good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is wednesday, february 1, 212. right now president obama is in northern virginia. sheer a live picture. he's at the james lee community center in falls church. he will be speaking about the economy shortly. one of his main focuses today will be a new plan to try to rejuvenate the housing market. and to get homeowners back on their feet. eun yang joins us at the news4 screen with a closer look at his proposal. >> this is something that the president touched on his n his state of the union address.

it revolve ace round helping millions of homeowners whose loans are privately held, refinanced at a lower rate, even if they owe more mondayin their holmes railroad worth. about 3.5 million homeowners could benefit from the program. those loans would essentially be transferred from a private lender to the federal housing administration and at a new lower rate. the average rate for a 30-year loan is 3.88%. meaning the average homeowner could save about $3,000 a year. there are some qualifications, though, you would have to meet to take part. home owners would have to be current on their last six mortgage payments and have no more than one delinquency in the last six months. the proposal is expected to meet resistance in congress, too. the president wants to use a fee on large banks to pay for the $5 billion to $10 billion program. but many republicans have already shot down any type of tax on large banks. barbara. >> all right, thanks. and new this morning, metro closed a south entrance of the dupont circle station. so metro riders be prepared to

walk a few extra blocks for the next eight months. it will be a big inconvenience to riders and businesses, too. news4's angie goff reports. >> reporter: signs about the closure, they have been out for weeks and apparently they are working because i must say it has been rather quite oat this side of the dupont circle metro station. we are at the 19th street entrance which closed today. because crews, you can hear them behind us, they are working hard to repair those three escalato s escalators. the task, it is huge. taking eight months. longest time a station closed according to metro. crews started the process of ripping out three escalators and they already built a staircase and as a way out for workers in case of an emergency. from now, until october, you will have to use the north entrance near q street. this morning, we got mixed emotions from people who use and work around the station. >> definitely going to be a good sign that they are going to repair it. i mean, obviously the fact lit take eight months is a long time. >> my business is when the

people come out and that's my business. there is not anything. i'm like this. i don't know how i'm going to survive. i'm going to be homeless. >> reporter: very tough for those who work around the station and depend on that rush coming through to support their businesses. meanwhile, we want to let those who use the station know that the farrugut north station, construction there has been suspended to free up more space for those wanting to use that station as an alternate, we have also learned despite there being signs saying that the three entrances at farrugut north are closed and they are all open. reporting from dupont circle, angie goff, news4. >> turning to the weather now we see clouds out there. mild day, though, what's it going to be like the rest of the day? here's meteorologist tom kierein. >> good morning. we would love to have a repeat of yesterday. that certainly was wonderful and got into the mid and upper 60s and does look like we are on our way again. right now around the region we are into the mid 50s and it is 55 at reagan national.

in leesburg, gaithersburg, 63 degrees. fredericksburg, culpeper, 66. charlottesville also at 66. they will probably easily hit 70 there later today. but reagan national, 55. one of the cooler spots with the wind off the cold waters of the not mack. we had sprinkles this morning. passed off to our seat and few lingering sprinkle east of cambridge on the eastern shore. and south of there in the northern neck. it is goinging to move off to the east. clouds over the shenandoah valley and mountains. farther to tease between the blue ridge and the metro area, we have some sunshine breaking out now and for the rest of the afternoon, partly cloudy and mild. lit breezes coming in out of the southwest and we will shift into the northwest later on. we will climb into the mid and upper 60s and even around the metro area during the afternoon. and record high for the day in washington, 77. that was set on this date ten years ago. i don't think we will get that warm but it will certainly feel like it. it will feel like spring this

afternoon. details on big changes on the way, though, coming. barbara, in a few minutes we are going have face cold weather at some point. let's check the traffic now. see how things are moving. here is danella sealock. >> good morning. good morning, barbara. if you are taking the metro expect delays on the red line in both directions due to scheduled track work. also if you are traveling i-66 we will take that drive together. not so bad as you head east out of haymarket seeing nothing but green. as you again travel out of haymarket. east and west on i-66. clear through centreville again lanes nice and open. however, you are going to start to slow down right here as you approach nutley. that's due to sign work set to block and at least one of your lanes you can see here these cars are packed. delays continue as you head into the beltway. back over to you, barbara. >> all right. thanks, danella. all bets can soon be off with online gambling in d.c. right now the district's finance and revenue committee is meeting to vote on repealing that program. d.c. was first in the country to legalize online gambling.

now council members question the approval process saying it was too complicated. a judge is giving occupy d.c. protesters fair warning and if they are asked to vacate their down time demonstration sites, meanwhile some washingtonians are growing tired of the movement while others don't seem to be mind. news4's tracy wilkins has more now from mcpherson square. hi. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. we have seen a lot of changes happen since the occupiers moved here to mcpherson square. and with every change the people who work and live in this area are wondering what is going to happen next. some say as you said get rid of the camp. others say it is free speech and they should have their time. the tent of dreams hanks a little lower be the countdown to a potential showdown with park police continues and occupy d.c. protesters are still occupying mcpherson square. just yesterday evening a man walked on to the camp and started to take down the tarp and that was hanging from the statue of james mcpherson.

it caused a major commotion with the occupiers. >> the -- police are -- and park services have been too inept to do anything about it. >> he's not a cop. mind your business. leave us alone. leave us alone. leave us alone. >> get your head off me. >> reporter: without question the camp is an attention getter. folks seeing it the first time are moved to take pictures of it while others have either gotten used to it or grown tired of looking at it. >> it is -- useless. it is destructive and disturbing traffic and everything else. i think it is time to move on and find a different way to get support. >> it makes me sad because they redid the park last year and it was so beautiful. now it is muddy and gross. i hope they can clean it up and make it look nice again. >> reporter: but there are still many people who support what the camp and the occupy movement stands for in d.c. and the nation. >> i really agree with what they have to say, what they stand for. i think they stand for like the

average american who struggles under economic oppression. >> they are trying do it non-violently which is the best way to make that message and to do the protest. >> i think people are tired of -- corporations and big business and -- it is route to stand up in some type of way and -- this is -- like i said, earlier, this is just next to free speech. so -- >> reporter: a lot of mixed reaction there. now again, park police decide to move out the occupiers and they will be given two days' notice before that can happen. according to the judge's decision. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> thank you. this afternoon, the man arrested for the murder of an alexandria community activist will be in court. police arrested 49-year-old lynwood johnson for the murder of lenny harris. police say johnson confessed to the murder and knew harris. they say robbery was the motive.

plus got a break in the case when an anonymous tip led officers to harris' body at the bottom of a well in prince george's county. harris was last seen alive in september at a rec center in alexandria. 11:09 is our time. coming up the republican race for president takes another turn. what the front runners are saying about the outcome of the florida primary. and who will decide if federal workers get a pay raise any time soon. stay

the house could decide today whether federal workers will go another year without a raise. the house is set to vote on a bill that would extend the pay freeze for another year. law makers and congressional staffers would also be impacted by the bill. president obama opposes the legislation and he wants federal civilian workers to receive a half percent raise. mitt romney appears to be the front-runner again in the race for the gop presidential nomination. the former massachusetts governor decisively won the florida primary with 46% of the vote. newt gingrich finished a distant second, 14 points behind romney. santorum finished third. all of the candidates say the race for the republican nomination is far from decided. but romney also appears to be

looking ahead to the general election. >> another era of america crisis thomas payne said lead, follow or get out of the way. mr. president, you were elected to lead. you chose to follow. and now it is time for you to get out of the way. >> florida was not only the largest of the contest held this election year so far. it was also a winner-take-all primary. the next state up for grabs is nevada. it holds its caucus this saturday. maine voters will be caucusing for a whole week starting this saturday. and then next tuesday, colorado and minnesota hold their caucuses. missouri holds its primary that day but that contest won't count for delegates towards the gop convention. that early primary would have been in violation of republican national committee rules which only allow certain states to hold their contests that early. and instead the missouri republican party will hold a

caucus in march to determine the delegates sent to the convention. romney's now solidified front-runner status earning him some new protection. according to two sources with the romney campaign, the former governor will have the protection of the secret service starting tomorrow. the campaign refused to comment further saying that they don't discuss matters of security. romney will be the only republican candidate to have that protection. all of the republicans have work to do to catch up with the president in the fund-raising department. at the time obama and the first lady and vice president joe biden brought in at least $5.3 million yesterday at a combination of fund-raisers for his re-election campaign. the president mingled with supporters at two events here in the district. tickets for both started at more than $38,000. first lady michelle obama attended a fund-raiser in california and the vice president attended two events in texas. the president raised nearly $40 million in the last three months

of 2011. let's talk about our weather. meteorologist tom kierein is here with news about the weather. we are enjoying the mild weather we are having. rain this morning but it is pretty much gone now. >> it is. it felt like spring yesterday and it is now starting to feel like springtime again as we start february, this first day of february certainly not feeling like winter time. here's a live view from our city camera, high definition view of breaks in the clouds over the potomac river, sunshine breaking out now and just to the right there is reagan national airport. temperature now 55 degrees. a breeze coming off of the river. water temperatures are only around 40 degrees. any wind off the water certainly makes it cooler and actually reagan national is 55. it is one of the cool spots. elsewhere we are already well into the 60s from north central virginia, charlottesville, along the blue ridge, cull pepper and up towards warrenton and fredericksburg. that area low to mid 60s now. it is near 60 in southern

maryland as well. closer to washington, it is in the low 60s and in -- parts of montgomery county where there has been more sunshine this morning as well as in loudoun county and in northern fauquier. and closer to fairfax county temperatures there are in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. in prince george's county, there's more cloudiness there so it is -- not quite as warm. upper 50s generally there. on the eastern shore still getting a little bit of rain there. and as this system came through this morning we have had just a few sprinkles. less than a tenth of an inch. getting breaks in the clouds. closer view showing that the sunshine is now pouring down quite a bit in montgomery county and loudoun, western fairfax and western virginia. this is the area getting most sun. it is so warm well into the 60s there. still quite cloudy and to our south and east. those clouds will clear out there, too, as we get into the afternoon hours. at least temporarily, and then going forward overnight tonight, after midnight we may get rain moving in all this area in green is a zone of potential rain. washington, northern virginia,

southern maryland, this is the area that has the greater likelihood of getting rain after midnight tonight and this is as of 4:00 tomorrow morning. and then during the morning rush hour for southern and eastern suburbs, those areas, may have wet pavement getting off to work and school tomorrow morning. then as we get into thursday afternoon we are going to get shining breaking out. chillier air is going to begin to move in tomorrow afternoon. today is our last day of springtime and winter. at least for now. and then overnight on thursday night, clear and cold. it is going to be down near freezing. of all things in winter, that's going to be happening on friday morning. for the rest of today, partly cloudy and mild, record high 77 set on this date ten years ago. and i don't think we are going to get that warm. that's it. riggan national and later today, though, into the mid and upper 60s. even right near the colder waters but away from the waters, near 70 degrees across many parts of especially northern virginia. overnight tonight, increasing clouds and it will be cool and we will fall from near 60 after sunset to the low 50s by

midnight. and then by dawn tomorrow we will be down into the low 40s and showers around tomorrow morning giving way to afternoon sun. highs in the 50s. then on friday, sunny but a cold start. another cold morning on saturday afternoon. highs near 50. looks like it will be cloudy on sunday, near 50 degrees, too. and then on monday, tuesday, we will get sunshine. last week i visited the camelot elementary school in fairfax county. annandale. and talked to these students there, had a great time. i want to thank the teacher there and back. tiffany pitts for the invitation to come and talk to these great students at the camelot elementary school in fairfax county and that's the way it looks now. had a lot of none. >> looks you did. thank you, tom. let's head to the roads and see if there any problems we need to hear about. here's danella sealock a great time to take the beltway. wish it could be this nice all the time. but it can't be. it is nice right now. let's check. inner loop speeds at pennsylvania avenue, 62 miles per hour. also traveling the inner loop at

route 50, again, 62 miles per hour. if you are travel thing time on the outer loop of the beltway, connecticut avenue, another 62 miles per hour. not seeing any accidents at all to report around the beltway. looking nice. if you are traveling across american legion bridge on the outer loop, as well as the inner loop over here, you are clear. no issues to report on the beltway at this time. barbara, back to you. >> thank you. it is now 19 minutes after 11:00. still ahead on "news4 midday," he is part of chef andrea's team. chef garcia is lending his talents to rogue 24. he is in the studio to make as you filly cheese steak. >> somebody will say the word and my brain will flip it for me and i will read it that way. >> this teen's very unusual talent. we are going to show you. first, here is a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

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that delivers superior picture quality, more hd, plus america's fastest, most consistent and most reliable internet. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios at our best price... $89.99 a month with a two-year price guarantee. plus, get $300 back with a two-year contract... or choose no annual contract. ordering online is easy... you can even chat live with a fios agent. visit verizon.com/greatprice. that's verizon.com/greatprice. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006 the guest chef at this week at rogue 24, reuben garcia. it is a d.c. restaurant known for its 24-course tasting men and where the chef right now is recovering from heart surgery. chef garcia is the research and development director for jose

andres fame mere in washington. chef garcia oversees the restaurants here in d.c. and in las vegas and los angeles. and he's joining us this morning to talk about his week at rogue 24. and his unique style of cooking. welcome. clear glad to have you with us. >> good morning. >> i'm great and excited about taste something of this food you made so famous. tell me why did you decide to help out rogue 24? >> well, first, to help my friend, you know. he's having a hard time right now. you know, he -- he and his wife. >> keep his restaurant going. >> exactly. >> that's nice. i know a lot of you are -- volunteered to come in for a week each. this is your week. your cooking is described as modern and you will start off with a filly cheese steak. >> let me show you. look what we have here. this is peteita bread.

if i break it it is completely hollow. pita bread. we have the cheese. cheddar. >> cheddar cheese. cheddar cheese inside. yeah. okay. what are we doing? we fill it up. >> you are filling the pita with cheddar cheese. >> exactly. >> wow. >> and then what we are doing is we have these colby beef. sear it. with a torch. onions. yes. >> what kind of onion? >> that's caramelized onions. cook it down slowly. until they get caramel, dark

color. we puree them. we top the bread. we finish with a little bit of spanish olive oil. >> that looks delicious. >> sea salt. >> then we have our filly chep cheese steak. do you want to try it? >> sure. >> it is messy. >> i'm not sure i want to -- >> a mess here. cheese inside the crunchy bread. >> very good. delicious. >> let me show you something else. >> that's very good. >> this is a liquid nitrogen. this is -- you know. another form of air. the air we are breathing right now. >> okay. >> while what we do here, we wouldn't do -- a cup. what we call -- it is a -- flourless. it is really cold. it is not dangerous. >> okay. >> okay. i mean -- dangerous but have you to be careful.

what we have here is almond cream. almonds and cream. we mix them together. we have these. look what we are doing. here. because it is really, really cold, it gets stuck into the -- >> i see. sticks, freezes. >> movie, the -- story of christmas. christmas story. that guy, he put the tongue on the pole. it got stuck. >> we don't stick our tongue in that. now you have this almond basket. >> sorry. here. almond basket. >> pretty. >> i we top it with a little bit of blue cheese. >> okay. we are -- running out of time. >> almond. passion fruit. >> that looks fantastic. >> enjoy. >> i will try it a little bit l later. fabulous remembertation. >> i have to feed you that. okay. are we leaving?

>> we are just about out of time. >> one, two, lee. put it in your mouth. >> this is different. >> popcorn. >> wow. thank you, chef garcia. fabulous. wonderful. i think you will have a great time at rogue 24. >> i will see threw. >> thanks for coming in. a reminder, guilt city is offering special price packages for the special rogue sessions here this week. and all through the next few weeks. you can check those out at guiltcity.com-dc. fizer is announcing a major recall. we will run down what you need to know. plus, what mcdonald's is taking out of their burgers and we probably make many people happy. and how much longer will this mild weather last? tom kierein is back with an update.

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president obama wrapped up a visit to northern virginia where he proposed new mortgage help for struggling homeowners. the president's plan would allow homeowners with private loans to refinance at record low rates saving as much as $3,000 a year. the republicans are already criticizing the plan because it includes a tax against large banks. mitt romney appears to be the front-runner. once again in the race for the gop presidential nomination. he won the florida primary and n a landslide. newt gingrich finished 14 points behind him. the candidates now turn their attention to nevada which holds its caucus this saturday. the south entrance to the dupont circle metro station is closed. transit agency closed the 19th street entrance overnight so crews can begin replacing the escalators there. and we have a warning for women taking birth control pills. pfizer is recalling about 1 million packs of its contraceptive after discovering packaging error. this recall affects 14 lots of

low ovral-28 tab sxlets 14 lots of norgestrel and ethinyyl estradiol tablets. experts explain idea it may not work on the "today" show this morning. >> in upstate new york where lake george's only partially frozen, they are trucking in ice to build the winter carnival castle. >> that was not the right video. we will tell you that pfizer says the situation does not pose a health problem. but does raise the risk of an unintended pregnancy. the affected packets have expiration dates ranging between july 31, 2013, and march 31, 2014. pfizer says women affected should stop using the pills immediately and use another form of contraceptive. today in maryland governor o'malley will deliver the state of the state address. state of the state address is scheduled to begin at noon. the governor's speech is

expected to focus on job creation. o'malley is expected to talk about the proposed sales tax on gasoline and the same-sex marriage legislation. and that same-sex marriage debate in maryland is bringing lots of people to annapolis. even at 14-year-old girl named sarah. >> today is my shth birthday and best birthday present ever if you would vote no on guy marriage. >> sarah was one of the many people that testified in front of a maryland senate committee debating the bill. governor martin o'malley testified for the bill. and he introduced the legislation earlier this month to allow civil marriage between same-sex couples. last year a same-sex marriage bill passed the senate but failed in the house. when a person needs to get an eye exam is now a controversy in annapolis. maryland lawmakers are considering extending driver's license renewals and basic eye exams from five to eight years. those against the bill say ex-tendsing the period between eye tests will increase the

number of incompetent drivers on the roads. nathan kranopo's mother will testify against the bill today. an 84-year-old driver hit and killed her with her car last year. it is february 1. you probably know. it feels a lot more like april 1 out there today. temperatures are expected to reach the 60s for the second straight day. everyone is asking what happened to winter? nbc's chief environmental correspondent anne thompson takes a look at this weird winter we are having. >> reporter: in upstate fork where lake george's only partially frozen, they are trucking in ice to build the winter carnival castle. thin ice in patterson, iowa, tragically took the lives of two friends out fishing. >> appears thick. you look at it and -- it is just -- you slip in judgment and catches you. >> reporter: a across the country, this is the most

unusual winter. 2,890 daily record highs tied or broke this january. more than four times as many as last january. and february will get off to a warm start. chicago and st. louis predicted to be 14 degrees above average today. new york city, 20 degrees. and minot, north dakota, did a m dramatic 22 degrees warmer than normal. >> this is a monster of a storm. more 100-mile stretch of snow could fall over e next 48 hours. >> reporter: damage from the groundhog day storm topped $1 billion. the difference between then and now -- the location of the jet stream. last year it dipped deep into the u.s. and bringing frigid temperatures and snow from canada. this year it is hovering at the canadian border. >> susz testimonies are coming acro across the country and scooting out to sea and bringing mild pacific air and some cases gulf air and allowing for the incredible record highs.

>> reporter: it is confusing crops in california. blooming too soon. >> normal winter is -- you know, cold and -- somewhat wet. but not 85 degrees for a week and a half. >> reporter: the cranes are early birds, returning north a month ahead of schedule. >> we are going to check in again with tom kierein with the latest our forecast. i guess that could be dangerous for birds going back to their summer areas too soon. >> yes. it is going to be feeling like winter again as we get into friday morning. but between now and then we have this mild pattern continuing. there is the live view from the sky watcher camera. overlooking fairfax county on the horizon as tysons corner. we have quite a bit of sunshine and there it is already in into the 60s. we are into the sixth in fairfax. montgomery, prince george's counties. and southern maryland, though, more cloudiness as well as the northern neck, eastern shore where they had sprinkle this morning. it is in the 50s there. where there has been a lot of sun it is already climbing into

the upper 60s. culpeper, 68 now. it may actually exceed 70 as we get into next couple of hours. fredericksburg, 64. charlottesville, 66. there's view from space. breaks in the clouds allowing the warmth to really build across northern virginia. there is quite a bit of cloudiness across maryland and eastern shore. may not be quite as warm there as we get into the afternoon. then overnight tonight, we will have clouds closing in and area of low pressure along a front coming lou. tomorrow morning may give us rain and sun back tomorrow afternoon but cooler with highs in the 50s. then much colder, friday, saturday, sunday, first part of next week. lit feel like winter again with highs only in the 40s to near 50 degrees. barbara. >> all right, tom. thank you. today louisa county high school and middle school students are back in class on the same day for the first time in five months. the students had been sharing the same middle school campus going to class on alternate days. now the high school students have moved into a new mobile campus. it is made up of 90 trailers

converted into classrooms. school leaders are deciding whether to build a new high school or repair the damaged one. the super bowl is bringing in some super-sized security. today homeland security secretary janet napolitano will talk about the massive operation to keep players, coaches and fans safe. as far as the government is concerned, the super bowl ranks just below national secure events involving the president. more than 1,000 police officers are in indianapolis to protect the 150,000 fans. >> the redskins may not be playing in this year's big game but one new england patriot may be familiar to local football fans. patriots linebacker tracy white played college football here in d.c. at howard university. try as he might, jim vance could not get him to give the giants any motivation. >> what do you think the score will be? >> score? i don't even know. who wants it the most, who wants at this time most. that's all i can say. >> reporter: so are you prepared to tell me who is going to win?

>> who wants it the most? that's it. i mean -- whoever play it is hardest, makes the least mistakes, have a real good chance of winning. >> news4 is your official station for super bowl xlvi. catch more live reports from jim vance and dan hellie tonight and all week long. we are going to check up now on the midday traffic. any problems? >> if you are taking metro you can expect some delays along the red line due to scheduled track work. right now the red line single tracking between medical center and friendship heights. you can see delays on the red line in both directions. also traveling i-66, we are still slow in this area. as you head east, construction, some sign work happening and it will block at least one of your lanes between nutley and the beltway. once you get past the beltway 66 looks really good. and traveling on 395 crossing the 14th street bridge, no problems as you make your way into the city. in fact, travel speeds look really good. you are at 59 miles per hour. not bad. barbara, back to you. >> all right. thanks, danella.

used chryslers usually sell for $10,000, $15,000. not this one. this car once belonged to president obama. opening bid is $1 million. seller has a picture of the title with the president's name on it and the auction ends at 11:51 tonight. mcdonald's is making changes. the fast food chain says it stopped using a food additive known as pink slime in its burgers. sounds pretty bad but it is healthy in a way. the slime was used to kill you wanted bacteria in the beef. a practice approved by the usda. burger king and taco bell reportedly stopped using the slime as well. the entertainment world is mourning the loss of a television legend today. soul train creator don cornelius was found dead this morning at his california home. police believe that he took his own life. cornelius hosted the dance show "soul train" from its debut in 1971 until 1993. the show finally went off the

air in 2006. sources say cornelius had suffered with major health issues in recent years and including a stroke and a condition that required brain surgery. he was 75 years old. 11:41 is the time. a teenager with an unusual talent. seeing and saying words backwards. marijuana use, why is it so common and what kind of effects cheeseburger macaroni?

[ female announcer ] cheeserburger macaroni hamburger helper. now even cheesier and tastier. helpers. forty dishes, all delicious. gives us the most nutritious of gifts. but only when they are ready to be given. that's why green giant picks vegetables at their peak. ...and freezes them fast, locking in nutrients ...for you to unwrap. ♪ ho, ho, ho. green giant twonchlgts organizations have -- two organizations dedicated to women's health are ending their partnership with each other. the susan g. komen foundation says it will stop funding planned parenthood centers from breast cancer screenings and other breast health services. planned parenthood claims the split is politically motivated and based on pressure from anti-abortion groups. the komen foundation says it adopt ad new policy and will no

longer do business with organizations under investigation. planned parenthood is under federal investigation for possibly spending public money on abortions. stocks are opening the day in positive territory. let's check in with cnbc's bertha coombs. she joins us live with more on that ands that rest of the day's business headlines, too. bertha? >> hi, barbara. checking the dow is up more than 130 points. markets are higher on bullish data out of china and in the u.s. on manufacturing. so that and a lot of people feeling better about the economy moving higher. also here at home, we have a preview of friday's labor department report. private payroll firm adp says the economy created 175,000 private jobs in january. while the dow is up over 1%, amazon is having a really rough day over on the nasdaq. after reporting does appointing earnings and n sales. the online shopping giant continues to spend big building out the business and eating into the bottom line. kindle sales were up. introduction of the kindle fire.

analysts say amazon is selling it at a loss. as it tries to combat apple's ipad's reach. apple shares meantime today again seeing record highs. but the hottest buzz on wall street is about-face book. social networking giant expected to file papers later today for a $5 billion ipo. that would make it -- debut about three times bigger than google's ipo seven years ago. and ultimately can value the company at about $100 billion. what does that mean? it would boost 27-year-old mark zuckerberg's net worth north of $20 billion. put him just behind microsoft's bill gates and oracle's larry ellison when with it comes to tech titans who are rich and ahead of google's founders. barbara, the other big thing everybody is waiting to see is who facebook is going to friend in terms of where they are going to list their shares. the nasdaq usually gets the big

tech titans, apple, microsoft, oracle, amazon, all there. but the nyse has been fighting is fighting hard for that. another rivalry we are watching. big fireworks this afternoon. >> lot to -- >> come lou. >> lot to talk about on wall street. all right. thanks so much and we will see you tomorrow, i hope. >> see you. more than 20 million people in the united states use some kind of illicit drug or have in the past 30 years. marijuana is among the most popular choices. why it is so commonly used and the effects of the drugs. it seems like most people probably think they know all the answers about marijuana but they don' don't. >> curious. all right. so -- why is it the most commonly used drug? is it because it is available out there? >> i think the main reasons are because it is so readily available and because generally it has a safety profile that's better than most other drugs out

there. there are no people that overdose and die from just using marijuana compared to things like heroin. i think the stigma is a lot lower for use of marijuana compared to other drugs like cocaine and heroin. >> tell us, what are the effects, known effects of marijuana? >> there are the physical effects and then there are psychological. physical effects would be things like pupil dilation, redening of your eyes and heart rate goes up. your respiratory rate goes up. and you get hungry. you get the munchys. psychological effects are people feel calmer and feel a little bit giddy. sometimes they can get a little bit paranoid. >> i see. so are -- any of these same effects that one would have from alcohol? >> well, alcohol is a little bit more variable. i think that it is not really the same. people are less likely to get relaxed -- well, you know what, there are -- they are similar. they are similar, actually to actual. >> tell us the health risks associated with marijuana. >> health risks, physical ask psychologic psychological. physical lot of people think marijuana is not addictive when

it is addictive and people do go through some withdrawal when they stop using marijuana, if they are using it regularly. it is nothing like going through cocaine withdrawal but it is significant. the other thing is that it it is absolutely -- it has been tied to issues with -- i'm sorry. it has been tied to issues with paranoia in people. so -- kids that have been exposed to using marijuana at an early age have twice the risk of developing some sort of sooig psychotic illness as they get older. psychotic illness as they get older. it is rare but increase it is risk of this happen. >> some people have said that it is a gateway drug. it is a drug that if you start on marijuana, you may be led to go to more serious -- >> other drugs, right. you know, i don't really believe that. i think that actually the most common gateway drug is alcohol. if you talk to most kids, they are going to start using alcohol and then maybe they will go on to using marijuana. then they might go on to using other drugs. i think alcohol is really the

primary gateway drug. >> medical marijuana dispensaries are going to be coming to d.c. this summer. who will be eligible for that? >> so -- the people who will be eligible are those who have hiv or a.i.d. zblfshgs as a physician? >> and cancer actually. >> do you think that -- that this -- do you endorse the use of this for those -- those illnesses? >> i do. i do. i think we have plenty of medications on the market that are much more dangerous than medical marijuana. i mean, opiates carry a much greater risk of death and addiction than marijuana does. and you know, the other thing is that if i had to choose between having a family member who was either an alcoholic or a regular pot abuser, i would much rather have in my family a member addicted to pot. i rather have neither. pot causes much fewer health risks compared to alcohol. >> all right. well, great to hear what you have to say about that. we did learn new things about

it. it is not a gateway drug but causes problems people may not realize happen. >> exactly. >> thanks, as always. >> thanks, barbara. s >> see you next week. the first lady sets a good example on "late night." tom kierein will be back with another check on the changes coming to our weather. stay with news4 all afternoon. 3:00 the start of a star-packed

there is a reason to stop the music. musician john legend surprised students at d.c.'s duke ellington school of the arts yesterday. after the surprise his students got to have a jam session with the singer. he was there to launch a new program called "what's going on now." it encourages young artists to engage in social issues. just like marvin gaye did with "what's going on." students can participate in the program by uploading creative expressions like music and poems to the project's website. and we put a link to that website on nbcwashington.com. first the first lady got some

laughs on "the tonight show" last night. excuse me. michelle obama tried to break jay leno's unhealthy eating habits by giving him fruits and vegetables grown at the white house. leno turned the tables back on the first lady asking her what foods she doesn't like. >> you know, i don't like beets. i'm not a beet lover. what do you have? >> these are beets. oh, tricky, tricky. you don't know. >> you don't know if you don't like something if you don't try them. >> i will do it. bring it on! whole beet. >> she was a good sport. the first lady told leno that he's a role model so he needs to try vegetables every once in a while. mrs. obama also promoted her "let's move campaign" designed to get kids excited about fitness and healthy eating.

14-year-old alyssa kramer has a unique ability. she is instantly visualize any word backwards. this morning she was put to the test. >> super bowl. >> [ speaking backwards ] >> french fries. >> [ speaking backwards ] >> did you memorize that one? do you know that one? do you do the visual thing? >> i do the visual thing. >> you never seem to stop to wonder if you are pronouncing right backwards. >> well -- >> there is no correct way. >> yeah. >> that's what i'm saying. >> jgibberish. >> speaking backwards ]. >> brad pitt. >> [ speaking backwards ] >> when she learned to read she taught herself to read any word forward and backward and now she does it automatically. she is featured in you atube video that has more than 1 million hits.

let's take a look at stories we are following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins news the newsroom with a preview of things to come. that's quite a talent. >> quite an unusual talent there. bash remarks coming up this afternooning on "news4 at 4:00," we will have more on the 1 million birth control packs recalled overnight. ♪ i have been so many places in my life ♪ >> the preview this subd's premiere of "the voice." at 5:00 today, what's your workout? cardio followed by relaxation. the class that uses exercise and bright lights to boost your mood. those stories and all the day's latest starting on "news4 at 4:00." >> all right. thank you, pat. it is time for a final check on your forecast. here is tom. >> we have a beautiful blue sky now. some sunshine. we are warming up quickly. there's the live view from the sky watcher camera. and the sun is warming as we approach the noon hour, already now near 60 degrees in washington. it already hit the 60s to near 70 degrees across much of northern virginia and into

maryland low and mid 60s most locations. and on the eastern shore still quite a bit of cloudiness there. it is in the 50s. later today, though, it will hit the 60s just about the entire region. rain tomorrow morning. then colder weather moves in after that into the weekend. have a great afternoon and enjoy. we will see you tomorrow morning. >> tom, thank you. that's "news4 midday" for today. thank you for being with us and invited you to tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 11:00. we will be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. for "news4 midday." we hope you plan to join us. have a terrific day. we will see new the morning.

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