. good morning, everyone, and welcome to news4 midday. i'm barbara harrison. it's tuesday, may 3, 2011. we begin with breaking news in northern virginia this morning. deputies are on the scene right now of an apparent murder-suicide that left a husband and wife dead. it happened on burke street in sterling. they say it was william and kay

perry. when deputies arrived at the home, they found larry perry dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. his wife, kay perry, was also shot to death. neighbors say they're shocked to hear about this shooting. they described them as good people. the neighbors are hoping someone can help them understand what led to this morning's violence. >> wii been going from home to home to talk to residents to see if they heard anything going on at the time, if they know about any issues, we'll do a search of the home, see if there's any evidence left behind. >> investigators are looking into the possibility that financial troubles may have been a factor in this morning's murder-suicide. detectives say kay perry's mother was also inside the home at the time of the shooting, but she was not hurt. and in other news this morning, 48 hours ago, the mission to kill osama bin laden was carried out. and already the white house is releasing photographs from inside the situation room.

these official white house pictures show president obama and members of his national security team as they watched a live feed of the operation. you get an idea of how tense those 40 minutes were during the raid. also gathered around, secretary of state hillary clinton, vice president joe biden and john brennan. he described it as time passing like days and it was the work of the special operations forces. here's the latest on the raid and the impending investigation. >> three simultaneous investigations this morning, some in congress wanting to look more deeply into how bin laden has aided capture for so long. senators getting a cia briefing today. then the pakistani government claiming it did not know bin laden was on its soil says it is investigating. and finally the cia poring over

a treasure trove of information about the raid and figuring out what we need to know and what we do not. >> they're waiting for the code word, geronimo, to indicate success. >> we were not confident the mission was a success until all of our brave soldiers were able to come out and bring the body out. >> finally, a transmission from the ground commander. for god and country, he said, geronimo, geronimo, geronimo. we know two special ops teams infiltrated the property. one commando put two bullets in bin laden's head. his body was flown to vin where he was put to sea. this shows bin laden's compound. reporters described the million-dollar home as 500 yards down a dirt track in an area still under development.

what's strange about this house, besides the fact it's absolutely massive, is you can't see it. there are very high walls, 14 feet high. >> even though this top secret mission is over, the search for answers is just beginning. answers to questions like, how could bin laden live in plain sight for so long? >> i have to say i was surprised to learn where he was found. i think the general sense is that he was probably someplace up in the tribal areas. >> clearly there is some type of support network that provided him assistance. >> and did water boarding giving essential clues to bin laden's whereabouts. >> the enhanced interrogation program that we put in place produced some of the results that led to bin laden's ultimate capture. >> so there was no one critical bit of information that was provided by either a detainee or somebody else. what happened is it was a mosaic that was a over time. >> and will the white house and

pentagon release video and photographic proof of bin laden's death? >> in pakistan, there is a level of disbelief about this entire operation. huge skepticism, huge cynicism, a different pakistani mindset when it comes to osama bin laden. really, that it did not happen. >> bottom line, they want to see more evidence, and this week they may get it. and that's because the white house and pentagon are seriously considering releasing more proof of bin laden's death, although brennan defends the administration so far saying they've been forthcoming with a lot of information just hours after this mission ended and they're carefully assessing what the reaction could be if photos and video are made public worldwide. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, kimberly. >> president obama will travel to new york city later this week to mark the death of osama bin laden. the president plans to visit ground zero on thursday where the twin towers fell nearly a decade ago. he'll also meet with families of those killed in the 9/11 attack.

crowds have been gathering since the announcement of bin laden's death late sunday night. time magazine is issuing a special edition of bin laden's death. you can see the cover here, bin laden's face with a big red x over it. the issue will be available on news stands and on your ipod on thursday. stay tuned for news today and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage of bin laden's death. we'll look at some of the noticeable security changes taking place in our area since the death of bin laden. right now a member of the british monarchy is headed to washington, d.c., just days after his wedding. prince charles will spend a few days here. the supreme court is his first stop today. there he'll attend a reception for marshal scholarship alumni. then it's on to a reception at

the british ambassador's residence. this is also a busy day for newlywed prince william. he's going back to work today as a british search and rescue pilot. he and kate middleton postponed their honeymoon. still no word where they plan to go and when they'll go. and now turning to the weather here in our area, sunny and mild out there right now. tom says we could see some changes coming, though, but it certainly is pleasant and summer-like out there now. >> yes, it is. there's some humidity out there. it's not the typical sweltering humidity, but it is humid out there. nothing on radar yet. the radar is storm free for now, however, we could have some storms beginning to pop up, probably not yet for another five or six hours, though. temperatures hit 73 at reagan

international. it's in the mid-'70s in the shenandoah valley, columbia and the eastern shore. they're already in the upper 70s. and 78 degrees to our south will likely get in the mid-80s. here in washington, probably low 80s. look at columbus, ohio, cincinnati. only in the mid-40s right now. pittsburgh is only 49 degrees and that's the chilly air that's going to be coming our way. over the last 12 hours, a conveyor belt of rain from new mexico to the ohio valley is now about to come into the mountains and cross mountains and come into west virginia and come our way, but that is not going to be until later this afternoon. before then, though, partly sunny with temperatures hitting the low and mid-80s throughout much of the region. just a small chance of an isolated storm popping up this afternoon, and then a greater chance tonight. we'll look at tonight in detail as well as tomorrow, some changes. i've just analyzed some new

data. that will be coming up in a few minutes. >> tom, thank you. let's check on the driving out there, see if there's any problems you face heading out. here's tanya wilmer-hutchins. >> after pennsylvania, it will be slow in east capitol. let's take a look in virginia now. we're dealing with construction there as well, both northbound and southbound. this is the southbound traffic moving away from the camera. you can see the left lane is closed with cones up ahead. to the left of the screen is the express lanes and you can see the cones there as well. we also have a slowdown at 66 at route 7. just after 7, you'll have construction at the 267 merge moving eastbound through fall's church. back to you, barbara. >> thank you, tanya. this morning, prince george's county schools officially kicked off breakfast in the classroom. the program is designed to improve grades and childhood

development for all children. it's part of five major districts across the country receiving a charity from a walmart foundation grant. it provides free breakfast for all students and moves it from the cafeteria to the classroom at prince george's county schools. within the hour, a maryland teacher will receive a special honor at the white house. president obama will hold a special ceremony for michelle scherer. she is a chemistry teacher in frederick county. she's been in the maryland public schools for the last 14 years. cheryl plans to take the next year off to travel the country as a national advocate for public education. ten after 11:00 is our time right now, and coming up, the latest on the launch of the shuttle "endeavour." it's already been delayed twice, and nasa says what will happen now. a little too close for comfort. where

the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" has been delayed again. this time the launch will not happen before may 10. nasa says it will be at least friday before they'll be able to set the new launch date. they say they will need most of the week to make sure that there are no problems with the shuttle buns th once they replace that faulty switch. new today, french

investigators have two key pieces of evidence to help them determine what caused that air france plane to crash back in 2009. the plane took off from rio de janeiro headed for paris but hit a thunderstorm and crashed in the atlantic. over 200 people died. overnight a submarine recovered a voice recorder that should still contain conversations from the cockpit. they also located the flight's data recorder over the weekend. check out this video of a tornado in new zealand. the twister reached across parts of auckland today. it cut a three-mile-long path of destruction. roofs were ripped off and cars were tossed. the roof of one shopping mall reportedly collapsed. one person died and at least 20 people were injured. this area is the same area that was hit by an earthquake earlier this year. and for more amazing weather videos, this a water spout from this morning in hawaii. the spouts were seen near the honolulu international airport.

there were no reports of damage from these water spouts, but the island is under a flash flood warning due to the heavy rain. power was also knocked out on much of the island. and new estimates show there were more tornadoes in a single day last week than any other day in history. according to the national  weather service, 226 tornadoes touched down from wednesday morning to thursday morning. that's a record for a 24-hour period. last week's twisters killed more than 300 people and did millions of dollars in damage. the previous record was set in april of 1974 with 148 tornadoes in one day. and in the midwest, flooding fears have people scrambling. the mississippi river is up to historic heights right now and could spill over in the town of cai cairo, illinois. people are putting up sandbags to protect homes and businesses. the corps of engineers are planning to break the levee to

keep three feet of water from coming there. it's expected to crest late tomorrow or early thursday. tom joins us right now. what a weather system we've had all over the whole earth this last few weeks. >> well, and we're getting more video now than we ever used to. people have cell phones, we're getting more video. it's just a perception of increased activity, probably just normal spring weather throughout much of the world. here, well, more rain, unfortunately, for the mississippi valley and the ohio valley. today we've had storms and heavy downpours there this morning, and that storm system is going to be coming our way here later today, but right now no storms around the region. looking off to the west, it's a partly sunny sky. live picture from the sky watcher camera, american university there in the foreground. reagan international at . dewpoint 63. that's starting to get rather humid when the dew point gets above 60. winds out of the south-southwest at 50 miles an hour,

occasionally higher than that. no precipitation around the region yet. however, later this afternoon likely out here in the mountains of west virginia, the shenandoah valley first and perhaps to our south and west around charlottesville, that is the zone that will likely see perhaps some thunderstorms developing first and then they'll begin to move our way later in the afternoon, but nothing showing up on radar now. these are the current temperatures. we're in the 70s on the atlantic beaches, around the bay, and most of maryland and into the panhandle of west virginia. it's in the low to mid-70s now, but it's going to continue to climb. in fact, going to feel a lot like summertime in the next few areas, but to our west, it is much colder. in fact, there is a 30-degree difference between elkins, west virginia and cincinnati, ohio. just unbelievable out there. it's only in the 40s and some of that chilly air is coming our way here later tonight and into tomorrow morning. the conveyor belt already getting heavy showers down here

in kentucky. this is gradually tracking off to the east and will eventually wake its way here later tonight. here's the extent of that rain from southern ontario stretching all the way back down to mississippi and alabama. and unfortunately, where the big tornado hit around tuscaloosa, it's raining there now, and it's continuing to advance off to the east. the futurecast shows this area of green and blue ask arnd red,e are potential storms, and perhaps by 11:00 or 12:00, most of that will be gone. then we'll have some heavier downpours and just some rain and chillier temperatures, and most of that will be heading off to the bay. during the afternoon, we'll have our wind shift to go the north and west. getting gusty. may trigger a few isolated showers in the afternoon, but it looks like most of the rain will be done by noontime tomorrow. then late wednesday night into thursday morning, we'll have

sunshine returning. so the rest of this tuesday afternoon, partly sunny. just a small chance of an isolated storm popping up. that will be late afternoon and areas south and west of washington but not in the metro area. that will probably happen, though, tonight. we'll likely get some scattered storms this evening. some of them could be severe. there is a small risk that an isolated storm could produce some wind damage, maybe some hail as well as an isolated tornado. it is very important you pay attention to the forecast. you know the rule of thumb, if you hear thunder, get inside. turn on nbc4. we will let you know if a storm is threatening your neighborhood. then tomorrow, maybe some chilly showers. we'll be down in the low 50s by dawn, and during the day on wednesday, any morning and midday rain should be ending and a little sun may come out a little bit on wednesday afternoon, highs near 60. down in the 40s on thursday morning, but should be bright and sunny on thursday, highs reaching the upper 60s. on friday, partly cloudy, highs upper 60s.

there is a chance of a shower as an upper disturbance zips on through. saturday, partly cloudy, up near 70. good day for recreation or fun or working in the yard. and on sunday, possibility of some showers from late saturday night to midday sunday is the timing on that right now, and it does appear we'll dry out monday the first part of next week. pay attention to the forecast this afternoon and we'll let you know if there are any watches or warnings being issued. >> those water spouts in hawaii, is that unusual? >> not that unusual. certainly amazing to see one. water spouts are not that dangerous. the circular base is about 30, 35 miles an hour. >> very interesting. we have had our share across the earth, but as you say, we've got chamrameras and all kinds of recordings. >> a lot of it is filled with water and they don't rotate very much. usually the peak winds at the

base are around 30 to 35 miles an hour. but if you're in a boat, that's enough to capsize you. the midday traffic forecast now. tanya? >> let's take a look at 270 after montrose. not causing too much of a problem, but you will see cones or barrels if you're passing northbound. southbound all lanes are open, so nothing to worry about there. this is what it looks like at 270 at montrose. ninth street, no problems here to report. construction in the left lane as you're heading inbound away from the camera, so that's good news there. barbara? >> thank you very much. it's 11:21 now. have you noticed a mole on your arm or leg or another part of your body? what to look for if you're concerned about skin cancer. maybe you should be concerned. why grapefruit could be the answer to a pest-free summer.

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you can get an inside look at oprah's dream home in california. she'll appear for the first time on the nate berkus show. we talked to nate and found out

how he got a look inside the exclusive home. >> i did call oprah and said, hey, can we look at your house in california? i got a tour of the house. you let us in. i know my viewers would love to see what makes you house proud and love a private tour and an exclusive peek at how you're living, and oprah said, come on by. we flew out there and it was really a great time to really see what goes on behind the gates. >> and you won't want to miss the nate berkus show right here on nbc4. the fun starts at 2:00 this afternoon. late night talk show hosts are providing some comic relief to osama bin laden's death. here's jay leno's take on the historic moment. >> you know, before they made the announcement, the white house wanted to be absolutely certain it was bin laden. in fact, do you know who they brought in to do dna tests? maury povich. it is bin laden! maury povich made the

announcement. and it turns out bin laden was shot twice in the face, so it looks like dick cheney may have been involved. he played a role. >> another funny line. conan o'brien says osama bin laden is dead, which means the official number one threat to america is the kfc double down. 11:26 the time now, and coming up, a major show. the changes you'll see in the downtown area. firefighters are responding to a campus that led them to call police. tom is back. tom is back. he said enjoy the

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couple killed in a murder-suicide in sterling. detectives say larry perry shot and killed his wife kay perry and then turned the gun on himself. investigators are looking into the possibility that financial trouble was a factor that led to this morning's violence. and the white house and pentagon are weighing whether to release photos of osama bin laden's body. u.s. officials said this morning the leader of al-qaeda was killed by a shot to the head above his left eye. meanwhile, the cia is poring

over hard drives recovered from the compound. and leaders want to know why pakistan had no idea bin laden was in their country. the daily lives of americans changed in so many ways since the 9/11 attacks, especially with new heightened security measures. following the death of bin laden, there are no known immediate threats to the area, but local agencies are stepping up security. news4's tracy wilkerson reports. >> there is no threats from pakistan or the united states, for that matter. they're stepping up security. especially when this comes to mass transit, they say it's better to be safe than sorry. two days since the death of osama bin laden and the city of washington is on high alert. >> i'm worried. >> this morning at union station, the commuters bart, metro increased security. >> there was a uniformed officer on our platform walking back and forth.

>> and in downtown washington, d.c., offersicers are carrying s and walking around the city. they're also keeping an eye on area mosques, synagogues and water treatment plants. all of this is a good thing, especially on mass transit. >> there was an officer standing there, and i'm happy to see him. what else can they do to us after 9/11, so i'm just getting on and moving about my business. >> i think that just because we got osama does not mean that we are free and clear. i think that we need to be watchful and i think i'm happy that the government is providing us with that kind of support. >> i think it's good to be vigilant. i don't think we should let our guard down. osama may have been the leader but there is a whole network out there that we still need to be very cognizant of and very a ware of and keep tabs on. >> there is no word of how long this beefed up security will

last or how much it's going to cost, but officials have saying their first line of defense in this is the people. they're asking folks to report any suspicious activity. i'm tracy wilkins outside union station, news4. local and world leaders have been reacting to the death of osama bin laden since the president announced the news sunday night. this morning we're hearing from one of the closest advisers to president george w. bush. condoleeza rice was secretary of state under president bush from 2005 to 2009 and spoke with today's matt lawyer about pakistan's claim that they didn't know about bin laden's presence there. >> i'm quite certain that the administration, along with the pakistanis, wants to understand why osama bin laden could be so close to islamabad, really, in plain sight. that's not good for us and that's not good for pakistan. it's always a delicate matter with pakistan as to how much information really is warranted and how much information will be protected. >> rice also said she always believed bin laden was hiding

along the afghanistan/pakistan border. >> yesterday was a testament to the military's dedication andin relentlessly hunting down an enemy in many years of war. we thank president bush for having made the right call to set up this victory. >> sarah palin is making waves again with that reaction about the death of al-qaeda's leader. the former governor and vice presidential candidate made the remark monday night during a previously planned tribute to the troops at colorado christian university. palin thanked president bush and never once mentioned president obama by name in her remarks. we now know more about the navy s.e.a.l. team who executed the mission. when they first learned the -- who the target was going to be, there was a thunderous cheer, but make no mistake, this mission was carried out with intense preparation and pinpoint accuracy skriptd down to the

smallest detail. news4's jackie bensen spoke with the man who started s.e.a.l. team 6. >> this isn't just chasing anybody. this is the man, the symbolic figure. >> reporter: richard marsenco founded s.e.a.l. team 6 in 1990, and it was no surprise they were the ones to take down the elusive osama bin laden. as the commander said, he insisted operations that mirrored the target as closely as possible. they found where he was, in a compound set up virtually in pakistan. >> they know each other's move, they each sleep and drink together. it is a team effort. and it's a team job. that's why the s.e.a.l.s, why they got the edge. >> officials say the mission was years in the making. aided by intelligence from cia interrogations of high-rking

al-qaeda prisoners. >> we picked up items that had been collected during the clinton administration. we worked those aggressively for eight years. we passed that on to the obama administration. they picked it up and they've been working with it. >> marsenko says they chose to enter officials into the compound rather than bomb it from the air and increase the difficulty to get out of a fire fight of a man with 3,000 dead. priceless, he says. >> they won the world series and nobody got hurt, so they won the oscar, too. >> jackie bensen, news4. the men who carried out the mission will likely get no public recognition. and the story that went on inside the compound will probably never be told. he sent an e-mail congratulating his forces and warned them not

to talk about the raid, saying the fight is not over. the washington nationals honored men and women for their work in the war on terror. the team gave away hundreds of tickets to active and retired service workers. some said they wanted to thank the navy s.e.a.l.s as they watched them. >> i knew it would just be a matter of time. clearly you can run, you know, but you can't hide. >> it's a good feeling to know that some good things, positive things, are going on with this war effort. >> large crowds made their way to the pentagon memorial. many paused to reflect and remember lives lost on 9/11. and, again, we check in with tom on our weather that's going to change later on. when do you think the storms will start coming in, tom? >> maybe not until around sunset, a little later than that now. there's only a chance we'll see an isolated storm before then. no storms around now, no

precipitation within a couple hundred miles of washington. right now it's in the mid and upper 70s. upper shenandoah family, 70, winchester 78. as we look here at the view from space, we have this line of showers and some thundershowers embedded in that in tennessee ask kentucky. most of that will be passing to the north, but that line is drifting east and will be coming our way later today, perhaps by 6:00 and 7:00 this evening. so it's going to be an evening storm threat for us, it does look like, between around 7:00 p.m. to midnight. that's when there is the possibility of an isolated storm producing wind damage, hail, or maybe even a tornado. much cooler tomorrow. occasional showers. highs only near 60. sun back up, near 70. 70 saturday and partly cloudy. could get a shower sunday into

the 70s and dry monday. i'll be back with another update in a few minutes. >> okay. thanks, tom. another check of the midday traffic. tanya? >> in the district, d.c. 295 southbound. after pennsylvania we still have construction in the right lane. this is 95 at the springfield interchange. we still have volume in both directions. they're in the process of setting up the hov lanes to go southbound. if you're heading southbound, you may see some cones on the left side of the road as you head into woodbridge. let's take a look at the 14th street bridge inbound. today all the construction is out bound in the left lane, and we're doing okay 495 at the american legion bridge. no problems to report. back to you, barbara. this morning a driver is dead after a two-car crash in fairfax county. it happened on i-66 during afternoon rush hour yesterday. from chopper 4, you can see the debris scattered everywhere. a bmw lost control, hit a guardrail and then hit a ford

explorer, causing it to flip. the driver of the bmw was killed. firefighters found what looked like a gun while battling a blaze at a housing complex for american university students. it happened last night off wisconsin avenue in northwest. firefighters called in d.c. police. they determined it was a bb gun. and right now the montgomery county council is taking up a bill that could add a couple cents to your grocery bill. they're voting on professor leggift's bag proposal. it would add a couple cents to people in the community. they're trying to close a budget gap. you may not have to spray on repellant to keep off the bugs this summer.

anastasia bolton shows us this pest control. >> reporter: it only makes sense that someone called tick daddy -- >> you can see it's very, very small -- would find a problem to an age-old tick problem. >> his real name is tim dolan. >> this is derived from citrus products, in particular, grapefruit. we're very excited about the fact that everything we've tested, and we've tested ticks, fleas, fire ants, and it's been very effective on all those bugs. >> it's so successful that mark

sticks his repellant-treated hand into the lion's den of sorts. >> wow. these guys are hungry. they're all over me. holy cow, she wasn't kidding. these things are starving. >> but there is no food here. >> no bites. all clean. as the developer of these, we're not considered human subjects. >> his untreated hand, though -- >> i have a dozen mosquitoes on my hand already. >> -- is like a five-course meal. >> i'm being bitten on my fingers and back of my hand as we speak. >> mark has big plans. he wants to make bug cream and liquid soap. >> we want to make something that smells like grapefruit. something you can use every morning in the shower that hopefully might kill insects or ticks that might be harmful to you. >> i'm ready for it. as a bonus, grapefruit products

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virginia governor bob mcdonnell will get to ring the closing bell for the nasdaq stock market today.

investors are noting his efforts to reduce state spending since taking office a year ago. and training is a year away on wall street. investors will be looking for reports on auto sales and factory orders. good morning. >> hi, barbara. also looks like the earnings rally from last week is losing a bit of its momentum. we see the nasdaq down 14, the s&p down 1. good news on auto sales. general motors, the first of the major american auto workers to report monthly sales in april say those sales jumped 26%, much higher than analysts expected. gm, the biggest seller of american autos, say the sale of its compact cars and compact autos are just as strong. pfizer was up 10% due to a smaller tax bill. wup from just over 2 billion or

25 cents a share a year ago. excluding one-time items total income would have topped 1.58 billion or 60 cents a share. factory orders surging in march. new orders from manufactured goods rose 3%, according to the commerce department. it's the fifth straight monthly increase. orders total 43.60 billion, well above analysts forecasts. we're looking for sales from comcast and mastercard. barbara? >> thanks so much, hampton. have a great day. >> okay. skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the united states. the most dangerous form of skin cancer, of course, is melanoma. in fact, one person dies of melanoma every hour. dr. cheryl bridges joining us again this morning to talk about screening for skin cancer and recognizing the early warning signs. we've talked in the past about

the importance of using sunscreen. i know this is cancer awareness month as we go into summer months. but we don't talk so often about how you check your own skin to look for the possibility of skin cancer. >> that's correct. and i think most people do not look at their bodies in general, and that's where you have to start. you have to be able to recognize growths, new growths, existing growths or birthmarks that you were born with to see if they are changing. so i recommend people get a mirror and start from head to toe. what bothers me probably the most is when people come into my office for the skin exam and they're not prepared. so just some tips to -- when you go see your dermatologist, women, don't wear nail polish and toe nail polish because we need to look at your nails. >> are there moles on the nails? >> yes. melanoma can occur anywhere on the body or in the body, so it's

one of the cancers that does not discriminate. it's not necessarily related to your sun exposure. someone in iowa can have melanoma just like someone in florida. it's just one of the additional cancers that we hear about, like lung cancer and colon cancer. melanoma is another type of cancer that typically you see it appear first on the skin, but it can also be internal. >> now, i have heard that melanoma often shows up in places that you would not normally look, like behind your leg or under the breast or someplace that you don't normally see. under your arm. >> exactly. in non-sun-exposed areas, like through the scalp. so it's very important, if you go to a stylist or barber, have them look through your scalp. if it's someone you frequent their shop that they would notice if there was something new there. women, when they go get a pedicure or manicure, i know

that's our relaxation time, but look when they take the nail polish off if you constantly wear nail polish. >> let's talk about what you should be looking for. what does it look like? it's not going to be particularly large. >> no, not necessarily, but they can grow very fast. and the thing that i tell patients is a majority of melanomas do not occur in existing moles. they come out of the blue, say in an area where you know you didn't have anything there. then the next probably common area comes is at an existing mole. so looking at the moles that you're born with, looking at the moles that you've had most of your life, check to see if -- we call it the abcde's of melanoma. we look for asymmetry, irregular border, variation in color. a mole should be a solid color. it may change in color from different areas of the body, but that particular mole should be the same color.

the diameter, it should pretty much stay the same size most of your life. and evolution or how it evolved. it should not grow twice or three times the size in less than six months. >> now, are people of scandinavi scandinavian descent, irish descent, more susceptible? >> initially that's what we thought. i think the higher incidence of melanoma is in australia and they attribute it to more sun exposure, but again, they're out in the sun more. the incidents in the states varies. in alaska you can be diagnosed with melanoma. so it's not necessarily discriminating as far as racial, location, climate, and again, they can occur under the clothing in a bathing suit distribution where you've never had sun exposure. >> can melanoma be treated successfully if it's detected

early? >> if it's detected early, there is a better survival rate than if you let it go for even a few months. some people who go undetected, in six months they can be gone. they can die from their disease. so it's very, very important that people recognize and go for their annual exams, particularly we say if you have more than 50 moles on your body. it's impossible for you to examine yourself and keep track of them. at the physician's office, particularly dermatologists is who i would recommend, we can do photo mapping and a lot of different images to follow a mole if there is some suspicion about that growth. >> and this goes for teenagers, for young children, for older people, everyone should be aware. >> yeah. it's the number one cancer in the age group of 35 and younger. so yes. >> 35 and younger. >> yes. >> that's surprising. i didn't realize that. then we should be checking our

children and ourselves. >> yeah. >> thank you, doctor. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> this month we're facing a lot of sunshine, we hope. 11:51 right now. coming up, gator versus car and who

earlier this hour, a bronze statue of president gerald ford

was dedicated in the capitol rotunda. workers delivered the statue on friday. ford was the only president to serve the office without being elected president or vice president. he represented michigan in the house of representatives before becoming vice president ford when nixon resigned and then became president when nixon resigned. the caps are in a hole after losing the first two games at home. the primary culprit for the caps, lack of success is in the power play. they went zero for six in sunday's game with an extra man. they were 0-6 in suspendnday's with an extra man. they tried to reverse that in tampa. you can catch that game on versus starting at 6:30. >> good morning.

coming up this afternoon on news4 at 4:00, a revealing interview with steve tyler about his drug abuse and how much money he spent on drugs. also ahead at 4:00 today, what sparked this chaos in the courtroom. the prosecutor was the one targeted. it's a popular choice for mother's day, but who has the best deal on flowers? liz crenshaw hit the streets to see if local businesses can trump the on-line competition. and it's our on-line question of the day. should the u.s. release an image of osama bin laden's body? weigh in on that. we want to know what you think about it. log on to nbc washington's facebook page and we'll start tonight at 4:00. barbara? >> time for a final check of the forecast. tom? >> there are clouds beginning to build but nothing showing on radar now. we're in the mid to upper 70s throughout much of the region. that is rain and a few thundershowers. no storms yet, though, but it is

beginning to head off farther to the east. should be coming toward the metro area probably not until late afternoon or early this evening. that's when we do have increased threat for some storms, some of which could produce damaging winds, hail, maybe even an isolated tornado. until then, though, we should make it in the low 80s. then some chilly rain as we have our rain shift ing in the northwest. highs only near 60 tomorrow. upper 60s thursday and friday. small chance of a shower friday. mother's day weekend, might get some showers on mother's day sunday. overall, the weekend looking dry. >> all right, tom. thank you very much. a florida sheriff's deputy faced off with an ornery suspect who bit off more than he could chew. the deputy had answered a call about an animal causing a nuisance. he came face to face, or rather, grille to snout, with the suspect. a 7-foot gator bit into the front bumper of the deputy's

cruiser and refused to let go. the deputy tried backing up. that didn't work. eventually the alligator gave up. a licensed trapper came in to catch him. luckily nobody was hurt, but the bumper has apparently seen some much better days. that gator looked like he was pushing the car but i guess the deputy was actually backing up. that's news4 midday. we invite you to tune in for some more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and then again at 11:00. have a great day and we'll see you in the morning.