Transcripts For WUSA Wusa 9 News At 5pm 20131219

Card breach. Customers who swipe their charmeds at target stores any time between credit cards at target stores any time between the day before thanksgiving and now may have been a victim. Fo reporter tis the season r shopping and hacking. Target says 40 million customers may have had their personal information stolen during the first three weeks of the Holiday Shopping season. The hackers swiped names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and security codes. Yeah, that concerns me. I shop here all the time. Reporter it did not affect online purchases. Target has nearly 1,800 stores in the u. S. And the Security Breach happened when customers swiped their cards. There are people making hundreds of millions of dollars on this type of fraud of. Reporter sean henn rei leads a Security Technology company and shawn henry leads a Security Technology company and says the data on the card is a goldmine for hackers. Target customers are advised to carefully read their card statements. Are you going to check . I will now 36789. Reporter target isnt saying how the breach occurred but says it has been resolved. Ko im, cbs news, alexandria, virginia. The company has set up an 800 number if you think you might have been a victim of the breach. Here it is. 18668528680. Also the secret service and an outside Forensics Company are investigating the case. So what can you do if you think your credit has been compromised. Earlier today we spock with personal finance expert sonia smith valentine. The very first thing is to go pull your Credit Report and im not saying to pull it to go see if there are new accounts because its too soon. The new accounts wouldnt show up. Im saying to pull it to go look at the section called inquiries because thats the section that shows you when a company has pulled your report when theyre thinking about giving you credit. Our personal finance expert also recommends you putting a freeze on your Credit Report. That prevents companies from making credit inquiries and possibly lowering your score. To a disturbing crime now involving young female victims who were learning how to drive, if an ashburn driving instruct an ashburn driving instructor is accused of using his position to take advantage of female students. Surae chinn has the details. Reporter no one from the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office wanted to go on camera, but detectives tell me this driving instructor has been in business seven years and are afraid there could be more female victims who havent come forward yet. 63yearold Khawaja Vohra lab charged with sexually abusing at least has been charged with sexually abusing at least two of his students between september and october this year. Vohra is the owner of aali Fastrack Driving School which is registered to his arrival burn home. He worked with to his ashburn home. He worked with teenagers across the home. A woman came to the door but did not want to talk. Does he have anything to say about the charges against him . Nothing . It were of detectives say it started withen detectives say it started wind appropriate comments to an 18yearold with inappropriate comments to an 18yearold student and then indecent touching. There are three counts of Sexual Battery involving the 18 yearold. Vohra has been released on a 55,000 secured bond and ordered not to have any unsupervise the contact with females under the age of 21. In Loudoun County surae chinn, wusa9. Detectives do say additional charges are possible. Anyone with information about this case or if you know someone who has been a victim, please call the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office at 703777 0475. Virginia governor Bob Mcdonnell may be spared the distinction of becoming the first sitting Virginia Governor to be indicted, but charges could come sometime after he leaves office next month. Peggy fox is in richmond today looking into why the federal and state gift investigation case against the governor has been delayed. Reporter a tattered flag of the commonwealth flies above virginias state capitol. Below questions of wheeling and dealing in the historic Governors Mansion may be coming to a head. Ive got to let the judicial system play out. Reporter governor elect Terry Mcauliffe said today that he nor anybody on his behalf lobbied the Justice Department to delay an indictment of Current Governor Bob Mcdonnell. I will never and have not used my office to give my special benefits to any company, Jonnie Williams or Star Scientific or anybody else. Reporter mcdonnell has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong, but the Washington Post reports that the governor and his wife maureen would have been indicted this week, the charge . Illegally promoting the Dietary Supplement Company Star Scientific in exchange for more than 165,000 in gets and loans from its ceo, Jonnie Williams. Now that possible indictment wont come until after mcauliffe is sworn in january 11th. My heart goes out to the mcdonnell family. I can only say that since election day governor mcdonnell and his entire team have been nothing but spectacular to my team. Reporter but if the reason to delay a grand jury hearing was to allow for a smooth transition, bcu political scientist dedra condit calls that special treatment. That allows perhaps an indictable offense to be prolonged i think speaks very poorly to the question of the role of democracy and of the citizens involved in it. Reporter the year long gift investigation of governor mcdonnell and his wife has shined a bright light on virginias lax ethics laws. Elected leaders are only required to report anything over 50. There is no limit on how much they can take. I will place a 100 gift ban on myself, my family and everyone who serves in my administration. Reporter in richmond, peggy fox, wusa9. Now the post reports a final decision about whether to press charges is now not expected before january 2nd and could come as late as february. A series of suspicious packages and bomb threats causing headaches around our area, right now there are a handful of street closures around the Swedish Embassy on k street northwest because of a suspicious package. Those closures include parts of the rock creek farcway and k street. Then there were also frightening moments today at the federal courthouse in downtown baltimore. The courthouse was evacuated after a man was spotted sitting out front with a gun to his head. The man demanded to speak to the fbi. Pattings later got the man to lower his gun agents later got the man to lower his gun and surrender. Tonight he is in custody. He was carrying a pellet gun. Has name has not been released. No explosives were found. Now to st. Marys county, maryland, where this morning a series of phoned in bomb there. S caused a big disruption. It is yet another threats caused a big disruption. It is yet another challenge of the threats people make and the way officials are forced to react to them. Scott broom is at the center of health and Homeland Security with more. Reporter expert analysts here say threats are more disruptive than ever and get more attention than ever now because of the high speed information world we live in. In leonardtown s. Marys county this morning the courthouse was locked down and searched, the High School Put on lockdown, a major reaction to bogus phoned in bomb threats, source still unknown, but even before officials could investigate bystanders spread the order instantly and exponentially on social media. Law enforcement and journalists began to make their own tweets to keep up and keep people informed. It has changed tremendously. Reporter university of maryland senior Homeland Security policy analyst vernon heron says one effect is minor incidents are magnified giving threatmakers a bigger stage, though he loves Law Enforcement has little choice. Everybody he believes Law Enforcement has little choice. Everybody has a camera and is on facebook. That information will get out. Reporter other recent examples includes a gunman scare at american university. A man with a holster on a bus was shown on twitter. He turned out to be a police officer. The university reacted with a lockdown and an electronic alert of its own. We train students to if they see something, to say something. That is what happened tonight. Reporter harv University Also disrupted monday by a student harvard University Also disrupted monday by a student allegedly making email bomb threats, but heron said officials cannot ignore the threats or speed of information. Government officials need some type of social media account to put information out insultly with other information thats going out simultaneously with other information thats going out to validate what the facts are. The worst thing you want to have is people sending out erroneous information or rumors that could lead to somebody being injured. Reporter and media like us face similar questions, attention seeking threats that would have not received any publicity even just five years ago now spread instantly on social media. We think its our obligation to find the Accurate Information and get it out there in near realtime until the situation has ended. Scott broom, wusa9. Officials in st. Marys county are asking for tips that might lead them to the person or persons who made todays threats there. Traffic is moving again past the scene of a tractor trailer accident on the beltway. The rig overturned this morning on the inner loop ramp leading to river road in bethesda. Crews were called in to clean up an oil spill. That accident slowed traffic in the area for hours and we still dont know what caused the truck driver to lose control. In tonights travel alert an unwanted after Christmas Present for commuters, starting january 1st the dulles toll road, well, it gets more expensive. At the main toll plaza tolls go up 75 cents making the cost 2. 50. There is no toll increase at the on off ramps. They are still 1 no toll increase is planned for 2015. The u. S. Ous a collision course tonight with india over is on a collision course tonight with india over the treatment of a diplomat in new york city. That diplomat was allegedly strip searched after being charged with visa fraud linked to treatment of her housekeeper. The u. S. Says the diplomat was afforded courtesies well beyond what most defendants get. Indian officials were not buying that. There were no courtesies in the treatment that was meted out to the diplomat under the normal definition of that word in the english language. Indian authorities have responded to that controversy by removing security barriers from outside the u. S. Ambassador in new delhi. There have also been protests. The u. S. Capitol dome getting a makeover, all part of a 60 million restoration project. You can expect to see scaffolding covering the dome starting in the spring. We got to see renderings of what that will look like today. Once the scaffolding is in place workers will start removing lead paint and applying a protective coating. The capitols architect said the problem is there are cracks in the buildings exterior and some of those leaks are causing water damage. Tonight new mexico becomes the latest state to legalize same sex marriage. The states highest court ruled it is unconstitutional to deny a marriage license to gay and lesbian couples. 17 states and the District Of Columbia now allow same sex marriage. Duck dynasty star Phil Robertson is suspended tonight by a e cable over some antigay comments he made in an interview, but some say the Reality Stars benching is a violation of his free speech. Our Kristin Fisher brings us the story at 5 30. Top . A very mild day, kind of a harbinger of whats in store. Well show you temperatures now in the 50s, 55 downtown, gaithersburg, 54 in leesburg, 52 in manassas. Its still 61 in culpeper. Well come back, talk about the weekend weather, some record highs and weather for the redskins game and the ravens game. Reporter if you like my red wusa9 jacket, i know youll really love this blue jacket. Why am i wearing it and why am i and why is it so cold in here . All of that when we come back. Then right after the break royally peeved, a british tabloid newspaper accused of hacking into Prince Williams voicemail. The tabloids phone hacking trial in england is now focusing on the royal family. It is the first time Rupert Murdochs news of the world has been accused of targeting the royals, transcripts of affectionate voicemails from Prince William to then girl friend Kate Middleton were read to the london jury. In one he of refers to in one he refers to kate as babykins. Some londoners say they are not surprised by eavesdropping. They like listening to peoples phone calls 100 . I think its a sad indictment on the media itself. Two employees of the now defunct paper have been convicted of hacking the phones of royal aides. Prosecutors say prince harrys voicemail was also intercepted. In one prince harry pretending to be his brothers girl friend calls his brother a big fat hairy enginier which is a nickname for red harry ginger which is a nickname for redheads. There is 15,000 feet of Holiday Themed sighs sculptures where we find Ice Sculptures where we find after. Reporter look around, a where we find debra alfarone. Reporter look around, a sea of blue. Its about 9 degrees. Its so cold our thermometer doesnt even register. It broke, okay . Im in trouble now with howard bernstein. I got to bring this thing back, but i want to tell you this is a fun exhibit. Lots of people are here. When you walk in, they tell you dont lick the ice. Really look at this. These are all made of ice here, that present, thats ice, but heres the thing. Theres only 1 thing better than that ice and thats vanilla ice. Hit it. All right, stop. Collaborate and listen. This year it was the nice before christmas of. Reporter ice is back at the gaylord convention. This took about 30 days to carve. We brought in 34 artists from china. Reporter santa and reindeer grab and hold your eyes tightly. I dont even know how they color it, but its so cool. Reporter people wearing blue coats daily and nightly. Will it ever stop after the new year . Hop on the ice slide dont have no fear. If you go down the slide, you have to wear the coat of. Reporter the Christmas Tree is tall all ice and insane. We have a new york city cab. They can see themselves live on sometimes square. Reporter ice ice baby. If you are still watching and have not witnessed the end of my career, this is the slide here. Certainly theyve got millions of pounds of ice going through. Were just in one room. Theres 15,000 square feet of this. What do you think if ive not already embarrassed myself too much . Do you think i should go down that slide . Go. Reporter tweet me. Lets see you do it. You might as well. All she needed was a beat underneath and i think vanilla ice is calling. Reporter tweet me. I like how you committed all the way to the end, though. Reporter thats right. When youre wearing this, you got to commit. Are you going down the slide . Are we going to see that . Reporter that is a news tease. You got to stick around. Well see you later. She said she was going to be rapping and i didnt believe it until just now. Okay. She needed a beat underneath her. Need to have a beat. She has a beat now. Stop that. She cant hear me, can she . Yes. Some of the ice rinks are going to have trouble outdoors in rockville and reston and over by the new see. Its going to be near 70 over museum. Its going to be near 70 over the weekend. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam and its still 55, relative humidity low, 35 and winds out of the south, southwest at 9. Well have essentially a southwest wind through the weekend which will continue to bring us warmer and warmer air until we culminate with 70 on sunday. Satellite picture radar combined, just a few clouds, partly cloudy tonight, no clouds overhead now. If there are clouds back to the west, it will move through. Theyre high and midlevel clouds, so well just say partly cloudy, staying dry. Temps 52 bethesda, 54 reston and fairfax. Ive got 48 in springfield, 57 in college park, 58 waldorf. Its been chilly all day in annapolis only 45 by the water. Not as cold tonight and dry, bus stop temperatures 32 to 44 tomorrow. So a little bit milder. Breezy and warmer on friday, golfable friday and saturday and golfable early sunday morning actually as warm air gets in here. Just how warm . Well see record highs. Now the record high downtown is 68 set back in 1923 on saturday. Thats probably safe, but 60 at dulles. Thats in jeopardy. 62 in baltimore. Thats in jeopardy. I think dulles should break their record easily and the 1 in baltimore was just set back in 2001. Tonight partly cloudy, just chilly, 32 to 42, winds southwest at 10 and then by morning partly cloudy, a chilly start, not cold, 30s and 40s and by afternoon partly cloudy, breezy, warmer, highs around 60, winds increasing southwest 10 to 20, but again thats a warmer milder wind. So downtown temps 40s to start, 46 by 9 00, 51 before lunchtime, so a light jacket and then 55 by 1 00. Next three days, 61 tomorrow, 65 on saturday, still tucking a drop in here after nightfall, just a sprinkle or shower, nothing heavy and then record warmth possible sunday, 70, showers. Look, i got a lightning there. We could see some thunderstorms late on sunday afternoon and evening. Next seven days, in fact, i think we might make it through the redskins game dry. Its going to be close, will not make it through the ravens game, late game at 4 25. You can watch that game here on channel 9. Monday returning partly cloudy, cooler, 56 and near 40 on Christmas Eve day. I put a flake in for fun, snow showers in the mountains and then just chilly Christmas Day and then near 50 next thursday, but tuesday and monday really great days for travel, pretty much across the country, pretty quiet. You got no ice ice baby. I have no ice ice baby. You are correct. Just a few fun flakes. Still ahead widespread bacteria found in raw chicken, youll want to see this story before you start your dinner tonight. Ate right after the break one of the didnt right just in time for the holidays tony the dancing cop shaking it down on the streets of providence, rhode island. Its tonys 30th Holiday Season directing traffic. Once a fulltime Providence Police officer he danced his way into the National Spotlight making Numerous National and Television Appearances and why not . Hes got some moves there. Video games arent just for fun. They are also an art form. Thats what the curators of the smithsonian believe as well as my nephew. The smithsonians American Art Museum is collecting video games as part of a permanent collection. This week the smithsonian acquired the 2006 game flower and the 2010 game halo. The museum says the rapidly changing technology in the reach of video games has created a new genre in media art. Coming up with your car keep you safe from a crash like this . Well have the brandnew ruptures from some extensive crash tests. Plus youll want to hear this next story before dinner. Consumer reports tests more than 300 raw chicken breasts for bacteria and the results, lets just say its not good. One of the stars of a es duck dynasty has just been suspended for making some anti gay remarks, but is that really a violation of his freedom of speech as many conservatives claim . Well dig into it coming up. You are watching wusa9 news at 5 00. Thanks for being with us this checking up on our top stories, officials now say more than 80 people are injured, seven seriously after a roof collapse at a london theater. Hundreds of people were inside at the time watching a performance. We still dont know why it collapsed. The retail giant target confirms its been hit by hackers, 40 million credit and debit accounts could be affected. The stolen data includes customers names, account numbers, card expiration dates and security codes. And a driving instructor is in hot water tonight accused of sexually abusing two students. Investigators say the man you see on your screen there inappropriately touched an 18 yearold as well as a juvenile. Hes out on 55,000 bond. Duck dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson suspended without pay, but tonight his supporters are coming to his defense. In an interview with gq magazine robertson was asked what in your mind is sinful . His answer start with homosexual behavior and morph out from there, bestiality, sleeping around, neither the adulterers, the idolaters, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, they wont inherit the kingdom of god. Dont steven yourself. Its not right. A e quickly announced his also dont deceive yourself. Its not right. A and a quickly announced his suspension. His comments were found to be outrage and not in keeping with the a e brand. Today sarah palin tweeted free speech is an endangered species. So is a e justified in suspending him or is this really a violation of freedom of speech . Kristin fisher is here to break it all down for us. What did you think . As somebody very eloquently said on our Facebook Page today, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. So just because Phil Robertson has the constitutional right to say whatever he wants, it does not mean his employer has to stand by him. Its the most popular show ever on Cable Television, but today the shows star Phil Robertson is also the most popular searched term on google in the u. S. And not for a good reason. He and his show are trending on twitter and so is a e, the network that just suspended him for making the antigay remarks. Reporter why is it such a big deal . Because reality tv has kind of taken over our lives, the lives of people on tv kind of mattering a lot to us these days for whatever reason. Reporter i stopped about 20 people in georgetown and almost all of them said while they disagree with the comments they do not think he should have been suspended. I guess suspending might be a little harsh. I dont think its that big of a deal. He kind of had this opinion everybody expected him to have. So why is everybody freaking out . It is america after all and if we want to condemn other people for believing exactly what they believe, then thats not really fair because you wouldnt want anybody doing that to you. Reporter but the director of the school of media and Public Affairs at George Washington university, frank sesno, thinks the suspension is justified. What he said is amazing and if i were an a e executive id say white hot, this is not acceptable. Clearly the almost 600,000 people who like this boycott a e Facebook Group would disagree. It reads this page is to show support for the freedom of speech of all americans, but sesno says freedom of speech does not mean freedom of consequences from your employer. Shoo they have to worry about their reputation and they have to worry about their reputation and figure anybody who works for us is an extension of and an ambassador for us. A and e has to decide if they want Phil Robertson to continue to be a star of their network. Now hes success spended without pay and a e says they have suspended without take and a e says they have no idea, if ever that, suspension will be lifted. 14 Million Viewers each week last season, 2 million more than breaking bad on their final season, the no. 1 Cable Television show. Its a huge number of people. Take lot of you are sounding off on a lot of you are sounding off on our Facebook Page. Jennifer nicole writes agree or disagree is irrelevant. The concern to me is we are becoming a society that crucifies people for their opinions. You can join the conversation any time by logging onto our wusa9 Facebook Page. Church officials defrocked a pennsylvania pastor who officiated his sons gay wedding several years ago. The reverend Frank Schaffer of United Methodist church was told to resign if he couldnt follow the denominations book of discipline, but schaffer said the book scrim natures against homosexuals and he discriminates against homosexuals and he refused to give up his credentials. He is appealing the decision. If you eat chicken, Consumer Reports tests of more than 300 raw clicken breasts revealed 97 of them harbored bacteria that can potentially make you sick. On american dinner tables chicken is the most popular meat, but Consumer Reports tests of more than 300 raw chicken breasts. Ed at Stores Across the country breasts purchased at Stores Across the country found potentially harmful bacteria in nearly all the samples. We tested the chicken for six bacteria including salmonella and e. Coli which is a typical measure of fecal contamination. Reporter more than half of the chicken breasts were tainted with e. Coli and enterococcus and all of the major brands tested contained worrisome bacteria, as did smaller brands in packages labeled organic or no antibiotics. Most troubling . When we looked at all of the chicken breasts we tested, about half harbored at least one bacterium that was resistant to three or more common families of antibiotics. Reporter Rick Schiller knows the damages. He wound up in the hospital with severe abdominal pain after eating chicken contaminated with salmonella. I thought i wasnt going to make it there for a little bit i was that sick. I was so sick i couldnt move around. I didnt want to talk. I just wanted to lay there. Reporter so Consumer Reports says when it comes to preparing chicken, you cant be too careful. Our tests did not reveal any better choice despite stop differences among brands and types. You really want to make sure to cook your chicken until it reaches 165 degrees in the center. Reporter its also important to wash your hands well after handling raw chicken and dont wash raw chicken under the faucet. That can spread bacteria and increase your risk of getting sick. Now the food and Drug Administration has just issued some voluntary new guidelines that would limit the way farmers can use antibiotics in chicken and Consumer Reports says thats a good first step, but much more needs to be done. One group that determines top picks for car safety is taking it a step further this year. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashes cars at 40 Miles Per Hour to make their decisions. This year they factored in which cars are best at preventing a crash using Warning Systems or automatic braking. We think as important as it is for a vehicle to protect you in a crash, if it can prevent the crash in the first place, thats even better. Honda had the most winners of any automaker in the survey, eight and that includes the honda accord which earned the highest ranking for safety from the Insurance Institute. A new report says the fake interpreter at Nelson Mandelas Memorial Service has been committed to a psychiatric hospital. He caused an uproar earlier this month when deaf groups called him an imposter and said his gestures were meaningless. They were. A day afterwards he blamed his bizarre sign language on schizophrenia. His wife said he had a checkup this week at the hospital and was admitted immediately. Still ahead a cell phone robbing band its gets more than he bargained for bandit gets more than he bargained for on this bus. Right where we were two weeks ago in the 60s. We hit 60 today. Let me show you temperatures now. Theyre still mild, mainly in the 50s, 55 downtown, 52 in leesburg, 45 in manassas, but still 59 in culpeper and 55 in baltimore. We will come back, talk about even milder and warmer air heading our way and what that means to the redskins and ravens forecast. Dont forget were always on at www. Wusa9. Com. You have made me laugh. If they only knew what we were talking about. We will be right back. At h. H. Greggs countdown to christmas sale youll save up to 25 on appliances, electronics, furniture and more. 24inch led tvs, 129. Samsung 51inch hdtvs, now 499. Whirlpool washer dryer pairs, just 798. And android tablets start at just 49 dollars get the gifts you want, om fr b therands you trust at the h. H. Gregg countdown to christmas sale. What would you do to f you saw a guy with a if you saw a guy with a gun on a bus . A 19yearold in seattle demanded passengers cell phones. He got to the wrong 1. This guy wasnt having one. This guy wasnt having anything. He sprung into action and jumped on the guy. The other riders piled on top of him and held the gunman down. The gunman faces 15 years in prison. A bus got into some sort of accident ending with a bus crashing into this storefront this morning as the bus was headed to newarks penn station. At least nine people were sent to the hospital. Facebook plans to sell off 70 million additional shares of stock. And 60 of the shares will come from founder mark zuckerberg. The company made the announcement in a securities and Exchange Commission filing today. Experts predict the move will further drive up demand for shares. Coming up some students scare the tinsel out of their teachers at a texas high school. But up first when a taxi passes a black customer, is it racism or an economic decision . Racism or an economic decision . Wait until you e whilstopping at dunkin donuts, so now im sitting in the bed of my truck, sipping a latte and smiling. Mydunkin enjoy a delicious latte the next time you stop at dunkin. Share your story. Mydunkin today is the first time in a long time we go surfing while well rested. Time for some 6 a. M. Dunkin coffee. Mydunkin dunkin coffee, brewed to perfection for the rich, smooth taste you love. Share your story. Mydunkin hundreds of undercover man hours, hundreds of d. C. Cabs tested in a new d. C. Hidden operation and tonight Investigative Reporter russ ptacek documents two things. One, there is no evidence its getting any easier for a black man to get a cab and two, the d. C. Taxi commission doesnt believe its racism. Reporter you can see hes pulling up and thats whats supposed to happen, but watch what happens with an African American passenger who wasnt even part of our undercover operation. We happened to see him by chance with the cameras rolling. Watch as this real passenger wandered into our undercover investigation. Hes passed by one cab, right behind it a second cab. Would three d. C. Cabs all with for hire signs lit pass the man we watched . Do you see this guy . Now watch the first cab with a white passenger. In the exact same spot. Coincidence . Keep watching. Besides the three cabs that just passed that man over the past month we tested 54 others. I posed as a passenger at the same locations where we staged an African American rider. Each of us wore the same clothing. Each received quite different treatment. I think weve made improvement. Reporter skeptical d. C. Taxi Commission Chairman ron linton questions our sample size. How many did you test . Reporter we tested about 50. About 50. So that is less than what, 1 . Reporter yeah, but over the past year weve tested hundreds. Weve tested hundreds. I can show you the data. Starting a year ago in december, 2012 our undercover crews watched 15 of d. C. Cabs tested refuse our black passengers destination. Listen to this one lock the doors. Not going there. Reporter in february undercover testing nearly 100 taxis this time and tracking female African American passengers, too. I did not see you. Reporter in that test 25 of taxis tested passed right by our black passengers in the street. Then we added blind passengers with service dogs documenting a failure rate of about 33 . Does that say in service . Yeah. Good work, everybody. Reporter and now one year later. Did you think he saw you . I think he saw me, yes. Reporter our latest test tracking about 1 3 of d. C. Cabs with domes lit for hire driving right by black passengers. It doesnt seem like youve made any improvement in a year. Thats your opinion. Reporter whats your opinion . You think more African American passengers are being picked up . Yeah. Reporter do you have any data to substantiate that . Not at my fingertips, no. Reporter a spokesman told us later the Taxi Commission doesnt even track race of passenger complainants. Look at this. It looks like the cab will stop for our black passenger. But it didnt. One of 34 cabs our black passengers tried to hail with only 23 stopping. So far not one cab has passed me. Me . For the same 203 rides i only had to hail 20 with it 23 rides i only had to hail 22 cabs. I havent even hailed yet and this guy is stopping for me. D. C. s taxi Commission Chairman believes it is economic, not racial discrimination. Ly not t thing that results in failure to haul. Most of its economic. Reporter but they dont know where these passengers are going. Theyre passing them making an assumption by race thats right. Reporter that theyre going to a certain location. Thats right. But its an economic assumption. Reporter little comfort for some like this lifelong d. C. Resident we watched passed three times in a row. Hell pull off before i get there. Reporter is this your normal experience . This is every day. Reporter except for following us we found no evidence over the past year that the d. C. Taxi commission has initiated 1 program or done one thing to insure all passengers are treated equally regardless of race. Im Investigative Reporter russ ptacek wusa9. You tweet russ. Hell give you ways you can contact city officials to comment. Some drivers defended the practice citing violence and murders against cabbies. The Taxi Commission says undercover operations are ineffective and relies on passengers themselves to their experiences. Yesterday officials did release new data saying this year theyve investigated more than 1,100 complaints and taxi inspectors have issued more than 8,000 tickets for violations ranging from illegal fares to refusing service. Wusa9 news at 6 00 just a few minutes away. Derek is live in the newsroom with a preview. Live, d. We will have the latest on that theater collapse in the heart of londons theater district, also new questions tonight about the security of thousands of federal buildings here in d. C. And all across the country. Plus a break in at a d. C. Public school has people shaking their heads. Weve got Surveillance Video of the burglars who pulled it off. And Dennis Rodman is back in north korea tonight. Well tell you why hes there this time. Thats it at 6 00. Wow. Wow is right. Its just strange. Temperatures may reach 70 degrees this weekend, but if you just need some ice ice baby, weve got the place for you. Debra alfarone joins us now live from ice at the Gaylord National resort. Now, deb, you promised youd go down the slide. Lets see it, girl. Reporter i did not promise actually, just to be legally responsible. I did not promise, but i did say i will consider it if enough people tweet me and let me know. Im starting to think maybe you want me to go down that slide. Im going to consider that, maybe even next live hit. I want to show you this room before i try and make it. Right now were in another room, twas the night before christmas is the theme. You can see all this stuff going on, but i just want to know are you guys having fun . Were having a blast. Its beautiful. Reporter how about you . You having fun . Yes. Reporter you look a little cold. Are you cold . Yes. Reporter im cold, too. Can i get a high five. Yes. A Little Mitten high five. When i come back, maybe i will or maybe i wont go down that slide. Ice ice baby. Got to go down the slide. For someone who just did ice ice baby on camera, that could be the least of your worries right there. Come on now. Reporter im shocked that i have a job still. I couldnt believe it when you guys came back to me. All right. Icy inside, not so icy outside. No. I think some records will fall, if not saturday, certainly sunday. So get ready. Our 61 told just a harbinger of whats heading our way. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, temperatures downtown still in the 50s, 55 downtown, humidity 35 , not bad, winds still south, southwest at 9. Essentially theyll be southwest or south, southwest really right on through the weekend. Theyll continue to pump up some warmer and milder air. We have a few clouds coming in from the west. Well say partly cloudy tonight, but it stays dry. Temperatures right now again we have 40s and 50s, 50 in reston, 53 in fairfax, 50 in bethesda, 50 in white oak, 48 in laurel, but its still 54 in college park and still 57 down in waldorf. So not as cold tonight, a light jacket will do. Bus stop temperatures 32 to 44, better than this mornings 20s and 30s and breezy and warmer friday, golfable tomorrow, golfable saturday, probably golfable early sunday really. So for tonight field goal, just chilly, low temperatures 30 partly cloudy, just chilly, low temperatures 30 to 32, winds out of the southwest at 10. Break it down, 40s to start, 30s in the burbs, 43 by 7 00, mid40s by 9 00, should be 50 by 11 00 and 55 by 1 p. M. So just a light jacket if youre walking to lunch and it stays dry. Next three days we got 61, breezy and warmer tomorrow, 65, quite warm on saturday, got a little sprinkle or shower, but for the most part it will be at evening or nightfall. Dont worry about it. Then 70 sunday. Showers and a thunderstorm, maybe record highs as well especially at dulles, not so much downtown. It does appear showers will get in here just grow the redskin game is over and certainly just before the redskins game is over and certainly before the ravens game is over that you can watch here on channel 9. 55 the low on sunday, 56 the high on monday. We barely go up. Temps fall in the evening. Were 39, cold on tuesday. I put a flake there to be festive, most of the flurries in the mountains, Christmas Day 45 and dry and near 50 thursday. So really the good news, quiet travel weather in the metro area and really across most of the country. Weve got a best shot for you. This caught my eye. We were kind of past the anniversary, but this is a really pretty picture, the memorial illumination at the battlefield, really a great, great picture, charleston, west virginia. Go to our website, wusa9. Com, upload your pic, name, town, location and brief description. Its our final day of our hot holiday toy segment and we are closing out the season with three terrific options. First big things can come in small packages. This bag here holds the nano block, 110 Building Blocks inside here that make a pink flamingo. There are a bunch of different models here, obviously lots of small parts, so this is for kids 8 and up, sells for 11. Back a second year we have the laser pegs. These are lighted construction kits and when you build them and you light it up, you press a button once you get the batteries in. This is what it looks like. You can open it up and see the pieces on the inside. This is for kids 5 and up, again lots of different models to pick from, sells for 39. 99. Now for the littlest ones the 24 months and older, this is the crayola mess free touch lights set. So the kids can use their fingers or the stylus to paint or doodle and you dont have to clean up, also plays music for 21. These are our last toys of the season. We thank all of the Toy Companies who donated. These are going to toys for tots. Millions of credit card holders may be at risk after a Security Breach at target, what you should do if you are a potential victim. Dancing in the front yard night and day and the neighbors walk by and say what are they are these christmas jammies. This family knows now to a raleigh family made a video while wearing their christmas jammies. Rolling in the car going 25 and pushing the stroll are up north brook drive. These are christmas jammies. These are my christmas jammies. Theres room for child no. 3 but i cant. I just had a vasectomy recovery is a lot easier in these christmas jammies