leading news station -- this is news4, midday. >> good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm ba barbara harrison. we begin with a cherry blossom festival now under way. take a look at these blossoms, they survived the stormy weather we had this morning. that's good thing, because today is the start of peak bloom. news4's megan mcgrath is live along the tidal celebration with more on the centennial celebration. beautiful, huh? >> absolutely beautiful and we're lucky with the storm. we had the thunderstorm this morning, but as you can see, we've got wet blossoms here on the tree. but they fared pretty well.

fortunately, not a lot of wind associated with the storm. so while some petals have started to fall, you can see on the tree beside me there are still plenty of blooms left. this is the first day of the peak period down here at the tidal basin. and as you can imagine, we're expecting some big crowds. they are hard-core cherry blossom fans and photographers. and you can find them along the tidal basin at dawn, snapping pictures at first light. >> i try to come out almost every day, because sometimes the sky with the blue and the color changing almost every day. it's different every time i come out here. >> today is the first day of the cherry blossom festival. and the first day of the peak bloom period. that means 70% or more of the blossoms are out. >> these cherry blossoms are beautiful. we come out here every year. and try to get some nice pictures. the rain has made it look really nice. with the raindrops on it.

and try to get a little different picture every year. >> i come here all the time, every year, with my mother and my sister and we have breakfast together. so this is a tradition. >> while the peak bloom is short-lived, the overall blooming period, that's when 20% of the blossoms are opened, is longer. and depends on wind and rain. the overall bloom period was 14 days last year, but only ten days in 2010. it's all up to mother nature. >> especially because it was so warm already. it's, yeah. it could be shorter than usual. but we're enjoying it while we're here. >> it's kind of like something you see in postcards. but nothing i actually thought i would be able to photograph or come out and see and stuff. so amazing. >> and you're taking a live look at some of the petals that fell off the trees this morning. you can see them along the pavement down below this tree. not too bad, though. 9 storm wasn't very long-lived fortunately and it didn't have a lot of wind associated with it. so all of that is good news.

in temperatures of the peak bloom, that's when so many people want to come down and see the trees. peak bloom is expected to last again mother nature cooperating, through friday and actually one of the best times, in my opinion to see it, is right when you're a little bit past peak bloom and the they actually start falling from the trees and they look like snow. so we've got a longer period than just the peak. if you can't get down here before friday, it's still worth coming down. keep in mind, though, that we are expecting some showers over the weekend. so that could move things along a little bit as well. reporting live from the tidal basin, megan mcgrath, news4. >> thank you so much. and we now have more on the storms that did move through our area this morning. and now clearing skies out there. storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is in for tom kierein with the forecast. >> we have a bit of a clearing sky from west to east here for the afternoon. but if you missed those storms, let me take you back to 5:00. when they were up around gaithersburg, bethesda, watch it here, this is the loop, boom,

there is goes through d.c. calvert beach area. by the time we got to the mid morning hours, now we're just left with a little bit of a shower around annapolis. but it didn't bring much wind as you heard megan say. our winds only got up to about 10 miles per hour. on the radar we're quiet, hardly a drop to be found and the clouds are thinning, around areas of prince william county and front royal and back to the west around petersburg, west virginia. clearing a little bit. we'll get some sunshine in here and a sky that will be partly sunny, the temperatures right now, 63 up in frederick, maryland, 63 in olney. 66 in d.c. and 63 in culpepper. your higher temperatures will be right there around the shenandoah valley, down through charlottesville at 78 to 77 degrees. and culpepper, that southwest pocket of virginia, here our high about 73 to 75 degrees. so a nice afternoon. but we will be watchful for more showers and thunderstorms possible late this afternoon and

this evening. barbara? >> just keep those winds away. thanks so much. we'll see you in here shortly. and as we've been hearing, spring arrived in the form of stormy weather in the d.c. region today. many of you woke up to the sounds of rain and thunder overnight. news4's tracee wilkins has a look at the damage the storms left behind. >> reporter: yes, spring made a grand entrance here in the washington area. it brought a lot of rain and also some lightning. and it caused some damage. you can see here, this tree is still smoking after power lines came down here in northwest. and this wasn't the only place that we saw issues. after a relatively quiet winter, spring literally stormed into the washington region. bringing heavy rain and lightning. it slowly moved through the area. montgomery county fire officials say they believe lightning struck this home on shenandoah drive in silver spring, causing a fire. >> we heard an explosion, lightning bolt.

>> howard brant said he was in the shower when it happened and his wife was in the bed. they both made it out safely. neighbors tell me the strike sounded like a gas explosion it was so loud. no matter where you were, it was hard to sleep through all the racket caused by the lightning and the thunder. >> i kind of feared the lightning, like 4:30 a.m. >> for hannah, woke to hear that there was a good chance that her two elementary-aged children would be going to high school today. an early-morning power outage as calverton elementary in beltsville had prince george's county officials planning to send the little ones around the beltway to duval high school. >> no parent want their elementary kids in high school. >> no, i don't want that. >> luckily the power came back on. >> we were going to relocate them, but our power came back on so we're here and ready to go orrin with our day. >> in upper northwest d.c., a tree caught fire after power

lines came down in the 3200 block of stevenson place. the block is closed while pepco crews work to close it. pepco reported several hundred customers without power in d.c. alone. they're working to restore power to as many areas as possible as quickly as possible. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. and this morning, people across virginia took part in an emergency tornado drill. fairfax county kicked off its own three-day drill yesterday. state officials say 51 tornadoes hit virginia last year. that's the second highest number on record since 2004. when 87 twisters were confirmed. last april, tornadoes were blamed for killing ten people and hurting more than 100 across the state of virginia. well we want to check on traffic now. let's see what daniella is seeing out there as she keeps an eye on things around the region. daniella? >> good morning, barbara. well first let's start with metro. if you're taking the orange or the green line, you can expect

delays as metro has scheduled track work today. so you are going to see delays on both lines in both directions. over to the roadways now. taking a live look at the 14th street bridge, left lane is blocked by bridge work. and not seeing too many delays. you are slow crossing the bridge. i'll give you your travel speed, traveling on 395, not bad at all, 47 miles per hour. about 14 minutes to get from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. and look at i-270 at shady grove. it was a mess all morning long, but i'm happy to say if you're traveling southbound on i-270 you're clear as you make your way to the beltway. back to you. >> thank you so much. we'll see you again shortly. d.c. police are investigating a stabbing and beating in southeast washington. it happened on sixth street. two people are stabbed, a third beaten with a baseball bat. one of the victims is in critical condition. so far, no arrests have been made. a family dispute turns violent when a man shoots his own brother. it happened last night along karen boulevard in capital heights. police say the brothers were

arguing when one pulled out a gun and shot the other. we're told the victim's injuries are life-threatening. police have not released or the victim's or the suspect's names. right now the supreme court is deciding whether juveniles should be sentenced to life without parole. in the past, supreme court has ruled that minors cannot receive the death penalty or life sentences in cases where no one was killed. but critics say life without parole is also cruel and unusual punishment for young adults. attorneys say adolescents are often impulsive risk-takers and commit crimes of opportunity. a mother and daughter escaped a large fire that destroyed their home this morning. the fire started around 1:00 this morning in the 1600 block of robert lewis avenue in upper marlboro in prince george's county. the flames were so intense they melted the vinyl siding on the house next door. the fire destroyed two cars in the driveway. the cause of the fire is under investigation.

montgomery county firefighters battled a bus fire overnight that happened along georgia avenue near the glenmont metro station. the bus driver was the only person on board at the time. he was not hurt. the cause of the fire is under investigation. the safety of these buses is being requested this morning, because this is not the first time this has happened. this is the sixth ride-on bus fire in just the last three years. it is 10 after 11:00. coming up, the what if, the republican party is considering what will happen if the party cannot come up with a clear primary winner. plus, how the state department is getting involved in one of the most captivating mysteries in the 20th century. i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom.

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46 people are dead and 200 more hurt in a series of explosions across iraq. police say two car bombs went off at a crowded shopping center in karbala. there were eight blasts in all. iraqi officials say the explosions appear to be targeting police forces. the explosions come a week before the arab league summit. the government hoped to showcase the country's stability since u.s. soldiers left the country. so far, no one is claiming responsibility for the attack today. the lawyer for the u.s. soldier accused of a shooting rampage in afghanistan says robert bales does not remember what happened the night of the

massacre. army staff sergeant bales is accused of killing 16 afghan civilians, including nine children earlier this month. bales is currently in solitary confinement at fort leavenworth in kansas. this morning we're hearing from bales' family, his wife released a statement that reads our family has little information beyond what we read and see in the media. what has been reported is completely out of character for the man i know and admire. please respect me when i say i cannot shed any light on what happened that night. so please do not ask. i, too, want to know what happened. i want to know how this could be. bales could be charged by the end of the week. and right now, the top american commander in afghanistan is telling congress that the u.s. intends to stick to its strategy in afghanistan. general allen is testifying before the house armed services committee. he said while the last few months have been trying, the coalition and its afghan allies have made progress against the

insurgency. >> first we remain on track. to insure that afghanistan will no longer be a safe haven for al qaeda. and will no longer be terrorized by the taliban. our troops know the difference that they're making every day. they know it, and the enemy feels it. >> that was general john allen. the recent koran burning's and last week's shooting spree involving a u.s. soldier have inflamed anti-u.s. sentiment in aegs. the general said transitional forces are prepared to transfer authority to afghan by 2014. illinois is holding its primary today. analysts say mitt romney needs a decisive victory to secure his front-runner status and continue his attempt to become the gop nominee. romney surged in the latest polls after running neck in neck with rick an sorm last week.

54 dregs are up for grabs in illinois. nbc news political director chuck todd spoke with matt lauer on the "today show" this morning. he says it's possible republicans might not have a clear winner in time for the gop convention this summer. >> we've war-gamed it out. we have him about 50 short. if santorum and romney do this back-and-forth, so today it's romney, next week, two weeks from now on april 3rd, santorum wins in places like wisconsin, indiana, oregon and romney keeps winning in the northeast, places like new jersey, new york, et cetera, maybe even california, but santorum wins texas. you do all of this stuff, matt, i have him, we have him 50 short. now could he get it in state conventions and in other ways? he could. but that's the real challenge here for mitt romney. i say it's only a little better than 50/50. >> as soon as the illinois primary wraps up, mitt romney is heading to maryland. state's primary is april 3rd and

early voting begins on saturday. tomorrow romney will hold a town hall in arbutis. the home of ehrlich who is serving as chairman of romney's campaign. right now, president obama is meeting with the prime minister of ireland, who is in washington. the two are expected to share a lunch in honor of st. patrick's day. this will be the second st. paddy's day celebration this year for president obama. on saturday he surprised people at the dubliner on capitol hill when he stopped in for a guinness. and right now on capitol hill, lawmakers are listening to a debate over design plans for the dwight d. eisenhower memorial. one of the possible statues would feature the former president as a boiy, barefoot. intended to illustrate eisenhower's humble beginnings. but the eisenhower's family members have caused it offensive to his accomplishments. the memorial would sit close to

the national mall. eisenhower's granddaughter is expected to be among those who testify before a house s subcommittee. veronica johnson joins us now. wouldn't be it nice to be out there under those cherry blossoms right now? >> it sure would, but it wasn't this morning where megan was. >> was she there when the the storms came through, but we didn't do the live shot. that's a bad idea. but what we could see over the next couple of days is more of the isolated wetness, more isolated showers and thunderstorms and then there's one day this weekend, that could be a washout. could. we're watching the situation closely because we know thaw want to get out probably to the tidal basin yourself. you can see some sunshine coming through right there on the monument. right on the side. if you look really hard. a little brightness. the cloud cover from this morning. thinning. the fog burning off. here's a look at what you can expect today. our temperatures will get into the 70s.

upper 60s near the bay. annapolis to easton to cambridge and pax river, 68 to 67 degrees. once you get inland, low 70s. and then mid to upper 70s down south. fredericksburg at 75 degrees, 77 at culpepper. 78 degrees expected in charlottesville. it's off to the west, coming off the mountains where the storms will start to fire first. shower, isolated thunderstorms for the afternoon. and look at the warmth still across the eastern part of the country. although that cooler air keeps wedging it out. kind of shaving it down. chicago, up to 80 degrees today. also 80 today in atlanta, georgia, where their pollen count was sky-high, over 8,000 grains per cubic meter, a record for them on the pollen. ours was at 172. there's the morning storms, what's left, a little weak shower that's made its way out over the bay east of annapolis. raleigh, a shower and storm

there. the big storms off around texas again. and up into oklahoma, and there's plenty of rain falling with the system. they'll probably get around six, maybe seven inches of rain in a few isolated locations. the green ahead of it is the areas under flood watch and flood warning, flash flood warnings, too. very heavy rain, dallas/houston area, problemry some airport delays. they've been dry, we need the rain, our rainfall deficits running close to an inch and a half. temperatures, low to mid 60s to the north. 66 in d.c. 64 in fredericksburg. as far as the showers go today, firing west and off to the south and kind of making their way southeastward again as was the case this morning. they're keeping, wanting it travel towards the southeast any time they fire. we've got high pressure off the coast. we've got an east-southeasterly wind and enough lift with a weak disturbance that's in the area. it will be the same deal for the next three days. wednesday and thursday, we could

see the showers and storms firing during the afternoon. with some fog around during the morning. a light wind, then for again the weekend, it's this storm that from texas to oklahoma, that will start to make its way eastbound. we're talking about showers for saturday and probably showers and storms for sunday. so for today, partly sunny, keep a watchful eye on the sky. isolated shower, maybe a thunderstorm. 70 to 75 degrees. nice and mild, so short sleeves definitely for today. the evening, 60-65 degrees. your four-day forecast, 73, 75 tomorrow and close to 80 degrees on thursday. a big warm-up and ahead of the cold front. so 82 for friday. a look at your weekend, chance, chance, of wet weather saturday and sunday and we cool down to 63. it's been a while since we've been in the 60s around here. >> all right. this would be the week to get out there to the cherry blossoms. >> right, because it is sunday that could be our washout day of the weekend. thanks, let's check on the

midday traffic. daniella standing by with information on the roads. >> good morning to you. well, got to show you the american legion bridge right now. i'm seeing some delays on the outer loop as you make your way across the american legion bridge. they continue as you head to the dulles toll road, your travel speed, just 27 miles per hour at this time. let's head over to i-66 in virginia. this is your commute as you get closer to the beltway making your way past nutley, even to gallows, you'll see the left lane taken away by road work and you are under speed, travel speed for you, you're at 33 miles per hour from fairfax county parkway, barbara, back to you. it's 11:22 now, still ahead -- olive oil isn't just for pasta dishes, we'll show you how to make a sweet treat with the oil. plus the ghost stories being told at a local pool. [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry

that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls. we don't have any! front... left, totino's. [ male announcer ] well done mom! less drama, more fun! totino's pizza rolls.

secretary of state hillary clinton is meeting with researchers who are looking into the disappearance of amelia earhart. she vanished in 137 en route to an island in the south pacific. she was on a journey around the world. the international dwroup for historic aircraft recovery is launching a new search to solve the mystery. the siearch focuses on an islan and it will start in june to coincide with the 75th anniversary of earhart's departure. there are new reports of some out of this world activity at the overly pool and clubhouse grounds in arlington. the pool is closed for construction. according to arl now, some workers say they've been seeing a ghost out there. they believe it's the ghost of margaret fabray, a descendant of the man who built the clubhouse.

she died as a teenager. she is reportedly a friendly ghost. overly is expected to reopen later this spring. it's 11:26 now. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," the new development in the investigation of a deadly shooting of an unarmed teenager. who will now try to figure out who is to blame. and what the national cathedral is inviting people to do for the first time since the earthquake. and can we expect more rain in the days ahead?

right now on "news4 midday," the cherry blossom festival is under way. today begins the blossoms' peak bloom along the tidal basin. this is the 100th anniversary of japan giving the gift of trees to the nation's capital. the celebration will run for five weeks. montgomery county fire officials say lightning from the storms this morning likely caused a house fire on shannondale drive in silver spring overnight. pepco crews are working to restore power in upper northwest right now. power lines came down in the 32 huck block of stevenson place at the height of the storm, pepco says several hundred customers lost electricity. new developments in a deadly shooting of an unarmed teen in central florida.

the florida state attorney's office now says a grand jury will decide if the shooter, george zimmerman, will be charged with a crime. the neighborhood watch captain shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin three weeks ago. case has sparked a national debate. many upset that george zimmerman had not been arrested. nbc's lilja luciano has more from sanford florida. >> reporter: law students from across florida demanded justice outside the prosecutor's office. >> we want an arrest now. we won't wait. >> reporter: they want george zimmerman arrested for the deadly shooting of 17-year-old trayvon martin as the teen walked through this gated community near orlando three weeks ago. zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer called 911 reporting quote, a suspicious-looking guy. >> this guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something. he's got his hand in his waistband, and he's a black male. >> are you following him?

>> yeah. >> okay, we don't need you to do that. >> the two soon got into an altercation. gunshots heard when another neighbor called 911. >> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. what is your -- [ bang ] >> just, there's gunshots. >> martin was unarmed, but zimmerman told police he fired in self-defense. martin's father told msnbc's reverend al sharpton that his son was targeted for his race. >> the sanford police department is trying to make george zimmerman out to be the victim. and it's clear hot victim is it's trayvon martin dead in the grave. >> former watch volunteer frank taffy says zimmerman is neither a racist. >> we've had eight burglaries and in the majority of the cases, the perpetrators were young, black males. so based on that, there was a heightened sense of paranoia in

our community. >> reporter: but taffy admits zimmerman may have gone too far. >> he did go offaabove and beyo with the use of deadly force. i myself would probably carry pepper spray or a tazer. >> reporter: police have released more calls from zimmerman, revealing he had a history of reporting suspicious neighborhood activity. >> there's a break in in my neighborhood recently, and two youths that matched the description are back in the neighborhood. >> are they white, black and hispanic. go two black males in their late teens. >> that was lilja luciano reporting. students and howard university are among of many who want to see justice and zimmerman arrested for murder. the naacp student chapter along with law students and other organizations at howard plan to travel to sanford and protest next week. well, today, family, friends and members of the columbia heights community will hold a rally in response to several recent hate crimes there. the silent march will start at the i-hop on everything avenue

where the first of two attacks took place more than a week ago. it will continue to the scene of the second attack, at georgia avenue and irving streets. a gay man was shot at the i-hop after witnesses say the shooter used a gay slur. the next day, a gay man was robbed and beaten on georgia avenue. the march will begin at 7:00 this evening. a maryland middle school student is facing charges for bringing a gun to school. the boy in charles county was arrested after a tip yesterday morning. led to a search of his locker at mattawoman middle school. the district sent a letter home to parents, saying the student brought the gun from home and planned to sell it after school. today, select frequent flyers can get through airport security a little bit faster. the transportation security administration is expanding its precheck program at reagan national airport. one of 11 u.s. airports to have that program. with precheck, frequent flyers and eligible active-duty service

members can be prescreened for security. those deemed low risk get to use a fast lane at airport checkpoints. the tsa hopes to expand its precheck program, more airports, including dulles and bwi thurgood marshall could get the program this year. the national cathedral's central tower, damaged during last august's earthquake will reopen for one day only this weekend. it's opening this saturday for the annual tower climb. even though the cathedral is still undergoing restoration, the tower has been deemed structurally sound and safe for visitors. last august's earthquake damaged the cathedral's intricate stonework and architecture and will cost about $20 million to fix. this morning people in south texas are clearing up from a tornado. the twister touched down last night outside san antonio, in the town of divine. the tornado damaged about 50 homes there. right now people are cleaning up and seeing what's left of their

homes. so far, there are no reports of any serious injuries or deaths there. going to check in again now with veronica johnson with the latest on our forecast. >> thanks, barb raxt the line of storms in texas will be moving eastward and we could see some pretty heavy rain at times this weekend. saturday afternoon and sunday. hey, we've been asking folks to send in photos of their cherry blossoms. you don't have to go to the tidal basin to snap those pictures. this one from meadowlark gardens, of blooms sent in by bill, gorgeous and this one is from down at the tidal basin, sent in by robin. isn't that gorgeous? just kind of makes you so relaxed. as far as the temperatures go, look at that, a little bit more blue showing up. we're in the 60s. 68 degrees, close to 70, northeast wind at 6 miles per hour. we'll have a light wind throughout the day. unless you're going to be getting some storms. 77 in culpepper, 78 in charlottesville. the higher temperatures, the

area right there, winchester, culpepper, fredericksburg, even around manassas that stands the best chance of seeing more showers blowing up today. 66 by 9:00, we cool off, but not much. by the time we get to 11:00 p.m. in the low 60s by 11:00 p.m. here's a look at the four-day forecast. tomorrow, a chance, too, as well as on thursday. friday right now is looking like our one quiet day for the work week. and our warmest, too, with a high of 82, we'll look at the weekend forecast and pictures coming up and how you can send them to us in just a couple of minutes. thanks a lot. and let's take another check of the traffic out there, here's daniella. good morning again. >> if you're traveling on i-95 making your way from the baltimore beltway to the capital beltway, things look a lot better than earlier this morning. travel speeds for you, southbound at 100, you're at 64 miles per hour. continuing southbound, still looking good, 63 miles per hour at 3.

i'll give you a live look at 216 southbound. as well as northbound, no issues to report at this time. travel speed, 64 miles per hour from 216 as you connect to the beltway. if you're traveling the beltway, the outer loop in montgomery county, no issues to report at this time. nice and clear. good travel speed. 56 miles per hour. only taking ten minutes to get from i-95 to i-270. barbara, back to you. thank you. those new red top meters in d.c. may be pulled off the street just weeks after they were installed. the d.c. council will consider an emergency bill today that would stop the red top meter program. they're meant to reserve spaces for the disabled drivers. but also cut down on fraud by charging a reduced rate. under the old system, drivers with disabled permits could park for free at any meter. but council members say the program is confusing and residents want a public hearing before the new program is expanded. want to get home faster? metro is introducing a new

program that they hope will reduce congestion and keep you from transferring as much to cult down on your commute. erin joins us from the big screen. >> it's called rush plus and it's actually designed to expand service and ease congestion. to help riders understand the changes, metro has put out a new map. and on first glance, it doesn't really look much different from what you'resed to. but if you take a closer look at some changes, you'll notice some things different. first on the yellow line, the line has been expanded during rush hour. the yellow line trains will run up to the greenbelt area. they used to stop at fort totten. there will be six extra trains running on the yellow line every hour. for the first time you'll be able to travel on the yellow line all the way to the southern most point down to the franconia springville area from greenbelt without having to transfer. because the yellow line will split to follow the blue line during rush hour. the rush plus plan will also affect the travel on the orange line. if you look over here, you can

see where that is. again six extra trains per hour on the line. and the orange line will now run all the way out to largo town center. the new extensions are represented by the dashed lines here on this map. and there are other changes on the new map. like some of the station names are actually shorter. the new maps will roll out over the coming months. and the rush plus plan will take effect on june 18th. all right. thank you, aaron. metro's silver line is still under construction and also taggers left their mark on new metro station. take a look at this graffiti on the new metro station in reston. it's not even open yet. workers are busy trying to clean up the mess. no word on how much the clean-up is going to cost. well, getting a divorce has been easier said than done for a same-sex couple in maryland. jessica port and virginia cowan got married in california in 2008. now the women want to get divorced. but a judge in prince george's county says their vows are not

valid in maryland. maryland just recently became the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage, along with d.c. but the unions are not recognized until january. the case will be argued before the maryland court of appeals in april. the ruling could set a precedent for how to handle future cases. child star kirk cameron is once again causing kroefr over his views on homosexuality and gay marriage. today on the "today show" cameron tells nbc's ann curry. he's not sure why people are calling attention to his views on the matter now. cameron said he thinks homosexuality is unnatural. >> who really think deeply about social issues like gay marriage and abortion and homosexuality, have convictions on issues. and we all have our convictions formed by different things. and mine are informed by my faith, they're informed by the word of god. and i found that to be an anchor for me. a compass and a guide for me.

when people start bullying one another and calling each other names for those different convictions, then i think you get into problems. and i've also been on the receiving end of that. >> earlier this month, when questioned about game marriage, he told cnn's piers morgan, quote, i think it's unnatural. i think that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization. cameron says he's had the same views for more than 15 years and they have not changed. our time right now, 11:42. still ahead on "news4 midday." oprah winfrey delivers more bad news, plus we're cooking a [ dog growls, barks ] bring your dog to work day... not our best idea. [ barking ]

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oprah winfrey is laying off 30 workers from her cable network. she said it was a tough decision, but needed to be done. she's restructuring her cable network operations in new york and l.a. she canceled rosie o'donnell's

low-rated talk show last week. win friday launched her network last year after stepping away from her long-running daytime talk show. the channel will take years to prove itself. stocks are starting the day lower, we're going to check in with cnbc. >> hi, saema. >> u.s. stocks are declining following overseas markets on concerns about china's economic outlook. additionally, china's national development and reform commission said monday, it would raise domestic gasoline and diesel prices. we had some u.s. economic data here on the united states. housing starts fell in february, but permits for new construction reached their highest levels since 2008. now home construction did decrease by to 1.1%, from january to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate to $698,000. what about europe?

european markets were in broad decline on worries about economic growth, after australia's mining giant, bhp, said demand will slow. in terms of stocks that we're following today, apple, now while there is a lot of excitement around the apple ipad, some owners of the ipad have complained that it's getting really hot and indeed, shedding itself down, due to overheating. giving the user that the message the ipad needs to cool down. nonetheless, the street still very bullish on the stock. also in the news, tiffany's, the maker of fine jewelry and the favorite aqua marine box that everyone loves, is up to $4.05 a share, above consensus. >> i'm sure they're happy to hear that.

thanks a lot. many don't consider using olive oil for baking or making sweets. but the oil can work well in many cases we're learning. chef faggione joins us to show us how to whip up chocolate l lollipops using olive oil. >> good morning. >> do you use olive oil for making all kinds of things, sweet things? >> olive oil is a wonderful thing, you can use it for salads, cook and we also use it for desserts. >> how do you choose the best olive oil? >> well the olive oil, there's so many olive oils around the mediterranean and in europe that of course, me as italian, i'm picky. i love tuscan olive oil and the sis sillian olive oil as well. >> should you look for the greenest one of all? >> there are different ways to

choose, if you want to have a good taste olive oil, kind of strong, you should get green and filtered. for milder preparation, you should get different milder taste olive oil. >> if you're making something sweet, should you go for the milder-tasting olive oil? >> it depends what you are going to make. today we're preparing something that we want to kick with the olive oil. we're choosing a nice olive oil from tuscany. so it will be a great olive oil. >> let's let me tell folks, we're making milk-chocolate coated olive oil mousse. you need one cup of maltodextrin, a third cup of extra virgin olive oil. one pinch of sea salt and two to three ounces of milk chocolate and a tablespoon of focaccia bread crumbs and salt and

six-inch lollypop sticks. >> first you have to get a nice sized bowl so can you mix ingredients together. we're going to have our already measured and maltodextrin. it's made pretty much from starch. and. >> you can buy that in any store? >> you can buy it through specialty food stores. so here we go our maltodextrin. it's very light. and it thickens with the oil. with fat other than thickening with in water. so it's unique and nice. there you go, you're going to put that together. you can do it in one of two ways, you can start to mix with a spoon, it comes together without making a mess here or you can also, this is something we're going to do because it's a little bit faster and better. you can just go ahead --

>> and mix it by hand. >> this is something that kids would like to do. >> kids would love it. it's a nice project to do on saturday morning on a sunday with your parents, have the kids birthdays. we have to put a little bit of crystallized salt. so we can really get a kick out of the olive oil. in the paste and see how it thickens to a point that we've going to make little balls. >> we move on to make the balls. you're going do make the balls this way. and then we just go ahead, we put it together and then see how fast it is. now we just roll it roll it. take my glove off. >> you have some on the stick. >> yes, absolutely. just this way. so let me move this on the side. and i'm going to show you how

actually they come out. nice and perfect. you put the sticks right here. there you go. on paper, daily paper. and those are frozen. as soon as you make this, what you should do is to freeze it. you put a lollypop sticks right in the middle. and you put it in the freezer. >> then what? >> then we put it in the freezer. we take it out, we melt a little bit of milk chocolate and we just go ahead and put it around here, this way. very easy. >> you dip it in the focaccia bread crumbs. >> and sprinkle it. >> and you can finish a little bit around the top with a little extra. >> that looks fantastic. >> is this a dessert? or is this a savory? >> you have chocolate on top, but the olive oil in there.

>> the idea is that the olive oil taste pops in your mouth. but we need to create a balance. we put the olive oil and the salt and the chocolate to create a nice balance in your mouth. this could be an appetite opener or a little dessert at the end of the meal. >> also has some that he colored with a little bit of gold just to be pretty. >> we are running out of time. >> no problem. i'll show how pretty that is. >> you're rolling in gold leaf. >> wonderful for children or anybody. >> they look wonderful, they taste amazing. >> thank you chef enzo. it is 11:53. coming up, meteorologist veronica johnson will be back with a check of the weather. i'm eun yang, tomorrow morning on "news4 today," gas prices are skyrocketing. some of you are even maying above $4 a gallon. and drivers keep asking why. some on capitol hill are blaming

those on wall street. but not everyone agrees that's who to blame. we'll take a closer look. and as always, weather and traffic on the 1's. plus the overnight news from your neighborhood. wake up with us tomorrow morning we're on from i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom. but in the sleep number store, we hear it all the time yeah, nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. don't mess with my side because i'm comfortable.

i can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. go ahead and switch sides so you can feel what the other side feels like. you're on his side. how does that feel? it's hard. i like my side i like my better, too. side better. this is this is too soft. too hard. why don't we switch back to where you were. i am so glad to be back. oh, yeah. you can have comfort and you can be in the same bed. there's no debate or no squabble because you can have it your way and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. discover the amazing sleep number bed, only at a sleep number store where during our semi-annual sleep sale, you can save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends soon. there are 400 sleep number stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699. you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework

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stories we'll be following for news4 this morning. we're joined with a preview of things to come by pat lawson. >> coming up at 4:00, kane of hot 99.5 will be in the studio for the hot talk and ahead at 4:00, a teenaged prank well horribly wrong when a shopping cart landed on top of a woman in front of her child. now woman is talking for the first time. and tonight, five out of every 100 babies lass it. tonight, how doctors are screening for congenital heart problems before it's too late. those stories starting at 00. barbara. thank you, pat. and it's time for a final check on our forecast, here's veronica. >> as we take a look at the cherry blossoms again, robin sending this one in at the jefferson memorial. it's weather@nbcwashington.com, send in your picks. this one from paul, a nice black-and-white there. can you do it via instagram.

still some clouds across the area, quite a bit, 68, we expect a high of 75 degrees throughout the area. close to that tomorrow. then around 80 thursday, with showers and storms returning on the other side of that 82 friday, saturday and sunday. and that's "news4 midday" for today, we thank you for being with us and invite you to tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00, i'll be back tomorrow with more at 11:00. have a terrific day, get out to the cherry blossoms if you can.