good morning. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. thursday, january 19, 2012. right off the top, we have breaking news on the race for the white house. nbc news confirmed texas governor rick perry plans on dropping out of the race for the republican nomination. he is expected to speak in south carolina at any moment. and he will reportedly endorse newt gingrich for president. we will take you there live as it happens. as perry drops out the big question is who will his supporters turn to? the iowa republican party just released the certified results of their caucuses and there is a

big switch. officials now say that rick santorum finished 34 votes ahead of mitt romney. no official winner will be declared. news4's melissa malay joins us to discuss what happened. >> reporter: official announcement expected in less than a an hour. nbc news will not declare a winner. the iowa gop is expected to say rick santorum finished ahead of romney by 34 votes. officials say they discovered errors actually a fair amount of errors, 131 to be exact, in the county of fayette right here in the northeast part of the state. now take a look at the mums up on the screen. santorum has total of 29,839 votes. romney, 29,805. more than 12021,000 people voted in the caucuses. still, though, eight precincts are outstanding. numbers are missing. making it impossible to know the final results. newt gingrich was on the "today" show earlier today. >> is an tore sum a fine person but i think he is running in

fourth place. >> that was melissa mollett. the hopefuls will have their last chance to impress the south carolina voters before the primary. they will square off in a debate in charleston. breaking news. metro says two of its employees were arrested for stealing thousands of dollars in coins from metro stations. the employees include metro transit police officer john haley and revenue technician horace mcdade. both are charged with conspireing to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds and metro says it has been investigating the theft since last october. metro says that it suspended officer haley without and say in the process of terminating him. haley is accused of using stolen funds to buy large amounts of lottery tickets. technician mcdade is also suspended. today we are seeing dramatic new images from inside the washington monument as crews

repair damage caused by last august's earthquake. one local billionaire is helping ensure the monument is repaired and able to open again to the public. news4's megan mcgrath is live now in the national mall with more. good morning. >> well, good morning. as you saw in that video, there was a lot of damage done because of the -- by the earthquake. a lot of work that still needs to be done before the monument can reopen to visitors. the price tag for repairs is $15 million. congress came up with half of the money but the park service had to find donors to come up with the other half. turns out all they needed was the help of one man, david rubenstein. like the rest of us, billionaire philanthropist david rubenstein watched with fascination as engineers assessing the damage repelled down the washington monument. >> i was glad that they didn't ask me to do that. they asked me to go up and take a look. i was glad i didn't have to repel down. yes, i was amazed and those

people are professionals that do that sxubl quite skilled at it. it is a skill i don't have. >> reporter: while he may not be able to climb the washington monument, rubenstein has other skills. skills that have made him a very wealthy man. and he is coming to the rescue of this american treasure. rubenstein has donated $7.5 million to fix the monument and that's half of the total repair bill. >> i thought that because it is an important symbol of our country if i could help in some modest way i would like to do so. that's what i want to do. >> reporter: rubenstein's donation means the project is fully funded. engineers can begin the business of repairing the monument. as for when it will reopen -- >> we will begin the construction in '12. begin the repairs. we are not sure exactly how long it will take. we are estimating that the monument will reopen in '13 but i cannot give you a hard date. >> reporter: the washington monument was seriously damaged in august's earthquake. mortar and stone came tumbling down in large cracks -- and

large cracks formed allowing water to pool inside. it has been closed ever since. although disappointed that they couldn't get inside today, tourists say they are glad the landmark will be fixed so future visitors can enjoy it. >> it is something that will last through generations. it is paying forward, i guess you could say. >> reporter: and rubenstein is no stranger to large donations. he gave $13 million to the national archives, $25 million to the kennedy center. and just recently he gave.4.5 million to the panda program at the national zoo. back to you in the studio. >> all right. megan mcgrath. thank you. 11:05 now. it has been a cold morning. we started out in freezing temperatures. meteorologist tom kierein joins us now from the storm center with our first forecast. tom, good morning. >> look at that beautiful blue sky over the washington monument. the way the monument just stands out starkly against the blue sky. it is a photo-op day.

we have a gorgeous day under way. if you like crisp winter weather, and we are just now getting above freezing in washington, although it is still a little below freezing in montgomery, prince george's county, fairfax counties. only around 30 degrees there. but through central virginia, fredericksburg to cull person, warrenton, charlottesville, it is in the low to mid 30s. low to mid 30s in southern maryland. on the eastern shore as well. out of the mountains of western maryland, west virginia, many locations are still below freezing as well as the shenandoah valley. now looking at what's been happening here over the last 12 hours, quite a bit of cloudiness beginning to come into the ohio valley. ahead of a cold front triggering some snow showers and some flurries that stretch from western pennsylvania across ohio and into indiana. some of that may be moving our way later tonight. but for the rest of the afternoon, just increasing high clouds and temperatures climbing a little bit more into the upper 30s and briefly into the low 40s by mid afternoon. some of the cloudiness coming through a small chance of a few flurries here. lot of that snow in the midwest

will be drying out as it hits the mountains. we may see a few flurries tonight and cold again tomorrow. a look at that and the weekend forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. >> we will see you then. thank you, tom. let's check on the midday traffic now. danella sealock joins with us the latest on the roads. >> hi. we have a situation in downtown silver spring. if you are traveling on georgia avenue. fire activity blocks various lanes for you. this is between silver spring avenue. there is not a fire but i'm told there is a gas line struck in the area. i need you to be careful as you are traveling you can see a few firefighters along this side and over this edge as well. just be careful. use caution while you are traveling in the area. taking the beltway, the outer loop at exit 13, richie marlboro road, looks a lot better since i last checked it. no accidents and no manl or delays in that area. crossing over 395, earlier accident, shut down all of your northbound lanes and third street opportunity and massachusetts avenue. that's now gone. view smooth ride as you make

your way into the city. >> dan allege, thank you. a d.c. police sergeant is on administrative leave accused of beating up a woman working the bar at a club in southeast washington. police say sergeant washington got into a fight with the bartender on mlk avenue early yesterday morning. washington allegedly screamed expletives at her and grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. he was arrested and charged with domestic violence. bartender had cuts and bruises from the fight. this morning, fairfax county police are warning parents about a suspicious man who has been lingering near an area elementary school. police say that the man in a red pickup truck has been seen waving and calling to students outside of claremont elementary school in alexandria. >> reporter: there have been several incidents reported. some in december and now some in january with the latest incident happening just this week. and parents are extraordinarily concerned.

of course, so are police. a suspicious man in a red, rusted, dented pickup truck was reported in the area of claremont elementary in alexandria. on december 19, 20, 21. students walking to and from school reported the man waving, calling out, and watching them. >> ape there guy pulled up in the truck and sat and, you know, fairly close distance back and just kept his eye on him. at one point he waved and was just clearly monitoring timing, who was there, and assessing the situation. >> reporter: two additional similar incidents reported last thursday. and this past tuesday. fairfax county police stepped up patrols in the area. no child has been touched or injured in any of the incidents but parents are concerned and taking precautions just the same. >> i think it is a threat. but i think you have to -- like any threat, you have to be cautious and you just have to keep doing what you do every day

and make your children aware of it. >> scary but at the same time i feel, you know, confident that the fairfax county and the security here, as you can see, parents out here and of course, you know, everyone is walking their kids. >> reporter: fairfax county police tell me that tonight there will be a meeting here with parents from claire monday elementary school and faculty to try to ease any concerns into and to make sure that all of the parents have the information that they need to warn their children. alexandria, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. 11:10. still ahead, the captain of the cruz ship that ran ape ground explains why he wasn't on the ship. plus new questions into the killing of osama bin laden. did the obama administration leak classified information? this is a live look in south carolina where governor rick pair write is about to announce

back to the breaking news and decision 2012. nbc news confirming texas governor rick perry dropping out of the race. he's live in south carolina. let's listen in. >> despite the circumstances that we find ourselves in, they hadn't stopped believing in the promise of america. we are too great a people for that. what's broken in america is not

our people. it is our politics. what's broken in america is not our people. it is a pace that is humble, with a federal government that's smaller, so that our people can live freer. i enter this campaign offering a unique perspective, a governor who had led a large state leading the nation in job creation, and executive leader who had implemented conservative principles, a son of farmers who was burned with little more than a good name. but who is experienced and -- has experienced the great opportunity and freedom of this country. but i have never believed that the calls of conservatism is embodied by one individual. our party. and the conservative philosophy, transcen

transcends any one individual. it is a movement of ideas that are greater than any one of us. and we will live long past any of us in our lives. former air force pilot, i don't get confused. i know we cab lose track of the ultimate objective in carrying out our mission. and that objective is not only to defeat president obama but to replace him with a conservative leader who will bring about real change. and our country is hurting. make no mistake about that. 13 million people out of work. 50 million of our citizens on food stamps. $15 trillion national debt and growing. we need bold, conservative leadership that will take on the entrenched interests and give the american people their

country back. i have always believed the mission is greater than the man. as i have contemplated the future of this campaign, i have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign. therefore, today i am suspending my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich for president of the united states. i believe newt is a conservative visionary, who can transform our country. and we have had our differences which campaigns will inevitably have. and newt is not perfect. but who among us is? the fact sing that there is forgiveness for those who seek god. and i believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenant of my christian faith. ? you have been listening to texas governor rick perry live in

south carolina. he just announced that he is suspending his campaign for the republican nomination for president. and he's endorsing newt gingrich. we will have much more throughout the day right here on news4. divers have resumed their search of wreckage of an overturned crew ship near italy. you don'ts are looking for 21 people still missing from friday's disaster. forecasters say rough seas later today could force authorities to call officer much efforts and plans to start pumping fuel from the ship. new satellite images show the costa concordia from space, captain accused of steering the ship into shallow waters and causing it to overturn and killing 11 people. industry analysts say tracking data shows the ship went even closer to shore last year and that route was approved. >> must have become perilously close. i mean, possibly within touching distance. >> authorities say the captain schettino abandoned the boat

before the passengers made it off safely. schettino trying to defend himself saying he tripped and fell and landed on a lifeboat. authorities plan to charge him with manslaughter. the government launched an investigation into claims that the obama administration possibly leaked classified information about the osama bin laden raid to hollywood producers. the pentagon and cia are looking into a complaint filed by the new york congressman peter king. oscar wink director kathryn bigelow is working on a movie about that raid. first suggested filmmakers got access to a high-level cia ceremony honoring the unidentified s.e.a.l. team that killed bin laden. the white house denied any wrongdoing. the movie is expected to be released in october. we are getting a check of the forecast. meteorologist tom kierein joins us. man, it is much colder. we started out below freezing. not much warmer now either. >> it feels like winter. >> it does. >> unlike it has been acting last couple of weeks. right now around our region we have lots of shine and

temperatures are getting above freezing in much of virginia and maryland, eastern shore. although quite a bit of west virginia is still a little bit below freezing around 30 degrees. shenandoah valley, points west. blue ridge east to the bay, we are now climbing into the low and mid 30s in montgomery, prince george's counties. district of columbia and in the mid 30s now. view from space, showing high clouds drifting in there the west ahead of the cool front triggering snow showers, western pennsylvania into ohio and indiana. closer, we are just beginning to see a few of the high clouds showing up here in western maryland but elsewhere we have plenty of sunshine and as we go forward over the next 48 hours, as we get in a the evening hours that front coming in around 11:00 tonight and might get a few flurries coming through and after that, cross the bay and head out and will dry out a bit on friday and going to be quite a bit colder, too. highs tomorrow will probably be in the 30s. then as we get into saturday, in the morning, this pink zone, that's a zone of potential sleet, freezing rain. this blue zone pit be a zone of wet snow that will be saturday

morning. and perhaps then changing over to some rain and then ending by saturday evening. for the rest of the thursday, increasing clouds, temperatures climbing just around 40 to low 40s or so. then this evening, under a cloudy sky. we have that possibility after few flurries, perhaps around midnight or so, between midnight and dawn. it will move off east to the chesapeake bay. and then tomorrow morning, down to the mid 20s. afternoon highs on friday and into the -- perhaps just mid and upper 30s. very cold day tomorrow. we will have sunshine and few clouds in and out. clouding up friday night and we could have some of that sleet and freezing rain and maybe some wet snow coming in late friday night and predawn on saturday. then changing maybe to some light rain off and on saturday afternoon. highs reaching near 40. sunday cloudy and cold. up just near 40. a bit warmer. maybe rain moving in on monday. drying out tuesday and again on wednesday. that's the way it looks. >> tom, thanks so much. let's check the midday traffic once again. danella is here with the latest the roads. any improvements out there? >> yes.

some of our roads look good now. checking travel speed, taking the dulles toll road from hunter mill road to the beltway, 55 miles per hour. i-95 in virginia looks great. heading north from the occoquan to beltway, 63 miles per hour. and 395 from the beltway to the 14th street bridge, you are at 54 miles per hour. >> thank you, danella. it is 11:21. still ahead, shaping up for the new year. look at the boxing workout that is gaining popularity. first, here is a look at what's what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. with the sleep number bed, it's not about soft or firm. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. the magic of this bed

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there is never a bad time to get in shape for the new year even if you haven't tried boxing. you may want to give it a shot. boxing has become a popular cardio workout. our fitness expert steve hayes is with us. nice to see you. you brought a guest. zack. >> yes. >> first of all, tell us about the benefits of boxing. when we see boxers they are in awesome shape. we know they are working out hard. can the average person do this? >> yes. because when i was at the l.a. boxing gym, average people were in there but my gracious, what an incredible workout. and the instructors like zack and my man, he's just awesome. kenny. he's awesome. >> zack, what's some advice for beginners that never stepped foot in a boxing gym or boxing

arena? it can be intimidate. >> i tell people as long as view little bit of aggression you like to get out, bag in front of you to hit, everybody has an ex-company co-worker, boss, ex-love. somebody they want to hit. we can get that aggression out as we see in the individual those what are some of benefits. >> cardiovascular, stress release. incredible stress release. more than that your whole body is working. every muscle in the body just working constant movement. >> you see, you are hitting the bag pretty hard in that video with a about injuries? can you talk about what you need to do in terms of precaution? especially if you are a beginner? >> as a beginner, want to get involved with a little bit of plyometrics, come a little more explosive. jump rope is excellent way to do this. just help getting you nice and light on your toes. keep you moving around. >> can you show tuesday correct way to jump rope or skip rope? >> sure. there are lots of ways to do it whether you want to judgment with both feet or one. to find a jump rope that's good for you and you want top stand

on it. and pull it up so that the handles come up to the armpit level. and some people just jump one time. some people pick it up and will go back and forth foot to foot. >> the more you practice, the faster you can get. how long should do you that to get the best workout, would you say? >> there are lots of ways to do it. normally i have people go anywhere from two to three minutes to simulate moving their feet like they would for boxing round. two minutes for amateur fight. three minutes for a pro fight. pushups. >> can you show us combinations you learned for people who are at home can show us? >> yes. say, for instance, zack was showing me couple of boxing moves. anyone at home can do this because what it does and zack will explain it to you as i'm going through it. >> we start off getting steve to the right stance. go ahead and stand with your feet together. turn right foot a little bit. take a step forward with your

left. so your feet are wrof set. one is forward and one is the back. steve is going to turn his shoulders as we extends his left hand. that's his lead hand. that's his jab right there. will bring that back in and extend the right. that's across. we are going to call that cross that will come across his body. now he will speed it up a little bit. we are going to call eight 1-2 jab. and cross. that's the 1-2 combination. first and second punch that we will learn. >> goes on and movement like that makes you move the center part of the body. awesome workout. also, too, lot of people complain about wrist injuries. it is a way that you turn the punch to keep you from injuring your wrist. >> all right. zack and steve, thanks so much. quick nutrition tip. very quickly. >> this is oatmeal month. oatmeal month, get all of the nutritious oatmeal you can eat. >> thank you very much. it is 11:27. coming up in ex-in the next half hour, dangerous prank in a local community has neighbors concerned for their safety. then a proposal that could turn the district into the next times

square with huge jumbotrons. winter cold is here but is it here to stay?

rick pair write dropped out of the race for president. the texas governor has seen his support dwindle in recent polls. fairfax county police are warning parents about a us is patient man lingering near claremont elementary school in alexandria. the man was seen waving and calling at students from his red pickup truck as recently as this week. so far there have been no reports of children being touched or injured. the national park service released new video of repairs being made to the washington monument. this crew was fixing cracks inside the monument and comes on the same day local billionaire david rubenstein contributed $7.5 million to help pay for those repairs. canadian company that want to build an oil pipeline across

north america plans to reapply for a permit that president obama turned down. the proposed keystone pipeline would run from canada to the gulf coast. transcanada's ceo says he was not surprised the permit was rejected. president obama says he turned it down because congress only gave him 60 days to review the project which wasn't enough time. republicans say the president is breaking a promise to create jobs. today president obama will launch his new plan for boosting u.s. tourism by visiting the happiest place on earth. the president is stopping by walt disney world in orlando, florida. the industry is pushing the president and congress to make travel to the u.s. easier for people living in developing countries. check in with storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein. it is cold enough so snow lovers want to know whether any snow is heading our way. >> we may get a little bit tonight, very little. not much at all. there is a possibility of a few flurries around mid might tonight. right now, though, we have a beautiful blue sky. the sunshine pouring down, live

view from the sky watcher camera. showing way off in the distance on the horizon towards west virginia. there are a few high clouds beginning to come in. right now we are at or a little bit above freezing throughout most of the area. reagan national now is at 30 34 degrees. we will con to climb into the upper 30s, maybe near 40 for a brief time later this afternoon. right now we can see those clouds here in the wider view coming into pennsylvania and west virginia and under those clouds there's little light snow falling in western pennsylvania and across north central ohio and into indiana. that's along a cold front that's coming in. yes, usher in more cold air. even colder air coming in here during the day on friday. and as it does come in tonight may trigger a few flurries around mid nature or so. then after that, some sunshine back in and out on friday. highs only the upper 30s tomorrow. on saturday morning, perhaps predawn, after midnight friday night, might get some sleet and freezing rain, maybe a little wet snow. then changing to some occasional light rain saturday and high near 40. cloudy and cold sunday.

maybe some rain on monday. a bit warmer and drying out tuesday and wednesday next week. that's the way it looks. >> tom, thank you. let's check on the midday traffic once again. dan allege sealock is here with the latest the roads. good morning. >> good morning. let's start with metro. seeing delays on the orange line due to track work. track work happening at clarendon. del nays both direction. on the red line, also seeing some work on the rails here. between friendship heights and van ness in this area, both directions, you are also going to see delays on the red line. on the roadways, still seeing fire activity. this is on georgia avenue between bonevich street and georgia avenue. fire trucks on this scene. just use caution in the area. they are blocking a few of the lanes as you make the commute in downtown silver spring. we have here debris in the roadway as you head east on i-66 and making your way towards nutley and you are see something delays right at route 123 as you head eastbound. stick to the right to avoid the delays. no problems inside at glebe.

back to you. >> danella, thank you. dulles rail project may overlook dulles altogether. according to the washington examiner the airport's authority is thinking of eliminating the stop at the airport and instead riders would have to get off along route 28 in fairfax county and then take a bus or light rail train, another mile and a half to the airport. that move could save about $70 million. most airport's authority members say they oppose eliminating the dulles station. firefighters trying to figure out what spark ad fire in germantown. firefighters were called to a townhouse there just after midnight. investigators believe that the fire somehow started near a fireplace downstairs. then spread upstairs towards the attic. no one was hurt. three people that lived there now have to find somewhere else to stay. today the parents of a virginia girl who disappeared and was found dead four years ago will announce a new lead in the case. 16-year-old annie mccan was

found dead in november of 2008 in an east baltimore housing project. the officials say mccann died from a lethal dose of lydocaine. the police say the death points suicide but the family believes it was murder. they will hold a news conference announcing the developments that starts at 1:00. police need your help finding a woman who they say robbed an 84-year-old woman in takoma park last week. investigators say she approached the victim at murray steaks. she was with another woman and three young children that said hadn't eaten in days. after agreeing to help a woman cash a bank the suspect told her she had a gun. >> were you scared, ma'am? >> yes, ma'am. i'm still scared. i keep looking around thinking that they are -- been watching me. and that they were following me home. >> bliss say that she forced the victim to withdraw thousands of dollars in cash from her life savings. the maryland state attorney's office is investigatinging a bethesda

mother accused of leaving her child home alone. a fire then started inside their apartment. it happened on rock forest drive yesterday. police say that the 6-year-old girl set off the smoke alarm when she tried to use the toaster oven. when investigators showed up, police say the girl told them her mother went to a kick boxing class. police say the mother will be cited for leaving a child alone. homeowners associations in one montgomery county community plan on stepping up their neighborhood watches as police search for the person who is throwing bricks and rocks into people's holmes and cars. the incidents cost residents in montgomery village thousands of dollars in repairs. one woman says the vandal targeted her house twice in the last six weeks throwing a brick through her sliding glass door. >> more frustrating than anything else because now we have to replace the door again. >> we didn't think it would happen again. on saturday it was just so surprising. >> all of the incidents happened within a mile of each other and leads police believe the suspects or suspects live in

that area. some call it liquid gold. prince george's county police say people are stealing used cooking oil. used oil which processing companies collect and make into bio diesel fuel and other products like soap is worth $1 or more per gallon. so far no arrests have been made. it is now easier the hear about emergencies in prince george's county. the county has a new notification system that can send alerts via e-mail or text messages. notifications include amber alerts, severe weather information, along with school and government delays and closings. the website to sign up is notify me prince george's county, maryland.gov. the d.c. council is considering a bill that would allow up to nine jumbotrons you a round the verizon center. the signs could be any size and that has at least one neighboring business upset. they say it is worried the

billboard could wrap around the entire arena, ruining the natural light and driving down property values. they say the bright lights would be visible from the treasury building a mile away. the d.c. council is holding a hearing on the issue next month. it is now 11:39. still ahead, apple set to announce a new product. it is not the iphone 5. but could it change the i just had it with cable. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. a lot of times, the picture would break up.

for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. move up to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing! i was just in a trance watching it. i'm discovering new channels every day. [ male announcer ] and here's a special bonus: sign up now and get $300 back with a two-year contract. fios internet -- the speed, you can't compare. i'm able to take care of things much faster now. [ male announcer ] start saving now. move up to fios for our best price online -- $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years and get $300 back with a two-year contract. or ask us about the option of no annual contract. is change good? in this case, change is very good. [ male announcer ] visit verizon.com/greatprice. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/greatprice. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead.

welcome back. new at midday, pepco is responding to a new report that says that it is one of the dirty 30. that's a list of top 30 fortune 500 corporations that pay less in federal income taxes than it spends on federal lobbying. the report was done by the u.s. public interest research group and citizens for tax justice. it says between 2008 and 2010 that the utility company paid $3.8 million to lob wrists but did not pay taxes. the report adds pepco made $508

million in profits from federal tax rebates. pepco issued a statement saying we recognize our commitment to supporting and investing in the communities we serve and that includes paying our taxes. consistent with irs rules and our use to lower overall customer rates. 24-hour internet protest over a set of piracy bills in congress is over. this morning the websites are back up but the legislation is losing steam fast. just hours after an estimated 7,000 web domains protested two congressmen and two senators withdraw support. some sites including wick pete wra and craigslist shut down completely yesterday. the concern is that the bills could limit free speech. one of the bills would allow the government to monitor and shut down websites accused of distributing pirated material and the second would target foreign sites. the company that changed the way people listen to music is now attempting to do the same

with tax books. about an hour ago apple announced they are getting into the digital textbook business. two new apps are available today. i books 2 and ibooks author. students will be able to buy the books that contain engaging layouts, embedded i have yo and allow for simultaneous note taking and creation of study cards. the author allows teachers to create their own books and study materials. pretty cool. kodak files for chapter 11 bankruptcy. let's check in now with bertha coombs and joins us live with more on that. and the rest of the day's business headlines. good morning. >> good morning. yes. more iconic companies in trouble as things move forward. but this morning's stocks are up and investors encouraged by positive news on unemployment. the labor department reporting that only 350 only -- 352,000 people filed for new unemployment claims. that's a drop of 50,000 from the prior work. that's the lowest weekly number since april 2008. on the home front, housing data

for december shows home building activity was down about 4% from november. but for those seeking mortgage right now rates have never been lower. 30-year fixed rates 3.88% in the last week. rates below 4% for seven straight weeks. apple meantime, as you mentioned, doing its part to easi easing. kodak having much more problems in terms of trying to move forward. kodak filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning, the company also getting a lifeline of loan in order to try to maintain operations, big problem, of course, is we have all moved on to digital photography and company had trouble enforcing its patents in that area. meantime, if you have an innovative idea for a new product, walmart is getting a chance to get it on its shelves. create and submit a video of

your item and get it on getontheshelf.com. submissions due february 27. like "american idol." put to a public vote. if you get enough of your friends on to vote for your produ product. >> that's an interesting endeavor. bertha, thanks so much. our "wednesday's child" this week has a lot of challenges but those that follow his progress say he's made leaps and bounds. his name is donnell. he happens to be a really nice kid. news4's barbara harrison takes us to meet him. >> reporter: there is donnell. there he is. hi. donnell arrived for his "wednesday's child" shoot dressed for the chilly weather. recently turned 3-year-old donnell was invited to spend the morning at the be with me children's play museum. miss elizabeth and miss rachel hold us around. this room had brightly colored

costumes to try on. and down the hall, great room. red, white and blue. it is a place filled with room after room of fantasy fun for little ones. there's grandma and grandpa's place. look at that. look at the farm. donnell was than too much sure about the rooster. he's a little insecure on things unfamiliar. but those who know him say -- >> don sell an amazingly happy, chirpy child. loves to sing. sings everywhere. he loves colors and tv. he can scoot. he is a lot -- he just is a very joyous child. >> reporter: what he did like was the farm puzzle. he did well in putting the pieces in the right place. >> but he does have a natural curiosity. he is starting to talk more. using more words. i really think that with a lot

of love and attention, he will reach a nice potential. >> reporter: donnell was very happy when rachel put his chair together. he seemed to feel more secure here and ready to experiment with the fun toys like the drum and the piano. before we left, there were surprises for donnell to take with him. including books and puzzles. now he just needs a family to help him grow and to develop all of the wonderful things he will learn to do in his life. and are red twroy get a lot of love back from a little boy ready to go home with a forever family. barbara harrison, news4, "wednesday's child." >> if you have room in your home and your heart for donnell or another child who is waiting, call our special adoption hotline, 1-88-to-adopt-me. or log on to our website of nbcwashington.com. coming up, we check out the weekend scene in adams morgan.

plus meteorologist tom kierein will be back with one more look at the chance for snow. stay with news4. 3:00 ellen gets up close and

nearly 12 years or more than 12 years after the death of jfk jr. and his wife caroline bissett kennedy's assistant said the couple was having serious troubles in their marriage. rose marie sat down with "people" magazine to talk about her new book "fairy tale interrupted." she says bissett initially refused to join kennedy on the ill-fated flight july 16, 1999. she says she talked bissett -- talked to bissett on the morning of the crash. she says she told carolyn she should go on the trip because it was a family wedding. hours later kennedy's plane crashed into the atlantic ocean near martha's vineyard. kennedy, caroline and her sister, lauren, died. ♪ when you think of night life, neighborhoods in washington, adams morgan comes to mind. and if you haven't been there in a while, there are some new places that you may want to check out. joining us today to talk about a

few of these places, lavona. nice to see you again. a part of the problem with adams morgan is a lot of people think of it as a party place for this younger set. you are saying there is a change coming about. >> that's right. it used to be if you were out of your 20s, you definitely didn't go to adams morgan. we are really seeing this trend towards more sophisticated places. sit-down restaurants, nice cocktail bars, and a great example of that is a restaurant called mellow mushroom. it just opened. it is a chain that came from athens and they serve sophisticated pizzas with really creative toppings and family friendly. particularly during the day. and at night, it has lots for people to do, including a high-end beer bar upstairs and, of course, great pizzas. great alternative for folks that don't like to wait in line at the restaurants on 14th street. >> that's right. it always gets crowded there. interesting, more family friendly place in the heart of adams morgan. moving on to an old favorite that has new blood or should we say new brew.

what's this about? >> asylum is a biker bar, a place you would go to listen to heavy metal music and drink some really inexpensive beers. the owner last summer decided he was going to make eight more grownup place. he closed it and renovated it and opened a barbecue place called smoke and barrel. this is high-end barbecue. really great sandwiches and small batch bourbons, calling it one of our favorite places for a date. you see a lot of couples in there. having a great time. very sophisticated and woodsy inside. and it is another one of these amazing restaurants opening. >> terrific. finally, something called one of the most sophisticated bars in adams morgan, i love that so sophisticated and adams morgan going hand in hand here. >> the beginning of the trend. jack rose dining saloon. opened last summer. it is a really spacious, gorgeous space. it was built in an old gym. they transformed it into place you can take your parents and your business, executive pals. and have an amazing cocktail,

have a great steak or scallop dinner. and they are really not seeing that kind of young, crazy crowd that you might see a little other further down on 18th street. it is a really great place to go. >> i would like some of these changes. i definitely have to try out these places. thanks, as always. for more ideas for your weekend, just logon to the around town section of nbcwashington.com or going out guide on washingtonpost.com. now let's go to pat lawson muse in the newsroom for a look ahead at what's coming up on news4 this afternoon. >> hi. how are you? coming up this afternoon on in our four, tsa apologizes for strip searching older women. also ahead at 4:00 today, facebook unveil as bunch of new apps to add to its timeline. then at 5:00, a 20 dent fee for one plastic bag. northern virginia lawmaker is proposing this hefty fee and now opponents are sounding off about

it. those stories and all the latest coming up on news4 starting at 4:00 this afternoon. barbara, eun. it is eun yang. >> thank you, pat. final check of your forecast. tom kierein is here with the latest. hi, tom. >> we have a beautiful blue sky. we have bright sunshine. and there is a live view of the sky from our sky watcher camera. and we are beginning to see a few high clouds way off there on the western horizon. temperatures right now as we approach the noon hour getting above freezing in most locations. just 36 at reagan national. and it is going to take a while for it to get up to around 40 degrees, maybe another couple of hours. and then we will get those clouds closing in coming in from the midwest and already they are beginning to push into western maryland and the shenandoah valley getting a few high clouds coming in there. and farther to the west, they are producing little light snow in western pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, illinois, that's going to be coming our way but drying out as it does come through. it is a -- front, cold front that will be moving in tonight and may trigger a few flurries around midnight and partly

cloudy and colder on friday with highs in the 30s. then maybe a little wintry mix saturday morning. might get perhaps predawn and around dawn a little snow, sleet, freezing rain saturday morning. changing occasional light rain the rest of the day high around 40. cold sunday and more rain monday. that's the way it looks. we will be back tomorrow morning. >> that's right. we will be here. tom, thank you. a member of our news4 family accepted a special award last night. >> i thank you for this award. thank you. that's our very own tom sherw d sherwood. washingtonian magazine named him one of the washingtonians of the year. news4's jim vance, you see him there on the right, introduced him at a luncheon yesterday and joked about his, quote, seasoned journalism experience. >> here's the dark side of sherwood. he tweets! he's too old to tweet!

>> vance knows what abtweet is. a tweet is. >> tom has quite the following, too. it honors those whose good works and generous spirit makes washington great place to live and work. well deserved honor. congratulations to tom. >> we worked with him for so many years and one of the most loved curmudgeons in the business. >> that does it for us for "news4 midday." join us at 4:00 for all the day's news and back tomorrow morning at 4:30 for "news4 today." hope you will join us then. have a terrific day.