Transcripts For WRC News4 At 5 20170220

He had been beaten about the body. According to court documents, when cops asked Thomasine Bennett what happened, she said i beat him with a baseball bat various times over the last day and a half. You did, the cop said . Yeah, i did, she said. Today i caulked to the victims exwife. Theyd been married 23 years. Though they were divorced, they remained good friends. The family, we just are trying to put it together, but we just have no understanding of this. Reporter walter clark lived at this senior home on jasper street in southeast. This is where he met Thomasine Bennett. She showed up here and told mr. When the nurse went to his place, the woman told her that he didnt need her, to give her his key and that she was his fiancee and she no longer had to come back. Reporter so what is the motive for this bizarre murder . Love . Money . Or Something Else . Well get into that coming up at 6 00. Live in northeast, pat collins, news4. Im Chris Lawrence here at the live desk. Were monitoring a scary situation up in new york. The tsa released a statement about an hour ago saying the incident presents minimal risk to the aviation system. Sources tell nbc news 11 people walked through an unattended tsa checkpoint this jetblue terminal. Three of them set off metal detectors and they never received the required secondary screening. The official says once a supervisor realized what happened, they searched the entire terminal for the passengers, never found them. Its assumed they all got on their flights and went to their destinations. Government Officials Say the passengers did walk past bomb sniffing canines, but that precheck lane never should have been opened because it was never fully staffed. In addition, the Port Authority police say the tsa didnt notify them that a breach had occurred for two hours. President trump now headed back to washington from florida. Just before leaving today, he announced his latest pick for National Security advisor. He has chosen Army Lieutenant general h. R. Mcmaster. He says mcmaster is a man of treme experience. Mr. President , thank you very much. Id just like to say what a privilege it is to be able to continue serving our nation. Im grateful to you for that opportunity and i look forward to joining the National Security team and doing everything i can to advance and protect the interests of the american people. Thank you very much, sir. Youre going to do a great job. The position does not require senate confirmation. Michael flynn was the president s first choice for the post, but he had to resign, as you know, due to conversations he had with the russian ambassador. Hes been serving as the Army Capabilities Integration Center at ft. Eustice. Hes highly decorated and considered one of the militarys leading intellectuals and author of the du duty about the vietnam war. Crowds taking part in the socalled not my president s day packed the streets around Trump International hotel in new york. Other cities hosting rallies, chicago, atlanta and of course here in the district. Mark segraves followed the rally from Dupont Circle to the white house. Reporter several hundred protesters showed up at Dupont Circle this afternoon. All part of a social media effort to get the hashtag not my president s day trending. We think our democracy is at stake and we need to fight for it. Instead of sitting home, we need to get down here to the streets and try to save it. Reporter while the vast majority were here to protest President Trump, there were some on hand here to support the president. We heard that they were having a protest against our president. If you live in maamerica, he is your president. Sorry to tell you that. Reporter among those leading the protest was this man, whos running for office in virginia. What were seeing out of the federal government doesnt reflect government for the people. Thats why everyones here. We see a federal government that discriminates against people, that says that our courts should only work for those who could afford justice, that says that those who have the most are those who should get the most. And the people of this country fundamentally reject that. Reporter a protest that started as a social media exercise to get a hashtag trending turned into a march through downtown streets and ended up here at the white house where hundreds of protesters remain chanting, carrying signs and wanting to get the attention of the president of the United States. Its been a day of festivities at George Washingtons mount vernon the property is always a popular Gathering Spot on president s day. This year marks washingtons 285th birthday. There were several special events including a wreath laying at his tomb. The annual George Washington parade just wrapped up in alexandria. This is the oldest parade in the country celebrating our first president. Spectators waved flags as bands and historic reenactors marched along the route. The time has arrived. A sad day for panda fans here in washington. It is bao baos last full day at our national zoo. She heads to china tomorrow. Visitors have been lining up all weekend to get their chance to say goodbye. Kristin wright is live at the zoo tonight with the story. Reporter i cant tell you how many people we talk their eyes because bao bao is leaving. You know what . Judging by the crowds here at the zoo today, this was the place to be in d. C. If pbao bao only knew. We walked up here. It took so long. Were probably about eight blocks away. Im hoping theres nothing on my car when i get back. We came here from jersey last night to come see bao bao. Reporter just to get a dpli glimpse of the panda, these are the panda lovers who wouldnt miss this for anything. We started seeing the traffic walking down the street. Hillary was saying, this is all for the zoo. This is all for the zoo . This is just for bao bao . Reporter all for the panda who has come of age. All these people just came to see her. Theyre so sad shes leaving. Yeah, its going to be sad. Reporter china tomorrow, but for today one last day washington is still home. We have pandas. Thats kind of our trademark. Reporter bao bao has a plane to catch inhe morning. So the zoo will be closed tomorrow morning until noon. Shes got to get to dulles, get on that plane for a 16hour flight to china. I want to get a tshirt that says fedex panda team. I like that. You know it was a great day out there at the zoo. Temperatures well above average. Not just well above, 20 degrees above average. Thats just again because weve seen it three days in a row now and really for most of the month of february. Take a look at the High Temperatures today. 68 the high in d. C. 69 richmond, 71 in roanoke. It will be cooler tomorrow but the warmth returns. I think we get near record High Temperatures later on this week. Why are we so warm . Right now were on track for the third or fourth warmest winter. A civil rights icon and former congressman facing a nearly 700,000 debt. How friends and family rallying around walter to help him keep his home. Theyve known each other for decades. Now a Northern Virginia man is charged with shooting and killing his neighborhood. Reporter stuck in traffic, that is something youre very used to around here. But a new study says were actually doing better. Ill explain coming up. More than 100 employees across the country were fired for taking part in last weeks day without immigrants protest. Your thoughts . Weigh in on our facebook page. Reporter we wasted 61 hours last year stuck in rush hour traffic. Thats actually an improvement. The same group says two years ago we were wasting 75 hours a year stuck in rush hour traffic. Are things really Getting Better . Nancy is with the Northern Virginia transparency allianort alliance. It looks like were doing better than los angeles and new york or mexico city, but i dont want to be in the top ten of any list when it congestion. Reporter this report also says we waste about 3 billion a year because of the economic drain of our congestion. Thats essentially a tax on our area residents. Imagine if we took that 3 billion and investmentinvested infrastructure. Reporter coming up next hour, i have tips for how to cut down the commute time even further. One of virginias most powerful politicians stepping down. Republican House Speaker William Howell says he will not seek reelection this year. Hes retiring after 30 years in the house of delegates, 15 of them as speaker. Howell made that announcement in richmond this afternoon, received a round of applause from his fellow but i dont want to leave without saying how much this house of delegates has meant to me. It is truly, truly a historic institution. I love it dearly. I believe it represents our hope, enduring strength and resiliency of the exciting and ongoing experiment in representative selfgovernment. Howell is 73 years old, says hes stepping down to spend more time with his family. This now means kirk cox could become the next speaker in 2018. Roger fauntroy and his wife are struggling after his mysterious years overseas that ended last summer. A group of ministers launched a lastminute fundraising appeal to help him. Reporter he returned to am years in africa and the middle east, never fully explaining the trip that lift his wife of 60 years trying to save the home theyve owned off of 16th street in northwest washington for 50 years. A group of ministers and others from the metro Washington Area today announced a daunting fundraising effort to stave off foreclosure. We have 30 days to raise 700,000. Its a journey of a thousand miles. We ask these blessings in the name of your son jesus amen. Reporter he said he and his wife long ago paid off their home but refinanced it in the early 2000s to help other struggling homeowners with their mortgages. I remembered my sons schoolteacher reporter Silver Spring minister Calvin Baltimore gave a check today, saying civil rights and religious leaders around the country will help if they hear the call. There are a lot of ministers, pastors who know him, who know not only of him but know him. Reporter the fundraising will be handled by the Nonprofit National congress of black women. The symbolism of losing that house would be overwhelming. Reporter in the district, tom sherwood, news4. Closed circuit tv appears to show the moment the half brother of north koreas leader kim jongun was attacked and killed in malaysia. A woman approaches him from behind, appears to smear something on his face and walks away. He goes asks for help. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police are now searching for four suspects, all north korea men, who all left the country on the same day kim jongnam was killed. The United States are not the only site of mass protests against President Trump today. Thousands rallied outside Britains Parliament upset over trumps coming visit. Some want the government to cancel this. Reporter while this debate around a state visit . After all, countries throughout the world host foreign dignitaries all the time. Britain is unparalleled in its pomp and circumstances. Inviting donald trump, the man who started this petition said would be insulting the queen. Hes considered beneath the dignity of the royal family and those who work in donald trump could actually address the joint houses of parliament. You could expect more than a few of these parliamentarians to sit that one out. Despite the debate and the planned protests happening here in a few hours, theresa may, the newly mint eed Prime Minister h already made a decision. She said she wont be disinviting donald trump. You can expect some color conversation, some angry protesters, but dont expect any changes in the government policy. Reporter im in West Palm Beach florida, a perfect setting for the nats spring training and to get to the bottom of a question ive had for the manager for a long time. Why does dusty baker wipe down the entire dugout after the rain. And the clothing line started by a couple of local wheres the car . Itll be here in three. Uh, four minutes. Are you kidding me . No, looks like he took a wrong turn. Dont worry, this guys got like a fourstar rating, were good. His name is randy. Thats like one of the most trustworthy names ordering a getaway car with an app . Are you randy . Whats not surprising . How much money erin saved by switching to geico. Everybody comfortable with the air temp . I could go a little cooler. Ok. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. It was painful coming in, doug kammerer. We need to just put our winter coats away for now. Were forecasting over the next ten days, we go i dont see any chance of cold weather any time soon. Its going to take a big storm for us to get any cold weather down here. Theres still a chance, yeah. But youre not going to need the winter coats much at all through the next ten days. This is the kind of picture that you have. Its a warm one too. Temperatures in the mid to upper 60s today. A High Temperature of 68 degrees earlier. 65 right now. Temperatures falling through the 50s by around 9 00. By 11 00 sitting around the 51 degree range. It will cool tonight, but it will still be very nice. We are going to see some changes by tomorrow. 67 in culpepper, fredericksburg at 65. Along the chesapeake, a little bit cooler. Were starting to see winds out of the east. This is going to cool us during the day tomorrow. Its going to be a cooler day tomorrow. Temperatures will be in the 50s. Not going to be any rain or snow. Really again showing anything in our area. Out towards california, the storms continue back here. San francisco going to get another couple of inches of rain, flash flood warnings in effect. Its a real mess in parts of california. Storm after storm come into the west coast thats the trough of low pressure here. That allows for a big ridge of High Pressure in the eastern part of the nation. This is why we are so warm. Denver setting record highs, minneapolis, chicago, st. Louis, all setting record High Temperatures. In our area, we continue to be on the warm side. The only part of the country at least on the east coast is up here towards new england. Youve heard about their snow. But for us, we stay warm and it looks like that trend will continue. So far we are the third or fourth warmest winter ever. The third lowest snowfall ever. Now because the storms are going to our north, were now in a were not going to get snow with temperatures like this. 76 in st. Louis, 65 in d. C. Buffalo at 43. We are going to start to see our air move down from the north tomorrow. High of 55 tomorrow, cloudy and cool but still above average. Back to 66 on wednesday and then 70s on thursday and friday. We could set a record out there towards Dulles Airport on thursday. Thats something ill be watching for. I dont see any temperatures below freezing in the city for the next ten days. We watched with anticipation last year as the eagle family at the national arboritum raised two a suspected drunk driver in a crash in weekend that involved a Montgomery County police officer. Reporter im julie carey in Fauquier County where resident who is live along this country road are shaken after the neighborhood who lives in this house is accused of killing another neighbor. Coming up, what the dispatch calls reveal. A 64yearold Fauquier County man is facing a murder charge tonight, accused of killing his longtime neighbor. This deadly dispute happened early yesterday morning at a home on turkey run road just outside warrenton. Julie carey reports the victim and much of his family lived within eyesight of the shooting scene zbrnch scene. Reporter its the kind of call the fauquier Sheriffs Department rarely gets, a call to report a homicide. The victim larry walker found shot to death inside his neighbors home. The man accused of killing him, 64yearold Richard Mcdonald. The men had known one another, lived near one another for decades. Sources tell news4 mcdonald and walker had been hanging out together on saturday evening. Early sunday led to a dispute, led to gunfire. Walker was shot multiple times insidewalkers home. That early confusion about who did the shooting came because mcdonald allegedly used the victims own gun. When emergency crews arrived, walker was already dead. This mailbox marks the spot on turkey run road where the accused killer, Richard Mcdonald lives. The next house is where the victims parents live. The victim himself lived just on the other side of that. The Walker Family owned the home where the shooting took place. Mcdonald had been a tenant there for 40 years. Now hes in the Fauquier County Detention Center held without bond. A suspected drunk driver is facing dui charges after causing a crash that injured a Montgomery County police officer. Investigators say officer matthew the scene of another collision saturday night. Just as he was about to get out of his patrol car, the driver of a black mercedes rear ended his cruiser. That driver, morris moody of Silver Spring was arrested and charged. Police say his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. A brush fire got uncomfortably close to a couple of homes in Prince Georges County today. You can see the smoke in this view from chopper 4. A couple of hours ago fire officials tweeted that the blaze is under control, but theyre still working on putting it out completely. We are working to learn more about this fire and how it began. The local Eagle Population is expanding themselves to inin known as the first family. The female laid an night. You can keep a close eye on the eagle cam. That egg should hatch in about 35 days. This will be the pairs first egg of this year. The two raised two eaglets last year who were named freedom and little bitty. Down in West Palm Beach florida, the nats expectations are higher than ever. Reporter its a question weve wanted to ask dusty for a long time his second year with the nats. This is the final year of his contract. He says he wants to figure out his future, his words, sooner rather than later. Hes 67 years old. As youll find out in our you cant think about your window. Youve got to think about what we have to do today and then, boom, you plan on what we have to do tomorrow. When i look back, i was like, well, why was i chosen to come here . I wasnt chosen to come here just for the team. I was chosen to come here to win the whole thing. Reporter i have to ask you about bryce harper. Met with the media. Seemed a little more intense. He looks like the same bryce to me. Hes a man now. Hes not a kid anymore. Hes married, has responsibilities now to more than just himself. That responsibility, you know, can take you a long, long ways. Reporter high five or first bump . You are credited with inventing the high five. No i first bump now because of sanitary Different Things going around, you know, there wasnt any purell back in those days. Reporter you dont want to get a cold. Why are you wiping off the dugouts with the towel . Why just do any section . If youre a team guy, youre going to do for other guys too. I dont like sitting in the wet. If i go to the mound, it dont look good. Especially if you sit in some dirt. Hey, man, dusty had an accident. Reporter it makes sense now. So yeah, he doesnt do it all. Almost does it all. If you do hes not going to leave you hanging. Ive seen him give a high five. He just resists a little bit. As for bryce harper he is back with a vengeance. Dusty baker all about are you eating well and loading up on sunscreen down there . Its beautiful. Teddy and i are having a blast. Its a tough gig. Its a really tough gig. You know, i need to get a raise or something. Grinning ear to ear. You cant stop smiling. It has been a popular place since its opened this past fall. Now its marking a smile stone of one million visitors. Well have more on that and the special honor for the National Museum of africanamerican history and culture. And theres a new study that finds a troubling amount of children exposed to prescription opioids inside the home. Stepsou can take to red yuc doctors, nurses, pharmacy staff, theyre stealing drugs from the Va Medical Centers across the country. That is the main take away from a report out today from the department of veterans affairs. The report says staff are mostly after opioids. Theyre siphoning them either to use them or sell them on the street. Inspectors blame a culture of lax rules. They say random checks caught multiple hospitals skipping their insio stocks. That can also create dangerous situations in your own home. Reporter if you have kids in the home and medication, youre likely not doing enough. Parents arent storing medications in their homes well. Reporter that comes from a recent study that finds nearly 70 of prescription opioid medications in homes with children are not stored safely. Ilene mcdonald from the center for Injury Research and policy says those medications in the home can seem harmless but they can contribute to accidental ingestion, experimentation and addiction. For children 6 and younger, we define safe storage as being locked or latched. And for households with kids over the age of 7 up to 17, we describe safe storage as combination lock or a keyed lock. Reporter child resistant caps dont cut it and neither does keeping it out of reach. They hope to see something developed like a smart packaging where only the person prescribed the medication can open up a bottle. We worked with a group of undergrad students at hopkins to develop a prototype of a personalized and tamper resistant pill dispenser using thumbprint technology. Reporter there was a record breaking weekend for national harbor. Now its gearing up for another major convention coming in just a couple of days. And its clothing that empowers children. A couple of local moms turning science into a retail revolution. Clothes are not all about princesses anymore. Whats did you know 90 of couples disagree on mattress firmness . Enter sleep number. She likes the bed soft. Hes more hardcore. You can both adjust the bed for the best sleep of your life. Save 50 on the ultimate limited edition bed, plus 24month financing. Go to sleepnumber. Com for a store near you. If youre still planning to go, Museum Officials tell us the length of time a visitor stays in the museum averages six hours or more on weekends. Another milestone, one of the restaurants inside the museums, sweet home cafe, was named a semi finalist for the 2017 James Beard Foundation award in the category of best new restaurant. Do you struggle finding dresses or shirts that reflect things your daughter or son really like . Some virginia mothers were so fed upcreative way to give parents choices. Reporter when oakton spiring astronaut wanted to wear she started to make clothes Mainstream Stores arent selling. If girls want to wear a monster truck tshirt, perfectly fine. Reporter her mission struck a nerve with her friend eva everett who struggled finding clothes for her sons in the bright colors they love. We have an abc of signs. Reporter in 2015 the two moms teamed up, turned everetts reston home into a wear house and law firmed svaha apparel, a clothing line of kids clothed names after the little girl who inspired it. Lab baeakers, computer goads and cant keep in stock, its become part of a growing trend of clothing brands confronting gender stereotypes. Girls are not all about princesses and pink anymore. Thats why it resonated really well with the people who saw our products. Reporter across the potomac, we find more moms with a hand in this retail revolution. It was in this Silver Spring basement princess awesome was born. A line of gender defying dresses that fill a gap. We have no problem with pink dresses with flowers. But the problem that we see is that much of girls cloething if you like red or dragons or math or science and you also like dresses, theres no option out there. Reporter a hit from the start, their 2015 kick starter times their goal. Now we hear from our customers, people come up to their daughters and say rockets, are you interested in space . And then theres this conversation about space that happens. Reporter more clothes changing conversation and the face of kids fashion. More ways to match ever changing minds. Mainstream retailers like target have started incorporating some gender neutral clothing but its not widespread. Market Research Shows Childrens Wear at most stores and chains are still pretty gender specific. Well, if youre just getting back inside, you know how beautiful it is outside. Thanks for coming in. We appreciate it. All right, tom. This stuff cant last forever, can it . It could. And certainly a longterm trend here over the next three months is for generally warmer than average temperatures. Kind of get used to this. Look at that sunset, live view from the storm team 4 tower camera. Sunsets are fegetting later and later this time of a year as well which also diminishes our chance of snow or cold weather. Warm jacket tomorrow morning. You were comfortable today in shorts and tshirts but not tomorrow morning. Well be rather chilly. You may even need some gloves tomorrow morning. For the afternoon just a light jacket and sunglasses. Send us your pics. Cherry blossoms are blooming here in mid to late february. Some of the different types will bloom a little bit earlier than others and those around the tidal ba were into the mid 60s now in the metro area. 50s around the bay. A little bit of a breeze off the bay making it a bit chillier. Shenandoah valley hovering in the mid 60s. We could use a little more rain because we do have a moderate drought here, this zone in tan, Northern Virginia through the metro area, much of maryland. On the Eastern Shore its abnormally dry as well. We could use some rain or snow. For your fitness forecast tomorrow, by 9 00 a. M. A lot of clouds around. It will be cool in the afternoon, it will be in the 50s. Here comes another warm wave as we get into wednesday, partly sunny, some clouds in the morning and sun back in the afternoon, late afternoon. In the mid 60s and into the low 70s on thursday, partly sunny and another unusually mild d high this time of year is 48. It will be into the 48, whats that . That was a couple of months ago. Thats so january. It is certainly not feeling like that as we get into the weekend. Chance of some more rain and we could certainly use it on saturday, maybe up to an inch. Much cooler after that on sunday into monday. Into next week aittle more l check this out. The spacex rocket landing perfectly at Kennedy Space center. Elon musk posted this photo on instagram and captioned it baby came back. It has landed five other times on sea platforms. This is the first landing on land. Spacex is the first commercial company to visit the International Space station. Its rockets deliver cargo for nasa. Spacex eventually wants to deliver humans into space, possibly to mars their family dog survived a fire thanks to quickthinking crews who pulled her to safety. Now sadies owner wants to show her gratitude to the Fire Department with some food as derrick ward tells us, she also wants pet safe with something as simple as a sticker. Reporter that visitor to the falls Church Volunteer Fire Department would be sadie and her owner erica. She looks a lot better than the last time i saw her. Reporter the last time firefighters saw sadie, the condo on his fire. The conditions were pretty smokey. You really couldnt get a lot of visibility in there. Reporter sadie almost selfrescued but not sure if she should fight or flee. Shes pretty skittish. Reporter davis got the frightening call at work there had been a fire but the dog was okay. They had wrapped her in a blanket. She had a fire hose around her neck as a leash. They were sitting with her. I was so appreciative. Reporter hence lunch for the fire house today. The close call got davis thinking. Anyone with a pet should have a way to let First Responders know. These door stickers do that. She brought lots of them and donated them to a local animal shelter. Just helps them out so much, i think. They let us know that theres a pet inside and if weve got a chance to try and find it. So we do. Reporter a bit of irony here. Sadie is a rescue dog twice over. Once from a shelter and then from a fire. Id say that makes sadie a lucky dog. Now at 6 00 on this president s day, rallies from coast to coast against President Trump and his policies. A d. C. Government contractor is fighting back after getting fired. He says hes been singled out for speaking out. A serious Security Breach at how passengers were able to get onto a flight without a full screening at jfk airport in new york. News4 at 6 00 starts now. New details in a strange murder case. The victim, a 63yearold man. The suspect, a 76yearold woman. The weapon, a metal baseball bat. Now the question is why. Police say it all went down in a home on 21st street in northeast d. C. Pat collins has been working this story all afternoon. Reporter this is mind boggling. The murder suspect is 76 years old. The murder weapon, a baseball bat. The victim, 63 years old, naked, tied up, locked in a closet. Why would someone do Something Like this