trading is under way on wall street. it could be another rocky day. the dow started under 10,000 this morning. traffic alert, two major construction projects in our area could bring your weekend plans to a standstill. and bike to workday. two-wheeled vehicles are crowding the streets today. news 4 midday begins right now. you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now, live in hd, this is news 4 midday. good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday, i'm barbara harrison. it's friday, may 21st, 2010. the weekend can't get started soon enough on wall street. the dow plummeted shortly after the opening bell sounded this

morning amid fears that europe's debt crisis may spread. it fell below 10,000 before rebounding. here's a live look at the big board where things have leveled off a bit. in europe today, most major stock indexes fell more than 1%. the market instability comes as more regulations make their way to wall street. last night, the senate passed its reform bill, the largest overhaul since the great depression. the senate legislation still has to be merged with the house version that passed back in december. elaine reyes joins us live from the news room. >> reporter: that final vote was 59-39, 4 republicans voted in favor of it, 2 democrats opposed it. the goal now is to have a bill ready for the president to sign by july 4th. >> it's either too big to fail or over. for them, the game is over. >> reporter: no more risky deals but more oversight for wall street. the senate's bill creates a new consumer protection agency that

will help prevent abuse with credit card, mortgage and auto loan lending. this morning on the "today" show, "mad money" host jim cramer weighed in on the bill's passage. >> i think people are worried that it will make the banks lose a lot of money. this is wall street. i think main street does well off this. it will not be so bad. any resolution there will also be positive. we need resolutions. the united states is well ahead of europe in terms of the -- >> reporter: critics feel the bill isn't tough enough on complex financial deals. >> there is no end in sight. losses continue to mount and the taxpayer exposure sun limbed. >> if we don't get them properly into the transparent marketplace we need them, we're going to have this situation happen again. >> reporter: president obama praised the vote and says the bill will end taxpayer-funded bailouts with measures to keep financial institutions from becoming too big to fail. >> i will ensure that we arrive at a final product that is both

effective and responsible. one that holds wall street to high standards of accountability and secures financial stability. >> reporter: now, there are two big differences between the house and senate versions. lawmakers have to determine whether automakers who finance cars have to follow these new rules. also, they have to work out differences on the some other rules. you may have noticed a lot more bicycles on the road. today is national bike-to-workday. more than 8,000 people were expected to take part this morning. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from freedom plaza in northwest d.c. where many cyclists gathered this morning. >> they had a pit stop here at freedom plaza early this morning. they had quite a turnout. a lot of those folks used the new dedicated bike lanes down the center of pennsylvania avenue.

now, they're not officially open. you can see they're cordoned off with the cones there. they won't open up for the next couple of weeks, a lot of people are excited about that prospect and were anxious to get a sneak peek at them today. this is an annual escent but more people than ever participated this year. there were plenty of incentives, free bike maintenance, music, food, for the cyclists stopping at the more than 30 bike-to-work pit stops, the biggest incentive continues to be the exercise. >> do i it because it helps me get exercise. i love riding down the bike path when the birds are chirping and it's really quiet and relaxing. it clears my head in the morning. i don't need a cup ofç coffee. by the time i get to work i have the endorphins and the energy. >> reporter: thousands left their cars at home and commuted by buy sibling today. it's an annual event gaining in popularity. with an extensive system of trails in the area and more and more dedicated bike lanes, cyclists say riding to work has

gotten easier. >> it is getting easier to ride your bike. cars are a little bit more sensitive to bikes on the road than they used to be five or ten years ago. it's a breeze to get down here now. and the bike lanes have been an added improvement. >> reporter: in the district they're putting the finishing touches on new bike lanes downtown, including a stretch along pennsylvania avenue. transportation officials wanted to formally open the lanes for today's event but decided to hold off in order to tweak the configuration a little to make them safer. they'll be open 0 in a few weeks. >> we said, on certain blocks, the nice wide bike lanes could be confused as car lanes. >> this age of high gas prices and concern about the environment, cycling has emerged as a win-win alternative for many. even businesses are getting on board. the nixon peabody law firm in d.c. started a bike sharing program. >> we purchased three urban bikes and it's sort of like the

washington, d.c. bike share program but it's very convenient for our employees. you have a dedicated bike cage and employees can now take bikes out to go on errands, meetings or recreational riding. >> reporter: the district has plans to expand its bike sharing program. the mayor told me this morning they plan to add 1,000 more bikes to their fleet. barbara, back to you. >> you feel like you want to join in? >> reporter: i wore the most impractical shoes possible today. >> same with me. same with me. you have a long commute, too. i don't think you could even consider it. see you later. have a great day. >> reporter: all righty. thanks, barbara. taking a look outside, the beginning of another beautiful day. we could see the bikers had a terrific morning to travel in and tom's here to tell us how long this will last. >> great day for afternoon biking or motorcycling or for convertible tops down, it's going to be feeling like summertime. already now temperatures are climbing. there's the live view from our

sky watcher camera. we have this sun pouring down now on a blue sky. and temperatures have hit the upper 70s to near 80 degrees. already now 78 at reagan national. it is near 80 in prince george's county, montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties near 80 as well. any bit of a breeze off the bay waters will be cooler. a look at annapolis, bay water temperatures are around 60 right now. on the eastern shore it's near 80 degrees and it's been a beautiful morning out of the mountains as well. it's near 70, western maryland and much of west virginia. view from space over the last several hours, showing a storm system that's spinning away in the midwest. that storm system is advancing to the east. it will give us clouds later on this afternoon but perhaps rain moving in for the weekend. for the rest of the afternoon, becoming partly sunny, high clouds coming in later on, highs reaching the midand upper 80s. a look at the weekend forecast. that will be coming up in just a

couple of minutes. stay tuned. we'll take a look into next week as well. >> tom, thank you. let's head out to the roads, see if there are problems out there, maybe less traffic because of all the bikes? >> unfortunately not the case today. this important was a fine commute for the majority of folks but not so much for the middle of the day. a lot of road work and unfortunately, we're seeing substantial delays. here's the capital beltway. this is the inner loop at river road. and it is jammed. a work zone on the inner loop of the beltway between connecticut avenue and rockville pike which takes away the right lane. that's at least a 30-minute commute just for that stretch. the outer loop, left side of your screen, is looking pretty good. northern virginia, right off the woodrow wilson bridge, both directions on this side of town moving along pretty well. barbara, back to you. >> i have a question for you. in the circle, we have a lot of them in washington, ward circle, tinley circle, who has the right

of way? >> the people -- the person that has the larger vehicle. you know, i really don't know off the top of my head. i'll take a look. >> i figure that would have to be someone you'd have to research. i know it's different in different cities. >> sure. >> we have major traffic alerts to tell you about this morning. you can expect to see 10 to 15-mile backups this weekend. the inner loop will be reduced to a single lane west of telegraph road. >> reporter: officials are urging drivers to avoid the inner loop of the beltway in alexandria. they're expecting major backups due to this construction project. it all begins tonight. preparations are under way to squeeze the inner loop of the beltway in alexandria down to a single lane this weekend. >> avoid delay, stay away is our mantra this weekend. >> reporter: commuters may

understand the need for a major overhaul. that's the plan of this weekend. since repair on top of repair isn't doing the trick. >> the patches have been put on patches and it just don't hold. as soon as they get put down they pop off again. it's been a hassle for motorists. >> reporter: officials are suggesting drivers take the capital beltway around washington over to the american legion bridge and avoid the construction area altogether. if you usually take the on ramp from telegraph road to the inner loop, you're asked to use the eisenhower connector instead. >> we're expecting backups that will go into the single digit miles. if folks don't divert, we could be looking at 10 to 15-mile backups. >> reporter: this work is scheduled to begin tonight. if the weather cooperates, they should have everything done by 5:00 a.m. monday morning. this should not impact your commute. in alexandria, tracee wilkins, news 4. >> the bridge is scheduled to be completely replaced this fall as part of the woodrow wilson bridge project.

officials say the potholes got too out of hand to wait that long. this is also going to be a tough weekend for anyone who uses the chain bridge. the entire bridge will be shut down all weekend long. that starts at 9:00 tonight. crews have been working to restore the bridge for the past year now. this weekend, they'll finally remove the concrete barriers, repave the bridge deck and restripe the lanes. once the bridge re-opens on monday morning, all three lanes will finally be open again. right now, family, friends and co-workers are saying a final farewell to a d.c. intern shot and killed.ç alonte sutton was a straight "a" student. his funeral is happening at allen chapel in southeast. he was an intern for michael brown as part of a youth program. he was found shot to death in a wooded area near newcombe street earlier this month. one person has been charged in his death. this morning, police are trying to figure out what killed a woman whose body was found

inside her d.c. apartment. it happened yesterday afternoon on fourth street in southeast. authorities are still waiting on up aresults to determine how and when the woman died. they believe her body had been there for three or four days. sources say police were called to the apartment after the woman's mentally challenged son was seen jumping from a second-story window. today, the district's department of youth rehabilitative services will face tough questioning about a high-profile murder case in the city. three teenagers have been charged with killing brian betts, a popular d.c. school principal. all three had lengthy juvenile arrest records and had been under the supervision of d.c.yrs. a city council committee now wants to know why some young people in the system are slipping through the cracks. time right now 11:12, anger and frustration is growing over the oil spill in the gulf, coming up, the latest on bp's

plans to stop the leaking oil that is creeping deep near delicate marshes of the mississippi delta. plus, the silver springs second grader who asked michelle obama about immigration has another question for the first lady. and a medical set backe

today, the man who oversees america's 16 intelligence agencies are handing in his resignation. dennis blair is stepping down amid pressure from the white house. during his 16 months in that position, blair has dealt with security lapses and spats with the cia. in a statement, president obama said the intelligence community has "performed admirably and effectively under blair despite many challenges to the nation's security." there's still a large plume of oil and gas spewing into the gulf of mexico despite efforts to contain it. bp released more real-time video showing the oil leak and have live webcam of the flow. the company now agrees that what experts have been saying, the daily flow exceeds 5,000 barrels per day. it's siphoning that amount right now from the oil well but more continues to leak into the open ocean. lawmakers are upset. >> lost all credibility, now the decisions will have to be made

by others, because it's clear that they have been hiding the actual consequence. >> the obama administration is demanding bp make public all of its information on the spill while the epa insists they use a less toxic chemical to disperse the oil. crews will attempt to fill the well with mud and cement as early as sunday. president barack obama just signed a memorandum ordering the government to consider what future fuel efficiency standards should look like. the order means federal agencies must develop fuel efficiency and emission standards for cars and light trucks beyond the year 2016. president obama wants to include big rigs and work trucks by 2014. >> i'm proposing we start developing right now a new and higher standard to take effect beginning 2017. so that we can make more and more progress in the years to come. >> the president says the measure will spur job growth in the next generation of green technologies.

the department of homeland security will not pursue the family of that little girl who asked michelle obama a tough question on immigration two days ago when the first lady visited her school in silver spring. the girl asked michelle obama about her mother's papers. they do not plan to contact the girl's family. meanwhile, the little girl says she was happy to meet the first lady. she does have another request, )árá the white house. this would be a nice day to be outside of the white house on the grounds. so pretty out there today. >> in washington this time of year in the spring, it's so gorgeous, especially on days like this when all of the flora a are out. we have the springtime under way. there's the live view from our sky watcher camera showing the blue sky over washington on this friday morning. right now, a comfortable 78.

it's not very humid. we have a light southerly breeze, 78 right now at reagan national airport. and as we look at the other temperatures, it's near 80 degrees in prince george's county, also montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties near 80 degrees. around the shenandoah valley and the blueridge, it's a beautiful spring day there as well. especially for anybody who wants to get up along skyline drive or outdoor recreation, hiking, biking, kayaking, a wonderful day for that. southern maryland as well. great day for sailing on the bay. not enough of wind but enough for the sails to be unfurled. annapolis, 67. there's a cool wind off the bay areas that are still chili. east of annapolis, it's upper 70s away from the waters. in the mountains, 70 degrees now. over the last 12 hours, a few high clouds drift over us. there's a lot of sunshine across virginia and maryland. just a few high clouds in maryland.

cloudiness is in the mountains, coming into the shenandoah valley. that will be drifting over us later this afternoon. over the last 24 hours, storm system in the midwest has been rotating and building a little bit of strength. could be strong storms developing here down in georgia, alabama and mississippi. that will stay to our south here today and the latest satellite image is showing -- this radar shows leading edge of any of that rain is now coming into the ohio valley. that will eventually drift toward us for the weekend. going forward over the next 48 hours, here's the futurecast hd showing the areas of potential rain where you see the color, could be showers into saturday morning in the mountains of west virginia, perhaps up into western pennsylvania and western maryland. by saturday afternoon we get moisture coming in off the atlantic that will feed into the frontal system and eventually perhaps trigger passing showers, tomorrow afternoon, off and on tomorrow night and into sunday as well. there's a small chance we may get thunder as well. things begin to dry out for the

first part of next week. for the rest of the afternoon, partly nuncy. the cloud s arris arrive 3:00, 5:00 this afternoon. before that we should make it into the mid to upper 80s. a big change on the way beginning tomorrow. we'll be getting cool tonight under this cloudy sky this evening. should be a balmy evening. 70s and by dawn, near 60 as we start off saturday. much cooler tomorrow. we'll have a southeasterly breeze and we'll have temperatures just climbing into the low 70s, passing showers are possible during the afternoon. more likely saturday night and off and on on sunday and a small chance of thunder both days. high sunday, only the low and mid-70s. monday, partly and mostly cloudy, into the mid-70s. next week, tuesday, wednesday and thursday remain dry and a bit warmer near 80 tuesday, perhaps making it into the 80s on wednesday and again on thursday. you can check the weather anytime, weather channel on cable.

that's the way it looks. >> look how beautiful it is at the white house. that's a live picture. >> isn't that wonderful. >> you can see people going and coming. i'm keeping an eye out for the first lady and president. >> see the flag flapping a little bit on the roof. >> a gentle breeze. beautiful out there right now. let's see how it's looking on the roadways, not so beautiful usually at this time of day. let's talk to jerry. >> indeed tough going. no doubt about that. let's head out and see how we are doing. the road work in place. there are the construction cones between rockville pike and connecticut avenue. that's at least a 30-mine the delay with the backup on the inner loop beginning before river road. picture that in your mind, river road, around the bend on over here. it is crawling. hopefully they'll be picking up that road work sooner than later. 95 northbound and southbound, not bad. looks like the construction cones for the most part over to the shoulder, three lanes appear to be open. barbara, the consensus is, i did a little research and traffic

entering the traffic circle yields to those already in the circle. >> i'm so happy to hear that. i'm mad every time i go through one of the circles. i wanted you to tell me if i had a right to be. >> that is basically the consensus. it does vary but that's pretty much the way it is. >> all right. those of you travel in circles you'll know that now. thanks a lot, jerry. >> okay. >> it's 11:23. still ahead, the latest on the arrest warrant yirned for actress lindsay lohan. we'll also sit down with two geography wiz kids. they'll compete next weekend. here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. "know the species, know the stain." lanolin-free coat, i know it's an alpaca. walks in here, looks says "hey look, it's a llama!" cleaning the stain like he would a llama stain. time he's wasting. ♪ call 1-800-steemer

you're watching news 4 midday. rocker and reality tv star bret michaels is back in the hospital. doctors say he had a warning stroke and has a hole in his heart. the front man for the band poison was hospitalized after experiencing numbness on the left side of his body. doctors say his condition is operable and treatable. the 47-year-old was expected to appear at sunday's finale of donald trump "the celebrity apprentice" in new york. no word on if he'll make this t

this sunday. when lindsay lohan returns to the u.s. from france she won't be going to jail. a judge issued a warrant for her arrest yesterday when she failed to show up for a mandatory probation hearing. lohan's attorney told the court that lohan couldn't get back in time because her passport was stolen while she was at the cannes film festival. lohan's lawyers posted $100,000 bail. when she comes back she'll still be prohibited from drinking any alcohol, required to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet and have to submit to random weekly drug testing. 11:27 is our time right now. coming up in the next half hour of news 4 midday, investors are hoping for a rebound on wall street today after the dow lost 376 points yesterday. we'll check the latest numbers. plus, why extra police officers will be patrolling college park today. and, traveling over the memorial day weekend. aaa is out with travel predictions. and tom kierein is back with an update on the weekend forecast. we're coming back.

right now on news 4 midday, fears over europe's debt crisis are taking their toll on wall street. the dow fell below 10,000 shortly after this morning's opening bell. it has since rebounded a bit but stock indexes in europe and elsewhere overseas closed down 1% or more today. and right now, family, friends and co-workers are saying a final farewell to a d.c. intern shot and killed. funeral services for alonte

sutton are under way in southeast. he was a straight "a" student at bellou high school. he was an intern for district council member michael brown as part of a youth program. he was found shot to death in a wooded street near newcombe street in southeast this month. one person has been charged in his death. the conspiracy trial surrounding robert wone's murder continues this morning. he says the three men who lived there seemed disconnected and "something wasn't right." he also says wone's stab wounds had red marks that looked like it had been wiped with a towel. no one has been charged with wone's actual killing but the three men who lived in the home, joseph price, victor zaborsky and dylan ward are all accused of misleading police in this

case. thousands of university of maryland students are graduating today. police want to make sure they excel brat safely. extra officers are patrolling the streets of college park. bars and restaurants are being asked to be extra potential when it comes to serving alcohol. police say their efforts come down to one thing and that is safety. >> we'll be working with the city of college park to ensure that the bars and restaurants are maintaining all of their codes and standards on alcohol distribution. we'd like to ask patrons of the bars that they drink responsibly and act responsibly if they make the decision to get behind the wheel. >> the campus-wide commencement took place last night without incident. individual college departments hold their events today. next month marks one year since a horrific crash killed nine people on metro's red line. now we've learned when the ntsb could wrap up its investigation. investigators will have their final report on a board meeting -- or for a board meeting on july 27th. the çntsb is looking into thre additional metro incidents.

one is a train collision that happened in november in the west fall church rail yard. three metro workers had minor injuries there. the ntsb is also studying an accident who killed two near the rockville metro station back in january. in addition, the board is looking into a derailment that caused massive backups in february. that happened at north. and right now, astronauts on the shuttle "atlantis" are performing the third and final space walk of their mission. two astronauts will finish installing new space station batteries. they'll replace two old batteries. "atlantis" will undock from the space station sunday for the last time. nasa has just two shuttle missions left. maybe you can tell us, how big are the batteries they use out there? >> i know they're not button batteries, i tell you that. what a view they've got. here's our view of our sky, the atmosphere streaked with high

clouds, passing gracefully over the nation's capital. that's a live picture overlooking montgomery county in the distance. and the temperatures right now are climbing into the 70s to near 80 degrees. it's a delightful spring day with low humidity in place. and for the rest of the afternoon, partly sunny, warm and temperatures climbing into the midand upper 80s. it will feel like sumner may and a light variable wind coming in generally out of the south and southwest. overnight tonight, it is going to be cloudy, should be a wonderful evening around the region. temperatures overnight, generally, right around the 70s and as we go get into the evening hours we'll see it dropping back and by dawn, it should be near 60 degrees. then as we get into tomorrow, we'll have clouds, cooler temperatures and looks like a pretty good chance for passing showers during the afternoon. a small chance of thunder could get showers and perhaps thunder saturday night, off and on on sunday and cool. as we get into next week, we'll be drying out, monday, tuesday,

wednesday and thursday each day. partly cloudy with highs in the 80s. that's the way it looks. >> tom, thank you. we'll head out to the roads again with jerry. how's it looking, jerry? >> not much of a change. that's not a good thing, i'm sorry to say. the beltway is crawling at this hour. inner loop, construction cones take away the right lane between rockville pike and connecticut avenue. let's pull back and i'll show you what it looks like from the backup. there's river road. it extends from river road all the way around, at least a 30-minute trip if you're headed that direction. certainly pack your patience and hopefully they'll get out thereof before too long, before the friday afternoon commute gets under way. let's check one more thing, head ed for downtown. slow to the 14th street bridge, three lanes open. it's the long-term construction project slowing traffic on the gw parkway. everywhere you turn, there's a brake light in front of you, barbara. >> i know you want to get there with them. see you monday. commuting could be more

expensive if the dc council has its way. council members are pushing for a commuter tax. it would affect 500,000 people who work in d.c. but live elsewhere. the home rule charter forbids a commuter tax but council members are hoping an amendment will help them get around that. congress would have to approve any commuter tax and it would likely not be an easy sell. memorial day weekend could be busier than usual. aaa says the improving economy means more people are willing to travel away from their hometowns. those taking a vacation are expected to spend less once they get to their destinations. michelle franzen has more on that. >> reporter: for the first time in five years, more americans are expected to travel this memorial day weekend. a nearly 5.5% spike from last year alone when tighter budgets trump the traditional holiday getaway. >> i think it's better than last year. things are improving last year, so i think we're more willing to

go. we didn't go anywhere last year. >> reporter: this year, travelers are planning ahead. >> aaa travel agents are reporting double digit increases in advanced reservations for travelers. >> reporter: 87% of travelers will hit the road, even though gas is slightly higher than a year ago, it is still below the record set in 2008. air travel will also be up slightly. don't expect airlines to add flights. instead, there will be a premium on available seats and price. >> you can usually find a flight but you'll pay out the nose for it. >> reporter: the one factor that could spoil plans for travelers, the gulf oil spill and its impact on popular vacation spots like new orleans and florida beaches. >> a lot of people have asked us that have made vacation plans, and a lot of them are wanting to cancel because of the news that they hear. >> reporter: community leaders in the sunshine state are working to keep rumors of the spill from spreading. >> we're open for business. the seafood is coming in on a

daily basis. it's fresh. the rooms are available. and our beaches are open for business. we're not impacted. >> reporter: the symbolic gateway to summer and travel almost here. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. today the 2010 design house opens to the public here in washington. eight interior designers from our area joined forces to finish the eight rooms. joining us now is designer victor shargad. what is the whole reason for this, the design house? >> the reason, of course, is to celebrate the design industry and the work that the designers do. it's also celebrating the hall of fame of washington designers, all the designers included in this year's house are hall of famers. >> you are one of them? >> yes. >> i want to take a look at your room. why don't we do that right now. i have a lot of questions to ask you about how design has changed

over the years. you designed the dining room of the house. >> yes. >> right there it is. interestingly, you've got a comfortable chair in there, bookshelves. this is the dining room, how has the traditional dining room changed over the last few years? >> well, the approach that we as a design firm, most design firms take is to make rooms useable instead of having a dining room that's used once a year or twice a year or just on a friday night -- >> just on the holidays? >> it's a room you can come in and read, you can listen to music. all the abilities to do those things. it's inviting, it makes people want to come in. >> i remember when i was growing up, the television took center stage in the living room or family room. >> yes. >> has that changed? >> not really. >> important to us. >> it has a tv right smack over a fireplace as you walk in. we put tvs in living rooms

sometimes, they're covered up or have pretty pictures on them. >> what are we looking at here? >> that's the living room. >> that is the living room? >> and this is a master bedroom, which is really creative with the tub and shower right in it. that's the family room. >> the tv above it. >> right over it. >> a lot of people are putting televisions above fireplaces now, aren't they? >> çyes, yes, with the new fla screens it's very easy and the plasmas and the l.e.d.s, it works beautifully. >> how about the whole computer surge? we have computers every place. where do you suggest as a designer that people put that, in the kitchen, bedroom or where? >> people have computers all over their houses, mostly walk around and use them anywhere because they have the house wired, so they're not hard wired to anything. they can do it in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in the dining room. >> sounds like we're talking about -- >> multitasking. multirooming, yes.

>> what has been the biggest change in the design industry over the past ten years? >> i think there's so much available. people are really much -- are able to be much more creative, the materials available, manufacturers are always look for something new to bring out. the paint color we used in the room is brand new color. >> what do you call? >> i call it obergene. >> egg plan the perhaps? that's a popular color suddenly, isn't it? >> i don't work that way and trend is a hateful word to me. but it may be. it originally was red and i said, no, it's got to be more exciting. and this came out. we're thrilled with it. >> it's beautiful. let's talk about, it opens today, is that right. >> it opens today. >> can you tell us where it is. >> 300 "d" street southwest, easily accessible by the metro, by buses.

there's parking within the building. >> it's open monday through friday, 9:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. saturday, tomorrow, 10:00 p.m. through 3:00 p.m. the design center will be open until december. >> december 4th. there was a formal opening to benefit georgetown's pediatric cancer -- >> wonderful. thank you for coming. >> pleasure to be here. >> you're on your way to england. have a great trip. >> thank you. >> we'll all try to check out the design house. thanks a lot for coming. >> my pleasure. still ahead on news 4 midday, we are monitoring activity on wall street after yesterday's big drops. we'll have a live report from cnbc. we'll also sit down with two geography wiz kids

the dow is coming off the biggest one-day drop since february of 2009. we check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. things look so different now than they did a couple hours ago. we started off the day substantially leer for the dow and we're up almost 93 points. things are looking much better than yesterday. araby ended up closing mixed, europe trending lower. all investing eyes carefully still watching any developments that are happening overseas. especially in europe.

after we saw the dow, the nasdaq and the s&p have their biggest percentage drop so far this year yesterday like you mentioned. we have grounded to make up. oil prices are trading around $70 a barrel. that's after dipping below that threshold for a couple days this week. again, kind of a rare situation to happen right around memorial day. this is typically when we see the prices go up. and it's been a long road to get there but finally u.s. senators did pass their version of the financial reform bill last night this this a vote of 59-39. this is the biggest overhaul of financial regulations since the great depression. now, the bill does aim to create new consumer protection rules and add more scrutiny on big banks. the house and the senate must reconcile a final version before the president can sign it into law. but by some estimates it could happen by july th. facebook, myspace and other social networking sites have been giving advertisers your information without your consent.

facebook and myspace say they will make changes. as of yesterday, facebook has rewritten some of their privacy code. interesting stuff but it's one of those things you should always be careful of, whatever you put out electronically could live forever and be passed along. >> we've seen that. courtney, have a great weekend. >> thank you, you, too. >> see you next week. >> see you next week. and next week, 54 of the nation's brightest young people will come to washington to take part in the national geographic bee, the geographic bee, not the spelling bee. the bee champion will win the top prize of $25,000 in scholarship money. 12-year-old thomas knotts will be representing maryland and 11-year-old matthew wilson will represent the district. they're here with us today. congratulations. >> thank you. >> excited about next week? >> yes. >> nervous? >> a little bit. >> a little bit? you both happen to come from our area as we said. thomas you go to norwood school in bethesda. how did you get involved in

this? >>ç every home room in our schl from fifth to eighth grade had a class competition and the winners of the class competition competed in a school competition about a week later and after that, there was a written test which all the bee winners from maryland had to take and the top 100 scores qualified for the state bee. and i competed with 103, i think it was at the maryland state bee on april 9th in baltimore and i won. >> congratulations. you're 12 years old. >> yes. >> you're 11, is that right, matthew? >> yes. >> you call yourself matt, everybody does. we'll call you that. you go to blessed sacrament? >> yes. >> tell us how you got there. >> sort of the same won. i won my class, then the school, i had to take a written test and went to the state and won the state. >> how do you get ready for a bee like next week? why don't you tell me. >> my dad and grandpa have been

asking me questions from a book and i've been taking notes and i also, like, use the atlas and i write down all the features and stuff. >> how about you, thomas? >> twice a week i have a teacher at my school, he quizzes me at the lynch/recess period and then like every night my parents quiz me a little bit from books about geography. >> do you enjoy it? do you like it? geography is fun? >> yes. >> what's more difficult, the european geography or south american or american? or where in the world is the hardest place to remember things about? >> i think the pacific islands and the caribbean islands are difficult for me. >> how about for you. >> for me, some africa and mainly pacific islands. >> we pulled a couple sample questions from the national geographic website. can i try you out, see yhow you

do? >> yes. >> he spoke to the school children of a town near kampala. the visit occurred in ghana, south africa or uganda? >> uganda. >> right. congratulations. i have one for you, matthew. which is the term for a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river? a lake, a sound or a tributary? >> a tributary. >> right. wow. i didn't know the answer to either of those, i have to tell you. i think i will let you test me a little bit but i'm scared. i don't think i could be in that bee with you. thomas looks like he has something he wants to ask me. >> yes. >> which -- this is kind of a local question. which state -- to create the district of columbia. >> it had to be maryland or virginia. >> yes. >> so let's see, virginia? >> maryland. >> see, i told you, i could

never be in the geography bee. >> do you want to ask me one quickly? >> i don't have one thought out. >> i didn't want to embarrass myself one more time. matthew, thomas, we're so proud of you for being from our area and being in the geography bee. i'll bet there are not many areas that have two representatives. congratulations to both of you. we'll be watching next week to see what happens. if you get through tuesday you'll go to wednesday and we'll be listening to hear what happens. thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> our time right now is 11:51. coming up, a look at what is new in the movies. plus,

at the box office this weekend, the final chapter in the shrek series has arrived and a popular "saturday night live" skit gets the feature treatment. >> my name is mcgruber. m-c-g-r-u-b-e-r! >> "saturday night live's" will tries to save the world in "mcgruber." he battles an evil arms dealer played by val kilmer. it's up to macgruber and his

team to find the nuke and defeat the enemy. "macgruber" is rated "a." all your favorite shrek characters are back in "shrek forever after." the oger is voiced by mike meyers and bored with life. he finds himself tricked into a another world where nobody knows who he is. it's then up to shrek to reclaim his true love, fiona and bringard back to far far away. "shrek forever after" is rated pg. how much would you pay to see the new shrek movie? how about 20 bucks? you might have to if you want to see it an at imax theater. it's the first time aç ticket a major hollywood film will hit the $20 mark. theater operators just raised tickets as much as 26% back in

march. those were the steepest ticket hikes in a decade. let's take a look now at some of the stories we'll be following this afternoon. we're following several news stories on news 4 at 4:00 and 5:00. first after 4:00, antidepressants are the number one prescribed drugs in america. what happens when they increase thoughts of suicide? then at 5:00 tonight, he was a local boxing legend. making millions but what happened to riddick bowe? find out how he went from having a 26-car garage to living in a foreclosed home. all those stories and more at 4:00 and 5:00 this afternoon. back to you. we'll check the forecast one more time. here's tom. we have lots of sun. that strong may sun warming us up into the 70s. for the rest of the afternoon, we hit the midand upper 80s. high clouds in and out with low humidity.

overnight tonight, mostly cloudy and will be in the 70s through the evening. nice evening for your outdoor plans and getting out into town and enjoying your evening and tomorrow morning it will be near 60. a cloudy and cooler weekend, though. saturday and sunday both days we could have a chance of afternoon and evening showers. and there is a small chance of some thunder, both of those days but drying out as we get into next week. have a great weekend. we'll see you on monday. that's the way it looks. >> all right, tom, thank you. bo obama is not apparently the only furry friend that calls the white house home. cameras caught a rodent scurrying across the front of the podium before president obama's speech on financial reform. some say it's a rat, others say it was a mole. some members of the white house camera crew claim they saw him last week, too. did you see him there? probably have his own tv show next season.

that's news 4 midday. tune in to "the daily connection" this afternoon. we have news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 and monday we'll be back here, the whole gang, at 11:00 for news 4 midday. hope you have a great weekend. see you monday.