it's monday, december 19, 2011. i'm barbara harrison. we bring with breaking news. north korea fired a test missile off the east coast. the same day the north announced the death of longtime leader kim jong-il. an official with south korea's military says it was probably a routine drill. the south korean president already put its military on high alert. the country's top general visited a base near the country's boarder with north korea today. right now the world is reacting to the death of kim jong-il. officials in north korea and embassies around the world

lowered their flags in respect for the late leader. north cornian tv said the leader died of heart failure while on a train on saturday. but it did not announce his death until last night. kim's funeral is set for a week from wednesday, december 28. north korea will hold a national mourning period from now until december 29. nbc's bruce hall takes a look back at his life. >> reporter: north korean death, many of the details of kim jong-il's death are a secret. in 1946 kim graduated and was groomed to take over the country but not until 1991 that he achieved real power. despite his lack of military experience kim jong-il took control of the armed forces. with his father's death in '94, kim took over the leadership. but north korea fell deep near poverty, struggling to feed and provide for its own people.

in the wake of the september 11tivity attacks kim jong-il and north korea were thrust into the forefront. president bush labeled north korea one of the world's most dangerous regimes. >> states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world. >> kim jong-il played an international cat and mouse game with the nuclear program. kim called off talks with neighboring asian nations and continued to threaten the world with nuclear attack. some called him vain with a delusional persona but others said kim jong-il was a clever manipulator, willing to take risk to preserve his family's regime. bruce hall, nbc news. president barack obama and south korean president talked shortly after midnight. beach agreed to closely monitor the events. the white house says that the u.s. will keep in touch with our allies in south korea and japan

and are committed to stability on the korean peninsula. the obama administration may postpone decisions on re-engaging the north in nuclear talks and providing it with food aid. the giant panda program at the national zoo will continue for at least five more years. thanks to a generous donation. megan mcgrath is live at the zoo now. good morning. tell us about what is going on out there. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. caring for and studying giant pandas is an expensive business. but thanks to a generous donation of $4.5 million from a local family, they are going to have funds for the next five years. now, some of the money is going to go towards the panda breeding program. and the pressure is on, particularly for the female panda. if she doesn't get pregnant this mating season, it is possible that she will be swapped out with another panda. she pent the morning eating

bamboo but experts say he's doing the power walk. it is a sign that the giant male panda has started to feel frisky. >> strutting around, showing all the women in the area he's big, tough panda. he is scent marking. he is leaving a trail to scent to advertise to any other pandas he's ready for love. >> reporter: but this year's mating season won't be all wine and roses. it may be the panda's last. she gave birth to a cub in 2005 and has not conceived since. statistically her odds are not looking good. if there is not success this year scientists may bring in another female. >> it is a bit of a concern for us. on the other hand, if he gets a more cooperative female perhaps that will be in the cards. >> reporter: to get a cub artificial insemination is a real possibility no matter who the female is. thanks to a generous donation from david rubenstein of the

ca carlisle group money will not be a problem. it was announced the family will fund the panda program for the next five years. and scientists here at the zoo believe they will know whether the panda is pregnant or not late in the summer. they think the odds of her ever conceiving again are not very good. so there's the real possibility that she would be swapped out with another female panda. he had one cub, he had issues as well. his timeline is longer. they are going to give him a bit more time. if he can't -- if he can't make his half of this program work either, then there's a possibility that another male panda will be brought in. now, one thing we want to say to the panda lovers out there, though, is whether or not folks are shifted and swapped out there will be pandas at the national zoo. it is an issue whether they will

be shipped off and other pandas in their place. that's not the case. this is an endangered species and want the cubs to be born. they are very, very serious about this breeding program. barbara, back to you. >> how long is the gestation for the panda? >> reporter: i should have double-checked that. i'm not sure about the actual gestation period. the tricky part here is that they have what are called pseudo pregnancies where the estrogen levels go up and appears that the panda is pregnant and it turns out they are not. it was a fake pregnancy, false pregnancy. everyone gets excited only to be let down. it is tricky. >> i know. then we all wait important that little stick of butter. okay. thanks so much. thanks a lot. turning to the weather now p and a very cold start to the day. cold weekend we had. tom kierein, we have a cold week ahead of us. >> no, actually, it is going to be warming up. we probably had our coldest morning of the week and the weekend this morning. it was down into the low and mid 20s around dawn but since then,

we have warmed up. it is above freezing. all around the region. from the mountains all the way dot beaches. out in west virginia, look at petersburg, up to 52 right now. shenandoah valley in the low to mid 40s. closer to washington, though, upper 30s to around 40 degrees. mid 40s right around the bay. on the eastern shore. now as we look at what has been happening over the last 12 hours, view from space showing a few high clouds drifted over this morning giving us a beautiful sunrise, and now some clouds around the increase off to the west and those will begin to move in later this afternoon. there are a few sprinkles up in eastern ohio, western pennsylvania. increasing chouds lalouds later afternoon. chilly with highs reaching upper 40s and low 50s early to mid afternoon. this evening the clouds close in. a mild trend here throughout much of the week ahead. we will look at that and the holiday weekend in just a few minutes. >> all right. thank you, tom. and danella is getting hungry. she smells the food cooking in here. what's going on with the roads out there? >> how could you ask me about

the roads? have you the roads smelling so delicious. i can't concentrate. but i'm going to try just for you. if you are traveling on the inner loop and outer loop of the beltway in virginia, inner loop, we had a big problems all morning. still see something congestion there. i will give you a travel speed. 35 miles per hour. making your way from the interchange heading towards dulles toll road. that trip takes you 22 minutes. and if you are traveling belt by that maryland looking much better. not seeing any issues here. on the outer loop or inner loop. travel speeds on the outer loop really good. you are at 58 miles per hour. >> traffic is moving across a new bridge in the district. drivers from 295 can now use the new span with the 14th street bridge to get into the downtown area. this week a second new span will open for yount bound drivers. when that happens drivers will no longer be able to access mlka or good hope road from 295 for a few months. third span will open by this time next year. when the bridge project is complete, drivers on the southeast-southwest freeway will be able to get on the northbound

lanes of i-295 without having to get off on pennsylvania avenue. the redskins defense came up big this weekend against the new york giants. did you see it? washington intercepted eli manning three times, including amazing one-handed grab by deangelo hall. quarterback rex grossman overcame two early interceptions to throw for 185 yards. and a touchdown. the skins were seeming in control all through the game shutting down the giants 23-10. >> i think everybody concentrate order their job and i thought collectively to play the way we did you have to have everybody doing their job and be in focus. we had nice interceptions. we had good pressure. big-time third down play by our entire team. i was really pleased with how they kept their poise and kept fight back and able to get it done. >> reporter: >> the win puts washington at 5-9. next week they are back at home against the minnesota vikings. today you can help a child get the best educational start

they can as part of our 12 days of giving. studies have shown children who attend preschool are less likely to drop out of high school and are more likely to pursue higher education. for the disadvantaged child, preschool is a luxury they can't always afford. but child and family network centers are helping. we have volunteers from the center standing by right now to take your phone calls. we will hear more about what you can do to help in just a few minutes. our time right now is 11:10. it could be another down-to-the wire showdown on capitol hill as the house and senate battle over a payroll tax cut extension. house republicans are fighting the current proposal. plus, bringing families together in time for the holidays. why loved ones of soldiers are more optimistic about the war front this morning. stay with us. ♪

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right now military prosecutors are more than halfway through their witness list at a hearing to determine if an army private leaked classified information to wi wikileak wikileaks. today's testimony will focus on manning's two workplace computers the most damaging evidence so far. yesterday a military investigator testified he found

more than 10 thousand diplomatic cables and other sensitive information on manning's computer. manning can face life in prison if convicted at a court-martial. the clock is ticking but appears a vote today in congress will set back any progress of extending the payroll tax holiday. a live look at capitol hill now where the house is expected to vote tonight on a senate proposal. gop leaders are already hinting lit not pass. the senate plan extends the tax holiday and long-term unemployment insurance for two months while delaying a decision on the keystone oil pipeline. house republicans say it is only a short-term fix and are demanding a long-term solution. if a deal isn't worked out payroll tax woes go up january 1. tom joins us to talk about the chilly start we had to the day. he's promising us that it will get warmer today. >> it was warmer last week, too. roller coaster ride. it was in the 60s last thursday. and friday and the middle of last week it was sort of mild. then got cold over the weekend. now this morning.

we were down into the 20s but yet at the same time, because of the up and down pattern a lot of the foliage is confused. there are some cherry trees that have blossoms out. this is a picture of megan mcgrath took this morning down near the national zoo. this is a cherry tree in blossoming. maybe you will see a few others around your neighborhood actually blossoming a bit even with this morning chill. look at this feet pope i took this yesterday morning when i was taking my morning walk. this was after we had a little light dusting of snow overnight. so what a contrast, right? there's a little light snow on the ground and also have cherry blossoms developing. they are not going to be out for much longer, though, because we will have cooler weather coming in for the weekend. right now at reagan national, blue sky, cobalt blue waters in the potomac reflecting the blue sky. 39 at reagan national with a southerly breeze. and that's going to begin to warm things up. temperatures right now have hit the 40s to mid 40s right now around the bay. farther west.

upper 30s to near 40. arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties and the district of columbia, farther west, there's a little bit more of southwesterly flow in the mountains of west virginia. it is now climbing to around 50 degrees. we do have clouds on the increase, though. coming into western maryland and west virginia and a few sprinkles coming from the clouds. moving in here later this afternoon. i don't think we will have any sprinkles here locally. as we get into tomorrow, there is an increased chance of maybe a few sprinkles, areas of green and these are zones of potential sprinkle activity. that will be maybe in the morning and middle part of the day on tuesday. and then as we do get into the evening hours, we will have just a cloudy evening on tuesday night. then on wednesday we have a greater chance for more rain moving back in during the afternoon. for this afternoon, we will have a partly cloudy sky and highs reaching to 50 degrees. overnight tonight we will have clouds on the increase and a cloudy evening. we will be in the mid 40s early evening and then low 40s by midnight. then by dawn tomorrow, the mid and upper 30s starting off tuesday morning. cloudy day. tomorrow first day of hanukkah. then a cloudy day, maybe a few

sprinkles and then on wednesday, that's when we have a bigger chance of rain moving in, looks like the middle of the day and into the afternoon. but a mild day into the upper 50s. and then mid 50s again on thursday. ing in fact, we should be above freezing from now all the way into the weekend. thursday night, though, there is a possibility of a shower or perhaps into friday morning, friday afternoon, little sunshine breaking out and temperatures climbing again into the mid 50s and then colder air moves in on saturday with some rain, it looks like for christmas eve. looks like a rainy day now. highs in the mid 40s. and then on sunday, christmas day, we hud get some sunshine back, partly sunny but chilly with temperatures reaching the mid 40s. that's the way it looks now. overall a mild pattern for this week ahead. maybe a few more cherry blossoms popping up. >> snow? >> not so fast. >> all right. thank you. danella, how sit looking on the roads now? >> well if we travel along eastbound route 50 they are seeing an accident. route 450 west street.

be aware of that. slow as you make your way towards that accident. however, on i-270 really good. little windy at shady grove. traveling i-270 north and south, not seeing any issues for you. as you travel from the spurring and connect to the beltway inner loop and outer loop of the beltway in montgomery county, you are in the clear. barbara, back to you. >> all right. thank you. today we continue our 12 days of give during those 12 days we will introduce to you different nonprofit groups in our area that are making a difference but need help and support to continue their good work. maas news joins thus morning to tell us about child and family network centers. pat, good morning. >> good morning. more than 25 years, child and family network centers has been working to get children more at risk of school failure into the best preschool programs around. they are also providing valuable support to the parents of the children but they need your help this morning to do that the number to call is 202-88 a-4949. and joining us to tell us more about the child and family network center is steve and

brenda. steve is the chairman and brendy is one of parents of the children in the school. welcome, both of you. this is not a daycare center. this is a preschool and it is a unique preschool. tell us what makes your program so unique. >> well, education curriculum is extremely of high quality. we are an accredited program and we are not about daycare. we are babout educating childre to sit in a preschool seat so we can prepare them for their kindergarten and to be up and running and ready to learn in kindergarten. >> your children are all how old? >> we have mostly 4-year-olds but have 3-year-olds in the program, too. our 3-year-olds are in our arlington locations and 4-year-olds are in the alexandria locations. if we had the funds we would have two years for everybody. but because we have the funds for everybody, if we can get one year with the children that's great. if we can get two years of education that's fantastic. >> parents don't pay for this. >> no.

we provide this at no cost to our parents. >> okay. brendy, you know ball this. have you daughter in this school. >> yes, do i. >> tell us about the circumstances that led you to enroll your daughter there. >> well, i'm a single mother. and i didn't have any -- it helps me because i don't have to pay for babysitting. it was giving me an opportunity to go back to school. so it -- benefits me in a lot of ways. >> you were working but you weren't able to afford child care. >> right, right. >> and steve, that's the situation, the qualifier here, your parents have to be at 185% of the poverty line. >> correct. so our parents don't qualify r for -- cane think of it. lot of programs. and sort of the in the crack between the poverty line and -- >> that's correct. >> yes. >> so at 185% of the poverty level in this area is still very

poor. and so our -- parents are really of the working poor. and we give them the opportunity like in brandy's case to give their children a preschool education and give the parents an opportunity to work or pursue their own education. >> okay. they don't make enough to pay for child care and make too much to qualify for -- good head start is 100% of the poverty level. our parents don't qualify for head start. they make too much money. >> you need donations then. if you are providing the education free -- >> we do. $2 million budget. it costs about $10,000 for us to give one year of education to a child. if we can get $5,000 and can leverage it with another $5,000 from government sources, so, yes, we need money. >> all right. well, if you can help the child and family network centers in doing wonderful work, it is a quality program but they can't do it without your help. 202-885-4949. barbara will have more a little later. >> thank you, pat. 11:21.

we will show you how to make an italian meal that is absolutely perfect for christmas eve. you want to see this. ♪ >> plus, how russian artists hope to light up the cor arts festival program. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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after 47 years with the coral arts society maestro norman skribner is retiring. the founder will leave after a final season of performances that will include a rare christmas performance that will bring some of the russian top voices here to washington. ♪ for the last 47 years, norman stribner led this chorus. he founded the group in 1965 calling it the coral arts society of washington. and while the faces of this all volunteer singing group have changed over the last nearly five decades, he has remained the steadfast maestro in charge. ♪ like every december, over the last 47 years, the group is now rehearsing for the most popular yearly event.

♪ >> reporter: the holiday concert of christmas choral classics from around the world. ♪ >> that has to be a violent interruption. >> reporter: he takes his singers through the warmup drills. honing their voices to produce the sounds that have brought the group the highest accolades on their road trips around the world. ♪ >> reporter: they brought crowds to their feet in paris, buenos aires, rio, russia. >> we will begin with "glory to god in the highest." second verse, please. >> reporter: for pushing the envelope to include premieres by work by the world's most contemporary composers.

♪ >> reporter: this year's holiday concert will feature treasures from russia and as a gift from the russian ambassador, norman's legacy will be honored with special guest singers and the renowned philharmonic orchestra from russia. ♪ >> reporter: and this year's concert closes the final season at the helm for norman skribner called one of russia's most versatile and respected conductors across the globe. >> ready, go! ♪ >> beautiful music. holiday treasures from russia can be seen at the kennedy center concert hall tonight, wednesday, and saturday. 11:27 is the the time. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," happy homecoming just in time for the holidays.

families of soldiers are optimistic this park morning. an update on our weather. the good news, we have already hit the low force this week, tom says. we will hear what he has to say

right now on "news4 dday," north koreans have been marching to landmarks cries the country's capital 37 mourning the death of their longtime leader kim jong-il. north korea fired a short range

missile test off its east coast. south korea's military is on high alert. the holidays are coming early for a number of area families as their loved ones return from combat. hundreds of troops are arriving home today at baltimore washington airport after serving in afghanistan. news4's tracee wilkins was there for the homecoming. >> reporter: we have been here all morning long and watched what turned into a very long morning as these folks have been waiting for their loved ones to exit through those doors so that they can greet them but believe you, me, every second of this wait has been worth it. it has been days and then hours of delays for these families who are waiting to greet their loved ones here at bwi airport. so now they are bonding. while stuffing welcome bags. >> it is awful. yeah. it is awful. this is the worst part of the deployment is the travel. >> reporter: hundreds of troops that enter bwi airport today will know how these people and others feel about them.

>> when you hear that, before you can get through the doors, you know, your heart jumps you are like -- it is good -- sorry. i love it. yeah. this is why we do it. >> reporter: this group of volunteers has presented more than 130,000 troops with welcome home bags. handmade cards and special attention. >> saying all our troops in iraq are out. they crossed the border yesterday into kuwait. so we are probably going to go somewhat out of business. >> reporter: they have witness ad lot here. plenty of laughter and sometimes tears and sometimes proposals of marriage. >> he proposed in may and he -- he got deployed in august. >> reporter: many of these troops are air force stationed in afghanistan and for some, today's arrival may very well be their last. and they will join the hundreds of thousands of troops from the iraqi conflict who are already home. >> is it really wrapping up? when one ends another begins.

it is just a sign of the times. no one can do anything about it. it is in god's hands. >> reporter: operation welcome home say even though the conflict in iraq ended they will continue to welcome home troops who are coming in from afghanistan. bwi airport, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> the service members you just saw there are only the first to arrive today. we are told two more flights bringing hundreds more troops home will arrive later today at bwi. d.c. taxi cabs can get a major upgrade. today d.c. mayor gray and d.c. council member will announce a bill that would provide sweeping changes to taxi service in the district. "the washington post" reports that the bill would include mandatory electronic payment options like credit card readers and pay by phone. they would also have panic buttons for drivers and passengers to use during emergencies. the proposal comes after the doost taxi cab commission passed a fare hike without much service improvement. before the hike goes into effect, though, there must be

another public hearing before commissioners take their final vote. right now, d.c. public works officials are trying to make sure last year's snow removal problems won't happen again. they are holding a public round table with district presidents to discuss the city's plans for this winter. the department of public works director, william howland will testify to the city council chamber. last winter was a tough one for the district as back-to-back blizzards dumped almost 30 inches of snow in just a few days. major winter storm aimed at the south western great platins could snarl plans today. new mexico, texas, oklahoma, kansas, and colorado. the storm could leave up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of the country. forecasters say the storm will last through tomorrow afternoon. let's check in with tom kierein for the latest our weather. tom? >> well, we had a very cold start this morning but now things are beginning to warm up and the temperatures are now

climbing into the upper 30s to low and mid 40s throughout much of the region. southerly breeze is with us now and our sky is mostly sunny. we have clouds on the increase. now coming into the mountains from the west. and there is a weak disturbance bringing in a few sprinkles out in the mountains in the ohio valley. but as that moves in tomorrow, we have a possibility of a few sprinkles coming through and at's going to be perhaps increasing a little bit as we get into wednesday. that won't be until wednesday afternoon or perhaps into wednesday evening and then we will dry out again for a while. and for the rest of the afternoon, some high clouds drifting in. we will have temperatures reaching around 50 degree was a light breeze. cloudy night tonight. we will be down into the low 40s by midnight and our sunset today is at 4:49. then during the day tomorrow, cloudy and we will have a possibility of a sprinkle. first day of hanukkah. highs reaching the upper 40s. then on wednesday, rain likely and highs in the 50s. may get a shower thursday night into friday morning. otherwise still mild both of

those days. chilly over the weekend for the christmas weekend. saturday rain and some sun back on sunday. barbara. >> all right, tom. thank you. we are going to check in again on midday traffic. here is danella sealock. >> first i'm going to give thank you traffic and then i have a bone to pick with you literally. all right. first, traveling eastbound at 50 at route 450, that accident is cleared. not seeing any delays in the area. also taking the beltway around route 1 inner loop you are clear. no problems there. outer loop as well. montgomery county. you are in the clear. traveling i-95 in virginia, barbara, nice and smooth as you make your way towards 395. now what's that smell? you know it is my lunch time. i have to take -- cannot take how good it smells in here. >> you will get to taste it, stick around. >> thank you. >> show you how to make a fabulous meal for christmas eve. prince george's county family says it has questions after a police officer shot and killed one of their relatives. it happened late sat die night in the 7500 block of green leaf road. police say an officer was on

duty at an unmarked car when he saw a man, rodney edwards, lying on the ground. police say that's when the officer approached him. edwards point ad gun at the officer. the officer shot edwards, killing him. edwards family says they can't believe he would do such such a thing and demand answers. >> we need to know why he was shot, what he was doing and even though -- why would you shoot somebody so small, five times -- you know what i'm saying? five times? then we still can't get an answer to what's going on. >> police tell news4 that they did recover a gun from the scene. this is the 15th shooting involving police in prince george's county this year. right now the coast guard is searching for a missing boat other the chesapeake bay. he was last seen saturday when his boat capsized near sandy point state park. the rescuers already pulled two other people from the water over the weekend. a 40-year-old man was taken to the hospital and he died a short time later. a 25-year-old woman is being

treated for hypothermia. she is expected to survive. you might expect if you are playing football and standing out there on the football field that you could get hit but you would expect that hit to come from a fellow football player and not a runaway golf cart. that's exactly what happened at cowboys stadium over the weekend. right after a high school football game, you can see this electric cart with no driver in it, motoring down the field after plowing through a cluster of people at mid field, seven people were hurt, including one of the coaches. it is unclear what caused the cart to malfunction. it is a disturbing case of sports fans going way too far. giants fan brian snow was left permanently disabled after two dodgers fans beat him up after opening day in los angeles last spring. dr. nancy snyderman spoke to broyn as brian as he continues his long and painful recovery. >> hi, i'm nanszy.

how are you? >> nine. >> i heard so much about you. >> how are you? >> i'm doing very well, thank you. >> that's good. >> you are just as handsome as your sister said you are. >> that's good. >> so was what happened to brian an isolated incident? dr. nancy snyderman she has answers for you. we will have her full report tonight at 10:00 p.m. this morning, 13ier old girl tells her story on how she called 911 as two men broke into her house. >> i'm 13 years old. i don't know what to do. >> i'm in my room upstairs. i saw someone looking through. >> chloe simonton side the phone with the 911 operator. she hid under and around her bed in her suburban detroit home. she kept her cool even when the robbers came into her bedroom. this morning on the "today" show she explained to ann curry how

her dad always told her to stay calm and panic later. >> if i was loud i would have been found or -- they would have heard me. if i stayed calm, i would have had a better outcome which i did. >> was -- did it help to you have your pets nearby? did it help you stay calm? did it make you more nervous because you may have been afraid they have made noise? >> my cat was making a lot of noise meowing and -- clawing the floor. it was nerve-racking when she started meowing. >> again, chloe told ann she stayed calm through the whole ordeal like her father told her. she panicked once it was over and she was safe. with her help police were able to arrest two 19-year-old men as they were leaving her home. they face several charges including home invasion and larceny. 11:40 is the time. still ahead we will show you how to make a traditional italian

christmas eve meal. is it fabulous. combined pasta, seafood and other good enough. plus, our phone bank is open. 202- 885-2929. pat lawson muse will be back in just a few minutes with more on how you can help.

more on the 12 days of

giving. here's pat lawson muse. >> we are spotlighting an organization that helps children get off to the right start in school. it is called the child and family network centers and are providing valuable support to virginia families to children in virginia and welcome back. both of you. steve and brendy. you have a program called pay parents. >> we pair our parents of children to come into the classroom and learn from our teachers how to teach their children, how to work with their children and how to read with their children. >> you teach them, you pay them, to learn how to be good parents. >> yes, we do. >> you are working as -- you are working in addition to being a parent but you also are working with the social workers and come into your home. tell us what they have done for you. >> they provide us with turkeys and for christmas they are giving our children gifts.

to make sure the children get everything they want for christmas. you now. they asked us everything like what they like, everything. including us. they got gifts for us as well. >> how is your 4-year-old daughter doing in the program? >> really good. she likes it a lot. >> steve, in addition to pitting parents to learn how to be good parents you actually hire a lot of them as teachers as after they go back to school and get their degrees. >> yes, we do. our curriculum, teachers have to have educational degrees and we encourage them to pursue education and a lot of them and i'm hoping brendy when she finishes with her degree comes back and teach at our constituti institutions. there are about 185 now. we have nine different classrooms in the area. those classrooms are all in the communities where our children and families are. so they don't have to travel to us. >> you have a waiting list. >> we have over 100 and it is a daunting waiting list. it has been on my mind since i joined the program in 199537 every morning i wake up i know

that there are children out there in need and, unfortunately, because of our budget, we can't take in any more than we have now. so whatever moneys we bring in we will bring in new children. >> how has this school changed your life and your daughter's life? >> well, for her, she's going to be prepared when she starts kindergarten because she is learning everything she needs to know. by the time she starts. and for me, i get to go back to school. i don't have to pay babysitter and that saves me money. it is going to give me a better future and her as well. >> all right. it is the child and family network centers. sounds like a great program. i understand many parents consider your school better than even private schools. >> we rank right along with the private pay schools on -- there have been a number of articles written and our quality is unsurpass. >> okay. you need funds to continue doing what you are doing. and that's why our volunteers are standing by to take your calls. if you can help the child and family network centers,

202-885-4949. great program, barbara. >> thank you, pat. 11:46 is your time now. and coming up, an italian seafood dish for christmas eve. does it smell good in here. we will show you thousand make it. plus meteorologist tom kierein will be back with how much should we warm up today. stay with nbc 4 all afternoon. at 3:00 ellen asks brad pitt

> > based in south korea. i wanted to say hi to may friends and family in d.c. have a good holiday. see when you i get back. >> the u.s. stocks opened this week higher but have since fallen. let's check in with hampton pearson. he joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. hampton? >> hi. as just mentioned major markets frankly drifting to negative territory. just in the last hour. news of the death of north korean ruler kim jong-il and the stand-off in washington over extending the payroll tax cut are the key factors. right now we are seeing the dow down about 53 points. nasdaq down 11. s&p down 8. and asian markets fell with analysts warning kim illjong-il death. turning to your open, finance

ministers with the european union are meeting to decide how to split smup $261 billion. leaders promised to send to the international monetary fund. that money is meant to boost europe's fire wall against the escalating debt crisis there. closer to home some encouraging news on the housing market. national association from homebuilders, wells fargo sentiment index is up this month, up two points to 21. highest reading in about a year and a half. a sign builders are less worried about the housing market but still far short of 50 which would be a sign builders are actually turning positive about their industry. biggest positive stock movers so far today winn dixie up as much as 69% on news it is being sold to another supermarket chain for about $560 million. barbara? >> all right. thank you, hampton. >> you got it. the feast of the seven fishes celebrated on christmas eve in italy is believed to vornlg natured in southern italy.

it is a feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. joining us now with an example of a traditional christmas eve dish is chef victoria. good morning. >> good morning. >> welcome. >> thank you very much. >> we are making a typical pasta for christmas eve. is that right? >> yes. >> and you say it is called -- >> papadell for christmas eve. >> let me read the recipe. you will show us how to make it. here is what you need. one package of pappadelle, half pound of lobster meat, pound of shrimp cleaned. one cup of cream, tablespoon of chopped spring onion. pinch of nutmeg. pinch of white pepper. and that is all you need. i know this chef is going to add a lot of the stuff of his own. keep your eyes open so you can see what he does. you start with olive oil in the pan. you have garlic in there browning. is that right? >> yes. >> then what happens?

>> now we put crabmeat. >> i'm going top hand it over to you so you can put it on the stove, if you like. those are some big wonderful chun chunks of crabmeat. wow. then shrimp, too. you add a little butter, i see. shrimp goes in, too? >> yes. >> oh. and these? >> scallop. >> scallops. they go in there, too? >> yes. >> and this? >> lobster. >> okay. he is putting a lot more fish in. you can add whatever you want. >> exactly. >> you are going to put seven fish in this one dish. >> always. >> all right. let's assume that you added all

of the fish that you are going to do. what's next? >> next white wine. >> i didn't see white wine. >> mix of champagne. >> all right. >> and put black pepper. >> okay. black pepper. you suggested white pepper. >> the cream. >> you add that just for the color. >> yes. exactly. >> okay. >> now we mix. >> that's a little bit of tomato sauce just for the color. >> yes. >> that's beautiful. that's it. >> that's it. >> then you toss it with the pappadeli. >> yes. >> fantastic. >> the end. >> let me -- whoa. that's absolutely beautiful.

it is a big, wide noodle that looks like fettuccine but bigger. you can put as many fish in there as you like. that's absolutely gorgeous. >> it smells so good, too. okay. so you -- this is one main dish that you can use. >> this is seafood lasagna. >> delicious. >> oh, wow. look at that. seafood lasagna. >> yes. >> fantastic. >> oh, oh, that's absolutely delicious. what's in this? >> scallops, clams. >> let me take a quick shot of all of the wonderful desserts, too, you brought along. >> these are the seven fishes. >> another dish with seven fishes. olive oil. >> all of the fabulous desserts. tell us what's there. >> this one, famous gash.

>> you don't have to lift it up. we can see it from there. >> beautiful. okay. >> traditional cookies. kotite. the boy. cookies. >> fantastic. can you see that? i don't know if you can see it but -- how fabulous. wonderful. this has been -- the most wonderful pre-christmas eve that i have ever spent. i can't wait to eat. you can't have christmas in italy without it. thank you for coming in to see us thank you for having me. >> smells so good. tastes so good. let's take a look now at some of the stories we are following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins with us a preview of things to come. >> yes. hi, barbara. the studio smells like ran italian restaurant. we are following developments on capitol hill which will directly affect your wallet.

as the house of representatives balks at that time short-term payroll tax cut passed in the senate. plus, why the toys under the tree this year will be safer than ever. ♪ i did it my way >> also at 4:00, rags to riches story from "america's got talent." then at 5:00, a new trend in holiday giving makes its way to the d.c. area. now a local woman has a whole lot to smile about this christmas thanks to the kindness of strangers at kmart. all those stories and the day's top stories on "news4 at 4:00." we have time for the final check on the forecast. >> beautiful sky around the region. live view from the sky watcher camera and temperatures right now as we approach the moon hour. climbing into the 40s and later today, climbing into the low 50s by mid afternoon. quite a bit of sun. then the clouds close in from the west by late this afternoon and cloudy tonight and tomorrow. first day of hanukkah tuesday. afternoon highs near 50.

maybe a sprinkle. greater chance of rain on wednesday. mainly midday and afternoon, thursday and friday, little sun back. maybe a morning shower friday. but over the weekend maybe rain saturday and partly cloudy on christmas day. that's the way it looks. have a good day. see you tomorrow morning. and that's "news4 midday." we invite to you tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 1996 and tonight at 11:00. we will be back tomorrow morning at 11:00. we have great things coming for you tomorrow. be sure to join us. have a terrific day and we will see new the morning.

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