good morning,ar gmorning, e. welcome to news 4 midday. it's friday, may 6th, 2011. breaking news off the top. more suspicious letters at d.c. schools. police have responded to six schools today. this a day after suspicious letters were found at 29 schools in the district. aaron gillcrest is outside northwest washington with the latest for us now. good morning, aaron. >> we hope to speak to the police chief this morning about

the latest developments, but i can tell you the expectation is that the day would start out as normally as possible. that has not been the case, thus far. as you noted, more letters have shown up at several d.c. schools today. business as usual outside lafayette elementary this morning as parents scrambled to drop off their children. this is one of the first schools to receive an envelope on thursday containing a white powder and a note referencing alcada and the fbi. she brought her child to school today, but not without some concerns. >> i wonder why someone would send envelopes with powder and potentially disrupt the school day and seem to want to harm to children. >> reporter: this morning, those concerns reinforced as d.c. fire responded to four more schools for suspicious packages. at dunbar high we caught two hazmat and fbi agent in gloves carrying off an item in a plastic bag. still, a d.c. public school

spokesperson says all schools did open on time and under normal conditions today. but many of the now 33 schools impacted by the mystery letters were elementary schools packed with inquisitive young minds. >> we do put that in context for our children so that they can understand children do have to be vigilant and careful. it's not the thing we send them to school to learn but it's a learning environment. so, unfortunately, that's what they had to learn yesterday. >> reporter: still, most parents we talked to were resolute about sending their children to d.c. schools today. >> i feel confident that things are being taken care of up here. >> i just drop the kids off as normal. >> no hesitation. >> no. they wouldn't open the school if it wasn't safe. >> reporter: now the fbi is the lead agency on this investigation. each of the letters being collected by the fbi. at this point they've all been deemed safe, no risk presented to the students or the staff in

any of the schools in d.c. yesterday or today. those letters taken down to the fbi office in quantico where they'll see if they are connected to hundreds of other letters sent around the country in recent months. at this point they believe the letters originated in the dallas, texas, area. but who sent them, still a mystery and the focus of an fbi investigation. barbara, back to you. >> thank you so much, aaron. and as aaron said the fbi continues searching for the person who sent the letters to d.c. schools. acting d.c. school chancellor is looking at the way schools responded to the unknown danger this morning and yesterday. chancellor henderson joins us this morning to talk about that incident. and good morning to you. good to have you with us this morning. >> good morning, barbara. thank you. >> let's just begin by talking about how the response was made. how did you first learn that something was going on with let? when did you first get the first

notice? >> we got the first notice yesterday mid-day when they contacted metropolitan police department to let them know that there was something wrong. >> and what was your first response? >> our first response, well, we trust, we have a great relationship with mpd and they let us know they would be right on it. they went right over and investigated and then we started to get calls from other schools which let us know it was a pattern. they involved the fbi, who was also a great partner and our schools responded tremendously. they were on it. and they notifieied both centra office and mpd so we could take care of things quickly. the letters were quarantined and even the staff members who came in contact were placed in a separate situation. we have maintained the safety of our students, which was our utmost priority. >> now, we did note that different schools responded in different ways. some released the kids to the

playground, others locked down the schools and kids were not allowed outside. is there a one response that you expect the schools to have? >> there are different responses for different situations and i think, initially, we weren't sure exactly what happened, but after the initial test determined that the substances were nonhazardous, we were able to go to a decreased level of lockdown for some of our buildings. and that's a priority for us because we want to maintain as few interruptions as possible. >> those kids who were allowed to geout to the playground had already been determined that this was not a dangerous situation for them? >> well, we took our lead from mpd. so, mpd instructed us as to how we could proceed. >> so, is there anything that you would have done differently? are you satisfied with the way everything was handled and as you go forward today with more letters coming in, do you continue to do exactly what was done yesterday?

>> i am actually thrilled at how quickly we have been able to identify what has happened and contain the situation. mpd went through the 27 schools investigated and cleared all of them by last night, so we could open on time this morning and they're on top of the additional schools that we've been alerted about this morning. so, i'm thankful to our partners and i'm thankful to our parents for being supportive of this process. they know that their student safety is the number one concern for us and we are serious about them and i think we demonstrated that very well, special thanks to chief lanier who just is continually outstanding in all of this. >> thank you so much for being with us chancellor of d.c. public schools. good luck as you continue the investigation. >> thank you. this morning, al qaeda has confirmed osama bin laden's death in an internet statement. this comes as we're learning bin laden may have been planning to

attack the u.s. on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. information taken from bin laden's compound indicates that he considered attacks on u.s. trains on september 11th. the plans did not appear to have gotten past the initial phases, though. the u.s. government sent an advisory to the rail industry informing them of the information they've gotten. at this point the fbi and homeland security are not planning to issue a terror alert. and we have more now on breaking news. more reports of suspicious letters at d.c. public schools. police say they've responded to at least six schools today. this a day after suspicious letters were found at 29 schools here in the district yesterday. news 4 aaron gilchrist and has more for us now. aaron? >> barbara, we want to get the very latest now on developments with these letters that have shown up in d.c. schools in the last two days. we have cathy lanier with us here now. bring us up to speed on the latest developments today in regard to letters showing up at

schools. >> the teams are still very active and we have now recovered an additional ten letters, some were picked up at school facilities and some were intercepted at other places before they reached the school. we kind of expected this. we probably figured through the day today and maybe through monday working on trying to recover the remainder of the letters. but the teams are working very well and we anticipate going through probably monday. >> at this point you've found letters at five schools and five letters intercepted by the postal service, is that fair? >> five or six letters that actually made it through to schools that were recovered starting early this morning about 7:00 and the remainder picked up by the postal inspector before they reached the school. >> it seems the response today is different from what we saw yesterday in terms of fire and police showing up in large numbers at schools to get these suspicious packages and letters. are you responding differently today in terms of what is happening at school buildings?

>> no, i think the response is still, the protocols are still the same. i just think we have a very kind of thorough plan that is in place and we also worked very well with the school staff. school staff knows exactly what to do. so, when we get there, it's just a lot more efficient process. >> you have not had to have several fire units and police units show up with fbi -- we saw schools locked down. d.c. schools opened normally and started the school day normally and it would seem to indicate something different from what we saw yesterday afternoon. >> well, we have a better handle on what it is we're dealing with right now. i think through the course of the day yesterday, we've had a better idea by the end of the day what we're dealing with. it changes the way the appearances on the outside, but the protocol that we're using is exactly the same. >> where do you go from here? i know the fbi is leading the investigation. how do you proceed, again, through the rest of today and into next week, if necessary? >> we'll continue to work this the way we're working it now until we're comfortable that we have all the letters that have

been sent. there is always additional measures that we look at every time an incident such as this occurs to see if there is anything that we can do differently in the future. but just really support the fbi and whatever they need from us going forward to work this investigation. >> in terms of identifying a source for these letters, the fbi taking the full lead on that? >> yeah, the full investigation is in the hands of the fbi. >> okay. if i can ask you, also, we know that in the raid on the bin laden compound over the weekend there was information obtained that hinted at the possibility of an attack being planned, at least, on trains. we know that several big cities were warned. local law enforcement warned about looking out for any activity on trains. have you gotten a warning to that extent and what are you doing with that information from the fbi and homeland security. >> i'm familiar with the information that has come out, but in all honesty, that's not new information that has come out for aus. those of us who have been doing this for many years the targets

of al qaeda and many terrorist organizations have always centered around identified targets, transportation being one of them. so, that's one of the things that over the past several years we put a lot of effort into sha shoring up our security. in terms of what we know and what we do, it's not new information to us. >> police chief cathy lanier, thank you for your time. appreciate it this morning. >> barbara, that is the latest from here this morning. a total of ten letters identified today adding to the total of 29 that we saw yesterday in d.c. public schools and the fbi, again, leading the investigation here. the metropolitan police department will continue to monitor the potential for suspicious letters into next week. barbara? >> thank you so much, aaron. we're going to turn our attention now to our weather here in washington. beautiful out there right now. little on the chilly side. but beautiful spring-looking day. tom kierein with us to tell us what we can expect the rest of the day and the weekend. >> quite a chill and down into

the upper 30s and low and mid-40s and warmed into the 60s at most locations except right there at reagan national. they have a wind off the chilly waters, 58 there. else where, just to get half a mile away from the water and it's in the 60s. mid-60s now prince george's county and montgomery counties and mid and upper 60s and just about everywhere around the region we're in the 60s. but most of these locations now where you see that yellow zone in the 60s will continue to climb into the mid-60s in many of those locations. over the last 12 hours, high clouds coming in from the west and continue to pass over us and we'll go increasingly cloudy through the afternoon and the little patches of blue, those are light showers. part of an upper level disturbance along a front that will be drifting through later this afternoon, just a slight chance of a shower or maybe a thundershower or otherwise mostly cloudy through the afternoon as the highs reach the low and mid-70s. a look at changes tonight and we'll look at the weekend, as well, and into next week, as

well. >> tom, thank you. we'll check the friday get away out there right now. let's see what tanya hutchins sees as she looks out on the traffic. >> good morning, barbara. lots of people traveling. if you're heading to baltimore, stay away from 695. a very bad truck accident there that hit an overpass. let's take a quick look at 95 in springfield. slow traffic on 95 northbound right before 644. as you can see, it's still very slow. construction is in the left lane. it's going to be slow from 7100. 95 southbound from route 1 in woodridge to 123. not unusual for this time of day with everybody heading out for the weekend. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thank you very much. one person is dead after a collision between a dump truck and a car in montgomery county. it happened overnight near germ germantown in middlebrook roads. megan mcgrath is live at the scene with more on this accident. megan? >> well, barbara, this deadly collision involved a very large,

heavy dump truck and a small four-door sedan. it happened literally in the intersection, the middle of the intersection of germantown road and middlebrook road. one person is dead and two others have been hospitalized. they're being treated for their injuries. now, for a time this morning, roads in the area were closed. it made for a tough rush hour for a lot of folks. 1:00 in the morning. at that time the traffic signal is in flash mode. police say the dump truck had a flashing yellow light on germantown road. the audi had the flashing red signal at middlebrook. but the driver of the sedan failed to yield, driving the audi into the path of the truck. >> the audi was traveling westbound on middlebrook road as it approached the intersection at 118. the dump truck was traveling north on 118. the collision occurred in that intersection and as the tape shows, the vehicles ended up across the median strip. >> reporter: the driver of the car, 18-year-old ivar was killed.

his 17-year-old brother and 33-year-old cousin sustained nonlife threatening injuries. the driver of the dump truck was not hurt. germantown road was closed between crystal rock and wisteria drive and it made for a tough commute for many. >> trying to get to work. so, it's like a major, major mix up right now. nobody can get on to 270, you can't get on 118 to go further down. >> well, it's unusual to get this amount of traffic in germantown, but we have to be patient because it's very sad what happened and it's a member of the community. >> and the driver of the dump truck remained on the scene and has been cooperating with police. now, while the road was closed down for a number of hours overnight, things at this point, back to normal. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thank you so much, megan. 11:15 the time now. nasa is still looking on the launch date for the shuttle "endeavour's" final mission after several delays. they're working on that. where the mission stabdz this

morning, we'll tell you. plus, we'll hear from retiring coach gary williams today. stay with us. if you wear dentures, taking care of your oral health should be a top priority - and that means getting rid of odor-causing bacteria and plaque. try improved polident. its microclean formulation is antimicrobial and antibacterial to kill ninety-nine-point-nine percent of odor-causing bacteria, plus more of other key microorganisms found on dentures than leading regular toothpastes. used daily, it helps promote good oral health. try improved polident - now with microclean. this has beem medifacts for polident.

today nasa is expected to launch a new launch date for

"endeavour." they will get an update on repairs to "endeavour's" heating system. once that's complete, they'll decide on a new launch date. nasa said tuesday would be the earliest the shuttle could lift off. this will be "endeavour's" final flight and the next to last shuttle mission. well, for 22 years maryland's basketball team has been led by gary williams, but now it appears williams is hanging up his clipboard as he will announce his retirement at 1:00 p.m. today. in the two plus decades under williams, maryland made the ncaa tournament 14 times, including the only national championship. his 460 wins are a maryland school record. williams insists he is not leaving because of his health, saying he actually feels great. and even though he's leaving the court, williams said he will stay on with maryland as assistant athletic director and special assistant. and you can watch gary williams news conference live on our digital channel.

nbc washington nonstop and also streaming it live on our website, nbcwashington.com. if you have a smartphone scan the qr code and you can see on the screen right now. it's the image that looks like the bar code that will take you directly to the section of our website that will stream the press conference. you can watch it wherever you happen to be even if you're not near a television or your computer. tom kierein is here to talk about the weather and the weekend. >> the all-important mother's day weekend is upon us. after a chilly start, we warmed up rapidly and here's a live picture from our city camera showing the national cathedral perched up on its hill there and the may sun is pouring down there illuminating the national cathedral. look at all those trees. they're all out now, fully with their foliage out and, yes, producing the pollen. right now 58 at reagan national. we have a southerly wind off the

river there and as a result, the school spot around our region. yes, the pollen count has climbed. up right now around 500 and still mostly oak tree pollen, but if you're sneezing and wheezing, red, watery eyes, it's because that pollen count has rebounded. look at the temperatures already now into the 60s from the shenandoah valley and southern maryland and in montgomery and arlington, and fairfax counties in the mid-60s. over the last 12 hours. high clouds drifting in from the midwest. associated with a weak front and an upper level disturbance. drifting over us by later this afternoon as it does move on through, we have a small chance of an isolated shower or maybe a thunder shower by late this afternoon and between now and then, we should make it into the low, maybe mid-70s especially areas just to our south and southerly and southwesterly breeze around 15 to occasionally 20 miles an hour by this afternoon. and then overnight tonight, we'll be mostly cloudy through

this evening as that disturbance comes on by and any showers will be quickly ending and otherwise mostly cloudy. mid-60s early evening and back down into the 50s by late evening and by dawn on saturday, right down into near 50 degrees. tomorrow looking like a delightful day. good weather for the big virginia gold cup out in the plains virginia and all the other outdoor activities and recreeration on saturday should be great. partly cloudy into the low 70s and the pollen count still rather high tomorrow. then on sunday, mother's day. looks like we'll get some showers from time to time through the day. otherwise, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s. showers should wash some of that pollen out. on monday sunshine returns and mid-70s in the afternoon. tuesday, wednesday, thursday next week. highs each day should make it into the 70s and a possibility of some showers and storms around wednesday, perhaps into thursday. that's the way it looks. i'll be back with another update shortly. >> think you'll get out in the garden again this weekend? >> i'll be out enjoying it. >> we have ideas for you coming

up. thank you, tom. we'll check on the mid-day traffic with tanya hutchins. >> not a lot going on except for construction in the district. let's take a look at 395 northbound at the 14th street bridge. we do have the mid-span construction as people head from virginia into the district but no major problems to report, traffic is moving. 495 just north of the american legion bridge and that is moving well on both loops between virginia and maryland. back to you, barbara. >> thank you very much. it's 11:23 now. still ahead on news 4 midday. take a look at your garden center. the perfect spot to grab the perfect present for mom. plus, bad plastic surgeries. there are steps you can take to avoid the work of unqualified doctors. but, first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

mother's day is this sunday and if you're still searching for the perfect gift, why not consider a little gardening for mom. our gardening expert david martin is here to show us some ideas of plants and flowers that mom could have as just a gift. she may want to get out in the garden herself and roll up her sleeves and plant them. a lot of folks into gardening, as you all know. especially you. let's start over here on this side. we're talking roses and you brought several examples of roses. >> the subject is roses and, so,

roses are really at their peak this time of year. so, you can start off right here which is known as a rose standard. this is a small tree form of rose. this is just a simple yellow rose. really nice and grows up on this nice, tall stalk. this one over here is a nice rose and this is known as just joey. this is a true apricot and it has a great, lemony scent to it. many roses are not scented because they lost the scent in order to make that beautiful bloom. this here is a very popular variety of a tea rose. this is a john f. kennedy white hybrid tea. this is very nice for cutting and taking inside. >> let me just ask you while we're on roses. any specific variety that is best for us here in this mid-atlantic region? >> i think with our heat and humidity in the summertime, most of the hybrid tea roses tend to struggle if they're not really well cared for with a lot of good air circulation and watered really well at the base of the plant instead of water over the

top of the plant. there are a new varieties of roses that are known as the knocktop out rose and that's a new hybrid that does really well here and blooms all season long right through christmas. >> do you need sandy soil for roses? >> not necessarily sandy, but you need to make sure that you break that clay soil up with a lot of good, organic material. >> can you expect these roses to bloom throughout the summer at least? >> absolutely can expect these roses to continue to bloom. the most important thing is to continue to prune the roses as these blooms are spent. you want to go down to the first five leaf set on the rose stalk and cut right above it and it will continue to send blooms up for the rest of the summer. >> you should keep cutting them back. >> absolutely, remember that. >> brought with you peony. >> that's a paula fay peony. a nice variety of a deep peony. they're blooming right now all over the d.c. area and they do really well here, as well. they just need to be kept in a sunny location with plenty of

room. >> how long will that bloom if you want to give that to mom for mother's day. >> that has a week or two of bloom and then the peony stays nice and green up in the garden. >> take a lot of water for that? >> it does. but you have to be careful with not watering on top. >> best to replant these outside and in bigger pots once mom gets them at home. >> once mom has them, you can take it wrapped up like this, christina one of our assistants took a lot of time to wrap these up in a nice gift wrapping and plant it in the ground in the garden or a nice, big pot in a sunny location. >> this is absolutely beautiful and it's a gardenia. >> i kill them every time. give me the secret. >> take the gardenia outside in the summertime and put it in a part sun lolocation with sun in the early part of the day. that's a swamp plant by nature. so, it wants plenty of nature. >> replant it in a bigger pot, too. >> just go ahead and replant it.

>> what do you have down here. >> blooming annuals for the summer. they're small million bells in there. some beautiful burrbena and then a small pink petunia in there, as well. >> last over here. >> road dendrum. that's light lavender and they do very well in a part sun location here in d.c. and a very acidic soil. >> as we wrap up, let's just take a quick look down here. lots of other things you're suggesting that mom might like, needs a hat if she's going to be in the sun. all kinds of gardening tools and gloves, which is always a great idea. great ideas for mother. >> mom's day coming up on sunday and she'll want to spend some time outside and spend it away and be alone and no better place to do that than in the garden. >> forditio dishing a little dir mother. it's now 11:30. we continue to follow breaking news. responding to more suspicious letters at d.c. schools today.

what's being done to keep students safe. tom kierein will be back with our latest chance for

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we have more now on that breaking news that we have been following out of the district. more reports of suspicious letters sent to schools here in the city. police chief cathy lanier told us just minutes ago that ten new letters were found this morning. this a day after suspicious

letters were found at 29 schools here in the district. kids are in class right now at the schools where suspicious letters were found today and yesterday. this was treated as a normal school day for the students. officials say none of the letters discovered yesterday contained dangerous powders. and chancellor henderson told us this morning that all students are safe and the school system handled the unknown danger well. tom joins us again now to talk a little bit more about our forecast and i know you're talking about rain next week, but anything between now and then? >> just a small chance this afternoon. the sun is beginning to fade now as you can see this live picture from our skywatcher camera. the city camera also showing high cloudiness coming in from the west and it's ahead of a little weak disturbance that is passing over us here as we get into the afternoon. right now into the 60s through most of the region and reagan national has a wind off the chilly waters of the potomac. it's chillier there. mid-60s else where and climb into the low 70s even with the

cloud cover by mid-afternoon. then a weak disturbance coming over later this afternoon might give us an isolated shower, perhaps an isolated thundershower. only a small chance of that. then on saturday, looks like a beautiful day. afternoon highs low 70s and pollen count going to stay high into saturday, but sunday with some passing showers, that ought to wash some of the pollen out and highs in the upper 60s for mother's day and passing showers and then monday, tuesday, wednesday next week, we'll have highs in the 70s. should be dry monday, tuesday and maybe some showers and thunderstorms wednesday and thursday. that's the way it looks. >> all right, tom, thank you. some georgetown waterfront restaurants are open, again, after flood waters forced them to close. nick's riverside grill and partially open for business last night. the restaurants offer outdoor seating and use a grill for most menu items. it could be much longer before some of the other businesses in the complex can reopen. there is a class action lawsuit against the management company of the building for not raising

the flood gates. police and fire officials say they've had to rescue a man who got stuck while trying to rob a restaurant. it happened at jerry's subs and pizza on ft. mead road in laurel. take a look at this. you don't see this every day. the owner heard some cries for help coming from the ventilation duct. she then saw feet dangling above the stove. officials say he was stuck for about eight hours in that duct. the man told police he actually wasn't trying to steal anything, he says he was just looking for a place to rest. we're going to check the mid-day traffic for you now. here's tanya hutchins. >> everyone is heading oout for the weekend creating that usual weekend volume. 95 at the springfield interchange. we have traffic building in both directions and hov lanes have not been turned around just yet. they look closed at this point. let's take a look a little bit south of here. 95 in newington because slow traffic earlier because people who were heading northbound just

before 44, 644 in springfield had construction in the left lane. this is starting to ease now to the left of your screen there is the northbound traffic and this is getting better than it was on just a few minutes ago. that's definitely good news. we're doing okay, 495 at 50. back to you, barbara. have a great weekend. >> you, too, tanya. thank you. d.c. police are looking for the gunman responsible for the shooting outside a d.c. metro stop. someone shot the man in a leg at the petworth station last night around 10:00. officers blocked the entrance to the station to investigate. the victim is in the hospital right now and is expected to recover. police say they don't have a motive for the shooting or a description of the gunman. if you're taking the metro this weekend, you might want to add a few minutes to your trip as crews will be making some repairs this weekend. starting tonight at 9:30 the red line will share one track between the grosvenor and

twinbrook stations. on the orange line every other train start and on the blue line every other train heading to springfield will end at the van dorn station. everything will be back to normal for your commute on monday morning. a proliffic purse thief is on the prowl. police say this man is targeting women and their purses across our region. detectives in alexandria says he steal s women's wallets from their purses. he uses their credit cards to go on a shopping spree. he made purchases at gas stations, target store, liquor store and bought hundreds of dollars in crab meat and shrimp in the district. we talked with one woman who keeps an eye on her purse. >> you really should watch. my dad was always like, watch your purse, watch your purse. if it's not in the cart right in front of me, i always pick it up and hold it. >> police say the alleged thief has stolen from eight victims in

alexandria and montgomery and charles counties, too. if you have any information, please, call police. our time is now 11:38 and still ahead on news 4 midday. even the rich and famous are victims of it. bad plastic surgery. advice on picking the right doctor for you. plus, this famous home can be yours. we'll have details. stay with us.

>> the lives to the horror and desolation of war. another famous comic book hero gets the movie treatment with ", tthor." cast out of his world after starting a war and then lands on the planet earth. he's forced to live among humans and soon must defend them from an evil entity from his former world. natalie portman stars in this action flick. rated pg-13. family feud in "jumping the broom." they quickly realize they're not just marrying each other but their families, as well. sparks fly and not the good kind as the upscale watson family meets the blue collar taylors. it's rated pg-13. and is it ever too late to tell your crush how you really feel? that's the plot in "something

borrowed." jennifer goodwin has loved him since college, but never acted on it. now her best friend played by kate hudson swoops in and is engaged to him. "something borrowed" is rated pg-13. the house that macaulay cullen defended is on the market. it's located about 20 miles north of chicago. the real owners are asking $2.4 million for it. they bought it back in 1988 for $875,000. they hope memories from the movie may just help the home sale. >> people have an emotional attachment to this house in that it remind them of home and family and good times. >> "home alone" holds the hollywood record for the.

only prequalified people can make an appointment and no open houses are planned. biggest hiring corporate spree in five years. we're going to hampton pearson for that and more. >> matter of fact, that biggest highest corporate hiring spree in five years is a week-long slide in the stowck markets. right now the dow up 155 points. the nasdaq up almost 42 points. the s&p up 17. the labor department telling us the economy added 244,000 jobs last month, way above the consensus forecast of 185,000. and the really good news for both wall street and main street, 268,000 of those new jobs were created in the private sector. even while the headline unemployment number went to 9%, that's because more people who frankly dropped out of the labor force started looking for work last month. the big job's numbers are

triggering a rebound in commodities. oil fell $10 a barrel yesterday has had a bit of a rebound yesterday. gold is up $5 an ounce after falling more than $42 yesterday. silver is down 25% for the week, including another 2% decline today. and today, in fact, marks the one-year anniversary of the flash crash. stocks tumbling when one large trade overwhelmed the markets' computer servers sending prices in a downward spiral. not exactly the kind of history that the markets would ever want to repeat, barbara. >> i could imagine. hampton, thank you. have a grit weekend. >> you do likewise. >> thank you. well, it can happen to anyone, even celebrities. "american pie" tar tara reid has talked openly about her botched plastic surgery. breast surgery and lip oosuction left her scarred and ashamed. talking about picking the right doctor to avoid such mistakes is

dr. steven hopcon. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, barbara. >> you told us before that you had to go behind some pretty bad mistakes to try to fix them. so, tell us what you think happened with tara reid. what happened there? >> it appears, you would think tara went to a reputable surgeon but it appears it was an error in technique here because it's overaggressive liposuction. >> what is going on there? >> it's overaggressive. too much fat has been removed. fat has been removed right down to the skin. the skin is adhering to the muscle. they used some sort of thermal tool to do the liposuction and too much heat was created. this is very hard to fix. >> you can't put fat back in there. >> we have to put fat back in there, but, first, you have to let the scar soften, which could take up to 12 months. >> so, what do you do? how do you find somebody? you read this is a technique, you go to a plastic surgeon. they do it. how do you know if they don't do

it well? >> i think this is very serious. they need to be board certified. a board certified fellow and find out if they're operating in their offices or operated in accredited facility. if you're a cosmetic surgeon, you have to work in an accredited facility to have that fellowship. and the doctor how many of these procedures they do. ask to see pictures. if they're -- if there's not a lot of pictures of breasts before and after, chances are this doctor doesn't do this very often. there are a lot of people getting into cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery these days who really aren't trained to do it. >> can any surgeon actually offer plastic surgery services? anyone who is a surgeon? >> it depends on the state. but, legally, yes. >> well, legally they can. >> yes. >> it's really up to the patient. >> buyer beware. you have to do your homework. >> do your homework and ask lots of questions.

>> check with the accrediting agencies and talk to your medical doctor and talk to your friends who have done this and find out the doctor's reputation. >> is there a difference between a plastic surgeon and a cosmetic surgeon? >> plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons are really the same. some plastic surgeons focus on reconstruction and some do more cosmetic. cosmetic surgeons tend to do more cosmetics. >> more examples of botched surgeries. what went wrong here? >> looks like, again, irregul irregulirregular liposuction. maybe the cannula was too big. smaller cannulas cause less problems these days. we tend to use smaller cannulas. i can't really tell. >> do we have another picture of another botched surgery. we have another coming up. here's another example. maybe overaggressive. >> again, overaggressive surgery. like this is the best example that we have here. this should be avoided. this should not happen. in the hands of qualified people. >> you say patients should also

check out the place where they're having the surgery done. what should they know about the place? >> well, if it's being done in a hospital, of course, you know that's going to be an accredited facility. if it's being done in a doctor's office or outpatient. facility, find out if it's accredited by a national group. do they have all the tools. there was an incident in las vegas where they gave 30 people hepatitis c in a cosmetic surgery center. that won't happen in an accredited facility. >> what if they have allergies or doesn't ask you questions like that. have you had, i guess, what are some of the things that must be done before the surgery takes place? >> you know, what's tradition these days. called the time-out. we take the patients there and this is so and so and she's here to have a facelift and she's allergic to. that is the time-out that should be done before every procedure now. in an accredited facility, it's

required. >> so, you asked for pictures before and after with your first visit to the doctor and we've been talking about major surgeries like liposuction and facelifts. what about botox and fillers. should that be only done by a board certified surgeon? >> board certified surgeon, dermatologists are well qualified to do this. you have to understand the muscles. yes, it's a simple procedure, but many times these are done by people who aren't qualified and don't know the anatomy and don't have a lot of experience. again, don't go for price, go for experience. >> buyer beware as you say. thank you, as always, for coming in and it's very interesting. something we should all know about. thanks a lot. >> thank you. it is now 11:50. coming up, mother's day dos and don'ts. don'ts. tom kierein lets u

my second diagnosis-- i was told to go home, retire, and enjoy the time i had left. to say it was a shock is just a complete understatement. i mean, i don't think there are words. she had put up a really good fight, but it was her time. you... don't have a choice of getting breast cancer. i had no choice. i wanted to do something bigger than myself. that 3-day gave me that opportunity. and i can actually do something to help. i think it's a very bold thing to do. 60 miles in 3 days-- i can do that. i'm sure if it was 100 miles, we'd still walk it. it was a big statement for me of... (voice breaks) i'm alive. we can do this. we can do this. we can rid the world of this terrible disease... so that no mother... granddaughter... sister... daughter... mother... go through what my wife had to go through. this is more than just three days. this is a lifetime. (man) register today for the...

because everyone deserves a lifetime. on the lighter side of the news for a entertainment round up. tommy mcfly. good to see you, are you feeling fresh today? >> i am feeling fresh. a lot of fresh fruit last night. i always go with the masses. >> you certainly do. >> you were at, let's see, where were you last night? >> i was at pink berry.

>> why is it called pink berry? >> nationally known yogurt chain that has been in new york and l.a. and celebrities love it and they came to d.c. and they say said, hey, we'll give you free yogurt and look at this line. the line is just unbelievable. >> was it different than any other yogurt you had before? >> it's so good. >> what makes it different? >> the flavor, it's healthier and all the fruit they put on it and a brand buzz around pink berry because you see in "us weekly" this celebrity had it and kim kardashian had it. >> you want to go because the celebrities had yogurt. >> the line was literally around the block until after 10:00 last night for free pink berry. unbelievable. >> have to check that out. now, did you get enough hats to last you for a year as we looked at them last year at the wedding? >> there were some freaky hats but if you were at the royal wedding you can reuse the hat for the kentucky derby. what are the odds of someone seeing you in that hat twice?

>> we talked about some of the hats we saw. oh, look at these. these are some pretty nice-looking hats. this is what we can expect there the kentucky derby. are you going? >> yeah, i'm not going. no, i will be here this weekend and then i'm going for mother's day to my parents house. >> but you'll have a mint julep party. >> absolutely. i've never turned down a mint julep. >> are you a big horse fan? >> i've gone to the preakness and check that out, but i think d.c. is excited about the derby because of the preakness and the gold cup and horse country being in middleburg. we're a very horse friendly kind of town. >> i guess that's a good thing. >> of course. >> so, let's talk about mother's day. what do you have planned for mother's day? >> i'm going to the mall on saturday and then getting up a little bleary-eyed on sunday and driving to scranton to see my mom. >> do you have a special surprise for her? >> as soon as i figure it out -- i haven't gotten it yet. >> you'll surprise yourself. >> i will leave between here and

getting to the fresh fm studios, i fwheed to find a mall. >> we had the plants here earlier. that is a good idea. >> how do those travel? i'll have to get a rose bush. >> is she a gardner? >> she can start. >> not a bad idea. >> i'll get her the garden starter set. >> or a hat. >> she could be all derby ready. i think like valentine's day the hats get significantly discounted. i could probably, i'm just making that up. >> probably a little gift certificate. >> exactly to the hat store. hats r us. >> not a bad idea. what else is going on in your life, anything we should know about it. >> the show is going really great and maybe some interesting news on that in a few weeks and things are good, barbara. >> you wore a suit a few weeks ago -- >> it wasn't a job interview, i promise. >> good to see you, we'll see you next week. let's look at some of the stories for this afternoon, coming up at 4:00, we could hear what's happening and lady gaga.

she explains the real meaning behind her new controversial music video. that's coming up at 4:00. at 5:00, banned from facebook. the simple mistakes that could get you kicked off the social networking site. bet you didn't know you could get kicked off. that's coming up at 5:00. tom? >> a beautiful day under way. even with the high clouds, we've had passing over over the last hour. they begin to block the sun there over the monuments. live picture from our city camera. temperatures in the 60s around the region and we'll continue to climb into the low, perhaps even mid-70s by mid-afternoon. a small chance of a thundershower later this afternoon, but a very small chance and otherwise any showers will be ending early evening and then partly cloudy and low 70s and sunday mostly cloudy and looks like we could get passing showers from time to time during the day. highs reaching the upper 60s. on monday bright sunshine returns and highs reaching the mid-7 os by the afternoon. on tuesday partly cloudy with afternoon highs reaching the 70s

and on wednesday and thursday there's a possibility of some passing showers and thundershowers. you could follow my forecast on twitter through the weekend, as well as the weather latest science and nature news. that's the way it looks. have a great weekend. >> all right, thank you, tom. you have a good weekend, too. that's news 4 midday. we thank you for joining us and invite you to tune in for more news today at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. we have news all through the weekend. plan to join us for that, as well. i'll be back monday morning with news 4 midday. we have some surprises for you on monday. be sure to join us for that. have a great weekend and we'll see you monday morning.