Caused by the same condition as the deadly Lenfant Plaza smoke incident. Forced metro to get crews back on the rails immediately. This is the damage from mondays fire. This is the damage after last january smoke incident. Last year, metro Operations Manager who since resigned show problems with the cable also highlight since resigned showed the problems highlighted by the ntsb report and said at the time it would take longterm single tracking to address the issue. We know there were plans in place to replace all 600 of those within the system under ground. Now again, we have learned that we do expect to get an update from metro on todays inspections. That will be live right here on abc7 news at 6 00. Reporting live, brianne carter. Alison thank you. Metro closing prompted the federal government and the d. C. Schools to offer alternatives to employees and all over the city. Sam . Sam well, we are standing over the overpass of Lenfant Plaza. As you can see the traffic coming out of Downtown Washington is a mess. We will probably find out there are more cars that drove in the city today because of metro. The metro gate open and shut only for employees. Normally it is 10 to 15 minutes. But now its twice as much. It all hit a woman by surprise who does business here after driving down from pittsburgh. She couldnt find a garage that wasnt already full. Its more traffic than i typically see in d. C. I could not find a parking garage. Tenant telling us by 9 30 he had no space. You are fuller than you normally are . Yeah. Yeah. A lot of people took to bicycles. Nice day for a ride. Taxis were allowed to pick up multiple riders for the first time in years. For the bus commuters, metro buses were not free today. City circulator buses were. The city had traffic attendants to keep things moving. Mayor bowser said the city coped. It wasnt a crisis. Its not a crisis but it is something to be avoided. Trust me. We want d. C. To be open for business. We want people to have access to all mode of transportation. Though schools like eastern high the principal told us attendance took a hit. Attendance was lower than usual. We are at 50 in attendance approximately. We are back live here looking at the traffic coming out of downtown d. C. Editorialized today that metro is a national embarrassment. Arguing that if you think cables needed to be inspected you would have thought it would have been spected a long time ago. Spokes hope this does not become a habit. Reporting live, im sam fort. You got it, sam. The metro cars in the yards means more cars on the road. Jamie sullivan standing by on traffic watch. We made it through one. Now we are halfway through the second. You can see here typical volume we would have on the beltway. That is what we see on the beltway. The heaviest area are in d. C. From outer loop to 66 is another 23 minutes. So almost an hour there. Moving to the waze map in d. C. Bumper to bumper traffic. Jeff goldberg is in mobiletrack 7 across the 14th street bridge to the national mall. Get a live look with him to check in. This is bumper to bumper. We are headed to the mall toward the white house. Moving slowly in both directions. We have seen officers directing traffic. A lot of traffic downtown. Alison thank you. So in time for the people to head home there is a chance some of us may have to deal with rain. Doug we are not sure how many showers would pop up from the cold front coming through but not many at all. This is 66 degrees. Clouds. Brake of sunshine there. The temperatures are mild. 72 in washington and frederick. Look at the luray and fredericksburg. 81. The front, most of the rain is over eastern pennsylvania and Central New York state. The front moves through. And that is that. I will tell you what to expect. Alison stay connected through wjla. Com. Or our facebook and the twitter feeds. Or download the storm watch app for the smart phone or tablet for the forecast at your fingertips. Leon developing now. President obama the one name that came up repeatedly from republicans and democrats a like a merrick garland. Leon he says he should be the next justice on the u. S. Supreme court. People must be confident that the judges decision is determined by the law and only the law. Hi and she must be faithful to the constitution. He or he is must put aside the personal view and preferences and follow the law. Not make it. Leon garland has 18 years of experience as Appeals Court judge. After graduating from harvard law he served as a federal prosecutor in d. C. For three years before being a partner at arnold and porter. Kellye lynn is outside the Supreme Court speaking with some of the former colleagues today. I assume no disparaging words heard. You are right about that. I spoke to several people today. Merrick garland steps in the spotlight. A spectacular lawyer and a terrific person to work with. Former general counsel of the f. B. I. Shapiro worked with garland in the mid1990s when the judge was the Deputy Assistant attorney general in criminal department of the department of justice. He drills down to m he understands every aspect and nuance of an issue. He calls his supervision of the Oklahoma City bombing case notable and inspiring. He also supervisorred the unibomber prosecution. In earlier years the judge worked on the drug case against marion berry. I hope that it is will he will be confine i hope something will happen in this country. In the upscale bethesda neighborhood the residents spoke excitedly about the president s announcement. I cant imagine a better person for his commitment to Public Service and the dedication longterm. 18 years of tutoring is a long time. Principal considers the judge the perfect supme kellye when asked what kind of Supreme Court justice he said garland would make, he said careful, thoughtful, learned and smartful. Alison thank you. President obama has a battle on the hill before garland could be confirmed. It doesnt have anything to do with the nominee. Its all politics with the president in the final year of the final term. To suggest someone is qualified and respected as garland doesnt deserve a hearing to join an institution as important as the Supreme Court. Two of of third of americans believe otherwise, that would be unprecedented. To suggester he will be treated as a political pena the, that cant be right. Members of the senate took to the floor to maintain the issue is not with the nominee but the process. There is a link to our poll on the home page. Leon no politics now with mr. President and the first lady. The eggs could catch any time. Watch the live stream anytime you want for wjla. It will hatch at 3 00 a. M. And alison they are waiting. They know we are eager. Coming up on the abc7 news at 5 00 the push for a proper burial. The steps taken as families of women who served in world war ii try to get privileges restored in arlington. Leon plus we were standing at the window watching it when we saw tin fly from the shed roof. We went for the basement. Wild weather rips through the midwest. Tragic news about a police friendly fire death. Plus a suspect passes out in doubter. That is next. We need women in congress. If we want to be heard, it was the women who forced republicans to include Womens Health and contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care act. In congress, ill fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. And, as an environmentalist, ill work combat climate change. I know as a journalist and as a Senior Executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. Im Kathleen Mathews and i approve this message. Alison new information in the death of jacai colson. The officer who shot the offduty detective mistook him outside the courthouse. Brad bell has the latest on the story today. Brad . Brad this shootout started sunday afternoon by 4 30. By 11 00 that night we were reporting this was a case likely Police Confirmed that on monday. And now they are telling us that in fact this death of officer jacai colson was not the result of an errant shot or a ricochet. For the first time publicly, Prince Georges County police are giving a thorough account of the friendly fire shooting death of officer jacai colson. Chief Hank Stawinski revealing that the shot was noter vant but the officer who not errant but the officer who aim and fire believed the plain clothes narcotic detective was a threat. I believe that a Police Officer fired at an armed individual who they perceived to be a threat to them. I do not for a second believe that this was a Police Officer intentionally firing at another Police Officer. Brad police and prosecutors stressing again that the shot would not have been fired if the man in these pictures allegedly michael ford hadnt opened fire on a Police Station as and malik allegedly watched, laughed and recorded video. All three now charged in connection with officer colsons death. Elijah and malik appearing for bond reviews today via closed circuit tv. Seven family members including their father Michael Thomas telling the Court Neither had anything to do with the shooting. Malik suddenly appearing to faint. After recovering he like elijah ordered held without bond. Their father unwilling to comment. Did malik and elijah have anything to do with this . No comment. You told the judge no. No comment. No comment, sir. Thank you. Have a nice day. What has it done to your family . No comment, sir. No comment. Brad we can tell you that the officer who shot officer colson is struggling. We are told he is emotionally distraught over what happened. We can also tell you that officer colsons own parents, his own mother and father have sent words to officer they do not blame him for what happened. They blame the ford brothers. In upper marlboro, brad bell, abc7 news. Leon we have to follow that story to the very end. Turn to storm watch now as the midwest continues to clean up from the overnight severe weather. At least nine reported twisters left the path of destruction through iowa and illinois. Winds in excess of 70 Miles Per Hour destroyed numerous homes and structures. Including this barn. Severe winds knocked over a semitrailer and a golf ball sized hail hammered cars. Look at that. This is still assessing the damage. The cars will be wrecked. Alison yeah. Meanwhile here it is one of the prettiest days we have had in a long time. Couldnt ask for better. Doug by the weekend it goes to the opposite way. I will get nasty. Show you what will happen here. For the moment it is gorgeous around the area. The temperatures are lower 70s. This was sunrise. We will launch up the sun for you here and look at the day. Plenty of sunshine. We hit the early afternoon. The clouds roll in. Mild. You can see by the current temperature with the clouds around the area. But that is about all well deal with tonight. It has been a couple of sprinkles but not much more than that. Every now and then check up on the sunrise and the sunset times in the next couple of months as the Daylight Hours get longer. Today we pick because the sunrise this morning was 7 17. The sun set tonight is 7 17. 12 hours at night and 12 a day. Ee qua knocks. The moment spring begins isnt early sunday morning. Year at the latitude and the area we will see the first indication of thee question knocks early equinox. 84 at the airport. 81 in stanton and fredericksburg. Cooler north. National. 66 at annapolis. Influence of wind across the Water Surface causes that. The cold front is coming through. The temperatures drop. 60 in columbus and indianapolis and detroit now. 71 in charleston. 65 in pittsburgh. Turns cooler tomorrow. Friday before the real chill arrives. We will be lucky to hit 50 degrees i think. 50 to 60. Across the viewing area for the day on friday. Another cold front approaches. In the day we have been watching the line of showers. Most sheered north. We have a couple popup along the front. Majority of the people will see nothing more than a few clouds and the clearing skies later tonight. We put that in the evening planner. Before the sun goes down we will see more sunshine than now. Clear skies and the falling temperatures tonight. The range is 43 degrees. Outlying to 50 in the city with a lot of sunshine to start thursday. Talk about the weekend. We have to deal with another coastal area of the low pressure to make a move ac the coastal areas on sunday. Right now we are talking for the dry weather, partly cloudy, lower 50s. Sunday only lower 40s. Depending how fast and how deep this storm system develops we could see the highs in the upper 30s. We have been talking about the rain. In the last hour. The thursday forecast is beautiful. Ugh not much to about. Leon pope francis going where no man has gone before. Alison and the clue that is leading to a fresh start in his life. Metrorail might not be running but another two wheeled mode of transportation is popular today. Im mike carterconneen. Look at the impact on the capital bike share. Alison first, a look at what is copping unit ton when you build one of the biggest Retail Businesses in america, you spend a lot of time working closely with elected officials. From secretaries to president s you learn what works in government and what doesnt. And if youre david trone you take those lessons all the way to congress. You pledge to take nothing from pacs or corporations a congressman should have is you and hell promise to work with anyone if itll get things done. After all hes spent 30 years working both sides of the aisle. Im david trone and i approve this message. Leon we continue our Team Coverage of metro. Many rail riders dont own cars and they couldnt drive to work. That had a lot of them out there look for any alternative from bus to bike share. Mike carterconneen joins us live from metro station in northwest. You have impressive ridership number. I bet bike share did great today . Mike to yeah. Comparing today to last wednesday capitol bike share says the number of walkup users coming to a computers here and selecting one of the free oneday passes has skyrocketed up more than 106 compared to last wednesday. That is a huge increase in demand. Increasing supply of bike and the parking spaces. Now the rush hour commuters heading home the bike dock are filling up fast. Beautiful day. Nice to get outside closure the capitol bike share waved 8 charge for single day membership. Last week we had 83 people purchase casual passes from midnight to 10 00 a. M. Today. We had 517. Big uptake. But by the midmorning the riders heading to work struggle to find open bike docks. All bikes were filled with bikes. So they set up a special parking corral downtown and called in extra staff. Twitter yearround users complain offering free day passes was unfair. You are doing an awesome job screwing over the regularly paying customers. Crazy move to let the nonmembers have free bikes so none left for members. But bike share says its participating jurisdiction and d. C. And neighboring counties felt this unprecedented situation required a response. Everyone needed to step up in absence of metro. We were glad to pay a park. Many bike share supported this to hope it created awareness for bike lanes. Firsttime riders plan to bike again tomorrow. I signed up, i did a three day membership. Im here three days. Im sure i will ride again. As all of those commuters move from downtown uptown to communities like takoma the docks will be hot commodities. Meanwhile, capitol bike share says it is an all handson the effort. Its asking for patients from the users as they deal with a unique situation. Reporting live in takoma northwest, mike carterconneen, abc7 news. Leon good deal. Thanks, mike. How did you get where you needed to go today . Join the conversation about that on the Wjla Facebook page. Alison we are also covering metro history tonight. Chris im chris papst. When we get back, a look at what brought metro to this point after years of problems. Jamie h. O. V. Restrictions lifted. Where . Up. Leon plus, we are keeping a close eye on development in vote 2016 with one of the states in last now at havertys furniture, its our spring home event, where you can create the perfect home. From now until march twentyfirst. Youll find huge savings on stylish pieces, plus youll save an extra one hundred dollars, on every thousand you spend. And, were offering twentyfour month, no interest financing. Come in today for storewide savings. With havertys, your home can be perfect. Even when life isnt. [thwack] the spring home event. From classic to contemporary, havertys. Someones hacked all our technology. Say, havyou seen all the Amazing Technology in geicos mobile app . Mobile app . Look. Electronic id cards, emergency roadside service, i can even submit a claim. Wow. Yep, geicos mobile app works like a charm. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Glenn threateningicans gofederal workers;ns over 60 votes to repeal obamacare. Now theyre refusing to even consider president obamas nominee for the Supreme Court. It disrespects the president and all of us and we wont put up with it. In congress, ill protect president obamas legacy, defend obamacare, and stand up for Social Security and medicare. Im glenn ivey and i approve this message. Ill take on republicans for all of us. Alison we are back with an update on metro closure today. The Transit Agency is scheduled to reopen tomorrow 50 00 a. M. But today the entire rail system was closed. They fanned out to examine 100 mile of track. They are half finished but no word on what they found. We are standing by for press conference from metro in the next half hour or so. We will bring it to you live once it begins. Leon how did we get here . We are a rail system that is not 50 years old but has to be completely shut down. The iteam and the government reporter has that part of the story. Chri