good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is monday, february 20, 2012. we begin this morning with breaking news on two deadly fires. fire investigators in prince george's county now say a 2-year-old girl has died after her family's townhouse in district heights caught fire last week. the home was on hill mar drive. the tolleder was rescued by firefighters after being trapped in an upstairs bedroom early friday morning. she was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. three adults and a 9-year-old boy escaped. unattended food in the kitchen caused the fire. early this morning a

56-year-old woman died after a fire at an apartment complex in montgomery county. the fire broke out just after 2:00 this morning in the 7600 block of maple avenue in tacoma park. firefighters say a pifl clothes and towels were on fire but the fire was put out by the time they got to the scene. firefighters say a person believed to be the victim's granddaughter was helping her. the woman was taken to the hospital with significant burns to her body. she died at the hospital. the fire is still under investigation this morning. a winter storm that dumped several inches of snow across parts of the south is causing power outages, slippery roads and numerous accidents in parts of kentucky and tennessee. for us the storm just skirted the southern suburbs. this video is from the fredericksburg area. snow covered the grassy areas but melted on the roadways. the weekend snow blanketed the campus of virginia tech helping launch the annual corps of cadets versus civilians snowball fight. six to eight inches of snow fell

on blacksburg giving cadets and students plenty of ammo. both sides declared victory and will have to wait another year to try and dominate the other side. taking a look outside right now, we've got sunshine helping to warm things up. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast for midday. >> what a difference between here and just about 20 miles to our south where there is a coating of snow that's now melting. and look how much snow we did get across virginia from yesterday late afternoon into the evening hours as much as ten inches fell in that dark blue area. that's the zone right in augusta county. that is just to the south of stanton, virginia. they got ten inches. meanwhile charlottesville got six inches of snow and then over towards the fredericksburg they got one to two inches there and dusting to about an inch in the light blue zone. about an inch of snow fell in charles county. half-inch fell around mt. vernon and at reagan national, they had a trace of snow there last

night. but areas to the north, just a few flurries. right now we are climbing into the upper 30s to near 40. 41 now at reagan national. later today it will continue to climb and as we look at the view from space over the last 12 hours, those clouds from that storm have quickly exited to the east and as a result we've got a blue sky with bright sunshine for the rest of the afternoon. temperatures climbing into the 40s to around 50 degrees. still a bit of a blustery wind out of the north and west. details on the rest of the week and weekend in just a couple of minutes. >> doesn't feel like the middle of february, does it? >> it won't in a couple of days either. >> thanks a lot, tom. today we celebrate the lives and legacies of two of america's greatest presidents -- abraham lincoln and george washington. news4 is in mt. vernon with more on a celebration fit for a xhaner in chixhan commander in chief. >> reporter: an incredible celebration, lots of re-enactments, lots of fun here

at mt. vernon today. look behind me here. this is probably exactly what you envision when you think of mt. vernon. the iconic mansion a beautiful backdrop today for visitors. they started lining up at 7:00 this morning to get in to honor our nation's first president. >> well, it's very cold. >> reporter: a bit of a brisk day for visitors here at mt. vernon. more than 10,000 people are expected to celebrate george washington's 280th birthday. that's a lot of candles. >> oh, madam, time is a relative thing. perhaps in your time i am 280. i'm in my 60s. >> reporter: they say the early bird catches the worm, but in this case the early bird scored a tour of the president's mansion and a closer look at a new exhibit that takes visitors inside martha washington's kitchen. there are recipes and cookbooks the first first lady treasured, the pots that simmered in her kitchen, her heart-shaped waffle iron, and in here it even smells the way it would have back then -- the scent of cinnamon, coffee and warm bread. >> and everything was so

historic. didn't know that they actually had to make like the food like that and everything so it was cool to see. >> reporter: the washingtons lived here for more than 40 years. now 500 acres remain part of the estate along with more than a dozen of the original structures. for some it was a first trip. for others a day of learning outside the classroom. >> we're looking at differences between the way they lived back in the 1700s and the way we live now, differences in the furniture, we're learning how they prepared food. >> reporter: but for general washington, after all the festivities with thousands of his closest friends -- >> when they arrive here to celebrate my birth night, well, i am rightly touched. >> reporter: it is a birthday that will end with one of his very favorite things -- >> i get two servings of creamed ice, french vanilla. and i love this creamed ice. mr. jefferson and dr. franklin had brought it back from france with them and mrs. washington will allow me two servings. >> reporter: only two servings, he said. when we spoke to george

washington earlier, he told me he thinks this is the most beautiful setting in america. standing here right now, i really can't disagree. later today a group of 18th century characters will be arriving to surprise washington with some birthday gifts. he tells me he is very excited. remember, admission today is free. usually it will run you about $15. so come out today for free until 4:00 p.m. lots and lots of fun. >> so he doesn't eat cherry pie? >> no cherry pie, apparently. apparently that's just a myth, the whole cherry tree thing. but he does like that iced cream and creamed ice. >> sounded really good to me, too. thanks a lot, melissa. we'll check on the midday traffic now. >> it's been so quiet. in fact this is a perfect day for you to get out on the roads. the sun is shining and barevy any volume at all. a live look at the beltway an university boulevard, inner loop and outer loop nice and clear.

only ten minutes from i-95 to i-270. the beltway in virginia nice as well. a live look at van dorn street. no issues crossing over the wilson bridge. you're at 56 miles per hour, that trip only taking six minutes. back in just a bit with another look at your traffic. u.s. park police are investigating a one-car accident near the d.c.-maryland border. it happened around 1:20 this morning. the car went off the vw parkway near route 50, slammed into a tree and burst into flames. police tell us the driver made it out and is okay. no one else was in the car at the time. you've likely noticed gas prices have hit a record high for this time of year and will likely pay even more in the weeks to come, we're hearing. here's news4's tracee wilkins with why. >> gas prices are back on the rise and they're expected to get even higher. this time around it is not because of anything we've done. analysts say it is what's happening in the rest of the

world. in 2008 we saw the highest prices for regular gas ever. since then, we've experienced lower prices with enough ups and downs to convince some people to change the way they drive all together. >> i have cut down on my gas use quite a bit since the past -- probably about the past year. quite a bit. my car's happy about it. it has less miles on it. >> reporter: she's not alone. americans have been cutting back on gas use across the country. that means lower demand. and you would think that we'd see some rewards for that at the pump, but that's not the case according to analysts. in fact, they are predicting that soon prices will get much higher. >> i don't have no answers for that. you know? they're making it hard on everybody. >> reporter: while our demand has decreased, it has increased and the rest of the world. according to aaa, that, coupled with market speculation and fear, could mean prices for regular gas nearing $4 by spring. >> what can we do about it? i think it is horrendous but

what can we do about it. >> the gas constantly going up. but you got to pay for it. >> reporter: aaa is reporting gas prices have already jumped 10% since the beginning of the years. this week gas prices passed the annual record average of $3.51 establish last year. according to aaa, it is very early in the year for this kind of increase. if past years have taught us anything, it is that prices will start to rise sooner than later. >> only thing we can do is just cuback the best way we can and expect it to get even higher i think. at some point i'm sure we will adjust. >> reporter: analysts are predicting that gas prices could start hovering around $4 per gallon by april or may of this year. district heights, tracee wilkins, news4. police are keeping watch over a mosque in falls church to protect it from potential hate crimes. federal investigators learned that the man accused of trying to bomb the capitol on friday

prayed at this islamic center before his arrest. however, the fbi says he was not a regular worshipper at the mosque. dead al qaeda leader anwar al awlaki was an imam at that mosque before taking a radical turn and leading the terrorist organization in yemen. ten minutes after 11:00. a deadly avalanche in washington state. a survivor talks about the equipment that may have saved her life. plus making that next visit to the dentist is a little bit easier for parent and child. stay with us for

we have a developing story in north korea. country says live fire military drills by south korea could prompt "total war." this is video of the last time south korea conducted live fire drills back in march of 2010. they conducted the drills despite threats from the north and said they were prepared for any retaliation. north korean officials said these drills will lead to a complete collapse of ties between the two koreas. right now nuclear inspectors from the united nations are in iran inspectors want proof that iran does not plan to use its nuclear program to develop a weapon. israel has said military action could be needed to prevent that from happening. the united states and britain are urging israel to be patient to allow international sanctions to work. three men are dead this morning, killed in an avalanche and this morning we continue to

learn new details of the deadly incident. professional skier was part of a group that skied in is cascade mountains southeast of seattle, washington. this morning on the "today" show she said she survived by deploying her air bag as the avalanche carried them down the terrain almost 2,000 feet. >> one of the skiers triggered the avalanche. we were -- the skiers that were below that were caught in the avalanche, we were considered to be in a safe zone and we didn't really anticipate it, but when we saw it happening, we knew exactly what was happening and it's amazing how quickly an avalanche happens and it progresses very rapidly into something really major. and when i was caught in it i immediately pulled my air bag. >> the air bag works by pushing the skier up above the snow. all the men killed in the avalanche were expert skiers.

avalanche warnings wish use in that area. well, today is the 50th anniversary of a moment that changed america forever. >> godspeed, john glenn. >> oh, the view is tremendous. >> 50 years ago today, john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. aboard friendship 7, glenn rocketed into space and orbiting the earth for about five hours. it was a monumental step in space exploration as it helped america pull even with the soviet union in the space race. glenn says he relives that flight so often, it seems like it happened just a couple of weeks ago. you can imagine how exciting that must have been, tom. i know you wish that you had been on that trip. >> i had the honor of meeting john glenn on the 25th anniversary of the flight. we were standing right next to freedom 7. the capsule is there. can you see is at the air and space museum right here in washington. today would be a good day to do that. we've got lots of sunshine

and temperatures are getting above freezing after a very cold start. there's a live view from our city camera showing the beautiful blue waters of the potomac reflecting that clear sky. right now 41 at reagan national. a wind out of the north at about 10 miles an hour, diminishing thankfully. over the last 24 hours, all that white is snow. it came so close to us, just into our southern suburbs. then after midnight it moved off to the east and it now off the atlantic seaboard. the storm is gone but it came very close to us. it left about a trace of an inch of snow at reagan national. about a half-inch there at george washington's house in mt. vernon but that's all the melted now with the sun. now in southern maryland where they had about an inch in parts of charles county, that snow is also melting. but it's not melting much. farther to the south, charlottesville had six inches. these are the temperatures right now. it is in the upper 30s to around 40 degrees much of the region. out of the mountains of western maryland, west virginia, too, it is getting above freezing there. this morning we've had those

clouds rapidly exiting off to the east and we've got plenty of sunshine as high pressure's moving in. going forward over the next 48 hours, high pressure in place here. clear sky tonight. and then by dawn tomorrow, we'll have some sunshine and a few clouds maybe during the afternoon. there might and few sprinkles on the eastern shore. then as we get into wednesday, we'll have some sun in the morning, then a few clouds again developing wednesday afternoon. so let's take a look at what's going to be happening for the rest of the afternoon. sunny and cool. it will still and bit breezy. wind may be gusting a little bit around 10 to 20 miles an hour areas especially to the north and east of washington but winds diminishing south and west. highs reaching near 50 where there's no snow on the ground and just in the low 40s where there is. and clear, chilly tonight, a light wind. we'll be in the low 40s early evening, upper 30s by midnight. then by dawn on tuesday, back to work and school. temperatures will be in the upper 20s and low 30s as we start off tuesday morning. so a cold start back to work and

school tomorrow morning. then during the afternoon near 50 and a few clouds around. then warmer weather moves in with a southwesterly flow on wednesday. highs near 60 degrees. that will melt a lot of the snow and then on thursday, too, back up around 60 degrees again. by the end of the week on friday there is a possibility of some rain. no more snowstorms, does not appear, in the next seven days. and then on saturday and sunday, morning lows near 30. afternoon highs chillier, more typical for late february, in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees. all day long can you follow me on twitter and also friend me on facebook. i'll have all the latest -- >> i'll be your friend, tom. >> will you do that? i update twitter and facebook a lot. can you stay up with the weather that way throughout the day. >> all right, tom. thank you so much. we'll see you again shortly. let's head back out to the roads now. good morning again. >> good morning. so far still looking really good in our area.

live look at i-70 at father hurley boulevard, southbound as well as northbound, no issues on i-270. traveling in virginia, i-66, very nice view. if you're heading east and west, very clear. eastbound making your way to the beltway, a good travel speed -- 50 miles per hour. to get from fairfax county parkway to the beltway, that trip right now only taking 12 minutes to do so. great day to hit the roadways. back to you. it's 19 minutes after 11:00 now. still ahead on "news4 midday" -- recycling -- or reciting history. d.c. students honor abraham lincoln on this presidents' day. we'll do that here live. plus we're cooking one of lincoln's favorite dishes. chef from lincoln restaurant is here to show us how to do it. first here is a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

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we have a special cooking segment today in honor of presidents' day. lincoln's executive chef -- not "the" lincoln executive chef. he wouldn't have been around back then. deme truce will be preparing chicken fricasee. >> it was actually more rabbit fricasee and he also loved oysters as well. we try to gear our menu around

some of lincoln's favorites. we put it on as basically a chicken pot pie with some of the same ingredients, something more american that people would be able to appreciate because we are an american small-plate restaurant. we're right at 1110 vermont avenue right on k street between 14th and 15th. >> you have pennies all over the sfloor. >> the floor is all lincoln head pennies. >> we want to make this dish so everybody can make it, too. you need 3 1/2 to 4 pounds of chicken pieces with the skin and bone still there. three-quarter tee spoob of salt, half teaspoon of back pepper, cup heavy cream, half cup chicken stock -- this sounds fattening and lincoln didn't look like had he a problem with that. he must not have eaten too much

of this. >> first we'll sear off a cast iron skillet. the pan is really hot to get the skin really crispy. salt the chicken as well. we're also going to add shall s shallots. saute them. saute the shallots down to basically translucent to where you basically get the flavor of the profile. leave skin side down so you get the crispiness of the chicken. after that you deglaze with a little bit of heavy cream. little bit of sherry wine. i like sherry instead of white wine. it gives it a little sweeter taste to it as well. actually it is made with tarragon but we decided today we'll do tarragon caviar made out of liquid. the molecular gas tronmy in food is very popular right now. basically it is mixing components of using what makes the skin of a tomato hard and make it into a powder form. so basically in a tarragon, it is already mixed.

we put in calcium chloride water and it makes caviar. >> well i'm not sure that i follow this but this is -- >> but it is something very different. >> what is that water -- >> inside the water is a calcium chloride. recipe is there as well. basically all that's in here is pureed tarragon, lemon juice and water. >> what happens then? >> it congeals the outside. soft inside like a jelly bean. liquid form inside. basically we just take it out. this is just plain ice water. basically it keeps the form and as you see, as you cook it, it will be liquid inside still. we're using that. we -- this is a different idea of diagram something more modern. we did do a couple different things. we added also a sweet potato dumpling which is -- don't know if anybody eats eclaires but we

poach it instead. these are heirloom carrots. we use local farms only. lancaster farms and farms that are known in the maryland area for beef and vegetables as well. that's why we change our menu about every six weeks due to the way the farms harvest their food. >> a lot of restaurants are doing that these days. >> it it the freshest as possible. >> we need to move ahead because we don't have a lot of time. think we want to see it when it is all finished. do you call those friccassee? that's all different kinds of -- all different pieces of the chicken. we have those dumplings. the recipe is on nbcwashington.com. >> absolutely. they can also have it at lincoln as well or our sister restaurant, hudson, as well. >> thanks for coming in to see us. you didn't bring any cherry pie. >> no cherry pie.

>> you have to honor george washington, too, on this presidents' day. >> next time we'll have to do the cherry pie. it's 11:26. coming up in the next half-hour of "news4 midday," rick santorum is trying to clear the air. what he said about president obama and religion. plus, another big change coming to the weather. when temperatures will hit the mid 60s. you'll want to hear that. and helping your child get over the fear of the dentist. stay with us, we'll be right back.

right now on "news4 midday" -- it is a birthday celebration fit for a president. hundreds gathered at george washington's home in mt. vernon, virginia to celebrate his 280th birthday. visitors got to see martha washington's kitchen and the first president himself made an appearance to talk with people. rick santorum account candidate to beat in decision 2012. he leads the latest national gallup poll by eight points. 36% of republican voters chose

him to be the presidential candidate. 28% supported mitt romney. newt gingrich got 13%. ron paul 11%. according to newt gingrich, the gop candidates may consider dropping out of the race for president if they don't win contests in their home states. the first test will come next tuesday in michigan. that's where mitt romney was born and his father was governor. gingrich is hoping to win georgia's primary on super tuesday, march 6th. santorum is fighting for april primary in pennsylvania where he was a senator. ron paul is from texas which holds its primary in april. rick santorum is defending a comment he made about president obama over the weekend. at a campaign appearance in ohio on saturday, he said president obama believes in a "phony theology not based on the bible." sunday morning santorum elaborated saying he wasn't talking about religion. >> what i was talking about is the radical environmentalists.

>> your use of the world theology, do you wonder that that might lead some people to suggest that you were questioning the president's faith? >> well, no, because i repeatedly said i don't question the president's faith. i've repeatedly said that i believe the president's christian. he says he is a christian. but i am talking about his world view. >> obama re-election campaign advisor says santorum crossed the line by questioning the president's christian values. santorum says he was referring to the president's health care overhaul. he says requiring insurance coverage for prenatal tests will encourage more abortions. in maryland the battle over legalizing same-sex marriage moves to the state senate. the house of delegates narrowly approved a same-sex marriage bill on friday. the bill is expected to have an easier road in the senate when it is debated and put up for a vote this week. the senate passed a similar bill last year. governor martin o'malley says he will sign the measure into law. a new poll says the majority of virginians are not on-board

with several laws up for discussion. we now have a look at the bills causing the most controversy. >> the christopher newport university richmond time dispatch surveyed more than 1,000 people this month. first issue up for discussion -- virginia's one handgun a month law. researchers found that 66% of voters want to keep it in place. 31% are in favor of getting rid of it. the general assembly already approved legislation to repeal the law. it is now headed to governor bob mcdonald's desk. is he expected to sign it. another measure that could reach the govern worry require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion. of those polled, 55% say they oppose the requirement and 36% say they support it. the house and senate have already passed versions of the legislation. and despite the concerns, the governor's approval rating is 59%. the attorney general's approval rate something at 40% and the lieutenant governor polled at only 30%.

>> thank you. the d.c. council chairman wants to clean up the language. last week council members marion barry and david ka tanya got into a heating shouting match. the sheriff wants to enforce a coat of conduct to prevent members from using profane language during a public meeting. he wants to be able to remove a member from a public meeting if they use inappropriate language. thmplts afternoon family, friends and co-workers of a missing federal workers will hold a vigil in hopes of some answers. pamela butler vanished three years ago when she didn't show up for a valentine's day dinner she had planned with her mother. the 47-year-old worked as a computer expert for the epa. a vigil in her honor will be held at 5:00 this afternoon at butler's home in the 5800 block of 4th street northwest. if you have any information about butler's case, please contact d.c. police. a man in frederick, maryland is behind bars this morning after police say he tried to take pictures of a woman in a

fitting room at the goodwill store. police say dominic will william spangler tried to snap photos of the woman under the stalls of the dressing rooms. an officer tracked down spangler after getting a description from people in the store. is he also facing charges for allegedly pushing a woman walking on the sidewalk while he was trying to get away. we'll take a moment now to check the weather again. tom kierein, any updates for us? >> we have a beautiful blue sky. as a result temperatures are beginning to warm up now after a very cold start this morning. that's a live view of northwest washington from our nbc 4 high-definition skywatcher camera. you can see plenty of sunshine now around around our region today we will have this sunshine throughout the rest of the afternoon. through the rest of the afternoon we will have our temperatures climbing by later this afternoon, should be making it on up to the mid 40s to near 50 degrees. then overnight tonight we will

have our temperatures getting chillier, in fact probably by midnight we'll be back down into the upper 30s. then as we do get into tomorrow and tomorrow morning, it is going to be a cold morning. we will have our temperatures tomorrow morning right down into the upper 20s to near 30 degrees. as we look at the next several days we will have it climbing just to near 50 tomorrow afternoon. as we do get to near 50 tomorrow afternoon, we will have a lot of sunshine but a few clouds in and out. then near 60 on wednesday and thursday. as we get toward the end of the week we will cool down after some rain friday. chilly weekend coming up. that's the way it looks right now. tom, thank you. give yourself some extra time if you're taking metro today. the transit agency is running on a saturday schedule on this holiday. some stations are actually closed. clarendon and courthouse stations are closed on the orange and red line.

metro is running free shuttle buses around the affected stations. all three should reopen in time for tomorrow morning's commute. the presidents' day holiday is also affecting several businesses an services. all post offices are closed by express mail will still deliver. most banks are closed. in the district traffic meters are not enforced today. liquor stores might be open. it depends on the owner. maryland will operate regular trash pick-up in the following cities -- let's check on the traffic again. >> good morning. still nice. a lot of green in our area. if you're traveling on i-95, making your way past prince william parkway northbound, 63 miles per hour. connecting on to 395, no issues there. a live look at duke street. clear as you pass over the 14th street bridge at 56 miles per

hour only 12 minutes from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. the bridge is clear as you head into the city. >> good day to hit the roads. even though most schools are closed for the presidents' day holiday, one school in prince william county is working to clean up after a nor ro virus outbreak. the district confirmed five for cases. bleach was used to disinfect two schools over the weekend. these cases involve students who are siblings of previously inspected students. several cases were reported at the school earlier this month. virginia health department officials say if your child experiences any symptoms, keep them home for at least 48 hours after the symptoms have ended before sending him or her back to school. february is national children's dental health month. studies show at least 20% of children experience dental fear. adults do, too. dr. steven goldberg joins us this morning to help parents get

children to stop dreading the dentist. what is the cause of dental fear mostly? >> well, this is what it really is. research and studies coming out of the dental fears clinic up in seattle, washington show that upwards of 40 million americans are afraid to go to the dentist. the greatest fear is really pain. but if you really think about it, dentistry doesn't hurt. it is not a filling or extraction that hurts. what really hurts is the beginning of the appointment which is the injection. this is what so many people are afraid of, is actually getting the injection. once they have the injection, you are already numb and then nothing else hurts. this is the greatest fear. >> that's pretty important fear, isn't it? that does hurt. >> absolutely. >> but don't have you things you can put on the gunn gum to keep the injection from hurting? >> yeah. i'll explain that. but there are really two points of pain when giving an injection. one is as the needle is prick being the gum tissue. the second point of pain is as you are injecting the solution in, there is a pressure that

builds up. that pressure is that horrible sensation that we feel. topical gels that you are speaking of takes care of the initial prick of the needle but it is that pressure, that horrible pressure feeling as the solution is going in that really hurts. that's what brings me to dental vibe. i've been practicing nearly 5 years now and i've always had a great concern for the comfort of my patients. i wanted them to be comfortable so they come back and have the dental work that they so desperately need. the developed a device called a dental vibe. this is a vibrating device that the dentist will turn on. it has a little buzzing sound. y place it in the mouth and it buzzes in the area where you give the injection. when you give the injection, all the patient feels is the vibration because vibration travels faster to the brain than the sensation of pain does so they cannot feel the pain. >> what should parents say to their children before going to the dentist? what should they say? should they explain that you're going to get a shot or should they just leave that -- >> that part they should

probably leave alone. one of the most important things however to tell children is that their greatest fear is really fear of the unknown. they have no idea what to expect when they go to the dentist. if parents can tell the children you're going to be there and sit in a chair, the dentist will hit a button, turns into a couch. dentist has a little tooth counter. he'll count your teeth. they even take pictures of your teeth which are the emt rays. those types of things will array their fears. they won't have this great fear of going to the den tirs. >> what about all of the new invexes, electric toothbrushes that do all kinds of things, make music, tell you when to stop brushing. are those a good idea? >> those things are so important. that actually helps to have the child get used to the feeling of a manipulation in their mouth because the dentist is going to put their fingers in the child's mouth. that can be uncomfortable for children as well as adults. no one wants to have their personal space invaded. if they are used to having it done with an electric toothbrush, parents can brush their teeth at home. that way when they sit back and the dentist is treating this child, they're not so nervous that something bad is going to happen. >> we know that kids have to go

to the dentist. they've got to do that to protect their teeth. i guess the big thing is to sit down and tell them all the benefits of taking care of their teeth. >> that really helps the most. >> thank you so much for coming to talk to us about it. >> thank you for inviting me. >> hopefully kids will heed what you say and get out there and take care of their teeth. most of us have to live with them for the rest of our lives. >> absolutely. 11:42. still ahead on "news4 midday," reciting history. d.c. students honor abraham lincoln on this presidents' day. plus donald trump is talking [ dog growls, barks ] bring your dog to work day... not our best idea. [ barking ] george! stop it! stop. oh. it was a nice thought. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you're good to go. that was fast! thank you. [ male announcer ] speed, reliability,

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forbes theater recently held a fourth annual target oratory festival. event included more than 350 d.c. area students who have studied president abraham lincoln's words and his leadership. principles.

three of those students join us this morning with a little of what they learned. good morning to all of you. you want to tell me your name? >> jalen. >> deshawn. >> dante. >> welcome to all of you. tell us a little bit about why you're teaching the children the words of lincoln and what it has to do with leadership. >> well, lincoln's legacy is so important to us at ford's theater. in our education department, we have set a program that's been going for the last three years and it's just growing and growing and we've added so many components to our program. one of which is the target oratory festival where we get lots of students in to explore lincoln's legacy through his very words. so students recite actual lincoln speeches from his time for audiences at our festival. >> other than the gettysburg address which we all have heard of, what are some of the speeches they've learned to recite? >> we have the first inaugural when you was first elected. his second inaugural.

his speech at cooper union. we have a response to a serenade. a number of speeches that he had given not only when he was president but even before he became president. >> for this program do they come before school? after school? during school? >> we actually have a variety of methods. we typically go in to the schools and we work with the schedules of the teachers and students. for our oratory festival we send out a ford's teaching artist to the school. we make three teaching artist visits. we have a number of teaching artists who work for ford's theater and they work with the students and the classroom teacher on working on lynn coil speeches. the students also get to visit ford's theater and the museum and they get to recite his speech speeches on the stage of ford's theaters. >> here are three of our winners. start with you, introduce yourself again before you start to speak. >> my name is jalen shaw. if we could first know where we are and where we are sitting we could better judge what to do and how to do it.

>> i'm joe sigh ya butler. under the operation of that policy, that agitation is not only not ceased but it is constantly augmented. >> i'm dante green. either opponents of slavery prevent the further spread of it and ref in the belief that it is an alternate distinction and push it forward until it becomes lawful in all states, north as well as south. >> tell me what do you think is the most important thing of learning the speeches president lincoln -- >> it's -- repeat the question, please. >> that's a good thing to ask. >> what would you like to tell me about this class that you are taking. is it fun? >> yes, it was. it helped us recite our words more clearly than we would could ever be. >> well i think you did a really great job. where was your speech from? >> the house divided speech. >> okay. and how about you? what do you think was the most

important thing you learned in taking these classes about abraham lincoln and his words? >> i think it was all coming together and doing the speech together because that was kind of the point of the speech that we said. >> what was your speech? >> the house divided. >> were you all speaking from the same speech? >> yes. >> oh, okay. and what did you think? how did you like this class? was it fun? >> yes, it was really -- it was really fun because we had miss jo jo and we had -- went over pet tv and we learned probably -- well, we didn't probably learn but we learned how to react to other audience members as well as ourselves and our peers. >> do either of you have any advice for folks who have to memorize things? >> yes. always try to resay it in your head a lot. >> okay. resay it in your head a lot. how about you?

>> practice like -- you should practice like 30 minutes a day. >> oh, that's good advice, too. >> if you are in the audience, if you're kind of shy, you should look at the back of the room or something that catches your attention while still paying attends to what you're saying and your audience. >> those are great pieces of advice from the three of you. thanks so much. thanks for bringing them. congratulations to you and this continues at the ford's theater. this program? >> absolutely. if you go to www.fords.org you can see some of our current and past speakers giving various lincoln speeches. >> thank you all for coming. happy presidents' day. our time is 11:50. coming up, security problems for mikhail salahi and a check of warmer weather for midweek. at

♪ mr. and mrs. smith ♪ merely the folks next door >> tonight on "smash," the certainly begins for a joe

dimaggio to play opposite marilyn. carolyn will take a detour to her hometown in iowa. donald trump says is he excited about tlaransforming th old office pavilion into a first class hotehotel. complete with world class restaurants and conference facilities. all that while maintaining the historic nature of the building. the donald says it will be something washingtonians and hotel guests alike can appreciate. >> there was a lot of competition for the old post office site. it is a magnificent building and i've done magnificent buildings before. i think this has a chance to be one of the gravity hotels of the world if not the best. you couple that with my club. i have a great club right outside of washington in loudoun county. you add that to it, it is going to even give it a big boost but i think it is going to be great. >> trump's real estate group is spending $200 million on the development. construction is expected to

start in 2014 and finish in 2016. when everything is done the old post office building will be renamed trump international hotel. a bodyguard traveling with mikhail salahi was arrested at laguardia airport for traveling with a gun in one of his bags. tsa agents detained the bodyguard. salahi and her boyfriend after agents discovered the gun in the checked baggage. salahi and shoan were on their way to nashville where he is recording a solo album and scheduled to attend a benefit with journey. it is the lath latest chapter in the reality tv star's real-life soap opera. last week her estranged husband filed a $50 million lawsuit against shoan claim offing emotional distress. espn fired the employee who posted a controversial headline about the new york knicks point guard jeremy lin. the head lynn which appeared on espn's mobile site saturday

morning used an anti-asian slur. the sports network also suspended an anchor for a month for using the same phrase during an interview. espn released a statement apologizing to lin. the network said it also discovered a third use of the offensive phrase and is investigating that incident. spring training is officially under way. the nationals arrived yesterday at their spring training facility in vee yar ra, florida. the first full squad workout is scheduled for today. opening day for the washington nationals is april 5th against the chicago cubs. we'll take a look now at some of the stories we'll follow for you on news4 this afternoon. jim? >> we've got a busy afternoon at 4:00 and 5:00. it didn't take long -- cashing in on the death of whitney houston. just a day after the superstar's burial, her family is going to great lengths now to ensure no one can make money off of her death. this as items from her past hit

the auction block. coming up tonight at 5:00, new devices that help you shrink your waistline and also wash years from your face. can't wait for that one. we've got big tigger and billy bush live because it is monday here on news4 at 4:00. look for you then. back to you for now. >> thank you so much, jim. time for a final check on the forecast. here's tom. >> a beautiful day taking shape after a cold start. now temperatures are climbing into the 40s. there's the bright sun pouring down on washington. live view from our skywatcher camera. temperatures right now almost noon time, it's 43 at reagan national and it is now into the low 40s throughout much of the region. even in charlottesville, it is beginning to get above freezing there. they have six inches of snow on the ground. south of stanton, there's ten inches from yesterday's storm. what an amazing storm. then here right around washington, only had a few flurries, just a trace of snow. now that's all melted. later today up around 50 where there's no snow. we'll have lots of sun. near 50 again tomorrow. then warming trend for

wednesday, thursday and friday. each day highs near 60 degrees. can you stand it? then on friday, maybe some rain. after that, chilly for the weekend. sun returns saturday and sunday. highs 40s to near 50. see you tomorrow morning, have a great afternoon. >> you, too, tom. enjoy this weather. that's "news4 midday." thanks for joining us on this presidents' day. tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. until they n, have [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for an incredible price: just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. it's an amazing deal, but it's for a limited time only. so don't wait. want to save even more? call right now and we'll add a special bonus:

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