good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. thursday, february 14, 2012. and right now roads are closing in anticipation of a funeral for paramedic that died in the line of duty. parts of seminary road, janey lane and parts of west braddock road will be shut down for the funeral and procession. thousands are expected to gather for joshua weissman who died last week. he fell to his death while responding to a car fire in shirlington. the 33-year-old was seven-we are veteran of the alexandria fire department. news4's tracee wilkins is live

in alexandria with more for us. >> reporter: good morning. it is hard enough for these officers, folks, who work with the fire and ems department in alexandria to lose a comrade. but to lose weissman, he was a leader in this department who not only helped to train new recruits but also was involved with the task force helping to hape the vision how this fire department would look in ten years. the loss is a major loss. this is just a preview into how the city plans on saying good-bye. this morning, around 9:00 a.m., ladder fire trucks formed an arch raise large u.s. flag in the 3800 block of seminary road just down the street from the synagogue. already hundreds of fire, ems, and police personnel from near and far have gathered outside of the bethel hebrew synagogue in alexandria. he was a seven-year veteran and duties included training and assessing new recruits in the

peeled. weissman was responding to a car accident last week when he fell some 20 feet off the 395 overpass into the creekbed of four-mile road in shirlington. he suffered a severe head injury and died the following day. so many emergency personnel are expected to be here today. they have set up a tent outside and fitteded it with monitors just in case everyone can't get into the synagogue. >> even though we are from different jurisdictions, we care and we want to show we support them and feel their pain and loss. it is beneficial to the family, the fire service and ems service, we spent a great deal away from our families. when they can see these are the people that they share their lives with also, it means a lot to the families. >> the city has already started closing roads surrounding the synagogue. closures are expected to last until 4:30 p.m. road closures will include janey lane, van dorn street, broad october road, king street.

several schools in alexandria will also be let out early. back out here live you can see this huge, beautiful flag waving here and a -- as folks enter the area they will see that first. it is a beautiful sight. they set that up was just few hours ago as we said. and there were so many of the servicemen here in the area who stood by and watched as that flag went up and took pictures and now pretty much everyone is standing over there preparing to do their part and in paying honor to the fallen man. and thanking him for all of his work and what he has done here. funeral services will be beginning at 1:00 p.m. here at the synagogue and then the interment will happy here in alexandria. reporting live in alexandria, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> thank you. right now the driver responsible for this crash in baltimore faces dui charges. a tractor trailer overturned spilling printer ink on to interstates 95 and 895 shutting

them down for most of the night. crews worked all night cleaning up the mess. both interstates opened in time for the morning commute. turning to the weather now. rain moving into our area. this afternoon actually had some already today. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us for the first forecast. tom n. >> good morning, barbara. we have had some light rain this morning and there's somewhat moderate rain about to move into the metro area. this is a live view from our sky watcher camera. lenses sprinkled with raindrops right now. we are getting a little light rain in washington. and in parts of maryland but much of the rain now is in virginia and it is moving southwest to northeast. along a front that is beginning to move our way, moving into the mountains now. ahead of the front southwesterly flow bring thing rain towards us where you see those areas in yellow, coming down harder in charms county and as well as into culpeper county. that's advancing north and east. even though we head to light rain so far we may have a pick-up of intensity and not going to get a lot of rain out

of this as we get into the afternoon hours, we will have our temperatures warm up a little bit. we have been holding steady in the upper 30s and low 40s for the last couple of hours. right now 45 at reagan national. warm up a little bit more, maybe into the low 50s to our south. and we will have this rain off and on through the rest of the wraf noon. and maybe a quarter of an inch by the time it tapers off and ends this evening. we will look at that as well as the latest on a potential snowstorm for the weekend. all of that coming up in just a couple of minutes, barbara. >> thank you. this morning, police are calling on the public to help them find a man who may be connected to an attempted sex assault in the district. news4's aaron gilchrist joins us from northwest with surveillance video of the man police are looking for. >> reporter: barbara, we are going to take a look at that really good video here in just a second. metropolitan police now are looking for a person of interest in an attempted sex assault that had been here in the 3200 block of 16th street. take a look at the video.

this is an hispanic male who is 5'4" to 5'6" with black hair and brown eyes. they say he is a person of interest in an assault that attempted assault that happened near the majestic apartments. that's where this video comes from inside and outside the ma jess tech apartment buildings on 16th street. not a lot of detail about the incident that happened. we do know it was just before 3:00 a.m. on january 16 when someone attempted to sexually assault another person here in the 3200 block of 16th street. as a result of the investigation that came from that attempted assault police released this video on their youtube page after person of interest who they are looking for in connection with that incident on january 16. metropolitan police ask anybody who might know who that man is in the video or might know where he is to give them a call with that information. live in northwest. aaron gilchrist, news4. >> already, aaron. thank you so much for that report. and d.c. police are investigating two shootings that

happened a few blocks away from each other. the first incident happened around 5:00 yesterday along saratoga avenue. police say man was shot and killed. his name is not being released bp two hours later, a woman was shot along alden place and taken to the hospital. her name and condition are not being released at this time. so far no arrests in either case have been made. police say the shootings are not connected. the george huguely murder trial was delayed until 12:30 today because one of the defense lawyers is ill. video of huguely arriving in court this morning. yesterday a medical expert testified yeardley love suffocated in a pool of blood while lying face down in her pillow. the neurologist testified that cpr caused the bleeding in love's brain after her death. the defense is working to prove huguely's ex-girl friend did not die from a blow to the head. prosecutors say the former university of virginia lacrosse player killed his ex-gull friend in a jealous rage in may of

2010. slamming her head into a wall. huguely says he is innocent. and right now maryland's house of delegates is taking up legislation to legalize same sex marriage in the state. the bill passed through a panel of lawmakers tuesday and is being introduced to the full chamber today. governor martin o'malley said earlier this week he was still looking for a couple of votes to pass the measure. if the house and state senate sign off on this bill, maryland could become the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. it is also legal, of course, here in the district. also right now, officials at george washington university are warning the community about a for vote virus outbreak. it sickened about 85 people since monday. the norvo virus spreads quickly. the university is take extra measures to clean heavily populated areas like marvin

center, gelman, library and lerner health center. the officials stepped up their cleaning efforts at the foggy bottom metro station. they are focusing on escalator handrails and other surfaces that come in contact with hands. new from overnight. congress once again beat the clock. late last night lawmakers agreed to an extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for millions of americans. the deal continues at two percentage point cut in the social security payroll tax through the end of the year. it also extends unemployment benefits allowing people to continue receiving up to 99 weeks of pay. the payroll tax cut is not paid for, though, which is l add about $100 billion to the deficit. both the house and senate recollection expected to vote on the bill tomorrow before taking a week off for president's day. 11:09 our time. pay now, not later. why prosecutors say it is time for jack johnson to settle his

debts. plus get ready for a whole new look for the wife of a wounded warrior. a surprise for valentine's day. her how she likes her new hair, makeup and all of her new clothes. we will get to see her together we will ge[ clanking ] together

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at 800-974-6006 tty/v. that's 1.866.solutions. only from verizon. a developing story in the

middle east. iran says that it is ready to resume talks with other countries about its nuclear program. in a letter to the european union, the top nuclear official wrote iran is only willing to discuss its nuclear program if other countries allow them to continue enriching uranium. the western world is considering new economic sanctions on iran because of the country's unwillingness to compromise. this afternoon, a federal judge will sentence a man known as the underwear bomber. omar far uk abdul mutallab trie blow up a plane on christmas day two years ago. he pleaded guilty to the charges in october and he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. now to decision 2012 where mitt romney is set to pick up another key endorsement. michigan governor rick snider will endorse romney today in michigan. the governor is expected to appear with the presidential candidate to date at an event. this is a huge endorsement for romney who grew up in michigan

but is trailing rick santorum in the polls. with just 12 days before that state's primary. meanwhile, santorum released four years worth of his federal income tax returns. he chose the former pennsylvania state senator did quite well for himself after losing a re-election bid in 2006 and learned $660,000 in 2007. going up to $1.19 million in 2009. most recent survey shows santorum in a slight lead over romney among registered republican voters. prosecutors are pushing for former prince george's county executive jack johnson to pay a $100,000 fine before entering prison. "the washington times" is roaring prosecutors file the motion requiring he pay the fine in one lump sum rather than in payments. they say he has more than $200,000 in various bank accounts so he has plenty of money to pay the fine, they say. johnson was sentenced to more than seven gleers prison and is

set to turn himself in on saturday to begin his sentence. storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein right here now to tell you about what's going on with the weather. we had rain out there but more coming, is that what you are saying? >> yes. there is talking of snow that snow lovers are getting excited and around our region we had not much snow throughout this winter. only a couple of inches in the metro area for the entire winter. but as we approach our president's day weekend, that's when we have an increased chance. there's the live view from our city camera. showing the washington monument, jefferson memorial, reagan national. it is just cloudy there after a few morning sprinkles. now it is at 45 degrees. there's a light wind coming in out of the south now. and as we look at the radar, there is a lot of movement going on. look at all that moving color. that is all rain. and that is coming in from the southwest heading northeast and it is in advance after cool front that's just now coming into the mountains ahead of that, southwesterly flow, bringing in some more moderate rain which about to move into

the metro area. right now in washington, we have a bit of a brief respite. rain come through the last hour. here comes another one. a few pockets that's coming down harder here. we see yellows and oranges. this is right near warrenton towards cull pepper and near fredericksburg this one is going to be advancing towards the metro area. another hour or so and there's a few areas where it is -- raining a little bit harder in southern maryland. and charles county and into st. mary's. that's going to be advancing north and east and passing east of the metro area over the next hour wore. and right now we are in the mid 40s. we will hold steady in the mid 40s for another couple of hours. then later this afternoon, warm up a little bit and will be cooler in shenandoah valley and mountains right now. it is in the upper 30s to near 40 there. now the wider view showing clearing behind this rain system beginning to clear out in the midwest as high pressure pushes in. get a dry day tomorrow. wet afternoon so have annum brem handy if you are heading out and have periods of rain with light breezes. wind out of the south from 15 to 15. highs reaching upper 40s to low

50s. maybe a bit cooler shenandoah valley around the mountains and farther west and north. then this evening, these periods of rain will be ending by later in the evening. maybe just tapering through sprinkles by late evening, upper 40s and low 40s for by midnight. low pressure in california and arizona now. but next 24 hours diving towards the gulf coast. and then it will take a track after that toward the north and east. now, whether or not it comes really close to us is going to make a big difference on the precipitation type and amounts and everything. so that zone of green, that's if the storm racks along that track taking it into the carolinas and off of the southeastern virginia coast. the area in white is potential snow zone and if it takes that track. if it takes a much southerly track without it look like this and that snow zone would be south of the metro area. and we wouldn't get anything. right now the indication is that storm may track somewhere

between those two extremes so we may be in a sweet spot for some snow on sunday. >> you are calling it a sweet spot. >> i am. i'm a snow lover. i can't help it. >> certainly an interesting winter so far. >> get the sun back tomorrow. mid 50s and then that increasing cloudiness on saturday. that potential for that potential wintry mix, maybe some rain and/or snow. right now looking more like snow for late saturday night into sunday. looking first part of next week, dry out monday, tuesday. maybe some rain mid week. that is the way it looks, barbara. >> all right, tom. lot to look for. thanks. >> stay tuned. and we are going to check now on the midday traffic with danella sealock. >> good morning, barbara. on the rails schedule track work slowing down on the green line. single tracking between southern avenue and naylor road. you can expect delays along the green line. and if you are traveling southbound route 29 at university boulevard, have an accident there right now the center lane is blocked. tow truck is on the scene at the

intersection. please be careful and follow police direction as you travel that area. inner loop in virginia still very slow and at little river turnpike. your travel speed is 40 miles per hour as you make your way from i-95 to the dulles toll road. that trip will take you about 19 minutes. no accidents in the area. just congestion. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thanks, danella. still ahead on "news4 midday" the local road where tools can judgment top more than $6 in the near future. and it is called body pump. and it is the latest exercise steve hayes tried out. hear what he thinks about it. but first, here is a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. 11:19, the time.

sticking with an exercise program is hard. bunt finding a class or gym you like can help. our fitness guru, steve hayes, has been checking out classes all over the area. and joins us this morning to talk about the body pump. >> yes. >> body pump. this is your teacher. >> this is samantha. as a matter of fact, i met samantha at fitness first in tysons. richard smith, my buddy the manager there and told me about the body pump class. he said she's a great

instructor. >> body pump is les mills original barbells class which is where you will tone and strength very quickly and building lots of -- i don't know, put lots of community in the class, you are together. >> maybe i should be doing this. who is les mills. >> a fitness corporation. they are out in new zealand. and they have many different class format from yoga to body step which is also what we have at tonightness fir-- fitness fi gym. >> what did you do there? >> let's see. as a matter of fact, it is very user friendly. a lot of barbell work where they -- emphasizes doing all the heavyweights. as a matter of fact, warmup, you warm up doing the exercise for the barbells. it is a great, incredible workout. >> we may have pictures of you doing it. was this a real challenge for you, even you? >> i think it glass it was challenge. as a matter of fact, warmup

squats. >> what we call this at les mills is called -- strength training class, called the rep effect which is where we focus on with the barbells using low load weight on the bar. >> how much weight is that? does everybody have the same weight? >> no. that's what's great about body pump. it is good for all levels of fitness so if you are a beginner you can adjust your weight appropriately. if you are advanced you can really challenge yourself by loading more weight on. >> so that -- it all involves barbell. >> yes. >> okay. you have lungs. >> we have lungs and we do a lot of traditional -- >> bench press. as a matter of fact, that's what i like about the bench presses because you can set it up yourself. you don't need the traditional bench. this is -- this is -- warming up the back. bench press you set up the panels there and lay back and do bench presses. >> i see. how long is this class? >> the class is about 55

minutes. it is a typical class. >> how is it divided up? >> what steve was talking about earlier the chest press that we go on the floor. and using the barbell. but each part of the body we work is about four to five minutes each. and again, with high repetition, movements, you gain -- actually burn fat a lot faster. you gain strength and you quickly build lean muscle which is what we are all looking for. >> that's what we are all looking for. >> lean, mean look. i like that. >> fantastic. where is it offered? >> it is offered at the fitness first gyms. and also you can go on the lesmills.com website which you can find where other locations. it is actually taught around the world. >> great. sam, great to have you with us. you have a newtrition tip for us? >> yes. diet soda, even though it is a diet, it is -- it is lacking sugar it still has a lot of chemicals which can be bad for your teeth.

so as a matter of fact, just -- i know you are not going to cut them out but limit the intake. if you drink a soda, drink it with a straw. keeps the chemicals from hitting the teeth. >> thanks for telling us about body pump. 11:26 is the time. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," why bill o'reilly is blaming the media in part for whitney houston's problem was drugs. plus, tom kierein is watching the weather system that could bring us rain, snow, or wintry mix this weekend. he will be back to talk about that. what a lot of you are anxious to see today, results of healing hearts makeovers. our valentine's day you will remember we surprise ad group of military wives, mothers and sisters in our studio. three of the women were then treated to makeover. we will have the

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right now on "news4 midday,"

preparations are under way for the funeral for a paramedic that died in the line of dewitt write. joshua weissman was responding to a car accident in shirlington when he fell to his death. the funeral and procession have closed roads around alexandria. the funeral is scheduled for 1:00 this afternoon on seminary road. you can see from the live pictures the funeral procession started. the funeral will begin at 1:00 this afternoon. it is one of the busiest toll roads in our area and soon you may have to shell out twice as much to drive it. eun yang is at the news4 super screen with more on hikes that could make a trip on the dulles toll road pretty expensive. >> barbara, thanks. the cost to ride the dulles toll road could soon skyrocket. the tolls are tied to funding for the metro silver line project out to dulles. the metropolitan washington airport's authority is talking about doubling the tax rates on the dulles toll road by next year and eventually tripling

them. the current rate of $2.25 for a one-way trip from end-to-end could double by next year and that means that you would be paying $4.50 for a one-way trip. extend this out another six years to 2018 and you could be paying $6.75 for a trip which is triple the current rate. the reason why the airport's authority is considering this is because the funding for the second phase of metro to dulles could take a huge blow. virginia lawmakers continuing to pull the state's $150 million contribution because of labor agreements included in the construction agreement. if that money is lost, the airport's authority says that they would have to pass the cost on to drivers. barbara? >> all right. thank you. if you have driven in the district during a snowstorm or power outage you probably have been stuck in gridlock. we now know one possible explanation for the traffic mess. the regional council of government found only 20% of the traffic signals in the

washington region have backup power in case of an emergency. transportation officials are identifying the most important traffic signals. they are also trying to find money to ensure those signals receive backup power. and we hope they are in place, tom says we could see some snow this weekend. tom? >> good morning, barbara. right now around the area we have a cloudy sky and there is a little light rain now falling in washington. as we take a look at the radar. that is showing an area of somewhat heavier rain about to come into the metro area. that area of rain is now just getting close to washington. where you see those areas of orange and yellow coming in towards warrenton and fauquier county and farther south and west of there, just west of fredericksburg, this is advancing north and east and should be coming right into prince william county in the next few minutes and into fairfax and district about half an hour from now. and so expect somewhat moderate rain to come on through. and that's probably going to be just about the heaviest part of

this rain event as we get into the rest of the afternoon. maybe a few more passing showers. right now we are in the mid 40s throughout much of the region. bit chillier farther west and north. 45 at reagan national. later today may reach around 50 degrees. that rain tapering off and ending tonight. sun back tomorrow. then increasing clouds on saturday. and might get some accumulating snow. looks like perhaps sunday morning early, might begin late saturday night as rain to sleet and then changing to wet snow sunday and ending sunday evening. and then some sun back on monday into tuesday, rain mid week next week. barbara, that's the way it looks now? >> thank you, tom. >> we have all had that stuffy congested feeling of a sinus infection. this morning, researchers are saying antibiotics may not be the cure. a new study in the journal of medical association chose over-the-counter drugs are just as effective as antibiotics. the study followed 166 patients. some who took antibiotics and some over-the-counter drugs and other a placebo.

all groups reported feeling better or cured by the tenth day. doctors say the study shows antibiotics are overprescribed. and raised questions about whether people are developing a resistance to them. sometimes sinus infections are also caused by a virus which can't be treated with antibiotics. investigators are rig to figure out exactly what killed hundreds of birds along i-95 in laurel. one theory is that the birds through into power lines in the area. the maryland state highway administration had closed a section of 95 yesterday afternoon to clean up the birds on the highway. let's check highway conditions right now. let's talk to danella seaclock to see if there are any problems you need to avoid. >> we have good news. had an accident at yunt boulevard. right at the intersection. it is now clear. wish i could say good news on the inner loop of the beltway in virginia. you are still very slow at little river turnpike. in fact, yurnd speed from i-95 interchange to the dulles toll

road. you are at 38 miles per hour at this time. traveling on 395, no problems there. live look at edsall road. you are absolutely leer as you cross over the 14th street bridge and head into the city. no problems at this time. barbara, back to you. >> all right. thank you. whitney houston fans will be able to watch her funeral live online. the singer's family is allowing associated press to stream the private funeral saturday. the services are happening at the new hope baptist church in newark, new jersey. same church she sang as a child. as investigators still try to determine the cause of her death, fox anchor bill o'reilly says the media didn't do enough to stop houston's addiction to drugs. he talked about it this morning with matt lauer on the "today" show. >> there's supposed to be in the business of telling the truth and the truth is if you get into hard drugs, you can go any time and that message -- >> over the years, didn't we shine the light on it? >> no because it was than put in any kind of a judgmental

capacity at all. it was like a side show. >> you said she was cast in a positive light over the last 15 years? >> it wasn't positive. it was look at this. now she goes to rehab. it was than hey, whitney, knock it off. it was than. it has never been that. >> whitney houston fans will be able to watch her funeral live online. the singer's family is allowing associated press to stream the private funeral on saturday. the services are happening at the new hope baptist church in newark, new jersey. the same church where she sang as a child. investigators are still trying to determine the cause of death. houston died at the beverly hilton hotel saturday. the hotel -- beverly hilton where president obama is waking up this morning. last night he spoke at two fund-raising events in los angeles. the white house press secretary says the president's thoughts and prayers are with houston's family. especially her daughter. he also says that it is a tragedy to lose somebody so talented at such a young age.

houston was 48 years old. new jersey governor chris christie is defending his decision to have flags flown at half stat saturday to honor houston. christie rejects complaints she should not have the honor because of her struggles with substance abuse. critics also say the honor should be reserved for members of the military, first responders and elected officials. christie says houston deserves to be honored for the cultural impact she made in the state and around the country. marine life experts in massachusetts are raising to sol avenue troubling mystery now. why are dolphins beaching themselves on cape cod? it is happening at an unpress departmented pace. 177 dolphins have been stranded in the past month. 11 beachings just this past monday. so far rescuers have been able to save only about 50 of the dolphins. the rest have died. the researchers say the stranding may indicate an issue with the health of cape cod bay or ecosystem as a whole.

it is 11:37. still ahead on "news4 midday" the big reveal of our healing hearts makeover. you will want to see this. why some

we continue to watch the preparations under way important the funeral of an alexandria paramedic who died in the line of duty. joshua weissman was responding to a car accident in shirlington when he fell to his death. the funeral and procession have closed roads around alexandria and funeral scheduled for 1:00 this afternoon at the hebrew congregation on seminary road. you can see from these live pictures the procession started. firefighters are lining the streets to pay respect. checking your irs stay us today could be a problem today. the irs is working to fix the glitch. it only affects whether people can track their refund, though. it does not affect how the irs

processes and makes those refund checks which normally takes 10 to 21 days. this is the second time this week the irs is having problems with that online tool. the irs says that it doesn't know when the problem is going to be fixed. king sized candy bars may soon be a thing of the past. mars announced it will stop selling chocolate products with more than $250 calories in them by the end of next year. mars makes snickers, twix and m&ms. the virginia company says it is part of an ongoing effort to improve nutritional value of its products. mars also says it plans to reduce sodium levels in all products by 25%. number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to its lowest point in almost four years. stocks are starting the day with small gains. let's check in with cnbc's

jackie deangelis. >> the gains are limited. amid worries over possible downgrade of global banks by moody's. currently the dow, nasdaq, s&p all higher. dow up by 83 points. amazon yanking the ipad 2 off the chinese website. this at apple's request. the decision is unrelated to a legal dispute in china over trademarking saying that if the decision is made because amazon's chinese storefront isn't authorized to sell the ipad 2. you can still purchase the device, though, through authorized channels. new data on the foreclosure front. u.s. home foreclosures are on the rise. new filings were up 3% in january over the previous month. one out of every 624 u.s. holmes had a foreclosure piling on it last month. there is some good news. new foreclosures are down nearly 20% since january of last year. and finally, federal officials

are cracking down on those annoying robo calls. the sec approved rules that will make it harder for telemarketers to reach consumers. it is an easier way to opt out calls but not all calls subjected to the new rules. some calls for political purposes will be able to skirt the system. >> thank you so much. have a great day. >> you, too. in this week's "wednesday's child," we take a look at a young man you met before. john was featured a few months abo and continues to wait for a permanent loving adopted family. i visited with him at his school not long ago. it is great to see you. hi. staff at the center were happy to know that john tait was going to be a "wednesday's child." he's lived at the center most of his life and at almost 8 years old now, they are hoping he may soon find a permanent family to love him and help him to grow and develop. so glad to meet you.

somebody looks tired. did they wake you up to come and meet me? we got started early. the staff here says john is used to getting up early to go to school each day. >> he participates in occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy at school daily. >> reporter: she says he loves school and looks forward to going every day. horse makes a funny noise. >> he likes to communicate everything through his facial expressions and sounds. he can be very happy and jovial and he can be -- he can have his off days like any other child. he loves for you to hold his hand and to talk to him and rub his back. >> reporter: are you a happy boy today? so glad to meet you. i'm happy to be here. staff members say that they are happy to think that maybe through wednesday's child, john tait will have a chance at a loving family. something every child deserves.

>> one-on-one time he can get from having parents or single parent take care of him would be really great for him. >> looking for a family able to incorporate those needs into just a loving household and that can give him laughter and a lot of one-on-one with him attention. >> so glad i got to see you. you enjoy the rest of your day. i look forward to seeing you again. and if you have room in your home and heart for john or another child who is waiting please call our special adoption hotline. 1-88-to-adopt me. the next of our healing heart makeovers. a new look for three special women pouring that your time and emotions into the recovering of their wounded warriors. makeovers came as a surprise to the women on valentine's day. the gift bags for our special guests were loaded with surprises. it was gear from news4 and free

facial treatment from dr. cheryl burgess. gifts from knee mneiman marcus partners. some of the bags had a very special surprise inside. certificates for a complete makeover provided by neiman marcus maza gallery. >> like highlights and that kind of stuff. >> reporter: susan was one that found one of those certificates in her bag and she was off to get started on a brand-new look. including a new outfit from neiman marcus. fashion expert liberty jones has suggestions f winter ask into spring dressing for susan. >> nice to have white cashmere. it feels good against the skin. we want to highlight her fabulous figure. we moved into more form-fitting clothes. nothing too crazy. just something with a little more pizzazz and beautiful colors to highlight her beautiful eyes. >> swatch with three of the foundation sticks. >> reporter: bobbi brown makeup

sales and education coordinator michelle met with sues april and talked about skin care to begin with. >> we are going to do hydrating face cream. even out the skin with a little bit of foundation. we still want it to look like skin. we want it to be natural. bobbi believes foundation should look like skin. and then, of course, add a little pop of color to the cheeks. always the pale pink, neck tar blush. >> pr partners salon. >> you see how flat it is. long layers will give thank you movement you are looking for. >> reporter: susan was ready for whatever ideas the stylist had in mind. >> really, really busy. she works out a lot. we have to take that into consideration. while we are cutting her hair. cut and i'm going to take it it three inches, to bring it up to here. framing. you she will work out a lot. when she pulls it up she wants everything in a ponytail. >> reporter: what do you think her husband will say? >> my wife is hot!

yes. that's what i think he will say. >> reporter: a sexy new look. >> very sexy. at the same time very easy for her to maintain. >> reporter: this was our last before look at susan. and now the results and here she is. you look fabulous, susan. >> thank you. >> reporter: did you have a good time? >> i had a blast. i was so blessed. everyone has been so wonderful. it has been a great day. and it is continuing today. it has been wonderful. >> reporter: has your husband seen you? >> yes. >> reporter: full change. >> yes. he was surprised. definitely was surprised. >> reporter: what did he say? >> he liked it. you know, he liked my hair longer but it looks healthier. he likes it dark. he was overall very happy. >> reporter: you look beautiful. >> thanks. >> reporter: wonderful. even shoes. >> yes. these shoes are so wonderful. >> reporter: they look great. the whole outfit is beautiful. the purse, sunglasses. remind us now why you are here

in the washington area. >> my husband, specialist brian finger, he was hurt in afghanistan. i said 2009 the other day but it was 2010. february 9. we just came up on our two years. he was a gunner. and he was in an ied explosion. he was unconscious a couple of days. most of his injuries are internal. he's got some traumatic brain injury which he had problems with memory and that kind of sort of thing. and he also had a lot of problems with his back. his back was hurt severely. had had a couple of fractures in his back. he looks fine. he can walk. we are extremely blessed with that whole situation. >> you have would children, too. >> yes. my daughter, sydney, 8. she will be 9 in april. she is very excited. my son just turned 6 in november. >> what do d they think? >> they loved it. my daughter could not stop -- she was so excited today. she's a girl so she loves makeup and all that kind of stuff.

she's probably more thinking what she can get into later. >> reporter: let's bring over those who were responsible for making this happen. and thank them so much for everything that you did. she looks absolutely beautiful. come on over. i think she brought something for you here. >> yes. i'm really grateful for the work your husband did for us. i got you a gift certificate for hair, color, a product for a year. a card for your house land great. thank you so much. thank you to all of you. great having you here. and we have another makeover coming up tomorrow. so you don't want to miss that one. coming up, the sport of eating plus meteorologist tom kierein will look ahead to the chance of snow this weekend.

we have seen all the extreme eating competitions where people eat as many hot dogs or chicken wings as they can in a short period of time. you may not realize that that trend has come to washington. we are going to talk about that.

i didn't realize this was going on here. let's talk about pico taco. they have a four-pound burrito. >> that's right. mexican food. what they are asking is how much do you like mexican food? one weekend a month, they offer an eating competition. you can come in and if you can eat that four-pound burrito, four times the size of a chipotle burrito, you get it free, get a t-shirt and picture on the wall. if you can't eat it you have to pay $15 for the bur eat go a lot of people will probably take that challenge because they like mexican food ruined here. tacos to burgers. the nine-pound burger at bgr. >> that's a bit of a misnomer. that nine-pound burger is accounting for the patty. on top of that they have three heads of lettuce, eight onions, 16 slices of cheese. it is insane. >> wow. >> if you can eat the burger, they will give you back the $99

fee. >> you can't share it? >> no. you can order it and share it. it would be fun for a super bowl party next year. >> finally, chicken wings at buffalo wing factory. what are they offering? >> they are offering a challenge called the flat liner challenge. give you ten wings and these are probably the hottest wings you will ever have. one of our co-workers actually got to eat them and started crying involuntarily. they make you sign a medical waiver just to eat the wings. . >> how many do you have to eat? >> ten. >> ten. >> small challenge. >> wouldn't be so hard if they weren't so hot. sounds exciting. lot of free food around if you can deal with it. thanks. very interesting. and for more ideas for your weekend, logon to nbcwashington.com. or the going out guide. washingtonpost.com. we are going to take a look at some of the stories we are

going to be followinging on news4 this afternoon. we will have the latest from charlottesville, high-profile murder trial going on there. also, 4:00 fashion designer rebecca taylor talks about what she looks for when she starts a clothing line. plus, we will show off her new outfit on the catwalk. at 5:00, a warning for struggling homeowners. liz crenshaw tells us how to avoid foreclosure scams going on and get free help. it is time for a final check on the forecast. >> we have areas of moderate rain with b to move into metropolitan washing coming in out of the south and west. area in yellow you see advancing across northern virginia and that's a moderate rain coming into washington over the next hour or so. right now, raining moderately in fauquier county, culpeper county, just west of frederic fredericksburg and should be moving into the metro area. perhaps by about 1:00, right now we are in the mid and upper 40s throughout much of the region. cooler to the west and north. about 50, rain tapering off and

ending by this evening. sun back tomorrow, increasing clouds on saturday. now looking more and more like it could be mostly snow for sunday. and maybe our biggest snowstorm of the season so far. stay tuned. we will keep you updated. monday, tuesday, clear out and it is going to be chilly. maybe some rain mid week next week. have a good afternoon. we will keep you posted on all of the information on this potential snow. >> ground will be cold enough to stick? >> grassy areas. >> thanks, tom. that's "news4 midday." thanks for joining us. tune in for news at 4:00,5, 6:00, 11:00. we will be back tomorrow