Lawmakers. From capitol hill, mola lenghi lays out the changes lawmakers need to make before the president gets the bill. Reporter in a vote that is more formality than question mark, the house is once again prepared to pass a 1. 5 trillion tax bill. The tax cuts and jobs act is passed. Reporter the revote was necessary because the bill was tweaked slightly before the Senate Passed it late last night along party lines. Analysts say there will be cuts across every income tax bracket. On average, taxpayers will see a savings of 1,600. When you double the per child tax credit. When you double the standard deduction and you lower tax rates across the board for every income group, thats real relief for families, for individuals. Reporter democrats oppose the bill because they say the majority of tax relief goes to corporations and the very wealthy. The majority stood in the chamber and passed its partisan bill to provide tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and one president. Report with cbs news polls showing most americans say the plan will help corporations and only about a quarter saying it will help themselves. Republicans say that will soon change. If we cant sell this to the American People we ought to go into another line of work. Reporter but for now it will take a backseat to celebrating its passage. Republicans plan to gather with President Trump at the white house this afternoon. Mola lenghi, cbs news, capitol hill. Lawmakers wont have a lot of time to celebrate. They need to get back to work to pass a spending bill in order to avoid a Government Shutdown on friday. Now many of you are weighing in about the bill on social media. Nadia says now this is some good news to wake up to. Thank you mr. President. Fresh cut of tax cuts to get my morning started. And then theres this response. Its so disheartening so many middle tallahassee and poor citizen middle class and porosis continue to classes continue the blindly believe. Never before has so much wealth been accumulated in the hands of so few. So what do you think about the tax reform plan . Join the conversation on our wusa9 Facebook Page or tweet us wusa9. Well, this is last thing Holiday Travelers heading to the airport today want to hear. Some workers at Dulles Airport are on strike. Employees of huntley usa corporation are asking for a raise to 15 an hour for all their workers. Those workers do things like help travelers in wheelchairs get around, and clean cabins between flights. This is the third time that workers have gone on strike against huntley. Have you ever thought about just how much blood is needed by groups like the red cross . Well, evan koslof is here to show us and to tell us about a local effort to help out. Reporter the truly show the need were going to use a prop today. See this cup right here . It can hold 16 so heres the question. How many of these cups right here would a group like the red cross need to fill before they had enough blood to help all those in need . The red cross says they would need to fill 140,000 of the cups each and every day just to keep up. Thats a lot of blood. Thats why the Montgomery County police hosted this blood drive today in gaithersburg. Theyve been doing it for five years and have raised almost 1,000pints of blood over the period. The event is held in the name of officer noah leota. He was killed back in 2015 you may remember by a drunk driver. Even the chief of police was there at the event today to give some blood. I think about when noah was struck by that drunk driver. And he was taken to the hospital and he certainly needed blood when he got there. I think about my cops and you know, how in an emergency, and they may get hurt. Donating blood truly is the gift of life. Reporter the coffee anology not doing it heres another stat for you right here, every three seconds another person needs blood nationwide. Evan koslof, wusa9. Investigators looking into mondays deadly amtrak derailment in Washington State say it appears the engineer did not apply the emergency brake. Three passengers were killed and dozens more were injured when the train went off the tracks. Kenneth craig has the latest on the investigation from dupont, washington. Reporter crews removed the locomotive from mondays deadly Train Derailment in Washington State. Other train cars were removed from the interstate yesterday but the locomotive was too heavy for the flap flatbed truck brought in to haul it away. That locomotive weighed 270,000 pounds. It required a special low boy trailer which also requires two tractors to actually move. That one in the front and one in the back, its quite an ordeal. Reporter the trains event data recorder shows the train was traveling at 80 Miles Per Hour in a 30mileperhour zone. When it federal investigators say it appears the engineer did not manually slow the train down as it approached the curve. The emergency brake was automatically activated when the accident was occurring. Rather than being initiated by the engineer. Reporter the National Transportation safety board is looking into whether the engineer didnt sense the danger because he was distracted. There were two people in the lead locomotive cab. The engineer and a conductor in training. Both men were injured in the crash. Investigators are working to interview crew members as soon as doctors say its okay to do so. New photos show the damage from inside the passenger compartment. The ntsb says the video recording system from the inward and outward facing cameras on the train was damaged in the crash. The equipment is now headed to the agencys lab for analysis. Kenneth craig, cbs news, dupont, washington. And investigators also confirmed that the speeding train known as positive train control was being installed on this line. But was not active at the time of the accident. Later well show you the readily Available Technology experts say would have prevented mondays disaster. And weve now learned that five americans are among the dozens killed in this tour bus crash in mexico. Wfor in miami reports one of the dead is a florida grandmother and that she was traveling with relatives from alreaditon, virginia. Already lorton. Virginia. One of them was injured in the crash along with one of his sons. We dont know the conditions of other family members just yet. It was going to the mayan ruins yesterday when it flipped over on the highway and witnesses say there didnt appear to be any signs that other vehicles were involved in the crash. Good afternoon. Well, we have seen as warm as temperatures as we are get. Cooler air continuously filtering in after a cold front passed across the area so 50s right now in d. C. 50 in leesburg and 47 in gaithersburg. Heres how the next few hours pan out. By 2 00 p. M. Well see the temperatures in the upper 40s. 49 degrees there. 47 by 3 00 p. M. And down 44 degrees by 5 00 this evening. Get progressively cooler throughout the day. The next big weather story of course is going to be whats coming as we i head into the long we head into the long holiday weekend. 60s by saturday with rain and then turning much colder once again on christmas. With highs falling back to the 30s. We also have the chance to see a few flurries pushing across the area christmas day. So heres a look at your christmas forecast. Youll find those temperatures in the 30s and look for some flurries to pop up especially in the morning. Let me show you what it looks like in the next few days as the rain and then the flurry transition takes over. So later on friday night into Early Saturday Morning there will be rain. If you do have that lastminute shopping to do on saturday, plan on possible. And as we get into sunday, the redskins are on the field at 1 00 in the evening. You will also notice some clouds out there and it will be cooler and stray shower is also possible. You can watch the redskins game right here on wusa9. And well take a look at that forecast coming up. If you want the very latest on your weather you can always find us on the first alert weather app. Just download the wusa9 app right now. The vatican has confirmed the death of disgraced former archbishop of boston Cardinal Bernard law. Cardinal law was at the center of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. He died wednesday in rome. Meg oliver has more on his life and downfall. Reporter Cardinal Bernard law fell from grace in 2002 amid revelations he and other bishops before him had protected priests who sexually abused children for years. To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and from my mistakes, i once again apolog in the Catholic Church, law began his career 18 years earlier in march of 1984. When he became archbishop of boston. At the age of 52. As cardinal he took a firm stance on Church Teachings and became a voice against injustice. But when hundreds came forward saying they were abused by priests, law admitted that had rather than removing those priests, some were simply moved from parish to parish. I did assign priests who had committed sexual abuse. Reporter the revelation tarnished his legacy forever. Cardinal bernard law became something of the poster child for everything that the american Catholic Church did wrong. Reporter unable to contain the backlash, law asked to resign and the pope accepted. Bostons current cardinal released a statement recognizing the victims of abuse saying i offer my they suffered. And promising that the archdiocese will support them in their healing. Law spent most of his final years in rome. In a short statement, the vatican says he passed away early wednesday after a long illness. Meg oliver, cbs news. Cardinal law was famously portrayed in the oscar winning film spotlight and again in a statement this morning you heard his successor Cardinal Omalley once again apologize to those affected by the church scandal. Wusa9 is teaming up with Childrens National to give hope to kids spending the holiday in the hospital and today is delivery day. More than 1,000 gifts donated by you will be handed out to children at Childrens National. Later this afternoon. Our lobby looked like santas workshop yesterday as we unboxed, sorted and wrapped all of those toys. On behalf of the partners at Childrens National, and all of us at wusa9, we are deeply grateful for your generosity. As we learned after the deadly amtrak derailment outside philadelphia in 2015, there is technology out there that could have prevented mondays crash near seattle. Amtrak and all big passenger railroads were supposed to have ptc in place two years ago. Transportation correspondent kris van cleave explains why that still hasnt happened. Reporter amtrak 501 came into this curving stretch of track at nearly triple the posted speed limit. A scenario positive train control is designed to prevent. So youre confident this would prevent a train from going too fast around the curve. Yes. Thats correct. Reporter ptc uses sensors to communicate with locomotives and amtrak showed us how the Technology Takes over a speeding train. It wont let you speed. I cant doubt. Even if theres full power i have no power. Reporter this deadly 2008 accident in california prompted congress to mandate ptc by the end of 2015. But that year just months after the amtrak derailment in philadelphia, congress voted to delay the deadline until 2018. Now only about 40 of passenger locomotives have ptc installed. People have died as a result of that extension. Reporter mark was the chair of the ntsb in 2008. Railroads, basically went to congress and said were not going to operate unless we get relief. You couldnt just stop americas railroads. Congress caved in. Reporter this year the Trump Administration as five timed delayed a requirement for passenger railroads to develop a system wide safety plan and its let go of rules for stricter sleep apnea testing. Matthew laner was the federal Railroad Administrations spokesman under president obama. Some of the actions by this administration are definitely moving us backwa system. Reporter the Current Department of transportation explained its decision this way in terms of safety programs it said it needed more time to review comments with regard to sleep apnea. The agency believed existing safety programs and other regulations would be sufficient. Kris van cleave, cbs news, alexandria, virginia. A couple of important notes for Holiday Shoppers and travelers. Today and tomorrow, the busiest days for holiday drivers. More than 97 million americans will hit the road according to aaa. In the d. C. Area, more people are expected to travel for the holidays. And nationally, Holiday Travel could break some records. Maryland lawmakers are pushing back on a new high speed rail from d. C. To baltimore. The train would do the trip in under 15 minutes. But lawmakers from Prince Georges County and anne arundel counties say the construction would disrupt communities too much. The project is in the early stages of a federal environmental review. So yesterday, miri and i looked like easter peeps in our bright yellow and pinks, today more somber in the weather lab too. Back to the long sleeves and tweed because its a sign of whats to come. But we have a big temperature swing on the way. We might want to put back on what else is new . I know right. Put on the yellow and pink again on saturday with temperatures soaring back to the 60s but for today its quite cool out there. Already seen all the warm air that were going to get. Just kind of continue to see the temperatures dropping throughout the afternoon. So heres looking at right now. 50 degrees out there. And it is partly cloudy and you got those winds out of the northwest up to 10 Miles Per Hour. That my friends has been the key to getting us this cooler air today. There are the winds behind the cold front that came in. And thats whats helping the temperatures to drop throughout the evening. We do have gusts out there up to 20 Miles Per Hour. So upper 40s in the next two hours and 47 by 3 00 p. M. And down to 44 by 5 00 under partly cloudy skies. Weather headlines show that we do have temperature swings on the way including temperatures soaring to the mid 60s by saturday with rain and then cold once again by christmas. Were looking at temperatures in the 30s and i cant rule out a flake or flurry at least early christmas morning. So heres your christmas forecast. And you can see that were looking at those temperatures in the 30s with the flurries possible on christmas day. And a lot of people would really be excited about seeing that. Lets talk about the setup leading into that. The warm front makes its way through first. So well see the warmer air making its way in. Its going get warm and wet around here between friday night and especially saturday behind that we have much colder air pumping in. Thats when well start to see the temperatures dropping by sunday heading into monday. And this is how it looks on futurecast. As early as 9 00 friday night you will notice the showers coming in from the west. So if you are in virginia or West Virginia youll be first to get the rain friday night. That spreads into the rest of the area throughout saturday. So all day saturday were moderate rain is expected throughout the day saturday. And as i pause the clock once again sunday at 1 00 p. M. This is game time for the redskins. Right . Its cloudy out there. And a stray shower is possible. And as we get you to christmas morning, there we can see some flurries and perhaps rain and flurries popping up. Should be cold enough to just get the flurries out there. But this is one of the models that is really, really big on getting us snow and its since scaled bang on that. Still a possibility according to my forecast just basted on other information im looking at such as this. This is the european model. This one paints the picture of rain and snow again im going with the cold enough to get the flurries here in the morning. Of course this can change. Models are not completely agreed on this. And well just give you the updates as they come along. For now, just expect the temperatures to be in the 30s. Christmas day. With the flurries possible. 43 to 49 degrees if you are going to fedex field to watch the rips take on the redskins take on the broncos. A slight shower chance is in the forecast but also watch it right here on wusa9ful well have the game on for you if you just want to stay calm and keep comfortable. 49 degrees by tomorrow. By the way, that marks the start of winter. Whos excited about that . I am. I may be alone though. No one else is excited. Upper 50s for us friday with showers and rain saturday up to 65 degrees and 49 Christmas Eve and 38 degrees on christmas day. Fl welcome back. This week many of us will head to grandmas house for the holidays and that brings up this verify question. My name is jay hoffman and my question is, when youre on a road trip, why does it take longer to get there than it does to get home . And we asked that as well. Why does the trip seem faster . Scientists call it the return trip effect. They are looked into this. They have examined three series. The first focuses on memory and it comes from a study out of japan. It found that people are not bad at judging how long the trip home is, but they are bad at remembering how long it took. But that study had a very small number of participants and doesnt explore why people are bad at remembering. Theory number two, comes from a study out of the netherlands. It had a larger sample size and it looked at two possibilities. The first, familiarity. You have driven already already driven the route once so its more familiar on the trip back and familiar things well they seem to go by faster. To test that researchers used a different route for the trip home but one that took the same amount of time. And participants still thought the return trip felt shorter. So they ruled out familiarity. The final theory comes from the same study expectations. The idea is we underestimate just how long it will take to get to grandmas house so it ends up feeling longer. Because of that we overestimate how long it will take to return home. So it feels shorter and researchers say that theory appears to hold water. So we can verify that the return trip effect is real. And seems to be all about expectations. If you have something up verified let our team of researchers get to the bottom of it. You can find us on facebook or twitter or send an email to verify wusa9. Com. Well be right back. Okay, so well see high temperatures in the upper 40s tomorrow as winter starts and then look for a big 60s with rain. Turning cold again for Christmas Eve and christmas. Well be excited tomorrow at noon for the winter solstice. Thats it for us. Well be back at 5 00. Have a great afternoon. [ captions by vitac 800278 4822 email marketing vitac. Com ]