Transcripts For WRC News 4 Today 20100526

village on down toward the capital beltway. joe, eun. >> a man police call a bandit is on the loose after avoiding police. the chase began in prince george's after a suspected robbery but ended when the police officer crashed in southeast washington. the suspect escaped. the officer suffered minor injuries but is expected to be okay. there is no word who the suspect is or what led to the chase. >> outrage growing in prince george's following the recent arrest of a school bus driver. scott smallwood charged with sexually abusing a young student and parents have not been given information about the incidents. some are questioning the process by which he got hired in the first place. jackie bensen reports. >> reporter: parents continue to react with shock and horror to news that 27-year-old scott smallwood, a prince george's county school bus driver, is charged with using his cell phone to record a sexual encounter with a 7-year-old boy. officials say smallwood passed a background check when hired but so great is concern that the school board chair is urging a review of how bus drivers are hired. >> the investigation will obviously include how the hiring process happened, what exactly was in his background f there was anything that would preclude him from being employed and certainly what the next steps are. >> reporter: in court documents the boy refers to the suspect as his nice bus driver. the school system officials will not confirm if the child was a passenger on smallwood's bus route in the clinton area. >> i'm upset to find throughout way about a bus driver at our school doing this to a child. all i can say it's appalling. >> reporter: parents we spoke to said that schools should be careful who they hire to work around children. >> i think that's very important also. the reason because that starts with the protection of our children. >> pretty important. i'd like to know who's looking, who's seeing. >> reporter: news 4 contacted the prince george's county school system asking for detailed information how county school bus drivers are hired. we've not yet received a reply. reward helps catch a pair of killers. offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of two men who they say killed jose rosales. he was shot last monday while defending a house. two gun men ran from the scene. it's a technique never been tried this deep but the situation in the gulf is dire and bp is willing to give it a try. final preparations for the top kill procedure are under way. jay gray has the latest from venice, louisiana. >> reporter: there's no place on earth quite like the southern edge of louisiana. >> full of life. all kind of animals in this marsh. >> reporter: now it's slowly filling with oil. >> as of today it's coming out the ground. what we're seeing took a month to get here but there is a month of oil behind it. >> reporter: from fins to feathers all force to struggle through the muck. >> we keep getting more of it. i don't see it surviving here. >> reporter: bp engineers hope to jam the well, then sealing. the chance of success is between 60% and 70%. >> they want to make sure the pipe can withstand the pressure. >> reporter: the pressure is almost unbearable for those watching and waiting along the coast. tonight, angry residents lashed out at representatives from bp who showed up more than 30 minute town hall meeting. >> this is poisoning our waters, killing everything in the waters, once it gets to the marshes who knows the long term effects. >> reporter: through anger most understand it could be worse. at a memorial in jackson, mississippi today, 11 hard hats singling a white cross represented the 11 men who died in the well explosion 35 days ago. >> may gordon, blair, steven, carl, jason, dale, wyatt, adam, shane, dewey and donald rest in peace. >> reporter: a peace that so many are still searching for along the gulf coast. jay gray, nbc news, venice, louisiana. >> secretary of state hillary clinton is right now in seoul, south korea, there to meet with the south korean leaders about tensions between their country and north korea, the trip a day after north korea announced it would cut all ties with the south. it's also threatening military action over its claims that south korean ships entered its waters. the south is furious with north korea after investigators blamed the country for the sinking of a south korean navy ship, killing all 46 on board. >> this morning the mayor of cancun is behind bars. officials say that he faces federal charges on drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime. he was arrested yesterday at the airport in cancun. sanchez recently took a leave of absence from his post to run for governor. his website says she being persecuted for political reasons. >> a poll will show how divided the nation is over immigration. president obama promised to send more troops to the border hoping that will urge republicans to support new and what he calls fairer immigration laws. tracie potts reports. >> reporter: fresh off meeting with republicans, president obama promises to seek half a billion for extra security and send 1200 national guard troops to the border. >> it's simply not enough. we need 6,000. >> reporter: mr. obama trying to get republicans to help him redo laws affecting the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. walking a tight rope, beefing up the border may alienate mostly democratic latino voters in a critical election year. >> we see that as an absolute message to the latino and immigrant community that the president is not on their side. >> reporter: at the center of the debate, arizona's new law requiring immigrants to instantly prove they are legal. the supporters argue they haven't read it. >> have you read the law? >> have i read the law? no. >> there are measures in that law that specifically proscribe any type of racial profiling. >> reporter: critics say that may not be what happens on the street. >> the only way you're going to be able to enforce the law is to get really close to that line, if not cross over it. then that's a problem. >> reporter: the new law kicks in this summer. if it happens at all there are court challenges and the justice department here is reviewing whether it's legal. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> time now is 4:38. and we have 65 degrees out there. ahead on "news4 today," finally good news for the morning commute. >> plus, putting the brakes on the new bike lanes. >> also where budget cuts are putting school security officers on the chopping block. >> the temperature is going to climb. your weather and traffic are up next. good morning. it's time for weather and traffic. i'm tom kierein. temperatures are in the 50s and low and mid-60s, now 65 at washington. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's county in the upper 50s. this continuing easterly flow. there is a slight chance of an isolated late afternoon thunder shower, hot and humid tomorrow near 90 and more likely afternoon or evening thunderstorm, may be rain on friday, too. drying out for the holiday weekend. a look at sunday and memorial day in ten minutes. how's traffic? >> first major problem, live pictures of an accident a short time ago, this is inbound along interstate 66, close to gallows road before the capital beltway, overturned vehicle, right half of the road blocked. stay to the left to get by. hopefully it will get out quickly or we'll have a nightmare. at the wilson bridge, no worries, bay bridge is fine. joe, eun. >> thanks a lot. >> 67 degrees. still to come, it won't feel like much of a holiday for some metro riders. >> how the national zoo is pitching in to help the animals whose habitat is invaded by oil. >> it's more than a sore sight. it's a haven for criminals. >> and next, a shocking twist in the robert wone case, what the police interrogation tapes >>. >> the trial surrounding robert wone's murder continues. now prosecutors are focusing on sex as a possible motive. wone was found dead in 2006. and the three men who live there are accused of covering up his murder. pat collins has details. >> reporter: throughout this trial there were claims that robert wone was killed by an intruder who jumped a fence in the back of that swan street home. came in an open back door, took a knife from the kitchen, went to an upstairs guest bedroom, and killed mr. wone. police say no way. on the stand detective sergeant daniel wagner. he said a layer of dirt and cob webs at the top of the back fence indicated no one climbed over it the night of the murder. there was no ransacking, nothing taken from the home. on the third floor of this court house, a law and order-like moment. the playing of the videotaped interview the night robert wone was murdered. it happened inside a tiny room at the homicide squad. two detectives and joe price. price said, robert wone was one of my oldest and best friends, what reason would anybody do something like this. the detective -- you know the reason. you're making me say it now. you got three homosexuals in a house and a straight guy. you're sitting around drinking wine and you know what's going to happen tonight. you're going to come to jesus tonight. price -- that's insulting. robert is a happily married man. detective -- but dylan ward isn't. price -- yes, he is. detective -- to whom? price -- to me. joe price, dylan ward, victor zaborski, the three house mates charged with covering up the murder. covering up what happened that night august 2, 2006, when robert wone came to sleep over. the night wone was stabbed to death. the videotaped interview of dylan ward also played in court today. the detective told ward, you know, we got a real problem here. do you know what it is? ward said, if there was no robbery, must be someone in the house did it. >> that was pat collins reporting. no one has been charged in the murder of robert wone. >> a man is in custody after he stabbed a man at the wheaton metro station. police say the victim was cut on the head and they chased him and caught him. it appears the victim will survive. no word on who the suspect is or what led to that stabbing. if you live in montgomery county some of the police officers who help keep your kids' school safe may soon be history. the county council is thinking of cutting police officers who patrol the county high schools. the council is trying to close a $779 million budget shortfall and reducing the county's education security staff would help be eliminated. there is no final decision. >> acceleration in toyotas may be to blame for more deaths than thought. officials said that they received more than 6200 complaints of sudden acceleration in toyotas, of those 89 were deadly. since last fall's recall toyota says it's fixed nearly 3.5 million vehicles. they continue to say there is no evidence that faulty electronics caused the problems. >> the national zoo is joining the fight to help the crisis in the gulf coast. staff members are preparing emergency visits to help rescue birds caught in the oil. 40 zoo workers are ready to go. if needed they will clean the birds. >> it's an ecological disaster akin to cleaning artwork, other than the fact that this is alive and doesn't want you touching it. >> the workers say they are willing to go but they hope their efforts aren't needed. even with a full scale effort only a few of many birds and animals caught in the oil can be saved. >> space shuttle "atlantis" is on the way back to earth. "atlantis" is scheduled to land at kennedy space center at 8:48 this morning. during the mission to the space station the astronauts installed a new russian compartment and 12 fresh batteries. this is the final flight for "atlantis" and only two shuttle flights remain until the program retires in the fall. >> a heads up if you plan on taking metro this weekend. there will be a major change on the orange line, no service between the east falls church and west falls church station, this will be saturday, sunday and monday. metro will be running free shuttle buses. you should add an extra 40 minutes to the trip. the disruption is related to the dulles met too rail project. the d.c. government is going to repaint the new bike lanes on pennsylvania avenue in northwest. the transportation department cities lanes were made too wide. that is confused bikes are and drivers about which lanes they should use. the bike lanes run from 15th street to the capitol building. it will take about three weeks to fix those. >> great news for anybody who uses the chain bridge. all three lanes of that bridge with are now open for the first time in months. two lanes will be open for inbound traffic, the same pattern as before the repairs and during the evening that switches to two lanes outbound. final construction under the bridge is scheduled to continue until august. that, however, will be done only during off-peak hours. >> all of the lanes were supposed to open on monday but the rain hampered some of the progress. so now we're wondering if we're going to get more rain. >> perhaps later this afternoon there is a slight chance of a thundershower. it looks like just a hot summer-like day on the way. we're off to a balmy start. we have high clouds streaking the eastern horizon. there is the live view from our city camera. under the partly cloudy sky it's 65 now at reagan national. the humidity high, we have a calm wind. there is some fog that has formed around the shenandoah valley with temperatures in the 50s. right now it's dipped into the 50s in prince georges, arlington and fairfax county. upper 50s in southern maryland and the northern neck. these are the latest visibilities in miles. visibilities aren't bad, we don't have fog really to report at this hour but it could be developing patchy fog later. low 50s away from the eastern shore, near 50 out in the mountains on this wednesday morning. and over 12 hours we had this persistent easterly flow from a large area of low pressure that's way out over the western atlantic. that's going to be a weathermaker. we'll be soaring into the 80s by noon, upper 80s by mid afternoon. there is a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm popping up. overnight should be partly cloudy, near 70 tomorrow morning. it's going to be humid tomorrow. hot and humid on thursday with a high near 90 and a likelihood of scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms. cooler and cloudy friday with occasional showers in the 70s. drying out, low humidity on saturday, partly cloudy in the 70s, near 80 on sunday, memorial day itself in the 80s, could get showers tuesday. how's the traffic now, jerry? >> authorities are dealing with the accidents along interstate 66 eastbound, a little before you get to the capital beltway. it's been there a while. reportedly an overturned vehicle. crews on the scene. the right half of the roadway is taken away. traffic is getting to slow. you can see the cones to cordon off the area. so right now two lanes to the far left. we'll keep a close watch on it. 66 eastbound before you get to the beltway. in to town, new york avenue, all the way in from the anacostia to the third street tunnel very quiet so far. >> thanks. >> 4:53 is your time. coming up, a major vote that could delay the plan to move thousands of jobs to northern virginia. an embassy in disrepair but it's more than neighborhoods like. people who live near it say it's popular for criminals. >> ahead at 5:00, emergency money, the federal government about to bail out float riders? >> and why drivers who take one route into the district may be less likely to get tickets. -sure.s for coming back out. i think you might have hooked it up wrong, though. yea, we're getting way too many channels. no, no. that's -- that's standard. fios also comes with 11,000 free movies and shows on demand per month. ah, standard. gotcha. a certain somebody says "thank you." tell him "he's welcome," but it's still standard. he's happy to be back with his friends. is he? [ male announcer ] call now and get fios tv, internet, and phone for just $99.99 a month guaranteed for two years! this is beyond cable. this is fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. good morning. here's interesting perhaps disturbing news. you probably are less likely to get a traffic ticket when you drive through fairfax county even if you speed or otherwise break the law. the county changes the way it processes speeding and traffic tickets. officers have to enter information into a new com butter. clerks used to do that. police officers say it is taking away from traffic enforcement. >> we're not going to be seen, we're not seen as much in the community, doing the enforcement as much because some simple ticket takes an extra 20 minutes for each stop we make. >> in the first quarter of 2010, leaders hope the numbers go up, though, once officers get used to using this new system. >> the house will vote today on a proposal to delay the transfer of thousands of defense workers to new offices in alexandria. the goal of the measure sponsored by james moran is to prevent book ups. the bill would require the pentagon to come up with ways to ease people's commutes. >> embassy buildings in washington are some of washington's crown jewels but that is not the case for the country of gabon. >> neighbors complain the locked up embassy is host to something far different than politics. craig melvin reports. >> this flag emplamatic of what's happening and what used to be their embassy in northwest d.c. behind the high weeds and uncut grass a boarded up building locked with a bike chain. next door, the wyoming plaza condo building, tuesday residents received an e-mail from the management company telling them that the foreign government building was popular spot for the homeless, drug dealers and prostitutes. >> it's been like this for quite a few months ever since summer and there have been as far as i can remember about four fires here. >> reporter: this is a picture of fire early christmas morning last year, the most recent fire. d.c. fire and ems says there have been at least three fires since last fall. a protester angry at the outcome of a presidential election in gabon is believed to have started the first one. >> this whole area is very nice. we're very proud of it. >> reporter: dr. abrams is on the condo board. >> nobody has from the embassy explained what their next steps are to reclaim. >> reporter: we went to the embassy office listed. no one was around. the uniformed secret service is responsible for policing properties like this. neighbors say they have not been here a lot but would like somebody from the embassy do something. >> remodeled or either reclaimed by the country or sold off to somebody who can care for it. it's abandoned property. >> reporter: the e-mail says that the country has promised that it will renovate the property and either re-occupy it or sell it. we'll keep you posted. for now, craig melvin, "news4 today." >> it continues now at 5:00 a.m. another shot now bp is getting ready to try to plug the oil leak in the gulf. how they'll do it. >> whale bailout. a group of senators pushing legislation to help solve metro's money crisis. good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday. we're going to take a live look at 5:00 a.m. it's 67 degrees, a balmy day. we are getting ready for a warm-up. a big time warm-up. it's going to feel like summer. tom kierein joins us with the latest. >> hey, good morning. starting off around the region, we have some high clouds coming through, and temperatures are on the cool side right now in the suburbs and rural areas in the 50s. in washington, right now 64 at national airport, and there's a bit of a wind off the bay and there it's 60. out in the mountains near 50. eastern shore away from the waters in the 50s but we're going to have a rapid warm-up. it's hot, high pressure moves in. and as it does, we'll heat up in the upper 80s by this afternoon. and there is a slight chance of an isolated late afternoon thundershower. then tomorrow, a likelihood of afternoon and evening thunderstorms and hot and humid near 90 degrees and partly cloudy. on friday, cloudy and much cooler. we should be in the 70s with occasional showers through the day. lingering showers perhaps friday night into saturday. then sun back saturday afternoon and in the low 70s. much cooler and looks like lower humidity for the memorial day weekend. how's the traffic? >> we continue to follow the breaking news affecting the commute, particularly through vienna. live pictures of the accident cleanup eastbound i-66, before you get to the capital beltway. police, fire and rescue crews remain on the scene. it's an overturned vehicle. the investigation is under way and the cleanup is under way. looks like they could be there a while. the right side is blocked, two lanes getting by to the left and now we're starting to see a delay headed through vienna. let's see how we're doing into and out of between rosslyn and key bridge. >> thanks very much. is today the day bp is able to get that oil disaster under control in the gulf? at this moment preparations are under way to plug the leak using the so-called top kill technique. kimberly suiters joins us live where information is now coming in. kimberly, what are we learning? >> reporter: finishing touches are being put on this operation in the dark of morning. bp says this kind of top kill of cement and mud plug has never been tried under this depth of water. the company says it will try the top kill sometime this morning and puts the chance of success at 60% to 70%. now, a mile beneath the surface the oil continues its steady stream. tests will determine when bp starts the top kill, forcing drilling mud through the blowout preventer in attempt to seal the leaking well. the company says those who want can watch online at bp.com, live video of the leak has been available for the past few days and bp said that it will continue throughout the procedure. the company now says when it does start, this process could take several days. >> while they pump the mud is to understand the pressure exerted on the pipe. >> reporter: there is growing pressure on bp to resolve this. tuesday night local residents lashed out at bp representatives at town hall meeting. calls continue for the administration to step in. president obama is expected to announce tougher safety protocols and inspections for the oil industry before his next visit to the region on friday. joe, back to you. >> thanks very much. >> a man police call a bandit is on the loose after avoiding police chasing him. that started in prince george's county after a suspected robbery but ended when the officer crashed in southeast washington. the suspect escaped. that officer suffered minor injuries but is expected to be okay. there is no word on who the suspect is or what led to the chase. parents are growing more outraged after learning that a school bus driver was arrested for sexually abusing a child. scott smallwood is charged with using his cell phone to record a sexual encounter with a 7-year-old boy. the school system officials say smallwood pass add background check when hired but the school board chair is urging review of how all bus drivers are hired. >> the investigation will obviously include how the hiring process happened, what exactly was in his background if there was anything that would preclude him from being employed and certainly what the next steps are. >> school officials will not say whether the child was in fact a passenger on smallwood's regular bus route in the clinton area. secretary of state hillary clinton is in seoul, south korea now. she's there to meet with south korean leaders about tensions between their country and north korea. south korea is still furious with north after investigators blamed the country for the sinking of a south korean navy ship killing all 46 sailors on board. clinton calls it unacceptable provocation. she says the u.s. would consult with south korea and members of the u.n. security council on what action should be taken. >> this morning reason for investors to cheer. foreign markets appear to be rebounding after yesterday's losses. hong kong's hang seng is up more than 1% and france's key index up 2%. analysts believe that bargain hunters hope to cash in on yesterday's losses. this is all good news here in the u.s. where futures are pointing toward a positive open. the dow closed yesterday barely above the 10,000 mark. it fell 22 points on the day. >> 5:06. major move from the president. >> what he is doing to try to shore up american borders. why critics say it's not enough. sarah palin fuming on facebook. why she is complaining about her new neighbor. >> on the roads, weather and traffic, all next. metro has been struggling for quite some time. now the government may be ready to offer help. >> a group of senators is introduced a bill to provide $2 billion to a funding bill that would help provide aid for metro. megan mcgrath is live with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. the timing certainly is possibly good. metro is poised to approve rate increases and possible service cuts tomorrow. some sort of action is needed they say to close a $189 million budget shortfall. metro's board members are not in agreement on where that money should be found, how the gap should be closed, how much fares should be increased and really what should be done. but help maying on the way from the federal government. the senate introduced emergency legislation that would provide $2 billion in funding to transit agencies around the country, and metro could apply for some of that money. the bill requires that the money be used to reduce fare increases and restore service cuts that were made in january of 2009, or that money can be used to prevent future impacts on service and fares through september 2011. of course all of this sounds great because the timing is perfect. metro is looking at raising fares again and possibly doing some service cuts on top of that. the one thing, though, it's unclear how much money metro could stand to get from this emergency legislation and when that money would come down the line and be of use to the transit agency. metro is going to take up the rate hike issue tomorrow. it's possible we could see a 15% increase in fares and 20% in bus fairs. in addition other things are on the table as well. so, a lot of discussion will be held during that board meeting tomorrow as they figure out what to do and now there's this prospect of getting money from the federal government. that will play into it as well. more coming up in the next half hour. >> megan mcgrath live. thanks very much. >> the forecast, it's 5:11, meteorologist tom kierein joins us with a mini summer heat wave. >> summer lovers rejoice. it's going to heat up. we'll have temperatures soaring in the 80s. we're in the 50s and the 60s. now 64 in washington, highs, though, should soar to the upper 80s this afternoon under a partly cloudy sky. there's a slight chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm. tomorrow a likelihood of afternoon and evening thunderstorms, hot and humid. highs around 90 on thursday. then cooler with occasional showers on friday. but drying out on saturday. a look at sunday and memorial day in 10 minutes. how's traffic? >> a live look along 66, accident cleanup continues. this occurred earlier this morning over an hour ago or under an hour ago. 66 eastbound before the capital beltway, the right side of the roadway that's taken away, two lanes to the left headed through vienna slow and hopefully we'll get more information. looks like the tow trucks are there. let's check things out to the wilson bridge, no worries, if you are bay bridge bound no concerns. looks like we're all right in from the north along i-270. >> if you are bay bridge bound, lucky you. >> get to the beach. ahead on "news4 today," why the mayor of a popular tourist town has been locked up. >> the situation in jamaica is growing more deadly. >> chain bridge drivers unshackled. what you need to know about the commute. >> next, why police in one county may be dishing out fewer tickets. good morning. i'm kimberly suiters. these are the top stories in the news at this hour. this morning bp is preparing for a fix. it says it has a 60% to 70% chance of stopping the flow of oil in the gulf. the so-called top kill, a cement and mud plug, has never been tried a mile under water. you can watch online at bp.com. last night residents expressed anger and frustration at bp executives. the president is set to return to the area on friday. a man police call a bandit is on the loose after outrunning a police chase that started in prince george's county after a suspected robbery. but ended when the officer crashed on "w" street in southeast. the suspect escaped. that officer suffered minor injuries but is expected to be okay. metro is poised to take possible action, fare increases and service cuts, this could happen as soon as tomorrow. help could be on the way. the u.s. senate is considering emergency legislation to provide $2 billion to transit agencies across the country. that would ease the pain on local metro riders. joe, now back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much. if your commute takes you through fairfax county a computer system might mean that you or even the speeding reckless driver next to you, is less likely to get a traffic ticket. tracee wilkins is live with more on this story. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning. it looks like the numbers are going down in fairfax county for giving out tickets. some police officers say there is a good reason. the coalition of police saying a new computer system that is supposed to help them do their job is actually making it more difficult in the field. new software in cruisers built to enhance record keeping but after training, learning and using the system, some fairfax county police officers say it's getting in the way of their job. they say the wireless connection speeds and data entry requirements are sucking up time that could be used on the street. the first four months of this year, 68,000 summons have been written compared to 87,000 last year and 77,000 in 2008. >> we have less time to do the proactive police work so we're not going to see -- we're not seen as much in the community, not seen doing the traffic enforcement as much because some simple ticket takes an extra 20 minutes. >> reporter: this is work that used to take data entry clerk days to do. it's supposed to make it accessible to the entire department quickly. now police department spokesmen say that taking these officers off the street to train them, then the learning curve, they expected there to be issues and some of the numbers to go down. but they also say they hear the complaints and are going to take action. back to you all. >> thanks very much. drivers who use the chain bridge get relief this morning. all three lanes are open for the first time in months. during the morning rush two lanes will be open, the same as before the repairs began. during the evening that will swish to two lanes outbound. final construction under the bridge is scheduled to continue until august. that, however, will only occur during off-peak hours. >> this morning jamaica's government is gaining ground against a drug lord but at least 30 people are dead and innocent people are caught in the crossfire. thousands of police and soldiers looking for christopher coke considered to be one of the most dangerous drug bosses in the world. his supporters are waging fierce street battles in jamaica. the government is apologizing for the civilian casualties. >> the mayor of cancun is behind bars on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime. he was arrested yesterday at the airport in cancun. sanchez recently took a leave of absence from his post to run for governor. his website says he is being persecuted for political reasons. a twitter account is asking people to vote for him. >> a new nbc poll will show how divided the nation is over immigration. president obama promised to send more troops to the border hoping that would urge republicans to support new and what he calls more fair immigration laws. tracie potts reports. >> reporter: fresh off meeting with republicans, president obama promises to seek half a billion for extra security and send 1200 national guard troops to the border. >> it's simply not enough. we need 6,000. >> reporter: mr. obama trying to get republicans to help him redo laws affecting the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. walking a tight rope, beefing up the border may alienate mostly democratic latino voters in a critical election year. >> we see that as an absolute message to the latino and immigrant community that the president is not on their side. >> reporter: at the center of the debate, arizona's new law requiring immigrants to instantly prove they are legal. supporters argue critics haven't read the law. >> have you read the law? >> have i read the law? no. >> there are measures in that law that specifically proscribe any type of racial profiling. >> reporter: critics say that may not be what happens on the street. >> the only way you're going to be able to enforce the law is to get really close to that line, if not cross over it. then that's a problem. >> reporter: the new law kicks in this summer. if it happens at all there are court challenges and the justice department here is reviewing whether it's legal. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. that was tracie potts reporting. >> time for weather and traffic. it's going to feel like summer very soon. >> indeed. we'll have a rapid warm-up today. if you're not used to it, certainly take it easy this afternoon and the big heat that's going to build. right now it's pleasant, cool. right now near 60 in the suburbs. the rural areas in the 50s. 64 in washington. highs in the upper 80s today and there's a slight chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm, then tomorrow should be partly sunny, hazy, hot and humid with highs around 90. a real steam heat day. likelihood of scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms. then on friday, cloudy and cooler, occasional showers likely with highs low and mid 70s. then lower humidity and cooler weather for saturday as we start off the memorial day weekend. on sunday should be partly cloudy, highs near 80 for memorial day itself for the parades and the events going on for memorial day, should be partly cloudy, highs in the low to mid 80s. and there's a chance of some thunderstorms as we get back to work and school on tuesday. now jerry, how's traffic? >> take a live look along interstate 66 as you head east from 123, a little on the slow side. let me show you good news as we continue closer to the capital beltway, the earlier accident on 66 at the capital beltway has been cleared from the vdot cameras, all the lanes are open. this is where the accident was and now the lanes are open. so, very hopeful sign there. a little good news this morning. >> thank you very much. >> our time is 5:22, 68 degrees. coming up, one lawmaker makes an effort to make sure the threatened five-hour commute never happens. >> what the national zoo is doing to help the animals who have become victims of the oil spill in the gulf. >> also the brains behind "30 rock" will soon be honored here in the district. >> why sarah palin is not feeling very neighborly. ♪ ♪ go ahead, get started ♪ this'll never last ♪ not with the wind in your hair like that ♪ ♪ no, no, 'cause i could never see how someone ♪ ♪ as soft and sweet as you could ever be with me ♪ [ male announcer ] low-mileage lease for qualified lessees... the cadillac cts sports sedan. visit your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. ♪ welcome back. it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood unless you're sarah palin. seems one of her new neighbors in wasilla, alaska is not a big fan and he is writing a book about that. the author joe mcginnis moved in next door to the palins. he has written critical articles about her in the past and is working on a new book tentatively called sarah palin's year of living dangerously. palin did writing herself, she wrote on her facebook page, quote, we are sure to have a doozie to look forward to with this treasure he's penning. wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking piper's bedroom, my little garden and the family swimming hole. >> tina fey has earned plenty for her sarah palin impressions. she impressed the kennedy board. the star will be honored with the mark twain prize. she will be honored in november at the kennedy center. fey will be the youngest comedian ever to win that honor. boy, she is one funny lady. >> very bright and very clever. >> only 40. what an honor to be considered among bill cosby and steve martin. >> our time is 5:26. we have 69 degrees out there. coming up, a major vote on the hill that could delay plans to bring thousands of jobs to virginia because of traffic concerns. >> the zoo helping to treat the voiceless victims of the oil spill in the gulf. >> a wild police chase ends with a violent crash. on the run. a suspected robber who led police on a wild chase is still out there while a police officer is in the hospital. >> going for the kill. today bp hopes to finally plug the oil leak in the gulf. good morning. i'm eun yang. >> good morning. i'm joe krebs. welcome to "news4 today" wednesday t 26th day of may. we have a beautiful sky. look at the pink off the clouds. the sun is headed our way or we're headed its way. >> as tom likes to say. >> right. the horizon's moving down. and to save you the trouble of climbing 280 feet up our tower here's what it looks like. this is a live view from our sky watcher camera on our tower in upper northwest. we can see the sun rise under way. live picture, high def. at this hour it's 64 at national airport, upper 50s prince george's county and montgomery county. near 60 in arlington and fairfax counties, 50s around the shenandoah valley and blue ridge where there is fog. southern maryland around the bay and the eastern shore temperatures generally in the 50s. it's in the low to mid-50s in west virginia. under the influence of a huge area of low pressure that's spinning away giving us an easterly flow bringing in the clouds from time to time. slight chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm. the story is the big heat. we ought to climb into the upper 80s. then tomorrow hot and humid, near 90, likely afternoon and evening thunderstorms. cloudy cooler friday with occasional showers, then drying out on saturday. how's traffic? >> a live look at points north. interstate 70 as it approaches i-70. look at that, beautiful picture. good news up here on i-70. both directions. however, on southbound 270, route 80, police activity tying up a lane. after that in good shape continuing through germantown down to rockville, no concerns reported along 270 with the lanes open. on the wilson bridge, inner and outer loop wide open. no hangup there is with lanes open. on the rails, you are good to go. metro rail, vre and marc no early delays. >> thanks very much. in japan where a strong earthquake has hit this morning. a 6.1 quake hit near okinawa. there are no reports of damage. the japanese meteorological agency says there is no threat of a tsunami. >> today, bp is working to make major progress in the fight against the oil disaster in the gulf. the oil company is making final preparations for its top kill procedure. it's never been tried this deep under water but drastic action is needed as the situation in the gulf grows increasingly dire. kristen dahlgren joins us live with more on what we can expect today. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we've been watching that live feed from the gulf floor all morning. you can see a lot of preparations now under way. bp hasn't said exactly when it will start the top kill procedure but they say it could be as early as this morning. meantime, the live feed is expected to stay up through it all for us to watch. >> reporter: a mile beneath the surface the oil continues its stream. preparations continue to try to stop. diagnostic tests will determine when bp finally starts its top kill, forcing drilling mud through the blowout preventer in attempt to seal the leaking well. >> one of the critical things is while they pump the mud to understand the pressure exerted on the pipe. >> reporter: the company now says when it does start the process could take several days. while bp makes its latest attempt to stop it, along the coast many fear the catastrophe is just starting. >> it's still coming out the ground so what we are seeing took a month to get here, but there's a month of oil coming behind it. >> reporter: a growing crisis that left residents lashing out tuesday night. >> you're killing the industry. we may not ever come back. >> reporter: calls continue for the administration to step in, even as the president announced plans to once again visit the area on friday. >> window dressing. this has been a response the worst response i've ever seen, the worst attempt of a response. >> reporter: and then there are those without voices, swimming, sitting, struggling through the oil. >> i don't see him surviving. i don't see how could they survive in this. >> reporter: surviving it is a challenge shared by so many here now. waiting to see if the latest fix will work, and how much worse it will get. >> reporter: we're continuing to watch those live pictures, waiting for any word from bp that they started the top kill procedure. meantime, president obama is expected to announce tougher and more stringent guidelines for the oil industry as far as inspections go. that announcement should come sometime before he returns here to this area on friday. >> kristen dahlgren in venice, louisiana, thanks so much. that was kristin showing us more animals are caught in the muck. the national zoo is poised to help, preparing for emergency visits to help rescue birds from the oil. 40 zoo workers are ready to go. if needed they will clean the birds with tooth brushes and grease cutting dish washing liquid. >> it's an ecological disaster, no doubt about it. very much akin to cleaning artwork in a lot of ways other than the fact that this thing is alive and doesn't want you touching it. >> they are willing to go but hope their efforts are not needed even with a full scale effort only a few of the many birds and animals caught in the oil can be saved. >> a man police call a bandit is on the loose this morning after avoiding police chasing him. the chase started in prince george's county after a suspected robbery but ended when the officer crashed at "w" street and gaylin street in southeast washington. the suspect escaped. the officer is expected to be okay. there is no word on who the suspect is or what led to the chase. a prince george's county school bus driver accused of sexually abusing a child is due in court. parents are growing more concerned about how something like this could happen. 27-year-old scott smallwood is charged with using his cell phone to record a sexual encounter with a 7-year-old boy. school system officials say smallwood passed a background check on hiring. parents we spoke with say the school should be more careful when they hire people to work around children. >> i think that's very important also. and the reason because that starts with the protection of our children. >> pretty important. because like to know who's looking, who's seeing, who you can trust. >> the school board chair is now urging review of how bus drivers are hired. the house will vote this week on a proposal that could delay the transfer of thousands of defense jobs to a new office building in alexandria. nearly 6400 government employees are set to move into the new high end facility off seminary road next year. however, there are major concerns about the traffic backups it could cause. now congressman jim rand sponsored a measure that requires the pentagon to come up with a plan to ease the commu. it would cap the available parking at the building at 1,000 spaces. the the job shifts are are part of the 2005 base realignment and closure plan better known as brac. it's set to be voted on by tomorrow. >> unintended acceleration may be blamed for more deaths than thought. officials said that they received more than 6200 complaints of sudden accelerations in toyotas. of those 89 were deadly. since last fall's massive recall toyota says it fixed nearly 3.5 million vehicles. they continue to say there is no evidence that faulty electronics caused the problem. >> ahead, a bailout that could save metro riders money. >> also confusing commute, why d.c.'s new bike lanes get a makeover. >> an embassy ignored now home to criminals. ♪ >> they are the hottest tickets in town, taylor swift's sold out center. for your chance to win a pair of tickets enter on line at nbcwashington.com and search taylor. then watch tonight and be ready to call in and claim your tickets if you are the lucky winner. i'm going to have that song in my head all day. 5:41 is the time. tom's here with the latest and it's going to be hot out there. >> right now off to a cool start, a pleasant start back to work and off to school on this wednesday morning. it's 64 at washington, upper 50s prince george's county, near 60 in arlington and fairfax county and in montgomery county. in the 50s around the shenandoah valley where they have a little fog this morning. southern maryland, near the bay, near 60. highs in the upper 80s, though, small chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm. partly cloudy. and then partly sunny, hot and humid tomorrow and the likelihood of afternoon and evening storms and cloudy cooler friday with occasional showers likely. highs in mid-70s. lower humidity, cooler temperatures for saturday as we start the memorial day weekend. in the low and mid 70s saturday afternoon. a look at sunday and memorial day and next week coming up at 5:51. how's traffic? >> breaking news now in from metro. world of a problem over at union station. i'll read it for you. it came in. at yoonlion station the trains will be sharing the same track between judiciary square and new york avenue, apparently there is a derailed piece of track equipment. not a train but derailed piece of track equipment at union station. we're on top of it. out to the roads, take a live look, dulles toll road out of reston moving along. travel lanes are open. we have an issue for you folks out of frederick along i-270 southbound near route 80. activity remains in the travel portion of the road. also word of an accident now close to this area on route 99, accident at sand hill road. the roadway there, route 99, is currently closed off. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> it is now 5:43, 65 degrees. capitol hill bailout that could mean money for metro. >> more shocking moments in the robert wone case. what the police interrogation tapes reveal. >> an embassy abandoned but neighbors say criminals are now calling it home. >> next, which local police agency metro may soon be getting much needed relief. a group of senators have introduced a new $2 billion emergency transit funding bill and some of that could be used to curb expected fare hikes. megan joins us from the new carrollton station with more on the vote taking place today. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. it's good timing. metro is poised to approve fare increases and possible cuts in service tomorrow. they are still debating what they should do to close $189 million budget shortfall. board members are going to have to take some action that will impact riders. there is possible help on the way, though, from the federal government. the u.s. senate introduced emergency legislation that would provide $2 billion in funding to transit agencies around the country. and metro could apply for some of that funding. the bill calls for the money to be used to reduce fare increases and restore service cuts made in january 2009, or to be used to prevent future impacts on service and fares through september 2011. riders we spoke to say that something needs to happen and they would welcome help from the federal government. >> yeah, i think they should help. >> why? >> because you got all the people riding the metro every day, you have problems with metro, breaking down and things. i think they should help. it's a safety hazard, too. somebody could hurt themselves. >> reporter: you think the federal government should help? >> yes. >> why? >> because it's too expensive to get back and forth to work. >> reporter: you don't want the fares to go up? >> no. >> reporter: while it all sounds good, there are a lot of details that still aren't known. it's unclear how much money metro would get and when it would be available. back to you. >> metro needs it, though. megan, thank you. >> a heads up for you if you plan to take metro during the memorial day weekend, a major change on the orange line. there will be no service between the east falls church and west falls church stations, this will be on saturday, sunday and monday. metro will run free shuttle buses but you should still add an extra 40 minutes to your trip. the service disruption is related to the building of the dulles metro rail project. >> president obama is asking for half a billion dollars and more troops to beef up security along the u.s./mexico border. the troops would not be able to arrest people crossing illegally but they will be armed and serve as extra eyes and ears. the president hopes this gets republicans to help him change immigration laws. the center of the debate is arizona's new law which requires immigrants to instantly prove they are legal. supporters say it prohibits racial profiling. critics disagree. >> the only way you're going to be able to enforce the law is to get really close to the line if not cross over it. then that's a problem. >> the new law kicks in this summer. if it happens at all. there are court challenges and the justice accident reviewing whether it is legal. embassy buildings are some of washington's crown jewels but not the case for the country of gabon. aside from all of the broken and boarded up windows and tall grass neighbors complain that the locked up apparently abandoned embassy is playing host to more than high level politics. it's a few blocks from the washington hilton. craig melvin reports. >> reporter: this tattered flag shows what happens in gabon and what used to be their embassy. behind the high weeded and uncut grass a boarded up building locked with a bike chain. next door the wyoming plaza condo building. residents received an e-mail from the management company telling them that the foreign government building had become a popular spot for the homeless, drug dealers and prostitutes. >> it's been like this for quite a few months ever since summer. there have been, as far as i can remember, four fires. >> reporter: this is a picture of a fire that broke out early christmas morning last year, the most recent fire. d.c. fire and ems says there have been at least three fires since last fall. a protester angry at the outcome of a presidential election in gabon is believed to have started the first one last september. >> this whole area is very nice and we're very proud of it. nobody has, from the embassy, explained what their next steps are to reclaim it. >> reporter: we went to the embass's other office listed. no one was around. the secret service is responsible for policing properties like this. neighbors say they have seen them a lot but would like to see somebody from the embassy do something. >> the embassy reclaimed or remodeled, or refurbished and either reclaimed by the country or sold off to somebody who can care for it. it's abandoned property. >> reporter: this is a copy of the e-mail that the management company sent to the residents of the condo building. it says that the country of gabon promised it will renovate the property and re-occupy it or sell it. we'll keep you posted. craig melvin, "news4 today." a judge is watching videotapes of police interviews with the three men accused of covering up the murder of robert wone. wone was found stabbed to death in a dupont circle rowhouse in 2006. joseph price, dylan ward and victor zaborski live in the house and are charged with tampering with evidence in the case. in an interview price insists that none of the housemates had anything to do with the killing. the detectives, however, insinuate that price or the others might have been physically attracted to wone, the three claim an intruder broke in and stabbed robert wone. right now take a look at this beautiful picture behind us. the sun is up and glorious and looks like mainly clear skies. >> the sun is going to heat things up for us. >> we will be cooking by this afternoon. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. there is a live view showing a turquoise dawn under way in washington. 64 degrees at national airport. the sun is now gleaning on the eastern horizon. it's a cool morning, near 60 in arlington, fairfax and montgomery counties, and in the upper 50s in prince george's county and much of southern maryland, across many of the rural areas in the 50s. this is a little fog in the shenandoah valley. right now we are seeing temperatures out in the mountains in the low 50s this morning off to a mostly clear start there. a few clouds around the eastern shore where they are in the low 50s, the clouds coming from a large area of low pressure south of bermuda bringing in this easterly flow and the clouds in as well. earlier i spoke with students from the horace mann elementary school in washington. they had a terrific time learning about television and weather and we had a lot of fun. i want to thank teacher who wheeze hill in the back row who invited me to talk to these students from the horace mann elementary school in the district of columbia. for today we'll have a partly cloudy afternoon, with a slight chance of isolated thunderstorm. the story is the heat in the upper 80s. hot and humid tomorrow near 90 and partly sunny and a likelihood of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. friday, cloudy, cooler, occasional showers in the 70s and saturday into sunday, memorial day in the 80s and partly cloudy. some storms on tuesday. how's the traffic? >> we have a big deal developing out on metro rail at union station. affecting the red line. metro rail tells us that trains will be single tracking due to track equipment derailment. red line riders expect delays, trains are starting the day sharing one track while crews work to repair the track after a piece of track equipment derailed near union station before the opening this morning. trains are taking turns sharing one track between judiciary square and new york square. riders expect delays up to one hour on the red line so heads up. people headed downtown from the glenmont area may want to consider transferring to the green line at fort totten. this is going to be a big deal for the moning commute on metro rail's red line and could overflow as well. out to the west, headed to dulles airport, 28, quiet so far. >> thanks very much. traffic may slow you down in fairfax county but apparently a police officer probably will not. police are writing fewer tickets these days because of a new computer system they use. tracee wilkins has more from tysons corner. rfrmths new computer software on lap tops in fairfax county cruisers to enhance record keeping and crime fighting making information instantly available to the department. work that used to take clerks days. >> the most up to date information will be available to every officer in his or her car through their computers. >> reporter: after training, learning and using the system, some fairfax county police officers say it actually is getting in the way of their jobs. >> in six years of being the president of our labor union, this is the single biggest issue. >> reporte slow wireless speeds and cumbersome requirements are sucking up time. one example, traffic summons. officers have to hand write the citation, then enter the information on the computer. the numbers show a difference. in the first four months of this year, 68,000 have been written compared to 87,000 last year. and 77,000 in 2008. >> we have less time to do the pro active police work so we're not going to be seen, we're not seeing as much in the community, we're not seen doing traffic enforcement as much. a simple traffic ticket takes an extra 20 minutes for each stop. >> that was tracee wilkins from tysons corner. d.c. is trying to clear up the confusion over the new bike lane along pennsylvania avenue in northwest washington. the city's repainting the lane because they were apparently made too wide. the transportation department says bikers and drivers were confused which lanes to use. the lanes run from 15th street to the capitol building. it will take about three weeks to fix. >> the house of representatives will vote on a plan to relieve traffic near a defense office building. nearly 6400 government employees will be moved from northern virginia to the new facility next year. the goal of this proposal sponsored by representative james moran is to prevent traffic backups. the bill would require pentagon to come up with ways to ease people's commute. it would also cap the available parking at the new office building at 1,000 spaces. the job shifts are part of the 2005 base realignment and closure plan. >> the new unit putting more police officers out on the streets in prince george's county, find out what they will crack down on. >> also ahead, president obama's plan to fix immigration problems and the result of a new poll that shows how the controversial topic is now dividing the nation. >> plus, all of your weather and traffic together on the ones. mud slinging, in a little bit bp is expected thecarry out its latest plan to stop the oil leak in the gulf. thanks for joining us. i'm eun yang. >> good morning. i'm joe krebs. and today is wednesday, it's the 26th of may. take a look this morning. beautiful sun is up high in the sky. and we have blue skies right now. clouds seem to have gone away. it's going to be pretty steamy. >> looks steamy already. >> yeah, the view from our sky watcher camera showing clouds on the eastern horizon on this wednesday morning. be prepared for dramatic warm-up. right now it's cool off to work and school on this wednesday morning, in the upper 50s to near 60 in the suburbs. many of the rural areas in the 50s. there is dense fog in the central shenandoah valley. we have temperatures generally in the 50s on the eastern shore away from the waters, near the bay, though, and northern neck on the bay it's in the upper 50s near 60. out in the mountains low and mid-50s. these clouds cruising in out of the east coming from a large area of low pressure that's rotating south of bermuda. continuing to give us a few high clouds for today. from time to time, we'll have afternoon highs, soaring to the upper 80s. and there is a slight chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm. a greater chance, a likelihood of that tomorrow afternoon and evening. hot and humid on thursday, near 9 o. then likelihood of passing showers friday, cloudy and cooler in the 70s. for the holiday weekend we're starting off with lower humidity and cooler temperatures. >> we're following breaking news from metro rail with major incident going on now. as far as your morning commute on metro rail's red line, red line riders expect delays as trains are starting the day sharing one track. a piece of equipment derailed a short time ago. trains are taking turns sharing one track between judiciary square and new york avenue and riders can expect delays up to one hour. if you are headed downtown from glenmont, you may want to consider transferring over to the green line at fort totten to lessen your delay. good news is vre and marc rail we're fine. sunshine delays developing up on 395, so heads up for that. >> thanks, jerry. >> right now we're monitoring the latest developments in the gulf where bp is executing its latest effort to plug the flow of oil. they are trying something called a top kill technique. kimberly suiters joins us live from the newsroom where the information also is continuing to flow in. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. incredible video to show you. finishing touches are put on this operation, not only in the dark of morning but in the dark of the sea depths one mile down. take a look at this, live streaming video from bp, as it prepares for the top kill. you can watch it, too, on bp.com or here we'll show it to you throughout the morning. the company warns the video can freeze or temporarily be unavailable. bp explained it expects significant change in appearance. according to the company these will not provide a reliable indicator of the success or failure of the operation as a whole. they have to assess that later. this top kill, a massive cement and mud plug, has never been tried under this kind of depth of water. the company says it will try the top kill sometime this morning. it puts the chance of success at 60% to 70% at stopping the leak. testing going on now will determine when bp finally starts forcing drilling mud through the blowout preventer in attempt to seal the leaking well. the company now says when it does start the process, it could take two days to complete. >> one of the things is while they pump the mud is to understand the pressure exerted on the pipe. >> window dressing. this has been a response the worst response i've ever seen, the worst attempt of a response. >> also pressure from the community, pressure on bp to resolve this crisis. tuesday night local residents lashed out at bp representatives in this town hall meeting. there are calls to continue for the administration to step in. president obama is expected to announce tougher safety protocols and inspections for the industry before his next visit to the region coming this friday. now back to you. >> kimberly, thank you. we are also following a developing story overseas where with foreign stock markets appear to be rebounding after yesterday's dramatic losses. hang seng is up more than 1% today and france's key index up more than 2%. analysts believe that bargain hunters hope to cash in by yesterday's losses. this is all good news here in the united states where futures are pointing toward a positive open today. the dow closed yesterday barely above the 10,000 mark it fell 22 points on the day. the nasdaq was down t s&p was up a bit. >> a police chase came to a crashing halt in the district. a prince george's county police cruiser crashed. officers chased the suspected robber into the district. the officer crashed and the suspect got away. the prince george's county school bus driver charged with sexually abusing is child is expected in court. parents are more concerned about how this could have happeneded. scott smallwood is charged with using his cell phone to record a sexual encounter with a 7-year-old boy. the school system officials say that smallwood passed a background check but now the board chair is urging review of how all bus drivers are hired (the investigation will obviously include how the hiring process happened, what exactly was in his background if there was anything that would preclude him from being employed and certainly what the next steps are. >> school officials will not say whether the child was a passenger on smallwood's regular bus route. videotaped interviews that police conducted with three men accused of covering up robert wone's murder are being shown. wone was found stabbed to death. the three all live in the home and are charged with tampering with evidence in the case. in a police interview, price insists that none of the housemates had anything to do with the killing. the detectives, however, insinuated that price or others might have been physically attracted to wone. the three men claim an intruder broke in and stabbed wone. >> coming up the plans to give metro more money to ease the pain of a fare hike. >> a bottle thrown at the french president. wait until you hear who was behind it. >> it's 6:07, 64 degrees. a beautiful look outside. weather and traffic together are next. ♪ well, they are the hottest tickets in town. taylor swift's sold-out concert. for your chance to win a pair of tickets enter on line at nbcwashington.com. search taylor and then watch "news4 at 5:00" tonight and be ready to call in and claim your tickets if you are the lucky winner. it is just about 6:11. a live look outside now. 64 degrees. a beautiful look at the nation's capital. bright sunshine and that means things are warming up. >> let's go to tom kierein to tell us about the weather. >> air is fresh and cool as we start off. later on it's going to heat up big time. 64 in washington, upper 50s prince george's county. near 60 in montgomery, arlington and fairfax counties, 50 in the rural areas of maryland and virginia. and this is patchy dense fog in the central shenandoah valley, out in the mountains in the 50s, the eastern shore in the 50s, clouds coming in from the east. from circulating low pressure that's near bermuda. we'll have a partly cloudy hot afternoon, slight chance of an isolated storm. a likelihood of storms, hot and humid thursday. cloudy, cooler with showers likely at times on friday. then drying out for the beginning of the memorial day weekend. look at the rest of the memorial day weekend in ten minutes. >> we continue to follow breaking news on metro rail's red line. single tracking now on the red line between judiciary square and new york avenue stations, a piece of equipment derailed this morning outside of union station. that piece of equipment has been taken off the tracks but the track was damaged, so right now trains will be sharing one track between judiciary square and new york avenue stations on the red line. you can expect up to at least one-hour delay. if you are headed downtown from glenmont, you may want to consider transferring over to the green line, fort totten, that may help you in your delays. this is going to cost you time this morning. vre is fine, marc rail is okay. unfortunately now we've got a bunch of trouble on 395 northbound, accident happened moments ago near duke street, left half of the road is blocked. a couple of lanes getting by to the right. we'll keep you updated on that. >> good news for commuters. aidge maer construction project is over. >> and the new plan to give metro money, how it could save you money as well. >> president obama's plan to fix immigration and the results of a poll that shows how the controversial topic is dividing the country. well, finally relief for drivers who use the chain bridge. all three lanes are open for the first time in many months during the morning rush hour two lanes will be open for inbound traffic, that's the same traffic pattern as before the repairs began. during the evening that will switch two lanes outbound. final construction under the bridge is scheduled to continue until august. however, that will occur only during off-peak hours. >> metro may get help digging out of a major budget deficit. a group of senators introduced a $2 billion transit funding bill that would give some money to metro and those funds could curb the fare hikes the agency is planning to pass on to you. megan joins us with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. metro needs new funding sources. the board is on the verge of approving fare hikes as well as possible cuts in service in order to close $189 million budget shortfall, the board is going to take that up tomorrow during their regularly scheduled meeting here. some help may be on the way from the federal government that could reduce the impact on riders. the u.s. senate has introduced emergency legislation that would provide $2 billion in funding to transit agencies around the country. and metro could apply for a portion of that. the bill calls for the money to be used to reduce fare increases and restore service cuts made in january 2009, or to be used to prevent future impacts on service and fares through september 2011. riders we spoke to said they hope it helps. >> i believe they should. i think that as far as the customers go, we're paying a lot of money, taxpayer money, houses are down, taxpayer money is down. i think they should pay it. >> that would be a wonderful idea. >> reporter: why? >> because of the economy and a lot of people are struggling. any amount that will help augment people's ability to get back and forth would be appropriate. >> it's probably fair that the federal government chip in. it's pretty hard to find parking downtown so it's impossible if you work downtown to find parking. if you're an employer and you want employees then i guess you got to do what you got to do. >> reporter: while it sounds great there are a lot of questions out there. it's unclear how much of that $2 billion metro would get or when they would get that money in terms of -- and that would impact when riders saw any relief on their end of things. also some people we spoke with are concerned about government bailouts. some see this as a bailout and how that would impact taxes. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. new troubles for toyota. unintended accelebration may be to blame for more deaths than first thought. highway safety officials say they received more than 6200 complaints of sudden acceleration in toyotas. 89 were deadly. since last fall's massive recall toyota says it's fixed nearly 3.5 million vehicles. it continues to say there is no evidence that faulty electronics caused these problems. a new nbc poll shows how divided this nation is over immigration. president obama promised to send more troops to the border hoping that will urge republicans to back uj and what he calls fairer immigration laws. tracie potts has the latest from capitol hill. >> reporter: fresh off meeting with republicans, president obama promises to seek half a billion for extra security and send 1200 national guard troops to the border. >> it's simply not enough. we need 6,000. >> reporter: mr. obama trying to get republicans to help him redo laws affecting the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. walking a tight rope, beefing up the border may alienate mostly democratic latino voters in a critical election year. >> we see that as an absolute message to the latino and immigrant community that the president is not on their side. >> reporter: at the center of the debate, arizona's new law requiring immigrants to instantly prove they are legal. >> there are measures in the law that specifically proscribe any type of racial profiling. >> reporter: critics say that may not be what happens on the street. >> the only way you're going to be able to enforce the law is to get really close to that line, if not cross over it. then that's a problem. >> reporter: a new nbc poll finds six in ten americans support the law but there is a racial divide. 70% of whites like it but just under a third of latinos t law kicks in this summer. if it even happens because there are court challenges and also we've found out that the justice department is taking a look at this reviewing the law to see if it's legal. tracie potts. >> thank you. here is a closer look at the nbc news poll. it shows few people are happy with how democrats or republicans are dealing with immigration. 32% of the public approves president obama's job on immigration and 32% believe republican lawmakers are addressing the concerns of the latino community compared to 44% of democrats. overall, 68% of latinos approve of president obama's job compared to 38% of whites. >> this morning jamaica's government is gaining ground in the fight against a drug lord but at least 30 are dead and innocent people are caught in the crossfire. thousands of police and soldiers are working for christopher coke considered to be one of the most dangerous drug bosses in the world. his supporters are waging fierce street battles. the government is apologizing for civilian casualties. >> 6:21, time for weather and traffic on the 1s. >> starting off with golden sun light flooding the sky. 64 in washington. upper 50s prince george's county. montgomery, arlington and fairfax county near 60. there is patchy dense fog in the shenandoah valley. highs in the upper 80s. summer lovers rejoice. slight chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. hot and humid tomorrow, partly cloudy, likely scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms thursday. cloudy and cooler friday in the mid 70s with occasional showers likely. cooling down as we begin the memorial day weekend. saturday highs low to mid 70s. sunday partly cloudy, near 80, memorial day itself it should be partly cloudy for the parades and events. temperatures in the low and mid 80s. a chance of storms on tuesday. jerry, how's the traffic and travel? >> it's going to be tough. metro rail red line single tracking because of that equipment that derailed. trains will be sharing the same track between judiciary square and new york avenue. it's going to cause problems throughout the morning. we'll keep you updated. vre no delays. marc rail, brunswick train 872 behind. the accident a short time ago, 395 at duke street. lanes reopened. one more stop, 270, looking all right. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> 6:22. 64 degrees. the new privacy controls you'll see and be able to use on facebook. >> the president of france was nearly hit with a bottle. >> complaints that drug dealers and prostitutes have taken over an embassy. a close call for french president nicolas sarkozy. he was almost hit in the face with a plastic bottle which was thrown at him as he shook hands in a crowd of children. he went on to speak to the kids. a middle school student threw the bottle. many students are upset with his plan to crack down on school delinquency. >> speaking of school delinquency, one would think throwing a bottle might fall into that category. facebook is listening to users and will release privacy controls. members have complained that the policies make it too difficult to control who sees their information. they are angry that they have to opt out of sharing their information and they are upset about a loophole that let's advertisers see profiles. facebook says the backlash has been humbling. >> space shuttle "atlantis" is expected to return to earth today. "atlantis" is scheduled to land at kennedy space center at 8:48. during the mission to the international space station they delivered and installed a russian compartment, extra antenna and 12 fresh batteries that weigh 400 pounds apiece. this is the last flight for "atlanti "atlantis." >> 64 degrees. drivers in fairfax county are receiving fewer speeding tickets. >> we'll go live to louisiana where bp is about to take another shot at stopping the oil leak. >> is a robbery and police chase ends in a violent crash. top it off. all eyes on the gulf this morning as bp gets ready to carry out its latest plan to stop the oil leak in the gulf. how confident is bp that the top kill will work? >> we're following breaking news on the red line. riders seeing major delays, some as long as an hour. we'll have more on that. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it is tuesday, wednesday rather action may 26, 2010. sorry about that. a live look at 64 degrees. lovely look at the nation's capital. the dome there, kind of hazy sky. we're going to get a lot of sunshine and heat today. >> let's talk to tom about that. >> yes, going to feel like midsummer by mid afternoon. right now off to a school start on this wednesday morning. 64 in washington, at national airport in the upper 50s in prince george's county, right around 60 in montgomery, arlington and fairfax counties. 50s in many of the rural areas. there is patchy dense fog in the shenandoah valley. highs in the upper 80s and a chance of isolated afternoon thunderstorm. tomorrow afternoon and evening storms are likely. it's going to be hot around 90, then cloudy, cooler friday with occasional showers, highs low to mid 70s. we dry out as we start off the memorial day weekend. hu's the travel going this morning? >> very tough as we continue to follow that breaking news on metro rail's red line. the problem of equipment that derailed prior to the opening this morning. and they uprighted that, removed it and metro rail is in the process of repairing the tracks. you can expect continuing delays of up to one hour between judiciary square and new york avenue. headed downtown from glenmont, might want to consider transferring to the green line to lessen your delays. marc rail, 782 is behind schedule. slow on the roads along 395 northbound, earlier accident at duke street out of traffic. that with the sunshine jamming it up. >> thank you, jerry. >> right now crews in the gulf of mexico are getting ready for that so called top kill procedure. they are going to attempt a plug of that massive oil leak. it's never been attempted so deep under water. kristen dahlgren joins us live from venice, louisiana. she has more on how things are going at this hour. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we've monitored that live feed all morning. you can see that oil really pouring out. they is been doing preparations, we've seen the robotic subs trying to prepare the area, doing the diagnostic tests. bp hasn't said when it will start but it could be this morning. the live feed is going to step up or stay up through all of this so that we can watch as it's happening. a mile beneath the surface the oil continues its steady stream. preparations continue to try to stop it. diagnostic tests will determine when bp finally starts its top kill, forcing drilling mud in attempt to seal the leaking well. >> while they pump the mud down is to understand the pressure on the pipes. >> reporter: the company says when it does start it could take several days. bp makes its latest attempt to stop it along the coast, many fear the catastrophe is just starting. >> still coming out the ground. what we're seeing took a month to get here but this is a month of oil behind it. >> reporter: a growing crisis that left residents lashing out tuesday night. >> you all are killing this industry. we may not ever come out of it. >> reporter: calls continue for the administration to step in, even as the president announced plans to again visit the area on friday. >> window dressing. this has been a response, the worst response i've ever seen, the worst attempt of a response. >> reporter: then there are those without voices. swimming, sitting, struggling through the oil. >> i don't see him surviving. i don't see how could they survive in this. >> reporter: surviving is it a challenge shared by so many now, waiting to see if the latest fix will work and how much worse it will get. >> reporter: as we take another live look at the pictures of the oil pouringing into the gulf of mexico, we've just received word from bp they plan to start the top kill procedure later today but don't know exactly when that will be. they say the diagnostic tests are still going on. the president is expected to announce more stringent safety protocol for the entire oil industry. that should come before he's here on friday. >> kristen dahlgren, thanks so much. the national zoo is ready to help rescue the birds getting caught in the oil. 40 staff members are ready to go if they are needed. they will clean the birds with tooth brushes and dawn liquid. even with a full scale rescue effort only a few of the birds and animals can be saved. >> secretary of state hillary clinton is in seoul, south korea there to meet with the south korean leaders. south korea is furious with the north after investigators blamed the communist country for the sinking of a south korean ship killing all 46 sailors on board. clinton is urging countries to respond. she says the u.s. would consult with south korea and the security council. >> a chase comes to a halt in the district. a police cruiser crashed. officers chased a suspected robber. the officer crashed and the suspect got away. >> a prince george's county school bus driver accused of abusing a child is due in court. scott smallwood is charged with using his cell phone to record a sexual encounter with a boy. parn parents are increasingly concerned. smallwood passed a background check. a judge is watching the videotapes of police interviews with the three men accused of covering up the murder of robert wone. wone was found stabbed to death in a row home back in 2006. joseph price, dylan ward and victor zaborski are charged with tampering with evidence. in a police interview, price insisted that none of his house mates had anything to do with the killing. the detectives, however, insinuated that price or others might have been physically attracted to wone. the three men claimed an intuder broke in and stabbed wone. why some police officers in northern virginia are handing out fewer speeding tickets. >> one of the largest school districts is now considering cutting school security officers. >> your weather and traffic together on the ones a cafree vehicle history reports for every used car we sell on carmax.com. ♪ [dramatic music] now more than ever, carmax is the smart choice, because carmax will buy your car even if you don't buy one of ours. ♪ [dramatic music] 6:40. hazy sunshine on this wednesday morning. it's going to be hot and steamy like a midsummer day. >> that's right. get ready for a heat wave. tom has the latest on our forecast now. changes, tom. >> if you are a summer lover, we'll warm into the upper 80s, live view from the sky watcher camera showing the morning sunlight streaming through the trees of northwest washington and the national cathedral under a sky streaked with high clouds. 64 at washington. 50s to near 60 degrees in the suburbs and rural areas, highs in the upper 80s. a small chance of an isolated thunderstorm, then a likelihood of storms tomorrow. hot and humid thursday. highs near 90. then friday, cloudy and cooler with occasional showers likely in the low and mid 70s. in time for the memorial day weekend. we'll dry out and cool off saturday. a look at sunday and memorial day in 10 minutes. >> metro rail on the red line continuing delays. the single tracking last report still under way between judiciary square and new york avenue stations because of the problem. vre no delays. marc rail, brunswick 892, six minutes late. the maryland district line, accident at kenilworth avenue, authorities on the scene. also accident route 50 inbound at 202, and near the anderson metro station. those are all accidents. >> thanks very much. >> 6:42 is the time. 65 degrees. find out who wants to put the brakes on the controversial base realignment plan in virginia. >> the new plan to give metro more money to ease the pain of a fare hike. >> an embassy in disrepair. >>. >> this morning a plan to ease expected congestion around the new defense department high rise office building on seminary road and 395 in alexandria. 6400 workers are expected to move in next year. there are concerns about the traffic nightmare that might be caused. as a result congress moran sponsored a measure that requires the pentagon to come up with a plan to ease the commute. it would cap the available parking spaces at the new office building at 1,000. the job shifts are part of the base realignment closure plan. this morning we're learning about relief that could come to metro. a group of senators introduced a $2 billion emergency funding bill that could curb some of the expected fare hikes. megan mcgrath joins us from the new carrollton station. >> reporter: good morning. the timing could be good. metro's board is on the verge of approving fare increases and possible cuts to service tomorrow to close the $189 million budget shortfall. they say the action is needed, some sort of action, to close the gap and they continue to debate what to do about that to figure out whether they should increase fare, if so by how much and what services might have to be cut in order to save money here. some help may be on the way. that could spare riders, help from the federal government. emergency legislation was introduced by the u.s. senate yesterday that would provide $2 billion in funding to transit agencies across the country and metro could apply for some of that money. now, the bill calls for the money to be used to refund fare increases and restore service cuts made in january 2009, or use the money to prevent future impacts on service and fares through september 2011. that sounds great, the money would come in standee but there are a lot of questions out there. it's unclear for example how much of the $2 billion metro would get and when they would get that money. so, in terms of the actual impact and whether it happens in time to curb some of the fare increases being discussed that remains to be seen. >> megan mcgrath, thanks very much. prince george's county police are making sure your commute is safer, a new unit that focuses on traffic safety. they provide more inspections in areas where there tend to be more crashes. they hope a stronger presence will make drivers more careful. prince george's county continues to lead maryland in deadly crashes. here's an interesting perhaps disturbing news before you head out the door this morning. you probably have been a bit less likely to get a traffic ticket when you drive through fairfax county even if you speed or break the law. the county changed the way it processes speeding and traffic tickets. officers now have to enter ticket or arrest information into a new com butter data base. clerks used to do that. it's taking away from traffic enforcement. >> if you live in montgomery county some of the police officers that help keep your children's schools safe may be history. the council is thinking of cutting out the officers who patrol the schools. they are trying to close a budget shortfall and reducing the education security staff would help. about 40 police officers may be eliminated with more than a dozen of them coming from the high schools. there has been no final decision yet on specific cuts. >> embassy buildings are certainly some of washington's crown jewels. but that is not the case for the country of gabon. the embassy is on 20th street northwest a few blocks from the washington hilton. behind the weeds and grass the boarded up embassy has become the new hangout for the homeless, prostitutes and drug deal dealers. that information was sent out to the condo building next door. there have been at least three fire there is since last fall and protesters -- or angry at highly contested election in gabon is believed to have started the fall. condo residents say they would like to see someone from the embassy do something about it. >> the embassy reclaimed or remodeled, refurbished, either reclaimed by the country or sold off to somebody who can care for it. >> the let tear the condo residents also says that gabon has promised to renovate the property and reoccupy it or sell it. >> after a few rocky days all signs are pointing to a positive opening on wall street. we have more on what to expect today. brian, good morning. >> good morning. investors hoping the lion's roar, forget bears and bulls. a late day rally on tuesday, a rebound in financial, consumer names helping the dow recover most of a 300-point drop that pushed the dow below 10,000 spurred by fears over europe's debt crisis, and also much of the focus has been between north and south korea and the tension there. we'll tell you asian markets rose, europe is higher. in the u.s. we get reports on new home sales and durable goods. the dow closing off 22 points at 10,043 t nasdaq at 2210. so that was the numbers yesterday. >> it seems the cause of all of those fears are still there, what seems to be allaying those fears and causinging the market to rebound? >> i think a lot has to do simply with bargain hunting. people think these levels maybe the sell-off was too much and a lot of the traders talk about technicals in this global market. they tend to get a bounce. i think there is quite a bit of concern. even if you go up 200 points it's still very volatile. not necessarily a good thing. you would like to have incremental gains like 25, 50 points over a month. that's a stable market. it's pretty jittery. >> don't like those big ups and downs. brian, thanks very much. have a great day. >> breaking news now expect major delays on metro's red line. trains are sharing a single track after a piece of track uipment derailed. tracee wilkins is live at union station with the latest. what's going on? >> reporter: this happened outside of union station on the tracks, the good news is that no, it wasn't a train as you said, it was a piece of equipment that derailed and when it did that it damaged the track. so now they are trying to fix this. they are saying that commuters could look at delays up to an hour so plan for that. this is going to happen between judiciary and new york avenue, florida avenue and be prepared for that. metro officials suggest that people from glenmont transfer to the green line at fort totten to try and avoid some of these delays. the equipment that derailed has been replaced ok on the track and what they are trying to do is repair the track itself. that's damaged. this has been reported and it's going to be investigated, figure out what happened. but in the meantime, single tracking on the red line, up to an hour's worth of delays. back to you in the studio. >> a messy commute on metro. thank you. >> what a mess. let's find out about our weather, see if that's a mess today. doesn't look like it. >> delightful start. i'm tom kierein. our blue skies streaked with a few high clouds. live view, northwest washington in the foreground, in the middle is rosslyn and arlington. on the horizon is fairfax county. 64 at reagan national. a calm wind with a partly cloudy sky. humidity near 60. in the rural areas many locations have dipped into the 50s. the central shenandoah valley, there is dense fog there so watch out for that. elsewhere, don't have much fog. eastern shore now in the mid-50s, out in the mountains in the low to mid-50s. feeling pleasant now but there is a big heat that will build as we get into the afternoon. we've been under the influence of this easterly flow for the last couple of days. it does continue with a few high clouds. but eventually some big heat that built up over new england yesterday and the upper midwest, that's going to be filtering in here on a northerly breeze as we get into the afternoon. the bus stop, a light breeze and temperatures in the 50s and low and mid-60s for an hour or so. but then a rapid warm-up will come in and by 9:00 we'll be in the 70s, by noon the low 80s, by mid afternoon in the upper 80s. just a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm. then partly cloudy tonight in the 70s through the evening, sun sets at 8:23. dawn tomorrow near 70. and more humid on thursday, a hot and humid day with highs around 90. could get scattered afternoon thunderstorms as well as in the evening. then cloudy and cooler friday with highs in the 70s. here is a look at the memorial day weekend. we'll see showers on friday, dry out saturday with highs low 70s and lower humidity and partly cloudy sunday and monday for memorial day. highs in the 80s by then. maybe storms on tuesday. how's the traffic now? >> on metro rail on the red line, expect continuing delays because of the earlier issues over at union station. good news is vre reporting no delays and one on marc rail. brunswick 892, 6 minutes behind. throughout the morning we'll keep you updated with reports on the red line delays. over to virginia and take a look. 395 northbound jammed, accident on duke street out of the roadway. prince george's county, two accidents inbound route 50 as you make the trip on in, an accident there at 202, here is springfield, you are good to go both ways. >> thanks, jerry. some good news for commuters. all three lanes of the chain bridge are open for the first time in months. during the morning rush hour two lanes will be open for inbound traffic, the same traffic pattern is before the repairs. during the evening rush hours that will switch to two lanes outbound. final construction under the bridge is scheduled till august. that will occur only during off-peak hours. >> we're monitoring the latest in the gulf where bp is executing its latest effort to plug the flow of oil they are trying something called a top kill technique. kimberly suiters joins us live from the newsroom where the information is flowing in as well. good morning. >> reporter: good morning again. bp will try to cap this leak this morning. it anticipates the chance for success at 60% to 70%. hook at this live streaming video from bp as it prepares for the top kill. you can watch it on bp.com. you can really see the oil flowing there. bp does expect to see significant changes in appearance of the flow at the sea bed during this operation. according to the company these will not provide a reliable indicator of the success or failure of the operation. this top kill, a massive cement and mud plug, has never been tried under water this deep, one mile. testing all morning is determining when the precise moment to force mud and seal the leaking well. the process could take two days. one unknown, the pressure that could build up and blow the whole operation. speaking of pressure, growing on bp to resolve this. tuesday night local residents lashed out at representatives in a town hall meeting. president obama plans another visit to the region this friday. hopefully, eun, the oil leak will be capped by then. >> everyone would like to see conclusion to this mess. thank you. let's get a quick out the door forecast. >> here comes summer. afternoon highs in the upper 80s, slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm. tomorrow, hot and humid, near 90. hikelihood of afternoon and evening thunderstorms, cloudy cooler friday with occasional 4s, drying out in time for the holiday weekend. >> a live look, outer loop, very slow, college park to silver spring. sunshine delays. downtown all is well. >> thank you very much. >> 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