flight in march of 2011. this is its final journey to its resting place at the stephen udvar-hazy center in chantilly. >> we're approaching the 11:00 hour here as the space shuttle "discovery" continues its trek to the dulles international airport and then to the stephen udvar-hazy center there. it is 11:00 a.m. right now. are you watching news4 breaking news coverage of the discovery final flight on "news4 midday." and can tell you of all the celebrating we're doing right now. we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the entire space program has come with a lot of blood, sweat ant tears and quite frankly lives. we've lost the lives of astronauts who have travelled into space on our behalf. and we have to thank them for all the work that they've done. >> we want to show you right now the landing gear is down on the 747. again we are about five minutes

out we can see that the landing gear is down on the 747 as it approaches landing at dulles airport. discovery left the kennedy space center at 7:00 this morning. about a half an hour ahead of schedule. it took an extra lap around the nation's capitol. almost preening for the crowd, allowing everyone to get their historic shauts and delighting people who had gathered very early. not only on the national mall, but at the stephen udvar-hazy center in dallas and it as it approached dallas, it took another lap around that area as well. now we see that it's on its approach to landing. the landing gear down there on that 747. >> we call it "discovery." the folks at nasa call it orbiter vehicle number 3. "discovery" has a better ring to it. this is their pride and joy for certain. the construction began in 1979 on this orbiter. it was completed four years later and deliberated to the

kennedy space center in october of 1983. almost a year later it went out on its first mission and for 28 years, across 39 different missions, discovery has done the work that's needed to be done by the folks in charge of our air and space programs. >> so can you hear the air traffic as the plane comes in for a landing. >> we were hearing the communications between the pilot and we're imagining the controllers there on the ground. but aaron, you were mentioning the historic nature of all the work that discovery has done. listen to the numbers here. the total miles traveled for discovery. 148 million plus. the total time in space, 365 days, 5,830 orbits, 252 crew members. you mentioned that the space program is not without some challenges. we suffered the nasa suffered

two huge losses and the tragic losses of challenger back in the '80s and of course, "colombia" in 2003. and critics said the space shuttle program has cost a lot of money and that we might have gone further if the program had gone a different way. there are challenges that nasa has faced with the space shuttle program. >> this is a ground camera right now showing you the orbiter coming in. megan mcgrath is at the udvar-hazy center in chantilly. megan, pick it up from here. >> well, we're all such slaves to schedules and the like, but this is one day where no one cares. they have deviated from the original plan. it looks like we're going to get yet another passover here. we can't tell from our vantage point, but you say the landing gear is down, so it looks like this is going to be our final pass. i can tell you, everyone here is very glad that they decided to do it one more time. if you look at the road here in

front of udvar-hazy, some folks who thought this was all over had started to pull out of the parking lot, well they all just stopped their cars in the middle of the street. we've got parked cars in the middle of the street as they realize we're going to get another pass. people are outside their vehicles, they have their camcorders out, they have their cameras out. you can see nobody cares. major traffic jam. but nobody cares, everyone is looking up at this beautiful image. just the -- it's an amazing thing to witness here. and -- wonderful that they did yet another fly by here. this will be the last one for us. the landing gear is down. so as soon as they pass overhead, they're going to be landing here at dulles. back to you all. >> we are going to listen to some of the air traffic control communication right now as we are just a minute or so away from the actual touchdown here of this 747 with the discovery

shuttle mounted on its back. it sounds like maybe the air traffic controller -- >> just maintain at or below 1,500. and right downbound, run way 1 center, we'll have you cleared to land on 1 center, as soon as you tell me you can break out. >> i want to let you know. >> all right. >> go ahead and cross right now if you would and head right at my tower, please and hold, if you can hold right in front of to the north of it. >> close to the tower, hold at

north. >> the landing of the boeing 747 with the space shuttle "discovery" on its back just landing there, picture-perfect landing on its final flight to dulles airport. it left kennedy space center this morning at 7:00, flew through the nation's capitol and then over dulles and awe you saw there, what a way to end this incredible journey. just a picture-perfect landing. much to the delight of the crowds who came to witness this part of history. >> a singular moment for many of us here in the washington region. some people maybe saw something similar to this back in the '80s, but for a lot of us, this is something that we've never seen before and will likely never see again in this part of the world. just three space shuttles still around now. the others are going to museums and other parts of the country. so this is something that is very unique for us to see, very unique for us to have shared with you this morning. the final taxi on the runway at

dulles, with the work-weary "discovery" on the back of the 747. >> and the images when you saw the "discovery" close up shows the kind of work. discovery has been on 39 different missions with historic firsts for nasa. you can tell it's beat up, banged up, after 28 years of service, finding a final resting place at dulles and then at the udvar-hazy center in a couple of days. let's go back to megan mcgrath live at the udvar-hazy center. megan? >> well i just getting word that we've had a landing here at dulles. so the fly-byes are over. but what a day. i can tell you there's not a single person here who is disappointed with this experience today. just absolutely amazing. a large crowd gathered. some are starting to filter out. we've got quite a traffic jam here as people are trying to leave here. folks arrived very early. they came with all kinds of coolers and blankets and chairs.

just to be a part of the experience. >> we're talking about young and old and everything in between. a huge variety of people here today. i've got to show you you, the first passover, you were the guy who tipped me off that it was coming. you were yelling, it's here, i see it, i see it. what did you think? >> it was awesome. because there was a space shuttle on top of the airplane. >> and you've got a little model there. so you're fan, you like these space shuttles. why? >> because they go into outer space. >> pretty cool. thanks for talking to us, sweetie. lots of different people here. school groups. young kids, older kids, people who remember the infancy of the space program. you name it. all turned out here today to witness history. and we got a second passover, or

a third passover here that was unexpected. it happened in downtown washington. they kind of lingered out there. did a few more passes than originally expected. of course, it pleased the crowd to no end. people had their cameras out and they've been sharing some of those photos with us. look what i got, look at the video that i got. and people did indeed get some great photographs, they have memories for a lifetime. just a terrific day out here. barbara, back to you. >> really exciting day and wonderful watching it land there at dulles airport. the 747 with the shuttle on its back. we're all excited here. we were each outside here at nbc on the front lawn as it made a few passes by us here as well. and good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." we've been watching it, we've had special coverage all morning long and we thank those who participated in that. we're going to head out to the mall right now and say good morning to tracee wilkins who has been watching from there. tracee?

>> reporter: this has been such an exciting and historic day here. and fos those who have been with us all morning long and watching our coverage, you remember when we had literally hundreds of people who were out here on the mall, waiting for discovery to make its flyover. well now it's kind of empty out here. it looks like a regular day on the mall now. folks cleared out. but i would venture to say that we probably went into the thousands. let me show you what it looked like earlier as folks were standing by earlier and watching as the shuttle made the pass over. it passed over the mall at least two times and was an amazing, amazing sight. unbelievable to see it close up. and the reaction was incredible. people were yelling, here it comes, here it comes and then they would run from one end of the mall to the other end. so they could get pictures and get video and just as the crowd started to walk away and thinking that's it, it would fly over again and people would run back and yell there it is. and take more pictures. and there were folks standing on top of buildings, taking pictures and everyone was just

try tock part of this historic moment. we talked to some of the people who were out here. here's what they had to say about it. >> this is a once in a lifetime event. the "discovery," we're not going to use it any more, we're anxious to see it come. we live near the udvar-hazy and we're excited. >> what are you thinking as you're watching this last flyover? >> a lot of history. it's a sad time for the u.s. not to be, have any presence other than the, you know, the space station, but no way of getting up there. so it was a tremendous era. you know, in the united states to be able to have such technology and all. and now -- just waiting and seeing what's going to happen next. >> most of the people out here have had space shuttles in their entire lifetime. i remember the first landing on the moon. i've been around a little bit longer than most of the people here. but just being able to see something so historic is, is wonderful. and to be here, is just

wonderful. >> reporter: and that's absolutely what folks were saying, that this is the end of an era. something that they have experienced their entire lifetime. i know i'm one of those people who remember watching the shuttles actually moving and going into outer space. from elementary school. sitting indian style in front of the television and watching that happen. you're looking at live pictures right now of the shuttle making its way there at dulles airport and preparing to come to a complete halt. and folks are gathered down there as well. taking pictures and getting video, et cetera. now as for the flyover that happened here this was actually practice. so as it made the passes around washington, this wasn't the first time that they had actually made that trek. they practiced it back in early april. and tried to see just how low they could actually fly. trying to get as close as possible to the monuments without causing any issues so that they could get some pictures of this historic flyover. so they were just as interested in getting pictures and

capturing this moment from on high as folks were here on the grount and that's why the jet was flying alongside, because it was getting a lot of these pictures and that's why it made a number of passes throughout the district. there was some historic land sites, they wanted to make sure they had pictures of discovery in front of, it will be really fantastic when the exhibit is up to see if photos will be part of the exhibit. surely they will. and for folks who weren't on the mall when this happened, maybe they with experience it that way. for everyone who was here, this was just a breathtaking moment. to see discovery and to know what all of that means for the shuttle program. and for what has happened now. with the program. i'm tracee wilkins, on the mall, news4. >> all right. tracee, thank you. well tom kierein was pretty excited about watching this happen today. he joined eun and aaron throughout the morning following all the things that went on to bring the shuttle back down to the ground here in washington. let's go to him now to see what

he was feeling and how he's feeling now. >> what an exciting morning. and we had great weather for it. we had a deck of clouds that came in right around 9:30 between 8,000 to 12,000 feet. but by then, the shuttle and the 747 were down below that deck and we had beautiful viewing conditions. great definitely weather for taking photographs. and we had definitely perfect weather with temperatures right around the 60s to near 70 degrees. and there it is, now parked on the tarmac there at the dulles airport. and here over washington, there's the sky over dulles airport, you can see the cloud deck there as well as here. we'll probably get some sunshine back later. right now reagan national, 68 degrees, comfortable, perfect weather for being outside and viewing this. it was a bit breezy. we've had gusts up to around 20 miles per hour now out of the northwest, around 15 to 20. there's the view from space. and you can see the cloud deck,

that did ride on in, right over washington and northern have a ra and maryland. it will break up a bit and we'll get some sunshine coming back by later this afternoon. temperatures now around the region, are in the 60s to near 70 degrees and we're going to climb just a little bit more for a high by mid afternoon. it looks like this cool pattern is going to continue toward the end of the week and into the weekend. maybe some relief from pollen with some rain coming our way. we'll talk about that coming up in just a couple of minutes with your seven-day outlook. and that will be a few minutes, barbara? >> tom, thank you so much. well, while a lot of us were standing out on our yards, here at nbc, we were doing that a lot, people were pulling over to the side of the road and jumping out of their cars to try to catch a glimpse of that, danella sealock joins us, did you have any problems on the roads because of that? >> i can tell you i saw lots of tweets saying that drivers were slowing down to check out the skies. thankfully, that's over now. because it's not very safe to do so. i want to get to the roads right now. because i see road work slowing you down.

this time on the inner loops you approach braddock road, you'll see your right lane taken away as you continue. so far it's not affecting traffic right now because your volume is light in this area. now shooting over to the american legion bridge, taking the outer loop heading into virginia, you're in the clear. your travel speed making your way from the dulles toll road to the interchange, you're at 55 miles per hour, a 14-minute drive it make the trip. checking the beltway in college park, on the inner and outer loop, clear in both of these areas right now. back to you. well, all morning we've been watching the shuttle discovery as it came into washington for its final flight. we're looking at a live picture of the tarmac out at dulles airport where the shuttle is right now. we will continue our shuttle coverage coming up at 11:30, right now back to more news. metro's safety investigators are trying to figure out what caused this metro bus fire this morning. metro tells us that a mechanic was driving the bus at the time. it happened just after 6:00 this morning on route 50 between i-95

and mlk highway in prince george's county. no passengers were on board, the bus was towed for the investigation. the incident did cause traffic delays, but everything is back open at this time. police in alexandria are investigating a violent robbery at a duncan doe nukin' donuts i0 block of duke street, the store was held up just after closing at 10:30 last night. employees tell news4 a female co-worker was head during the robbery but not seriously hurt. police have not said if the thief got away with any money. jury selection is under way for the retrial of roger clemens. the former all-star pitcher is say cuesed of lying to a congressional committee in 2008 about using performance-enhancing drugs. the first trial ended last july in mistrial when prosecutors introduced inadmissible evidence. during the interviews, potential jurors openly questioned whether a retrial of clemens was an effective use of taxpayer time and money. if convicted, clemens faces up

to 21 months behind bars. in the trayvon martin murder case, george zimmerman's defense attorney is requesting a new judge. zimmerman's lawyer says judge jessica reikseidler has a possible conflict of interest in this case. her husband is the law partner of cnn's legal analyst in this trial. legal analysts believe that he will step aside. florida law states a person simply needs to show a reasonable belief that the judge might not be fair in order for them to file a motion. 18 minutes after 11:00 is our time. coming up, we'll have the latest on the scandal that has rocked the secret service and now includes some military personnel as

a live picture of the shuttle "discovery," there it is on the back of the big boeing 747, it landed just after 11:00 this morning in the nation's capital here in dulles airport. it's on its way to the udvar-hazy center, not there yet, though. but a lot going on and we will continue our coverage of the landing of "discovery" coming up at 11:30 this morning. have you done your taxes yet? they're due today if you didn't know it. if you haven't done them, you have a chance, you can still get an extension. to do that you need to fill out

a form. it's called 4868, you've got to do it by the end of this day today, you can do it electrically, online at irs.gov or print out a copy of the form and mail it in, it needs to be postmarked today to avoid late filing penalties, you have until october 15th to file your tax return. senate republicans voted down the so-called buffett rule today. today president barack obama is accusing republicans of once again choosing to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest americans. the bill is named after billionaire warren buffett who says his secretary is taxed more than he is. the bill would have mandated those making $2 million a year, a 30% income tax. republicans say it's a political gimmick. more fallout from the secret service prostitution scandal in colombia, we're getting more details on which agents were involved in hiring the prostitutes. nbc's tracie potts has reaction coming from the pentagon.

>> reporter: for now, top security clearance has been revoked for 11 secret service agents accused of hiring prostitutes while preparing for president obama's visit to colombia last week. lawmakers are concerned about a security breach. >> anybody who has watched a spy movie knows you go in with the gils, you plant the bugs, you compromise the agent. what were these guys thinking? >> reporter: first reaction from the pentagon -- >> we're embarrassed by what occurred in colombia. we let the boss dawn. because nobody is talking about what went on in colombia, other than this incident. >> i can assure you if that investigation determines that there has been a violation, that the individuals involved will be held accountable. >> reporter: sources indicate there were two secret service superviso supervisors, three snipers and three members assigned to protect the president's motorcade, all had his minute-by-minute schedule. >> the prostitutes had access to that, they could have potentially given it to a foreign intelligence service, a drug cartel or even a terrorist group.

>> reporter: now we're learning not five, but perhaps more than ten members of the navy, the army and the marines may have been involved. several congressional committees may hold hearings to investigate. but a pentagon spokesperson said the members of the military who may have been involved were not directly involved in keeping the president safe. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. well, we've all been very excited about what's happened here in washington today. everybody here and all around the city trying to catch a glimpse of the space shuttle. >> and thousands came out. we had great weather for it. what an exciting morning. and now we've got some clouds passing over the metro area. but no rain in the forecast for today. however, tomorrow and that's going to be good news for allergy sufferers, the pollen count is over 1200, it will stay high until we get some rain. and right now around the region, temperatures are still in the 60s much of the area of a we hit the 80s yesterday. quite a change. it's going to be about 20

degrees cooler today than yesterday. right now, 68 at reagan national. it's near 70 just to our south, much of southern maryland and right near the bay, pax river is at 75, much of virginia, low to mid 60s, it will stay in the 60s throughout the rest of the afternoon. and we will have our highs reach maybe mid 70s, parts of the northern virginia region, but generally, only the upper 60s to near 70 across much of maryland. west virginia and into western maryland, and as we look going forward over the next 48 hours, we'll have the cloud deck over us for the afternoon. it will clear out tonight, get cloudy by late tonight and this area of green, that's the zone of potential rain, might have a few passing sprinkles in the morning and a passing shower during the afternoon tomorrow. it should help to wash some of the pollen out of the air. we'll get some sunshine back on thursday and into friday, we'll have clouds increasing again and a greater chance of rain for the weekend. so for the rest of the afternoon, we'll have these clouds coming through, partly

sunny, and light breezes come in out of the northwest maybe up to 20 miles per hour as temperatures briefly hit the low 70s, and then overnight tonight, sunset is at 7:48, we'll have the clouds increasing overnight. it will be cool with temperatures down to near 60 by midnight and down to around 50 degrees starting off tomorrow morning. and a cloudy day on wednesday and much cooler, highs low to mid 60s. and a pretty good chance of maybe a passing sprinkle, late morning or during the afternoon. a passing shower, 30%, 40% chance of that. on thursday, we get the sunshine back. we'll have afternoon highs, after a chilly start in the low 40s, climb to near 70. and on friday, increasing clouds again near 50 in the morning, afternoon highs into the mid 70s. then the chance of rain with an area of low pressure coming through over the weekend on saturday. sunday, and again on monday. possibility of passing showers, we need the rain. unfortunately it's happening on a weekend and we'll have highs near 70 each one of those days. last week i traveled to herndon in fairfax county, to the fox

mill elementary school. talked to these bright and happy second graders, had a great time in herndon at the fox mill elementary school. they loved my pop-up weather book and we talked about all different types of weather. the teacher on the right in the back is debby nandurey who invited me to talk to the second graders there, fox mill elementary school it was a great time. >> thanks for all of your wonderful coverage this morning. we'll be talking to you again. it's 11:27 still ahead, how both men and women can fight hair loss. plus, incredibly stupid is how some are describing an incident involving pippa middleton and a gun. we'll tell you what happened. first, a

[ 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. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement -- plus your special bonus: $250 back. save $600 in your first two years. hurry. this incredible offer ends april 21st. call 1.877.827.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.827.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v.

or visit us online to save even more. fios. a network ahead.

right now on "news4 midday," space shuttle "discovery" is at dulles international airport. it landed within the last half hour. it rode on the back of a 747 jet and took several spins around washington. it took off this morning from the kennedy space center in florida. "discovery" will stay at dulles until thursday and then it will be towed to the smithsonian's

udvar-hazy center nearby. it will replace the shuttle prototype "enterprise" which will be moved to new york. people throughout the region looked up to get a glimpse of this historic flight. many will remember the day for years to come. news4's megan mcgrath is live at the udvar-hazy center and can tell us what she was hearing when she was out there and the flight went by. good morning. >> reporter: well good morning, barbara. a lot of people just absolutely thrilled by what they saw this morning. but now we have the exodus, we had a large crowd here at the udvar-hazy center. you can see everyone getting into their cars now and leaving. now that the shuttle is on the ground here. but earlier today, this grassy area absolutely packed with people. all hoping to see a little bit of history. it didn't take long. visitors came early and snapped up all the parking spaces. by 7:30, there was a giant tailgate party happening outside the udvar-hazy center. >> i came out here just to watch

the space shuttle come in on a 747, i thought it would be an exciting sight to see. >> we're going to track it. >> reporter: this academy in herndon canceled classes today so the students and faculty could be here. >> these are the students and these are the teachers and parents and we canceled school. we're the only school probably in the area, we canceled for the day to come out because it's historic. >> reporter: it's history in the making, after 39 missions into space, the shuttle "discovery" took its final flight today and what a sight it was. discovery riding piggy-back, atop a boeing 747 did a low pass by dulles airport. rather than land, it kept going, doing low flyover along the potomac river before returning to dulles, its final landing now something for the history books. >> that was fantastic. i can't believe it flew right over us. it was the most amazing experience. >> it was like why the there, it was amazing.

it was, there was nothing else to say. it was like right there. and it was right above you. >> and you're taking a live look now at shuttle discovery there on the runway at dulles international airport. the landing picture perfect, everything went very, very smoothly. and now basically what they're going to do is take it to an area of the airport where they can begin to work on it. so that they can decouple the shuttle from the boeing 747 that it sits atop of right now. that's a laborious process, they have 50 tractor-trailers, big trucks filled with equipment. they have all kinds of personnel here which are going to begin the process we're told sometime wednesday evening. once they detach the two aircraft, well then they're going to bring discovery here to the udvar-hazy center. that's going to happen sometime here on thursday and there's a big ceremony planned here, we're going to see it nose to nose with "enterprise" the prototype that's been on display here at

the museum for a number of years. "enterprise" is going to go to a different museum, "discovery" is going to become part of the permanent collection here and there's going to be a big ceremony and lots of fanfare on thursday, when the public can also come in and really get up and a personal look at "discovery." it's certainly worth seeing. reporting line in sterling, megan mcgrath, news4. >> 11:34 is our time now. coming up next, it's potholepalooza in the district. and what the weather has to do with saving or wasting money on gas. gas. and tom kierein is here with

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. i knew someday i was gonna do this walk. 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... and receive $25 off your registration fee. 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 ♪

the duchess of cambridge's sister, pippa middleton not likely to be charged in a gun scandal in france. paparazzi took picture of middleton sitting next to a man who as to be pointing a gun at a photographer. the gun is reportedly a toy gun. apparently it's gas the law in france to show a gun in public, toy or not. >> this was taken place very close to the big train station here in paris where the euro star is where there are armed police and armed soldiers on patrol all the time. the last thing you want to do is be brand issuing anything that looks like a gun in that vicinity. so this wound up being a joke, it will probably be a short-term sto story, but there was a potential here for tragedy and i can't overstate how stupid it was to be playing these kinds of games where they were playing them. >> french police say they are investigating, but confirm they

will not talk to middleton. middleton is prince william's sister-in-law. we'll check in again with tom kierein for the latest on the forecast. >> it's been rather cool morning and we're going to have a cool afternoon, temperatures holding steady generally in the 60s to around 70 or so for a high as we've had clouds closing in, blocking the sun. but a few breaks in the clouds. allow the sun to come and go during the afternoon. those little areas in green you see, south and west of washington, in southern west virginia and into kentucky and tennessee, that's an area of some rain along a weak area of low pressure and a front coming through. that may be moving in by tomorrow. between now and then, we're not going to warm up much more, maybe into the low, mid 70s briefly around washington. but areas west and north of us will stay in the 60s the rest of the day. mid 70s in southern maryland. and then during the day tomorrow, we'll have the clouds around. 50 in the morning, afternoon highs low to mid 60s. and a possibility of a passing light shower perhaps late tomorrow morning and then again

during the afternoon. and then on thursday, chilly in the morning, near 40 degrees, sunny during the afternoon. highs 60s to near 70. milder on friday with increasing clouds and a larger area of low pressure, slowly moving through. bringing us needed rain and highs around 70 degrees, that should improve the pollen count. pollen has been running high for mostly oak tree pollen. i'll be back with another few minutes with a final update. >> thank you. it's potholepalooza in the district. report it and crews will fix it in 48 hours. call, tweet or email the exact location of the pothole. send a tweet to d.deecee. here's danella sealock.

>> if you're taking the rails you'll see delays on the orange and the blue line due to scheduled track work. so expect delays on both lines in both directions. over to the roadways, traveling along 66, making your way eastbound past nutley to the beltway, you're in the clear, westbound travel lanes open as well. speaking of the beltway. let's head there now. this is the outer loop of the beltway and the inner loop at connecticut avenue, you're in the clear, outer loop, your travel speed looks really good at 55 miles per hour. a ten-minute drive to get from i-95 to i-270. barbara, back to you. well, there's no arguing gas prices are high right now. but some consumer groups say gas stations are ripping consumers off to the tune of at least $1 billion a year. nbc's jeff rossen investigate. >> talk about sticker shock, $4.50, $5 for gas, we're all feeling the squeeze. >> gas prices are going crazy. >> i'm spending way too much

money for gas. >> but consumer watchdogs like judy dugan say many drivers don't know the half of it. >> it's a huge ripoff of american drivers. >> when it's hot outside and the gasoline is warm, consumer advocates say you're not getting what you pay for. >> every time you stick the nozzle in your tank on a hot day you're being cheated. >> here's the issue, when gaskets hot, it loses energy, meaning your car gets fewer miles per gallon. fill up at 60 degrees and the typical car can go 500 miles, but fill it up when it's 90 degrees, you get ten miles less out of the same tank. but guess what, you're still paying the same amount at the pump. >> there's no way that we can tell what kind of value you're getting. when we pull into the gas station. >> in fact according to the 2007 congressional report, americans were paying an estimated 1.5 billion extra for gas in just that one summer. and gas prices have skyrocketed since. >> is this fixable? >> yes, there's technology on

the market that would fix it today. >> gas pumps with special meters would give you the right amount of gas for your money, based on the heat. those pumps are available today. but the gas stations won't install them. in fact they're fighting it. >> we simply don't agree that the juice is worth the squeeze. >> the dan gilligan represents the gas stations, he says they're already giving consumers the best deal they can. that drivers benefit in cold weather and installing the new pumps would be too expensive. >> put in a $2.4 billion cost on gas station owners would only transfer $2.4 billion to the consumers. >> so you're saying if they put the technology into place, we have it pay for it? >> of course. >> here in canada, they've been doing it for nearly two decades, now 90% of gas stations use these pumps that measure and adjust for temperature. so on a hot day, you get more gas for your money. consumer advocates say here, no matter what the weather, you actually get what you're paying

for. >> now american drivers who filed class action lawsuits against gas station chains in 21 states, calling it fraud. hoping to get gas stations to install the high-tech pumps. what's your message to the oil industry gas stations? >> the message is just fix it we're getting ripped off. it's easy to fix. >> that was nbc's jeff rossen reporting. some companies are responding, costco has agreed to install new pumps in warm weather states. >> it's 11:44 still ahead, how

what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. with the sleep number bed, it's not about soft or firm. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the shoulders and in the hips. now you can feel what happens as we raise your sleep number setting and allow the bed to fill in to the contours of your body. oh, yeah. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body.

with our bed, you change the setting to something you like. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. your body changes over time. the bed can adapt with you. not only does it work for you today, but it's going to work for you 20 years from now. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. now, sleep number redefines memory foam, combining coolfit gel foam with sleep number adjustability. during the final days of our white sale, receive $400 in free bedding. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699.

stocks opening higher after positive news about u.s. corporate earnings, we'll check in with cnbc's betha coombs who joins us more. hi, bertha. >> hi, barb raxt stocks are stronger this morning. the dow is up about 167 points.

the last few days investors had been bore worried about european debt. but a debt auction in spain saw good demand this morning, so we're seeing a little relief. economic data in the u.s. is kind of mixed, construction of new homes in march fell for the second month, a surprising 5.8%. that was well below expectations, mostly led by pullback in new construction of apartment buildings. but new permits for new homes rose to a three and a half-year high. gasoline at the pump is coming down a bit, but coca-cola is a little more expensive. the soft drink giant this morning reported better-than-expected profits as a result, thanks to the higher prices, and a jump in demand. another reason the market is bouncing, apple shares higher for the first time in six days, some analysts think apple may have come under selling pressure ahead of today's tax filing deadline, with some investors perhaps taking profits. apple lost about $60 billion in market value the last few days,

about the gdp of the state of idaho. or the dominican republic. that's how big when apple moves, it really impacts the market. back to you. >> thanks a lot. have a great day. hair loss is a major concern for both men and women. and more common a problem for women than many think. we are here to talk about the treatments about hair loss. a lot of people, it hits them all of a sudden. the hair is thinner than they remembered that it was. what are some of the common causes for that to happen. >> there are medical reasons and external or environmental reasons. we color our hair, process our hair. people did a lot of things with their hair now a day, even from gels that contain a lot of alcohol. so it can damage the exterior of the hair. then there are medical reasons such as thyroid disease or other

conditions like aae aale alopec. >> now rogaine is for men, can women use it? >> there's a woman's formulation. there is a medication that we see that is helpful in dermatology for women with acne and hair loss, which is called sporonolactone, you might hear that sometimes called the female propeccia. that's the only form that's fda approved orally for men. >> you told us last week about lat latisse bringing the eyebrows and lashes back when they're less than full. is that part of the same thing? >> because hair loss can just be due to the aging process, they are testing latisse in hair loss. the stut studdyes are still ongoing, it hasn't been conclusive if we do see hair growth with it. but it definitely extends the growth phase of hair. >> now finally we want to go to an option you say a lot of women

are using these days. and we hear about it all the time. a lot of us haven't seen it done. tell us about it and you've brought some folks to help us. >> this is tay of bill lawrence salon on 18th street and we're going to show some examples. that's the number one question i get when people come in to see me for hair loss is what can i do in the meantime or what can i do for my appearance. i have to go to work every day or what have you. i'm going to show a little bit of what's done in salons. >> is this weaving? >> this is a bonding technique. this is done on all the celebrities when you see their hair shortened, the next time you see them and their hair is long. it's bonding of kareratine, cald great lengths, it bonds this to the individual hairs. it's a process that uses thermal heat, and it fuses the keratin

on to a few strands of the hair. you see people with feathers in their hair or a streak of purple or red. this is how it's done. >> now that's actually bonding with heat. >> it's bonding with heat. >> will it stay during a shampoo? >> it stays regardless of wetting, sun, heat, you can curl your hair as you would normally. >> okay and you're going to do the same thing -- >> so this is, this is in now. >> and it will stay there for how long? >> until it's removed. >> until it's removed. >> you're going to do another bonding of the same type. >> well this, this is very common for more straight hair, caucasian hair. where is in african-american hair, we can french-braidnd hair and sew it in, which is a little less traumatic to the hair than it would be with a thermal or bonding type of technique. she's already done a corn row in

the hair and she's just going to take, it's a big kind of needle with thread, very similar to the suture i use in my office and it's sewn into the cornrow. >> it's sewn to the hair? >> it's sewn to the corn row of the hair. >> she corn rows her actual hair and sews this extra hair to that. it's very unique it gives you a much fuller look. >> you can use it for just fullness or people who are losing their hair. and then i have in my hand one that a lot of stylists can make that have clip-ones and it just slaps. and it goes in. >> and -- >> i could have bangs. >> you could have bangs. >> the wrong color -- >> you could take it out at the end of the day. it's very easy, so people who like to change their hair style often. these are very nice little added accessories. >> dr. sheryl burgess, thank you so much for coming and thank you for bringing all of you, all of

you for showing us how that's done, beautiful. it is now 11:53 and coming up, the final megawinner, plus meteorologist tom kierein

the third and final winner

of the kz 650 million megamillions jackpot is coming forward. the winner who bought their ticket in red bud, illinois will be revealed tomorrow when they pick up their check. the two other winners from maryland and kansas decided to remain anonymous. let's check other stories for this afternoon. one guy goes to the extreme to fight a ticket. then tonight at 5:00, if you or a loved one is on dialysis, you won't want to miss tonight's i-team investigation, how to find out how your center rates with deaths and infections. and time for one more look at the forecast, tom? >> we have if you more clouds coming through, highs reaching 70 or so and clouding up tonight and cloudy tomorrow, cooler, low to mid 60s. maybe a passing shower during the latter part of the morning or during the afternoon to wash the pollen out of the air. a little sun back on thursday and friday. over the weekend, steadier, longer-lasting rain saturday perhaps off and on as well as on sunday and monday, highs near 70 each day.

have a great afternoon, see you tomorrow morning. thank you, tom. and that's "news4 midday" for today, we thank you for joining us. be sure to tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. we'd like to leave with you some of the beautiful views of the space shuttle "discovery's" final flight. see you tomorrow

[ 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. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement -- plus your special bonus: $250 back. save $600 in your first two years. hurry. this incredible offer ends april 21st. call 1.877.827.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.827.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v.