and now from washington's leading news station, this is "news4 midday." i believe it was an accident. i believe that it just got out of control. >> trayvon martin's mother makes a new revelation. she believes george zimmerman did not set out to kill her son. and good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison, it's thursday, april 12th, 2012. in just about two hours, zimmerman will appear in court for the first time, 45 days after shooting and killing 17-year-old trayvon martin. zimmerman turned himself in yesterday after prosecutors announced that they intended to charge him with second-degree

murder. zimmerman could enter a plea in his first court appearance this afternoon. nbc's jay gray joins us live from sanford, florida, with more on what we can expect. jay? >> reporter: good morning, barbara. i think you're absolutely right. i think we will hear an initial plea this morning, one ha will carry the case forward. the plea will be according to george zimmerman's attorneys, not guilty as they try to move the process forward. set for a hearing at 1:30 this afternoon. it should be brief and procedural. he'll enter the plea, and the his attorney will ask the judge to set a bond and he said he hopes he sets it at a reasonable rate so that zimmerman will be allowed to leave this facility and help prepare in his defense against the second-degree murder charges. but again, a lot of people speculating that zimmerman will be held in protective custody for his own safety and well-being. as emotions and passions still very high over this controversial case as you talked

about. 45 days after the unarmed teenager was killed here. trayvon martin's parents have reached out, saying they are glad that they have finally gotten the arrest that they've been calling for since his death. they say that all they've ever wanted is for this to go through the court system. and for zimmerman to have his chance to tell his side of the story. as we just heard, trayvon martin's mother, sabrina fulton, saying she believes that night it was a terrible accident. something that went terribly wrong. and so now she wants that to play out in court and see if in fact zimmerman is responsible criminally for her son's death. >> all right, thank you so much, jay, for that report. and as we said, this will happen in just about two hours. right now, george zimmerman is in florida in a jail cell awaiting the first court appearance we were just talking about. his attorney told carl quintanilla on the "today show" this morning, that the last month and a half has been very, very difficult for their client. >> overall he's very stressed, very tired.

it's been as for the martin family, it's been a difficult several weeks for him. law enforcement is handling it very well. the seminole county jail is doing the same. he wants to be out, he wants to be out to help with his defense. but he's doing okay. >> o'mara also says he isn't concerned about his client's ability to listen. zimmerman's previous attorneys stepped database because they said they weren't able to keep in contact with him. trayvon martin's parents now say that they believe the shooting death of their son was an accident. that is what we're hearing. they also appeared on the "today show" this morning. they shared their thoughts about george zimmerman. >> i believe it was an accident. i believe that it just got out of control. and he couldn't turn the clock back. i would ask him, did he know that that was a minor? that that was a teenager, and that he did not have a weapon? i would ask him that i understand that his, his family

is hurting, but think about our family. that lost our teenaged son. i mean -- it's just very difficult to live with day in and day out, i'm sure his parents can pick up the phone and call him. but we can't pick up the phone and call trayvon any more. >> martin's father also blames police for not conducting a thorough investigation sooner. he says the attention surrounding this case would not have reached this level, had they arrested george zimmerman sooner. and stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage of the trayvon martin case. and the latest from this afternoon's hearing. can you also join the conversation on our nbc washington facebook page. let's take a look outside. chilly, but some sunshine, some puffy white clouds, looks spring, but it doesn't feel like it. looks like baseball season from the sky. tom, tell us about the weather for this afternoon's big game. >> oh, is that real? yes, it is, that's a live picture of nationals park.

as we're getting ready to play ball. on this opening day, here at washington. national park is just such a beautiful baseball facility. look at the blue sky, the puffy white clouds, it's going to be a perfect day for baseball. a little bit on the cool side. the fans will be streaming in, look they've already got some fans in the stands, the game doesn't start for another two hours. first pitch is at 1:05. and at we look at what's been happening over the last 12 hours, we've cleared out. we have just a few clouds coming into the shenandoah valley and patting over the metro area. a lot of sunshine, temperatures are warming up after the really chilly start. all the areas in green are in the 50s, that includes most of virginia and maryland. 54 now at reagan national. and it's still in the low 40s out in the mountains. and these are the latest wind gusts, too. the winds have been gusting over 20-25 miles per hour and they're still going to be a bit blustery as we get into the rest of the afternoon. so here is the forecast for the nationals home opener at

nationals park. first pitch at 1:05. it should be up around 60 degrees by then. and we'll hold steady near 60 through the rest of the game. winds may be gusting up to 25 miles per hour during the game. we'll take a look at the rest of the week, into the weekend, next week, warm-up on the way, as well as the latest pollen count, in just a couple of minutes. >> tom, thank you. well, this is one of the best days of the year for baseball fans. it's opening day at nationals park. we're about two hours away right now from the first pitch he was talking about. news4's tracee wilkins is live at nationals park where fans are starting to file in to see the first-place nats. hey, good morning. >> good morning, barbara. yeah, fans are making their way in. let me just say that man, is the weather petter this morning. we were freezing out here but now we've got the sun coming out and it is turning out to be a beautiful day. take a look behind me. see that the nats are already on the field, warming up for today's opening game. they're fighting to maintain their first-place status. and fans couldn't be happier

with the way this season is kicking off. >> they're sweeping off the dug out, loading up the equipment, putting finishing touches on the field and practicing their moves because today is opening day at nationals park. >> nothing like opening day, everyone feels like the first one. >> and today's opening day is especially special, since the nats are taking home field with a 4-2 record. and the distinction of being tied for first place with the new york mets. and yesterday's game, drew through 100 pitch force the first time in his career, signaling that his killer arm is back. but this afternoon, all eyes will be on deo gonzales as he takes the mound. >> he had a hell of a day yesterday, strasburg did. but as long as gonzales does good today, no problem. >> these fans had no problem braving this morning's near-freezing temperatures. which tickets are you going for?

>> the $5. >> every year? >> can you imagine. >> $5, just like the $5 foot-long. this is going well beyond hot dogs and peanuts. the executive chef at nationals park is offering a new line-up, a line-up of favorite foods from major baseball cities like miami's cuban sandwich, the arizona footlong, and today, they'll have the cincinnati chili in honor of the opening game with the reds. but what everyone is talking about is the strass burger. >> a prime chub, a short rib and a brisket all ground together. it's meant to feed eight to ten people. it comes with a pitcher of soda, a basket of hand-cut fries, it's $59, but well worth the value. >> $59.

starting to make their way back into the dug out and get ready for the game that will be starting in just a little while. and yeah, everybody has been talking about on twitter today, the strausburger, all folks are talking about, whether they're going to take it on, solo it or enjoy it with other people. it's been some pretty conversations about that burger. martinez will be throwing out the first ceremonial pitch. just before the first official pitch at 1:05. folks expecting it to be a fantastic day and hopefully we'll see a win. from nationals park, i'm tracee wilkins, reporting live, news4. >> you've made us all hungry here. >> it's enough to feed our entire morning staff. >> bring us some of that chilli, it looked pretty good. >> thanks a lot. and we have breaking news in the district right now. three people have been taken to the hospital after a serious crash in northeast d.c. it's happening right now in the 5200 block of sheriff road.

we're told the driver is in serious condition. and let's head over and talk a little bit with danella sealock and see what she can tell us about what's happening on the roads right now. >> well, barbara we're still seeing sheriff road closed at this time. the closure is between eastern avenue and 51st street in the northeast. please avoid the area while police continue to work on clearing that accident. now, over to the beltway right now, if you're taking the inner loop as you approach i-9 5, road work taking up the left lane and causing a bit of a delay right now on the inner loop. look at your travel speed, you're slow at about 30 miles per hour, 19 minutes to get from i-270, to i-9 5. crossing over the 14th street bridge, road work continues, again today. and it is taking up the right side of the roadway as you make your way into the city. and you are seeing a bit of a delay. barbara just about 47 miles per hour at this time. over to you. >> thanks, danella. the feds want to know how safe montgomery county commuters buss are. the national highway traffic

safety administration is investigating some of the county's ride-on buses. five of them have been destroyed by fire since 2009. the most recent fire was last month. federal investigators are focusing their attention on ride on's fleet of small, navistar diesel buses. the county says it uses those buses as infrequently as possible. it's 11:11 now. still ahead, j.k. rowling made a name for herself with the harry potter books, now she reveals her first book for adults. ashley judd responds to the speculation about her round face. what she says is really behind all those rumors. we don't know if she's conscious or breathing at all? >> apparently she wasn't breathinand she's 46 years old. >> she was not breathing? >> yes. >> and the just-released 911 call in whi

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or visit us online to save even more. fios. a network ahead. new today, j.k. rowling is revealing her details about her first book about adults. she said it's called the "casual vacancy." riz rowling's first book since her popular harry potter series, she said it will be a dot-com-dy. >> dtom's here to talk about th weather. it's chilly and windy. >> but that won't stop everybody from having fun at the park today. what a wonderful day for opening

day. look at this scene over the potomac river. and capitol hill, that's a live picture from our city camera. we've got a picture-perfect day under way. there's a chill in the air, everything is greening up, though. we've got the flowers out and it's certainly looking like spring. even though it doesn't quite feel like it yet. it is still chilly, and at 54 at reagan national, we've got a northwest breeze there around 15 to 20 miles per hour. occasionally the wind gusts a little bit higher than that. and that's going to be the story through the rest of the afternoon. if you're going to be out or if you're going to be heading to the game. you'll definitely need to have at least a windbreaker on. and a hat. and look at the color, speaking of spring color, this is shots of tulips taken by bill folsom and sent in to weather@nbcwashington.com. if you have any beautiful flowers or any azaleas out, send your photos to weather@nbcwashington.com. we'll show them on our website and we'll show them on tv as well.

thanks so much, bill, those are great shots. well we've had the pollen coming out earlier this season, too. and it is still high. but it's only about half of what it was last week. so the pollen is actually improving a bit. but it's still high enough for allergy sufferers to feel the misery. and it's going to be slowly declining. the tree counts are on the decline. and slowly will be getting better. right now around the region, it's just near 50 degrees throughout much of the region. including west virginia, western maryland, shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia. closer to washington, montgomery county, low 50s, low 50s in prince george's county and in fairfax county and arlington, mid 50s by the way. fredericksburg through the mid 50s, through culpepper and charlottesville, low to mid 50s as well. these are the latest wind gusts, the winds have been picking audiotape little bit this morning, but not as strong as yesterday. still gusting 20-25 miles per hour through much of the region. we might have gusts perhaps as high as 30 as we get into the afternoon hours.

as we also get into the afternoon hours, we'll have a few more clouds rolling through. as we've got a big circulation in the atmosphere that's off the atlantic seaboard. and that's bringing in a bit of upper-level cold air that's going to trigger some of the cloud cover in and out through the rest of the afternoon. then tonight, we'll have high pressure moving in over us, and another chilly evening coming up. but for the rest of the afternoon, mostly sunny, cool and breezy. we'll be in the upper 50s or so to near 60 degrees. and temperatures will be accompanied by gusts of wind to around 25-30 miles per hour. then this evening, sunset, 7:4 3rks we'll drop from the 50s to the 40s by midnight. the winds will diminish out of the northwest, 5-15 miles per hour. by dawn tomorrow, back to the 3 mid and upper 30s friday morning. lots of sunshine tomorrow, highs reaching the mid 60s tomorrow afternoon. then just in time for the weekend, the warm-up under way and the national series continues, the home games into the weekend, too.

saturday should be sunny, highs mid 70s. nice night saturday night. bottoming out in the mid 50s by dawn sunday, sunday, we'll have a partly sunny day with highs around 80 and it will feel like summertime a little bit and certainly like summertime on monday, highs may make it into the mid 80s on monday. the warm trend continues into next week. >> all right, thank you, tom. and let's see if there's any traffic out there, getting ready for the game, danella? >> good morning, barbara. right now i'm still watching sheriff road in the northeast. the serious crash still has sheriff road shut down in both directions between eastern avenue and 51st street. and road work happening along i-95 and slowing you down. look at this fairfax county parkway, as you pass fairfax county parkway, going northbound, right lane is going to be taken away. you can see the signs are up. it's a slow, slow trip for you, delays out of the occoquan, you're at 39 miles per hour, taking 16 minutes to get from the occoquan to the beltway.

18 minutes after 11:00, still ahead, the design flaw that could prevent parents from installing child safety seats correctly. plus, a taste of iceland. we're cooking with one of washington's most esteemed chefs. we'll be right back. stay with us. 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) the fund-raising was the easiest part. people were very giving. complete strangers wanting to help. if i can do this, you definitely can do this. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. (woman) and it has to end, but it starts with us.

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a taste of iceland starts today, it's a cultural celebration of music, film and of course, food. it includes a special menu at ris in washington's west end. we're joined by ris lacrosse, the chef and owner of ris. we also have with us thrale thralen mcfusen. he's a world cup competitor in food. welcome. >> nice to be here. >> i know we're going to make some wonderful icelandic food. people probably don't know that there are particular icelandic dishes and we'll find out about them in a second, but i want to say, ris, thank you for coming. >> you've always been so wonderful with our wednesday's child, opening up your kitchen to them. now now opened your kitchen to iceland, why? >> i was buying iceland salmon since i first moved to washington in 1987.

and the iceland is so pristine and so wonderful and such a beautiful country. and since then i've gotten involved with i've been to iceland many times to their food and fun celebration february, traveled the world with them actually and have been here as a big fan of iceland and its people. and its pristine nature and the green nature of their food. so i'm proud to have it at ris. >> well, thurlen is here, what are we going do make? >> we're going to make a dessert out of iceland skeer. >> a specialized meat product with 0.0 fat. >> there's a very high protein. it's a cultured dairy product from iceland. and it does have zero fat. very high protein base. >> is it like sour cream? >> similar this he compare it to yogurt, often and it's absolutely delicious. >> what's he putting next to it? >> we have like sponge cake that's spiced. >> like a chocolate sponge cake?

>> cinnamon and coffee. and then we have a little bit of crumble of cocoa. >> now we're calling this, you call it tiramisu. >> this is the icelandic version of it with the skeer in it. we have all the ingredients, this is our version of the biscuit, we've got the cocoa on top and we soak the sponge cake up in coffee syrup. >> and then we add -- >> coffee syrup. the espresso when we make with marscap nom amp marscapone or the classic. >> what we have here is coffee icecream. liquid nitro jgen and we're freezing it off and going to make a volcano out of it. >> if you put it over here we'll be able to see it.

wow, that's cold. all right, now you're going to put that onto the plate? >> onto the plate. >> coffee ice cream. well it looks delicious. and i don't know if anybody noticed, but one of these plates is in the shape of iceland over here? >> yes. >> beautiful, this one, all right let's quickly move to our next dish because we're running out of time. you're going show us how to make something else here? >> we have this already prepped. this is the iceland artichoke. >> i'm going to move this. >> this is one of the top icelandic ingredients. we've got the cucumbers, pickled, we've got pickled pearl onions and croutons and a dust of islandic seaweed. >> all those fresh green things. >> remember, islandic char is one of the greenest of the fishes at the monterey bay aquarium and is considered very, very green, very sustainable and really fresh and a wonderful

fish. >> fantastic. i see you brought a lot of your famous -- >> vodka. >> vodka. there's a lot of vodka drunk in iceland. which is a beautiful thing. >> that looks like something you would have with vodka. >> the water is straight from the glaciers, everyone should go, it's just a pristine, wonderful environment it's a great place to be. >> they're celebrating iceland here in washington. and of course we can get some of these dishes at ris at the restaurant there, thank you so much for coming to see us today. >> my pleasure, nice to be here. >> it looks wonderful and simple and delicious. a taste of iceland runs today through sunday and you can find more information at iceland naturally.com. and thanks again for being with us today. >> thank you for having us, barb raxt. and coming up after the break. steve hayes will show us how to get a full body workout. we may need it after we eat all this food, with no equipment at all. plus the warning signs that your child may have a learning disability. and it's been really dry out there. tom's back to tell us what parts of our area may be near drought

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new today, a prince george's county police officer shot at a suspect. it happened around 3:00 a.m. in lynn hill at the condominiums in temple hills. police say the officer was responding to a domestic call when there was some sort of exchange in the condo parking lot. the officer fired his weapon. but didn't hit anyone. the suspect was arrested. police are still investigating why the officer fired his weapon. and we're now hearing the call for help from the hotel where whitney houston died. "access hollywood" obtained the 911 tape. just moments after her assistant found her face-down in the bathtub. >> i need the paramedics apparently i got a 46-year-old female found in the bathroom. that's all i got right now. they're kwping paramedics. >> they don't know if she's conscious or breathing at all? she's 46 years old.

>> she was not breathing? >> yes. >> the hotel employee never names the victim as whitney houston. once paramedics arrived at the beverly hilton hotel, they were not able to revive her. bad weather is preventing north korea from launching a controversial long-range rocket today. the five-day window for launching that rocket opened today, but japan's news agency is reporting that today's window has already come and gone. north korea says it will launch it by monday. it claims the rocket will carry a satellite into orbit. the u.s. and other countries say it's really a ballistic missile test and violates u.n. security council resolutions. that ban the north from developing its nuclear and missile programs. john edwards is in court today for the of a criminal trial. today was a first day of jury selection. the former presidential

candidate faces charges of violating campaign finance laws. he's accepting close to $1 million during his 2008 election run. to help hide his pregnant mistress, rielle hunter. the trial is expected to last around six weeks. and he faces up to 30 years in prison. we're going to check in again with tom kierein for the latest on our forecast. tom? >> a beautiful day under way. if you like crisp, cool air. we've got it with us. lots of sunshine, though, a live picture from the sky watcher camera overlooking washington. downtown in the distance, on the horizon is prince george's county. in the foreground, national cathedral there, along wisconsin avenue in northwest. all of these areas in yellow, abnormally dry. not a drought, but it's abnormally dry across northern virginia, the district and most of maryland. eastern shore, the area in orange is a little bit drier, moderately dry, not quite at drought levels yet. on average, running about four inches below average for rainfall for the year so far. right now, temperatures in the 50s throughout most of the region.

reagan national now at 54. afternoon highs should climb up to around 60 degrees. we'll have just a few clouds coming in from the north. and coming into the south and passing over the region. pollen count, just got the latest one, it's down from yesterday, now the tree count is down to 261, that's about half of what it was yesterday. so it is improving. and overnight tonight, chilly, 30s tomorrow morning, afternoon high, mid 60s with sunshine. saturday, warmer, with sunshine, mid 70s. near 80 on sunday with some clouds in and out. maybe even the mid 80s to monday. mild start to next week. that's the way it looks, barbara. >> tom, thanks. danella sealock has another check now on our midday traffic. danella? >> well, right now we are seeing southbound route 3, approaching 450 only the shoulder getting you by the crash there. expecting delays. also seeing delays because of road work, a live look at i-95 at fairfax county parkway. right lane taken away because of the road work there. you're seeing significant delays right now. you're at about 37 miles per hour, as you make your way

northbound to the beltway. now, heading to the beltway, inner loop at i-95, left lane taken away by the road work there, and you're even slower, barbara, traveling at 23 miles per hour. tough trip, slow from i-270, barbara, back over to you. >> thanks, danella. a new study says a design flaw could prevent many parents from installing child safety seats correctly. the insurance institute for highway safety released a study on the latch restraint system. that's required on every car manufacturer since 2002. the institute says the poor design can block access to the anchor that holds the car seat in place. researchers say parents should also make sure they use the tether that extends from the top of the car seat. that is there and you'll see it if you look closely at your car. well get ready to pay more for your cab ride in d.c. this month. the d.c. taxi cab commission unanimously approved a price hike and here's the breakdown. cab fares are going up from $1.50, to $2.16 a mile.

each piece of luggage in the trunk will cost you 50 cents during a snow emergency you're going to have to pay an extra $15. also if you leave a cab idling, that's going to cost you $25 an hour. the higher fares are set it take effect on saturday april 21st. but cab riders could get a break since it may take some of the cab as little bit longer to refit and calibrate their meters. well, you might think you don't have time for exercise, we all say that. but there are plenty of ways that you can get in shape without going to the gym. today we're going to go back to basics with our fitness expert, steve hayes, and good morning. >> good morning, barbara, how are you? >> i hear you're going to show us some things you can do without any equipment whatsoever and something you do every day and it's good for the entire body. >> no equipment, no excuses. as a matter of fact, barb remarks i would like for you to help me work out today. so let's take that jacket off. >> i don't know if i want to reveal what's under this jacket. you know we're at the end of winter where we're been covering

up. i am ready to exercise. i'll slip off my jacket and i'll try to help out here. >> the first one always tells someone when they're warming up, it's a sprint one. i'll do the sprint one first. that's where just open uple palms of your hands and get your knees up for a second. >> get the palms open, get those knees up and count to ten seconds, you've got your body, you're getting the body loose and ready for the workout. >> now the next one, is for the arms. >> well the arms i was telling him before we started, that i'm ready to get these arms in shape. >> this is your tricep one, i want you to put your hands on the side of the bench and sit like you're sitting in a chair. >> uh-huh. >> now slide off the seat. as you go down -- >> you hold on to the chair. >> oh yes. >> you're working the back part of the arms. >> but let me show you something different. >> how many of those do you have to do? >> ten. >> and let me show you another

angle, when you bring your hands in closer, bring your hands in closer. bring them in closer. before you're working the triceps, now you're getting the a abdominals, as well as the upper part of the shoulders, you're getting two in one. >> that's great. how many do you have to do? >> you want to do ten repetitions and three sets of ten. but again i have a whole sequence of exercises that you do. >> all right. let's see what else you got. i'm going to watch you this time. >> the next one. we want to work the abdominals, i would like for you to do the ab with me, too, this one, just crunch in and push down. >> crunch in and push down. >> bring it up and over. >> you keep the camera on him, not on me. i'll do it but i don't want anybody to see me do it. >> as you're pushing up, when you crunch that knee up you're working the front part of the muscle and the side, too. it gives you that little tiny waist. >> what do you call that? >> your standing crunch. >> how many do you want to do?

>> ten on each leg. >> what else? >> this is good one, this is my boxing one, this where you work quads, abs and hips, you sit down and throw five punches like this and you hop over like this and throw five punches and you come back. >> keep going. >> you make it all the way around. >> each time around it counts as one round, you want to do five rounds of those. >> that will take a lot of your energy. >> it works, abs, quads and plus it's an aerobic workout. >> what else do we have? >> you'll love this one. this one is where you're doing your lunge, your stepping lunge, pulse eigating lunge, just puls and down, it's on you. i love this training. >> up and down, the pulsating makes you keep the abs and quads locked in and you're working the total hip and it's just an incredible workout. just the pulsating one. >> what else? >> let me see, let's go to the one where you're going to really

work the side muscle here. the serratus muscle. just take it and just twist, squeeze, the secret is squeeze those abdominals, squeeze and let your body just stay in one position, stomach in, chest out. >> that works for you. >> about it's a great exercise. >> okay. >> it's an awesome exercise. >> have we done it all now? >> well let me put it like this. those are only just some i have on my dvd coming out in ten days. >> how long should the workout last each day? >> 18 minutes, a complete workout in 18 minutes. >> do you another wellness tip for us? >> this is national can certificate prevention month. the national cancer institute says get your exercise, your check-ups and eat healthy and exercise and you'll help to prevent cancer. >> that sounds good. a good tip for us and i'm going to put my jacket back on so i can be the news anchor that i was before you got here. it is now 11:39, steve always

great to see you. laceway.com you've got a new video coming out? >> in ten days. >> congratulations. coming up at 11:39, the warning signs that your child may have a learning disability and how to get help for it.

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battle over gay rights is playing out in montgomery county and high schools there this week. gay rights groups are blanketing the counties 25 public high schools with 50,000 flyers, telling students it's okay to be gay. those flyers are in response to leaflets that have been sent home with students at some schools claiming homosexuality is not a permanent trait and can be fixed. students received similar anti-gay flyers back in february. montgomery county schools allowed nonprofit groups to send home leaflets during specific periods of the school year. a board of education committee is thinking of banning outside groups from distributing flyers, beginning next school year. >> on saturday, there will be a big push to make sure that all

children can learn. the frank stroud 5k, walk, run and roll will benefit kids with learning disabilities. the proceeds go to the early stages center in the office of special education in d.c. schools, we're joined by dr. nathaniel beers, the chief of special education and the founder and executive director of early stages, welcome. congratulations on getting the stroud prize again this year. >> thank you. >> i know that dr. stroud was very, very much involved in trying to make sure that kids were identified early. with learning disabilities so that they could be treated and learn to perform with whatever their disabilities are at the best of their ability. telling what you're doing in the district of columbia now? >> i think we're doing a lot of things to honor dr. stroud's memory at early stages and within d.c. pushl schools. to make sure we identify all kids early in their lives. the critical pieces we know that families who identify kids'

needs early are more likely to have that child gone to be successful as an adult. >> we understand that d.c. has a success story to tell. what is that success story. >> we do. two years ago, actually almost three years ago, when we came in and overhauled early stages, we were identifying about 2% of all 3 to 5-year-olds as being eligible for special education. and the national average was 6%. we know that some of the risk factors we have in d.c. with early childhood, low birth weight, with poverty and other things, that we should be above the national average. as of today, we actually are now at 7.95% and exceed most states in identifying kids. >> we have some video that you have shared with us of a child being, going through whatever one does to determine whether they have the disability. tell us about what we're looking at. >> we're looking at a kid who came into our center because there was someone who had a concern about what was going on with him developmentally. it may have been a parent, it may have been a teacher, it may

have been a concerned citizen who was working with the family. or a pediatrician who sent the child in. they're working with this kid to determine where they are, developmentally. so they're looking at how they're responding to new objects. how they're looking at patterns and understanding patterns. what they can do, languagewise to talk about what they're seeing and hearing and following directions. >> i'm sure that some parents just assume that children develop at different, in different ways. and many parents are really probably hesitant to come out and say that i think my child may be disaebled in some way, because they think they're going to catch up. they're just, a slow bloomer. what are the things that parents should look for? i think the critical thing that parents can do is make sure they trust their instincts. if you're worried, you're playing with our kids and you're seeing your kid is not doing the same thing, you are talking to other parents and they're saying, oh, my kids are doing x, y and z, and your child is not. if you're worried about that, you need to trust your instinct and ask for help. and certainly early stages is

one the places that can provide help and also going to the pediatrician's office and getting the help early. if you kid who can't sit still, who can't read a book with you, who can't play with you, who is not engaging with you in the way that other kids are, again, you need to trust those instincts and come to someone who can provide evaluations to make sure there's not something more serious going on. it could be that nothing is going on and that's great and we're always thrilled to tell parents that they have a completely normal child who is doing a great job. and here are some things you can keep doing to help them continue to grow. >> what about things like late crawling? you may expect a child to be crawling by seven, eight months and they're not. or late walkers? are those indications there could be a learning problem? >> so we know certainly, kids who are late talkers, kids slow to develop their language, are more likely to develop learning disabilities, we want to very carefully watch those kids. certainly kids who are slow to develop physically, are at higher risk for other

disabilities as well. and we want to again be very careful and make sure that we're keeping a very close eye on those kids. and providing them strong services and things that the parents can do. because a lot of it is what parents do at home, as well as what we can do at school as well. >> that's what parents have got to do. they've got to realize that there are things that they can do and if they need help. they can go and get it. doctor beers, we're so happy that you came to talk about it. the walk, run and roll starts saturday at the bottom of k street. i think people are welcome to come out and join in. >> we'd love to see more people there. >> thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. and it is 11:48. verizon customers prepare to pay more. cnbc's jane wells joins us with more on this. and our other business headlines, hi, jane. >> hi, barbara. let's take a look at the markets. all indices up about a percentage point if you're looking at the dow, it was up as much as 150 points at one point. i have it up at about 137, 38

right now. the nasdaq up about 35, the s&p 500 up about 14 points. i got some good news and bad news. i'm going to give you the bad news first, weekly jobless claims last week rose by 13,000 to a total of 380,000, the highest number since january. analysts thought the number would drop. some blame the rise on the easter holidays, i guess bringing some seasonal jobs to the end. they always want to blame easter, the holidays, the weather. good news, the trade deficit in february shrank 12% to $46 billion as the record exported a record high, $180 billion worth of goods and imported less from places like china. you know when you sign up for cell phone service, it often means you can get a nice fancy new phone at a steep discount to make up for the loss, verizon wireless says it will charge people $30 every time a customer wants to upgrade to a new phone starting april 22. one airline believes that when you're flying without the kids, you'd like to avoid screaming babies and if you have screaming babies, and i've been there, you'd like to sit with

other families. true? well cnbc.com reports that starting this summer. malaysia airlines will attempt to restrict families traveling with children in coach, to only be seated on the lower deck of its massive new a-380. kids can sit upstairs only if there's no more room for them downstairs. barbara, is that fair or is that like a great idea? i can't decide. >> well, okay, jane, i agree with you. thanks so much. we'll see you tomorrow. and this week's wednesday's child, we want to introduce you to a brother and sister who are hoping to find a loving home together. we went to lucky strike in northwest d.c. to share their story. >> both riante and christian were ready to share some of their secrets for bowling here at the lucky strike bowling alley in washington. they're a brother and sister who unfortunately at least for now don't live in the same home. they have both been in foster

care for most of their young lives, each moving, but not together. from home to home. >> how long have you been there? >> almost a year now. >> where were you before that? >> a different foster home. >> christian says she's had to move around a lot. and though she doesn't mind, she says she does a little. >> i do a little. cause it's like confusing where i'm going to be. >> at this time, we're hopeful that we can find a permanent place where they very much would like to be adopted together. >> after bowling, we went to the kitchen at lucky strike, and cooked up some pizzas with manager virgil thompson and the lucky strike chef. right now, what they most want and need is a family that will want and love them both. >> love is something that somebody gives you. from their heart. >> here's christian's pepperoni. >> look at yours, wow. >> look at that.

>> and double cheese. >> and if you want more information on our beautiful children we have there, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me or log on to our website, at nbcwashington.com. 11:52 the time. meteorologist tom kierein is back with more good news for the weekend.

[ male announcer ] for some reason those five food groups sound a whole lot better when you put them in a taco shell instead of a pyramid. old el paso. when you gotta have mexican. this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

actress ashley judd is speaking out against ha she calls a hatred of women. recent pictures show judd with what looked like a bit of a puffy face. gossip blogs immediately wondered if the actress had blastic surgery. judd hit back, speaking to "the today show" and slammed critics for openly criticizing her looks. >> i think it's hatred of women that invites criticism, it's the objectification of girls and women and the hypersexualization of our society that invites the criticism. it doesn't have anything to do with me really and how i look. >> judd blames her puffy face on prescription steroids to clear up hersinuses. you can take a look at stories we're following this afternoon. jim hanley joins us with more.

>> first at 4:00, latest live from florida as george zimmerman makes his first court appearance today. then tonight at 5:00, what's in a number? liz crenshaw has the five factors that raise or lower your credit score. and what you can do to improve your standing. it's a report you've got to see tonight at 5:00, for all the day's news, we join you first at 4:00. back to you. let's take a final check on our forecast, here's tom kierein. hey, tom. >> good morning as we approach the noon hour, a beautiful picture over washington, puffy white clouds and a blue sky. winds are gusting to around 25-30 miles per hour. temperatures now in the low to mid 50s, much of the region. reagan national now at 57. afternoon highs should peak around 60 degrees. and perfect weather for baseball. a little bit cool, a little bit breezy. otherwise lots of sunshine at nationals park. the first pitch is just a little over an hour away. and it will be holding near 60

during the game. then overnight tonight under a clear sky, getting chilly, down to the 40s by late evening and the 30s by dawn tomorrow. during the day friday, lots of sunshine tomorrow, into the mid 60s during the afternoon. and a lighter wind. and then over the weekend, on saturday, a beautiful day, morning lows, chilly and near 40 degrees. afternoon highs, low to mid 70s. lots of sunshine. and then on sunday, partly sunny, and warmer, mid 50s in the morning. afternoon highs up around 80 degrees. back to work and school on monday. and feeling like summertime. it should be mostly sunny with highs low to mid 80s monday afternoon. and then tuesday, another mild day, but turning a little bit cooler midweek next week. that's the way it looks, have a great afternoon. see you tomorrow morning. >> all right, tom, thanks so much. see you tomorrow. well, some dogs like to go for a walk. well look, this guy likes to go for a roll and he does it well. his name is decker and he's mastered the skateboard. look at that. his owner taught him how to ride

more than a year ago. decker has become world famous for his skateboard skills, he runs around entertaining the country all over the place. he was the inspiration for the dog pound logo for the nfl's cleveland browns. and he didn't go that far but he does get up there and stay there for a while. that's "news4 midday." we thank you for us and invite you to tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. until then, have a terrific day and we'll see you in the morning. [ 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 just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends april 21st.

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