the damage still remains. the latest on the cleanup efforts across our region and predent bush loses one of his top advisers. what's next for rahm emanuel and the white house. good mning and welcome. i'm barbara harrison. today we're getting a better picture of just how powerful and devastating yesterdas storm really was. part of our area still under water right now. southern maryland was hit particularly hard. and joining us now on the phone is karen everett, blic information officer for st. mary's county. we talked yesterday and looks like you did really get hit even after we had soken and good morning. >> gd morning, barbara. yes, we had sustained rain until 2:00 a.m. >> we're looking at pictures of some of the devastation. can you describe what people are

seeing this morning? >> that was the major problem our commuters faced this morning, what you're looking at. that's a major interchange in st. mary's county. it was closed this morning but i did just hear about five minutes ago it has reopened. >> so some of the water starting to recede there now? >> yes, ma'am. we exrienced high tide early this morning and so that was the crest of many of the tributaries that we watched carefully and water is starting to recede now. there is no rain in thforecast and we invite everyone to come down this weekend. >> we'd love to do that. let's talk about hools. now yesterday when we spoke they were letting schools out two hours early and there were going to be no evening activities. today you have no school going on, right? >> correct. they made thecall early this morning because of the number of roads that needed to be closed so the school buses would not have been ab to get through some of the major interchanges. >> so are you planning to do

anything to try to help people et around out there now or do you think all is clear? >> all is clear now. we certainly dusted off our evacuation plans and we're ready to implement shelters and transportation strategies if needed but none of that thankfully was needed. >> karen everett, of st. mary's county, thanyou for jing us and good luck cleaning up out there. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. take a look outside right now. the rain has finally tapered off. chuck bell joins us to talk about our forecast for today and the weekend. want to head out to st. mary's county for the weekend? >> i wish i could. i have to wo all weekend. this is my monday around here. the good newss that pictures are worth 1,000 words. you see the sunshine already starting toreak out in and around the washington area. temperatures are holding steady now in the mid-60s. 66 in downtown washington. 63 degrees in martinsburg, west virgini 66 down there in leonard town, maryland, where they had over 13

inches ofrain over the last 2 1/2 days so a tremendou amount of rain but there's a look at live doppler. the rain showers are gone. there's the satellite and radar combinati over the last 12 hours, that heavy rain that moved through is now finally up across northern new jersey, heading up into southern new york and southern new england. for us with with the rain moving out the cooler weather is spilling on in. so the rest of your friday is a good looking one. we will have a clearing trend. temperatures will briefly get up into the low 70s. that gusty north wind, though, is here to stay for at least the west of the afternoon and some chilly nights into the weekend. i'll give you the rest of that forecast coming up. >> can't wait to hear it. thank you, chuck. the rain has stopped but mother nature is still causing problems as major flooding is causing delays and shutdowns. tracee wilkins has more from fairfax county. >> reporter: here's part of the

problem as we dry out. we still have the remnants of yesterday's in. this is a road that was actually closed but drivers decided to move the barriers. now they're dealing with a foot and a half of water. should gu or no? some virginia drivers looked at the barriers on brownsville road and knew it probably wasn't a gd idea. >> when we get a good amot of rain, brownsville floods. there's only one way in and out of the neighborhood. >> reporter: after yesterday's torrential rain, the road was blocked due to flooding and remained that way. workers came out just after 5:00 a.m. to reinforce the roadblock and keep drivers out. after a trash truck moved them, the traffic started flowing. >> there were a couple of police, water rescues from people trying to do that. >> reporter: more than 7 inches of rain fell in some areas. some roads including 450 were closed due to the onslaught of water and also games and school

activities postponed until monday. back in virginia more storm damage. vre canceled services on its manassas line. folks say a low hangingpower line in the alexandria area is blocking the tracks on which the line operates. passengers had to make their way to metro. >> come here pretty early in the morning and i didn't get an e-mail but i checked my blackberry. i guess i'm not surpsed given the storm and stuff like that. >> reporter: back in vienna water wouldn't go away. after two days of in, some are losing their patience with the roadblocks be a inconveniences. others not so much. >> it's an absolutely crazy idea to get it through the water. just take your time and don't try to go through water you can't see the bottom of. >> reporter: this is the important thing to remember, if a depament of transportation closes the roadway, it's for your own safety and it is imperative that drivers pay very close attention to those

closures especially if you have no idea what you'regoing to drive into. i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. overall the roads an the commute are in better shape this morning. now the latest on traffic. hi, steve. >> good morning, barbara. we'll start with a lookat georgia avenue heading down from wheaton to silver spring. there's a work zone just before the beltway blocking two lanes and here is the backup at forest glenn. a very tough rid northbound. everything is open. over to springfield right now. that looks pretty good. the right side of your screen, southbound 95. no road work today near wington. it's further south today past dale city to where dumfries was, leaving springfield heading all thway down to newington, we're good in the hov lanes southbound to help you out. barbara, back to you. >> steve, thanks so much. we aren't the only on who got drenched by the storm. north carolina saw the worst of it. parts of the tar heel state have

had 22 inches of rain since sun ta. the storm was deadly near the town of crestwell. four people including two children were killed when their suv hydroplaned skidded off the road and flipped over into a ditch full of water. and breaking news right now involving a mega merger. y united and continental closed a deal to create the world's largest airline. the new company will retain the united airlines name and begin trading on the new york stock exchange today under the ual symbol. travelers will notice a difference right away. customers can use both airlines' websites. today brand-new laws are in effect in maryland. next time you're in the car it will be illegal for you to drive and talk on your cell phone at the same time in maryland. you can still use a hand held phone at a stoplight. but once your car starts moving you'll need to use a hands-free device to get off the phone. maryland's cell phone band means police could only write you a ticket if you're pulled over for

some other offense. the first time you're caught it's a $40ine and then $100 for repeat offenders. also today maryland adds tougher penalties for convicted sex ofnders including a mandatory 15-year sentence for the most serious offenders. certain crimes made gang members eligible for stronger penalties inclung witness intimidation and second-degree assault. maryland also has new fines for people who made false health claims. the state estimates this law can help recover some $20 million in medicaid. well, firefighters who personally rescue people from burning building in northwest washington are sharing their account of what happened. that fire left one man dead after he jumped down five floors out of a window to escape the flames. while detectives have not officially ruled the fire an arson their investigation is going in thatirection. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live now with more on that. megan, good morning.

>> reporter: this was a very ib nse fire, hundreds of people were packed into this apartment building and many of them were trapped onhe upper floors of the structure. now just a short time ago we talked to tw of the firefighters who went into that burning building. we've also learned that investigators are talking to some people of interest in this case. it began with a pfire. as the smoke spread, so did the panic among residents. when firefighters began entering apartments, they found residents at the windows, some ready to take desperate action including one man up on the fifth floor. >> the gentleman had taken the table off his tv or the cable from his tv and ti it to the refrigerator door handle and he was sitting on his window ledge grasping it in both hand that was his last ditch effort was to go out the window from his television.

>> reporter: otheresidents tried to go down the main stairse which was on fire. >> you'd have to gather them all together, have them hold hands and everybody was trying to go down the main hallway especially when i was on the floors above. we had them bunched together. they tried to go down the main stairwell which was probably certain death for them and you had like cattle, you had to forcibly, you know, physically get them to the bck stairwell that only two people go down to at a time. >> reporter: as for the investigation, chief dennis reuben says they are talking to some people of interest. >> we began to eliminate every single accidental cause and that's going to lead us to one area. we're not ready to make that jump yet but spelation would say most likely it's going to be some type of a set fire. >> reporter: and we're learning more about a burning mattress that was found up on the fifth floor. they're looking into the possibility that was actually the source of the ignition of

this fire. also looking into the possility that it may have been placed in some way in that hallway to obstruct. a dangerous situation created by the placent of that mattress. investigators want to see if thereas the preps of accelerants, that sort of thing before they will officially rule this an arson. they are looking at a lot of information including reports that there was a domestic diste in that building earlier in the day. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, megan. autopsy results may help investigators determine what caused the tour bus to run off the road and rl down a steep embankment. some passengers believe the driver, 66-year-old joseph clabaugh jr. had a heart attack or seizure before the bus veered off wednesday in bethesda. the bus went tumbling down an embankment killing him and leaving 11 passengers hurt. maryland state the police say an inspection revealed nothing mechanically wrong with the bus. some of the youngest passengers

described what happened. >> traveling down the highway and somebody said, driver, watch out, and we saw the driver slump over the steering wheel. and he started swerving to the side of the bridge. >> the bus was heading back to pennsylvania from sightseeing trip to washington. the 11 passengers are all expected to recover. 11:12 is our time right now. still ahead on midday, a new audio tape reportedly made by osama bin laden, you may be surprised who some of his anger is aimed at. new developments in the battle over privatizing virginia liquor stores and our weeklong education nation series continues with montgomery county school superintendent dr. jerry weis. he'll join us live.

today secretary of state hillarclinton will hold a closed meeting with sarah shourd. she was released after she was accused of illegally crossing the border into iran. president barack obama met with shourd along with fattal and bauer. he told the group he will do everything he can to get the other two released. al qaeda release add new audio tape of bin laden.

in it the lder called for a relief body to help muslims harmed in natural disasters and wars. he also criticizes muslim governments for spending more money on armies than on their citizens. a senior u.s. official told nbc intelligence officials are working on forensic analysis on that tape but ere's no reason to believe it is not bin lades voice. take a look at our forecast. sounds like a nice weekend on the way. chuck bell to tell us about it. >> it will start o nice enough. a risk of a shower or two before the weekend is completely through. compared to the rain you've had to endure the last couple of days, any showers you get over the weekend would be easy to handle, no doubt about it. take a check of it outside on your friday at almost lunch time for many folks. beautiful weather outhere indeed. a little sunshine starting to get through as well. i can see blue sky there on our sky watcher camera. you're looking o to the west and that's where the clear skies are coming in. little patches of blue right in there, just enough sunshine getting through already to let you be able to see your shadow out there and that is good news.

66 the temperature at ronald reagan washingtonational airport. the dew point at 53 yesterday. our dew point topped after at 75 degrees, as high as our dew points have been all through the summer season. now that north/northwesterly breeze blowing in the cooler and noticeably less humid air. 70 in frederick, maryland. sunshine there. 66 in manassas. leonard town where the rainfall amounts were azing. leonard town just under 13 inches of ra in the last 48 hours but, again, this is a running 48-hour total. the total amou for the whole week is somewhere just over 13 inches of rain. six inches in baltimore. nine plus in annapolis. five plus out at dulles international. st. mary's city. here is a storm total now. 13 1/3 inches of rain in st. mary's city. also in st. mary's county just under 13 inches of rain there. a annapolis, maryland, 9.02 inches of rain.

a strong north breeze. hollywood, maryland, 65 degrees now. just about eight inches orain there. here's a look at live doppler. no rain on the radar for now. the rainhowers we endured late last night into the early morning hours this morning is all now lifting northbound up ross new england moving away from us. 60s to near 70 around here for today. the biggest change, though, dew points in the 50s now. some 20 degrees of dew pont drops so much drier air is going to get a real autumnal feel for all of the upcoming weekend. low presre pulling away. theooler pattern is moving on in. believe it or not, it is actually going to feel like fall around here as high preure builds on in. that north breeze for the rest of today, a nice, clear start for tomorrow and then as wget into saturday night and sunday a little weakeatherront could pick off a shower or two. for today mostly cloudy but gradual clearing. aftnoon high upper 60s and

low 70s. and then tmorrow plenty of sunshine in the morning, a few clouds mid to late afternoon. that will be about it. highs tomorrow cooler than average. a nice change of pace up to 70 degrees for a high tomorrow. perfect weather for the maryland games, the duke blue devils coming up to college park to take on the terrapins. saturday looks like the better outdoor weather day. a little chance of passing showers on sunday. better chance as we get into monday and then some drier weather and seasonal weather for the first week of october as we go through the early and middle parts of next week. no more flooding rains in the forecast, the next five to seven da days. >> five to seven days. >> that's as far as wee willing to go. >> thanks a lot. and we check midday traffic now. before we go to him, let's show yo something here that affecting traffic out there right now. this is a sinkhole. if you look closely you can see it. this is in maryland and anne arundel county.

they've h to block off the road as you can see, that is a giant sinkhole in marylan fortunate fortunately you can get this fixed soon. let's check traffic. >> good morning. we're going to have to check more on that and find out exactly what's going on and how long that will last. let's take a look at the road work on the virginia side. several work zones, a couple on the outer loop, heading south and 495, one on gallows road and another near braddock road and they're working southboun 95 at dale city and westbound 66 at 123. let's take a look at the work zone on georgia avenue southbound. just before you go et to the beltway, only one lane squeezing through right now causing a bit of a backup as you head down from wheaton on your w down to the beltway or into downtown silver spring. back to you. >> okay, steve. thank you.

washington residents will soon be able to be tested for hiv in an unexpected place. where when we come back. first here is a look athat's hot on nbcwashington.com. i thought it was crazy feeding in the fall. i always feed in the fall. but, it's the best time. feed yr lawn in the fall. the fall feeding makes all the difference in the world. what the fall feeding does is build the roots.. that's when the roots sorta want nutrition. i give my lawn scotts winterguard. it's le a root building machine. it builds your lawn from the roots up. next year you get this! the stronger the roots, the stroer the lawn. all year long. the best time to feed is when it will do the most good. there's no substitute for the fall feeding, trust me. is the best thing you can do for your lawn. i use scotts winterguard.

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weekend theme of "the washington post." welcome. good to see you. we're going to check on some events going on to the end of the year. let's start with this moh. it starts today. what's going on in october? >> fall is happening in october. that's a great time to get out and see a fall festival, to go apple picking and, in this area, to go pumpkin chunking, when you are tossing pum kips out. they have this air pressurized cannon. you can toss it as far as you can throw it. it's about $10 for four shotso it's something great to do with the family. kids are going to love this idea. >> isn't that funny? people just love smashing pumpkins, don't they? a different way to experience the fall. and one of the great things about them, they have a corn maze and plenty to do open friday throu sundays throu the month of october. >> let's move on to november, the gaylord hotel erecting an ice exhit again this year. tell us about that. >> yeah, has it been longnough

since the snoworm we can enjoy ice? i'm wondering. this is a major exhibition for the gaylord last year. basically they brought in 2 million pounds of ice and carvers to create these amazing wintry scenes. they are beautiful holiy light displays and gets about 9 degrees in the exhibition phase. >> just got to dress for that event. >> and they actually included in your admissn is these parkas, they're insulated so you can hang out for a while. it's about $25 for adults and $15 for kids and if you order through friy, that's today, you can get a little bit of a discount on those. >> fantastic. that's at the gaylord hotel, the ice exhibit. let's talk about dember now. i know sunset boulevard is coming to the signature theater. >> people are just buzzing about the show. signature theater, of course, has had a lot of success with broadway or bibles lately and they are going to put their twist on all about hollywood in the 1950s with lots of glamour and drama.

it's going to kick off december 7th and you want to get your tickets now. a big show for them. >> sounds like a good one. thank y for those three things to look forward, too. >> winter doesn't have to be boring. > and for more ideas for your weekend logon to the around the town section of nbcwashington.com or on washingt washingtonpost.com. the football world is focused on donovan mcnabb's return. who will the skins quarterback be handing the ball off to? the latest on the battle over the starting running back position. and the storms have finally moved out. are we in for a nice weekend? 3q

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st. mary's county public schools are closed today because of lingering effects fromhe weather. chopper 4 flew over the grace mills area earlier today. you can water everywhere. roads are impassable because school buses couldn't getto many children. employees were told to report on a code two basis today. fire investigators say they're ruling out accidental causes that ssibly sparked a deadly apartmenfire. 38-year-old pablo perez majilla tried to jump from the building on 16th street in northwest

washington early wednesday morning. he later died. four others including a 2-year-old girl were seriously hu in the fire. fire officials told news 4 they're interviewing people of interest and they have not officially ruled it arson but their investigation is going in that direction. d today maryland's cell phone ban begins. drivers cannot hold up a phone when that car is i motion. it doesn't stop drivers from talking while stopped. maryland's cell phone ban is a secondary offense. they can only write you a it ticket if they have lled you over for something else. we're following a developing story now. president obama is announcing the resignation of his chief of staff, rahm emanuel. he's reportedly stepping down to run for mayor of chicago. let's listen in to that. >> on the one hand i'm excited to be heading home to chicago which you know very well, mr. president, is the greatest city in the greatest country in the wor

world. i'm energized byhe prospect of new challenges and eager to see what i can do to make our hometown even greater. these are great times, mr. president, the chicago bears are 3-0. >> unbelievable. >> i'm also sad to leave you, the vice president, and my terrific lleagues here at the white house, the cabine and so many friends on both sides pennsylvania avenue with whom i've worked as chief of staff and as a member of congress. it's been a profound privilege to work for and with you, mr. president. i watched you confront some of the toughes challens of our ti and u've done it with unfailing grace, intelligence and courage. you had the guts tomake the tough calls that stopped the freefall and saved our country from theecond eat depression. you've taken on some of the most

powerful interests in this town to stand up for the american people and you've been willing to challenge the worn out ideas and the stale thinking that often stands in the way of progress. mr. president, i thought i was toh. but as someone who saw firsthand how close our nation came to the brink and what you had to do to put america back on track, i want to thank you for being the toughest leader any country could ask for in the toughest times any president has ever faced. >> that's rahm emanuel speaking at the white house right now in the preside the presence of the president. he is moving back to chicago where he plans to run for mayor. and we're going to che now with -- well, chuck bell is with us today. hey, chuck, good to have you with us. >> good to be here.

it's a very improving friday morning outside. a little bit of sunshine just doing the old-fashioned thing and looking out the window. i can see sunshine here at the friendly peacock. sunshine breaking through. a fairly cloudy sky north and st of washington. the further west you go, the more sunshine you're getting. everybody will have sunshine by later on this afternoon. temperatures now are holding in the mid-60s. it's going to feel very chilly today but there's a look at regional doppler. the heaviest of the rain showers out of our area heading up into portions new york and new england. high pressure is building in from the midwest. that will bring a nice cool, north to northwesterly breeze. going t to any of the high school football games tonight, kickoff temperatures will be around 65 degrees. a lot of sloppy, slow fields so be careful for that. the forecast for the remainder of your friday mostly cloudy now. gradual clearing this afternoon. tempatures climbing into the low 70s for a brief time today.

again, that gusty north wind around. no wind to worry about tomorrow. partly sunny skies, high of 68 degrees on your saturday. little ben opportunity for a few showers over theeekend primarily on sunday afternoon time frame but they are not going to be heavy washout type rabs but a few lice, passing showers and as we get into the middle part of next week, relatively quiet october weather returns. so that is good news for everybody. good weather for anything you wa to do outside. barbara, over to you. >> all right, thank you, chuck. well, while you were sleeping some of the world's top golfers were teeing off. the ryder cup began early this morning in newport, wales. it pits a team of golfers from the u.s. against europe. europe has taken the early lead. play is suspended right now because of rain. we're talking a lot of rain out there. you can catch the ryder cup this weekend here on nbc 4. coverage starts at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow and 7:00 in the morning sunday. and fro the fairway he is and greens to the gridiron where the redskins have their eyes set on

the eagles. the skins head to donovan nabb's return to the team he led for more than a decade. the other big story is who will start as running back. head coach mike shanahan says clinton portis will start on sunday despite essentially being benched during last sunday's loss to the st. louis rams. neither shanahan nor portis wanted to speak about the controversy yesterday. >> these hot topics you're bringing up, the coach is right upstairs. you want to walk up, interview h after this, you can ask him all those questions. >> i don't get into my conversations with players. we've talked about that before. i address it at the time. i addressed it with him and felt comfortae with the explanation. we go on. >> sunday's game starts at 4:15 at lincoln financial field in philadelphia. virginia governor bob mcdonnell has backed off his proposal to privatize the state's liquor stor stores. the originally he planned to

call a special legislative session as early as november to address this issue. meanwhile a panel picked by the governor has endorsed his privatization proposal but the prosed revenue from the plan continues to shrink. mcdonnell promised during his campaign he would sell off the state-run liqr stores and use the proceeds to pay for highway improvements. a new plan provides a critical service in an unkely place beginning this tuesday you'll be able to get tested for hiv at the dmv. the city is partnering with a nonprofit group to provide free testing at the penn bran location in southeast for one year. according to "the washington post" city leaders chose that location becse they've seen a spike that area. they expect about 3,000 people to take advantage of this service. take a checkf our traffic update now. hi,steve. good morning, barbara. we wanted to let you know the exact location of that dramatic sinkhole you showed pictures of a few minutes ago. that is in anne arund county.

gambrels road. it's going to be blocked looks like for quite a while. over to the beltway now looks very good both sides, inner loop and outer loop, maryland and irginia, typical all the way around the beltway. no delays noted and over to springfield still looking vry smooth on the right-hand side of your screen, heading south on i-95 into the work zone and back down to dale city where the right lane is blocked. barbara, back to you. >> okay, steve, thank you. we continue our series of reports on education this morning. education nation is a weeklong focus by nbc news on the nation's school systems. today we sit down with the superintendent of montgomery county schools. good morning. >> good morning. >> always good to see you. >> now you know about this big thing that nbc has been doing. >> absolutely and i want to thank nbc for bringing the nation's aention to our children. >> well, that summit has been going on in new york and one of

the big things that's come up at that summit is the idea of making longer school years and replacing ineffective teachers. do you have any reaction to those ideas? >> i've been a superintendent for 35 years. we are the 16th largest system in the nation so i have an opinion. >> do you want to share it? >> i do. it takes a good teacher in every classroom. they won't work in a building without a good principal. ake curriculum that gets them inspired and engaged. more time won't do any good unless you organizehat time. that's what we found. r children who have opportuni deficits, maybe they've been hit by poverty or language, need that more time. we do the extended day, the extended year, the summer school, all of that makes it where we can get kids reading by the third grade. >> you wouldn't be pushed for having a longer school year? >> i wouldn't be against a longer school year. what i'm against is doing the same thing that we're doing right now. more boredom is not the answer. it is more engagement, more

visioning, more time for their future. >> speaking of at, we're talking about teachers and there's been a lot of union bashing lately because a lot of people think that maybe the teachers unions protect teachers who perhaps shouldn't be in the schools. >> i haven't found that. we've been really working with our union and we've dismissed about 400 teachers for cause or for some sort of issues. our teaers have been really good about helping us to help people who chose the wrong profession choose another ofession. if you work with them, they're part of your workforce. now there are some places where if you push, they're going to push back. so you've got to find out how to work as adults and engage them and i find when you do that, boy, you get some real por. >> do you standardize test scores as a measure? >> we have -- we use the national standards for teaching for the teaching rofession. there is a national group that

actually has developed these and it is in our professnal growth system. part of that is how the students are doing. but as a mother or a grandfather in my case can tell you it's about the student work, about the student atitude, the student attendance, the student test, standardized tests. so it's a whole bunch of things. you just can't weigh and meure with one measure. >> tell us about the high-tech high school you may be getting? >> i want more vocational education. we have a really good student body tt is aimed for college and career. we have the college down really well. our average stat scores set the history of the system. we've been around a long time. 1653 on average. but what i want is more career. if a child can envision themselves in a future, that's the way to do it. so i'm looking at all difrent aspects to get more of that career education. >> now a lot of people are not happy about this. you have announced your retirement. any guesses who might replace you in montgomery county as uperintendent of schools there?

>> i hope somebody who will continue to raise the bar and close egap. you have to do them both. >> some mentioned michelle rhee. >> i think there are a lot of good people out there and i hope th get somebody that you can really work with instructors, engage the community, and solve two problems. the students' problem with engageme engagement. they have to have more get into it and the teachers' problem how to get it all done in a short period of time and get it done at a high level. you sell those two things you're on te way. >> i'm sure you're right about that. we are always happy to see you, sir. we're going to be losing you soon but great to have you. >> thank you. >> thanks for coming in, montgomery county school superintendent. up next, the story behind facebook hits the big scen. a preview of the social network and this weekend's other new releases are ahead and a look at the weeke box office. and there's plenty of fighting and drama on "the real housewives of d.c.." you won't believe what the la

welcome to you, a frequent guest on news 4 midday. a busy plastic surgeon in our area has educated us on the latest on liposuction, face lifts and more. he is talking about a different mission. good morning and welcome.

you just came back from nicaragua to work on the future of nicaragua, the foundation you're involved with. tells about that. >> we just came back. we did 23 children. the mission was about ten pele. we take nurses, doctors, for the foundation that i'm co-founder of. my wife is american-nicaraguan. she is very passionate about giving back to nicaragua. nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere following haiti. so there's lots of need. >> and you have taken people down there specifically to do cleft palate reconstruction, is that right? >> mainly our focus is the children, cleft lips, palates, a lot of rns, trauma. the need is terrific. >> so how do you find the patients? how are they brought to you and tell me about how many years you've been doing this. >> we've been going now for about ten years. we partner with the catholic church there.

we partner wi local hospitals who find the patients. we have an office so our executive director is out there searching for patients, sort of in advance of our team's arrival. >> is there a higher incidence there than in our country? >> i think in third-world countries,yes. that's a good country. i think due to poor prenatal nutrition and once it's in the gene pool, it's hard to get out. many of these mothers who come in with thr children have had cleft lips repaired themselves. >> let's have a look at the before and after, the things you've done with the children there. it's unbelievabl there we see a child with a cleft lip, and then the reconstruction amazing the difference. >> i like this picture because it shows the family and how important this is to not only the kild but the family. >> amazing. and does it take very long for them tosee a difference after the surgery takes place? >> well, the lips, you see the child looks fantastic the very

next day. many require multiple surgeries. that's why we go every four to six months. one time we'll do the lip, the next the palate. when they're teenagers, they need nasal surgery, too. >> you're not on performing surgeries but tepg and providing medications at the clinic and preventive health care as well. tell us about that. >> well, absolutely. we try to teach the local doctors to do these procedures, they provide the local follow-up for us. sometimes it's as simple as providing antibiotics. there just is a lack of services in nicaragua especially in the rural areas we go. anything we can do is a great help. >> i suppose these missions have changed your life as well. >> yes, coming from washington, d.c., it makes me appreciate what a great kcountry we live i, how thankful we are to have the health care we have. i feel most like a doctor in the mountains of nicaragua. >>e thank you for telling us about this and people can call theuture of nicaragua foundation at 202-7850-3176.

to donate money to helping this cause. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for coming in to talk about it. we're going to check with cnbc's curtney reagan nragan now. she joins us with more on business. good morning, barbara. stocks are higher. the dow up higher by 35. we are trading below that flat line for most ofhe tech stocks. we ended up closing lower yesterday but still september managed to pose the best month for the month of september, i should say, for stocks sce 1939. so things are pretty good the first day of october. both asian and european markets are mixed for the day. consumer spending rose by 0.4% in august while personal income jumped by half a percent. the increase in income was t biggest in eight months. the ism manufacturing index fell from last month but as expected construction spending, however, rose in august as a big jump in

government building projects offset further weakness in the private sector. gm sales for its core brands are up more than 22% for the month of september. that exceeded analysts' expectations. well, the white house is out with new estimates that say the final cost of the bank bailout less than $50 billion. i know it sounds like a lot but the troubled asset relef program or the t.a.r.p. cost the government $700 billion so the cost of taxpayers -- the taxpayers has been falling because these banks that initially received the t.a.r.p. funding have continued to pay the government back. all of this comes as the government continues to unwind its stake in cigroup. the treasury department announces that it it will earn $2.25 billion on sale of citigroup's trust preferred securities. the move lowers the government's ownership stake in the bailed out banking giant. the treasury says it's earned

about 6 billi since it began selling citi stocks earlier this year. all in all the government posted gains and we did better than we thought. >> well, that's good. >> bck to you, barbara. >> have a great weekend. thanks, you, too. see you monday. >> you really hate the bosses. >> i don't hateanybody. they are not suing me for intellectual property. they're suing me because for the first time in their lives things didn't work out the way they were supposed to for them. >> thelong awaited film describing the birth of the largest social networking site comes out today. the social network, it's called, follows mark zuckerberg as he creates facebook but not without alienating almost everyone he comes in contact with. the real mark zuckerberg has co out against this film saying it's fiction andnone of it happened as it does in the movie, he says. well, if you're looking for

something a little scarier, try "let me in." it tells the story of owen, the shy, introverted little boy who meets abbey, a new girl who just moved in next door. he quickly takes a liking to her but finds out she is not exactly the sweet little girl she appears to be. and the horrors continue with case 39 starringenee zelwegger and bradley cooper. she plays a social worker who takes a 10-year-old girl from her seemingly abusive pants. but the more she investigates the girl's case, the more bad things begin to happen until she realizes she's dealing with supernatural forces. up next, meteorologist chuck bell will be back with with another check of the forecast. dentures are softer than teeth.

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it's time now to take a lk at stories people in our area are talking abt. and joining us with a unique perspective is our friend from 10 107.3. how are you? good to have you with us. we're talking about "the real housewives of d.c.," that bravo show. i understand you've been watching. >> i hate to admiti've been watching it. it's for reseah for my job. i have to watch it. >> tell me what you think. >> gosh, i think it's boring, to be honest with you. you see new jersey and they're flipping tables and pulling weaves. this is a little more tame.

it's definitely the st boring of the housewives but -- >> oh, well that's not good, is it? no. there's also the salahis which are the giant force. >> we're told, tmz is reporting anyway, they have threatened to sue the other women on the show if they call them the white house party crasher >> if they even use the words because, aparently from the documents filed, it's not factual and it's not true. and their lawyer is lisa bloom who is gloria allred's daughter, so you know they mean business. they call one of those ladies. they're lawyered up and ready to go. >> now can you say it? >> i hope so. i su hope i can say it. white house crasher, white house crasher, white house crasher. i certaly hope i can say it. i don't think i was listed next to mary amos in the actual documents. but it's just amazing. it's so funny because the salahis if you watch, it's like a national geographic look into

delusion. e it's unbelievable. they just keep going through all these things. like last night michaele goes oprah has been a big part of our lives. how? because you watch her every day? how is oprah part of your life? >> do you think they should be paid like they are? >> i don't know who is writing the check. they must be. it was really interesting last night the producers actually talked to the salahis at one point. they broke down the fourth wall which was weird for reality tv. >> it is. telling us why. always great to see you. see you next week. >> absolutely. >> great. and coming up at 4:00, fear that a product designed to keep infants safe could be putting them in danger. tonight at 5:00 it's the story everyone is talking about, donovan mcnabb heads back to philadelphia to take on the eaes. and anything can can happen. we'll be watching. those stories plus your forecast tonight on news 4 at 4:00.

time for a final check on the forecast. hey, chuck. >> good morning, once again, barbara. yes, indeed, beautiful weather. there's increasing amounts of blueky overhead so it's going to be a beautiful friday afternoon. still on the blustery side, though. temperatures wilclimb into the upper 60s and low 70s with a gradual clearing trend and then foromorrow plenty of sunshine in the morning. a few clouds moving in by late saturday aernoon. highs in the upper 60s to near 7 70 degrees and as you're looking into the second half of the weekend, sunday mostly cloudy. a little chance of a passing shower. temperatures in the mid-60s. if you're driving to philadelphia for thegame, should be relatively good weather for the game. a little risk of a shower and temperatures in the mid-60s. so that is looking good for your weeken barbara? >> okay, chuck. thank you. and that's news 4 midday. we thank you for being with us and invite youo tune in for news 4 at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 and then at 11:00. we'll have news throughout the weekend and monday i'l be back for news 4 midday. we hope you'll join us. hi there. i'm ian wright

and i'm inveigating what makes aruba so happy. oh my word, that's fantastic.

♪ row your boat gentl down the stream... ♪ i' tell you what; it's not aloe vera the main export. it's happiness. i haven't even got baiton the e. i don't care; it's just nice sitting here. you're getting it. you're getting it. (vicki) previously on the real housewives... i definitely think we're at the point now where we are calling it quits. what happens if we go in circles