Howard University Tennis Club addresses media following racist graphic at tournament | FOX 5 at 6 am

Right now it's six, a fall day that feels like summer. We could hit record high temperatures today as Tucker's tracking the warm-up and when we can find those cooler temperatures again. Parents raising questions with Loudoun County school board leaders as changes are made to how they choose which schools their child will attend. A live report on where things stand today after last night's meeting. Overnight strikes in both Saudi Arabia and Ukraine as oil supplies are threatened by the global conflicts. The latest developments we're tracking as President Trump weighs into how much the U.S. will intervene. And as the community reels from the shocking death of a man on a Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia, we hear from legal experts on the consequences that could follow. Your news at 6 starts now. Great to be with you on this Wednesday morning here on Fox 5. And, of course, we'll be streaming on Fox Local. And it's so good to have you back, Steve. It's good to be back. Why are you looking back? It's good to see everybody. Thought of all you guys while I was away. I told Annie Mae, I said, I'm in Malta, which is this 500-year-old city there. And the band starts playing Funky Town, one of your favorite songs. And I thought of Marissa because then I heard a lot of Michael Jackson. And in London, in the Times Square of London, they had a giant Mariah Carey countdown to the Christmas Spectacular. Oh, my gosh. You really did think of us all. Yeah, so you were all thought of. Real quick shout-out. Came back home yesterday. Officer Ferguson and the team at Customs. Big shout-out to them. They're all amazing. And I love getting the welcome home after a long travel back to D.C. So it was great. Go ahead and welcome me. You're all joined us live too, Steve. I did. I got to join you live from London. And I know that Tucker hates it when I overpost on social media. But if you go to my Instagram story, there's like 100 pictures of Malta on there. That's not an exaggeration. Make sure you set aside at least 45 minutes if you want to look at it. For sure. For a second. Okay. Welcome back. You're coming back to record heat, Steve. So this is your fault. So one day special, though, right? One day special. We'll be much cooler tomorrow, but today, mid to upper 80s by late afternoon. And we'll stand a chance of a couple showers or storms, I think mostly later tonight. So quick look at your forecast. I know you're all getting up and out the door. Nice mild morning. We're in the mid-60s to start the morning. We'll have plenty more on the forecast in just a minute. But, yeah, potentially records later today, upper 80s. Anna Mae? All right. Thank you. Take a look here, 6 o'clock, at your Wednesday morning commute. Overview-wise, that's what it looks like for you as you're headed out the door. We're looking at yellow line trains not operating to or from Greenbelt. That's due to a switch problem outside of Greenbelt for your metro. Use Greenline to continue the trip if you're doing so today, but expect delays there. Marissa? All right, Anna Mae, thank you. Now to this Fox 5 News alert. Reports of new explosions this morning in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh. Air raid alerts have been reported there in Al-Karaj, which is southeast of the capital, but the source of the blasts remain unclear. The report follows Saturday's deadly attack at the airport there. This comes as Houthi rebels continue targeting military facilities and Saudi oil refineries in the latest front in the Iran war. Meantime, President Trump says he's now considering joining Saudi Arabia's campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. On another Fox 5 News alert, multiple people dead and injured after more Russian strikes in Ukraine. Russia attacked Ukraine's capital early Wednesday. Bodies were recovered from a high-rise apartment building. 21 others, including a child, were injured. Responders managed to save 16 residents and put out a fire that spanned more than 4,000 square feet. Meantime, another person was killed and one injured in a strike on a building in a different part of Kiev. Here at home, D.C. police are looking for information after two men were found shot late last night, rather, in Southeast. Officers responding to the scene on Buena Vista Terrace around 10.40 p.m. Both men were conscious and taken to the hospital. If you have any knowledge of this incident, you are asked to contact D.C. police. New this morning, a federal judge extended an order blocking the Trump administration from banning news networks CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the outlets will likely win their case on the basis that their rights of free speech and due process were violated. Kelly also says without the protection, the outlets would suffer irreparable harm. He also rejected the administration's national security argument, claiming that came after the fact. Loudoun County Public Schools taking action to end a decades-old policy with roots in racial discrimination. But there was a lot of disagreement on how to implement the new school transfer rules. Let's get to Mel in Ashburn with more for us, Mel. Good morning. So over the last three years or so, Loudoun County Schools has been working on tightening its transfer policy from something that was relatively wide open to now something pretty restrictive. There is going to be an adjustment, and not every family is on board with this. Now, school officials say this special permissions policy, as it's called, began in the 1970s and allowed white families to avoid integrating with black students. The board voted to end the open school transfer policy, but then wrestled with what exceptions would be allowed and how the process would work, especially for students already attending schools outside of their zone. Now, some families say it helps them keep their siblings and friends together or avoid who they consider to be substandard teachers. At-large board member Ann Donahue addressed the number of emails received from parents who are opposed to the changes. A couple of points about the background of this policy. It has been in place for a very long time, but as has been mentioned in previous meetings, the origin of this policy is not a positive one. The origin of this policy was to allow white parents to send their kids to schools that did not have to be segregated. And I do not think that that is the fact that it has been policy for more than 50 years, I do not believe is a valid or reasonable basis to leave it in place. So the stricter out-of-zone policy will allow transfers now only in limited circumstances, including overcrowding, child care needs, and certain family situations like students with disabilities. The board approved an exemption allowing elementary students to attend the same out-of-zone school as their siblings in certain circumstances, but once they move to a higher grade level, they will have to revert back to their assigned zones unless they get another exemption. Now, board members admit that there will probably need to be some fine-tuning and some adjustments here, but the new stricter transfer policy is set to take effect in the next school year. We'll send it back to you guys. All right, Mel, thanks very much. 6:05, that Tuck was talking about the heat wave about to roll through the DC area there's a nice look at the city this morning yeah very crisp 65 already Tuck not too bad out there yeah i'm definitely looking forward to a warm day and i hear today is the day if you like warm weather particularly summertime of year you got it steve i tried this joke yesterday sorry i'm late i thought i had more time i thought i had a time out it did nobody went right over their heads yesterday either steve i see the preparedness i need you to come back since i left it's pretty good though right that wasn't bad okay good morning uh yes uh all the things you said i wasn't paying attention it's too busy working on my one-liner uh no it's honestly gonna be record heat around here later today 65 starts your morning uh with uh potentially uh temperatures in the upper 80s later this afternoon 63 Dallas nice quiet morning for you uh it'll be a quiet day we might get a shower or storm late tonight as a cold front drops in i think we'll have some showers around this time tomorrow, but your day should be dry, and again, just kind of unseasonably warm around here. Same players as yesterday, high pressure to the south. There's your cold front up near Cleveland. That'll get in here later this evening, but until then, we're just going to watch these temperatures soar well into the 80s, and again, if we hit 87, that ties a record that goes back to 1975, so 88 would be a record for the day. We will keep a close eye on the forecast later this afternoon. All right, plenty more in just a moment. Let's do a quick fan club. Yeah, let's do it. see if we have a welcome back steve here uh help you out with name what what what tisha in washington dc happy 44 rotations around the sun 10 14 my birthday and a happy happy birthday to you you look great yeah i know that's a great way to great way to call it and uh hope your next year is the best yet scamming up right hand corner let's know where you watch her from you know let steve know if you missed him how about that okay anyway if you didn't you can let us know that, too. As long as I know Tucker missed me, that's the world. Somebody writes it and goes, didn't miss Steve. I'm like, why? It'll happen. I'll cry for you. We'll take a look here at the outer loop in the Beltway. Between 95 and Georgia, it should be about 12 minutes there for that five-mile stretch. Keep that mind as you're headed out the door. It's pretty typically a red zone is again today. Looking at about 18, 19 minutes, depending on the direction, BW Parkway, but both are clear. 15 minutes, 301 towards the Beltway. Branch Avenue headed northbound, and then finally 210 northbound. Not seeing any incidents there. Berry Road towards the Beltway. Steve? The Naresh Bhatt murder trial resumes today in Manassas. Bhatt accused of killing his wife, Martha Conley, two years ago. Yesterday, a detective testified as body cam video was played in court. Detective Claudia Ventura said she found several things concerning in the Bhatt home, including a large number of cleaning supplies. And what Bhatt told her about his wife's disappearance, she says, just did not add up. I'm just trying to understand, okay? because when we took the report of her missing, she was in essentially her blue scrubs. She works Thursday, Friday, Saturday, right? Mm-hmm. So she wouldn't have worked Wednesday the last time you saw her. Beautiful. So, but the last time you saw her was Wednesday. Yes. Okay. What about Thursday morning? No, I don't. I didn't see her on Thursday morning. Usually we don't. So why do you believe she was wearing the blue scrubs Wednesday? The public defender countered the argument, though, saying during each police visit to the home, Bhatt welcomed detectives in. Court resumes today at 9. Stephanie Ramirez will have more coverage every day of the trial on air and online at fox5dc.com. The executive board of Howard University's tennis club plans to speak with media during a pre-homecoming practice event today. This event follows their participation at the University of Maryland's Fall Invitational, where a racist graphic was posted by UMD's tennis team. We have blurred part of it on the screen here, which depicted white supremacist imagery. The UMD club tennis team forfeited their matches because of the post. The heads of the University of Maryland and Howard University condemned the graphic, and the university police are investigating that incident. In Prince George's County, detectives are searching for the person who stole a dog from a car outside of a Royal Farms station. This all happened on Off Road last Thursday. Witnesses tell us the French bulldog named Brain was taken while the owner parked at the station and then went inside. The two-year-old also has a protruding left eardrum from a prior medical condition. This is a photo here. According to Direct Line Pet Insurance, French bulldogs are frequently stolen because they have a resale value of thousands of dollars and they're in high demand. Please call Prince George's County Police if you have any information about the dog. All right, let's get now to a funding controversy in Prince George's County where more than $7 million in grant money is being called back. The funds originally distributed to a California-based nonprofit led by someone with close ties to County Council Chair Crystal Oriata. In a joint letter, County Executive Aisha Braveboy and Oriata said they have ordered the money to be returned within five days. It does not make sense for a entity out of California, clearly on the other side of the country, to manage funds for Prince George's County. It is in the best interest of the county to work with those local fiscal sponsors or nonprofits that actually serve this county and where money can be recycled back into our community. County Executive Braveboy also requesting an independent investigation into county grants distributed to the Edward Charles Foundation and community on the front lines. We're set to learn more today on Pope Leo's lung cancer diagnosis, the latest from the Vatican a day after he underwent surgery. Chesapeake Bay got its highest health grade in some 40 years. We'll hear from a local scientist about the work still needed to keep those improvements going.