good sunday morning, everyone. i'm angie goff. >> and i'm chris gordon. welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday, january 29th. right off the top, breaking news out of northeast washington, where two people are dead after the car they were in collided with a police car. two police officers were also injured in the crash on taylor street in northeast, right near the catholic university campus. police say the car was speeding when it plowed into the police cruiser. a third person in that vehicle was also injured. there is no word on his condition. the police officers hurt in the crash are expected to survive.

taylor street is closed in that area and we will bring you more details as they become available. weatherwise, it is very cool out there. >> i know it! >> breezy, breezy. >> by all things, it's january. >> surprise. >> could you imagine, it's reasonable cold outside, although certainly not cold by january standards. we're back down close to average. temperatures generally this morning in the low 30s pretty much everywhere. skies have cleared out overnight and the gusty winds from late yesterday afternoon, they are gone as well. but don't you worry, if you're a kite flier like myself, there will be some wind around again later on this afternoon. so be ready for that. outside, though, quiet scene over washington this morning. 34 at national airport. in manassas, virginia, 27 degrees. it's 29 in fairfax, 30 in falls church, 32 in alexandria. up into maryland we go. montgomery county, from bethesda to chevy chase to gaithersburg and rockville all in the low 30s this morning. and 31 degrees up north in hagerstown. storm 4 radar, zippo going on around here.

99% of us will be dry for about 95% of the day today. i know that's a lot of percentages. you'll notice that little area of snow up near chicagoland. that is our next little chance of precipitation that's going to be arriving here probably about 12 to 15 hours from now, so about 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 this evening. most of your day's going to be just fine, bright and sunny and chilly to get your day started, clouds sneaking in later this afternoon, temperatures into the mid-to-upper 40s today, so not quite as mild as yesterday, and a little chance of rain or snowflakes late tonight. nothing to accumulate. >> so, with the wind, when someone tells you, go fly a kite, you don't take it personally? >> never, never, never. ben franklin, america's first weatherman, was a kite flier, as you know. >> thank you. see you later. >> okay. prince george's county police are hoping to identify a body recovered from the bottom of a well in ft. washington. crews got to the body late yesterday afternoon. it was then handed over to the medical examiner, who will try and identify the body. police made the discovery

thursday through an anonymous tip. police from alexandria were also on the scene, as there is a possibility the body was lenny harris, an activist who disappeared in september. well, a man is in custody after a six-hour standoff with police. detectives say that the man barricaded himself inside a car at the top of the fairfax county courthouse parking garage. investigators say that he claimed to have weapons and threatened to hurt himself. officers swarmed in, blocking off roads and letting no one into the area. police negotiators were called in to help talk the man out. >> the negotiators were able to convince the subject to surrender, which he did. and so, i'm happy to say that there are no injuries to him or to any of the participating officers. >> police say they also called in a bomb squad to check out the man's car. detectives have not said if they found any weapons. it is not clear if any charges will face the man. police say a car going the

wrong way caused a crash that killed four people in anne arundel county. we first told you about this accident yesterday morning. it happened on route 50 near davidsonville road. police say a car with three people in it was going westbound on route 50 and hit another driver head on. one of the cars caught fire. two 18-year-olds, breanna franco and zachary rose, were killed, along with 19-year-old brittany walker. police have not released the name of the fourth victim yet. well, authorities near richmond are investigating the suspicious deaths of a man and two young children. officers found the bodies after they were called into a home in the mechanicsville area of hanover county yesterday. deputies say that the man was 40 years old and the children were twin girls, 3 years old. the "richmond times-dispatch" is reporting that the man is the girls' father. angie? >> thanks, chris. two days until the florida primary and the candidates are

firing up those attacks. newt gingrich and mitt romney continued their assault on each other's records, while gingrich picked up another endorsement, this time from a former candidate. nbc's francis koew has the story. >> reporter: with just three days to go, a former rival to newt gingrich is now joining his team. >> i hereby, officially and enthusiastically endorse newt gingrich for president of the united states! >> reporter: as the former speaker criss-crosses florida, gingrich is sounding confident. >> i will go all the way to the convention. i expect to win the nomination. >> reporter: gingrich and mitt romney are locked in a race that's increasingly more personal. >> you cannot debate somebody who's dishonest. you just can't. >> reporter: romney took little time to mock gingrich's own debate performance. >> speaker gingrich said he didn't do so well because the audience was so loud. the one before, he said he didn't do so well because the audience was too quiet.

this is like goldilocks, you know? she's got to have it just right. >> reporter: many of the republican party's elder statesmen have rallied behind romney, including john mccain. >> a desperate candidate is a candidate who attacks someone who succeeds in the free enterprise system. >> reporter: ron paul is not competing in florida, campaigning instead in maine. and rick santorum's campaign has issued a statement saying his youngest daughter has been admitted to a philadelphia hospital, but he intends to return to the campaign trail in florida as soon as possible. frances cowe, nbc news. >> and tune in later to "meet the press." david gregory has senator john mccain as well as newt gingrich supporter former senator fred thompson on the show. obama campaign adviser david axelrod will also be on the show. "meet the press" starts at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. and gregory himself will be on our set at 6:40 to discuss the latest news involving the

republican race. well, president obama is asking for a bill that bans lawmakers from insider trading. he first made the plea in the state of the union address, then reiterated it in his weekly address. the president also called for a stop to political bickering. >> we weren't sent here to wage perpetual political campaigns against each other. we were sent here to serve the american people, and they deserve better than gridlock and games. >> senator marco rubio gave the gop response, saying that the state of the union lacked much detail about the president's achievements because he said there isn't much to talk about. organizers of the occupy d.c. protests are meeting today to discuss their next move as the clock is ticking until they are forced out of one of their camps. yesterday, u.s. park police went to the encampment at mcpherson square and once again told protesters they have to leave by monday. the police will start enforcing

rules that prohibit overnight camping in federal parks. organizers say they're considering a sleep strike to protest the police's decision. and in oakland, protesters once again clashed with police with officers arresting around 100 demonstrators last night. earlier in the day, around 1,000 protesters fought with police who were forced to use tear gas and flash grenades, as you saw, on the crowd. the protesters then converged on city hall, breaking into the building and trying to destroy construction equipment. at least three police officers were slightly injured in the clashes. well, we have a traffic alert for you if you take metro from the vienna station. one of the roads into the station's parking lot is about to get a new traffic pattern. starting tomorrow, part of saintsbury drive, which takes you into the station from nutley street, will become a one-way street so crews can widen the road. you now have to take nutley to lee highway to vaden drive.

from there, you can get to saintsbury. the new traffic pattern will be in place until about june. angie? major changes are also coming this week to the dupont circle metro station. the 19th street entrance will be closing on wednesday so crews can replace all three escalators. that entrance won't open for about eight months. that may seem like a long time to fix three escalators, but metro says this is no small task. >> we've got to not only rip out the existing units, but in order to prepare the space for the new units coming in, there is work underneath with the trusses that has to be done. one of the steps involved is preserving an escalator at all times as a set of stairs to provide emergency egress here at this entrance. in addition to that, we put in a new spiral staircase and event shaft. so, there are some emergency evacuation options. >> during construction, you'll have to use the q street entrance to get in and out of the station. a local celebrity chef is trying to get the word out about

speed cameras. jeffrey tracy, owner of chef jeff's, hired a sign spinner to twirl a sign that reads "please slow down: new speed cameras in 500 feefeet, $150 fine." that's on foxhole road in northwest washington. there is chef jeff. tracy got the idea after he got three tickets in three days. well, the sign spinner started yesterday and will be out there various hours for about a week. by the way, the other side of the sign points to chef jeff's restaurant, just a short block or so away on new mexico avenue. >> if we could just have one of those on every corner, right? >> if you're going to pay to have a sign out there, might as well put your restaurant's name on the other half of the sign. it only makes sense. >> i love those spinners. they're very talented. >> very, very much so. >> spinning, throwing. >> it's all about practice, you know? if you do any of that stuff crazy enough, long enough, you can get pretty good at it. >> right to the kennedy center. >> right to the kennedy center, exactly right. >> clear shot. >> outside, we've got a clear sky to get your sunday started,

but the question now is how long do we get to keep the sunshine? the answer to that is next. ♪ ♪

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okay, so, i get out of my car yesterday. >> all right. >> i was wearing kind of a thinner jacket, saw the sunshine. >> sure. >> blew me away! i mean, just the wind was so crazy and ferocious. >> yes, a very, very windy day yesterday. winds gusted well over 30 miles an hour for a time, from about 3:00 until 7:30 last night. once the sun went down, that knocked most of the wind away, and we're going to repeat that story again today. we'll start with plenty of sunshine. later on this afternoon, just as the clouds are starting to sneak back in, that's when i think our winds will start to increase as well out ahead of another fast-moving weather front, which is going to come racing through here mid to late evening time frame, which could even bring, believe it or not, passing rain drop, maybe even a snowflake or

two. again, do not plan -- this is the winter of my discontent. you don't need to worry about finding the shovel. this is not going to be a shovelable event. they're going to be conversational flakes at best. outside this morning, not much going on over downtown washington on a quiet sunday. 34 degrees right now at national airport. winds are still light, for now, out of the southwest at 6 miles per hour. gradually, a west-to-southwesterly wind is going to set up shop by later this afternoon and i don't think we'll have the gustiness of yesterday, but a sustained wind 10 to 20 miles per hour later this afternoon. generally in the 30s. 31 hagerstown, 30 martinsburg. 27 culpeper, 28 fredericksburg, 27 waldover and la plaina, even solomons island in the mid-30s. the "day planner," starting with bright sunshine, holding in the upper 30s through 10:00, climbing into the mid and upper 40s later this afternoon and then clouds increasing this

evening. nothing going on on storm 4 radar at this point in time. there are snowflakes flying across parts of chicagoland and this is another fast-moving alberta clipper that's racing in our direction. at the speed it's going, it could be here in about 12 to 16 hours. that puts it in here between about 6:00 and 10:00 this evening for planning purposes. so, as a result, just sort of file that in the back of your mind. clouds start to increase after about 3:00 or 4:00 this afternoon, and a chance of a fast-moving sprinkle or flurry arrives with the racing by of the front. here we are in our future weather, stopped at 9:00 tonight. sprinkles and maybe some flurries across especially northern maryland and southern pennsylvania. it blasts right on through here overnight tonight. sunshine returns for tomorrow. staying on the cool side for tomorrow but warmer days are ahead as soon as tuesday. up close on our micro cast model, here we are this evening, 9:30 this evening. that's when it looks like our best chance of sprinkles and snowflakes appearing in the washington area. today then, we'll start out with the sunshine, finish up with clouds. watch out by the evening, a sprinkle or flurry.

highs today holding in the 40s. back to work and school, everybody, tomorrow. mostly sunny, a little breezy to get your day started, but on the whole, i think you're going to like your monday. temperatures holding in the mid-40s. that's about average. but oh, the return of a southwest wind, check it out. now, yesterday i had one day in the 60s this week. now i've bumped up to two. >> ooh! >> tuesday, 62 and sunny. wednesday, 65 degrees? some clouds, maybe a chance of a shower late in the day wednesday, but tuesday and wednesday, make your excuses now to not go on work. >> yeah. oh, my gosh, i was about to say, sick day. i can feel it. >> yeah. only chris is in good health. >> she's working on her excuse. thank you very much. >> all righty. up next, "reporter's notebook," analysis of stories affecting our community. >> and we will be back in 15 minutes with the morning's top stories and, of course, your sunday forecast. but for now, here's joe krebs. >> good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm joe krebs. and today we're going to be talking a little bit about politics and transportation in the state of maryland.

we'll talk about politics and drug tests in the state of virginia. and we'll talk about occupy d.c. in the district of columbia, as well as some other topics as well. let's get started with a big issue in the state of maryland, has been, was last year, is again this year. that is martin o'malley's support for the same-sex marriage law. this week he came out and said that the law he's proposing now will have explicit protections for religious groups, churches who oppose same-sex marriage, providing that they will not have to -- they will have exclusive control over their theological doctrines, et cetera, that their priests and ministers will not have to perform same-sex marriages and that they will not -- they won't have to include that at any of their marriage-related programs, if they don't want to. i guess the question is, do you think these protections -- the churches certainly opposed it last year -- do you think these protections will cause the churches to back off a little bit and let this go through? >> i don't think so.

the protections, that's a nice way of dancing around an issue, but the churches look at a theological situation here, that same-sex marriage is not what they would want, period. because they look at marriage as a union between a man and a woman. you can't change the theological positions of the churches. so, i don't think mr. o'malley really dancing around this issue, by saying, well, we'll give you a piece of the pie if you go along with it, that's not the way theology works. >> but he's trying to make -- or he says he's making the distinction between a religious marriage ceremony and a civil marriage ceremony, and what role does the church have with regard to a civil marriage ceremony if it will not affect them at all? >> i think one of the problems that comes from the churches is that they see this as a religious issue, that these marriages are wrong, they're sinful, and they should be prohibited and they shouldn't be out, i guess in what you'd call

the body politicking. and he's weakening, in effect, the rules of morality, by permitting civil unions, even though this seems to be happening in parts of the rest of the country. so, their opposition would be on religious grounds, and on those grounds, they would see no hope of compromise. >> one of the advantages that i think he felt he had was the support of the labor unions, who have, in essence, supported this legislation. i suspect they'll support these changes that he makes. but i agree with jerry and dave, and i said this the other week, there are more people in the pulpits than there are in union halls. and the churches, i guarantee you, will come out, particularly prince george's county and this viewing area, and they will lobby, lobby, lobby. and i just don't think that there are going to be very many state senators, particularly state senators, that will put their yea vote on this. >> okay, even given the fact that there may well be more people who are in neither union

halls or churches, that there are a lot of people who don't identify with either in supporting -- >> but they're not as well organized as the religious community is. >> right. >> yeah, because you have a strong -- you have a very strong catholic population in maryland. and among the protestant churches, your black churches, for instance, like prince george's county, you mentioned, you can look at other parts of maryland, charles county, for instance, where black churches are very strong, and the protestant churches throughout maryland. i mean, one way or the other, the point here is not about policy, it's about morals and ethics. >> yeah, but we -- there is evidence to suggest that within the pews in catholic and other christian denominations, the opposition to same-sex marriages has been diminishing over the years. and whereas the cleric, the clergy may rail against it, whether that person in the pew

is as strongly against it or not is very unclear, and whether that would really affect anybody's re-election if they're worried about the politics of it is also unclear. >> let's talk quickly about a couple transportation issues in the state of maryland, and that's the purple line and the transit way that's being proposed for i-270 between shady grove and clarksburg. let's first of all talk about the purple line. came out this week that they've just posted information about the hundreds of parcels of land between bethesda and new carrollton that would have to be condemned in order to build that purple line. we're just getting started with this fight. this is going to be a fight for a while. >> yeah, it's a big fight, too. we're talking about a $1.93 billion contractual situation here of putting the purple line in. but there are many people, especially around white oak and silver spring, that are really feeling that they will lose a lot of their property, although the organizers of the purple line are saying something like

1% of acreage could be taken in order to build the line. but still, when you tell a man you're going to lose the front of your house or you're going to lose your home, that's devastating. >> it's not only the loss of homes, but it's also the value. >> right. >> of homes. because you said it, there will be certain homes that will be lost, but then there are going to be property values that will, in essence, be impacted negatively. >> exactly. >> but i think the key was, what you said -- how much was the project? >> $1.93 billion. >> when you start talking about those kind of figures, then there are a lot of people are going to make sure this goes through. >> and also, in this day in age, given the economy that we've been facing and how many years it's going to take to build this, a lot of people oppose it because -- >> jobs. >> well, exactly -- >> well, that's it, that price tag is pretty high. and in today's economy, you really wonder how far along this project is going to get until better economic times come.

that may decide the question, you know, people worried about their property rights. that may be moot if they don't build the subway. >> near the intercounty connector -- >> it took 30 years or so for that to be built with people fighting each step of the way and you wonder whether that's going to happen. >> the fact is the planners are saying there are other options. >> okay. let me ask you quickly, before we break, about the transit way thash that's being proposed on the median strip on i-270 from shady grove up to clarksburg. the montgomery county council has now come out in favor of a bus transit way over a light rail transit way. because it's about half the cost and it would be done ten years quicker than the light rail project. but a lot of people are saying that, well, people don't like buses. they're not going to ride the buses. that they like trains. >> those few elitist people can ride the train. but let's face it, everyday joe and susie who has to get to work, they will ride the bus. the fact of putting a bus system

over a rail down i-270 is a brilliant idea because, number one, rail costs too much money. we've had that fight over there with the dulles rail situation. but here, we're talking about a bus system that most likely will have its own lane, it will be a speed-type bus. and so, you need that, because when you drive from frederick, maryland, down 270 and you get to not tysons corner, but rockville, boy, you have a bottleneck of traffic there leading into the beltway. yes, it's a welcome sight. >> yeah, convenience and cost and timeliness, they can do this sooner, that may very well trump plans for the subway, or rail. >> not to mention flexibility of buses. you can change the route. >> exactly. >> if things change, you can change the route. >> and it's working people, it's hourly wage people who will really be the ones that will take advantage of this. >> we need to take a break. when we come back, we'll talk about a proposal in virginia that says the people who are on welfare will need to take a drug test before they can get

welfare. stay with us.

welcome back to "reporter's notebook." want to talk right now about a bill that's making its way through the virginia house of delegates that would require welfare recipients to be drug tested. just a couple of the sponsors -- republicans in the house of delegates say that it's simply that, as stewards of public money, we have the responsibility to ensure money is being spent wisely. and this is a concern when cash is given to people. a lot of people have brought to me concerns, this delegate says, that there is a high incidence of drug use among this population. what do you think of the idea of welfare recipients being drug tested before they get state money? >> well, this is something that the house and the senate have been debating with the new republican majorities in the house and more strength in the senate. these kinds of things get legs. and their arguments are that, you know, this is part of means

testing. people that really deserve to get this help should be upstanding. and if you're on drugs, that should be a prohibition. other people say, look, people need help, you're meddling. it's going to cause bureaucracy, an intrusion into privacy, it's just not a good idea. >> well, i might get in trouble for saying this, but the very people who have these restrictions on poor people are the ones who go to church on sunday morning and yell "jesus!" and they don't want to help the people of jesus, the poor people. you're talking about poor people, not necessarily those who might abuse welfare, but we're talking about a general population of welfare recipients who need help, like dave said. so, you know, the hypocrisy in this country is getting out of hand. because here we talk about how much we love god, "nation under god," and at the same time, to hell with the poor people. >> well, let me take another approach, and that is, they tried this in florida. and what did they find out?

that they had wasted millions of dollars, because the vast majority -- and i think it was like 94% -- of the people that they tested weren't on drugs. so, the question -- didn't use it, weren't on drugs. and the only one that actually won out were the people who got the contract to do the testing. >> yeah. >> so, the reality is, how do you know this is needed? >> right. >> that's the real question. >> there are a lot of populations that you can test. let's test college kids, for instance, applying for college -- >> they didn't need it in florida. and i'll bet you you're probably going to find similar situations probably in virginia. >> why limit it to welfare recipients, too -- >> that's my point. >> -- who are getting state services. >> right. >> why not require everybody who gets a driver's license or every state legislator who gets a paycheck. >> which would certainly help the drivers on the streets. >> or require the legislators that are pushing this to get a

drug test. >> oh, boy, whoa! >> i think the bottom line is economics. you look at the economics. how much is it going to cost the state? is it really worth the cost of the testing? >> it's also discriminating, to me. >> yes. >> but the question is whether that bill has a chance, though, in a republican-dominated legislature in virginia. >> yes, it does. i suspect it will pass and i suspect when the auditor does an audit, they're going to find out that they wasted their money. >> let's move on to d.c. and the occupy d.c. movement going on at mcpherson square and the freedom plaza. the park service keeps saying that the rules are that they can't camp at mcpherson square. there are health concerns because of rodents, et cetera, down in that area. what is the park service going to do about the occupy d.c. movement at mcpherson square? should they, will they move them out of that location or out of freedom plaza location? >> there was a heated exchange between the chairman of the committee that was called to look at this, darrell issa of california, and the park service

director. and the park service director really didn't give any ground. he said, look, we allow people to have demonstrations and vigils, and we are going to restrict camping so that we protect people from health, relative to health and waste and that kind of thing. and the chairman of the committee kept saying, well, you mean you're going to watch to see if people fall asleep, you're going to make sure they stay awake 24 hours a day? and they didn't really get to the answer of that. but the idea is, you can have a demonstration without an encampment. and skeptical congressmen don't see how you can do that, that there's going to be an encampment, whether they want it or not, and that seems to be about where they are. >> the lone congressman, issa, i doubt if he would understand the occupation movement anyway. i mean, he seems to be, like elijah cummings was saying, why would you put your time, mr. congressman, on things like foreclosure and not necessarily on what people are protesting? >> quickly, how do you quickly -- we only have a minute

left -- quickly balance the rights of the businesses down in that area who are getting fed up with just -- >> well, the mayor's getting that kind of pressure. >> how do you balance it? >> you don't, and that's the bottom line, you don't balance. it's a protest and the occupy folks are prepared to go to jail. we know how this works. it's a protest. it's just going to happen. >> just one last question, got about 30 seconds to answer it. should the mayor be invited every single year to the state of the union address by the white house? >> yes, because -- >> the mayor was not invited by the white house. >> yes, because he's the chief officer of the nation's capital. >> absolutely. >> legislators i talked to are astounded that the white house didn't do this. they think something went wrong somewhere, because the white house insisted it has good relations with the mayor and the district. >> absolutely. no if, ands or buts about it. >> the nation's capital -- >> we use the policemen to escort him. >> that's right. >> all right, that's all we have time for today. thanks so much for joining us and thank you for joining us as well. now we'll go back to "news 4 today." have a great sunday.

good morning, everyone. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm angie goff. >> and i'm chris gordon. in the news at this hour, we want to bring you the latest out of northeast d.c. two people are dead after the car they were in collided with a police cruiser near the catholic university campus. two police officers were hurt in this crash. so was a third person in the civilian vehicle. all three have been taken to the hospital. both police officers are expected to survive, but there is no word on the third victim's condition. we'll bring you more updates as they become available. now to some of the morning's other top stories. prince george's county police are hoping to identify the body that was recovered from the bottom of a ft. washington well.

crews excavated the well and recovered the body late yesterday afternoon. there's speculation the body belongs to lenny harris, an activist from alexandria missing since september. fairfax county police have not said if a man will face charges after a six-hour standoff. investigators say he barricaded himself inside a car parked at the top of the fairfax county courthouse parking garage. police negotiators were able to talk him out and no one was hurt. just two days before the florida primary and newt gingrich picks up another endorsement, former presidential candidate herman cain announced his support for the former house speaker. the latest poll from reuters show mitt romney has a double-digit lead over gingrich in the sunshine state. well, there are new developments in the search in maine for missing toddler ayla reynolds. police now say they found blood in the home where the child was last seen six weeks ago. her parents were seen in public together at a vigil for the girl

yesterday. the two appeared civil, even talked privately for about 15 minutes. reporters asked the mother, trista reynolds, about the new developments. >> really? you really want to know? i'm ready to go knocking at people's doors myself because i want to know what happened to my daughter, and i want to know where she is and who took her, or just whatever, like everybody else does. my reaction is, i'm still trying to concept the fact that blood was found of my daughter's. that's my reaction, okay? >> police have not confirmed that the blood is ayla's. the child disappeared while staying at her father's house while her mother got out of rehab in portland. police told the "boston globe," they feel the three adults who were in the home when ayla disappeared are holding back information. right now, the president of yemen is in the united states receiving medical treatment. president ali abdullah saleh

suffered major injuries during an assassination attempt last june. saleh was in a mosque praying when a bomb went off. he suffered severe burns and other injuries in the attack. he was president of yemen for 33 years before relinquishing power last november. the u.s. and other allies have pressured saleh to leave yemen permanently, but he has promised to return home for his country's elections in february. a united nations nuclear team has arrived in tehran. they hope to address recent reports that the country has started developing nuclear weapons. leaders in iran say they're developing nuclear capabilities for energy purposes only. dozens of iranians protested the arrival of the team, saying it's the country's right to develop nuclear energy to help sustain its future. well, the crisis in syria shows no signs of a peaceful end any time soon. the arab league that was monitoring developments decided to withdraw its observers,

saying conditions were just too dangerous to stay. syrian reports say the government forces have killed at least 74 people since thursday. one woman showed nbc news her home that she says was destroyed by syrian soldiers. area residents say the syrian army also set up a sniper's nest that overlooks a village to attack people below. crews scouring the capsized italian cruise ship have recovered another body, bringing the death toll to at least 17. meanwhile, rough seas forced officials to push back a plan to remove more than 500,000 gallons of fuel from the ship. crews will try and remove the fuel some time later this week. so far, there's been no fuel leakage from the cruise ship, which crashed into a reef more than two weeks ago. 16 people are still missing from that accident. it is 6:37 right now. we're just two days away from the crucial florida primary. and up next, david gregory, moderator of "meet the press," will join us live right here in our studio to break down the

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welcome back. the south carolina primary seems like ancient history now in the gop race for the presidential nomination. >> just a week ago. right now, the candidates are focused on florida, and the primary is tuesday. and joining us now to break down the race is the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. >> welcome, david. >> thank you. >> and we just learned herman cain endorsing newt gingrich. is this going to be the energy he needs injected into his trailing campaign? >> i don't think it's going to help him particularly in florida, or anywhere for that matter, but it is a sign that the grassroots of the party, the

tea party element, is really coming out for newt gingrich in a big way. i think he's been counting on that, and that is the alternative to the establishment force that is mitt romney. but i don't know that that's going to make any difference in florida. romney's run a very strong campaign there, very negative campaign against gingrich. they made a determination early on that they were going to really take him on. they did it in the debates, they did it on the air, they did it on the ground and it was really kind of overwhelming force in a state that tailors romney because it's more diverse, it has more elements of the republican party than just a typical southern state. and so, he's really poised to have a real rebound there. >> if i can inject a musical note, we've had barry "let's stay together" obama, newt "fly me to the moon" gingrich, mitt "name that tune." do polls show that the president's going to be harder to beat? >> i think the president's in a strong position right now. i think there are trends in the economy that are better for him. i think americans are a little

more optimistic about the next five years. we saw that there in our poll. but i don't think anybody expects this is going to be anything other than a tight race for re-election. i just think the economy being what it is, it almost gaurns th guarantees that. i think the white house hopes that the process on the right is going to ultimately weaken the nominee. and i don't think florida's decisive in this race. if romney wins, he may be in a more commanding position again, but i don't think it slams the door shut. i think we're in a mode where it will go on for a while. >> talking more about that, with it getting so ugly between mitt romney and newt gingrich, regardless of who wins, is this generally going to really impact on a negative note the gop when it comes time for -- >> well, i mean, all these primary races can get kind of heated. i think the difference here is that the populist attack on romney is something that will be picked up specifically by the obama campaign, and i think that's what makes it difficult, is that they hit him in an area where he's vulnerable that will be continued in the general election. >> let's talk about what's on "meet the press," because you had rick santorum, but he can't

make it. >> yeah, he can't make it. his daughter, who's had a longtime illness, is hospitalized again, so we're certainly thinking about them. we're going to hear final notes from the campaign. senator mccain will join us for governor romney, fred thompson, former tennessee senator, for newt gingrich. we'll also hear from david axelrod for the obama campaign as well, and we'll look at all the new numbers out of florida to give you a sense of where the race is now just a couple days before. >> and coming up on "press pass." >> richard cordray has been very controversial, recess appointed. but he talks about what americans can expect that the government can do to protect them against the kind of financial crisis we had in 2008 and 2009. he's got a tough job, but he really walks you through that. >> we always enjoy having you here on set. >> thank you. thanks so much. >> have a good "meet the press." >> thank you. well, everyone's looking for good deals these days, and that includes health care. more and more people are using coupons to go to the doctor and

dentist. sites like groupon and livi livingsocial offer coupons to restaurants and stores and now are venturing into offering deals for checkups and other services. consumers say it's a great way to stay healthy if they don't have insurance, but experts warn against jumping at just any deal. >> i was putting it off. there were medical issues that were starting to develop. i needed this to take myself to the next level. >> we did not know, at least, i don't know, what sort of credentials, what sort of vetting these groups have when they're recruiting health care providers. >> one site reports consumers saved more than $500 million using online health care coupons last year. there will be a change in the weather, and chuck bell will be telling us about it. >> that's right. and i'll give it to you, coupon or no coupon. you don't have to clip anything or save anything or mail anything. you're going to get your forecast for free. the question is, is it worth that? the answer is coming up next. what makes the sleep number store different?

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now, this may not be the coldest winter ever, but it's still chilly out there. yet, that didn't stop some people from taking a dip. whoo! this is the 16th annual polar bear plunge at sandy point state park. every hour for 24 hours, 50 men and 50 women ran out into the chesapeake bay for a very chilly dip. the big swim was at 1:00 p.m. when thousands ran out into the water, and governor martin o'malley was among those who took a cold swim. all the money raised will go to the special olympics. and i'm told that governor o'malley's lips turned blue, but maryland's a blue state. >> so he'd be all right with that. >> so he'd be all right with that. >> and what a great cause. >> yeah. >> there are braver souls than me that get into the water. bay water temperatures only in the low 40s right now, and that is cold stuff. >> i can't even imagine. and do they have the winds

working against them, too, as well? >> well, as they went on since they were doing it every hour during the day yesterday, eventually, some of them had to deal with the cold water and the windchill once you got out. you know, sometimes it can feel even a little cool on a summer day when you get out of the bay, a little breeze on you. but boy, yesterday, 40-degree water and 50-degree air temperatures made it for a cold day, but for everybody who took a dive, job well done and money raised for a good cause. outside on a gorgeous sunday morning here in the nation's capital, there are a few lonesome clouds in our eastern sky. you can see there sunrise still about 35 minutes away, but already some early-morning light starting to show up in our eastern sky. good looking day out there. most of the sunshine you're going to get today is going to be front-loaded into the early parts of the day, so get outside. if you want to see the sunshine the most, you need to get out early and take advantage of it. right now 34 in downtown washington. dew points have really plummeted since yesterday, single-digit and teen-level dew points out

there behind cold front number one that came through late yesterday. winds for now out of the southwest at 6. winds will be out of the west 10 to 20 miles per hour for much of the afternoon hours. so, a little bit of a breeze out there later on this afternoon, but not quite as strong a wind as we dealt with yesterday. 30 right now in new mark and maryland, 35 degrees in capitol heights and district heights. brandywine and rosariville in southern prince george's county, mid-to-upper 20s there. plenty of sunshine to get your sunday started, temperatures holding in the 30s through about the 10:00 hour this morning, then jumping up into the low and mid-40s by mid-afternoon, then holding in the mid-40s this evening. nothing going on on storm 4 radar just yet. there are snow showers across parts of chicagoland. they are aiming in our direction. this fast-moving alberta clipper still about 12 to 16 hours away from us. that puts it in here between about 6:00 and 10:00 this evening for a timing issue. and what does it have to bring along with it? mainly just clouds, but there will be a risk of some sprinkles, maybe even a snowflake or two. here we are stopped at 9:30 this evening.

that's as the weather front is zipping right on through here. it's going so fast and it's so moisture-starved that it's really just going to be conversational flakes and drops out there. that's going to be about it. and then sunshine returns to get your day started on your monday. still on the cool side tomorrow, but warmer days are just around the corner. on our microcast model here, here we are stopped again at 10:00 this evening. that's when most of the chances, slim as they may be, that's when the best chances will be for us to see the rain drops and a random snowflake or two. so, your forecast for today, sunshine and plenty to get your sunday started. clouds coming in this afternoon, sprinkles and maybe a flake by this evening. highs today holding in the 40s, so not quite as mild as yesterday. then tomorrow, mostly sunny, back to work and school. a bit of a breeze in the morning, but the wind will be laying down as high pressure builds in tomorrow afternoon. another cool day tomorrow, temperatures just about average. then as we get into tuesday and wednesday, you know, february's just around the corner, and apparently, february's going to be a spring month, not a winter month this year, as the temperature on wednesday, february the 1st, 65 degrees.

that will be 20 degrees warmer than average. >> yikes! down groundhog's in florida rather than pennsylvania this year. >> groundhog's looking for a thinner coat. >> thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. now let's get a preview of what you'll find in this week's "kidspost." here's eun yang. >> this week, comparing politics to a zoo. imagine that. some books about history you never know and a young go-cart racer who's a hero, too. tracy grant is joining us with "kidspost." nice to be with you as always. >> great to be here. >> questions about politics and explained to kids, which could be hard. >> in today's "kidspost," we decided to weigh in and explain the election process, which is as complicated as it could possibly be, but in a fun way to kids. so, for example, we explained where the donkey and the elephant come from, we explain the nature of the republican and

democratic parties. we also explain something that i think a lot of kids will be wondering about, which is, why are all the republicans running and everybody just assumes that president obama is going to be the democrat? so, we explain the nature of incumbency. we suspect kids and a fair number of parents will find a few things new. >> a little refresher course. all right, next, books that will be great reads next month. very exciting. >> wednesday is february 1st, the beginning of black history month. and so, we have a selection of books, none cooler than this. "what color is my world: the lost history of african-american inventors." it's really cool, because it was written by kareem abdul-jabbar. >> who's always cool. >> who's always cool. but did you know we have african-americans to thank for blood banks, potato chips and a real popular one in my house, the super soaker. >> oh, my kids are going to love this, are you kidding me? >> this is a fantastic book

about the contributions of african-american inventors. this and several others we have featured in wednesday's "kidspost" to mark the beginning of black history month. >> wonderful. finally, a local kid who goes racing with go-karts and racing for more than victories. >> this is a wonderful story. timmy "mini" terrell, here he is. he is 7 years old, a go-kart racer. one of his classmates was diagnosed with cancer, and he decided that he wanted to race go-karts and raise money for childhood cancer. $28,000 already. >> timmy! >> and we tell timmy's story in tuesday's "kidspost." >> what an inspiration. and working hard for others. >> kids know instinctively what the right thing is. they have open hearts. and here's a great example. >> all right, tracy, thanks so much. for some fun family activities, visit nbcwashington.com or washingtonpost.com and click on

"kidspost." and that is "kidspost" on tv this week. i'm eun yang. >> thanks, eun. today, fairfax county residents can get rid of some of their old appliances without much of a headache. the county is holding what it calls an electric sunday. residents can recycle their old electronics to the i-66 transfer station in fairfax between 10:00 a.m. this morning and 3:00 this afternoon. best of all, the whole event is free. here are some of the items you can bring. televisions, computers as well as computer accessories like keyboards, speakers and printers. you can also drop off unbroken fluorescent light bulbs and tubes. you may need to bring proof you are a fairfax county resident in order to drop anything off. >> that's helpful. >> i know, because you always have these things laying around. you don't know what to do with them. you don't want to just throw them in the dumpster. >> or give them to charity if they can be fixed. that's a good thing. >> sure. well, as you know, and probably know, it wouldn't be hard to guess, it isn't hard to

find a starbucks around here. >> but one local neighborhood is about to lose its starbucks today, and this is no ordinary coffee shop. the starbucks on wisconsin avenue near the national cathedral is closing its doors today. this was the first starbucks ever on the east coast. it opened in 1993. the shopping center where it's located is being renovated and turned into a mixed-use development called cathedral commons center. a new starbucks will open there when construction is completed. >> first place i ever spent $3 for a cup of coffee. >> at that very starbucks? >> back in 1993, it probably went for 50 cents. all right, that's going to do it for

good morning, everybody. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm angie goff. >> and i'm chris gordon. it is sunday, january 29th. taking a look at our morning's top stories, two people are dead after the car they were in collided with a police cruiser in northeast washington. two police officers and a third person who was in the civilian vehicle were also hurt in the crash. it was on taylor street near the catholic university campus. both officers are expected to survive. there is no word on the third victim's condition. fairfax county police have not said if a man will face

charges after a six-hour standoff. investigators say he barricaded himself inside a car parked at the top of the fairfax county courthouse parking garage. police negotiators were able to talk him out. no one was hurt. just two days before the florida primary and newt gingrich picked up another endorsement. former presidential candidate herman cain announced his support for the former house speaker. the latest poll from reuters shows mitt romney has a double-digit lead over gingrich in the sunshine state. talking about the weather, easy, breezy. it's cold out there. >> well, it is cold, but i mean, it's still early in the morning. the sun's not even up just yet, and we would expect it to be at least chilly on a january morning, but it's not going to be a bad day to be outside today, and sunny at least to get your sunday started. live picture of the jefferson memorial, quietly sitting alongside the tidal basin. beautiful looking day out there. we have a few fair weather clouds drifting overhead right now, but the front half of your

day will be fairly sunny, although we will have clouds coming back in later this afternoon and this evening. current temperatures mostly in the low 30s. there are a few scattered 20s, culpeper and manassas, la plano and solomons island, all in the upper 20s this morning. nothing showing up on radar right now. we'll be dry here for the vast majority of the day. a little alberta clipper zipping along from chicagoland right now, could be here between about 6:00 and 10:00 this evening. so, enjoy the sunshine and the cool start. we'll end up with highs today in the mid-to-upper 40s with an increasing number of clouds and then the chance for a rain drop or a snowflake, singular on those words. it will be whatever we're going to get this evening will be extremely light, fast moving. you'll barely notice it. >> not enough to satisfy you, truly. >> not anywhere near enough snowflakes to make me happy. all right, well, still ahead, we have "viewpoint." this is an interesting one. >> this is an important one and an interesting one. former nbc camera man ron minor shot a documentary on kidney disease and the fact that d.c.

is the center of risk for kidney disease. it's called "i didn't know," and it's coming up on "viewpoint." so, we urge you to stay tuned. >> and we, of course, will be back in a few minutes with another update on this morning's top stories. good morning. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. 26 million american adults suffer from chronic kidney disease. millions of others are at risk. if you suffer from diabetes, hypertension, or have a family history of kidney disease, you are in the high risk category. heart disease is the major cause of death for people with ckd. the good news is that early detection can help save your kidneys and your life. our guests this morning are dr. joseph, director of kidney transplant and pancreatic disease at georgetown university hospital. dr. flavia walton is a kidney transplant donor and member of the links incorporated, which has been very instrumental in providing referrals and information about organ transplants. and ron minor is a photojournalist, a kidney

transplant recipient and the producer of a documentary about ckd called "what we don't know about it." thanks for being with us, all of you, this morning. ron, we'd like to begin with you, and we want to begin by showing a clip from your documentary. it's entitled "ron minor didn't know." let's take a look at that and then we'll talk. >> i want a kidney. hopefully, i get one and it's a good kidney. >> my white blood cells count are very high, so it's very hard for me to get another transplant. >> there was never any question in my mind that i would be the donor. >> a person that can save another person's life by giving them a kidney, i don't think you can do anything on this earth better. >> i don't want to be on the machine again. this is really serious.

>> ron minor, you got your kidney from your wife. >> yes. >> tell us how you're doing now. >> oh, what a difference. what a difference. i feel really, really good. i didn't know how sick i was until i got the kidney, because you don't know. like the thing says, you don't know. i walked around every day being tired all the time, complaining, i'm sleepy, i can't move, i can't do this. and i had no idea my kidneys were failing. >> when did you find out your kidneys were failing and then what did you do about it? >> well, i went to the doctors and he told me my creatny level was high. i asked what was that? that's the number they give you in the functioning of your kidneys, and i think mine was like a five or six at that time. and he says you're going to have to get a kidney transplant. i really thought my life was over when he said that. but it's a whole different thing now with kidney transplants. it's education, number one.

i think if the public is educated about kidney disease, we wouldn't have this problem. >> and you're doing well. you look great. >> oh, yes, absolutely. >> you're a former nbc 4 photojournalist. >> yes, yes. >> dr. milanson, what is kidney disease? >> it affects over 26 million americans. basically, your kidneys are not functioning normally. you go from stage one all the way to stage five. at stage one, it's just a little abnormal, and then by the time you have stage four or stage five kidney disease, you really need some sort of replacement therapy. and replacement therapy can be most commonly hemo dialysis, but the best type of replacement therapy would be kidney transplantation. >> so, what are the major causes of this? >> the major causes of kidney disease would be number one diabetes or hypertension or a combination thereof. so, most people that have kidney disease in this country are

going to be diabetic. so, in a place like washington, d.c., where we have the highest incidence of kidney disease in the united states, most of our patients that are on dialysis or even predialysis have a combination of diabetes and hypertension. >> so, diabetes is the major cause? >> absolutely. >> can you walk around -- we know that you can walk around with diabetes and not know you have it. can you walk away with chronic kidney failure and not know? >> the first three stages, absolutely. once you get to stage four kidney disease, what happens is you start to become more and more fatigued. now, people that have had kidney disease for a long time, it's such a slow gradient that they don't even realize that it's kidney disease that's causing them to be so fatigued, but it's usually fatigue. and then as we get into stage five, they start to have more and more swelling. so, it's usually swelling and very high blood pressure that brings them to the hospital. >> dr. walton, you gave a kidney

to your husband. >> not to my husband, but to someone in the exchange. >> to someone else. >> yes, i did. >> what were his symptoms and how did you all come to this diagnosis? >> well, much as what dr. melancon has just described. he could hardly put one foot in he could hardly put one foot in front of the other. whee wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeeeeeeeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he-he-heeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! pure adrenaline.

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welcome back. we are talking about chronic kidney disease and we talked about diabetes being a major cause, but you have other causes -- hypertension, heart disease, obesity. and these are very, very common problems in the african-american community. talk about the connections. >> well, so, usually, what you have is a cluster. so, someone isn't just diabetic or has high blood pressure, what they usually have is a combination of obesity, hypertension, diabetes. and these things are very

prevalent in the african-american community. however, we know that black patients in particular have more kidney disease, and we don't understand why that is. in other words, if you correct for these problems and you give the same problems to a caucasian patient, they do not have the same incidence of kidney disease. an african-american person has about four times the risk of kidney disease, even with these other diseases. so, there is a racial component to it as well. >> and dr. walton, you mentioned your husband had some of these in the cluster. >> yes, exactly. >> but he was in denial. >> yes, and i think that that is pretty pervasive in our community. it's something about health that's shrouded in mystery and mystique in our community, and we're often into denial about having issues and don't want to really address them. and often, it's because access to health care or appropriate,

proper health care, is so difficult sometimes for many in our community. >> but what about our lifestyle? >> lifestyle is critical. how we eat, how we exercise, how we sleep, how we play. all of those things are critical in terms of outcomes to kidney disease, or even whether or not we get kidney disease, how they manifest, what the outcomes are. >> ron, how was your lifestyle before you were diagnosed? >> oh, what a difference. it's between like day and night. >> what were you doing before and what are you doing differently? >> well, what i was doing before is what i did all my life -- eat the wrong foods, did the wrong things, but i was raised that way. and i'm quite sure half of washington, d.c., was raised the same way. grandmother raised you. you had fried foods. you had fried everything. yeah, it was real good, sure it

was real good, of course. but over a period of time, it has an effect on you and it had an effect on me, which caused me to get a kidney transplant. >> and you said you were diabetic. when you discovered that you had chronic kidney disease, you did not have to undergo dialysis. >> no, i didn't. >> what happened there? why was that? >> well, number one, i had a living donor, my wife, who actually matched me, surprisingly, because she's caucasian. and you know, that's another myth. you know, people think whites can't give to blacks. white people are more donors than black people, and black people have this myth that if i give my kidney, something's going to go wrong. the tuskegee institute experiment. we've got to get rid of that myth, number one. we have to get rid of that. anybody has healthy can get a kidney, whether you're black, white, hispanic, whatever.

>> dr. walton, your husband waited for two years and he was on dialysis. >> yes, my husband was on dialysis, was on a waiting list for a little over two years. and i wanted, initially, to become the donor, but we were incompatible, incompatible blood types. then there is a new technology, plasmaphoresis, that was being used that allows incompatible blood types to transplant, but he was too sick to undergo that process and dialysis as well. but then, we were part of an exchange, because i was willing to donate a kidney, and he received a kidney from someone else and someone else received my kidney. >> dr. melancon, is it a lot easier for a white kidney patient to get a kidney than it is for an african-american? >> yes, absolutely. and the reason is, basically, just the number of donors there

are in this country. because there are less african-american donors and because in our race, there's a lot more kidney disease. so, because so many african-americans need kidneys, and you'd better match up with people from the same ethnicity, then what happens is, caucasian patients can get transplanted a lot quicker. let's say here in the washington, d.c., area, if you're caucasian, you will get a deceased donor transplant within 3, 3 1/2 years. if you're an african-american, it will take five to six years for you to get that same transplant, and that's a big problem. >> which is why it's so important for african-americans to be donors. >> absolutely. >> yes. >> absolutely. >> all right, we've got to take a break. we'll continue our discussion about chronic kidney disease right after this oh, i see. a throne for the tv... room for movies... your workout gear... non-stop football... it's a man cave! the boys next door will never leave.

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i'm angie goff. here are some of the stories we're following this morning. two people are dead after the car they were in slammed into a police cruiser near catholic university. two officers and a third person in the civilian vehicle were also hurt. the officers are expected to survive. there is no word on the third victim's condition. just two days before the florida primary, newt gingrich picked up another endorsement. former presidential candidate herman cain announced his support for the former house speaker. the latest poll from reuters show mitt romney has a double-digit lead over gingrich in the sunshine state. occupy d.c. organizers will meet today to discuss their next step as u.s. park police are preparing to kick them out of mcpherson square. protesters have to leave the area by tomorrow, as police will start enforcing rules that prohibit overnight camping in federal parks. now back to "viewpoint." we'll be back in 15 with more news. we're talking about chronic kidney disease this morning, and i want to talk about the exchange, about the whole process of getting donors.

ron, how long did it take you to discover that your wife, kathy, was a match for you? >> probably within several weeks after testing and doing the regular, going back, getting blood tests and whatever. and they said maybe in six months, you know, we would do an operation. so, it didn't take that long, once you have a living donor. >> dr. melancon, that was very unusual because she's not related to him at all and she's not the same race. but how do patients find donors and how does the transplant consortium work? >> so, what happens is, usually, people will have family members that will come forward for them. >> and get tested. >> and get tested. >> which is easy to do. >> it's very easy to do. it's basically just a history which can be given over the phone and then blood work. and we determine that the donor has no kidney disease. if you're healthy and you don't have kidney disease, you

probably can be a donor if you're compatible with your loved one or friend. so, it's either a loved one or a friend. sometimes, there are people that want to be donors that just want to donate. these are called nondirected donors, and these angels, they're out there and they will come forward. so, if you cannot find a donor by the normal means, then what can happen is, or if you're not compatible, then like dr. walton, you can be part of an exchange. and this is something that we have pushed in this area, because as we alluded to earlier, there's so much kidney disease. the point is, the best and quickest way to get transplanted is to get a living donor. >> you, dr. walton, talked about how difficult it is to get people to become donors, and there is a sort of stigma in the african-american community. black people want to die with their organs all intact, if they can. >> absolutely. absolutely. we think that's the only way we get to heaven is if we're all intact, but that is absolutely

not true. for all believers, the bible tells us that we will get a brand-new body, a brand-new everything, that everything we have here, except our spirit, is going to be left here. so, i think what we have to be concerned about is we get to heaven, and perhaps donating organs will help us get there. >> but is the misperception, though, changing? >> well, it is starting to change. and i think the more that individuals and our communities are educated and informed, the better the situation becomes. and that's one of the things that the links incorporated was trying to do through our linkages to life program, first by educating ourselves in order that we can then become ambassadors and help to educate communities in which our chapters are located. >> dr. melancmelancon, what are myths associated with donating? >> yeah, so, one of my favorite myths is the fact that people

think when they go to the hospital that we're going to let them die in order to take their organs. and actually, the opposite is true. people that are involved in catastrophic accidents, when they come to the hospital, and if it's thought that they could be good donors, we actually will try to keep them alive to allow the family time to spend with them and also to ask if they would want to be organ donors. the more organ donors that we get from our own community, the more transplants that we can actually do. and this is a big issue, because most of the people that are dying from kidney disease in this country are african-american. >> ron, you have worked on this as an advocate now. now that you're a patient, you're doing well. when you travel around and talk to people and show them your documentary, what type of reaction do you get? >> first thing they say, "i didn't know." again, that means we have to educate the public in this disease. is yes, you can have it -- it's

a lifestyle change is what it is. >> then you get the test, all the tests that are now recommended when you went to your doctor? >> yes, absolutely, but, however, doctors are so busy lately, you have to be an advocate for yourself. you have to start saying, well, doc, what is this? what does this mean? i don't understand that. explain that in layman's terms. if you talk about your problems to a doctor, he will answer everything, but we don't do that. we go in and just get a test, don't ask the questions that we need to ask. >> dr. melancon, what are the important tests to get, to ask for? >> yeah, so, it's very important to ask the doctor, you know, is my blood pressure normal? and if it's abnormal, what does that mean? do i need medication? what kind of follow-up should i get? should i get blood tests? what is my kidney function like? do i have diabetes? a common misconception is that you could have a little bit of the diabetes or a little bit of hypertension. that's not true. once you're diagnosed, you have a problem, you have an illness

that needs to be treated and followed up upon. so many patients that i've seen over the years were diagnosed but never got treated or did not get appropriately treated, and then wind up having kidney disease many years later. so, it's very important that once you're diagnosed, you get treated. >> all right, we've got to take a break. we'll continue on that point after this. ♪

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protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. welcome back. we're talking about chronic kidney disease. dr. melancon, you've told me that it's important that patients know which questions to ask and that they be tested. so, tell me what the three basic tests are that most patients should get. >> so, they should get a blood test. and in getting one blood test, one blood draw, they can have many different tests done. one would be a serum criatski,

which should be less than 1.5. then you should get a glucose test. again, that's done with your blood. your blood glucose should never be above 120. if it is, that's a problem. the third test would be a hemoglobin a-1c. that should be below 6. if it's above 6, that's very abnormal. it means that you're probably diabetic. >> and usually doctors don't do that test. why? >> because it's expensive and it's not a screening test. usually, you're going to be screened by just simply having a blood glucose drawn, but a very good test to determine if someone is diabetic is a hemoglobin a-1c. >> dr. walton, what do you say are the main keys to prevention? >> i think knowledge. >> it's not just testing. >> no, it's information. information and awareness. information that provides all that you need to know about how to stay healthy, what you need to do to advocate for your own health care, what you need to do to advocate for the health, the

good health in your community. and i think that civic organizations, fraternal organizations, faith communities have a responsibility to make their communities aware, to provide information so that we can ensure the healthy outcomes of our communities and to help people learn how to become advocates for their own health care. >> ron, you've become a professional advocate now. and when you went to your doctor, did you ask to go see speciality doctors, like a kidney specialist? >> no. again, i didn't know. >> you didn't know. >> in order to find out my problem, the creatny level was so high, my doctor said, i need to send you to a specialist immediately. that's how important this is. there are people today walking the streets that have this disease, they don't know it. and that's my thing. my whole effort in this whole thing is to get the word out,

somehow, and let everybody know that's walking the street, please get tested. if you can buy rims on your car, you can go get a test. >> and you know what, you say, you can walk the street. people have been walking the street who can be donors and no one knows. you never know who's i donor. you can do fine after donating a kidney, just as ron is doing fine after receiving one. >> absolutely. we do this operation now called laproscopic procedure, which are small, little incisions. you're basically in the hospital one or two days and you're back to work or normal activities within two weeks. so, people do very well after donating a kid mey. >> and dr. walton, what's the most important fact that you'd like to leave with our viewers? >> that there is life after donation. you can still line dance, you can still wear a bikini, you can still do all those things you want to do. >> and maybe do them better. >> exactly. and it makes you feel really good. >> ron, you can attest to that.

>> oh, absolutely. i'm telling you, i feel better now than i felt when i was 20 years old, and i mean, that's unbelievable, because i felt like i was tired all the time, and i got used to it. well, no, it's not true. you're not supposed to feel that way. and today, honestly, i can't say enough for my wife. i don't think i would be here without my wife. i was saved by her. >> and i just want to say, to watch the rest of your video, go to youtube. >> if anybody would like to see the rest of the preview of the documentary, go on youtube. it's ron minor i didn't know, all one word. i guarantee you, once you see this video, you will get tested. >> ron minor, dr. flavia walton, dr. melancon, that's all the time we have. thanks for the critical life-saving information this morning. >> thank you. >> and thank you for being with us on "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us for "news 4 today," which continues.

it's 7:30. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm chris gordon. >> and i'm angie goff. and we want to bring you the latest on the breaking news out of northeast d.c. two people are dead after the car they were in collided with a police cruiser near the catholic university campus. two police officers were hurt in the crash. so was a third person in the civilian vehicle. all three have been taken to the hospital. all three people have. both police officers are expected to survive, but there's no word on the third victim's condition. we'll bring you more updates as they become available. with just two days until the florida primary, newt gingrich and mitt romney are ratcheting up the attacks. >> and gingrich secured another endorsement, this time from one of his former competitors.

nbc's francis cowe has the story. >> reporter: with three days to go, a former rival to newt gingrich is now joining his team. >> i hereby, officially and enthusiastically endorse newt gingrich for president of the united states! >> reporter: as the former speaker criss-crosses florida, gingrich is sounding confident. >> i will go all the way to the convention. i suspect to win the nomination. >> reporter: gingrich and mitt romney are locked in a race that's increasingly more personal. >> you cannot debate somebody who's dishonest. you just can't. >> reporter: romney took little time to mock gingrich's own debate performance. >> speaker gingrich said he didn't do so well because the audience was so loud. the one before, he said he didn't do so well because the audience was too quiet. this is like goldilocks, you know? she's got to have it just right. >> reporter: many republican party's elder statesmen have rallied behind romney, including john mccain.

>> a desperate candidate is a candidate who attacks someone who succeeds in the free enterprise system. >> reporter: ron paul is not competing in florida, campaigning instead in maine. and rick santorum's campaign issued a statement saying his youngest daughter has been admitted to a hospital, but he intends to return to the campaign trail in florida as soon as possible. frances cowe, nbc news. >> so, will the eventual republican nominee have a shot against president obama in november? "meet the press" moderator david gregory joined us earlier today and says the white house is expecting a tough battle. >> well, i do think the president's in a strong position right now. i think there are some trends in the economy that are helpful for him. i think americans are a little more optimistic about the next five years. we saw that in our poll. but i don't think anybody expects this is going to be anything other than a tight race for re-election. i just think the economy being what it is, it almost guarantees

that. i think what the white house hopes is that this nomination process on the right is going to ultimately weaken the nominee. >> it's a full show later today on "meet the press." mitt romney supporter senator john mccain as well as newt gingrich supporter, former senator fred thompson. obama campaign adviser david axelrod will also be on the show. "meet the press" starts at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. president obama is calling on congress to change its ways in his weekly address. he urged lawmakers to end partisan bickering to get work done. >> we weren't sent here to wage perpetual political campaigns against each other. we were sent here to serve the american people, and they deserve better than gridlock and games. >> the president wants the senate to pass a rule requiring a yes or no vote on judicial and public service nominations within 90 days. he made the same request in his state of the union address. organizers of the occupy

d.c. protest are meeting today to discuss their next move as the clock is ticking until they're forced out of one of their camps. yesterday, u.s. park police went to the encampment at mcpherson square and once again told protesters they have to leave by tomorrow. the police will start enforcing rules that prohibit overnight camping in federal parks. organizers say they're considering a sleep strike to protest the police decision. and in oakland, protesters once again clashed with police with officers arresting about 100 demonstrators yesterday. earlier in the day, about 1,000 protesters fought with police, who were forced to use tear gas and flash grenades on the crowd. protesters then converged on city hall, breaking into the building and trying to destroy construction equipment. at least three police officers were slightly injured in the clashes. well, we've seen a lot of sunshine over the last couple days, but did you make mention

of some precipitation later on? >> i did. i made mention of it, and we didn't make a big deal of it because it simply isn't going to add up to a whole heck of a lot. another weak, fast-moving alberta clipper is zipping in our direction today. it's in chicago right now and will be here before midnight tonight. it just doesn't have enough moisture to work with. it's just moisture-starved, like i am snow-starved, honestly. outside right now, in lieu of snow, we have bright sunshine this morning, and no one's really going to complain about that too much. a great-looking way to get your day started. temperatures are seasonably chilly. 32 now in washington, 27 in manassas and 32 now in leesburg and ashburn, 31 martinsburg, west virginia, 31 in hagerstown, maryland, 34 in annapolis and shady side and deale and huntingtown, maryland. on storm 4 radar, not going on around our immediate area, but there you can see the little area of snow showers now pulling out of chicagoland, aiming directly at us. now, granted, most of the moisture, lift and energy with this system is going to miss us to the north, leaving us with

just a paltry little passing series of clouds, which may bring a sprinkle or two into the washington area and maybe a snowflake or two up across the mountains of west virginia and parts of southern pennsylvania. but by and large, sunshine to start, clouds to finish, maybe a sprinkle or flurry late this evening, and then the sun is back tomorrow. >> looking forward to that. >> okay. >> thanks, chuck. >> you're welcome. today, prince george's county police hope to learn the identity of a body recovered from the bottom of a well. crews got to the body late yesterday afternoon in ft. washington, maryland. it was handed over to the medical examiner, who will try to identify the body. police from alexandria were also on the scene, as there's a possibility the body was lenny harris, an activist who disappeared in september. well, this morning, a man is in police custody after causing a barricade situation in fairfax county. detectives say the man was hold up inside a car at the top of the fairfax county courthouse parking garage for six hours.

investigators say he claimed to have weapons and threatened to hurt himself or anyone else who came near him. officers swarmed the area and blocked off roads. police negotiators were able to peacefully talk the man out of the garage. police then used an automated robot to search the scene for anything dangerous possibly left behind. >> well, you have to understand, there's even a fuel tank inside a vehicle, so we just always have to assume the worse in these kind of situations until we know otherwise. >> well, this morning, detectives have not said if they found any weapons. it is not clear if the man will face any charges. we're learning more about a crash that killed four people in anne arundel county. we first told you about this accident yesterday morning. it happened on route 50 near davidsonville road. police say a car with three people in it was going the wrong way on route 50 and hit another driver head on. one of the cars did catch fire. two 18-year-olds, breanna franco

and zachary rose, were killed, along with 19-year-old brittany walker. police have not released the name of the fourth victim. well, authorities near richmond, virginia, are investigating the suspicious deaths of a man and two young children. officers found the bodies after they were called to a home in mechanicsville in hanover county yesterday afternoon. deputies say the man was 40 years old and the children were 3-year-old twin girls. the "richmond times-dispatch" is reporting the man is the girls' father. police won't say much about the nature of their deaths but do say there is no search for a suspect. there are new developments in the search in maine for a missing toddler, ayla reynolds. police now say they found blood in the home where the child disappeared six weeks ago. her parents were seen in public together at a vigil for the girl yesterday. the two appeared civil and even talked privately for about 15 minutes. reporters asked ayla's mother, trista reynolds, about the new

developments. >> really? you really want to know? i'm ready to go knocking at people's doors myself because i want to know what happened to my daughter, and i want to know where she is and who took her, or just whatever. like everybody else does. my reaction is i'm still trying to concept the fact that blood was found of my daughter's. that's my reaction. okay? >> police have not confirmed that the blood found matched ayla's. the child disappeared while staying at her father's house while her mother got out of rehab. police told the "boston globe" they feel the three adults who were in the home when ayla disappeared are holding back information. it is 7:39 right now. coupon hunting for health care? how some coupon websites like groupon and livingsocial could save you serious cash on your medical bills. and this sign spinner isn't just alerting you to a great deal. he's trying to save you from having to pay a major fine.

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online coupons have exploded in popularity and people can get great deals on restaurants and clothes, and now health care services. sites like groupon and livingsocial are starting to offer people deals for checkups and other services. consumers say it's a great way to stay healthy, if they don't have insurance. but experts warn against jumping at just any deal. >> i was putting it off. there were medical issues that were starting to develop. i needed this to take myself to

the next level. >> we do not know, at least i don't know, what sort of credentials, what sort of vetting these groups have when they're recruiting health care providers. >> one site reports consumers saved more than $500 million using online health care coupons last year. well, the "today" show is next here on nbc 4, starting at 8:00. >> we're going to get a preview. lester holt joins us live from new york city. good morning, lester. >> angie and chris, good morning. coming up on "today," herman cain has come out in support of newt gingrich for president. cain says the former house speaker is not afraid to propose big ideas that would benefit the country. we're live in florida with the latest from the campaign trail. then, troubling clues. the search for maine toddler ayla reynolds has taken a grim turn. police believe and reveal that they found blood in the basement of her father's home. we'll tell you what that means for the investigation. plus, wedding nightmare. a new york couple says wedding planner to the stars david

detera broke his vows and tripled the cost of their reception and left them at the altar. we'll tell you how. and royal relationship. a new look at the complex bond between princess diana and queen elizabeth. the palace initially welcomed diana with open arms until one 1995 interview. we'll look at how that relationship fell apart. those stories and much more when jenna and i see you a bit later on "today." chris and angie, we'll send it back to you now. >> lester, saw you on "the wendy williams show," looking good! >> thanks. >> she loves you. >> that's a wild ride. that's quite a show. i didn't quite expect all that. >> some odd hours for you, too, huh? >> actually, it was a decent hour, like 10:00 in the morning, which is nice for me. >> normal people. normal hours. >> exactly. >> thanks, lester. >> all righty. right now, the president of yemen is in the united states receiving medical treatment. president ali abdullah saleh suffered major injuries during an assassination attempt last june. saleh was in a mosque praying when a bomb went off.

he suffered severe burns and other injuries in the attack. he was president of yemen for 33 years before relinquishing power last november. the u.s. and other allies have pressured saleh to leave yemen permanently, but he has promised to return home for his country's elections in february. a united nations nuclear team has arrived in tehran. they hope to address recent reports that the country has started developing nuclear weapons. leaders in iran say they're developing nuclear capabilities for energy purposes only. dozens of iranians protested the arrival of the team, saying it's the country's right to develop nuclear energy to help sustain its future. there are new reports of clashes today between the syrian military and groups of army defectors. the crisis there has killed nearly 80 people since thursday, and peace talks could take longer now. the arab league that was monitoring developments decided to withdraw its observers, saying conditions were just too dangerous to stay.

one woman showed nbc news her home that she says was destroyed by syrian soldiers. area residents say the syrian army also set up a sniper's nest overlooking a village and is attacking people below. crews in italy have recovered another body from the capsized cruise ship, bringing the death toll to at least 17. meanwhile, rough seas forced officials to delay removing more than 500,000 gallons of fuel from the ship. crews will try and remove the fuel some time later this week. so far, there's been no fuel leakage from the cruise ship, which crashed into a reef more than two weeks ago. 16 people are still missing from the accident. a deadly fire at a rehabilitation clinic in peru is under investigation this morning. investigators say 27 people died. peru's health minister says patients at the christ is love center were forced to live like prisoners. he also said the rehab clinic was unlicensed and overcrowded.

fire investigators say there is speculation that a mattress was set on fire and that the fire was started during a fight. every branch of america's armed forces is getting a hero's welcome this weekend in missouri. [ cheers and applause ] >> st. louis held the country's first parade for veterans since the end of the iraq war. tens of thousands of people lined downtown streets to salute service members. people came from across the country to attend. for some, the parade was bittersweet. others said the event should serve as an example of america's patriotism. >> it's great. what's really great is the people that are here honoring all these people. our veterans day parades should be this vigorous, and they're not. maybe this is a lesson for some people. >> i'm completely overwhelmed. >> two men started a facebook page trying to gain support for

a national parade to honor iraq war veterans, but pentagon officials say it would be premature to organize a national event for more vets with troops still in afghanistan. well, 7:48. the wizards looked to rebound from friday night's loss against one of the worst teams in the nba. >> theo harris has a preview of college noopz "sports minute." good morning. i'm amber theoharis. your "sports minute" begins with basketball, wizards in charlotte taking on the bobcats. we pick it up in the second quarter, wizards up five. john wallace steals the ball and turns defense into offense, finishing with the monster jam. wall had a double-double 13 points and 10 assists. let's go to the fourth quarter now. we're tied at 94. mcgee drives and the long hook shot is good. mcgee also with a double-double,

22 points and 10 boards. wizards win their first road game of the season, 102-99. down a level, number ten georgetown on the road at pitt. panthers started strong. this dunk puts pitt up 29-12 in the first and they finished strong. nasdaqeer robinson led the way with a game hoorks hih 23 points and pitt upsaets georgetown 72-60. in college park, terps taking on virginia tech. terrell stoglin scores 21 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as maryland knocks off the hokies 73-69. terps are now 3-3 in the acc. in fairfax, george mason hosting james madison. patriots start the second half on an 8-0 run, capped by this up-and-under move from vaunz and ryan pearson does the best. he goes for a game-high 29 points and 15 rebounds as george

mason wins its sixth straight, 89-79. elsewhere, number 21 virginia squeaks by nc state 61-60 and gw falls to fordham 63-58. i'm amber theoharis. have a great day. >> and i just want to say that i have a terps mug. >> i see that. >> in honor of the first victory on the gary williams court and comcast, yesterday against virginia tech. now we've got to root for virginia tech. >> people are noticing it because -- that's right -- but we're getting comments on twitter about your mug. a lot of maryland fans out there. >> the mug? oh, my mug. >> no, no, this mug. they like that mug, too. >> no comment. >> no comment on the oklahoma mug yet, but i know they're out there. people are very nice, they write in. for us, we're talking about a little weather, starting with some sunshine today. and there is still talk of some more really mild air coming our wa

welcome back. temperatures in the 40s and 50s did not stop thousands from making saturday a beach day in maryland. this is the 16th annual polar bear plunge at sandy point state park. it's wrapping up right now.

every hour for 24 hours, 50 men and 50 women run out into the chesapeake bay for, as you can imagine, a very chilly dip. the big swim was at 1:00 p.m. yesterday when thousands ran out into the water. governor martin o'malley was among those who took a cold swim. all the money raised will go to the special olympics. >> i cannot see doing that. >> frozen in time. i know, i got chills just watching it. >> and this was on a relatively mild january day. imagine a normal january day, where it would have only been in the 30s or low 40s. it would have made it even colder out there. but at least they didn't have to contend. in years past, they've worried about ice along the shoreline. nothing doing this year. our mild winter has all but melted. i was going to say evaporated. ice can't evaporate as well. most of it just melted, or in our case this year, never formed in the first place because it's been so mild. december was five degrees above average and january here, as we're getting ready to close out the month, is more than four degrees warmer than average with

february just around the corner. and i have a feeling that you're going to be impressed with the way february 1st forecast is looking. the groundhog is already starting to think about moving to a colder climate because it's so mild in pennsylvania this winter. outside right now, a beautiful blue sky hangs over washington. a little hint of a breeze already starting to show up. we'll have a west wind today 10 to 20 miles per hour. not quite as gusty as the wind was yesterday afternoon, but still a breeze that you'll notice. 32 degrees right now at national airport, a light wind for now out of the southwest at only 6 miles per hour. but again, those wind speeds will increase later this morning. temperatures hovering right near the freezing mark pretty much areawide. 30 in cumberland and aberdeen, 25 at the patuxent river naval air station, 35 charlottesville. your "sunday planner," bright and sunny to start. temperatures upper 30s to near 40 by 10:00 a.m., mid-to-upper 40s for high temperatures tuned then increasinging clouds coming in late this afternoon and this evening. nothing on radar around our area

just yet. snow showers in chicagoland, headed for detroit. most of that's going to stay to our north, but there is a trailing cold front that is going to graze down through here late this afternoon and into the evening hours. it's about 12 to 16 hours away, which puts it in here somewhere between 7:00 and 10:00 this evening. again, not expecting a whole lot with this next system. maybe a flurry, maybe a sprinkle. that's going to be about it as it comes zipping on through here between about 7:00 and midnight tonight. by tomorrow morning, it will all be long gone. sunshine to get the work and school week started. a little on the cool side today and tomorrow, but warmer days are going to be returning as early as tuesday and wednesday. there we go on our little microcast model. most of the precip, what little we're going to get, should be out of here by midnight or sooner. all right, here's your sunday forecast. today, morning sunshine, afternoon clouds, maybe a sprinkle or flurry this evening. that's going to be about it. temperatures today holding in the 40s. tomorrow the blue skies return. mostly sunny, a hint of a breeze first thing tomorrow morning, but on the whole, monday's going to be a nice day.

the final day of january will be tuesd tuesday. 62 degrees on the last day of january and 65 on the first day of february. groundhog day itself, thursday, 55 degrees around here. the groundhog, i have a feeling that punxsutawney phil is up there sweating. >> yeah, he's going to be -- >> if he sees his shadow and says six more weeks of winter, he's gone. >> going to bust out of there with some shorts on, ready to go. >> his fur is going to be clipped. >> thanks, chuck. all right, we do have a traffic alert to pass to you. if you take metro from the vienna station, one of the roads into the station's parking lot is about to get a new traffic pattern. starting tomorrow, part of saintsbury drive, which takes you into the station from nutley street, will become a one-way street so crews can widen that road. you'll now have to take nutley over the lee highway, take that to vaden drive from there, you'll be able to get back on to saintsbury. the new traffic pattern will be in place until about june.

and major changes are also coming this week to the dupont circle metro station. the 19th street entrance will be closing on wednesday so crews can replace all three of its escalators. now, that entrance won't open for about eight months. that may seem like a long time to fix three escalators, but metro says this is no small task. >> we've got to not only rip out the existing units, but in order to prepare the space for the new units coming in, there is work underneath with the trusses that has to be done. one of the steps involved is preserving an escalator at all times as a set of stairs to provide emergency egress here at this entrance. in addition to that, we've put in a new spiral staircase and event shaft. so, there are some emergency evacuation options. >> now, during construction, you will have to use the q street entrance to get in and out of the station. a local celebrity chef is using a special talent to get the word out about new speed cameras. jeff tracy, owner of chef

jeff's, hired a sign spinner to twirl a sign that reads, "please slow down, new speed camera in 500 feet, $150 fines." that speed camera is on fox hall road in northwest washington. tracy got the idea after he got three tickets in three days. the sign spinner started yesterday and will be out there various hours for about a week. by the way, the other side of that sign points to chef jeff's restaurant on new mexico avenue. and today, fairfax county residents can get rid of some of their old appliances without much of a headache. the county is holding what it's calling an electric sunday. residents can recycle their old electronics to the i-66 transfer station on west ox road in fairfax between 10:00 this morning and 3:00 this afternoon. best of all, the whole event is free. here are some of the items you can bring -- televisions, computers, as well as computer accessories like keyboards, speakers and printers. you can also drop off unbroken

fluorescent light bulbs and tubes. you may need to bring proof that you're a fairfax county resident in order to drop anything off. well, it isn't hard to find a starbucks around here. >> but one local neighborhood is about to lose its starbucks today, and this is no ordinary coffee shop. the starbucks on wisconsin avenue near the national cathedral is closing its doors today. this was the first starbucks ever on the east coast. it opened in 1993. and the shopping center is going to be renovated, so it eventually will be back. so, starbucks fans, don't worry. well, that's going to do it for this edition of "news 4" for this sunday morning. thanks for joining us. >> we'll be back in 25 minutes. stay classy.