right now at midday, a new proposal to extend metro all the way to woodbridge. today lawmakers explain how it can be done. back to school. d.c.'s chancellor says teachers and principals are in place, now parents need to prepare their children. mr. al migrahe, now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. >> a controversial decision. the convicted terrorist responsible for killing 270 people is set free. good morning. good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday. i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebz.

.20this thursday, the 20th day . ing we're following bak news in downtown re w'sreepartm an ahehetmarndoft th health and human services ha een hva cued en evacuatedat after some sort of explosion in an electrical equipment room. this is all unfolding on independence avenue southwest right now. we're told the building has been evacuated as a precaution because there is no air-conditioning. authorities say this only appears to be a mechanical problem and that there are no reports of fire. we'll bring you more information as we get it. another story new at midday. a high-rise rescue in northwest washington. the drama began around 7:30 this morning at a building in the 1100 block of connecticut avenue. some window washers were working on the 12th floor of an interior atrium. suddenly the scaffolding gave way beneath them. one worker was trapped. >> the scaffolding was in a precarious position. it was in a horizontal -- or vertical position versus a

horizontal position. and the worker was hang by the rope, it was just there, until we were able to lower firefighters down to assist him. >> the worker is expected to be okay. happening today, a push to expand metro. could it be that metro's coming to wooridge and centervie? >> one u.s. representative is hoping that will be the case one day. he's making a big push on capitol hill for research and funding of this. news s tracy wilkins joins us live from the frankownia springfield metro station with reaction from commuters. what do they think? >> hi, tracy, good morning. >> reporter: they think it's a great idea. good morning, barbara. the commuters we talked to say they like it and they hope it happens and it happens soon. these are always long processes. but we're here at the franconia springfield station because this would be where the line would extend, from here to woodbridge if it did happen. some folks have been saying it needed to happen for some time. woodbridge is the main hub for slug lines and commuter buses, for workers trying to get around

the i-95/395 corridocorridor, a traffic nightmare. >> i'm spendg two hours, three hours every day commuting to and from work. we have to make it faster. >> reporter: so when we told these commuters about a proposal to send metro their way -- >> that would be great. that would be a lot better. that way we could, instead of waiting on the bus we could just take the metro. >> reporter: u.s. representative jerry connelly is hoping to extend the blue line to woodbridge and the orange line to centerville. he wants money to study the proposal to come from a u.s. transportation reauthorization bill coming up for a vote soon. introduced to capitol hill last march, the extension is just a proposal. it needs studying, approval, and funding. even the possibility of its reality is more than a decade away. but commuters we spoke to say they hope it happens and soon. >> it should have happened a long time ago. it was something they thought we didn't need. well, the time has come and

gone. we should have had metro 10 years ago, 20 years ago. it wouldn't cost the price that it would cost now. >> it seems like a really high cost. i think you'd have to look too if you're going to bring it all the way down here if you're going to have interim stops between springfield and woodbridge, you know, what number of people would be coming on those locations too. >> i believe a lot of my neighbors overall would be for it definitely to give you a better commuting aspect from down here, but then you probably would have those that would be against it as well. >> reporter: now, cost is a big question. and there's no telling how much this project will cost. now, last metro expansion that is still under construction right now would be the dulles rail airport. authorities are paying for that expansion. that is one 23 miles long and costs $5.2 billion. now, to go from here back down to woodbridge, that's a 12-mile stretch. i'm tracy wilkins live this morning. back to you all in the studio. >> thank you, tracy. arlington county has filed a lawsuit over development of the so-called hot lanes along

interstates 95 and 395. the suit was filed against the u.s. department of transportation, the federal highway administration, and the commonwealth of virginia. it claims the state of virginia failed to follow federal environmental laws as it studied the impact of building high-occupancy toll lanes. virginia's transportation secretary has already announced that the hot lanes project would be postponed due to funding issues and community concerns near shirlington and seminary road. all lanes of i-95 are open in prince georges county despite in overnight closures. the road work is happening between route 198 in laurel and 212 in beltsville. if so, crews can work on the intercounty connector. some southbound lanes closing as early as 7:00 p.m. northbound lane closures start at 8:00 p.m. a developing story in scotland. the only man convicted in the bombing of pan-am flight 103 has now been set fr. the libyan terrorist has

terminal cancer and is being allowed to live out the rest of his days with his family in libya. nearly 200 americans were killed in that attack and many of their loved ones are enraged by today's decision. brooke hart has more. >> reporter: most of the passengers on board pan-am flight 103 were americans headed to new york. susan cohen's daughter theodora was among them. >> i am grieving deeply now. i miss her every moment. she lost her whole life. >> reporter: just 30 minutes into the flight a bomb blew up inside the plane's cargo hold. debris scattered for miles over lockerbie, scotland. today the scottish government announced the news many families dreaded. >> for these reasons and these reasons alone it is my decision that mr. abdelbeset ali mohmed al megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate

cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to libya to die. >> where's the compassionate grounds? he wts to go home to be around his family. my brother didn't have that opportunity on december 21st, 1988. none of us did. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton said the foughte releas >> i just tnkt is absolutely wrong. >> reporter: and seven u.s. senators sent a letter lobbying against it. some families say the u.s. is caving to libyan leader moammar gadhafi, who shook his pariah status when he renounced nuclear weapons. this summer president obama shook gadhafi's hand. >> the united states government didn't want this gentleman released, it wouldn't take place. so please, don't insult my intelligence by making these publ statements. >> reporter: 21 years later the lockerbie wound still painfully raw. some families believe what the u.s. and britain want is access to libya's oil. and some say with megrahi's release they'll never resve

who else might have been behind the plot. in washington brooke hart, nbc news. >> and moments after the announcement the united states state department released a statement saying it is deeply disappointed by the decision. new today, ted kennedy asking state leaders in massachusetts to change a law. he wants to speed up the process of choosing his replacement should he leave the senate. the state passed a law in 2004 requiring a special election to fill any vacancy, a process that takes about five months. kennedy's aides insist the letter is not an indication his health is deteriorating. doctors diagnosed him with brain cancer last year. kennedy's absence from last week's funeral for his sister eunice kennedy shriver prompted a flurry of questions about his health. 11:08 right now is the time. >> let's look outside. we see that we've got a lot of smog out there. very humid today. 80 degrees the temperature right now. >> let's get our first forecast now from meteorologist tom kierein. tom. >> good morning again. >> the air is hanging heavy with

ghit humidy. good morning. it has been a steamy morning. and temperatures are now getting a little uncomfortable. we're just now hitting the low 80s. it's 82 in washington and all around the region we have thick humidity. look at the dew points right now. in the low and even mid 70s. especially around the bay and eastern shore. whenever they're in the mid 70s. that is sweltering humidity. it's the most humid weather we've had this summer. eastern shore, upper 80s there. in the mountains it's still pleasant in the low 70s. and over the last six hours we've had a few clouds floating through. showers out of the northern mountains. for the rest of the afternoon partly sunny, just a few passing thundershowers, some of which could produce some brief heavy downpours, and remaining very humid with highs near 90. a look at tomorrow and the weekend and some improving news as we get into next week and the latest update on hurricaneill in just a few minutes. barbara and joe? >> thank you very much, tom. let's go to jerry edwards for the latest on the midday traffic. >> the tail end of the rush hour was absolutely no picnic, and

midday not doing much better. this t american legion bridge outer loop. now, earlier right at the end of a couple hours ago, actually, the end of the rush hour, had a truck that lost a load of steel beams. took a while to get clearance. been out of the roadway for a while, but look at that, we're still looking at delays on the beltway trying to get to the bridge a on the lower end of 270 even at this hour. so heads up even with all lanes open. the truck is on the shoulder. and that's what's drawing a lot of attention. speaking of which, tough times on 395 northbound crossing the 14th street bridge. looks like we have some road work here on the right side. two lanes will get by to the left head into downtown. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. well, in just a few days many kids in our area are going to be heading back to school, and parents and students will want to make sure everything is in place. >> good morning, barbara. health is a big concern for teachers, parents, and students. and with the h1n1 virus looming this fall vaccinations are

particularly important. it won't be long before the d.c. public schools are back in business. students are preparing for the three rs and a p for prevention. >> on your left arm p. >> reporter: that means vaccinations. students without the proper vaccinations will not be allowed in classes after september 8th, and officials have made plans for those who do not yet have the proper shots. >> the challenge for parents and families this year is that we have six additional vaccinations that are needed on top of the five that were needed last year. so that's a pretty heavy lift for a lot of our families, and we're encouraging people to get out to their doctors' offices and clinics. the department of health has opened these basically emergency vaccination clinics for us at four of our schools. at kelly miller, at kramer, at ballou, and at coolidge. >> reporter: and while there's no vaccine being administered for the h1n1 flu virus yet, there are contingency plans should the virus show up. a vaccine is expected in a couple of months, and in the meantime the d.c. schools are taking their cue from the centers for disease control. >> the cdc has actually said

that it doesn't make sense in most cases to close schools. but we do have a protocol in place wre if a child or a staff member is found to have h1n1 then we put a protocol in place where we, you know, have -- make sure the building is deep-cleaned, et cetera. >> reporter: now, another thorny issue for the start of the d.c. schoolear in the past has been staffing. chancellor rhee says all the principals are in place, there are only eight vacant teacher slots in the entire system. back to you, barbara. >> thank you, derek. turnout has been low today at polling stations in afghanistan. coming up, we'll hear from voters on why they feared taking part in the presidential election today. plus, in the next half hour the arrest of a physician's assistant in fairfax. what the man is accused of doing to patients. and both major lotteries in our area put huge jackpots up for grabs.umat least one l pers

y

a historic presidential election happening today in afghanistan. with sporadic attacks and threats of violence that have kept many people away from the polls. richard engel has now from kabul. >> reporter: more than a dozen taliban rockets today exploded near polling centers in southern afghanistan. as a man was being interviewed, more rockets fell. see? another one just landed, he said. the attacks and three small bombings in kabul this morning had a chilling effect. in kabul voters just trickled in to schools and mosques to cast ballots and dip their fingers in ink. men on one side, women in segregated areas. security was tight with extra checkpoints. shops were closed. today is a national holiday. before casting his ballot this morning, we met 35-year-old neby, a day laborer with his wife and three children. in his one-room home in kabul,

neby told us he wants to vote so his children can receive an education. "i'm voting for a better future," he said. but when neby arrived at the center, he was the only one voting. turnout was low across kabul. this is one of the main voting centers in downtown kabul. but today there's hardly anyone here. in elections five years ago there were lines out the door at this voting center. today no crowds at all. threats of violence from the taliban seem to have kept many people away. today the tal vowed to hunt down those who voted. "if we find anyone with ink on their fingers, we will cut it off," said this taliban commander. >> if it's between going and being killed and not being killed, i don't know, i think i might not come out. >> reporter: but as they cast ballots today, the leading presidential candidates abdullah abdullah and president hamid karzai called on afghans to defy the threat. >> i encourage our people to

come out and vote so that through their vote afghanistan can be a more secure, more peaceful, and a better country. >> reporter: and millions did. with long lines in the relatively peaceful north and west. preliminary results are expected on saturday. >> that was richard engel reporting. some experts say the low voter turnout in the southern section of the country significantly hurts president hamid karzai's chances of re-election. and tom joins us now way look at our forecast. steamy day out there. >> oh, it sure is. and it's the kind of weather you just want to dress like tarzan and -- >> you guys can do that. i guess i could do the jane thing. >> instead of drive swing on a vine to work, you know. it is jungle humidity we'veot g th t ouere at this hour, and it continues. and as we take a look at what's been happening over the last few hours, here's the sky in time lapse. there's the national cathedral in the foreground. you can see the humidity. you just thicken the air.

the clouds passing from the southwest to the northeast. that's the flow. it's coming in off the gulf of mexico, tapping owl of this tropical humidity that continues to flow on through. and we've had some sunshine breaking out after quite a cloudy start this morning. take a look at the live view. you see we have now more sun than clouds. t and that's the view of the li picture now from our sky watcher camera. now the view from our city camera. there's capitol hill. and there's the haze that surrounds washington. it's 82 degrees. and so far this year we've had it easy as far as 90 degree temperatures. we've only had 18 days 90 degrees or higher, and on average by this time we should have had about 30 so c, veine'taer days, so we've certainlyotten , n sbuas eris ilyta cin is certainly uncomfortable at this hour. as we look at radar, we don't have any precipitation around at this hour, but later on we could have some thundershowers popping up. right now temperatures in the low and mid 80s from the shenandoah valley all the way to the atlantic beaches. and the dew points are in the low to mid 70s.

now, the dew points-f we drop the temperatures where it is now, we dropped it to, say, 73, we would have 100% humidity. it's an indication of how much water vapor there is in the air. and whenever the dew points are higher that's when it's more uncomfortable. the eastern shore the upper 80s, they've more sun there. low 70s out of the mountains. it certainly is a pleasant summer day there. but certainly everywhere farther to the east is up and down the atlanta seaboards. sweltering humidity. here's the latest with hurricane bill. still a categy 3 hurricane, was a category 4 yesterday. it's only dropped ten miles an hour in its wind. here's washington, here's florida, now passingt ust north of puerto rico. its winds are at 120 with gusts to 150. so it is still a powerful hurricane. still on a track west-northwest moving at about 15 miles an hour. and here's bermuda. it's going to be passing it looks like just to the west of bermuda between the outer banks and bermuda during the day saturday and then up toward new england. it may be coming close to nantucket and martha's vineyard on sunday. so for our region, well, we've got a front in the midwest out

ahead of which we've got the humidity that's sweeping up out of the southwest. this front will eventually come our way and perhaps trigger some storms as we get into friday. but between now and then maybe some showers and thunderstorms popping up. this is the future cass where you see the colors where we could get some rain. one line of showers and thundershowers could come through later this evening. then as the front approaches on friday we'll have essentially maybe a little bit of a shift in the wind, it's not going to cool's down much. that's not coming until saturday night and into sunday. so friday afternoon another round of showers and thunderstorms. for the rest of this afternoon we'll have temperatures reaching near 90 degrees. very humid. and a likelihood of a few thundershowers coming through, some of yav om s heavy iut b'tdowns, donut don't g twithheoc tonight's game with the rockies and nationals at nationals park, rll, there may be a thundershower interrupting the game. it will be at 84. so at game time first pitch :05, then ain

thundershower through the mid-evening hours. partly cloudy tomorrow morning, more of the same on friday. hazy, humid up near 90 and a likelihood ofowers. maybashs.e erow erybe a morning shower on saturday morning then a frontngy micohr ngghurou tat sday afternoon thundershowers. di mioray fsund, monday, tuesday, and wednda su it's going to last for a while. hang on, much more comfortable weather on the way. that's the way it looks this morning. it's back to school on monday for a lot of students. >> and the president heads out to martha's vineyard on sunday, i believe. >> may not be able to get in. it's goi to be very close there to the outer -- you know, cape cod, outer banks area. >> we'll have to keep an eye on that. thanks a lot, tom. let's go to jerry edwards. he's looking at the roadways round here. jerry, midday road work always a problem. >> yes indeed. and there's plenty of it today. i'll tell you, along 95 northbound and southbound, in addition to the road work we have on 95 virginia there was an accident approaching dale city on the southbound side. that's just moved to the left shoulder. so southbound you're jammed up. northbound you're also very slow

becausef roadwork. elsewhere wilson bridge no worries. and again, lanes are open. but we're still looking at very heavy traffic on the outer loop coming off the 270 spur coming across the american legion bridge. residual delays from earlier issues this morning. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. it is 82 degrees in washington. sti still ahead on news 4 midday. we're going to tell you why kissing couples crowded a local diner in protest. plus new developments expect today in the fight to walma supercenter near a civil war battlefield in virginia. we'll also tell you about a aw cosmetic proomre lisprngasef omprises lasting results for less money. rowig nht> here's a look at asn.hitongcom.to

they called it a kiss-in. same-sex couples staging a protest at a local diner. a number of same-sex couples came out to the tastee diner in silver spring last night for a dine-in demonstration. this couple organized the protest. they say they were eating at the diner last week when they were asked to leave for being inappropriate. the couple and the restaurant's manager tell very different stories about what happened that night. >> we're just like talking and, you know, just holding each other. and next thing you know the manager comes over and he asks us to leave. >> it doesn't matter if you're straight or if y're gay. if you start going beyond the point of kissing and things start to get a little x-rated, we're going to ask you to stop. >> the couple says they planned to make last night's protest thr final visit to the diner. the owner of the tase diner says he has surveillance video that proves their affection went

too far. well, dashed dreams for any of you hoping to become an overnight millionaire. the one winning ticket from last night's $260 million powerball drawing was sold in south carolina. but there is hope maybe you won thf smallerth prizes. here are the numbers just if you wa knto tp otrack. 14, 24, 31, ,43 51, rbwe polal 27. ou l yif din n y wot that, there anoth big owt.rrghni tomorrow night.ow megamillions currentlyndta sta t 207 million. you can buy those tickets in maryland and in virginia. it is 11:28. coming up in the next half hour of news 4 midday, the latest on the release of a convicted bomber. it happened just hours ago. and why a great deal fm one airline is now being taken off the market because of its popularity. we'll also tell you about an unusual story out of the track & field world. a sprinter who's being asked if she's woman enough. tom will also be back to tell us whether we can expect

any breaks in thi e el bri with us. reel be riit

right now on news 4 midday, a big push to bring metro to woodbridge. virginia delegate paul nichols and u.s. congressman jerry connelly want to extend the rail system to potomac mills. connelly wants a feasibility study on the project. that project alone would cost millions of taxpayer dollars. the study, that is. the department of health and human services has been evacuated this morning after some sort of explosion in the electrical equipment room. this is all unfolding on independence avenue southwest right now. authorities say this only appears to be a mechanical problem. the building has been evacuated as a precaution because there's no air-conditioning. senator ted kennedy is lobbying to change a state law in massachusetts. he wants to speed up the process of choosing his replacement should he leave the senate. the state passed a law in 2004 requiring a special election to fill any vacancies.

kennedy's aides insist the senator's letter is not an indication that his health is deteriorating. threats of violence from the taliban keeping people away from the polls in afghanistan today. low voter turnout is reported for the nation's presidential election. it could hurt president hamid karzai's chances of re-election. early results are expected to be announced on saturday. and we're following a developing story this morning. the only man cvicted in the pan-am flight 103 bombing is now a free man. scottish officials freed abdelbeset al megrahi on compassionate grounds today. the 57-year-old al megrahi is terminally ill with prostate cancer, and doctors say his condition has deteriorated. he will now be allowed to die at home in libya. he has served just eight years of a life sentence. scotland's decision has angered many americans, including the obama administration, but scottish officials are standing by their decision.

>> mr. al megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. it is one that no court in any jurisdiction in any land could revoke or overrule. it is terminal, final, and irrevocable. he is going to die. >> all 270 people on board pan-am flight 103 were killed when that plane exploded over lockerbie, scotland in december of 1988. today president obama will lobby both liberals and conservatives in his push for an overhaul of the nation's health care system. this afternoon he'll speak with a conservative radio talk show host who will broadcast from the white house. afterwards he'll promote his reform plan in a conference call and online address to liberal activists organizing for america. that's his political organization based at the

democratic national committee. the senate finance committee will also resume bipartisan talks today in an attempt to reach a compromise. a physician's assistant is face sexual battery charges after two female patients accuse him of touching them inappropriately. fairfax county police say that jorge sanchez had been working at the chantilly specialists office in chantilly. the 49 yaerd hagerstown resident turned himself in to authorities yesterday. police say the alleged victims accuse him of assaulting them while he treated them. >> well, obviously, they felt that something unusual had happened to them there and they trusted their gut. they called the police, and we investigated and found that there had been wrongdoing. >> police fear that more women may have been assaulted but have not yet come forward. the long debate over building a walmart near the civil war battlefield in virginia could be coming to a head. orange county planners will conduct a public hearing tonight

on the permit walmart needs to build near the -- needs to get to build near the wilderness battlefield. the planning commission has already voted once in support of the application. the board of supervisors has its own public hearing set for monday. and a vote could come then. the store's proposed location has angered preservationists and historians. they argue the store is too close to one of the nation's most important battlefields. it is time now to take another look at today's weather forecast. >> let's talk to tom kierein about what we can expect for the rest of this day. tom? >> well, will it be fried or steamed? we're getting steamed today. we've got the steam heat. we don't have the frying heat, but it is certainly sweltering humidity we have over washington. live picture from the city camera. you can just see that humidity hanging in the air over the mall right now. as we look at radar, no precipitation here. there's one little shower way out in the panhandle of west virginia. temperatures all around the region mid 80s now. and it's going to continue to climb to around 90 this afternoon. dew points are in the low to mid 70s.

d that is sweltering humidity. temperatures eastern shore a little bit hotter as well as southeastern virginia and the outer banks. out of the mountains in the 70s now. flow in the atmosphere out of the southwest bringing in that tropical humidity off the gulf of mexico. so the rest of the day partly sunny. a few afternoon thundershowers and very humid with highs near 90. some individual storms could produce some brief very heavy downpours and they linger you will the way into mid evening occasionally and then by dawn tomorrow mostly cloudy. another steamy day on friday. partly sunny, highs near 90, and a likelihood of afternoon thundershowers again. then on saturday maybe a shower in the morning, partly sunny, and perhaps some thundershowers east of washington during the afternoon as we'll have some dryer air pushing in from the west moving east. it should improve our comfort levels by sunday and into next week. lower humidity in place with cooler temperatures and plenty of sunshine. so some delightful summer weather as many students get back to school on monday. prince george's county's back. district of columbia schools are back as well. barbara and joe. >> thanks, tom. >> thanks, tom. let's get a final look at

midday traffic now. >> here's jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. jerry. >> hey, good morning once again. well, finally, i do believe that the morning commute is winding down. trying to get to the american legion bridge. just about lunchtime. won't be long before the afternoon commute begins. it took a long time for things to settle down. looks like we're looking a lot better. all lanes do remain open. it was a truck that lost its load earlier, but nothing to worry about now. the inner loop moving along nicely. elsewhere around 395 this is ugly with road work at the inbound 14th street bridge. right lane is blocked off, a couple of lanes get by to the left heading up from the pentagon crystal city. it's going to cost you a couple extra travel minutes no, doubt about it. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. two schools land on top of the "u.s. news and world report" annual list of america's best colleges. harvard and princeton once again share the number one ranking. yale followed them at number 3. then at 4 there's a four-way tie. these rankings take into account s.a.t. scores, reputation,

selectivity, and alumni giving. and here's how some of our local schools fared. georgetown ranked number 23. gw and the university of maryland tied for number 53. american university landed at 84. and howard university came in at 96. in news for your health this morning, losing those wrinkles without going under the knife. it's new technology that's helping people look younger. and just wait until you hear how the not so secret ingredient comes out. leanne gregg reports. >> what we're going to do today is -- >> reporter: next best thing to a face-lift? its promoters say yes. a new dermal filler using the patient's own blood. >> it's natural. there is no side effects. >> reporter: and that, doctors say, is the beauty of it. >> it's plasma and platelets and fibrin which is created from a simple blood draw and made in the office in less than six

minutes. >> reporter: dr. kim crosby of zura medical spa in charlotte, north carolina is one of a select few board-certified doctors in the u.s. who've been using the procedure, called cell fill, for the past few months. >> that's what we're going to try to augment today. >> reporter: after the patient's blood is drawn, a patented process developed by aesthetic factors separates the platelets and fibrin. the resulting product is injected into the treatment area. >> over the course of eight weeks they develop new collagen and growth of blood vessels and really use their own cells and their own tissues to reverse the gns of aging. >> reporter: here's the before and after of a 56-year-old patient. this one a 45-year-old not only hoping to reduce wrinkles but to avoid future signs of aging. >> the product should last at least 18 months, possibly longer. >> reporter: in addition to last long err-y doctors say there's no bruising, swelling, or lumping that's associated with some traditional fillers. >> it's very subtle. before it was a much more prominent line. >> reporter: doctors with the american society of plastic

surgeons say with the economic downturn less expensive, non-invasive treatments like this one are part of a trend. >> there's less down time. so that means less time off of jobs or away from work. >> oh, yes. oh, that's muc better. >> reporter: in the attack on aging it's one more possible weapon. leanne gregg, nbc news. a fairly bizarre story o of berlin this morning, where the track & field world championships are taking place right now. an athlete is under investigatn hiand this has nothing to do with dssteroi t. one south african teenager, rter ersemenya, easily won the women's 800-meter ra ce. and now there are concerns whether she qualifies to compete as a woman. some people raised flags because of her muscular buildnd deep voice. and now track & field's governing body csonfirmee that e has undergone a gender test. the erteenagfi's father says it ridiculous and calls her his little girl. it will take weeks for the test

results to come back. the time, 11:41. trading has started on wall street. we'll check in with cnbc on what we can expect to see later today. plus, a mission to taste as many foods on a stick as one woman can. hmm. stay en

if you've been waiting to take advantage of jetblue's all you can jet promotn, you might have waited too long. the airline has suspended sales of its unlimited flight path because of such great demand. the deal allowed travelers to take as many jetblue flights as they could between september 8th and october 8th for just $599. jetblue says it couldn't keep selling the passes because it was afraid it would be too hard for passengers to get seats on their desired flights. well, the stock market is on track to post a third straight day of gains. >> that's good news. let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. hey, courtney. >> hi, courtney.

>> good morning to you both, joe and barbara. as you mentioned, stocks are higher. the dow is up better than 28 points. but it hasn't been the case all morning. we started out a bit below that unchanged line. now we have moved above. but we're also off the highs of the day. so we'll see what's to come in the couple hours we've got left. but we did see some modest gains on wall street yesterday. so possibly we'll continue that trend. asian markets rose overnight. choona rallied more than 4%. and europe is also higher. first-time claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, up 15,000 to a total of 576,000. continuing claims also rose. and leading economic indicators, which measure where the economy may be several months out, rose .6% in july. the philadelphia fed's monthly survey, which measures the regional business conditions, coming in unexpectedly positive for august. so there are some positive signs pushing stocks higher. retailer sears also under a little bit of pressure after it reported an unexpected quarterly loss. we've got some mixed signals

playing on the market today. and general motors has dropped plans for a new buick sport utility vehicle just two eks after it was announced. the model would have been the first commercially available hybrid suv. but they say the model lacked the premium features they've come to expect from the buick brand. and for the fourth straight year german chancellor angela merkel tops "forbes'" list of th mld wos'stthowwoerful men. fdic can anaifurwomilhe sa bair is second. th anosancee f ohe pepsico, kraft, d ad rontolsound out the top ten. first lady michelle obama debuts at number 40. just ahead of oprah. the list is based on factors such as economic impact, media reach, and career accomplishments. beating out oprah is a really impressive feat. i'd put that on my resume if i were michelle obama. >> i think so. >> all right. well, courtney, have a great day. >> you too. >> see you tomorrow. take care. well, we always love sharing our wednesday's child success stories with you. today we have one that takes us

back several years. you may remember a young girl named megan who we featured way back in 2001. no we can meet her with her new family. >> hi. i hardly recognize you. you have grown up a lot in the last eight years. >> yeah. >> who are all these people with you? >> well, here's my dad. >> hi. >> andre, my brother. >> hi, andre. what a fantastic family. where'd you find this family? >> well, they found me. >> hi, megan. >> hi. >> reporter: it was nine years ago that then 7-year-old megan was featured as our wednesday's child. >> want to have some fun? >> sure. >> let's go to the playground. >> reporter: when this story aired, james fowler was watching. >> i saw your feature on megan on wednesday's child, and we were thinking, it was like, you know, we've got room in our house and we've got a heart that wants to do it.

>> and everybody was ready to do it. so we called and we found her. >> reporter: when they decided they wanted to adopt megan, he and hi wife, terry, already had two children -- daughter zakia and tiara, who were 9 and 7 at the time. megan remembers when she first met the family. >> i actually remember going to their house. i think for visits on the weekends. and like i would play and like do her hair and stuff. and i would actually cry whenever i had to leave. >> she came for a week, and she was like can you keep me? can you keep me? i don't want to go. and i'm like, sure, let's talk about it and, you know, we'll go from there and we'll talk to everybody and make things happen. >> reporter: it wasn't long before megan knew she would always be a part of this family. they later added another child through adoption, andre. and family outings like to dave & buster's is one of the many things they love too together. megan says they've made it easy for her to forget that there was

once a time when she didn't smile as much as she does today. that was back when she was still waiting and hoping for a permanent home. >> you like to get someplace where you can stay for a while? >> yeah. >> i'd go from place to place and you know, i didn't feel like loved. >> reporter: the whole family says this worked so well they're hoping for more adoptions. >> it's a rewarding, rewarding thing in life, to know thatad m helped somebody andifad lndur a their life. and there's still many children who are waiting for homes. rou home ve room in y anomyoeaurd ikrt he l gaeas parents did please call our spiado an spiopthotline.io enu'smber 1-88-2-adoptme. or you can log on to our home page at nbcwashington.com. >> what a great story. what a great family. >> isn't that wonderful? and they have three kids in the pipeline right now that they're hoping to adopt. it worked so well for them they said they thought they could expand, make room for another few. >> what love. that's amazing. >> indeed.

rather than 50, 82 degrees.s meteogol tot t kierein's going tbeac bk with a check on our forecast comin bgup. and we look f people who ma t dhe ay special in the lniyor mng hours. or t, -mail their s ale car c close-up picture or video to

good morning. welcome back. sometimes we all get a little tired at work, especially those of us who work the overnight and the very early morning hours. nothing personal. but that didn't seem to be a very good excuse for the people living in one tennessee neighborhood. upset about fireworks going off in their neighborhood. when a police officer responded. she kept dozing off while writing the police report. don't i know what that's like. the residents got so frustrated they recorded the whole thing on their cell phone cameras. the officer apologized, saying that she had worked long hours the day before and was on overtime that day. but her head never really falls

to the table -- oh, there she is. she's awake. she's perfectly awake. >> just concentrating. >> concentrating, ctemplating the report. >> right. let's find out about some of the stories in the works for news 4 this afternoon. >> jim hadley's here way preview. jim? >> hey, jim. >> i'm sorry. what time is it? 5:00 a.m.? we've got a lot coming up, joe and barbara, this afternoon at 4:00 and 5:00. wardrobe controversy in the white house. after her trip out west, some people are asking if the first lady shod be wearing shorts. we'll also take a look at what you should and shouldn't wear at work. then at 5:00 tonight hot gas as summer comes to a close. there's still time to save some money gassing up. liz crenshaw reports on what you can do to pinch pennies at the pump when the temperature rises. plus, we're following the elections today in afghanistan. david gregory will join us here in the studio with the latest at 4:00 and 5:00. for these stories and all the day's news, join us right here first at 4:00. barbara and joe, back to you. >> the first lady was on

vacation. she can wear whatever she wants. >> she was. >> oh, man. let the lady wear what she wants to wear. >> exactly. >> thanks, jim. >> i sure will have mine on when i'm on vacation. >> absolutely. final check of today's forecast. tom kierein, good morning. >> definitely want to dress like that today. we've got the high humidity in place, and temperatures are in the 80s all around the region now. we've reached the low and mid 80s, and it's going to climb up to around 90. these are the dew points there in the low and mid 70s. that sweltering humidity near 90 on the eastern shore now as well as southeastern virginia. 70s out of the mountains. and we have this flow out of the southwest tapping this tropical humidity that's triggering a few showers out of the mountains of west virginia now. and those may be moving in and develop by our -- later on this afternoon around our area by mid-afternoon to late afternoon into the early evening showers. some passing thundershowers could produce some brief heavy downpours. highs around90. and then after that mostly cloudy and by dn on friday the mid 70s, another steamy day. maybe some afternoon storms.

in fact likely passing afternoon thundershowers on friday. highs near 90. then saturday could have a shower in the morning and maybe some afternoon thundershowers east of washington, it looks like right now around the bay and eastern shore. as a front will be pushing through and allowing some dryer air to move in saturday night into sunday. and that should linger all the way into mid-week next week with cooler temperatures and much more comfortable humidity and lots of sunshine each day. we'll see you tomorrow morning, barbara and joe. >> thank you, tom. >> thanks very much, tom. well, an iowa woman has a goal that could give you a belly ache. it might give her one. she's eating her way through the state fair. lindsay gruders has set out to sample every item that's served on a stick at a state fair food on a stick is easy to find. in all there are 54 different items to choose from. everything from fried chicken to hot bologna to meetballs. you might even be able to get your funnel cake, joe. lindsay's counting the sticks as she goes but she's not counting calories. however, she does have a plan for monday. she's going to go on a diet.

>> you can see dr. pepto bismol, i think. that's news for midday. thanks for joining us. >> see you in