Transcripts For WRC News4 At 5 20150115

I told my mother that i loved being her son and i told my kid i love being their dad. Reporter 53yearold rich telling a packed ce roo reporters the Text Messages he was sending as the railcar he was riding on fill to the top with smoke. Ill tell you, i just didnt see any way that we were going to get out of there because the smoke was encapsulating and all you could see out the window was darkness. Reporte tomorrow morning d. C. Law firm cohen cohen says it will file a suit sloil against metro claiming negligent maintenance, negligent inspecti and a negligent respono an emergency situation. Attorney kim brooks rodney former assistant general counsel for metro, is hand thlg case. Why is it being file sodd so soon without all the facts on the table . Filing it so soon because frankly we need to know what the heck happened in that subway tunne reporter the ntsb still investigating, a preliminary report expected in the coming days. At this point everything points to a massive electrical situation that produced the overwhelming amount of smoke. Coming up at 6 00 were getting our first look to see if this event has had any impact on metro rail ridership. Reporting live at Lenphant Plaza, adam tuss news4. Thanks a lot, adam. Now to exactly how long those passengers waited and what was happening while they were stuck in that smoky train. The city just released a new time line today that shows the first 911. 3 18. By 3 45 people were still looking for help and it took anothe minutes before the woman who died was actually take on the hospital. Reporter chris, district officials are working on a review of what unfolded on monday afternoon. It begins at 3 14 taddei when metro reported a debris fire at gallery place and this review continues through the moments a woman lo they called 911 to report smoke coming from a metro tunnel at 9th and water street southwest. 3 22 metro calls 911ed a vying of heavy smoke in Lenphant Plaza station. Two minutes later, metro calls 911 again, requesting medics and fire units at lenphant. Metro tells 911 there is smoke in the station and people having trouble breathing. 3 28 an alarm is dispatched a call for more fire trucks and help. At 3 31 the first firefighters arrive to lenphant station. Metropolitan police are dispatched. One minute later someone at the entrance to lenphant station calls 911 requesting an ambulance. At 3 33 the first passenger calls 911 and says the train is filled with smoke. Several more passengers called 911 in the minutes that follow and say the train is pilling with smoke. They repeatedly ask if help is on theway. 13 minutes after firefighters first arrive, the battalion fire chief advises that metro confirms power is shut down to the track, critical to allowing firefighters to enter the tunnel where people were trapped on the train. But today district officials said they are not certain when firefighters reached the train. 25 minutes after that the battalion chief advises a passenger is having a seizure, a woman is undergoing cpr. At 4 25 an ambulance transports a patient to the hospital 54 minutes after the first firefighters adrive Lenphant Plaza station. District officials are reviewing the time line today. We have to make sure the response in our Fire Department respond ed that will be the nature of our review. Repor a lot of questions have been raised about whether firefighters had trouble communicating with each other. Tonight at 6 00 what district Officials Say about that and how they think theyll get to the bottom of it. Live at the Wilson Building wrightwright, news4. No surprise virginias governor d approve of the way metro handled the emergency. Terry mcauliffe is demanding that answers to his questions quickly. He tells Northern Virginia bureau chief julie carey about a summit with local leaders thats plan thermoin richmond and he says metro has now become topic number one. Julie is just back from richmond and putting that report together for news4 at 5 30. Breaking news tonight. Two terror suspects are dead another in custody after a fierce shootout in belgium. The antiterror operation took place in the town of verviers 75 miles west of brussels. Investigators say the suspects had just returned from syria. They had been under surveillance for weeks and planned to carry out imminent attacks on police bhilds there, possibly within the next few hours or days. Right now belgiums terror alert level is raised to its second highest p. Back at home were following new details about a terror plot against the u. S. Capitol. Pete williams is joining us. Pete House Speaker john boehner today stepped out and really gave a lot of the credit to this surveillance program. He did. He said it was the foreign intelligence surveillanc act program. He didnt say which one, whether it was the classified program that gathers telephone data or the email one. My guess is its probably the email one because the government does say that he was in touch or claimed that he was in touch with people overseas. In any event, today he was still in custody. Tomorrow hell have a Court Hearing to see whether the government will prevail in its request to have him stay in jail until his trial. People in the community in suburban cincinnati where hes from say, not surprisingly he was quiet, the principal says he was a typical student, somewhat quiet. A former High School Friend of his says that they wrestled together that he knew him well but that his began to be more of a loner and have views that vernalged on anarchy. In any event, the question is of course would this have happened if the government had not intervened and his parents say they believe he was coerced into this by an fbi informant that he was confiding in. But the government says today you never know in a case like this they couldnt walk away after he had expressed a desire to actually carry out an attack and then finally took the step to buy the rifles. Wasnt he also posting some provocative an alarming things on facebook as well which kind of alerted them to start maybe snitching around him a little bit . Twitter actually and instant messaging. They say thats what got them onto this in the first place, thated support for violent jihad and he wanted to carry out an attack in the u. S. In support of the isis terror group. Pete williams, thanks so. Look for the latest updates on the terror plot on the u. S. Capitol and new details about todays antiterror operation in belgium coming up on nbc nightly news wit airing after our broadcast at 7 00. The fbi and other agencies n digging for four days on Taylors Mountain in Bedford County virginia and just wrapped up their search. Theyve been doing forensic digs in that area in connection to the nearly 40yearold lyons sisters case. Investigators say theyre pleased with the progression of the search but did not say whether they actually found anything. Sheila and katherine vanished from wheaton back in 1975. Friends say he stayed out of trouble but last night trouble found him. A teenager shot and killed just minutes after leaving a High School Basketball game. This happened last night along Martin Luther king jr. Avenue near malcolm x avenue and southeast d. C. And that is where we find news4s pat collins this evening. Pat . Reporter wendy, more gunfire in the streets of our city. This time a teenager shot and killed and another teenager shot and wounded. Do you have any idea what the mote i have for the shooting was . I dont. I know its senseless. 17 years old, after a basketball game onothing, five minutes, we walked height right here on mlk, like four blocks. Couldnt have been too much to happen that fast. Thats trayon white. He was with the young man at a basketball game just minutes before it happened. Mchts before that young man was gunned down on a southeast street corner. The victim 17yearold Phillip Jones. Last year he attended anacostia high school. This year his friends say he was getting ready to join the job corps. Phillip jones, shot and killed near the intersection of Martin Luther king avenue and randall place. After the shooting an emotionally charged crowd gathered nearby. At the scene, police chief kathy lanier. About 8 30 officers heard the sound of gunshots and immediately saw a person down on the sidewalk. Reporter last night at Ballou High School a basketball game with southeast rival anacostia. Friends say Phillip Jones was at the game that he left early and then at randle place at mlk, shots fired. Phillip jones ended up dead on the sidewalk. Trayon white, whos running for the ward eight council seat knew Phillip Jones and his family. Ive known them for a long time. Good young manon no one is perfect but he wasnt on a bad path. He stayed out of trouble, on his own path. He wasnt even with a lot of the guys but with a young lady so he was draking behind. A 14yearold teenaged girl was shot and wounded in that incident last night. She was hit in h shes expected to be okay. Live in southeast, pat collins, news4. An episcopal bishop is out of jail on a 2. 5 million bond after being charged with killing a bicyclist in maryland. Police say heather cooks bloodalcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when she hit someone on a bike in baltimore last month. Later on well have more on her release and who helped post that bond. But still ahead, news report for a push to move back the start of the school year in maryland. And the incoming governor says it should begin af a storm system passes to our south, that storm moves out. Ill show you what mov they are calling it a pacemaker for nations obesity epidemic . The food and drug admini approved a device that makes a person feel full even if theyve only had a little to eat. Doreen gentzler has the latest. Chris, wendy, this is the first weight loss device the fda has approved in many years and researchers say that devices like this combined with medication represent the future in weight loss therapy. But lets be very clear, this is not for everyone. Its only approved for severely obese patients who meet a lot of conditions. The system known as vblock Therapy Works by plugging into the vagus nerve that regulates the digestive system. Electrical pulses are sent to the nerve to essentially trick the brain into thinking the stomach is full. The pulses come from electrodes in the device implanted in the abdomen. Dr. Caroline napoleon worked with the maker during the fda approval process and says the device can be a life changer for some patients. A person who has struggled with their weight tried diets and exercise and every diet known to mankind, this finally gives them the ability to eat less food and feel patients lost an average of 8. 5 of their body weight in a clinical trial. It will cost between 10,000 and 40,000. Too early to know whether insurance will cover part or all of the cost of it. The vblock is sparking a lot of sharg and debate on our Facebook Page pap lot of people are intrigued but others skeptical. Some of the comments point out that hunger is not the reason Many Americans overeat. This device would work with an external battery that would have to be charged every week. So that tells you this is definitely not for everyone who wants to lose some weight. Interesting, though. Yeah. Very interesting. Interesting direction theyre going in. Thanks doreen. More time at the beach, less time in class. There is a new petition calling for a big change in the maryland schools that would have schools start after labor day and end in midjune as usual. Today governor elect larry hogan added his name to the 13,000 signt support this idea. I think anytime that you can have families spend more time together its a good thing. But its not just a family issue, its an economic issue. It brings in a tremendous amount of Economic Activity brings in tax revenue and theres no cost to the taxpayers. But the montgomery and prince georges couy School Systems say the start of the school year is a local decision and should stay that way. Coming up on news4 at 6 00 chris gordon sl will ask parents and students to weigh in on this. A big break for students in loudoun county. No midterms. Loudoun county public schoolsms for middle and High School Students next week. They say the kid didnt get enough time in class due to last weeks cold and snow. The exams kwr scheduled for tuesday through friday but theyll be Normal School days now. All right. The weekend is getting even closer. Is it still going to stay nice . It is. Today was nice day. Even though it was a little cold temperatures below average, sun was out, light wind. Thats all we need to have a nice day in the month of january. Looks like we have a couple more in the next couple days. First off, the sun, making its way down eight minutes to go, the sunset getting later and later as we look off towards the marina. 40 degrees, winds out of the west at about 8 miles per hour. So we were over that 40degree mark today, at least in the city. Most other areas stayed in the mid30s for the most part today. 36 right now leesburg 39 fredericksburg and 36 in baltimore. We are watching a storm system down to the south. You can see some shower activity towards Spotsylvania County right around fredericksburg just down to the south. If youre thinking about taking a drive down 95 you might hit om showers and they may scoot into the northe Southern Maryland but very very light shower activity. It is rain thats falling. The snow has been back towards the west. This storm system moving to our south and it will continue to stay well down to our south. A lot of rain down ad jacksonville florida, jacksonville coming in at 45 degrees right now. Miami, still at 80 degrees. Yeah, wouldnt you like to be there. Theres the snow back towards kentucky and tennessee. Well watch this system continue to pass down to our south and behind it were in for some really nice weather tomorrow. I think we see our temperatures rise by t four or five degrees. 46 in d. C. 48 in fredericksburg, leesburg and 44 in frederick. With some sunshine still a little breezy but with some sunshine out there, your friday looking pretty nice. Your biking forecast, we havent likely like dont go biking too cold. But tomorrow not bad, 46 at 3 00, 44 at 5 00 with sunshine Cool Conditions with 42 degrees around 7 00. That sun goes down 5 10 today, 5 11 tomorrow. Tomorrows impact going to be on the low side for sure. Breezy but mild. Youll need the heavy jacket but maybe not the heavy coat. You can put away the gloves maybe put atway halts. Going to be that nice of a day. You need them back on saturday though. 39 degrees for a high. Once again with sunshine and lighter winds, saturdays a nice day. Sundays the day to watch out for. Chance of rain here but i think thats going to be from i95 to the east pretty much the same areas that saw snow yesterday. I think well see that during the day on sunday with a high of 43. That will set the stage for Colder Weather next week. Monday high of 41 back to 43 on tuesday. On wednesday, another system that passes by could give us some rain or snow right now, actually leaning towards more snow but not a big storm system at all. One thing you notice out of the next seven days only one day below 40. Most of the time were at or above average. Well take that. Yes we will. Thanks doug. President obama makes it mandatory for federal agencies to provide time off for new parents. Coming up what he wants congress to do that will help millions of other families. Before you file your tax return hear about some changes that could s a man accused of stabbing his stepfather to death inside his home. Im david culvert. Neighbors tell us mo i know grandmas house isnt the most exciting, but its only for a few hours. Look what ive got. When you get verizon fios, you get beautiful hd picture quality; super fast internet, and americas most reliable network. So you wont miss a second of that movie, that game they love, or those moments with family. Can we sleep over . Please come on make your house the house when you get more guaranteed from verizon fios, with tv Service Rated 1 in hd picture quality and signal reliability based on Customer Satisfaction studies, plus americas fastest, most reliable internet. Get a price quote in writing and professional installation from a highly trained verizon technician. Hurry now to get an offer that cant be beat. Last chance to get a fios triple play online for just 79. 99 a month a price guaranteed for two whole years, plus get all our premium channels included for two years, and a 400 bonus with a two year agreement. Hurry, this great deal ends january 17th visit verizon. Com worryfree to learn more. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v welcome back. Im jason pugh. If youre looking for a fun atmosphere tonight, you might want to head down to gw for the game against richmond. The smith center has become o toughest places to play in the country thanks in part to four outstanding juniors who call themselves the core four. They were once inexperienced freshmen and now the core four are established upperclassmen for the colonials. Kind of scary, actually well be seniors next year and well only get better. Trying to build the program and we instilled in ourselves success for the future. That success has reached new heights. Earlier this season gw won the diamond head class nick hawaii knocking off National Powerhouse wichita process. We wanted to win something, had a successful yea year but not much to show for it beside the trip to the ncaas. This is the first time our group has a trophy. That was huge. Now we have to be ready to get everybodys best shot have to be 100 effort play hard and be prepared because everybody want to be where were at right now. This bond between these four is only getting stronger. Been with each other three years so we definitely know each others games and were comfortable with each other out there on floor. So its definitely a great advantage for us. Gw is perfect at home this season. Tipoff tonight against richmond at 7 00. Chris . Wendy . Thanks jason. A lot of news coming up including former ravens running back ray rice making a deal with his former teammates or his team and what that could in the nfl. A bishop involved in a deadly hitandr. How did she she get out . Governor Terry Mcauliffe had strong words about the deadly metro accident. In an interview he tells us what answers hes demandi he was just watching tv in his living room when police say his stepson stabbed him to death. Tonight neighbors in one Woodbridge Community are struggling to understand how this happened. They spoke with our bureau reporter. Reporter all day shes tried call hoping to reach her neighbor who lives in this house. Ive known him fo reporter but denise green tells me the phone just keeps on ringing. It wasnt until we told her that denise realized the house across the street was the scene of a brutal attack and murder last night. My heart is saddened to hear that. Reporter the victim maldo rodriguez, the suspect, his stepson, 29yearold brian hern said hernd went through the front door of the home went straight to the kitchen, grabbing a knife, pacing around. His mom tried to convince him to put it down but he went into the living room and stabbed his stepfather several times. He pushed back his mother and attacked the victim who was still sitting on the sofa. Hernds mom is the one who called 911 to report that her son had just stabbed her husband. When Police Showed up they found hernandez and another Family Member physically fighting each other. You know, thats what was going on inside. Reporter denise says shes heart broken and finally remembers broken. I would see him constantly on his way to work every single day. He pretty much worked seven days a week and i knew that he just took care of his family. Hernandez is in jail tonight charged with his stepfathers murder. In woodbr david culvert, news4. Dozens of protesters shuttingaf right at the start of the morning rush. the demonstrators chanted justice for michael brown. They say theyre concerned about racial profiling, police brutality, and the deaths of unarmed minorities at the hands of unarmed officers. They believe stopping traffic at inconvenient times for drivers will get people talking act those issues. Some immigrants in virginia could soon be barred from getting instate college tuition. A senate panel voted today to override a ruling that was made by attorney general mark herring. That ruling would have had allowed immigrant who is came to the United States illegally as chirp to qualify for instate tuition. The students are allowed to remain in the country under an obama administrati program thats known as deferred action for childhood arrivals. In a statement herring says the students are considered lawfully present by the federal government. And school miss prince georges couy might face 40 million in budget cuts. Its part of marylands 1 billion budget gap according to thethe gazette. Gazette. Governor larry hogan is expected to present his first budge tote the assembly next week. Kenny maxwell told the newspaper that potential budget cut is the equivalent of 500 teaching positions. When the county has grown by almost 4,000 kids in just two years. Tonight Virginia Governor Terry Mcauliffe is demanding answers from metro in the wake of this weeks deadly accident. Metro just released a preliminary time line and the Emergency Response and it confirms what passengers said they waited more than a half hour for help and the first ambulance didnt arrive until an hour after the fist call. Some passengers are planning to sue metro because of the agencys maintenance and response. D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted today that some information from the citys investigation will be released within 48 hours. Today Northern Virginia bureau chief julie carey sat down with governor mccauliffe for an interview you will see only on news4. She joins us with details on what he wants and how fast. Julie . Reporter well virginia of course has made an enormous investment in metro, especially with the new silver line. That coupled with the fact that the victim was from alexandria has governor Terry Mcauliffe insisting on some answers and fast so virginians know the system is safe. To me it was a total breakdown. Reporter that is governor Terry Mcauliffes initial reaction to the smoky incident on monday aboard a yellow line train that killed an alexandria woman. It was a tranl i can di and we lost a virginian. We need to know immediately how did this happen what steps are we taking immediately to make sure this never occurs again. I mean arz you know virginia is a huge provider of the funds for metro. We are huge stakeholders. Reporter in our oneonone conversation, mccaul told me he discussed the tragedy by phone yesterday wir bow bouz. Muriel bowser. The two have a transportation summit coming up in a few weeks with larry hogan. This incident will be topic number one. I have reached out to the metro officials. I have alerted everybody on the 28th im bringing all the stake holders together and i want answers. Reporter he says a safe and vibrant metro system is crucial to his job creation priorities. Just yesterday mccauliffe announced the award of a 50 million loan to he proposed potomac yard metro station in a said hes pushing hard too, for momentum project to add more eightcar trains but right now as he begins his second year in office metro safety takes center stage. Ly not tolerate anything that jeopardizes the safety of the sitcitizens of the commonwealth of virginia. Coming up on 600 thread count news4 at 6 00 i asked the governor to give a letter grade on his first year in office. Julie carey. A local lawmaker is the richest member of the u. S. Senate. Virginia senator mark warner worth more tn 254 million. A fortune he started with investments in cell phones and communications companies. According to the center for responsive politics warner is the second wealthiest member of congress behind congressman from california darrell issa who is worth nearly 450 million. On average, a member of congress is worth 18 times the median net worth of the average american household. Wow. Surprises and snubs get social media buzzing as hollywood releases its Oscar Nominations. Reaction to to and the president putting pen to paper. What todays executive order on family leave really means. After 19 grueling days two climbers have done what no one thought possible. They became the first to free climb the don wall of yosemites el captain yesterday. It is the hardest rock climb in the world. The climbers ud their feet and hands to scale the wall and they slept in tents that were hung off the mountainside. They appeared on the today sh ive been picturing what it was going to be like to climb that last ten feet to the summit for a very long time. And i remember grabbing the very top and just pausing for a minute making sure it was real. And then the cheers erupted and it was. He said the moment was years in the making and better than imagined. Caldwell lost his voice during the ascent and gave a thumbs up when asked what it felt like to shower for the first time in 19 days. Im sure. That had to feel good. Well, the Academy Award nominations came out this morning, bringing almost as much chatter about who didnt get nominated as who did. Nbcs mark barger has more. The police are here. The grand Budapest Hotel d not burn up the box office. Birdman. Neither did the dark comedy birdman, but they each earned nine Oscar Nominations this morning including best picture. The big blockbuster movies like unbroken,ster stellar and gone girl were left out in favor of boyhood, birdman, the theory of ever and whiplash. The imitation game was also in race so was american sniper. Got eyes on this . Can you confirm . Reporter that film recovered from a shutout at the Golden Globes to grab six nominations including best actor for Bradley Cooper. The academy loves a good war movie. Mising out were David Oyelowo and the films director who could have become the first africanamerican woman nominated in the category. People have been try for years to make this better but the academy isnt honoring women that make good films. Reporter steve carell will go up against Bradley Cooper for best actor along with the imitation game benedict cumberbatch. But many see a twoman race between Eddie Redmain of the theory of ever and Michael Keaton of birdman. Anything could happen there. Too close to call. Reporter Reese Witherspoon and Marion Cotillard past winners were nominated for best actress. But moore is a heavy favorite for still alice. She is definitely the person to beat. I dont think anyones even close to her at this point. Reporter the award will be handed out february 22nd. Mark barger, nbc we asked you to weigh in. How do you see most of your movies . Instead of going to the theater looks like most of you are waiting for it to come out on cable or on demand. Less fried food more fruits and vegetables. This is par of a new Health Standard by the usda that is pushing for Daycare Centers that get federal funding for meals. Among the new se po proposed standards, the daycares would be banned from frying foods that would be served to the children. It would also discourage providers from serving prepackaged fried food like chicken fingers. Tofu would be allowed as a meat alternative. Providers would be required to supply Drinking Water for the kids on demand. The rules would apply to day cares that participate in governmentfunded meal programs. Granted its january but if youre already thinking about filing your taxes, there are some new things you need to know before you do. They could save you a whole lot of money. Plus, a woman hits the jackpot at the casino only to haven from her. How authorities were able to track down the robbers. Thanks for the ride around norfolk and i just wanted to say geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years roger that. Captains waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. Couldve parked a little bit closer. Its gonna be dark by the time i get there. Geico. Proudly serving the military for over 75 years. A woman won big at maryland lio and thats when it got fryattening. A couple followed her more than 30 miles from the casino to her home pulled a gun and robbed her. Darcy spencer has more. What are you learning snr. Well, chris first i want to tell you were a lit wail from the casino. We were not allowed to set up on their property today. As you said this was a frightening situation. This woman winning a large amount of money, little did she know she was followed all the way home. It took about an hour to get there. A woman hits the jackpot only to have her winnings stolen in an armed robbery. Its scary. It really is. Nowadays you cant go anywhere. Reporter after getting her cash the victim was followed by two suspects from the casino to her home in waldorf, 36 miles away and thats where she was wrobed at gunpoint. According to the charging documents the armed suspect ran up to the woman as she got out of her car in her own driveway. He yelled, give me the money, e the money. She handed over her car keys and he got in her car, got her purse with a thousand bucks inside. The Charles County Sheriffs Office weathering with casino security identified this couple from hyattsville as the suspects in a holdup. Mark west and maria wheeler. Theyre facing multiple charges including assault and armed robbery. I think thats awful because off lot of good citizens that work hard for your money and you come over there to enjoy themselves then you have predators like that. Reporter both of the suspects were detained after they showed back up at the casino a couple days later. Security officers believed they were tracking yet another victim and hanging out in an area where winners cash out. They were detained by anne arl county police and later arrested on warrants from Charles County. Both were released from jail after posting bond. When police searched their car, they found a nine millimeter handgun in the glove box. Is thats why its so important to be vigilant even when youre driving. If you have won money, carrying a lot of money, be aware of your surroundings. Reporter experts are telling us if you are going to a casino you have got to keep your own safety in mind. You win a large amount of money, you can ask to get that in a check form instead of cash. You can also ask to get an escort back to your car. Again, stay safe. On 600 thread count news4 at 6 00 special security measures that were in o that helped identify the darcy spencer, news4. A division of casino giant cesars environment the strapped for cash and filing for bankruptcy protection. If approved the company can shed more than half of its 18 debt. Sea they plan to keep all casinos and hotels open during the proc says there wont be any impact on baltimores horseshoe white house Officials Say paid sleeve a right, not a privilege. Now president obama is out with several proposals he hopes will support working families. And among them requiring companies to allow workers to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave each year. The white house says 43 million americans currently have no form of paid sick leave. The president also signed a memorandum to give federal workers under the executive branch at least six weeks of paid leave for births or adoptions. Hes also Encouraging Congress to extend the same benefit to its own employees. And mr. Obama is also asking lawmakers on the hill to spend more than 2 billion to help states and cities develop paid family leave programs. The white house says the president will detail where that money would come from and his Budget Proposal next month. You made it through the holidays but never too early to start thinking about tax season. But there are some changes that you may be facing when you file your return. Consumer reporter Erika Gonzalez has the latest. We found four things that you need to know before you file. Remember thiz and they could save you time and money. So much paperwork and so much recordkeeping. R first, some good news. Congress extended some tax provisions that were supposed to have expired. Rosemary mcmahon is a Certified Public Accountant at mcmahon and company in vienna virginia. She says they can save you money on things like t deductions for teacher expenses mortgage debt forgiveness, and tax credit for Home Energy Efficiency improvements. Ss all are tax writeoffs on this years return. Its a good thing, yes. These provisions do save taxpayers money. Number two and quite possibly the biggest change is for those of you who have signed up for health care through the Affordable Care act. It is going to be complicated. Reporter mcmahon warns those tax credits you got to pay for out of pocket monthly premiums need to be counted. There are two new forms and two additional lines for the millions of people who need to claim those credits. And for those who were eligible for credit and did not take it the credits will be refunded once the tax return is filed. We did not see this last year and its important to understand that some people who dont even need to file a tax return for tax purposes may have to file one just because of the premium tax credit. Reporter number three, tax brackets have been adjusted for inflation. 2014 income levels in each tax bracket increased 1. 7 since last year. Four, do your researc before you hire help. Always complicated for me. Always. I could never figure out how to fill out the forms or anything like that. Reporter if you do hire someone, make sure a tax preparer has an irs tax identification number. The preparer is an enrolled agent, Certified Public Accountant or attorney. Always ask about service fees up front and never use a tax preparer that asks you to sign a blank or incom it is really important to get a tax preparer that know what is theyre doing and who is licensed and can stand up for you if there i reporter if youre looking for help a person or company that can get your taxes prepared free we have legends on our help you with that. Go to nbcwashington. Com and search tax help. And do it soon. Thats right. April 15th approaching quickly. Lots of work ahead, my friends. Get ready for it. Wouldnt mind getting some of that april weather right about now. Could use doug but at least were not freezing. Canada took its air back. Yeah. It moved right back up to the north at least far little while, but dont worry, it will be back over the next couple days. First off take a look outside, not a bad afternoon at all on our thursday and yes, i think friday will be even better. Temperatures today got into the 40degree range and thats where we are at the airport. Falling to the 30s. Well be around 36 at 9 00 34 by 11 00. It will be cy but were not talking about cold air. Need to take that dog for a walk tonight you won shivering and probably wont need the gloves. 37 ft. Belvoir and dulles coming in at 33 deg. What are we see tong radar . A few showers towards fredericksburg Spotsylvania County Caroline County and maybe the Northern Neck seeing a few light showers. But really theyre more sprinkles than anything else. Its part of a storm system down to our south, brought snow towards kentucky and tennessee and will bring more mountains of southern virginia and north carolina. But this will continue to pass to our south. Behind it we could have some sunshine. Tomorrow afternoon, mostly sunny, breezy but mild. Temperature 43o about 48 degrees. That is a pretty fantastic friday for month of january. What to wear tomorrow. She doesn heavy coat on maybe just a warm jacket out of there. Youve taken the gloves out. Wont need the umbrellas, maybe the hat, maybe the sunglasses as i am expecting sunshine tomorrow just like today. Especially driving, that sun still bright in the sky this time of the year. 39 degrees on your saturday. A pretty nice day but it will be cooler on saturday. 43 on sunday 60 chance of showers. Thats for d. C. And i95 to the east. I think to the west it will be on the drier side of things and most of you to the west of i95 may not see much rain at all. The heaviest rain will be to the east. Then a little cooler for Martin Luther king day on monday. 43 degrees on tuesday. Then a chance for rain or snow coming up next wednesday. Not a big chance but just a little chance. Guys . Thanks a lot, doug. Just after saying she couldnt make bail, the bishop accused of a deadly hitandrun is out of jail. Theyre behind a drive start school after labor day and theyve circulated petitions and gotten more than 13,000 signatures. This is chris gordon in annapolis with the story. A look at whats trending online. Ray rice the ravens have finalized their split. Rice settled his grievance with the team a few days ago. He claimed that ravens owed him more than 3. 5 million in back pay after cutting him when that elevator video was released. Not clear how much, if any, money wa i dont remember anything ex being in the back of the police car. A pennsylvania woman is in custody after a wild chase. Police say she stole a cruiser, drove it up to 100 miles an hour with her hands cuffed behind her back. All this hd allegedly after he crashed a relatives car. Police say she slipped through the dividing glass in the cruiser, somehow manag to put the car in gear and drive off. Amazingly, no one was hurt. Remember myspace, the social network . It is seeing a surge in users all thanks to throwback thursdays. The Washington Post reports former users are logging on to get their Old School Photos so they can post them on facebook and instagram. In fact myspace is now reaching 50. 6 million users, unique users each month. Just days after a judge refused to lower her bail a maryland bishop is out on a 2. 5 million bond. Heather cook is charged in that deadly hitandrun that involved a bicyclist in baltimore. Jane miller has the latest. Reporter the white car that was permitted to enter the secured sally port area at federal booking today was driven by a friend of Bishop Heather cook. The area is normally reserved for police and prison officials to transport detainees to the lockup, off limits to everyone else. But today state officials allowed it to be used by cooks friend to pick her up upon her release from detention on bail hidden from public view. The car whisked away with the bishop in the passengers seat and a dog in the back seat. Where was she going . Cooks lawyer issued a statement. Bishop cook has been released pending trial. She will return to inpatient alcohol treatment as a condition of her release, she is not pe according to Court Documents a bail bondsman posted the million amount requiring cook to pay and pledge 10 of it. She managed that with a 35,000 check and a promissory note for 215,000 payable at a thousand dollars a month. The check and the amount of the note are not refundable. Monday at her bail review hear prosecutors asked for no bail for cook calling her an extreme danger t safety. Cook allegedly blew a 0. 22 bloodalcohol ler the crash, nearly three times the legal limit. E rejected that request, kept the bail at 2. 5 million. Tonight heather cook has been released. The Baltimore Sun is reporting that cooks bond came from mark hanson, a former connecticut pastor. Thats right. His linkedin page listed him as a lay pastor on the shore where cook was part of the diocese for a decade. New at 6 00 new revelations about the response when smoke filled a metro train. And well tell you the surprising impact the tragedy this week has had on ridership. He was watching a basketball game wits then minus later, tragedy. With what we are learning about a potential motive in a teenagers murder. Cell phone captured the dramatic scene as police in belgium foil a terrorist attack. New details coming to light about the imminent threat. Tonight two men are dead and a third is under arrest as we learn new information about the investigation in belgium. Steve handelsman on capitol hi now with the latest on this. Steve . Reporter jim and doreen thanks. Belgium police are looking at possible links between these two nowdead belgium suspects and the the french terrorist who is died last week in the parisian attacks. They say, though, that the investigation in belgium was under way before those terrible attacks in paris. Heres cell phone video of what went down today, some of it. A series of explosions followed by gunfire then a real fire. This is in eastern belgium. Place say they launched a raid in a building near the towns train station and says the suspect fired back with automatic weapons. The suspects were not only extremeryy well armed but combat veteran who is had returned from fighting with isis in syria. No police were reported hurt. The police did not detail what the two suspects allegedly planned but one belgian cop said he we averted another Charlie Hebdo massacre. Earlier, where else in belgium with last fridays attack in paris in mind police said they arrested a man of supplying weapons to amedy