Battle over Trump triumphal arch heats up ahead of NCPC vote

Today is a day that the Trump administration said it would begin construction of the massive triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. All right, still some steps to go through first. Some of those will be addressed today. Some still fighting to stop the project. Melanie Alwick is by the site this morning with an update for us. Mel. This afternoon, the National Capital Planning Commission will meet to decide whether to approve this project. But we do know that this is one of the steps that the Trump administration said it would actually wait for before putting shovel to ground. But that does seem imminent. The 250 foot arch would be twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial and cast shadows over Arlington National Cemetery. Many expect the commission, currently with a majority of Trump appointees, will approve the project. There will be a public hearing first. The commission said so many people signed up to speak today that they had to move all of the public testimony online. That also avoids an in-person conflict with protesters. Instead, the protest will set up at Memorial Circle, as they have done before, the site of the president's planned triumphal arch. Veterans and historians have filed a lawsuit to stop construction, saying once it begins, it would cause irreparable harm to the landscape and historic views. The District of Columbia and Arlington County Lawsuits raise concerns about air traffic safety, emergency response and potential damage to critical underground water mains. They also argue that the administration illegally bypassed environmental reviews. Now, the judge has not yet granted the request for a temporary restraining order, though she did require the government give 30 minutes notice before any. Physical work or pre-construction begins here at Memorial Circle. We did find out overnight that the government did indeed provide notice that it is going to start pre-positioning construction equipment near the site here in anticipation that it's going to get the approvals it is seeking today. I'll send it back to you.