiracy theories areare false. false. welch is scheduled to be back s in court for hisched arraignment if convicted charges he faces he carry a maximum of 35 years in prison. >> up next grand jury indicts a former metro transitxt gransit

sure morg metro general manager paul wiedefeld will join us live atat 8 o'clock this morning to talknt about these latest firings asira well as the new rail scheduledu which is set to take placee pla next year.xt y >> let's get a check trending on this fridayending o morning. first up, a bittersweet tribute for an nba legend last night. before the game players andplera teams honored long time sidee line reporter craig sager.ag sager passed away on tuesday tue after a long battle with ait rare form of leukemia. several teams warmed up wmed wearing #sager strong shirts. st the basketball star dwyanesk wade posted an emotionalet vided about sager.ager david ortiz asked for a momentam ofom silence. silen joe biden also expressedso exprd condolences.ndol they're wearing specialwearg sp warmups too to honor his flamboyant jackets and bright bi colors. >> very flamboyant personality and wardrobe combined.bi >>> a new study shows it'st's very common in pilots to have depression. a report found hundreds ofs of pilots flying commercialmeia planes may be suffering from depression even having suic

paul wiedefeld, who is the general manager of the washington metropolitan transit authority. mr. jack evans, chairman of the washington metropolitan transit authority. and mr. raymond jackson, second ice president of the transit union local 689. like to welcome all of our witnesses. this is an investigation and oversight committee hearing and we do swear in all of our witnesses. so please rise. raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give before this committee of congress is the whole truth and nothing but the truth? and the record will reflect that all witnesses have answered in the affirmative. well, not everybody has been here but we try to limit our testimony to five minutes. and if you have requests for additional information, data or testimony to be added to the record, just request that through the chair. and your entire statement will be made part of the record. so we'll start out this morning and recognize first, mr. hart, chairman of the ntsb. welcome back, sir, and you are recognized. mr. hart: thank you and good morni

. -- paul wiedefeld. wiefe >>> d.c. police arrested an athletic director suspected of touching a students ats a archbishop carroll high school jimmy augustin is accused ofs cd having an inappro 17-year-old female student. sdet the abuse allegedly happenedpe between september and october.cb court documents revealev augustin even shared sexualin e text messages.ve neighbors we spoke to describeoe him as a nice guy who is nicy wh married with children. childre >> pretty quiet guy.uy in and out go to work, that's it. it. >> the school issued a the s statement saying protecting ptet students is a top priority and that mr. augustin cleared thehe background checks and all and anyone with informationform regarding this case to call cal police.police. >>> and it's unprecedented for a u.s. president-elect oresidenc president to speak way taiwanese leader since the u.s. severed diplomatic tieslomi back in 1979.97 but president-elect donaldesid trump spoke to the country's president byoke phone. phone a conversation

wiedefeld ini just a moment. i want to take you back to julyl this was just outside the easthe falls church metro station, and basically, a train derailederle right there heading into the station, and we understand that apparently some of the railsls were wider than the train couldu handle. wider an have been, and as a result of o that derailment last summer,r four track inspectors and two to supervisors have been fired for allegedly falsifying records. six more firings or suspension are pending.ding. in all 28 of metro's 60 rail inspectors are facing some formm of discipline because of that particular situation and what a has come from thend investigatin of that derail.hat d as you mentioned joining us is metro general manager paull wiedefeld celebrating your firsi year here with metro.erwith thanks for joining us. u >> sure, bob. sure, bob nice to see you again.you a >> thank you. thank you for having us if into your headquarters.uarters. what can you tell our viewersel about whenl you hear falsifyinn records?

wiedefeld d will be joining senator kaine for that tour. t senator kaine when he wase whens governor of virginia was reallya instrumental in a couple of keyk decision that is have shaped had this project. $6 billion project and one ofndo those was his decision asns governor to hand over the dulles toll road to the airport authority. author remember metro is not buiitldinn the silver line. line airport authority did.id and when then governor kainenorn decided to hand the toll road over to the state, it was to geo the project moving -- sorry,orry away from the state to the to airports authority to get thet t project moving. the airports authority has beenn using the toll road revenue toee cover the costs of this project. 70% of that $6 billion is toll revenue paid by motorists someoe of whom probably never use the t silver line.. so that's raised questions abous how this whole project has beenb financed.finced. a lot of different pots of money to take were needed to get thisi project off the ground. remember, $6 billion for about a it's very

. >> good luck because in congresc the next administration seems unlikely that -- - >> you saw paul wiedefeld in the questioning why marty is noting talking to him apparently he did not want to be parimt o af thatt interview so he was still theree with senator tim kaine and martr dicaro apparently paul wiedefele declined our request to talkst o with him. >> our signal issues also a wreaking havoc there. >> sorry about that. >> he can have said yes and ited would have been on us becauseeee that tran mission issue.ra we're tracking metron again.gan still no definitive answers as a to why the two lead cars of red line train decoupled comingg apart from the rest of the trait as it left the twin brookswin station yesterday.statio this involved new 7,000 seriesee rs.s. newest in metro's fleet.et fewer than 40 passengers were oe the entire train and only two ow were on the cars that separatedt they had to walk, though, the tt track bed for about 250 feet 25e before getting back to the platform. >> not an ideal situation.uation all right.alrigh popular baseball ritual strikins oh what players can no

p wiedefeld last hour about how the firings might impact moralor want he wants riders to know. >> i think it's actually a moral booster, because i think it,ausi again, reflects, upping, all oul employees use the system.uss you know, they want to be safe s just as customer does. so i think that -- i think the k vast majority of our employees p get that.ge the same way with the customerso for customers what they shouldho understand is that we are on tot of this. we will continue to be on top of this. we have entire new management team in here. we have a new approach. and again, being very welly well received. there's still some things wecest have to weed out and we'llill sd continue to do that. >> the union that represents the fired metro workers says metroam is to blame inspection training.in >> the man who brought assaultha rifle into comet ping-pong pizza is headed back to court to faceo federal charges. he can also fine out if he'll be allowed to post bail. pos b i'm not sure why we have thathaa music playing right now.g rightn we'll have that live reportl har coming up later.ng u

paul wed field, the general manager of the washington metropolitan transit authority. wiedefeld. mr. jack evans, chairman of the washington metropolitan transit authority and mr. raymond jackson, second vice president of the amalgamated transit union local 689. this is an investigation and oversight committee hearing and we do swear in all of our witnesses so if you'll please rise, raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give before this committee of congress is the whole truth and nothing but the truth? and the record will reflect that all witnesses have answered in the affirmative i think -- well, maybe not everybody has been here but we try to limit our testimony to five minutes and if you have requests for information or testimony to be added to the record just request that through the chair and your entire statement will be made part of the record. so we'll start out this morning and recognize first mr. hart, chairman of the ntsb, welcome back, sir, and you are recognized. >> thank you and good morning, chairman mica. chairman me