Reflecting pool being drained again for more repairs

Tonight, workers are back at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, draining it again as part of President Trump's massive revamp efforts. This comes a day after a former Olympian pled not guilty to vandalizing the pool talks off sitting person live on the mall tonight with all the details, Sydney. Yes. So, as you said, we understand that crews were back today to start draining the pool yet again, though, as you should be able to see here. I know it's dark. It really looks like they've just begun. There is still a lot of water in it tonight. Here's a quick look, though, with some of the activity from just earlier this afternoon. Now, this isn't a complete surprise. The president had said the pool would have to be drained again as part of its new round of repairs. Of course, you'll remember that he tried to revamp it ahead of the fourth, but that project ran into several roadblocks like green algae and peeling blue paint. That all became a point of political discussion and got wrapped up in criminal charges and legal battles. We'll get into that in just a moment. But keeping all that in mind, I came down to the National Mall tonight to ask locals and tourists alike what they make of all that recent work and all of the debate around it. I know it's been an ongoing problem goes back a number of years. They've tried to fix it before. They're fixing it now, but I don't think there's been enough information for all of us, the residents of the country, the citizens of the country to know about the cost that's going into it and if they've actually found a good solution. Tourists come here because they want to see, you know, the beauty of D. C. And it's unfortunate that a lot of it is behind gates and there are lots of, you know, law enforcement. It doesn't feel any longer that it's a city that's open to the residents of the country. We all want it to be as great as it can be. And, um, you know, I just hope that whatever is done to it is positive. So I reached out to the Department of the Interior tonight to learn specifics about the draining the timeline for when it might empty out entirely and then fill back up. I haven't heard back yet, but Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told conservative podcast host Katie Miller just earlier this week that fireworks debris had actually landed inside the pool. Well, drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff, repair the vandalism that was done, fill it back up again. All of the things relative to the new the new nano bubbler system that's been installed, taking care of the algae, the american flag blue. It's it is like 99.999% perfect. So you heard the secretary mentioned vandalism, referencing back to the peeling blue paint of it all. The president we know has blamed that peeling on vandals, though critics claim it's from poor repair work. Just yesterday, as you mentioned, a former Olympic canoe racer accused of doing just that, pleaded not guilty in D. C. Superior Court to deliberately damaging the pool. At least three other people have been charged with misdemeanors accused of removing pieces as well. Of course, we will keep you updated on those cases as well as any updates to the repairs here to the pool. Kenneth jim city. Thanks. New details coming to light tonight.