right now, dozens of protesters in wheelchairs are causing problems for commuters and those trying to visit a local hotel. they say there's something important missing from the health care reform bill. virginia is for business. defense contractor northrop grumman will announce today it's coming to virginia. it's opening day for an $8 million park near national stadium. the park is named for a 19-year-old murder victim who during his life worked to clean up the neighborhood. news 4 midday begins right now. good morning and welcome everyone to news 4 midday. it's tuesday, april 27th, 2010.

health care reform may now be law, but some people with disabilities say lawmakers overlooked them when they passed the historic legislation. now they're in washington and taking their message to house speaker nancy pelosi. tracee wilkins is live in northwest washington. >> reporter: protesters were right outside of the hilton just a little while ago. they have moved on down connecticut avenue. things are back to normal here. today they were here sending a national message. that being disabled shouldn't equal being institutionalized. their early morning arrival caused some traffic backups downtown as more than 300 disabled protesters made their way up pennsylvania avenue. >> keep your promise? >> their destination, they had a special message for speaker of the house nancy pelosi who was attending the american hospital association conference. >> we are going to be after her until she continues -- or until she comes around and supports us. >> reporter: these activists are

members of a national grass roots disability rights organization. as it stands, the state has to pay for nursing care for people who qualify or are disabled. these people say money should be going toward an in home care it's a bill they want nancy pelosi to support. >> what we want is people to be able to stay in their own home and get the services and supports that they need. >> reporter: the protesters blocked entrances to the hilton and parts of t street. guests has to walk at least half a block to get to cabs. the demonstration caused some minor traffic delays but guests and residents we talked to say they understood. >> i don't think they're creating that much of a disturbance. it's our american right to be able to protest and let people hear. i wouldn't have known this was going on today if they weren't out here protesting. >> i'm all for it. i think a lot of things need to be protested. i have no problem with a little inconvenience if it helps some

other people and gets the word out. >> it's not that big of a problem. i'll be able to get around the corner. but their cause seems to be a worthy one. >> reporter: about 20 minutes ago the group broke up here, shortly after the speaker wrapped up her comments inside the hotel. we contacted the speaker's office for comment, have not heard back yet. tracee wilkins, live in northwest. right now seven current and former executives of goldman sachs are in the hot seat on the hill. here's a live picture of the hearing. lawmakers want to hear goldman sachs explain how it did business in 2007 and 2008. the firm faces sec fraud charges. congress claims goldman created and sold mortgage securities to clients, then bet billions that their own investments would fail. but goldman's ceo says they didn't, quote, consistently or significantly bet against those investments and actually lost over a billion dollars in the mortgage crisis. we'll have an update on the

hearings that have just gotten under way in the last half hour. it's official. after months of talks, northrop grumman will announce today it's moving its headquarters across the country to northern virginia. it's a major move that's expected to bring jobs and revenue to the state and washington area. megan mcgrath has more. >> reporter: good morning. it's a big win for virginia. the old dominion beat out maryland and the district of columbia in attracting northrop grumman to the area. the fortune 100 company will be moves its headquarters from los angeles to our area. that move being completed by 2011 and they'll be bringing with them 300 senior level jobs. now, governor bob mcdonle is expected to make the official announcement at an appearance later this afternoon. we caught up with the governor, though, this morning. he's in town for his appearance on wtop radio. >> $30 million in ten years minimum. that's just the tax impact from

the employees. 300 jobs averaging $200,000. it'll be somewhere -- it'll be arlington to alexandria or fairfax county. not only is it that but it's the procedure of having a fortune 69 company come to virginia. >> reporter: the defense contractor has office space in the area including offices here in roz lynn. it'sñi unclear where they'll locate the new headquarters. according to to a source from the associated press, the dulles corridor and crystal city near the pentagon are the top runners. >> northrop grumman provides aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and if he ctechnic services. take a look outside. look at that. beautiful day out there. 63 degrees. sure looks better than yesterday at this time. tom? >>. >> there's the scene right

behind us there. a beautiful shot of washington. as we approach the noon hour, we've had some clouds returning and the temperatures have climbed into the low 60s. they're not going to climb much more. it's going to be a cooler than average day. right now in washington it is 63. in prince georges county near 60. near 60 in montmontgomery. through central virginia and about 30, 40 miles south of washington it's reached the low to mid-60s. southern maryland around the chesapeake bay, northern neck of virginia, temperatures there around 60 degrees. the winds have been a bit blustery. it feels actually cooler than that. we've had these latest wind gusts over 20 miles an hour. 20 to 25 miles per hour. just had a gust in washington to 23. they're coming out of the north and west where it's quite chilly in the mountains still. only in the 40s. they've only warmed up about two or three degrees from the morning lows there. over the last 12 hours been watching a storm system that's passing over kentucky right now. that's going to be passing to

our south today. giving us just a few clouds in and out. for the rest of the afternoon, we'll have a partly cloudy afternoon. some sunshine in and out. a cool and brezy afternoon in the upper 50s and hovering in the shenandoah valley. it's going to get very chilly tonight. yeah. very cold. in fact, might even have some frost out in the mountain by dawn tomorrow. we'll talk about that as well as how cold it's going to be here. we'll look at the forecast for the rest of the week and the weekend, coming right up. >> we're in that seesaw time of year. >> it sure is. >> up and down with the temperatures. see you shortly. we're going to take a look at midday traffic now. let's go to jerry edwards who joins us with the latest. >> good morning, everyone. take a look at see how your midday is going. rocky on the outer loop of the beltway in virginia. an accident on the outer loop near the interchange of route 1 just west of the wilson bridge. things tied up for a while. the accident is gone. from van dorn to eisenhower

avenue, toward the wilson bridge area, be forewarned. headed over to maryland on the interloop. this is no picnic. that's the interloop coming off the american legion bridge. construction takes away the left lane up toward river road today. as a result delays begin well before the american legion bridge back near the georgetown pike. outer loop of the beltway looks pretty good. keep an eye on it and keep you updated. barbara? >> talk to you again shortly. new today, a park dedicated in memory of a murdered teen. diamond teague was a 19-year-old when he was murdered back in 2003. teague was a member of the earth conservation corps, a group whose members worked to restore and clean the river and surrounding areas. in his memory, the mayor and conservation corps just a short time ago dedicated the diamond teague park and marina. the park cost $8 million to build. it's located across from nationals stadium. the marina at the park lets baseball fans get to the stadium by water taxi.

teague's slaying is still unsolved. his parents attended the morning dedication. after an arrest, police believe they have everyone responsible for a mass shooting in southeast washington. yesterday d.c. police arrested 21-year-old jeffrey best. she's charged with several counts of murder. back in march, on the 30th of march, four people were killed and five others injured in a drive-bishoots on south capitol street. four others are facing charges in that shooting as well. the police chief said yesterday's arrest closes a chapter in one of the city's most violent acts. you're going to have a chance this evening to pay your respects to the late civil rights pioneer dorothy height. she died last week at the age of 98. she'll lie in repose tonight. tomorrow the delta sigma theta sorority will hold a memorial at

howard university. dr. height will be laid to rest on thursday. her funeral will be held at washington's national cathedral at 10:00 a.m. it, too, will be open to the public. the burial service will take place in maryland afterward. maryland governor begins his re-election campaign today. the governor will kick off the campaign with a series of stops across the state over the next three days. o'malley is expected to face former governor robert urlich in the november election. he's beginning his campaign in baltimore where he served as mayor before becoming governor four years ago. that rally is scheduled to start at any time now. he then heads to prince georges county where he'll appear at prince georges community college. he'll end the day in rockville at a barbecue in woodly gardens park at 6:30. ten minutes after 11:00 is our time right now. former dictator man well noriega

is back in the news. what he's doing today in a french courtroom after being extradited from the united states. plus a food fight. why these lawmakers resorted to throwing eggs. a major disappointment

tomorrower panamanian

dictator manuel noriega was extradited to france where he was convicted on money laundering charges. secretary of state hillary clinton allowed his extradition to france. noriega's attorneys argued that as a prisoner of war he must be sent back to panama. the former panamanian dictator finished his u.s. prison sentence for drug trafficking two years ago, but has remained in a florida prison while fighting his extradition. he was found guilty in france back in 1999 and could face a new trial and ten years in prison there. he's been in prison since the 1989 invasion of panama. kidnapping charges have been dropped against ten american missionaries detained for trying to take 33 children out of haiti following january's earthquake. but the one missionary still in jail will stand trial on other charges. laura silsby will be tried on charges of arranging illegal travel for the children. silsby was the leader of the missionary group. the charge carries a maximum

sentence of three years in prison. coast guard crews are trying everything possible to stop that oil that's flowing into the gulf of mexico. the oil escapes from a rig that exploded and sank last week off the louisiana coast. oil is now flowing out of two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. crews are using a remote submarine to try and shut off the underwater oil well. that's take longer than expected. the leaks are threatening hundreds of miles of coastline in four states. the cleanup continues after that massive tornado that ripped through four states. right now fema officials are assessing the damage in mississippi, louisiana, arkansas and alabama. according to the national weather service, one giant tornado caused a 149 mile path of destruction over the weekend. at least 12 people were killed. z hour winds tossed cars and flattened hundreds of homes. now residents are trying to salvage anything that's left, and they're sharing their stories of survival. >> the wind just started

breaking out and blowing around the furniture. then the building collapsed around me. >> it's something you don't want to ever experience. but the lord brought us through it and he's going to bring us through the rest of it. >> the places affected by those storms will likely seek a federal disaster declaration once fema's estimate is complete. tom, a lot of folks talking about all of mother nature's ravaging of the earth over the last month or so. >> also we have so many more people out there looking at these things. and we see much more video, of course, being recorded. so we see much more of it. those types of tornadoes, the one that hit mississippi, are extremely rare. there's only been three other tornadoes that have had a longer path than that one in the entire history of tornado records. we've really had a very tranquil

severe weather season so far. we are in the height of severe weather season here now. thankfully today no severe weather on tap. we just have a few high clouds coming in. there's the live view from our sky watcher camera. in washington at reagan national airport it's 63. dewpoint the dropping so we're drying out. humidity levels continue to drop. northwest wind there is sustained at about 15 to 20 miles an hour. so that is a rather bit of a blustery wind. it has now climbed with this strong april sun from the blue ridge to the bay into the 60s. it's generally in the low 60s all around the metro area. in prince georges county as well as in montgomery and arlington and fairfax. southern maryland, temperatures low 60s as well as the northern neck. we do have the northwest wind gusting quite a bit. the latest wind gusts have been over 20 to 25 miles an hour. latest gust at reagan national 23. we're going to have this blustery wind. even though we're in the low 60s

it certainly does feel chill we are with the wind. eastern shore now in the upper 50s. just in the mid and low 60s through southern virginia and carolinas. a chilly day out in the mountains of west virginia, only in the 40s. that's the source region of our winds. courtesy of spinning pressure over new england. that's been giving us this northwesterly flow. also another disturbance in the central part of kentucky. that's going to be drifting just to our south, so the winds aloft here out of the southwest bringing in some of these high clouds that'll be with us here from time to time through the afternoon. now, the view across the nation over the last 24 hours showing one storm system over new england. even a little snow in upper parts of vermont and upstate new york. this little system tracking just to our south and will continue to move that way over the next 36 hours. as it pulls away, this large area of dry air over the upper midwest. it's rather chilly.

now as we go forward over the next 48 hours, future cast showing these areas of color where we could get some showers in the carolinas. not here. a dry pattern for us. then into thursday, we'll have this big area of dry air moving in, giving us a beautiful sunny day and the winds will diminish by then as well. so for this afternoon, we'll have the clouds in and out and we'll have those winds gusting up to 25 miles an hour. and overall a rather cool day with the clouds coming and going. then overnight tonight, we should see the cloud cover breaking up. by dawn, ought to be mostly clear. temperatures by then, though, very chilly. only near 40 degrees around the metro area tomorrow morning. in fact, some locations out of the mountains may have a freeze tomorrow morning. and then during the day on wednesday, the winds are still going to be a bit blustery out of the northwest, gusting to around 20 to 25 again tomorrow. we'll have probably some clouds in and out again on wednesday. highs again only in the low to

miz-60s. warming up with the diminished wind on thursday after another chilly start thursday morning. again, near 40 again near the metro area thursday morning, but highs near 70 during the afternoon with lots of sun. on friday sunny and feeling like suh ought to make it to near 80 degrees on friday afternoon. and then over the weekend, certainly feeling like summertime. looks like we will hit the 80s on saturday and again on sunday. right now saturday looking dry, improving news for saturday, and on sunday, though, we'll have a front approaching by late afternoon and evening. we could get some thundershowers.ñì(lc% after that goes by should be dry as we start off the first part of next week. so, yeah, springtime is a battle between summer and winter. wintry cold here over the next couple of mornings, especially just to our west. by the end of the week and the weekend, it'll feel like summerti summertime. >> at least it's going to be sunny for the next few days. sunny, although chilly. >> nice and dry all the way into saturday.

>> i'm not complaining. we have no ash cloud or volcanos around here. nice and sunny. >> we're doing fine. >> thank you, tom. let's check in on the traffic now. let's see what jerry has to tell us. hopefully no big problems out there on the roads. >> we do have some very heavy traffic because of construction. you can't escape it around here. both northbound and southbound along i-95 as you head between -- down toward wood bridge. at least one travel lane is closed off. elsewhere we'll head over and update you the latest information. much better now the interloop of the beltway. we had that construction taking away the left lane as you head north from river road on up toward the 270 spur. the backup beginning to ease somewhat. that's a hopeful sign. outer loop of the beltway heading towards tyson's corner right now, travel lanes are open. happy thoughts, barbara. back to you. >> we'll do that. think partisan politics get nasty on capitol hill? that's nothing compared to the ukraine. lawmakers there through more

than just barb at each other. they threw eggs. some put up umbrellas to protect themselves. the fight didn't end there. someone eventually set off a smoke bomb. lawmakers aren't the only ones scuffling, either. police had to subdue protesters who were fighting outside the parliament building. 11:22 is our time here in washington. and coming up, it's like a twist out of a movie. who put up the money to save that hollywood sign? plus, many think of it as a sweet treat. but maple syrup is actually good for your health. it may be the world's smallest horse. we'll show you, coming up. stay with us. are you making it easier for bacteria to grow on your dentures? you are if you use toothpaste instead of soaking them in polident toothpaste is abrasive on dentures look, scratches where bacteria can collect and grow and bacteria can cause bad breath that's why i recommend replacing toothpaste with polident only polident is proven to clean without scratching

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the famous hollywood sign has new life thanks to hugh hefner. the playboy magazine founder donated almost $1 million towards saving the sign. he says the gift is his way of giving back to the community. it was hefner who helped restore the hollywood sign when it was in bad shape back in 1978 as well. there's a reason for concern this morning if you're a washington capitols fan. washington led the series three games to one, but it's blown two straight chances to seal the deal. the head coach says his team needs to start from scratch. >> we have no choice.

we have to wipe the slate clean. if you start thinking and letting them get inside your head from what's happened in the past, then you're in trouble before you start. it all starts fresh, and you got to take a deep breath and come back out. >> game seven is tomorrow night. the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. well, you're going to want to see this. this very tiny horse is causing quite a stir in new hampshire. einstein, he's called. he was born last week weighing just six pounds and measuring only 14 inches in height. he could quite possibly be the wor world's tiniest horse. the owner of the farm says the average baby miniature horse stand about 21 inches tall. his owners say he's already got a big personality. he's also become a youtube sensation, getting thousands of hits in the just the last few days. 11: 26 our time right now. coming up, the latest on a

hearing taking place right now on capitol hill. a goldman sachs trading executive is disputing the government's fraud allegations against him. plus, walmart is now facing a massive class action lawsuit that claims the world's largest private employer discriminates against women workers. and the latest on bret michaels' condition. this morning donald trump talked about the rocker who is hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage. and tom will be back with the latest on our improving weather. [ male announcer ] this year, get the most out of your lawn

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right now current and former executives of goldman sachs are testifying on the hill. here's a live picture of that hearing. lawmakers want to hear the firm explain how it did business in 2007 and 2008. goldman sachs is facing fraud charges from the sec. congress claims goldman created and sold mortgage securities to clients, then bet billions that their own investments would fail. the ceo denies those charges. live in the newsroom with the latest on the hearing, kimberly? >> in that little clip there you saw the chairman pointing his finger. this hearing has been going on for an hour and a half. it's intense. it's the culmination of a year and a half long congressional

investigation into the collapse of our country's financial institutions and wall street's impact on main street. the panel of representatives from goldman sachs, they were sworn in. that's where they promised to tell the truth. then they were told they'd get about five minutes for their oral testimony. each of the goldman execs mentioned taking pride in his years at goldman, the firm's integrity and commitment to ethics. in their introductory remarks. senators pulled out charts that came directly from the company, quoted internal e-mails from goldman sachs right in front of the very men who wrote them who'll have to answer for what they wrote today. the senators themselves took a little more than five minutes to state their positions. the chairman's opening remarks. here's a sampling from the evidence of that hearing. >> the evidence shows goldman repeatedly put its own interest in profits ahead of the interest of its clients in our communities. it misuse of exotic and complex financial structures helped

spread toxic mortgages throughout the financial system. and when the system finally collapsed under the weight of those toxic mortgages, goldman profited from the collapse. >> it's the la la land of ledger entries. it's not investment in a business that has a good idea. it's not assisting local governments and building infrastructure. it'sñi gambling. pure and simple, raw gambling. >> no one from senior management told me to take a directional bet against the subprime market. rather, during 2006 to 2007, regardless of whether our books were long or short, the consistent theme from management was get smaller, reduce risks, and get closer to home. >> in getting closer to home did goldman sachs mislead investors? did it sell investments and then bet against them at the same time? did it fail to disclose

information to credit rating agencies? the sec is going to look into whether any law was broken. congress has a different mission here. as the chairman noted, the mission is to construct a record of facts to gain a deeper understanding of what went wrong and to help build defenses to protect main street from, quote, the excesses of wall street. the chairman said he would like to hear goldman sachs representatives apologize to americans, to its clients. there were no apologies in those opening remarks. barbara, now back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. we'll be listening to what happens later today. we're going to check in with tom for a look at our forecast now, tom. >> hey, barbara. we've got a beautiful day under way. it's fresh and cool. and we have a blustery northwest wind, temperatures right now in the low to mid-60s. it's 63 in washington. the latest wind gusts have been around 20 to 25 miles per hour. latest gust at reagan national was 23. and we'll have this blustery wind with us throughout the rest of the afternoon. right now out of the mountains

it's chilly. only in the 40s there. that's where the wind is blowing from out of the northwest so it's tapping some of that chilly air and bringing it on in. we have two weather systems affecting us. one has been circulating low that passed through us yesterday. we have another system, too, now coming from central kentucky. that's spreading some clouds up from the southwest aloft. that'll give us a partly cloudy afternoon. it'll be cool and breezy. we'll hold steady where our temperatures are right now throughout the rest of the middle part of the afternoon. by this evening right back down into the 50s. by dawn the temperatures will plummet. near 40 degrees starting off tomorrow morning under a clear sky. during the day wednesday looks like some more blustery winds coming in out of the north and west with lots of sunshine. highs reaching the mid-60s. nearby 70 on thursday. bright and sunny. we'll have a light breeze. friday up near 80 degrees. lots of sun. in fact, it's going to feel like summertime friday, saturday and sunday. maybe some afternoon and evening thundershowers on sunday. that's the way it looks.

that's the only time we're going to have any showers will be apparently on sunday from now all the way through first part of next week. >> can you believe it's almost may? >> here it comes. >> 1st of may, saturday. thank you, tom. see you again. we're going to check on the traffic now. midday traffic with jerry edwards. hey, jerry. >> hey, barbara. it is a slow go for folks trying to come out of the district at thisñzhour. live pictures of kettle worth avenue northbound right at the maryland district line as you approach eastern avenue. northbound only one lane of traffic is open. pretty sizable backup. leaving the district headed out to maryland, may want to find an alternate route. update you on the beltway in maryland. the backup which was pretty hefty earlier from the construction, see the cones, interloop of the beltway as you head on up passing river road toward 270, looks like the backup has eased. construction is still there and will be for another couple hour be careful. barbara? >> thank you. reality star and musician bret michaels remains

hospitalized today after suffering a brain hemorrhage. he was rushed to the hospital six days ago after complaining of a severe headache. that's when the bleeding at the base of his brain stem was discovered. doctors are still trying to find the source of that bleed. nbc's natalie morales has the latest. >> reporter: rock star and celebrity apprentice contestant bret michaels remains in critical condition after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage on thursday. the 47-year-old former lead singer of poison is being treated at an undisclosed hospital. but according to the latest entry on his facebook page, bret remains in icu under 24 hour surveillance. further testing this week will help locate the source of the bleeding. >> i'm going to fight to the end. >> reporter: on the celebrity apprentice taped several months ago the rocker turned reality show star is competing against other celebrities and has so far won $100,000 for the american diabetes association. michaels was diagnosed with the disease when he was 6.

>> i take it we're all fellow diabetics here? >> reporter: now michaels is fighting for his life. >> bret's had bad luck over the last year when it comes to his health.xd he's diabetic. he also had an accident at the tony awards last year where he broke his nose when he was hit. >> reporter: shortly after that accident michaels was on "today" to talk about it. >> the lucky thing is it hit me on my head, which is a good thing. i have a thick cranium. so it was good. >> reporter: last week while at home recovering from an emergency appendectomy the rocker was again admitted to the hospital. this time complaining of an excruciating headache. he said the pain felt like getting hit in the head several times with a baseball bat. >> people who've spoken to him have said he's got very much slurred speech at the moment but say he remains up beat. until they find where the blood is coming from in his brain, there's really -- we have to just wait and see for that until we can determine how well he's going to recover from this. >> that was natalie morales

reporting. bret michaels is a contestant on "celebrity apprentice." trump addressed the issue on the "today" show this morning of whether michaels had been working too hard during the filming of that show. >> was he running himself, burning candles at both ends? was he running himself ragged? >> he's diabetic. he was working 24 hours a day. it's tough. "celebrity apprentice" is tough. it's long hours. this guy really was so competiti competitive. he would work so hard. maybe harder than anybody else. he's doing well. i really gained to respect him. when i first met him i said this guy doesn't have a chance. now i'm telling you he's doing really well. >> the final show airs live two hours in four weeks. trump says he can't imagine michaels will be in the final, but he just hopes michaels pulls through. family members of a man who died on a softball field in northern virginia over the weekend spoke for the first time. 55-year-old george chris was

pitching a softball game at the po tom ak lake sports plex in sterling on saturday. the line drive hit crisp in his throat and ruptured his ka rot tid artery. in seconds blood flooded his brain. crisp's son-in-law was playing shortstop when he saw him go down. he said they talked about dying that day. >> one would be in your sleep, you don't know anything. or doing something you love and having it be quick and painness. unfortunately we don't have more time with him. the lord wanted him in his house to play softball and tell jokes and ride his motorcycle. >> besides playing soft, he loved serving his community even more. his church mission groups took him to four continents to build churches and orphanages for the poor. police in fredericksburg need your help finding a person who set a homeless man on fire. the victim say he was asleep on the chatham bridge when he was atta attacked. david mold was spotted early saturday morning wondering through town.

one person driving by stopped and mold told him that someone had roped him and set him on fire. there's no word on whether police have any suspects or know why mold was targeted. a controversial immigration policy in arizona has led to protests in maryland after a mother arrested forxd a nonviolt crime was referred to federal authorities for potential deportation. prince georges county police arrested 26-year-old florinda lorenzo last week and charged her with illegally selling $2ñi phone cards. she was turned over to immigration and customs enforcement after what officials describe as a routine fingerprint check showed she was subject of a federal detention order for being in the united states illegally. >> it was very difficult for me to be separated from my babies. we're not criminals.

they confused us. i'm here with a lot of pain to let you know what i went through, what i had to go through waiting for my family and wife to come home. >> prince georges county officials declined to comment, saying the case is an immigration and customs enforcement matter. four students walking for immigration reform were welcomed to our area. the group of young 20-somethings began their 1,500 mile walk in miami, florida, on january 1st. they arrived in zan dree ya yesterday afternoon and ploen to go to the white house today. they want to ask president obama to issue an executive order that suspends the detention and deportation of undocumented students. the time right now is 11:41. still ahead, we're going to introduce you to a woman who is out teaching classes on how to save money with coupons. she says you can saveñi thousan by spending just 40 minutes a week. and we'll show you where the best restaurant in the world is. stay with us. we're going to be righ

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arlington county police are now investigating all of those annoying phone calls that have been waking people up, hundreds of people in the middle of the night. the calls all have the same number and appear to be dialed from wyoming. but no one is on the other end of the line when you answer. we contacted the company the phone number belongs to. they tell us someone is using it illegally. police think the calls may be the result of a computer dialing

error. experts suggest registers your number on the do not call list. once you register, you should have fewer calls within a month. a lawsuit filed against walmart in 2001 will finally be heard. it could end up costing the retail giant billions of dollars. the class action lawsuit alleges discrimination over the way the chain pays its female employees. the lawsuit claims that walmart pays women less than men for the same jobs. and that female employees receive fewer promotions. a federal appeals court has just agreed that the case should be heard. more than 1 million female walmart employees could be affected by the outcome. home prices in february posted their first annual increase in more than three years. we're going to check with cnbc's courtney reagan on that. she joins us live with that story and the rest of the day's business. >> good morning. we certainly have a lot of factors at play today. stocks right now, at least the dow, down 120 points. optimism over good earnings

reports being upset about the concern about the impact by financial reform, greece's debt crisis and the decline in the value of the euro overseas. as a result, asian markets mixed overnight. europe much lower. we did have some earnings highlights. ford posted its strongest operating profit in six years. coca-cola and 3 m beating wall street estimates. like you mentioned in the intro, moem prices in february did post their first annual increase in more than three years according to the s&p case-shiller home price index. that's pretty good news there. we're still seeing some conflicting reports, and consumer confidence actually saw a slight increase for the month as well. it is certainly a showdown in the senate. goldman sachs executives facing the glare of the congressional spotlight right now. the senate permanent subcommittee on investigations is holding a hearing on the role investment banks played in the financial crisis. ceo lloyd blankfein will testify

later this afternoon. in his prepared remarks he says the bank didn't bet against clients and didn't have a massive bet against the collapsing housing market in 2007. the senate panel citing 901 pages of evidence. otherwise, though, claiming goldman made $4 billion from shorting mortgage assets that it sold to customers, but then later turned toxic. on a much lighter note, starbucks is breathing new life into the frap chino. sales of that 15-year-old drink have dropped off pretty sharply amid increased competition from dunkin donuts and with the donald set to sell smoothies nationwide. starbucks plans to let customers customize their frappacino. i'll stick to the old mocha flavor. back to you, barbara. >> i think i will, too. thank you. have a great day. what if you could buy more than $150 worth of groceries for less than a buck?

sound too good to be true? apparently it's not. some coupon clippers are saving literally thousands of dollars a year. how do they do that? natalie morales has some of the tips to give you. >> reporter: jamie, mother of two, is on a mission to fill her cup boards. >> i needed the baby carrots. >> reporter: but she's not the average shopper. >> i have coupons for everything. >> reporter: she's one of a growing group of super couponers saving hundreds of dollars weekly. for jamie, it's all in the preparation. checking the circulars, leafing through our burgeoning folder on the discounts on healthy food and organics she likes to buy, and surfing coupon sites. storing it all in a binder. she spends 40 minutes a week and those minutes mean money. with americans keeping close watch on their wallets, the use of coupons rose 23% last year. with a total of 3.2 billion

coupons redeemed. coup couponmom.com founder boasts more than 2 million users. >> the professional person. the man. retired people. just about anyone that needs to save money. >> lots of coupons. hope that's okay. >> okay. >> reporter: when other customers saw how much jamie was saving at check outshe started getting lots of questions. so many questions she decided to start teaching a class. >> this is like gold. >> reporter: at northern essex community college in massachusetts she gives tips including combined sales, coupons and promotions for extra savings. e-mail the company telling them how much you enjoy their product. it often leads to a coupon for a free item. use the coupons that print with your registered receipt. buy extra copies of the sunday paper. the savings easily cover the cost. couponing has changed life for the chases, allowing her husband justin to take the teaching job he always wanted.

back at the checkout, jamie's preparation has, again, paid off. her total for this week's $167 worth of groceries? just 42 cents. natalie morales, nbc news, newbury port, massachusetts. >> 11:50 is the time. laughing can help you stay fit. we'll show you why. plus, meteorologist tom will be back with another check on the forecast. stay with us. are you making it easier for bacteria

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if you are ever in denmark, you may want to check out the newly named best rest raupt in the world. noma in copenhagen just received the top honor from "restaurant" magazine. it made the jump from the third spot last year. it specializes nordic kwi seen. in second and third is in spain and fat duck in england. two american rest raupts made the top 10. elenia in chicago and per se in new york. this could be a good reason to have pancakes or french toast for breakfast. pure maple syrup may actually be good for your health. a rhode island researcher found more than two dozen compounds in that syrup that are surprisingly healthy. >> reporter: it's all about the plants in this university of rhode island research lab. plants add medicine.

amanda is taking a closer look at blueberry root. hung is trying to sort out the medicinal properties of the doood berry. ryed is looking at what could turn out to be the super berry. while this is all "berry" promising, it's the sap that's capturing the headlines. as in maple seyrup. >> we took 20 liter and found amazing antioxidants. >> reporter: many of them are the same antioxidant compounds also found in berries. more than two dozen of them in all. >> it's amazing that the maple tree as it has evolved over time, it's lived for 300 years. think of the tree exposed to all these insults, the antioxidants from the tree get to the sap and also maybe ends up in syrup. >> reporter: were you surprised to the extend you found? >> i was very intrigued by the diversity of compounds that we found. >> reporter: this was research initiated by the federation of maple syrup producers of quebec.

and funded in large part by the canadian government which makes sense since canada produces most of the pure maple syrup that is used worldwide. they heard about the doctor's medicinal plant research at uri and awarded him a two year, $115,000 grant. >> one of the things that we wanted to do with our research is to educate people if your children do eat sweeteners, that the choices are, one, this is a natural sweetener. it comes from a medicinal plant. and that it as antioxidants which are probably, potentially, beneficial. in other health news, we know exercise and eating right have an effect on your health. now researchers say having a good laugh can have the same impact on your body as a walk around the park. >> ha ha! >> reporter: researches at low ma linda university had 14 adults watch a sad movie and then a silly movie. their blood pressure and blood hormone levels were checked before and after each movie.

they found that the upsetting movie had no impact on hormone levels. but watching the funny movie had the same effect on the body as a moderate workout. they saw appetite hormone levels increase just as they do after exercise. however, this doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get hungry every time you laugh. take a look now at some of the stories, perhaps some to laugh at. let's go to pat. >> i'm all for that. barbara, let's just laugh our way to better health. that's a lot easier than lifting weights, don't you think? we're working on several news stories coming up on news 4 this afternoon. first of all at 4:00, a popular social neshlging website has just become a target for hackers. the warning is going out to millions of facebook users. we'll tell you why your profile and personal information could be up for sale. then at 5:00 today, over indulging in sweet treats like chocolate could do harm to more than just your waistline. we'll explain that in news 4 your health.

if you're a chocoholic, you want to take a look at that story. that story and more coming up tonight starting at news 4 at 4:00. you're not a chocoholic, are you? >> i'm afraid i am. but i'm laughing. >> there you go. >> thanks a lot, pat. >> you're going to be just fine, then. >> i hope so. see you later. and it's time for us to get a final check for midday of our forecast. got something to laugh about, tom? >> well, the weather will certainly make you smile, anyway. some delightful spring weather under way this morning. late april weather. it's certainly feeling rather cool, though. in the low 60s now around the region. except shenandoah valley still in the 50s. out of the mountains only in the 40s. these are wind gusts over the last hour. peak gusts over 20 to 25 miles an hour. for the rest of the afternoon, partly cloudy, cool and breezy. we'll hold steady where our temperatures are now. overnight tonight it's going to get quite chilly. after mid night down into the 40s and bottom out near 40 degrees tomorrow morning. out of the mountains they could even have a freeze tomorrow

morning. again on thursday morning, both mornings will be chilly. afternoon highs tomorrow, mid-60s. still a bit blustery. the winds die down thursday and friday and warming up, too. in fact, near 80 on friday. into the 80s over the weekend. maybe some storms on sunday. that's the way it looks. see you tomorrow morning. >> tom, thank you. that's news 4 midday. thank you for joining us. see you in the morning at 11:00 a.m. have a great day.