good morning, everyone, and "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison. it's wednesday, may 2nd, 2010. right now, transportation secretary, ray lahood, is preparing for a meeting to keep the metro dulles rail project on track. officials from virginia, fairfax and loudoun countys are expected to gather at the airport authority to work out a funding deal. news4's megan mcgrath is live in fairfax county with more on this. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. they've been talking about this project for years. for decades. you take a look behind me, you

can see the dulles access road in the center. that's how many people get to the airport right now. of course that's not long-term plan. the plan is to bring metro silver line all the way down to dulles airport. but funding and incentives for the use of union labor have thrown that project into turmoil. later today, transportation secretary ray lahood is going to sit down all the key parties and try to hammer things out. loudoun county has not agreed to pay its share for the cost of final phase ii. and some lawmakers are opposed to millions in incentives offered to contractors, who use or to use union labor. as you know, virginia is a right to work state. there's also in the mix, continued concern over state funding. so a lot of issues out there. and while there's still a lot to be worked out, congressman jerry connolly, thinks the rail to dulles will eventually happen. >> we're going to have to reallocate financial responsibility and hopefully that will trigger a little more

federal participation in phase ii. i think secretary lahood may be prepared through some bond financing to do that. and a little bit more from the state. which would be welcome. >> and that meeting with secretary lahood is scheduled for 4:00 this afternoon. we'll of course continue to follow it. and the developments coming from that meeting. reporting live in fairfax county, megan mcgrath, news4. thank you, megan. new today, d.c. mayor vincent gray is highlighting his vision to educate the district's children from infancy to jung adulthood. this morning, the mayor talked about his raise d.c. cradle to career program. it's a comprehensive program that prepares children for success in an emerging economy. he talked about his early success framework. the first component of his five-prong plan that will be rolled out. the mayor says it will help get district children into a healthy, nurturing environment to develop. taking a look outside right now. it looks kind of foggy, steamy

perhaps, it is on the warm side, tom kierein joins us with a look at the forecast for today. >> that's the result of the rain we had earlier this morning. we still have a little bit of the humidity hanging in the air from the rain that came through around dawn. over the last few hours, we've had sprinkles heading closer to washington. there's storm 4 radar over the last couple of hours, getting a few sprinkles in fairfax county, prince william, loudoun, into fauquier and shenandoah valley and that will be continuing to move south and east, south of the metro area. right now it climbing into the 70s to near 80 throughout much of virginia. where they've had sun this morning. under the clouds we're still in the 60s around washington to near 70 degrees. when the cloud cover does break up, i still think it will, around the metro area, we should climb into the 80s by later this afternoon. by mid to late afternoon there's the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm popping up as well.

otherwise, partly sunny, may hit upper 80s throughout much of virginia. if any of those storms get going, there's a risk that some of them could be severe. i'll show you the latest severe risk zone, we'll take a look at that, the rest of the week and weekend in ten minutes. >> thank you, tom, see you in ten minutes. we'll check the mid day traffic right now. danella sealock joins us with the latest on the roads. >> right now a couple of things to look out for if you're traveling southbound on i-270 approaching montrose. you're going it see an accident there. the volume, very light on i-270. please use caution, now over to i-66, road work continues again today. as you make your way towards the beltway. the left lane is taken away. and you are seeing big delays right around nutley. in fact, you're jammed. travel speed from fairfax county parkway on i-66 to the beltway, driving at about 39 miles per hour. right now that's looking at a 16-minute drive. barbara, back over to you. >> thank you. and new today, one man is behind bars for setting a fast-moving

fire in silver spring. it left more than 100 people without a home. police say 24-year-old abraham kewflew admitted to the starting the fire at the apartment complex on terrace drive. he's a relative of one of the tenants there. investigators are trying to figure out how and why he started the fire. the damaged or destroyed 32 of the units and caused $1 million in damage. right now, mitt romney is in chantilly, virginia, along with congressman frank wolf speaking at a local business, later tonight he'll speak at a fundraising dinner. a new poll shows romney is still trailing president obama by a healthy margin. news4's melissa malay is live in the studio with details. >> reporter: it was a survey of 680 virginia voters and the results show president obama with a 51-43 lead over mitt romney. take a look at the live picture of the gop hopeful campaigning

at chantilly. at the exhibit's edge, a company that puts on train shows. speaking to a large group of women, mostly focusing on the economy and he's in town to raise funds. tonight will be a private dinner for those donating $50,000 or more to his campaign. now at some point during romney's swing through virginia, governor bob mcdonnell will appear with him. the same poll showed that if romney joined mcdonald on the ticket, romney would still have an eight-point advantage. romney speaking with virginians about the job market. >> the number of folks who find it hard to find a job, a job that can meet their needs, over 23 million people out of work or have stopped looking for work or can only get part-time jobs. americans are tired of being tired of this economy and of this president and they want real change. >> public policy volg has polled virginia voters six times. each time the president has come out on top.

obama had a six-point lead, the margin of error on the latest poll is 4%. barbara? >> thank you, melissa. also in virginia today, newt gingrich is expected to suspend his presidential campaign. and endorse mitt romney. gingrich called romney a tough candidate and said re-electing president obama would be a disaster. the former house speaker said he probably won't consider another presidential run in the future. saying he's already a little too old for the office. our time now, seven minutes after 11:00. coming up, how face pook is trying to save lives and a new rule that could wind up costing pit bull owners. and forced to rebuild -- a famous actor and director whose studio

minutes ago, president obama landed back in washington after a surprise trip to afghanistan. just hours after he left, a suicide bomber killed at least seven people and injured another 17 in kabul. insurgents attacked a compound of houses used by foreign organizations. police battled with them before two hours before killing all of the insurgents. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. claiming it was in response to president obama's visit. that blind chinese activist who escaped house arrest says he now wants to leave the country

because he fears for his family's safety. chen guangcheng left the u.s. embassy in beijing today to receive medical care and be reunited with his family. he's at the center of a diplomatic tug of war between the u.s. and china. originally, he said he would stay in china after receiving assurances that he would be treated as a normal citizen. the chinese foreign ministry is now demanding the u.s. apologize for allowing a chinese citizen to enter the u.s. embassy. you can now register to be an organ donor through your facebook page. this morning the baltimo"baltim" reports that facebook registered 130 new donors yesterday afternoon alone. consider this, april was national donate life month. the day with the most number of new donors in maryland in april was just 55. now in california, donations soared to 800%, doctors say that

the added facebook attention should not detract people or distract them from the lengthy and difficult organ transplant process. here's what they say. >> processes in place in this country. really regulates strongly so that there is no coercion, no monetary benefit. >> there's no word yet on just how many new donors signed up in virginia and d.c. well we have a pretty nice day out there. it's kind of on the, muggy side? not hot, though, just kind of steamy. >> kind of fast-forwarded a couple of months, those who have been pining for summer-like weather, it's here, we've had morning showers coming through, so the atmosphere is quite humid. and we do have a little light fog in washington. that's a live view from our hd city camera overlooking the monuments, right now, 68 at reagan national. a little sun trying to break through the overcast there. and that's actually one of the cool spots, because just south of here, we have some sunshine

breaking out and temperatures are warming up. look at this photo sent in by one of our viewers of an osprey and eagle battle. battling over air space over the potomac river. this is the time of year they do that. the eagles usually win. the osprey on the right. here's another photo sent in, sarah of a butterfly having lunch at the flower cafe. and if you do have an interesting photo to send us, nature or weather, send it to weather@nbcwashington.com. here's what's been happening over the last 12 hours. the one morning surge of rain, now it's off the coast. a few sprinkles breaking up, south of washington. look at the sunshine from fredericksburg south of virginia. climbing into the 80s. locally here, close in, over the last few hours, we've had a few breaks in the clouds, a little sunshine breaking up, northern montgomery county, into frederick county, the panhandle of west virginia. still in parts of fairfax county, prince william and into the northern shenandoah valley,

temperatures where the sun has broken out, near 80 degrees, charlottesville to near friend riksberg, under the clouds, we're in the 60s, i think we'll be able to break up around the metro area. around the hometown weather network, reston in the upper 60s, near 70, as well as andrews air force base, as far as leesburg, 72, germantown, northern montgomery county, a little sun breaking out and it's around 70 degrees. this whole zone in yellow is a potential severe weather zone later this afternoon, covers most of virginia, west virginia, maryland, the district, between 3:00, 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. when an isolated thunderstorm could pop up and might produce damaging winds and maybe some hail. if you hear thunder, get inside, turn on news4, we'll let you know if any storms are threatening your neighborhood. well for the rest of the afternoon, yes, some breaks in the clouds, some sunshine, maybe making the low 80s around the metro area, but upper 80s to

near 90 degrees across parts of virginia for our viewers to the south. it will be a steamy, hot afternoon. sunset at 8:02, clouds around this evening. still the chance 6 a lingering shower or thundershower during the evening. near 70 by midnight. and continuing to drop down to the 60s by dawn on thursday. then partly sunny, another rather warm day for early may. into the mid and upper 70s tomorrow. maybe some afternoon storms. as we get into friday, smaller chance of any storms, but still hot, up around 90. on saturday, partly sunny, still a summer-like day, into the mid 80s. and there's the possibility of a, evening shower or thundershower saturday, just a small chance. otherwise, the weekend looks dry. cooler weather moves in for sunday and monday, highs in the 70s both days and maybe showers on tuesday. earlier this week i travelled to falls church and visited the thomas jefferson elementary school. talked to these students. these fourth graders about weather. they've already had a unit on weather there. and we had a terrific time, i want to thank the teacher in the

back next to me, mary kelly, for the invitation to the thomas jefferson elementary school. a lot of fun. >> that's a big class, tom, how many in the class? >> two or three fourth grades. >> all together in the library. let's head out to the roads again, danella, what's it look like out there, any problems? >> still seeing the accident on i-270 southbound as you approach montrose road. again very light volume on i-270, just be aware of that, if that's your commute today. now crossing over the 14th street bridge, just want to show you the left lane here, road work is blocking your left rain. your travel speed, about 54 miles per hour. as you make your way northbound on 395. only 12 minutes from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. over to the american legion bridge, no issues in this area. if you're taking the outer loop, you're clear as you travel about 51 miles per hour, back to you. 16 minutes after 11:00 is the time right now. still ahead on "news4 midday" --

monumental fashion, looking your best for this weekend's ball on the plal. plus -- while you'll have some extra protection during your evening commute. but first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

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this weekend, more than 1,000 guests will gather on the national mall for dinner, dancing and more and you're invited. marissa, the co-chair of this year's ball on mall, joins us with a fashion expert from neiman marcus. what is the ball on the mall and who can come? >> the ball on the mall is a wonderful event. anyone can come that lives in the area or doesn't live in the area. it's saturday night, and we'll have about 1,000 guests on the mall. and a beautiful event to raise money to restore the national mall. >> i understand they've already got big tents coming up on the mall getting ready for the event? >> absolutely. >> bands, music of all kinds? >> we'll have a deejay, deejay heather and about 1,000 people there, it will it be fantastic. >> how much money do you expect to raise and where will the money go? >> we should raise $750,000, and the l'enfant sew side, the next

generation of entrepreneurs, and philanthropists, we've raised over $1 million, that goes to the actual trust. the trust for the national mall.org. and the funds go to actually raise money for the park service and to restore the jefferson, the lincoln and all of our beloved monuments. >> and this is a nonpartisan effort that has started what, about four years ago? >> this is our fourth annual ball. we're thrilled and yes, it is nonpartisan. >> liberty, what can we expect to see? what should people who are going to run out to buy a gown to wear saturday night, what should they look for? >> asthma r marissa said, it encompasses a wide, vast, fun audience. because it incorporates the l'enfant society, it's a young society. we've got a women's committee that's going to be more of a gown. we'll see a ton of different designs. >> why don't we have a look. suggestions for folks who are

looking for what to wear. >> the first gown is tadashi. i love this, to me it looks first lady, it looks elegant. it's got the beautiful neckline and the color of patriotic, we are honoring the national mall and history and it's a wonderful dress and i think it's inspired to me, inspiring about the all the things that are wonderful about the national mall. >> navy is the new black they say? >> absolutely. >> so there will be some people in long gowns? >> there will be people in long gowns. >> you're going to be dancing the night away, so you want something that's comfortable and elegant. this to me looks like a little bit of the national mall and obviously it looks wonderful on her. very flattering to everybody, the sheer lace is a great trend for the season. >> let's see, a much more summery looking dress. >> when i think about the national mall, i think about the gardens and the wonderful parks that are nearby and i love this, it's watercolors and pastels are

huge trend for the season which is why i chose those oscar de la renta earrings. these is badgley mischka. it's fun, playful, it's a gown with elegance. >> you say there will be people who will come in shorter-length gowns? >> absolutely this is my fourth year attending, i've seen a bunch of really cool things that people go edgy. it's again, that's what i love about the ball. >> let's see the next fashion. >> this lynnly looks fabulous in this. this is what i call this wonderful great gatsby inspired, almost flapper-esque. it's short, but still has the great formal vibe. she could pair it with a different pair of shoes if she wanted to go more flirty, if she wanted to, do she could do a flat with that. >> this is one of your committee members, right? >> absolutely. >> a very cute outfit. are you wearing short or long? >> i've decided to go with long this year. >> a little more formal.

>> i like all the sparkle. >> and another short dress? >> yes. >> is this another committee member? >> she'll be attending. she'll be attend, this is so wong, the gold and the neutral, it's a strong trend for the season. she's got the great fabulous gold bag. this is a figure-flattering dress. this color looks fabulous on everybody. if you want something that's going to dazzle, but feel more comfortable, maybe feel more comfortable in a cocktail depending on if you're a little more petite. >> what tom told us with the weather report it sounds like we're won't need our umbrellas on saturday night and hopefully not even a shawl. >> if you needed to wear it with rain boots, you could. >> and the event is covered, so everyone is safe, regardless. >> we've heard, as i said, lots of big tents going on out there. how do people get tickets to go? >> you can go to the l'enfant society,.org and we have tickets and we encourage everyone to go there and purchase the tickets, it's going to be a fantastic evening as i said.

it's americana theme, we'll be embracing our national roots. and l'enfantsociety.org. >> why don't we have our models come back out to have one last look at the kinds of things we'll see on saturday night on the mall there may be folks who want to go out and look at the people arriving and leaving. thank you all for coming. all of our models, those who are ones who we've seen lately, but some of our other shows we've done and thank you very much both of you for coming. >> thank you, barbara. it is 11:25. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," bobby brown speaks out for the first time since whitney houston's death. what he's saying about her drug addiction. plus, your passport to d.c. a month of events that will take you around the world without leaving the district. and the heat is back, but so are the storms. i was paying too much with cable.

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right now, mitt romney is in chantilly, virginia, part of a full day of events for the presumptive republican nominee. romney is appearing with congressman frank wolf. later tonight he'll appear at a fundraising dinner with virginia governor, bob mcdonald. the bob chinese activist left the u.s. embassy in beijing to receive medical care and be reunited with his family. cheng guangcheng's fate has been in the middle of a tug of war with u.s. and china. he will stay in china after receiving assurances he will be treated as a normal citizen. metro has stepped up its security today on the anniversary of osama bin laden's death. extra police patrols and canine units are out in force, making sure things stay safe. news4's tracee wilkins as more. >> reporter: metro says that riders will be feeling and

seeing a heavy police presence throughout the system today. they're also asking riders to help them out by reporting any suspicious activity this they may see. this started last night as folks were leaving nationals park. they experienced some of what we're going to be seeing throughout the day. heightened security marks the first-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. metro officials will step up patrols at major cross stations on platforms, inside trains and they're also going to be walking around with canine dogs and really large guns. but of course, this is all planned. transit police say there isn't a credible or specific threat against the system. but they say al qaeda has shown interest in anniversaries and significant dates in the past. so they want to be prepared. riders we spoke with say they appreciate the extra security. >> it's, it feels good to have extra protection. >> it's very comforting to have the extra police support. >> if you don't experience this high police presence at your metro station, know their work is going to be seen and unseen. in southwest, i'm tracee

wilkins, news4. we now know more about the man stabbed to death in northwest d.c. we brought you the story as breaking news yesterday morning. you may remember. police say 33-year-old dwayne brisbane worked as a a c.a.t. scan tech at washington hospital center. had been out celebrating a promotion. they say he was stabbed in an altercation on florida avenue on his way home from a u street bar. he reportedly tried to drive himself to the hospital, but crashed. and right now, the prince george's county woman accused of orchestrating an acid attack on a mother is taking the stand in her own defense. prosecutors say tamara jackson arranged for another woman to carry out the attack in an oxon hill parking lot in the year 2010. they say jackson was upset because the victim was dating her ex-boyfriend. jackson faces assault charges. the case is being retried after a judge declared a mistrial. and this afternoon, maryland governor, martin o'malley will

sign a bill banning employers for asking for social media passwords. the new law will prohibit companies from demanding employees' user names and passwords to facebook, twitter and other social sites. maryland is the first state to pass such a ban. this morning it's easier for victims of pit bull attacks to file a lawsuit against the dog's owner and others in maryland. the maryland court of appeals declared pit bulls a as an inherently dangerous breed. that means owners are strictly liable for damages if their pet attacks someone. a landlord is also liable if the attack happens on his or her property. animal advocates say. >> our concern is we will see a increase in pit bull abandonment. there are pit bulls in loving family homes and in the end the owners will be forced to give up their pets. >> prince george's county has

banned pit bulls since 1997. maryland's attorney general wants the state's court of appeals to reconsider or at least suspend a ruling that struck down part of a state's dna collection law. the ruling bans officers from taking dna samples from people charged, but not convicted of crimes. the court ruled the practice is a violation of their constitutional rights. attorney general doug gas-guzzler filed a motion to stay the court's decision. he said he will file an appeal to the u.s. supreme court if the court of appeal does not reconsider the decision. we have a school alert to tell you about, oak crest  elementary school in maryland has been relocated because of a water outage. the students will be moved to central high school in capital heights. now check in with tom kierein for the latest on our forecast. the wake of the morning rain, the atmosphere is saturated. the low levels, a lot of humidity in the air, as a result, quite a bit of fog, a live view from our sky watcher

camera, about 300 feet above northwest washington. you can make out in the middle distance, the national cathedral along wisconsin avenue in northwest washington. usually we can see downdown, but we can't today. the visibility is only a couple of miles, looking at what's been happening over the last couple of hours, the view from space, the area of green is light sprinkles, prince william fauquier, northern shenandoah valley. passing south of washington. we have breaks of the clouds in much of virginia, where temperatures are beginning to hit 80 degrees, under the clouds and with light fog around, we're just near 70 around washington. later today, we ought to get some sunshine breaking out and temperatures should hit the low 80s around the metro area. upper 80s, much of virginia we could get strong thunderstorms developing later this afternoon into this evening. some isolated storms could produce some wind damage and maybe some hail. if you hear thunder, get inside and turn on news4. tomorrow, another day a lot like today. slight chance of a shower on

friday, but still feeling like summertime. maybe some thundershowers saturday evening. otherwise, the weekend looks dry. cooler weather moves in sunday and monday. that's the way it looks right now, i'll be back with another update in a few minutes. >> tom, thank you. we want to check on the mid day traffic again with danella. >> right now watching the beltway, if you're taking the beltway, a live look at connecticut avenue, no issues to report on the iner loop or outer loop in montgomery county. outer loop, you're driving at about 57 miles per hour. not bad at all. looping around to virginia, no issues to report. a live look at robinson terminal. and if you're making your way on the inner loop of the beltway heading towards the dulles toll road, traveling at about 60 miles per hour, just taking 14 minutes. on the inner loop and outer loop in virginia as well as prince george's county, no accidents to report. back to you. well it took firefighters in atlanta, georgia more than an hour to put out a four-alarm fire at the tyler perry studios. the 200,000 square-foot studio is home to sets, sound stages

and a 400-seat theater, too. the cause is under investigation. the amount of damage caused is not yet known, but the fire burned through the exterior facade of a large building. perry is a director, writer, producer, actor and playright. his film credits include "meet the browns" and "i can do bad all by myself." bobby brown says it was whitney houston who introduced him to hard drugs. the singer makes that claim in a new interview with "the today show's" matt lauer. brown says the public blaming him for his ex-wife's death is hard to hear. >> it's unexplainable. but i know i wasn't the one that you know, got her addicted to drugs or i'm not the reason she's gone. >> bobby brown and whitney houston were married for 14 years. brown says he saw houston just a week before her death and says she looked great and seemed to be doing very well. the two had one daughter

together. well, may is international cultural awareness month and d.c. is celebrating with passport d.c. and to explain how you can be a part of that. linda donovan harper, executive director of cultural tourism d.c., joins us to talk about it. >> passport d.c. is a series of events here in the city, right? tell us about it. >> it serves as an umbrella for all of the cultural, international cultural events going on over the course of the month of may. there's very large events going on on each weekend. this weekend, may 5th, is the kickoff event. with around the world embassy open house. >> tell us about that, the around the world embassy open house. >> 42 embassies will be participating all acrossed city, from all over the world. they will be offering food, all types of cuisine. traditional dress, music, dance, almost anything you can imagine. >> you can walk in off the street at any of the embassies

without an appointment? >> it's free of charge. we suggest that people stop at one of our two information booths and pick up something new this year, which is an actual passport. where they can get it stamped, they can get their picture put in the front of it. it will be a great souvenir. >> what day does that happen? >> it's may 5th for the around the world. this saturday. may 6th is the meridian international children's festival down at the ronald reagan building. and next saturday, may 12th, is the eu open house. followed by the women's museum global market place on sunday. >> tell us about the children's event. >> the children's event is sunday. it will be at the ronald reagan building. a new location for them. mostly for children under the age of 12. beautiful stage with lots of entertainment and about 20-some embassies that will be doing children's interactive events. >> dell us about some of the interactive things they get to do. >> everything from playing games

to getting face painting to understanding where the country is on the globe. but lots of activities. and i think what's happening is it's really all sort of geared at a low, a children's level. not only that the type of entertainment, but literally, at their level it's great fun watching storytellers sit on the floor and interacting with those children. >> about how much children do you expect to come? >> new location for them. so they've always had about 1500, and i think this year they're expecting to blow that out. there's plenty of room this year. >> in the past it was at the america he had yan international center. >> i've been the host for that on a couple of occasions. >> i remember you on the stage. >> it's a lovely event and there's lots of wonderful things for kids to do. how can people get more information from this? >> they can go on to our website, culturaltourism.org. everything is there. there are guidebooks at each of

th embassies participating. so if you go directly to the embassy, can you go it that morning or go to one of our information booths at tinley town or dupont circle. >> right at the metro stops. >> what should people look for, a kiosk? >> a tent with our passport logo. the bus shuttles will be taking off from both of those locations, it will be obvious. we expect about 25,000 people. >> and it doesn't cost. >> it doesn't cost anything. the only cost is you get to stand in line and visit with some great folks from around the world and across the country while you're waiting to get in. and that's almost as much fun in so the cases as the embassy, the embassy people come out and do things in the line. >> with what time? >> we start at 10:00, goes to 4:00, that's true of this saturday's event and next saturday's event. >> the kiosk where you can get

your passport with all the information. >> at dupont circle and van ness. >> buses will take you? >> buses, metro system, we have the maps indicate on them what all the transportation systems are. >> i guess we have all that we need to know now. >> over 70 embassies, come join us. >> it sounds like it's going to be a great series of events. linda donovan harper, the head of cultural tourism in d.c. still ahead from springtime depression, to seizures caused by anxiety. dr. winer has three psychiatric problems that may surprise you. and using the cell phone behind the wheel is getting a bad rap. but there's

distracted driving is definitely dangerous. but a new study says improper

use of turn signals causes twice as many accidents. that according to the society of automotive engineers. the study found that 48% of the time drivers either neglect to use their turn signal when changing lanes or fail to turn the signal off afterwards. researchers also found 25% of drivers did not use their turn signals when making a turn. turn signal issues cause about two million accidents a year. >> this morning, the princeton review is being accused of sheeting the federal government out of tens of millions of dollars. u.s. department education's office of inspector general filed a civil fraud lawsuit against the company and one of its former employees. prosecutors say the employee turned in false claims, saying needy children in new york city had been tutored when they had not been. then they collected federal funding. the princeton review said in a statement yesterday, that none of the employees or executives

in involved in the program remain, or those employees remain with the company now. factory orders down in the u.s. and so are stocks this morning, we check in with bertha coombs from cnbc. she's got the rest of the day's business headlines. >> hey, good morning, barb raxt markets are lower this morning over concerns about slow economic growth around the globe. we've got slow manufacturing data from china and europe and factory orders were lower here as well in march. ahead of the labor department's jobs report, adp reported that only 118,000 private-sector jobs were created last month. microsoft suffering a setback in the german courts which issued an injunction against the sale of xbox and windows 7. last month a u.s. court issued an injunction from motorola from taking action, based on any german court rulings, so stay

tuned for that one. ifrts. first the movie and now the social network is getting ready for is close-up on wall street. the road show, preipo talking to investors about the stock offering. the sale could be scheduled for may 18th. the company looking to raise about $5 billion in what could be the biggest internet ipo. and if you're good with 150 characters, goldman sachs wants to talk to you. the bank is looking for a social media strategist to handle its presence online. it has about 3500 followers on its official account. meantime, an account set up for the main elevator at goldman's new york headquarters has nearly 250,000 followers. i'm not sure what the elevator says, but i know a lot of

investors say they would love to know what the walls and goldman have to say. >> have a great day up there. >> see you later. in our weekly segment with dr. joshua winer, we're going it talk about three psychiatric problems that may surprise you. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. >> i'm anxious to hear about these. i know that you think that the winter months are a time when people, that's what we usually think of maybe depressing, people are inside. but spring may be a more troubling time for people, as a result? >> that's right. i think a lot of people expect that because the winter is cold, it's dark, we know about seasonal affective disorder. people think they're lonely with the holidays, that's the time that people have the most depression when in that fact that's not the case. more suicides occur in april may and more in any other months of the year. not just in the northern hemts

fear, the southern hemisphere as well. >> that's really surprising. tell us why. >> it's puzzling. we don't know exactly why. but one of the theorys is that those people who are feeling somewhat depressed during the winter, they expect to feel kind of low and then when they start to see the flowers are coming out, people are out and about and feeling better, it magnifies their own depression and they feel like wow, everybody else is feeling better, i'm not. and that can then sometimes trigger them to take the next step and end their lives. >> you say this is a time of anxiety for a lot of people. and it can push them to have some sort of seizure-type reaction, what is that? >> there is a condition in which anxiety can cause seizure-like activi activity. this is something called a conversion disorder. what happens is some people, their anxiety becomes so overwhelming, that they unconsciously have seizure-like

activity. i treated a young girl, she was ten years old. her brother was physically abusing her. her parents had no idea. her brother would call himself the hulk. she ended up going to the movie theater years ago to see the movie, the hulk and while watching the movie, her anxiety became so overwhelming, she dropped to the floor and started having seizure-like activity and was brought to the hospital and after some time, we realized that this seizure-like activity was not due to an abnormal electrical discharge, it was due to anxiety. >> springtime is a time when this would happen more often? >> no, this is unrelated to the springtime, this is something that could happen at any time of year. finally, can you tell us about an illness that you may makes people lose their sleep? >> this is just an incredibly terrible illness, probably the one of the worst illnesses that somebody could possibly imagine getting. fortunately it is extremely rare. there have only been about 40 families in the world that have ever had this illness.

it's a genetic disorder in which people, sometimes in between their 30s and 50s, develop an inability to sleep. and it becomes -- and it becomes progressive. and within 18 months, most people die. it's fatal for everybody. it's called fatal familial insomnia. >> so it is not like your usual insomnia. where people go to bed, but just can't sleep, they wake up? >> no, this is a condition in which people, no matter what, cannot sleep. even when they take sleeping medications. they may look like they're sleeping, but their brain is still active and alert. and that's why it progresses rapidly. people become psychotic. they get bad anxiety. they hallucinate and within about 18 months they go into a coma. >> are they tired during the day? >> they're exhausted and despite having all of these difficulties, they are fully aware of what is happening to them. so it is just a brutal, terrible illness.

and because it doesn't happen until you're in your 30s or 50s, these people end up having children and there's a 50% chance that each one of their kids can end up going on to have this same unfortunate event happen to them. >> wow. well if anybody experiencing any of that, they need to go to a doctor. >> it's so rare, i don't want viewers to think that this is happening to them. the only way they would have to worry about it, is if they have a family member that happened to. it's a strange, bizarre illness. >> well, thank you. for sharing those three interesting illnesses with us. it is 11:52. coming up, getting too much sun? a mom is feeling the heat for taking her daughter, her 5-year-old to a tanning salon. plus meteorologist tom kierein will be back with more on the heat headed our wa

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the caps are looking to use home ice to their advantage and take a lead in the second-round series with the rangers. after splitting the first two games in new york, the caps return home to the verizon center tonight. game two was a big boost for the caps, who got a game-winning goal from alex ovechkin, and another stand-out performance from rookie goalie, braden holtby. you can catch tonight's game on nbc sports network. the puck drops at 7:30 this evening. a new jersey woman's

obsession with tanning may have gone too far. she's facing child endangerment charges for bringing her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth, causing the girl to suffer burns. 44-year-old patricia krentcil is asking a judge to dismiss the charges. she said she did take her daughter, anna, with her to the tanning salon last week. but the little girl was not in the tanning booth. never exposed to the uv rays. she said her daughter got slightly sunburned while playing outside on a warm day. >> i tan, she doesn't tan. it's called a tanning booth, and a tanning room. she's my little girl, i'm not going to bring my little daughter into a 90-degree bed, i mean, that's not normal. >> anna's father said his daughter told classmates at school that she went tanning with mommy. he thinks the teacher overheard, assumed the girl's sunburn was connected to the tanning salon and contacted police.

well in case you're wondering, in new jersey it's illegal for teenagers under 14 to tan at indoor salons. it's not clear if there's any specific law prohibiting a child from entering a tanning salon or the premises of where those tanning booths are. let's take a look now at some stories we're going to be following for you on news4 this afternoon, pat lawson-muse joins us with more. coming up, we get our first look at sextuplets born last week in texas. and we're going to hear from the proud mother. then tonight at 5:00, a fairfax county woman kicked and punched her way to weight loss. tonight, she shares her secret to losing 70 pounds in our latest installment of what's your workout? and stick around for news4 at 6:00 tonight, after japan's tsunami, a harley-davidson washed up on the beach miles away. tonight at 6:00, the owner comes forward to claim that bike. those stories and more and all

of the latest news starting on news4 at 4:00. barbara? >> thank you, pat. one last check on the forecast with tom. >> the sky is brightening over washington. a live view from our sky watcher camera. and there was those pictures from earlier of the two eagles, the eagle and the osprey having a big fight in the sky. as we look at the view from space, we see breaks in the clouds, a few sprinkles south of washington, temperatures now beginning to climb into the 70s to near 80, it's going to hit the upper 80s in parts of virginia, maybe strong storms later today, stay tuned. >> that's "news4 midday" for today. thanks for joining us, be sure to tune in tomorrow, lots coming up for you, see you in the morning.

you're going down! it's all over! no! it's not over yet! sofas that can take anything life throws at them.