good morning, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm pat lawson-muse in for haley barbour on this friday, march 30th, 2012. new today, the d.c. health department has announced the winning bidders for the city's six medical marijuana permits. news4's tracee wilkins has more on the story. including one store that won't be selling marijuana, but will be able to help growers when they get the permits. as the district approves, medical marijuana distributors and growers that will need somewhere to go to get their supplies, that's where wegrow comes in. they say they're the first

honest hydro store because they don't hide what they're here to sell. it's the grand opening that some washingtonians never wanted to see. >> it's been a little bit difficult. just like it is, there's a lot of misconceptions. as to what wegrow does. >> reporter: it's an indoor plant supply store with an emphasis on marijuana cultivation. >> a lot of people have never seen what an indoor grow set-up looks like. >> reporter: it sells everything from leaf cutters for marijuana plants, to bubble machines for thc extraction. this national retail franchise company fought for space in northeast d.c. so it could be close to the mlicensed growers setting up in this city. the bat toll explain and defend the store's purpose has one owner is used to. he to do it in oakland, california, when wegrow opened its first store. >> not a lot of people knew what that entailed and what to do. a lot of people didn't want to

take the risk of being one of the first medical marijuana-related businesses to open. >> reporter: the store also includes what they call the bloom room. now they say that this is kind of like the geek squad of plant cultivation. be it an indoor plant or possibly a licensed marijuana plant. now, if you don't know how to set up your cultivation center or you have questions, this is where you would come for classes and also to learn about the latest technology in plant growth. >> marijuana cultivation exists within their neighborhoods, whether it's legal or it's not legal. a business like wegrow helps make that cultivation safer and responsiblee ibible not only fo growerers, but for the communities involved. if set-ups aren't done properly, they can be major safety hazards for everybody within the neighborhood. >> reporter: wegrow is still waiting for medical distributors and growers to get set up in the neighborhood. i asked who will their customers

be. they said anyone who is interested in growing houseplants. in the northeast, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. we've gotten the names of the six cultivation centers that will be able to register to grow med can marijuana. and they are the abatin wellness center, montana apoth carry. district growers, holistic remedies, phyto management and venture forth. all of these are located in northeast washington. well, if you haven't bought your megamillions lottery ticket yet, you may want to buy one today. there are more than half a billion reasons to do so. news4's megan mcgrath is live this morning at falls church, asking people what they do with all of that money. hi, megan. >> well, good morning, pat, we're here at a seven-11 in falls church. some people are choosing their numbers on their own, filling out the forms. others are letting the computer handle it, pick the numbers for them. this is a lot of money, $540

million. people have been buying tickets all day long. and dreaming about how they would spend all that cash. >> thank you. lottery machines are cranking out tickets in record numbers. >> winning number for the mega, right here, raoul. >> reporter: the last megamillions winner was january 24th. since then, the jackpot has been growing and it's now $540 million. >> it's amazing, i mean who can even fathom having that much money. i can't. >> reporter: david turner normally doesn't play the lottery, but this morning, he couldn't resist. >> yeah, i see everybody walking around with their ticket, so i didn't want to be the guy who didn't play. >> reporter: if a lucky winner matches all six numbers tonight, they can opt for $26 annual payments of $20.7 million, or a lump sum of $389 million. that's what david would do.

>> i would collect interest on it, it's a better financial decision. >> reporter: as the clock ticks down to the big drawing, hopeful ticket holders dream about how they would spend all that money. >> get the jet, personal chef, everything, you know, i would do it up right. >> pay off my bills and move to hawaii. and you can see more people buying tickets here in falls church. now, while everyone is fantasizing about how they would spend that money, about winning that jackpot. in all honesty your odds are not that great. just one in 76 340imillion. reporting live in falls church, megan mcgrath. >> obviously there are a lot of people willing to thak that one chance, thank you. turning to our weather now, we've got clouds out there this morning, will we get any more? storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the forecast and the answer do that question. >> there's a possibility we'll get a little light shower coming

through the next couple of hours. and what's been happening over the last 12 hours, there's a few sprinkles to the north of washington and north and east. and a few showers out in west virginia, central west virginia's mountains. a close-up view of the radar, the patches of green are sprinkles of light rain. northern loudoun county to the panhandle of western virginia, those are heading east, may move into northern montgomery county, a light sprinkling over the next hour. and farther north and east of there, howard county, northern anne arundel, around baltimore, getting a few sprinkles, heading east. elsewhere, it's cloudy and cool, only around 50 degrees. reagan national is at 49. where there are a few sprinkles farther west and north, it's only in the low 40s, so quite a difference in temperatures. farther south, fredericksburg toward charlottesville, stanton, virginia, in the mid 50s there now. for the rest of the afternoon. a lot of clouds around, a chance of shower over the next maybe hour or so. and temperatures climbing into the low to mid 60s throughout

much of the region. the higher temperatures in virginia may reach near 60 around washington. over the next several hours, we could get an increased chance of rain late tonight into tomorrow. we'll talk about that in detail as well as look at my latest school visit in a couple of minutes. pat? >> thank you, tom. everything is back to normal on the outer loop of the beltway. earlier this morning a truck accidentally dropped debris and gravel on the roadway. it happened just before the annapolis road exit. all of the lanes were blocked for a short time. creating a nine-mile back-up. let's check object the midday traffic right now with danella sealock with the latest. >> hi, pat. it looks much better in that area now. but let's head over to gw parkway. traveling northbound. we have an accident there slowing down at the arlington memorial bridge. only the left lane gets by the crash in that area. and seeing delays, this is on the inner loop of the beltway at van dorn street, due do construction. once you get past van dorn, you'll see the left lane blocked by road work in that area. you are pretty slow.

you're at about 29 miles per hour from the wilson bridge to van dorn street. it's going to take you 12 minutes at this time to make this trip. but if you're traveling along i-270 in maryland, pat, it looks great. a live look at shady grove, no issues to report northbound or southbound. back over to you. >> thanks, danella. a suspicious package at a fairfax county school caused a lot of confusion this morning. right now students at annandale high are slowly being escorted back into the building. students had been kept in a safe location outside the building for a few hours this morning while police investigated a package on the front lawn. this was the scene from chopper 4, police took in a robot to check out the package. it was declared safe. students once again are being allowed back into the school building. more family members are coming to the defense of the man who shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. george zimmerman's brother, robert, who lives in manassas park, spoke to cnn's piers morgan last night. he addressed the much talked about video released on

wednesday that shows zimmerman a half-hour after the shooting. if you look closely, it looks like zimmerman had no injuries at all. but his brother says zimmerman is still recovering from a broken nose, and that it looks to him like his brother's nose is swollen in the video. zimmerman also says his brother, george, is suffering from severe emotional issues. >> he's been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. he was not right from the moment it happened. he didn't call his family and express anything but, you know, sadness. it was just a darkness. he changed, he wasn't the same. he would never be the same. >> zimmerman's brother went on to say that george did not take his gun out and shoot trayvon, but that he fought to quote, take control of his gun and prevent it from being used against him. director spike lee is literally paying for a tweet that he thought contained the address for george zimmerman. he retweeted an address that was actually the address of a couple in their 70s.

the two people were forced to leave their house for fear that someone would target them. spike lee has reached a settlement with the family. however, details are not being disclosed. five members of a fairfax county street gang are accused of running an underage prostitution business. police say daniel dove and other gang members approached high school aged girls at metro stops, on school grounds and on facebook. they're accused of parading the girls around alexandria apartments to solicit sex. police say as many as ten girls were recruited by gang members over the last five years. our time now is 11:10. coming up, why gop candidates mitt romney and newt gingrich had a secret meeting. i would like to get a chance to say something to you. and the something i want to say can really be said in just two words -- those two words are thank you. thank you to news4 for giving me 32 years of a wonderful

experience. experience. >> plus a special member of our never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles in 3 days is-- is huge. if my mom can fight and beat breast cancer, i can walk 60 miles. you just put one foot in front of the other, and you know that you're walking for such a great cause that you just keep going. (man) that you have all these people coming together for one common goal. (woman) the goal is to bring an end to breast cancer. (woman) there's no doubt in my mind that komen's funding helped saved my life. the 3-day is my opportunity to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. with 3 days and 60 miles, you're making a bold statement.

you're saying breast cancer is not going to win. (woman) and it has to end, but it starts with us. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. we can do this. you can do this. we can all do this together. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. 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 [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪

paul ryan will back mitt romney.

he could endorse his endorsement when romney deliver as speech on the economy in appleton, wisconsin this afternoon. wisconsin holds its primary on tuesday, the same day as primaries take place in maryland and the district. romney is confirming that he secretly met with newt gingrich last friday in new orleans. just a day before louisiana's primary. he says he and the former house speaker meet from time to time to discuss the issues. but he says, they never reveal campaign strategies. >> since obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled. obama opposed exploring for energy in alaska and gave millions of tax dollars to solyndra, which went bankrupt and he blocked the keystone pipeline. so we'll all pay more at the pump. >> the group american energy alliance is running this ad in virginia and seven other battleground states. the ad is also critical of energy secretary, steven chew. democrats call american energy alliance a front group for big oil. yesterday the president called

for an end to tax cuts for big oil companies. turning now to our weather on this friday, where's the sun, tom? >> and people are hoping for some rain, if they're suffering from the pollen. you probably are, pat, i know so many people are. the pollen count has really taken quite a jump over the last couple of days. in fact it has quadrupled since a couple of days ago. there's a live view of washington. you can see there's a little bit of sort of a yellowish tint to the sky, that's the pollen and there's the washington monument, the jefferson memorial. it's all cloudy here, reagan national airport, 49 degrees, we've got a calm wind coming in out of the east. and these clouds are producing a few sprinkles to our north and to the north and east of washington. as we go back in time over the last 12 hours we've seen this deck of clouds coming in from the west. and these patches of color. that's where we're getting the light rain now in northeastern maryland, northern part of the eastern shore. as well as just north and west of us, a few clusters of showers

through central west virginia. the close-up view of the radar showing the little patches of green where it's raining very lightly. just a few sprinkles now. northern anne arundel county and even howard county near baltimore. farther north and west of there. nor loudoun county, panhandle of frederick and southern washington county. these are heading offer due east. missing the metro area right now. and later today, just some clouds around, a small chance of a sprinkle passing through. temperatures are still chilly. we strarted off this morning near the freezing mark. right now, it has recovered in the 40s to near 50. montgomery county, the low to mid 40s. but much of fairfax and near arlington, near 50 and near 50 in prince george's county. southern maryland climbing into the low 50s and mid 50s through parts of north-central virginia. still a chill in the air where they've had a few showers coming through in frederick, washington county into west virginia and western maryland. where it's only around 40 degrees right now. now as we go forward over the next 48 hours, these patches of

green, this is the zone where we could get a few passing showers, and that would be perhaps later this afternoon, there's a small chance. and then later this evening, if you're going to be out for this friday evening, perhaps around midnight, until around dawn on saturday, we could have a few of those showers coming through. so here's how we're looking for the rest of the afternoon. we'll have a lot of clouds around, a small chance of a passing shower. temperatures warming to around 60 around the metro area. may hit mid 60s, about 30 miles or so south of washington. winds out of the southeast around five to ten. then overnight tonight, we'll have a lot of cloudiness coming over the region and it's going to be cool, temperatures near 60 around sunset which today is at 7:30. by midnight. down to the mid 50s. by dawn on saturday, bottoming out near 50 degrees. during the day on saturday, we might get perhaps a morning or midday shower. and after that, we'll just have some clouds lingering saturday afternoon. highs near 70 tomorrow. and then on sunday, sunshine returns. afternoon highs climbing to the

60s to near 70. and on monday, should have quite a bit of sunshine, a beautiful day, up near 70 degrees. but the pollen going to be building again. as we get into tuesday, a few clouds around. might get some showersed on wednesday, earlier this week, i traveled to the westland middle school in bethesda in montgomery county, it was career day. i talked about careers in meteorologist, and just the importance of starting to think about careers. these are eighth graders and i want to thank teacher emily greenberg for the invitation to talk to these students at the westland middle school in bethesda, in montgomery county. all about careers in meteorologist. and there's some real opportunities there. it's a wonderful field to work in. i should know, i guess. >> and they all look very interested. >> they were fascinated, it was great. let's get a look at our mid day traffic, danella sealock is behind the wheel. >> right now i'm watching the outer loop of the beltway just past the american legion bridge, you have a truck blocking the left center lane. a live look, the outer loop is

right here, the volume is light. but be aware as you make your way across, you me see the disabled tractor-trailer blocking left center lane. gw parkway, earlier a crash at the arlington memorial bridge, northbound gw parkway blocking the right shoulder lane. earlier it was block all but the left lane. and still seeing big delays on the inner loop at van dorn due to construction. you're at just 27 miles per hour. back over to you, pat. >> thanks, danella. still ahead on "news4 midday," some alarming information about autism that has parents and doctors asking if more children are being stricken with it. or if more children are just being diagnosed. and looking great in a suit. whether you're dressing yourself or dressing your man. we're going to help suit you up for any occasion. but first, here's a look at what's hot through nbcwashington.com.

whether you are helping your man get a fresh look or whether you're a man just looking for a fresh look for spring, we've got some great fashion advice for you this morning. brian boyier is fashion and grooming director for "men's health" he's here to help us stand out in a suit. tell me what's new and fresh

this spring. >> there's a lot new. menswear doesn't change that quickly, which is good for us guys, but there's a lot of color and now there's a lot of pattern. and with suits, designers are showing a lot of mixing of patterns and colors and trying to make sort of the boring old suit a little more interesting. >> let's look at some of the interesting looks that you've put together. the first is the business casual suit zblflt a lot of guys don't have to wear a suit to work any more. but i think it's still important to sort of break out of that chino and polo thing that everybody else is wearing and make it a little more interesting. this is spencer. and he's wearing a navy sport coat from hugo boss and 7 for all mankind jeans. this is obviously for more of a casual workplace if you work in a creative environment. >> and he's got the mixed jacket and pants. go that's the great thing. this blue sportcoat is the most versatile thing a guy can own. you can wear it with white jeans, it really pops. but if you wore it with gray

trousers and this exact same outfit, it would be a lot more conservative. >> every man needs a blue sport coat? >> yes. >> what about brown? >> it goes with everything, you could wear that with this outfit as well. >> let's take a look at the next model. this is classic suit, a dark suit. >> this entire suit, shirt and tie is from hugo boss, we bought all of these clothes from neiman marcus in chevy chase, and thanks to them, hugo boss is new there. i love the idea of adding a bright pop of color with a conservative suit. we did a story of the psychology of color in men's health. and we found that women are most attracted to guys in pink. so guys, wear pink, it's also calming. >> i'm seeing a lot of pink shirts, many guys used to shy away from pink shirts. >> guys are a little bit nervous about wearing pink. but the truth of the matter is, it looks good on every skin tone, it's a very easy color to wear. you know you're going to be

appealing to women makes it all the better. >> that is appealing. you look very, very dapper. >> i love the pocket square, that looks great. >> is that back? >> a lot of pocket square, and that's a big thing with suits, all of the details, bells and wiss. pocket squares, tie bars, cool shoes, all of the bells and whistles make this better. >> this suit is very conservative. >> this is jovid. a suit from zenia. if you do have to be conservative in your workplace, like a lot of guys in d.c. do, that doesn't mean boring. can you take a gray suit, a blue shirt. but when you add a subtle mix of patterns like we've done here, it makes it a little more interesting. and my goal is for guys to stand out a little bit in the crowd. if everybody has a gray suit and blue shirt on, they all look the same. but when you're dressed like this with the pocket square and the subtle mix of patterns, i think it looks really sharp and you look a little bit better than everybody else. >> when it comes to the flap in the back, my husband and i are always going through it. he likes the flap that he's

wearing, some guys like the single split. >> there's sing the vents and double vents, it's a personal choice. i like to say that single vents are a little more american and double vents are little more european. it's a personal choice. >> and getting back to shirts, he's wearing stripes. we're seeing more stripes. last year, it seemed men were wearing a lot more colored shirts. >> right. >> now we're seeing all of the patterns. >> there's a lot of patterns and i think guys are scared to mix patterns, but it's really not that hard. not everything has to match perfectly. you want all the colors to be sort of in the same family. but it shouldn't be that hard. >> and talk about the fit. you know, what, how do you, you find a suit that fits your body best? >> well the most important thing you have to look for when you're shopping for a suit is that it fits in the shoulders. a taylor can take care of everything else. if a jacket doesn't fit in the shoulders, don't get that suit. you want the body to be tailored a little close to your torso, but not tight.

and you want to make sure the sleeves are short enough so you have about half an inch of shirt cuff showing. that makes a nice difference. >> that looks great and i have to ask you about double-breasted suits, are they in or out? >> a big thing for guys, especially this fall we'll see a lot of double-breasted suits. >> brian boyer, thank you so much. coming up, why the warm weather is being blamed for an invasion in the washington area. plus an update on the weather. tom will be back to let us know how big a problem rain could be tomorrow. it does come all down to just two words -- thank you. and bye. >> and a very special member of i was paying too much with cable.

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thousands of people across the district, maryland, and virginia and the country are buying megamillions lottery tickets. the jackpot is now worth an estimated $540 million. the cash option is $390 million. this has been an emotional week for us here at news4. this morning, after 32 years, our dear friend and colleague, joe krebs, signed off for the very last time. and after hundreds of heartfelt tributes, joe delivered his final message to you. >> well, this long good-bye is coming to a conclusion and now, i would like to get a chance to say something to you. and the something i want to say can really be said in just two words, those to words are thank you, thank you to news4 for giving me 32 years of a wonderful career. thank you to news4 for giving me 18 years on the "news4 today" anchor desk and filling our news room with extraordinary broadcast journalists. thank you to all my co-workers here at the anchor desk and the

studio and the control room and the news room and throughout this entire building. they are all dedicated, talented, committed, creative and hard-working people who have become my dear friends, my work family. the love and affection i feel for them is overflowing right now. but most of all, i want to thank you. thank you, who have invited me, us, into the quiet of your homes every morning. usually in the predawn darkness when you're just drying to figure out who am i, where am i and what am i doing. we understand that we are guests and you are doing us the favor and we owe you the responsibility of giving you the information you need and you want as you start your day. thank you for trusting that we will do that. now back when i was in the navy i attended several change of command ceremonies and i seem to recall that in the end they're really more about the new guy than the old guy. the old guy has had his time in the sun.

i've had plenty of time in the sun. that's why i have all this nice blonde hair. and now it's time to turn it over to the new guy, the new news guy in this chair. and i'm sure you will extend to aaron the same generous invitation and hospitality that you extended to me. he understands what you want, what you need, and if you get the sense that he doesn't, you know where to reach him. but i also strongly believe that he is exactly the right guy for this job. he is talented, he's dedicated, he's already anchored the morning news in richmond for six years. and finally, i just want to say thank you to three remarkable women. to barbara, who kept me in beautiful ties and the final one was just delivered this morning, and i think it is -- right here. [ applause ] >> she has given me wonderful stories, she's been generous and giving to her job and to her

friends and to her family and to her community beyond measure. to eun, whose energy and spirit radiate like the sunrise and who brings joy and care into every task she tackles and every room she enters. she is a gift. and to mary lynn, my wife of almost 40 years, who has been my strength and my fun, my partner and my love through this crazy career from greensboro to raleigh to baltimore, to washington. so as i said after many words, it does come all down to just two words -- thank you. and bye! >> well, you have been flooding our facebook page, and twitter with some wonderful comments this morning. elizabeth perez wrote, joe, you are a class act, i couldn't believe that on this day, your day to be in the spotlight, and to be celebrating, you turned it around and put the light on others instead, your humanity shines.

virginia wilson says, i've been watching you on channel 4 since you joined the team. i will miss your professionalism, your kindness and you being you. you've taught me a lot about life through your treatment of people, you have interviewed as well as your co-workers. i wish you well with your joney and i thank you you for touching my life. and finally, one of the many comments on twitter, this one from maryland congresswoman donna edwards, joe krebs, we'll miss you and your calm and laughter in the early a.m. before there was sun, there was joe krebs. thaks for making the dmv a community. very well said. and let's check in again with tom kierein. tom, we're all going to miss joe, we love him and we have the utmost respect for him and we wish him well in his twilight years. >> that's for sure. it was such an emotional morning this morning, saying good-bye to joe. we've all benefitted from joe

over the years. a man of integrity, a man of great character. and a man of questionable humor. some of his corny humor, he and i share midwestern humor that's been one of the wonderful things about joe. we've ha lot of laughs over the years. let's take a look outside right now. there's a live view from our city camera. there's the washington national cathedral along wisconsin avenue, near massachusetts. everything is greening up and as a result we have a lot of pollen in the air and here comes some relief. on radar where you see the patches of color, that's where we're getting a little bit of light rain. northern montgomery county into frederick counter, far northern loudoun county. those patches are rain are creeping closer to washington, but much of it will be missing the metro area over the next couple of hours. we're in the 40s to around 50 around the metro area. fredericksburg is 55. but up near the pennsylvania border it's only near 40 degrees. so quite a chilly friday under way. later today, we'll get around 60

in the metro area, may hit the mid 60s in parts of northern virginia. cloudy tonight, and on saturday, might get a passing shower perhaps on late friday night into early to mid day on saturday. then sunday and monday, we'll get some sunshine back. as we get into next week, might get some rain, perhaps on wednesday. highs near 70 then. and that is the way it looks right now. pat? >> thank you, tom. our unusually warm weather is being blamed for the growing rat population in the district. experts say since more people were enjoying outside weather, more food was left outside in trash cans and for rats, more food leads to more rat babies. pest control companies say this has been one of the busiest years on record. the d.c. rodent control office says people should do their part by properly disposing of food and securing trash cans. let's get the latest now on our mid day traffic with danella sealock. good morning, danella. >> right now you're taking a live look at the belt way at connecticut avenue. it looks like the right shoulder

lane has police activity. but your travel lanes are open right now. and actually looks like you can see the police officer moving right along. your travel speed, 55 miles per hour on the outer loop of the beltway. only taking ten minutes to get from i-95, to i-270. over at i-66, no issues at all. a live look at sully road, from fairfax county parkway to the capital beltway, you're at 54 miles per hour, taking 12 minutes for the trip in total. in news for your health, you more american children are now considered to be autistic. the center force disease control says 1-88 has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. three years ago it was 1-110. nbc's chief science correspondent reports. ♪ good morning, academy ♪ how are you >> 3-year-old alana myers was diagnosed with autism last summer. >> i tried to prepare myself for it i told myself i was going to be okay with it. and the day -- it was a hard

day. >> aden is among the children, one in 54 are boys, now diagnosed with some disorder that falls in what is called the autism spectrum. that is a 23% increase from the last survey taken two years earlier according to the cdc. >> since 2002, the prevalence has increased 78%. >> no one is sure what is behind the numbers, but many experts believe part of it is a greater awareness among the medical establishment and among parents. >> big j, little j. >> many experts say the problems that used to be labeled disorders, ranging from mental retardation to learning disabilities, are now called autism. >> the way we diagnose autism spectrum disorders has changed. we're more inclusive. we include people with more cognitive abilities and less

severe problems. than we have in the past. >> i'm bob, what do you have in your pocket? >> sticks. >> no one doubts aden myers' diagnosis, but he's clearly not the classic case of a socially withdrawn nonverbal child. he attends reed academy in oakland, new jersey, where each child is taught full-time by one person. >> my little boy is riding a bike. >> many argue that no matter what the reason for the increasing cases, huge numbers of children could benefit from such extra care. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. doctors in maryland have performed what they say is the most extensive face transplant ever. in addition to getting an entirely new face, the patient also received a new jaw, new teeth and a new tongue. >> he's moving his jaws, opening and closing his mouth. he's on a clear liquid diet. he can move his tongue, he can open and close his eyes. he's beginning to feel his face. he's actually looking in the mirror, shaving and brushing his

teeth. which we never even expected. >> that was a doctor at the university of maryland medical center describing how the virginia man who received the new face is doing now. dr. steven hopping is joining us to talk about the new techniques that made this surgery possible. this was indeed breakthrough surgery. what's different though about this one? >> well pat, very exciting, right in our back yard. hats off to university of maryland for accomplishing this. the reason this is the most extensive, is that not only did they remove, did they transplant skin, but teeth, the jaw, they, you have to realize the pictures before this man had had multiple surgeries before. and look how good he looks after this single face transplant in one week. it's quite remarkable. >> there have been 23 face transplants around the world. but this one is the only one of those that have been done that involved replacing those parts and not just the skin.

>> this has been the most extensive and expensive i'm sure, extensive on record. because it involved the jaws, the teeth, the bones. and you see they were able to hide the scars far back in the scalp and down in the neck. so there are no scars on the face. >> he looks remarkably well. >> for one week, it's incredible. >> one of the biggest issues whenever a patient undergoes a major organ transplant of course is rejection or the possibility of rejection. talk about immunotherapy and how important it's going to be for him. >> this is the other huge advance in the field that's going so fast. university of maryland has their own protocol. it's a very advanced protocol. allowing patients to have these transplants and to live long lives. so this is, the great advances of the microsurgery techniques and the immunotherapy advances, incredible. >> the office of naval research and the department of defense helped fund this particular procedure. why were they involved? >> well you know they've been funding a lot of these face transplants, because

unfortunately, a lot of our young men fighting abroad are having problems with total facial injuries and they estimate that there's about 200 of our warriors coming back who may benefit from this surgery. so they're very interested in these advances. and they're willing to fund it which is great. >> fascinating. what would you say the future holds for this kind of procedure? >> well, you know, it was a few years ago i was interviewed about this and i said, you know, this is the hype is way ahead of the reality. i thought the immunotherapy was going it make it impossible. i think it's here to stay and i think each year we're going to see a greater advances. it's here to stay. >> and how long would you say it would take to know whether a patient like this man from virginia is going to do well in the long-term? >> well i think that's a good question, because right now, there's still a risk of infection, he's only a week out. there's still a risk of rejection. but again, they've made such advances with the immunotherapy that i think his chances of

doing well and having a much more normal life than he's been able to enjoy up until now, is high. >> all right. dr. steven hopping, it's certainly very fascinating. >> incredible. right in our back yard. >> that's the best part. thank you, dr. hopping. still ahead on "news4 midday," is a new report on how much you are spending in the markets up or down this morning? we'll check the latest numbers. plus the first of several snow white movies hits theaters i was paying too much with cable. paying so much, you want better quality. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. for the amount of money that i'm paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. get verizon fios tv, internet and phone with our best price online: just $94.99 a month, guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing. i was just in a...trance watching it. i'm discovering new channels every day. [ male announcer ] sign up with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and pick your bonus:

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consumers boosted spending last month. let's check in with cnbc for more. >> good morning, u.s. markets today are opening the day higher on the news. the dow up 51 points, the s&p up about five and the nasdaq heading into the green just about three points here midday.

we did get two sets of consumer data, giving those stocks a boost as americans spent more than expected in february and that caused confidence to rebound to the highest level in more than a year. optimism about income and employment. overcame higher prices at the pump. news out of europe also helping markets move higher. the eurozone finance ministers agreeing to temporarily raise the crisis firewall against the debt crisis to more than $1 trillion by combining the resources of two bailout funds. finally research in motion shares starting the day higher as the new ceo announces major changes to the executive ranks. following the company's disappointing fourth quarter results that missed street estimates, a 25% decline the company reported in sales in the first slump in blackberry shipments for a holiday quarter since 2006. the blackberry maker not looking good, shares are up today. back do you. >> thanks, kayla. ever since my father diedors

she's terrorized the people in the land. >> the evil queen and lily collins plays the legendary princess in exile as is part of the story, seven dwarfs join snow white as she fights to reclaim her birth right and win her prince. "mirror mirror" is rated pg. >> sam worthington returns in "wrath of the titans" a follow-up to "clash of the titans." he must travel to the underworld. liam nieson stars in this action-packed thriller. it's rated pg-13. and it's a twist on the classic sports underdog in "goon." sean williams scott plays doug blatt an underachieving blue-collar worker who finds he's a great fighter. a local hockey team signs him to be his enforcer.

"goon" is rated r. your time now is 11:49. coming up, talk of two movie sequels that are getting a whole lot of attention today. plus, are you more likely to be hit by an asteroid or to win tonight's megamillions jackpot. we'll take a look at your odds.

some kids tell him to hang himself and i think he got to the point where enough was enough. >> today a new documentary about bullying in schools opens in select cities, it's causing controversy because of the language used in the film. the documentary is called "bully." it's not rated. the movie follows five kids over the course of the 2009-2010 school year. it shows how bullying has affected them and their families. lottery fever. tommy mcfly of 94.7 fresh fm joins us to talk about your odds of winning tonight's megamillions jackpot and a whole lot more. good morning. >> how are you? >> i'm fine. >> so, yeah, megamillions fever is sweeping the country. half a billion dollars. >> and let's, let's take a look at the odds. they're one in 176 million. but just to put things into perspective, we've compiled ra short list of what's more likely to happen to you than your odds of picking the winning number.

>> one in 700,000 chance of being killed by an asteroid. i didn't realize it was that likely. or the odds of being struck by lightning, which is one in one million. or the odds of becoming a a-list hollywood star, which is 1.5 million. i would think would be easier to become a hollywood star than to be hit by an asteroid. go so most of us don't stand a chance. >> no. >> and i talked to someone from the lotly who said have a good time, but don't bet the farm on the megamillions. >> a lot of folks say you can't afford to buy a ticket. >> have you bought one? >> i come from a long line of gamblers. right before the last drawing i was shaking down georgetown, where can i buy a ticket. i found a place to buy a ticket. so i didn't win last time. i'm going to play tonight, fingers crossed. >> have you ever won anything? >> i won a random silent auction at a church bazaar once, that's about as lucky as i get.

>> no money? >> no money. >> let's talk about two sequels that could be great or not so great. >> talking about they came out this morning, a remake of the movie "twins." it was 24 years ago, arnold schwarzenegger and danny da veto. now "triplets" is coming out and they're throwing in eddie murphy to be the third in the triplets. >> that's an interesting twist. >> we'll see how that shakes out. earlier this week. everyone is still talking about "anchorman ii." will ferrell showed up in full ron burgundy on conan o'brien. he announced that it's coming. >> and you know what, he looked just like himself from the movie. he looked like he hadn't aged. he was still in character. >> true story. it's the magic of hollywood makeup. i'm actually 52. >> and you don't look a day over 50. finally, tommy, we've got newly

released dashcam video that shows montgomery county police officer pulling over batman. let's take a look at this. >> what's your name, rather than batman? >> lenny. >> lenny. >> this story is awesome. >> batman. >> i got closer to the car, all i could see was like ears. and i'm saying to myself, god, i hope this guy is not wearing a batman outfit. >> okay, so veteran officer paul borgess says he was shocked by what he saw. what did you think about that. >> batman in a lamborghini. the guy who plays batman is a baltimore businessman named lenny. who drives down to children's hospitals and surprises kids with a nonprofit called help for henry. their whole thing is to make kids laugh and have a good time. so he was driving down in his batman suit to do a good deed and gets pulled over on 29. >> do we know whether it's his car. >> i don't know. he spoke about it in a "washington post" chat like it was his. he said it's very noneconomical.

it's ten-slind cylindeten-cylin. >> i'm more concerned with where he got that suit. it's a great suit. where do you buy a suit like that? >> it's a dead ringer. >> okay. what are you going to do this weekend? >> i'm going to get my taxes done today. yeah. >> are you going to spend the whole weekend doing that? >> pretty much. i got to get the calculator out. >> you're not a numbers guy, but you come fra long line of gamblers? >> i didn't say we were good gamblers. >> tommy mcfly. you make it a good weekend. let's look at some stories we're following on news4 this afternoon. the megamillions jackpot has just gone up again by $100 million. and $2700 phone bill for a church. the church's pastor explains how that happened. tonight at 5:00, people are heading to the allergist in record numbers this year. but there are other natural

remedies that can offer relief. we'll all be needing that. we are needing that. that's "news4 midday." thanks for joining us this morning. be sure to tune in again for news4 at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 later today for all the latest news and until then, make it a good friday and a good weekend.