A steady push of rain ahead of a cold front. Locally just some patches of light rain south and west of the city. Temperatures will drop into the mid50s later this evening. Darkness and the rain will reduce visibility through the entire overnight. Rain can the heavy tonight through the overnight as well. Tomorrow plan on a chilly, cloudy, breezy morning with rain. Give yourself a little extra time. Another developing story we are following for you tonight, this one from laurel, where a middle School Principal has been arrested. The princes prince georges thety dates Attorney Says principal Dwight Jefferson punched a student at least three times. Jay korff with what parents are saying tonight. According to authorities, the incident happened on the 23rd of september, earlier in this cool year, right behind me here at Dwight D Eisenhower middle school. Jailcting principal is in at that time, a man named Dwight Jefferson. According to authorities he stopped a 14yearold boy in the hallway for misbehaving for some reason. The boy intoought a back room to talk about him being suspended. He allegedly punched the child twice in the stomach and the child fall back, then jefferson allegedly punched him in the face. Her jefferson was almost immediately placed on leave and taken out of contact with children. A School Spokesperson confirmed that for us. We talked to apparent moments ago who was flabbergasted about these allegations. For a printable to do that, i dont agree with that at all. He could have just called the parent and have them deal with him. Jefferson has been charged with seconddegree assault and seconddegree child abuse, both felonies. He is in jail on 75,000 bond. We reached out to his attorney, but we have not received any comment. Turning to the big shift underway across the nation as republicans reclaimed control of the senate last night. Team coverage of the Election Results and we will hear from scott thuman here in just a moment. Still the surprising and undecided race for senate in virginia. Mark warner has the narrowest of leads over ed gillespie right now. A busy day wrapping up for election workers in Fairfax County as they are beginning the process of certifying the Election Results. Gillespie not conceding the race, instead putting out a statement saying he wants to see the certification process move forward, and only then will a decision be made about a possible recount. That may not happen for a few weeks. Deliberate process, but an improved one in Fairfax County, thanks to new Voting Machines in 2014. Compared to last year, it is night and day. Things are going far more smoothly. The canvassing a result across virginia will help certify a close election in which incumbent mark warner has already claimed victory. And gillespie says he will accept the final results, but he is not there yet. I owe it to the voters of virginia and all of you to make sure that the outcome is final. For warner expect canvassing could shift a few votes here and there and that warner could even gain votes. The calling his lead close, but not small. But reaction seems mixed. Some expected the wellknown warner to win easily. I was incredibly surprised. But others not surprised he was nearly wiped out by the republican wing. It makes sense when people are not happy, they will be switching from one side to the other. The final polls before election day still had gillespie trailing by seven points. One of the problems with surveys is that they are snapshots in a moment in time. We did not get nearly enough snapshots, it turns out, in the last 72 hours. In thisare wellversed process. The canvassing process here in Fairfax County is expected to wrap up by friday. The gardens of what happens, attorneys for mark warner or 100 certain he will be certified the winner of this race. Less than two hours ago, president obama laid out his plan to deal with a new republican majority in both chambers of congress. Scott thuman is in our Satellite Center with what the president and likely Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell are both saying tonight. The president was not directly on the ballot, but its hard to imagine that many of were not faced with some real discontent with the election. With the demo cut in the white house, what should we expect over with a democrat in the white house, what should be expect over the next two years . To everyone who voted, i want you to know that i hear you. The washington is broken phrase translated into major consequences. The senate now firmly in the gop grip, along with the house. Many are wondering, does that mean just more gridlock . They have two years to show us what they can do. Correct they need to get something done. But the American People have changed the senate. Observation to change the behavior of the senate. Thats he says that could mean passage of immigration reform, the keystone pipeline, and avoiding another government shutdown. Is there a reason if you are a democrat to smile at all today . Unless you have been drinking or smoking, youre not going to be smiling. I dont want to be premature about this. I think the burden is on us now to go onward and offer a positive program for the United States of america. That is our duty, to show that we can competently govern. The president says hes not progress in ant lameduck congress. Not excluding a push to raise the minimum wage, although now that is a much more difficult aspect. Very interesting. We are taking a closer look at what the election outcome means for the nation in a special roundtable. Watch it tonight at 7 00 or again at 8 30 on our sister station, news channel 8. It was a big surprise in the race for Maryland Governor for public and larry hogan defeating Anthony Brown. Brad bell is going to show us what is next for hogan and maryland residents. We will have that coming up in about 10 minutes. Voters in d. C. Made two major districts decisions. The legalizing of possession of small amounts of marijuana. We are learning more about a fathers heroism in a fire that claimed two lives in arlington. Yesterday mornings buyer killed and her sevenyearold daughter. The fathersr heroism, there could be one more victim here. Diane spoke with the childrens grandfather today. She is live outside at home where investigators continue searching for clues. Fire investigators have been back out here at the home trying to figure out exactly what caused the deadly fire. Stopping byve been at the end of the street leaving flowers and stuffed animals, creating a makeshift memorial for sevenyearold emily and her mother. Investigators are searching for answers. Picking looking for answers after his life has been ripped apart. He says his youngest ran daughter, sevenyearold emily, was sleeping with her mother on the second for when the fire broke out early tuesday morning. The flames spread quickly up the stairs. , im hopingaughter she never woke up. Soninlaw woke up to the crackling sounds of the fire downstairs. He got out of the house and use the latter, breaking a window on the second floor to save the couples 11yearold daughter who was still upstairs. She said she could not even see because there was so much smoke. She could hear her father hollering at the window, job, get out of the house. She is now a Childrens Hospital with thirddegree burns. He tried to use the latter to go back and save his wife and child but the flames started shooting out of the window, making it impossible to get to them. Loved ones say she always made her family her first priority. He said it was emily he grew closest to, and now he is struggling to make sense of what happened on that tragic day. An account has been set up to help the family get back on their feet. Fire investigators tell us they will be back on the scene tomorrow to continue their investigation. So sad. Arlington firefighters meanwhile has said the home did not have working Smoke Detectors. Today in Prince Georges County, firefighters went or twodoor, making sure that homes there are protected. They have had more than 1000 Smoke Detectors available. You can request a Smoke Detector from your local fire department. Allave compiled a link to the local Fire Departments right on our website. Just go to wjla. Com. Click still ahead, family members share new details about a brother the police say was set on fire. New revelations about a man accused of assaulting a teenager inside a Montgomery County school, and a case that has outraged parents. It may have been one of the biggest prizes of the election, larry hogan defeating Anthony Brown to become marylands next governor. Brad bell is live outside the statehouse in annapolis is what the governor elect is saying today. But the governor elect was telling some funny stories. Did nothis election really sink in until the state police knocked on his door and said governor, we are here to protect you. He said this morning he said good morning, first lady, to his wife. Today the real work begins. The governor elect is announcing his transition leaders and plans to follow through on his Main Campaign promises. Were going to cut spending and try to roll back as many of the 40 consecutive tax hikes as we possibly can. Its being called the biggest upset in the country. Hogan says he saw it coming. People felt a huge disconnect between annapolis and the rest of maryland. People coming up to me repeatedly and saying we are lifelong democrats, but we are voting for you. I think we have a lot of issues and problems and i think hes got the right message. To such critics, hogan points out that half his votes came from democrats and independents. He is pledging to represent all of maryland. Were all going to work together, reaching across the aisle and trying to come up with bipartisan, commonsense solutions. Also in the spirit of bipartisanship, hogan said that governor Martin Omalley gave him a very gracious phone call this morning and pledged his full support during the transition. Brad bell, abc 7 news. A lot of surprises last night. Any surprises in the weather . We dont like surprises. The next couple of hours, light showers, but later tonight, steadier, heavier rain. And steady rain tomorrow. A live look at the capital well of National Harbor down on the Potomac River from us here at arlington. Degreesudy overhead, 65 up the river at Reagan National airport. A few little batches of rain starting to show up on the radar just west of metro washington. This is developing ahead of a cold front. Rain coming of across fairfax and southern portions of loudoun county. There will be more and more as the evening and overnight progress. Temperatures are very comfortable, low to mid 60s at 5 00. 61 in frederick. Quantico at 60 degrees, 63 in morningside. Through the overnight the areas of rain will become more widespread and rain will be heavy at times as the winds come out of the east about five miles per hour. In the morning, some very chilly temperatures, 4853 degrees. Not a comfortable start to your thursday morning. The trajectory in the atmosphere is coming straight at us. Its all moving right towards our area so we will have the rain. It looks as though after the rush hour it should begin to taper off. By midday it should pretty much be over. This is a computer simulation of the atmosphere. A pretty wide area of rain. Around midnight, starting to move into the metro area, back toward the mountains and farther to the south and west. Even for the morning rush we will have areas of rain. 51 degrees in the morning. That will be the average temperature. About 60 at midday with scattered showers. The front moves toward the atlantic and it will be near 60. There still could be an isolated shower with highs of about 64 degrees. We check out the weekend, it is looking pretty good. Friday it will become breezy. Sunshine and dry and cooler. Highs only in the upper 50s. The weekend looks like it will become triple, mid to upper 50s. Suggest a cold front will come through sunday. Rain. Cessarily in the monday through wednesday will be partly cloudy and back in the 60s. Coming up, a look inside the red rain that swept the country ushering publicans back into power in both houses of congress. New developments on that abduction that was caught on camera in philadelphia. New video shows a person interest walking through the isles of grocery store. The same man used an atm card at a bank in aberdeen, maryland. Meantime the search for the 22yearold nurse intensified. Police did not believe she knew the kidnapper who is believed to be driving a gray ford taurus. New allegations against the man alleged to have assaulted a student inside a middle school. Another student has come forward. Assaulted epps jr her as well. Reaction from parents you will see only on 7 tonight. A contracted employee with in cps. He maintained security cameras in a number of buildings, including here at Baker Middle School in damascus. Parents say administrators totally dropped the ball on this one and they are thanking the media for uncovering the story. It is completely unacceptable. Quick 75 parents spent the morning demanding answers from staff at Baker Middle School. Not one question have you answer. A 12yearold said he grabbed her bottom in a school hallway. Not a single word to parents until after abc 7 broke the story nearly a month later. I heard about it on the news. Records obtained court that police say showed a disturbing trend. Afterrs arrested epps jr. A female employee and customer both reported that he squeezed there behind. Charging documents say cvs had previously banned him from the store. He was found guilty of Second Degree assault and placed on probation. These parents now want to know how he managed to obtain a job working beside their children while in cps admits it needs to be more transparent. This is something we need to do better as a system. A second female student has come forward since we broke the story on saturday. She also alleging that epps jr. Inappropriately touched her. In cps originally called the incident isolated. It is now looking like it is anything but. Kevin lewis, abc 7 news. Breaking news coming in from the dupont metro station. A man has been stabbed, we are told. Learned . T have you quick some frightening moments for commuters, just as the rush hour was beginning, a little after 4 00 today. Right in front of the North Entrance to the dupont metro station. Here is what we are getting from witnesses. Inside the metro station, there was some kind of altercation between a man and woman. Aey believe a woman stabbed man in the metro station and she came running out of the station. Police took a woman into custody. You dont know if this is the actual mom and involved in the stabbing. The actual woman involved in the stabbing. We saw the ambulance take off and we believe the victim was placed in that ambulance. Witnesses say he was in a wheelchair but he did appear conscious. His injuries did not appear to be lifethreatening. Returned toute has normal. A lot of questions still to be probably will be directed to the woman who was taken into custody a short while ago. Keep us posted out there. Coming up at 5 00, dcu voters have picked Muriel Bowser as their next mayor. Ahead, our plans for the city. G. M. s new incentive to get a potentially lifethreatening defect fixed in millions of cars. Cries for justice permit woman whose daughter was found shot to death and burned. So far, no one has been arrested for the brutal murder. The body was found last week in southwest washington. The memorial here as a latroiay remembers smith. I could not sleep. I dont want to have any images in my mind. Her daughter, latroia smith, a mother of three boys was found dead inside of a vacant southeast early sunday morning. Sources confirm that smith was shot notable times and then shot on fire. I believe she was already she was set on fire. Smith, surrounded by other grieving family members, went to the offices of the medical examiner looking for answers. Latroia in life stand by herre and dabbed. They attended a party at the next morning firefighters discovered her burned body. The gunshot wounds were found during the autopsy. Horrific acts have occurred at that same location. Understanding, nothing has been done. There were four murders including her daughters at or near the same complex. The family says it is time for those to live there to speak up. Didnt die ar horrible horrific death like this in vain. Under lock andas guard while police, the board went up today. This place has been vacant, we are told, for the last three weeks. We turn now to the big power shift that is putting republicans back in control of the u. S. Senate for the first time in eight years. Wave ofre part of a red republican victories and races across the nation. Republicans across the country are seeing red, the color of the new Majority Party noncongress. In the senate, conservatives gained seven seats, in the house where they already had a majority, they gained 11. Pundits believe that they were a statement of americas dissatisfaction with the president and his policies. I really respect the president and the role that they have. The people dont always disagree with his message, what he wants to do. The broom was victim swept across the country. The director of the center for american and president ial studies at university. There could bet a battle. The republicans wouldnt bills before the president that he vetoes. Overwhelming be an majority confronting the president. We have to fight his government again. It will be tough to get things done for the president. It will be tough for the republicans because he has to sign these laws. The gop stunned in state governors races. Perhaps the biggest upsets of maryland and massachusetts where voters elected republicans. Newon the results and the makeup of congress, some say what needs to happen now is for the president and lawmakers to work together. I would like to think that theres going to be hopefully some level of civility that could be restored. I think that is what is missing. Dont forget that abc 7 is taking a much closer look at what last night election outcome means for the nation in a special roundtable. You can watch it tonight at 7 00 or today at 8 30. A pick up first in the flames along i95. The second how we are checking up on other roads in the area. Like we might have a new problem in the district. A new crash. Theres a crash in the main lanes that has got traffic heading up rockville and into gaithersburg. This is a volume blaze into falls church. The stick you cameras, see with things look like. The heaviest volume, trying to get between 70 and traffic on. 395 southbound. Have a great evening. Thank you. Coming up at 5 00. The drivers to fix a potentially deadly defect in millions of cars. Kids on a mission are making a difference. Tonight at 6 00, the voters approved legalizing marijuan allo started out as an tentative to a birthday present and it has turned into a nonprofit and it is helping youngsters turn their compassion into action. The new organization is called touching hard. This weeks heroes. Kids on a mission. The 17yearold is on a mission. She organized a fashion show to bring attention to the cause. Raising money for Fairfax County foster children. Thank you. Through bake sales and a silent auction, they raised 3500, much more than ever imagined, and enough to give away 70 gift cards worth 50 each. They would not have been able to accomplish that without touching hot. What other people feel how great it feels to get. Taylor was turning 13, instead of birthday gifts, she asked her friends to donate to a charity of their choice and that led to the creation of kids on a mission, a program to not only give youth all ages the impact in the world but also to experience helping others. The response has been overwhelming. Everything that i see for helping other children just inspired me every single day. This is also an important life lesson. You can make a difference anywhere with what these entities have proven. It also will help 350 children locally. Fantastic program. Ahead here, a personal story. A young woman on a mission after a disease that claims to set her sight and hearing. As a life using it lesson. Facec. s mayor elect d. C. Voters have spoken, overwhelmingly choosing Muriel Bowser to be the mayor. She is facing tough questions. There live in northwest washington. Baby david. They emphasized the plight of the subsidize low income residents living here. The resident was trying to kick them out so that the management cant build buildings like the one across the street. I got a big problem for the next mayor. It collects the mayor elect arrived to meet the media. The big topic, affordable is growing less affordable. We will invest 100 million every year towards preservation. Balser had poor people sit in and in her office demanding a plan for housing and greeted voters yesterday. Bowser heard firsthand how hard it is for middleclass families to afford d. C. It stats show the number of rental units were less than 750 a month and 2010. From 154me prices up thousand. You combined the car. He said the key is improving all neighborhoods. There might be prices in capitol hill. About d. C. sks population rising back. He will be priced out. Shownnsus studies have 2000,n that decade of 210. Medium income increased 50 , mainly because richer people move in and poor people moved out. A big challenge. Thank you. General motors is now offering gift to entice car owners to fix faulty ignition switches. They rolled out the recalls on 2. 6 million vehicles. Half of those vehicles have been fixed. Theyre giving car owners 25 gift cards. The faulty ignitions have been tied to the 29 deaths. Lets check and see what is happening. Where hearing words about some front moving through. Is a cold front. You will recognize that by the blue triangles. It is bringing cooler air and often we get some steady rain ahead of these fronts. That was our story tonight, rain, moving into the area. Wet morning commute, plan on it. A cool weekend. Are watching the front with some interest as we go through the evening and we are seeing these areas of rain slowly increase. We will expect rain to become steady and in fact heavier in the late night and overnight hours. 4853. Up early in the morning, rain will be something to deal with. You can see the satellite indicating to the southwest. There was some praise, partly sunny and breezy. The weather portion improved. Breezy, cooler, saturday and sunday, clouds, sun, cool, seasonably. What a great sport this is. It is fun for washington to see this. How many people are doing this . Are playing hard, not backing down. The pacers are off to the worst start. Here is robert burton. Look at it any differently, it is one of four that we had played. We know what type of team they are, it has been successful. This is more about protecting the house. This is a home game. We definitely want to win at home. All the best. This is a regularseason game. We do want to win at home. They took down the Nixon Madison Square garden, the pacers on a threegame losing streak. Three cakes for sanchez and just outside of the bots, deflect off the wall, right back to sanchez. Look at this, off the folly. Never seen anything like it. This is the shot of the day. Like it had eyes. They dont like to get hit. Just imagine that you were told that you would go deaf and blind by the age of 30. That is what Rebecca Alexander got as a teenager. She is now ready five and traveling the country including here in the d c area telling her story of loss, strength and hope. Im proud to say she is part of my family. What did the dog say . My sisterinlaw is on a mission, to teach my daughter sign language as soon as possible. If it would be wonderful as she grows up for me to teach her that language so that we can communicate with each other. For now, rebecca can still ava but that will not always be the case. Has a rare genetic disorder. She started losing her vision and hearing as a teenager and learned she would be deaf and blind by age 30. Nobody would ever look at me and say, she must be going deaf and blind, it is so important to say, yes. This is what going deaf and blind can look like. Now, her view of the world is norrowing. Is about 10 degrees of vision. She recently received a cochlear implant which has helped to improve her hearing loss. Andlearns sign language tactile signs an order to communicate with someone like this man who is blind and deaf. It hasnt been easy. When i allow myself to experience my emotions come and sadness, and to cry when i needed to come it made it that much easier for me to experience the emotions of happiness. Life, joy, strength. She is an extreme athlete leaving others in her dust. She doesnt let herself take about the day that she will be completely deaf and blind. Instead, focusing on the now. Shes speaking about her condition. That ava willpe learn many lessons from her aunt rebecca. There is nothing more important than living with what you have. You cant appear for the future but you have to be present. You can prepare for the future. She is incredible. Rebecca has signed on for her next big challenge. To climb Mount Kilimanjaro next summer. Is traveling,e telling her personal story and not fade away, a memoir of senses lost and found. The only onet impressed with this young lady. She is very special. News atit for abc7 5 00, the news at 6 00 starts now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the breaking news is outf Prince Georges County where there is an active search for a mother after a baby was found abandoned. The baby is in good health and was born just hours before it was found. Live in our newsroom to tell us about this case. That woman who found the baby is asking why her house. She is the mother of five but her youngest is just a year old. She thought it was a neighbor, when she walked out, she spotted the baby girl lying in a yard with nothing on it, not even a blanket. She said she scooped up the infant, cleaned and dressed her, then called police. She feels sad for the babies mother. I would rather them have knocked on my door and kind of told me that they needed some help and we probably could go from there. But, im just glad that the baby is in good health and she is being taken care of and hopefully they will find a good home for her. That is a good news, Prince Georges County says that