like the people who live in the house were actually blown out of the house and to the corner of the neighbor's yard. two people are hospitalized right now after an explosion in montgomery county destroys a home early this morning. the second explosion in a home in this area in just one week. good morning and welcome to news 4 midday, i'm barbara harris. and we begin this morning with new information on the condition of the couple injured in this explosion today. fire officials now tell us the wife's injuries are life threatening.

the blast happened on the 11,000 block of ashley drive in montgomery county just after 3:00 this morning. as you can see the home was completely flattened in the explosion. the cause has not yet been determined. but investigators aren't ruling out gas. both the husband and wife suffered serious injuries and burns in the blast. neighbors expressed disbelief when they realized the house was actually gop. >> i looked out the front window and i couldn't believe it. the house was gone. everything was in flames. i'm still just kind of in shock about this. i really don't understand what happened. >> there's a significant amount of debris not only on the property it self but actually in trees across the street. the debris has flown approximately 50 yards from the home in any direction. there was minor to moderate direction done to the two adjacent homes. >> utilities in the surrounding neighborhood have been shut off until the cause of the blast can

be determined. neighbors say the couple moved into the home just a couple of days ago. earlier this week a similar scene in triangle, virginia, when a gas blast leveled a home there. this morning we're getting a closer look at what's left there. the owner of the home was actually inside at the time of the explosion. several neighbors rushed to pull him out of the rubble before a small fire started. he's expected to be okay. the home had just been completed -- just finished five years of renovation and the new tenant was in the process of moving in. investigators have condemned the home and it will be demolished. and new at midday an accident involving two school buses happened at string town road and route 355 in montgomery county. eastbound string town was shut down for a time at st. clair road. as many as nine children and one adult suffered minor injuries. they are still working to completely clear that scene right now. new information now in the death

of osama bin laden. white house officials are adjusting their account of the raid that killed the nation's most wanted it terrorist. savannah guthrie reports new details are raising new questions. >> reporter: the president moments after receiving a private standing ovation from his cabinet sidestepping the question about the mission that took out osama bin laden. >> what do you say -- >> thank you very much, guys. >> reporter: the administration is releasing new details about the operation, revealing that bin laden was unarmed when a commando shot him on the third floor of his secret compound, though officials insist he resisted capture and taking him prisoner was not an option. >> there were many other people armed in the region -- i mean in the compound. there was a firefight. >> reporter: bin laden's young wife in the room with him rushed one of the special forces, according to the administration, and was shot in the leg. bin laden himself was shot once above his left eye and twice in the chest. >> the vote is 97-0.

>> reporter: as the u.s. senate passed a resolution honoring the s.e.a.l.s who pulled off the daring mission, the administration was intensely debating whether to release a photograph of bin laden's body to prove he was killed. sources who have seen the images describe them as gruesome, the terrorist leader's face recognizable but bloodied, a substantial wound above his left eye, blood and brain tissue visible. nbc's brian williams with cia director leon panetta. >> the government obviously has been talking about how best to do this but i don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public. obviously i've seen those photographs. we've analyzed them and there's no question that it's bin laden. >> reporter: but the final call rests with the president and the white house is still weighing the desire to provide conclusive evidence with worries about inflaming the muslim world.

on capitol hill opinions were divided. >> what i've heard of the pictures they're not worse, they're not going to scare people off. they're not offensive. >> i think it's morbid and i won't be yelling to make the photo public. >> reporter: president obama will be at ground zero in new york tomorrow to mark the death of the man who masterminded the attacks on the world trade center and the pentagon. mr. obama invited former presidents george w. bush and president clinton to attend with him, both were in office during al qaeda attacks on u.s. interests. george bush has thanked the president but declined the offer. and bill clinton is said to be unl unlikely to attend because of a scheduling conflict. president obama's approval rating appear to have gotten a boost. a new poll from "usa today" suggests 32% of americans feel a lot more confident about president obama as commander in chief. 39% of the people polled said that they are more confident in the war against terrorism.

an overwhelming 98% also said the u.s. military deserves a great deal of credit for the successful operation. and turning to the weather in our area right now it's rainy and cool. you can see all those clouds above us in this live picture. tom joins us live to tell us how long the rain -- i do see a little bit of blue, tom. don't we see it now? >> the rain has ended right in washington. our viewers here just east of us in prince george's county, still raining and as well as in charles, calvert and st. mary's. points west, mounted 300 feet above northwest washington looking to the west off on the horizon is loudoun county in the extreme foreground is northwest washington. you can see, yes, the cloud cover has broken up and we are beginning to get some sunshine breaking out there but look at the rain that continues to fall. there's the ray dashgs the time lapse over the last three hours showing this conveyor belt of moisture has spread off to the east. now continues to advance across the bay and over the last hour

we've actually had a little bit of thunder and lightning, too, on the eastern shore but that has dissipated. the latest radar showing a few lingering sprinkles in prince george's county and in st. mary's, calvert, anne arundel and on the eastern shore. west of us we're beginning to dry out. it does look like a few sprinkles out of the mountains yet so we're not quite out of the woods with this system yet because we still have an upper level disturbance to come over and give us cloudiness. the other thing is how chilly it is. still in the mid and upper 40s though the sun has broken out in the shenandoah valley. they have climbed into the low 50s there. out of the mountains in the mid-40s now and for the rest of the afternoon we'll have quite a bit of cloudiness though we should see sunshine in and out. the clouds may return into the afternoon but no more rain where it has stopped except out of the mountains, a few sprinkles. highs may get into the upper 50s near 60 midafternoon. a look at big changes tonight, tomorrow, into the weekend coming up. >> yesterday i was ready to put

away jackets and sweaters. >> didn't last long. >> we'll have it soon enough. a check on road conditions right now. see how traffic is moving out there. here is tanya hutchins. the wet weather is slowing things down. a look at 395 inbound at the 14th street bridge. we did have very slow traffic there earlier. it is improving, though. we do have a little bit of volume with the construction and the wet weather. it may also be slow if you're heading in before duke street. just heading in on 395 northbound. 95 at dale city and virginia. we had an earlier accident right after dale city. that's gone. delays have eased from dale boulevard. and top side of the beltway we're seeing an improvement here as well. it had been very slow just a few minutes ago between new hampshire avenue and georgia avenue. back to you. >> okay, thank you very much. and we'll be with you again shortly. prince charles is at georgetown university right now speaking at a conference about sustainable agriculture. the prince is in town for a three-day visit to washington.

megan mcgrath is live at georgetown with more on today's events. hi, megan. good morning. >> reporter: the prince of wales is still speaking here. he's at a conference that's being held here on the campus of georgetown university. now, of course, prince charles is very committed to the idea of sustainable agriculture. and during his visit in washington he spent a good deal of his time promoting that very cause and he's doing so right now in the speech he's giving. needless to say the fact that he is here caused quite a bit of ruckus here on campus. a number of people willing to wait in the rain in order to catch a glimpse and the prince actually stopped and chatted with students as he made his way into that conference. not exactly the huge crowd that gathered for will and kate's wedding, but these georgetown students braved the cold and rain in order to catch a glimpse

of prince charles. >> i've been obsessed with the royals especially with all the hype from the wedding. i want to let him know i'm here for prince harry. >> it would be cool to see prince charles. i don't know when i'll have an opportunity to do so. i think it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. >> reporter: the prince of wales is in washington promoting one of his favorite causes, sustainable organic agriculture. he came to the georgetown campus to deliver the keynote speech at the future of food conference. >> if we do not work with within nature's system, then nature will fail to be the durable, continuously sustaining force she's always been. by safeguarding the resilience can we hope to have a resilient form of food production and ensure food security in the long term. >> reporter: despite the dreary bert, prince charles did stop to chat with the students. vanessa doorsman snapped several photos. >> he was very polite, really nice. he was really talkative and everything. almost as if he wanted to get to

know us. >> very dignified. i mean, i would expect nothing less from him. he's royalty, a prince. been there for a while. it was nice to see that in person. >> reporter: and the georgetown students are going into final exams so they should be studying right now. a couple of the students told us that. and apparently, according to once of the students, prince charles knew that, he knew they were going into finals week and actually was a little concerned that they were out here in the rain wait to go see him and weren't in the library actually studying. needless to say the folks that got a chance to see him, talk to him were thrilled to get that opportunity. barbara? back to you. >> i can imagine. thank you so much. it is now 11:11. coming up, concern over security on mass transit on capitol hill right now. lawmakers are hearing from tsa and fema leaders. and raging waters are wreaking havoc in a number of states in

the

right now lawmakers are holding a homeland security hearing on the safety of mass transit systems. they're trying to ensure the security of passengers in the wake of the death of osama bin laden. and chairman of the committee on homeland security, representative peter king, says we need to pay particular attention to our country's

subways, trains, and buses. >> millions of riders every day use mass transit. the real itty ity is is it's th difficult thing to secure, the most vulnerable. the it terror plot that could be in retaliation for the killing. still, they warn that mass transit systems in major cities across the country remain attractive targets. and right now parts of the m midwest are under water after days of torrential downpours led to major flooding. the mississippi river has already swallowed some neighborhoods in member it fis and is threatening to inundate even more homes with floodwaters. several major roads in arkansas are also under water this morning. the flooding is devastating mississippi which has already been struck with last week's deadly tornadoes, you'll remember. >> this flood is going to be historic based upon the prediction of the national weather service.

>> in illinois the army corps of engineers blew up a levee and flooded 130,000 acres of land and destroyed 100 homes in the hopes of saving a community from flooding. and some new video shows why two missouri national guardsmen are being called heroes. they saved an elderly woman from powerful floodwaters. the 93-year-old was rescued by tow rope. and we have really seen a lot of bad weather, all kinds of things going on, as we mentioned yesterday, all around the world. but here in our country quite a bit. >> yeah, well, we don't have that much rain here this morning thankfully. the system that gave us the rain did not cause many in the way of flooding. we had ponding of water but it was moving quickly enough and has moved off now that things are beginning to recede although the creeks and streams are running high. there's a beautiful blue sky off to our west. a live picture from the sky

watcher camera looking west from our vantage point in upper northwest washington. the rain has ended here now but it is chilly. just 46 degrees now at reagan national and the wind out of the north/northwest has been blustery. recent gusts over 25 miles an hour. now the radar in time lapse over the last hour has been showing the last of the rain exiting washington, moving across prince george's county and now into anne arundel, calvert, charles, st. mary's and it's now heading off across the bay and beginning to move away. we'll get a bit of a clearing, a look at the rainfall totals we had. about three-quarters of an inch in the panhandled of west virginia. three-quarters in washington county. closer to washington anywhere from half an inch to around 0.8 as did southern maryland and much of virginia. the higher amounts were down towards charlottesville. they have about an inch of rain from the system and it has stopped there now. and the temperatures are certainly chilly here for the 4 4th day of may.

it's only 46 at reagan national. where the sun has been breaking out the last hour, it's rebounding nicely now. shenandoah valley is at the mid-50s there but still raining on the eastern shore, only near 50 degrees there. out in the mountains of western maryland, west virginia, many locations in the low to mid-40s on this wednesday morning. over the last 12 hours the last of the rain exiting. we've had a front come on through. a few sprinkles with an upper level disturbance. now the wider view showing that we have a large area of high pressure that will be moving in from the tennessee valley will be tracking right over the top of us, drying things out as we get into tomorrow. we have some sunshine. also some very chilly temperatures. some locations in the mountains may have a freeze tomorrow morning. parts of southern west virginia, maybe even the central and southern shenandoah valley. there may be a freeze. as we go over the next 48 hours, winds will diminish as the high pressure pushes in. cloudiness around tomorrow but lots of sunshine. as we get into friday, though, here comes another weather system, this area blue and

green, some light rain. it's an upper level disturbance passing over the top of us. a few sprinkles on friday. but for the rest of this wednesday we'll have the sky partly cloudy from time to time and may fill with clouds and then sunshine built back in and we'll have the temperatures recovering into the 50s to near 60 degrees and then overnight tonight we'll have still a most ly cloudy evening but the wind continuing out of the north and west so it will feel chilly though we'll be in the 50s. then after midnight, it will continue to drop as we clear out all the way down to near 40 degrees starting off tomorrow morning. so quite a chill starting off thursday morning and during the day tomorrow, lots of sunshine and we'll have temperatures climbing to upper 60s tomorrow afternoon but that wind still a bit gusty tomorrow, too, out of the north and west up to around 25 miles an hour but the wind will diminish. another chilly start friday morning, down into the 40s but

afternoon highs and then as a disturbance comes through late on friday a passing shower, maybe an isolated thundershower, just a small chance of that. now we head into the mother's day weekend. the all-important mother's day weekend. saturday looking great. afternoon highs, low 70s, lots of sun. for mother's day itself, though, it does look like we may have a few passing showers. highs reaching the mid-70s. partly sunny, monday and tuesday as we get into next week and that is the way it looks, barbara. >> saturday looks like the good day for the weekend. >> it does for now. >> thank you, tom. and we're going to check on midday traffic now. what's it looking like out there? we do have an accident reported in the district. police are on the scene. let's take a look now at the beltway which has been improving in the last 20 minutes. 495 at the american legion bridge. no major problems to report. we do have some volume. outer loop on the right. no major delays so that's the good news. 95 in virginia just north of the occoquan, no delays here either

so that is good news. that is southbound to the right of your screen. a little bit slow traffic, 66 at sycamore. i know it's dark but eastbound is on the left. this should be improving in a while. back to you, barbara. >> all right, thank you. it's 11:20. still ahead, dealing with grief. how the loved ones of 9/11 victims are dealing with the news of osama bin laden's death. ♪ how would we ever get through what would we do about you ♪ plus, the new stage production celebrating the music

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they are songs most people recognize from broadway shows and now they're being showcased in the production of side-by-side sondheim. what an exciting thing and to be in in washington, the economy being down and everything, but people love to go to the theater. >> they do. especially here in washington, d.c d.c.,. it has a thriving theater community as with the ellen

hayes awards last week and it was excite to go see how much wonderful theater is happening. >> what are some of the songs that it includes and what are some of your favorites? >> well this deals with the earlier part of steven's career. this is essential ly the first half of his career because the show was produced in london in the '70s. it only takes his earlier days as a lyricist up until his days as lyricist and composer. so we do shows from that time period all the way through follies which is also going to have a run at the kennedy center starting this month. >> do you think often as a singer lyricists get the attention that they deserve to get? >> well, i think it's interesting. i do think that lyricists sometimes get forgotten. but in musical theater, the one lyricist who never gets forgotten is steven sondheim. he wasn't that happy in his early career that he was only

known as a lyricist but as he grew into it, it was his lyrics that set him apart. >> that song is from which show? >> this is from "company." this is the title song of the show, so this is "side by side." the review is called "side by side by sondheim" but this is a piece by company. >> sondheim has won academy awards, multiple tony awards, more than any other composer, multiple grammy awards, even a pulitzer you told me he got. >> he wrote with james opine. >> and some of those songs are just incredible and he wrote for so many shows, end of the woods and "west side story" which i don't think people thought he was involved with. >> true. >> as matt says in the show, leonard bernstine got so much attention for having written the score but they didn't in the original reviews even mention sondheim's name as being a lyricist. >> so do people leave the show smiling from what you've been

seeing? >> absolutely. >> they have been. they really, really have. >> the three of us, our third castmate is sherry, a local star. >> wonderful. >> we just adore each other and have so much fun up there. >> so what's your favorite of the songs you get to sing? >> oh, gosh. that's a good question. i would say -- well, i sing "broadway baby." >> want to sing a little for us. ♪ i'm just a broadway baby >> oh. ♪ walking off my tired feet tired is right. i'm tired today. >> well, it sounds good to me. how about your favorite of the songs? >> i get to sing a lot of great songs. i sing "something's coming" from "west side story" and we sing a lot of great duets, a lot of fun duets we get to sing together and a fun little trio we sing at the end of act one which if you come and see the show that's something to look forward to, to stay for. >> speaking of coming to see the show, we know it's at the signature. it runs through when? >> june 12th. >> and tickets are available

through ticketmaster or signature theater.org. thank you so much for coming in to talk to us about it. i'm excited about seeing the show. >> we can't wait to have you there. thanks a lot it is now 11:27. in the next hatch hour, quick work by police in german up to, how investigators track down a murder suspect at a local shopping center. pl plus, remembering 9/11. why some are traveling to new york this week for a piece of

right now fire officials say that the condition of a woman who was thrown from her home when it exploded early this morning is worsening. the woman's injuries are now considered life threatening. her husband also suffered serious injuries in the blast but is expected to be okay. firefighters are still investigating the cause of the explosion but are not ruling out a gas leak. the white house now says osama bin laden was not armed when he was confronted by a group of navy s.e.a.l.s at his compound in pakistan. officials say he resisted arrest and was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest. and new today, a 22-year-old man is dead after police say his roommate stabbed him. it happened at a town home in the 13,000 block of county ridge

drive in germantown. the roommate took off to a shopping center where he called police. they arrested the 27-year-old man a short time later. we have some good news if you're a pepco customer. you could be about to save some money on your electric bill. it's cutting its rates from maryland and d.c. customers. you will save about $22 a month. in the district about $10. pepco says it's lowering its rates because of lowering energy prices. it purchases it from wholesale suppliers. starting next year you'll have to pay a 5 cent bag tax in montgomery county. they will impose an extra fee on all retail establishments, not just stores that sell food. the tax applies to both paper and plastic bags. it's expected to reduce litter and generate about $1 million a year. part that have money will fund free reusable bags are for the poor and elderly. the move mirrors a similar

measure in the district. >> we're hoping it's going to clear up but i don't think so. >> it has. we have some sunshine breaking out now here in northwest washington. there's a live picture from our sky watcher camera. the clouds are beginning to build back in again so even though it breaks out with some sunshine it may cloud back up again for a time. so some in and out sunshine here for the rest of the afternoon. there's the last of the rain now exiting -- beginning to exit southern maryland. still raining and across the bay onto the eastern shore as well. they are still getting some rain there. but what a chill in the air this morning but where the sun is broken out, temperatures where it's raining a still generally in the 40s to near 50 but that rain ending for the rest of the afternoon will have it warming back into the 50s and near 60 with partly sunny sky and then clearing out late tonight and by dawn tomorrow cold. down just near 40 degrees. tomorrow morning maybe even scattered frost. and then during the afternoon

warming up nicely into the upper 60s with sunshine. partly cloudy friday near 70 and saturday into the low 70s. sunday mother's day might get a few passing showers. into the 70s again. that's the way it looks, barbara. >> some d.c. students will test new metro i.d. cards similar to smart trip cards. "the washington post" is reporting about 500 students at the school without walls in northwest will test the d.c.-1 card. unlike the passes students use now the new card comes with a chip that can track usage. metro also has the ability to disable the cards during nonschool hours. if the agency deems it a success it could expand to other schools this fall. we have a warping, if you take route 50 through arlington it's about to undergo a major makeover. route 50 known as arlington boulevard in that area will be r renovated near courthouse road. the two-year, $39 million

project will include new ramps and bridges as well as a pedestrian path and a bike path as well. in the meantime, drivers will have to deal with staggered closures of the tenth street and courthouse road bridges. fairfax drive will also be closed between those two bridges. >> what this project is going to do is separate that local traffic from the through traffic. >> vdot insists all three lanes of arlington boulevard will be open in both directions during rush hour. the project should be completed by november of 2013. let's see how traffic is moving right now. one incident in fredericksburg, 95 northbound at route 3. there's an accident over on the right shoulder. as far as 95 is going, at the springfield interchange we do have some volume in both directions just south of the beltway but no major delays to report as we get to turn around the hov lanes in the center there. as you head southbound, the

delays have eased near dale city. to maryland, 495 at colesville road. we have some improvements. top side of the beltway on both loops. it had been very slow early this morning. we're doing okay right now and 66 and gallows, that's eastbound to the right, heading to the beltway. no delays. all major lanes are open. back to you, barbara. >> okay, thank you. prince william county leaders will travel to new york hoping to bring back a small reminder of the 9/11 attacks. remnants of the world trade center are now being divided up at a storage facility. it's a tribute to local victims. local leaders are hoping to secure an artifact to display at the freedom park where the 9/11 memorial is. >> they will tell us the size of the steel that they need. >> from stanton, virginia? >> left at 2:00 a.m. >> they want a piece of what happened that day. this is evidence of forever what happened. >> 22 people from prince william

county were killed in the 9/11 attacks. well, people across our area and across the country have reacted to the news of osama bin laden's death in very different ways. sunday night large crowds gathered in front of the white house celebrating the news but for some people who lost loved ones on september 11th, it has been an emotional week. we're joined now by dr. joshua winart and how people deal with grief. a the lot of people reacting in different ways. some people celebrating as you saw there. some people probably feeling very sad remembering what happened. let's talk about the families of those people who lost loved ones. is it easier to lose someone in a mass event like what we saw on 9/11 as opposed to someone who is killed in a single automobile crash? >> i think there are certain things that people can benefit from when they've lost a loved

one in a mass event like 9/11. primarily what they're gathering is a accepts of camaraderie, that they're not experiencing the loss on their own. they have other people they can share their story with. people going through similar circumstances. but the thing you have to remember is that the grief process is such an individualized process. there's no one way that people grieve. so some people might find it helpful to know that lots of other people are sharing their grief and other people might find that troublesome, in particular people who have lost loved ones with 9/11 they may have trouble with the grief reminders, the newscasts constantly showing up. those are going to be things that might make it more difficult for them to sort of progress in their grief. >> now you speak of individual reaction, what about that individual reaction to the killing of osama bin laden. do you think most of those who have grieved the 9/11 event are happy or excited or this gives

them some solace? >> i think the reactions are probably going to vary but speaking on the whole, i think some people are going to feel that closure has occurred. justice has been served. they're going to be able to feel like they can close the book on this a little bit more easily but i also think that people are probably going to be a little surprised that they don't feel better than they do. they might think that all these years if we could just get osama bin laden that will really help me have a sense of closure and i think some people might be disappointed to find out that, in fact, that's not really making that huge of a difference for them. >> now we know that it was hard -- particularly hard on the people who actually lost loved ones but for us in this country as a whole that was a very devastating time ten years ago. where are we when you talk about the stages of grief? where are we now as a country? >> that's a very hard question. when we talk about the stages of grief, really those stages were

developed for people who were coping with their own loss. so we talk denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then acceptance which is the final stage. that is moved to represent the way people who are grieving the loss of somebody else feels when, in fact, it's really having to do with how you feel yourself. i think as a whole probably. ten years the country is moving past this. we're probably at the acceptance phase if we're going to provide a term for it. i think we're doing better. because this is constantly in the news, it's a constant reminder and a kconstant pullin off of the band-aid, so to speak. >> with this reminder now that we are getting through all of the news accounts of the death of osama bin laden, are we going to feel good as a country? are we going to be reminded and be in a depression again as we felt back then ten years ago? >> i think on the whole people are going to feel better. i think you see it right now. people are talk iing about thisn

the whole people feel good about the fact that osama bin laden's been brought to justice. so i think on the whole it helps. it does create some challenges, though. one of the things i've been thinking about this week since i deal with kids in my practice is the difference between killing and the fact that we send a message to kids that hurting people and killing is wrong yet we see people celebrating. >> quickly tell me what should parents be saying to their children is this. >> i think you keep it very simple and very direct. you talk to the child at their age. and i think you tell them that osama bin laden was a very mean man who did very hurtful things and people are celebrating 23409 because he died but because he can no longer hurt people anymore. keep it simple. >> a good explanation. thank you. always great to see you. >> thank you. it is 11:41. still ahead, how the d.c. government is dealing with the rising price of gas. plus, a mother's day gift that could put more than just a s

the d.c. government is investing in the hybrid electric cars, a way tooff set escalating gas prices. the city now has two chevrolet volts in its fleet. it can go about 40 miles on a full charge at a cost of pennies a day. george hopkins drives one of those cars. the new vehicles are praised because they are environmentally

friendly. checking gas price this is morning aaa reports the average price of a regular gasoline in the district is $4.18. in maryland, $3.97. virginia at $3.87. in west virginia $4.11 on average. stocks are starting the day much lower. we'll check with courtney reagan who joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. we're going to go back to her in just a moment. but first we're going to talk about mother's day. it's this sunday. if you're looking for an opportunity to honor your mother or someone else in your life we have a lot to talk about. the meals on wheels association of america is con tuducting mea for moms campaign. joining us this morning is the president and ceo of meals on wheels association. welcome. glad to have you with us today. >> thank you for having me. >> tell us exactly how the program is going to work. >> well, what we're trying to do, barbara, is raise 50,000

messages of hope, cards that we're going to give to seniors. they are receiving meals and wheels and they have nobody else in their lives. so we're trying to say to them, we're going to give you a nutritious meal and we're going to give you some hope. give you a card so you can remember there's somebody out there who loves you. >> we understand there's as many as 6 million seniors facing the threat of hunger in america and you say that number is growing. >> unfortunately, that's true. the reality is that we are the richest nation on the face of the earth and yet we have people in our own communities who are going hungry. unfortunately, many of those are se seniors themselves and, yes, there are 6 million of them today, probably more by the end of this year. as the economy is tanked, things have gotten very, very bad. we have more people who are desperately in need of our programs. >> now how do you find them? how does meals on wheels find these people so that you can help them? >> well, oftentimes they are referred to us by their children who live somewhere else and say i want to take care of my mom. i'm not there every day. can you take care of her?

i live in ft. lauderdale and my mom lives in bethesda. there are 5,000 meals on wheels programs throughout the united states and we're serving in excess of 1 million meals a day but we really believe we probably need about 2 million meals more a day. >> and mostly elderly people, what about children? are they served by this as well? >> right now our programs are for those 60 years of age or older. if you are disabled there are lots of programs for children. our programs are for seniors. believe me, we will feed everybody who needs it. first we have to take care of those seniors because that's the charge of our programs. >> tell us about -- where do you take them? is it breakfast, lunch and dinner or how do you do it? >> we serve nutritious meals. it's a lunch time meal and they get proportions are terrific. it's good food, all nutritious. these are the foods you and i would eat. it's great. >> a hot meal? >> a hot meal and good food. >> and who delivers those meals? >> the beauty is we have 1.7

million volunteers delivering those meals and the preponderance are seniors themselves. we always need volunteers who are on the lookout for volunteers right here in our own community in the d.c. area. >> describe for me some of the reactions of the people who deliver? we're looking at pictures after senior getting her meal delivered. what do people say? how do the seniors react when they see this meal coming in? >> for most of these seniors that may be the only person they see all day. beyond the food, the meal, they are getting the comfort and compassion of someone wanting to know how you're doing. the volunteer gets something from it, too. once you volunteered for meals on wheels program, you're changed. your life will change. it's a win-win for everybody. >> it sounds like such a beautiful idea and a great time as we celebrate mother's day to do something like this. so what do we do to get involved quickly? >> come to our website.

it's meals for mom.org. write a virtual card or send it to someone you don't know. we'll give a card of hope to those seniors who really need it. >> what a wonderful idea. thank you for coming in. we certainly appreciate you being here. >> thank you. and now moving on to stocks, starting the day much lower, we'll check now with courtney reagan who joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. courtney, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, barbara. stocks are markedly lower here and that follows a choppy session yesterday on wall street. the dow is down by more than 100 points. the nasdaq and s&p are also lower today. oil prices lower, dipping below $109 a barrel. asia and europe both posted losses overseas in their trading. the adp employment report came in this morning showing an addition of 179,000 private

sector jobs but not the quite enough to lift stocks right now. friday is the government's employment release. that's the big jobs report that comes once a month. it looks like the rich are getting richer both in the u.s. and emerging markets like china and india. a new report predicts the ranks of families with more than a million dollars will soar to $55 million in the developed world by the year 2020 and 10 million in emerging countries. the u.s. will still be home to the most million mayors with an estimated 20 million with a total household wealth of about $87 trillion. don't forget to fill up that tank before you return your rental car. companies are charging more than $9 a gallon for drivers who don't prepay for gas or return their vehicle without a full tank. many airports including new york's jfk and o'hare prepaying is actually cheaper than the average price at the local gas station. i guess it's smart to do a price compare before you make that decision when you take the car out. back to you, barbara. >> courtney, we have not seen you in a long time. how is everything going with you?

>> reporter: it's been a while. everything is very good. it's been a while. just a shift in time, that's all. >> it's good to see you. >> reporter: thank you very much. >> talk to you later. 11:50 is our time now. coming up michael jackson's mother talks about how the pop

this morning we're hearing from michael jackson's mother. she talked about everything from michael's kids to the manslaughter trial. she spoke with matt lauer on the "today" show, says she has been to all the hearings and believes dr. conrad murray is responsible for her son's death. >> it's very difficult, very difficult listening to him lying and very difficult just looking at him knowing that he was there to see after my son and he died under his care. and i thought he was negligent so that makes me feel bad. i can't stand to look at him. >> she says michael was not a child molester and only settled the case based on advice from his lawyers. she says he wanted to fight it. as for prince michael, paris and blanket, they remember the way their father took care of them

and they're doing great. the caps' quest for the cup to come to an abrupt end tonight, down three games in a series that has quickly slipped through their fingers. the caps had the lead 3-2 heading into the third period after alex ovechkin got a rebound and scored on the power play. the lightning came back to seal the win. now with their season on the line the caps are plenty frustrated. >> they're uncanny when they want to get a goal. they just dial it up. and you can see it's like they're flipping a switch. it's like when they're down, they know they're going to score. i don't know what it is. it leaves you flabbergasted. >> only three other teams have come back from three games down. you can catch game four, though, from tampa on comcast sports net.

the puck drops at 7:00. and thousand let's take a look at stories we're following for you. pat lawson muse joins us. tell us what's coming up. coming up at 4:00 this af r afternoon nene is a reality tv star now and her feud with star jones is creating quite the buzz on "celebrity aprprentice." nene is in town. today she will join us live in our studio. on the set coming up at 4:00 this afternoon. some drivers are having to dig way, way down in their pockets to pay for gas. some places have hit $9. that's $9. barba barbara? >> oh, my goodness. >> $9. >> i'll be watching. thank you very much. time now for a final check on the forecast. here is tom. >> the sky that was showing blue and some sunshine is now beginning to fill back in with clouds. a live picture from the sky watcher camera. the radar showing some lingering showers, the northern neck of virginia and on the eastern shore but those showers are

continuing to advance off to the east and temperatures where there's been more sun now breaking out into the mid and upper 50s just to our west and north but where the rain is still falling it's only around 50 and that will be ending east of us and we'll have a blustery wind. quite a bit of cloudiness with highs reaching near 60. chilly as we clear out down near 40 by dawn tomorrow. mostly sunny thursday. highs in the mid and upper 60s. up near 70 friday and partly cloudy. might have an afternoon shower or thundershower. saturday should be bright and sunny. and then on mother's day, sunday, partly to mostly cloudy. maybe a passing shower. highs mid-70s and partly sunny starting off next week and we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> all right, tom, thank you. let's have a look at these servers. they deserve huge tips after this race. >> the annual run for the rose. the most hectic wine bar. they had to open a bottle of

wine. set out cups, pour the wine and tear through an obstacle course. the winner got a trophy and cash. the winner's restaurant got bragging rights and money to donate to charity. the run is a takeoff on the run for the roses. that's the nickname for the kentucky derby which will be run this saturday. and that's news for midday. we thank you for being with us today and invite to you turn in for more news tonight. i'll be back tomorrow morning. until promise me low prices. and stick to it. like seriously low prices. [ male announcer ] at safeway, we made a promise of low prices. and we're keeping it. [ female announcer ] take our fantastic club card specials like driscoll berries, they're buy one, get one of equal or lesser value free. i need to know that when i'm here, the low prices will be too. monday, tuesday, everyday. i'm a big fan of everyday.

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