and now from washington's leading news station -- this is "news4 midday." good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, may 3rd, 2012. breaking news off the top -- right now a sentencing hearing is under way for former d.c. councilmember, harry thomas junior. he pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of tax dollars intended for kids in the district. megan mcgrath is live outside the courthouse with the latest developments for us now. megan, good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, barbara. harry thomas junior is inside a federal courtroom right now, waiting to learn his fate. the sentence has not yet been

handed down. let's take look at some video that was shot earlier this morning. when thomas arrived here at the courthouse. he did not stop and speak to reporters. he simply entered the courthouse, passed through security and then went up to the courtroom and waited for things to get under way. we are getting new information in terms of what this case involves. the judge says that thomas actually stole $446,000, not $350,000. that's something that we have not heard before. this is something new that's come out during the sentencing hearing. now right now, thomas' elderly mother is speaking on behalf of her son. thomas' supporters have said his good works with youth should be considered before deciding how much jail time he should serve. on the other side of things, the prosecution says, that a strong and clear message should be sent, they said, that he should get a sentence of 46 months, because after all, he was a public servant. harry thomas junior took office in april of 2007.

prosecutors say he began stealing city money just a few months later. a lengthy fbi investigation led to a raid of thomas' northeast home. among the things seized? a motorcycle and an suv. initially, thomas denied the allegations. >> i have always done what i was supposed to do on behalf of those i've served. >> reporter: but in january, with the evidence mounting against him, thomas resigned from the d.c. council and pleaded guilty to stealing over $350,000. money that was supposed to go to youth sports programs. in a recent presentencing letter, thomas apologized, and said, his actions were inexcusable. and he promised to work to restore his reputation. prosecutors, though, have called thomas' crime outrageous. that he breached the public trust and stole money from the people he was elected to serve. and court is still in session, as soon as a sentence is handed down. we will bring it to you, reporting live from the federal courthouse, megan mcgrath,

news4. we'll continue to follow the story all day as we await the sentencing. stay with news4 and our website, nbcwashington.com for the latest on harry thomas junior's sentencing toda and new today, montgomery county police are investigating a deadly accident involving a bicyclist. it happened earlier this morning at the intersection of route 108 and zion road in olney. investigators say the driver hit the female bicyclist along the side of the road. the driver stayed on the scene after the accident and is cooperating with police. route 108 was closed in both directions for hours while crews investigated the scene. and let's take a look at our traffic this morning. we're going to go to danella sealock to see how things are looking on the roads. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. if you're traveling on i-66 again today, seeing road work. this is at nutley, taking away the left lane for you. you are a little under speed as you make your way to the beltway. your travel speed is about 37 miles per hour. 16 minutes to drive from fairfax county parkway to the beltway.

over to the 14th street bridge, we saw road work on the bridge yesterday around this time. not today. you're looking good here. on 395 northbound, no issues, you're at 54 miles per hour. and in maryland, along i-270, north and southbound, this is a live look at clarksburg, clear as you make your way to the beltway. barbara, back to you. taking a look outside right now, a little cloudy, not just a little, it's real cloudy out there. but it could get warm today. and are we going to see the sun? let's ask meteorologist tom kierein about that. >> lo and behold, we are right now. the sun is just now breaking out. and as we take a look now at the live view from our sky watcher cam remarks you can see some blue showing through over washington, a live picture. and we did have some light fog earlier this morning, a lot of the fog is now gone. and around the region, yes, that sunshine is breaking out. now looking toward virginia. and we do have areas of blue sky showing through off to our south and west. and that's going to continue to be the story here as we get into the afternoon. we'll have increasing sunshine. and temperatures will continue

to climb. and right now, as we look at the view from space, there's bane lot of sun over the last few hours in the shenandoah valley. there's one little shower just about to head toward winchester. otherwise, no precipitation around the region. and it's already around 70 degrees there as well as parts of west virginia. low and mid 70s, closer to washington, we're in the mid 60s around the metro area. and with the sunshine breaking out after the stubborn, overcast did hang in for several hours this morning, we will have a warm-up and a wide range in temperatures throughout the region today. depending on where you are. over toward northeast washington, and nearby the bay, that area may only make it to the upper 70s. however it may make it to the mid 80s in our western and southern suburbs by mid afternoon. i'll show you the wide range map. we'll look at friday, the weekend and into next week in ten minutes. barbara? >> tom, thank you. d.c. police are searching for the person who stabbed two people in southeast washington.

along 27th street. police say a man and a woman were stabbed just before midnight. we're told the woman is in grave condition. and the man is expected to be okay. investigators did not release their names, so far, no arrests have been made. well it's a big day for mitt romney in virginia. michel michele bachmann will make endorse him. bat bachmann dropped out of the race in january. romney will attend a fundraiser with governor bob mcdonald while he's in portsmouth. romney and his wife spoke to business leaders in chantilly yesterday. virginia is once again shaping up to be one of the most sought-after states in election year. president obama and mitt romney each raised close to $1 million in the commonwealth during the first three months of the year. that's according to the virginia

public access project. president obama will visit washington lee high school in arlington tomorrow, where eel talk to students about the importance of affordable higher education. eel campaign at vcu in richmond, as well as ohio state university in columbus, ohio, on saturday. america's front yard is getting a makeover. the national mall is getting some much-needed renovations and today, we're getting a glimpse of some of the improvements that are part of the multimillion-dollar project. news4's tracee wilkins is on the mall with a look at the big plans. >> reporter: it's been the topic of discussion for some time now. what are we going to do to improve the look of the national mall. well now, three different arc at the time architects have been selected to redesign three different areas of the mall. and we asked people around town, do you think the new designs are going to help improve america's front yard. >> is this for sure? >> reporter: this will be what they're working on when they start to do the construction. using my ipad, i showed people

on the mall every day, what some of the planned designs for its big renovation are looking like. the reaction was -- interesting. can you imagine the mall even looking this way? >> that's quite fancy. >> reporter: after a contest between a number of architectural firms and the public having an opportunity to weigh in, the design was chosen. and in the end, olin-weiss was design dodd redesign the washington grounds. it will include a new amphitheater, surrounded by a canopy of trees. and nsa just the beginning. there will be a little pavilion and restaurant and. >> i don't know how i feel about restaurants. >> outside the walkway will be a tidal. >> that portion of the mall has always felt separate. >> reporter: by the lincoln memorial, other architects will trabs form constitution gardens by adding a water basin for

model boats and ice skating. >> i would like an ice rink. >> reporter: and they'll have a new restaurant pavilion overlooking the park. >> actually, i like it. i like -- i do. i like the idea of a way to hang by the lincoln memorial. you know, as long as it doesn't get too commercial. that would be my concern. >> reporter: now construction is expected to begin in the next two years. and they're hoping to have it all wrapped up by 20016. in southwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. and the third area designated for redesign will be union square. and the capital reflecting pool. that winning team's design has been sent to the capital's architect for approval. well heartbroken is how most fans are feeling this morning after watching the caps fall after playing for nearly five hours. >> around to richardson, score! >> the rangers scored in the third overtime for a 2-1 win. the teams traded goals in the second period with the

defenseman john karlsson scoring the only goal in the game for the caps. after that it was a goal-lead dual with rookie braden holtby stopping 47 shots on the night. the caps get two days of rest and will look for a win in game four on saturday. it is 11:10. and coming up, on "news4 midday," our continuing coverage of former d.c. councilmember, harry thomas junior's sentencing. we're going to bring you the sentence as soon as it comes down. major questions about player safety after the tragic death of a former football star. and sticking together -- bobby brown's family comes to his defense over whitney houston's

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earlier today, the federal government released what it's calling a treasure trove of material. documents from osama bin laden's compound. the combative terrorism center released 17 documents recovered from bin laden's pakistan compound during last year's raid. the letters reveal bin laden considered attacking america the ultimate goal. but he didn't discuss specific attacks. he also expressed frustration over not being able to control regional terrorist groups, calling some of them enemies of muslims. and right now, u.s. officials say they're still trying to help chinese dissident, chen guangcheng.

the blind activist spent six days at the u.s. embassy in beijing. yesterday he was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment for an injury he received when he escaped house arrest. he said chinese officials made threats to his family members. but the u.s. ambassador to china said he was never pressured to leave. >> apparently he's had a change of heart. we have to review all the options. they're going to have to make a decision. >> china's top diplomat is criticizing secretary of state hillary clinton for human rights remarks she made today. she urged china to protect the rights of its citizens. she did not mention chen by name. clinton is in beijing to talk about major economic, as well as security issues like iran and north korea. new tragic details are coming out about the death of former nfl linebacker junior seau. police say seau texted his ex-wife and each of his three children before taking his own life. his body was found yesterday in

his california home. the 43-year-old played 20 years in the nfl, mostly with the san diego chargers. health experts are concerned that players are suffering multiple concussions during their careers, which are causing severe brain trauma. this is the fourth suicide among retired football players in the last year. seau is the eighth member of the chargers, of 1994 super bowl team to die before the age of 45. a major blow to the baltimore ravens, even before training camp starts. espn is reporting that pro bowl linebacker, terrell suggs tore an achilles tendon playing basketball. the ravens have not confirmed it, but said suggs will see a specialist next week. the injury could force him to miss the entire 2012 season. and tom, just proof it me that the sun is out, he showed me the picture. it's looking good out there, starting to, anyway. >> it is and that was a stubborn cloud cover that hung in this morning. we were in the 50s throughout

much of the morning. but now, it doesn't take much for the sunshine breaking out. a little bit of a southwesterly flow, and yes, there is the jefferson memorial lit up by some sunshine. a live view from our hd city camera. overlooking the potomac. right now reagan national, it's at 64. with the sun peeking through and we've got a very light northwesterly breeze there. and this is one of the photos sent in by one of our viewers. these are bleeding heart flowers, beautiful. thank you, susan mcdonald. she sent those to weather@nbcwashington.com. and here's another beautiful flower, taken from a front lawn by jonathan gerr. if you have any nice weather or nature shots, send them along and we'll share them. well here's the view from space, over last several hours, we've had this cloud cover finally thinning out here. you see the darker areas railroad the sun is breaking out and it is quite sunny right around parts of northern virginia, including fauquier county, stafford and prince william into western loudoun, much of the shenandoah valley

getting sun. a little shower about to roll right on through winchester right now getting a few sprinkles. and 72 there. closer to washington, well it's in the 60s now, finally. but it should continue to climb into the 70s, maybe get to near 80 degrees by later this afternoon. look at the wide range in temperatures, i think we're going to see today. near 90 degrees, parts of the central shenandoah valley. it's only going to be near 70 on the eastern side of the bay, maybe the western side. closer to washington, may make it to upper 70s to around 80 degrees by mid afternoon. a wide range, depending on where you are, it will be either near 70 or 90. going forward over the next 24 hours, these areas in green are zones of potential passing showers. maybe a little thunder and lightning. just about a 40% chance of that. later this afternoon and early this evening. and then during the day on friday, friday morning, a few clouds around. and some sun breaking out. friday afternoon we may get other showers, maybe some thunder breaking out by friday afternoon and into friday evening. then that should settle down a little bit as we get into the

weekend. for the rest of this thursday, partly sunny skies, small chance of a passing thundershower. yes, it will just be in the mid 70s. in our eastern suburbs to mid 80s in our southern and western suburbs. quite a dramatic range in temperatures, around the metro area, near 80 degrees by mid afternoon. the sunset at 8:03. and by this evening, we ought to drop back in the 70s, to 70 by midnight, with a light, variable wind. tomorrow, we'll see most of the area climb to 80-85 degrees during the afternoon. and we'll have temperatures near 60 in the morning. a smaller chance of an isolated shower or thundershower tomorrow afternoon, as well as on saturday. that looks like mainly late in the afternoon and perhaps into the evening. and then cooler weather moves in after that. for sunday, near 60 in the morning, afternoon highs, mid 70s. then as we get into next week, highs mid 70s, which is near the average for this time of may. and we will have a possibility of a passing shower. that would be on tuesday and

wednesday midweek next week. so that is the way it looks and i'll be back with another update in just a few minutes. >> well i'm sure all the activities on the mall, folks today are very happy to hear the forecast. got some sunshine out there now. >> looking good. >> thanks, tom. we want to check on the mid day traffic with danella sealock. >> looking great if you're taking the beltway. a lovely sight, the outer loop of the beltway in montgomery county was a mess all morning long. not now. this is your commute, you're facing joy, driving at about 57 miles per hour, just ten minutes from i-95 to i-270. crossing over the american legion bridge, heading into virginia, a live look of the inner loop and outer loop around braddock road. your travel speed on the outer loop from the dulles toll road to the interchange, about 45 miles per hour. barbara, back over to you. >> it's 11:19 now. and still ahead on "news4 midday," no excuses, the workouts you can do every day, just about anywhere. plus a virtual solution to a very real problem. how one state wants to use video

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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.

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your workout in. some that you'll want to know about. it can take as little as 15 minutes to get a full workout in. steve hayes is here with his no excuses workout. welcome. >> hi, barbara. this weekend i was at a conference and i said, let me practice what i preach. so my 18-minute workout. i did it in my hotel room. >> we have video of you starting that workout. let's have a look. tell us what you're doing. >> i'm doing the elevated push-ups, this is where the elevated one allows you to work the core and shoulders, and the back and the arms and as you see, when you change hand positions, you get more of the triceps. >> so sometimes the hands are spread further apart and sometimes right in front of you. >> and these are dips, no equipment, no excuses. >> how many of each of those. >> you can do as many as you want. i always say ten, if you can't do ten, do five and build up. >> how many minutes with the chair and the dress centre. >> 17 minutes. 17 1/2 minutes, you've got a complete workout and you're invigorated by the time you

finish your workout. >> you have some things to show us here, though, is that right? >> yes. >> the piston run? >> this is one where you get down on the floor and you bring your legs just like this. you're working the core, the abs and the hips. the modified version, bring your leg up, push it back, walk it in, push it back. the main thing, engage the core, everything starts with the core. >> how many of those? >> you want to do ten reps? >> would you incorporate that with the things we just saw? >> oh yes, no equipment, no excuses. >> you got something else you wanted to show us, a couple of exercises you use this chair for. >> this is what i call, this is an excellent exercise, it makes you use the hips, quads and abs. get a chair in the house and come around. stay on the toes and push up. the modified version, if your knees are hurting step it, walk it. but keep your body bent in a

squatted position it makes you use the abs and the hips. >> for the abs? >> abs, hips, quads, total body. >> something i think i could use. >> you've got another one to work the legs. >> here's one, this is your leg extension. this is where you extend the legs out. here, let me show you, if you want to work the core. lean back in the chair a little bit more and kick the legs up, you have to engage the core. >> we have to tell our viewers to find a secure chair, one that's not going to fall backwards or anything, this, you've got it og something here so it doesn't slip. >> one of my clients, he's in the military. i've had him work with no equipment, no excuses for four months. he weighed 245 pounds, now he's down to 212. more than that his waist was 43, now down to 37, just by doing these exercises. >> maximum burn. >> 18 minutes. >> to a lot of folks, they can do it while they're watching "news4 midday." >> go to the hayesway.com and we'll give you all the

information you need on how to get into my workout. >> wellness tip? >> yes. this is may is raisin month. raisins have many anti-oxidants and they're great for you and they taste good. you got a nice sweet snack that's healthy for you. >> all right. steve hayes, thank you. >> thank you, barb raxt. it's 11:27. coming up in the next half hour, our continuing coverage of harry thomas junior's sentencing. witnesses including thomas' mother have already taken the stand on his behalf. we'll bring you the sentence just as soon as it comes down. plus, she's known as the tanning mom. why doctors say she's setting a potentially deadly example. and from a nice spring day to a summer scorcher, tom kierein is back with a huge range of temperatures that we [ male announcer ] does your cable company keep charging you more...

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right now, we have breaking news in the district, a judge just took a short recess during the sentencing hearing for

former d.c. councilmember, harry thomas junior. prosecutors say thomas took $446,000 in taxpayer money to finance a lavish lifestyle. those tax dollars were meant for district children. witnesses have already taken the stand on his behalf. the former ward five councilmember pleaded guilty to the charges in january. earlier today, the federal government released nearly 200 pages of documents recovered from osama bin laden's pakistan compound. s.e.a.l. team 6 grabbed the documents during last year's raid. the letters don't reveal specific attacks or plots, but did call attacking america the ultimate goal. and new today, virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli is taking a high-tech approach to fighting gangs. today he introduced a new initiative to create video games that teach kids about the risks and consequences of joining a gang. george mason university's computer game design program will develop the games. the attorney general said he hopes to use the games to combat

other issues that kids are facing if this program turns out to be successful. right now a judge is expected to sentence a prince william county mother who pleaded guilty for barricading her children inside their home. christina moore and her husband, john roby pleaded guilty to child abuse and neglect charges last year. prosecutors say the prince william county couple nailed a five-foot high sheet of drywall in a bedroom doorway to keep their three young daughters from getting out of the room. the oldest managed to escape and walk over to a neighbor to get help for her sisters. in january, a judge sentenced roby to three years probation. police in fairfax county are asking forrer help to find a mount vernon girl who has been missing for nearly a week now. take a good look at this picture. 12-year-old ashley may o'brien went missing around 4:00 last friday afternoon. she told her guardians that she was going to a friend's house. but she never showed up there. she was last seen wearing a red

and white jacket, and yellow athletic shorts. if you have any information, please contact police. well, a judge will sentence a falls church community leader this fall for his child molestation conviction. a jury found michael gardner guilty of sexually assaulting two 10-year-old girls during a slumber party for his daughter at their house last summer. they handed down the verdict yesterday. they agreed on three of the four counts of child molestation, the parents of one of the girls spoke after the ruling. this parent asked that they not, we not show the face. >> i'm just glad it's over. we're exhausted. there's really, nothing, there's really no victory. this is just a bad business that had to be done. and we're thankful for the jury's decision and, and how things have come out.

>> the jury recommended gardner get 22 years in prison. a judge will formally sentence him in september. prosecutors say they will retry gardner on another count of aggravated sexual battery. the jury deadlocked on that charge connected to a third victim. well today a pro medical marijuana group wants to put pressure on the d.c. government to speed up its new medical marijuana program. safe access d.c. is holding a rally at the d.c. department of health to demand the city begin registering patients into the program. the group claims no one has been registered as a medical marijuana patient even though the d.c. council approved the use of the drug about two years ago. last call for d.c. bars will remain the same. a d.c. council committee rejected d.c. mayor vincent gray's proposal to extend bar hours. the mayor proposed to keep the bar open an hour later to generate an extra $3 million in revenue for the district. the council's human services

committee defeated the bill in a 3-2 vote. maryland lawmakers could return to annapolis later this month to try to resolve the state's budget crisis. governor martin o'malley and legislative leaders want to call a special session on may 14th. they hope to reach an agreement on a spending plan so that they can avoid a so-called doomsday budget. that would leave the state with a half billion dollars in spending cuts. montgomery county police are warning residents of a man who has been posing as a police officer. yesterday afternoon, a man made a woman pull over in silver spring and displayed what looked like a police badge. the suspect then made the woman get out of her car and sit on the curb. he grabbed her cell phone and purse and took off. police say the driver, all drivers should pay close attention to officers that pull them over during a traffic stop. >> if an officer is conducting a traffic stop, they will use those lights and siren.

it is not our policy to pull up to vehicles and motion people to pull over. police say the suspect was wearing a hat with a police logo on it and a police-style vest as well. he was driving a small black car with blue maryland plates. if you have any information on this case, you're asked to call montgomery county police at this number. 301-565-5835. and now to breaking news in the district, a sentencing hearing for former d.c. councilmember harry thomas junior is now in recess. thomas has not taken the stand, but his family as spoken on his behalf. prosecutors say thomas took $446,000 in taxpayer money to finance a lavish lifestyle. news4's megan mcgrath is live outside the court and she's got the latest developments for us now. good morning again. >> reporter: well good morning, barbara. this all began shortly after 9:30, they've been in the courtroom now for about two hours. and in light of that, the judge has ordered a short recess. about ten minutes or so. and so right now, court is in rece recess. when we come back we're

expecting to hear from harry thomas junior himself. before they left the courtroom just a short time ago, we did hear from romaine, harry thomas junior's mother. she asked the judge for mercy, saying i humbly and passionately plead for mercy for my son, harry thomas junior. she also told the judge that she has lectured him about his wrongdoing and the shame that it has brought upon their family. now, prosecutors are asking for 46 months in terms of the sentence. thomas' attorneys are asking for far less, they're asking for an 18-month sentence. thomas will speak on his own behalf when the recess ends here in just a few minutes. then the prosecution will have an opportunity to speak again. then we are expecting the judge to hand down that sentence. of course we'll continue to watch all of this and bring you the latest developments as they happen. reporting live from the federal courthouse, megan mcgrath, news4. thanks, megan. we will get back to you as soon as there's some news for you to share with us. we'll check now on our weather, here's tom kierein with the

latest on the forecast. well good morning, right now around the region, sunshine has broken out. that's live view from our high-definition sky watcher camera and the blue skies showing through now. and as we look at the view from space, still have some cloudiness to the south of washington and southern maryland, parts of the northern neck, it ought to begin to clear out there as well. and as that happens, we'll begin to warm up. right now generally in the mid 60s around the metro area, but cooler near the bay, only around 60 degrees. but where they've had more sun this morning, it's climbing into the 70s now in the shenandoah valley and into the mountains of western maryland and west virginia. now out that way, there could be a thundershower popping up later today. if it does get going it may drift east and come all the way toward the metro area. that wouldn't be until late afternoon. between now and then, a wide range in high temperatures. should make it only to near 70 near the bay. but ought to be up around 80 degrees by mid afternoon in the metro area and well into the 80s throughout most of virginia.

tomorrow, it looks like much of the area will climb to the low to mid 80s. a possibility of an afternoon shower or thundershower. maybe a morning shower, too. and as well as on saturday. but mostly, perhaps an afternoon shower or thundershower in the early evening. cooler weather moves in for sunday, monday and into next week. maybe some rain on tuesday and wednesday. barbara? >> okay, tom. thanks. and if you're about to head out, let's find out if you're going to encounter road problems, here's danella sealock with a look. >> you're going to encounter some delays if you're taking the metro. on the orange as well as the blue line, metro has scheduled track work. you can expect delays on both lines in both directions. now over to the roadways, now if you're traveling i-66 on the lefthand side, the left lane is blocked due to road work. and you are seeing quite a bit of delay as you make your way to the beltway. a live look at nutley. your travel speed is about 35 miles per hour, 17 minutes to get from fairfax county parkway to the beltway. barbara, over to you. thank you. the news4 i-team is giving you a first look at the condition of virginia highway signs and

whether you need to worry as you drive by them every day. it's been three months since a massive sign came crashing down on a truck on interstate 66. the state is still looking for a cause of that. after weeks of negotiating, virginia's department of transportation released inspection reports of all highway structures in our area. to the i-team. tonight, you're going to see the condition of those signs and lights. what our cameras found and what the state has to say about it. >> the public can see corrosion on the bridge beam or a sign or a pole. it doesn't necessarily mean that they need to be concerned that that structure is in danger of falling. >> tonight at 11:00, find out why vdot decided to take action after what the i-team found in a news4 exclusive report, that's tonight at 11:00. bobby brown is not the only one who thinks he gets a bad rap. the singer and ex-husband of the late singer, whitney houston, was joined by his children and

fiancee during an interview with "the today show's" matt lauer. his children from other relationships range in age from two to 26. >> my dad's a great person, he's been my best friend my whole life. if i ever have a problem with anything, i know i can always go to him. >> the rest of you? is that the reason you're here? >> yes, definitely. >> because you don't feel that the public has -- >> they definitely do not have the right perception of him. >> brown also spoke about his daughter with whitney houston, bobbi kristina. he said he does not think that she has a problem with drugs and knows nothing about her boyfriend being her adopted brother. 11:40 the time now. still ahead on "news4 midday," a famous painting goes for a price that could make you "scream." plus roaring with laughter, the video that's sweeping the internet.

i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself, and so college was a dream when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu/beltway to find our 5 locations in your area real big deals of the week. or how to get great prices on things you need. we know you look around for the best deals. that's why we give you real big club card deals each week. this week a crazy low price on tide, $10.99 for 100 ounces. 12 rolls of bounty are $11.99. that's a dollar a roll! pack your lunches -- marie callender's are just 2 bucks. real big deals this week and every week.

only at safeway. ingredients for life. that tanning salon where a new jersey mom is accused of

letting letter 5-year-old daughter use a tanle bed says she's not welcome there any more. 44-year-old patricia krentcil pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charges yesterday. she said it's a big misunderstanding. she said she took her daughter to the salon, while she got in the danning bed. the next day, anna got a slight burn while playing outside. the mother says. the owner of the salon testified that the krentcil comes to the salon at least 20 times a month. doctors say krentcil is teaching her daughter a dangerous lesson. >> you get a tan from the natural sun or indoor tanning, the world health organization classifies ultraviolet radiation as a known human carson gen. they p sars carcinogen. >> life-threatening? >> yes. >> if convicted, krentcil could face up to ten years in prison and a $150,000 fine. well the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by most in more than three months. we're going to check in with

cnbc's bertha coombs who joins us live with more and the rest of the day's business headlines. bertha? >> hey, barbara. markets are flat because we've got good news with the weekly unemployment claims data, better-than-expected, dropping 27,000 from a week ago to 365,000, on the other side, data on nonmanufacturing jobs for april came in below estimates. and after strong sales in march, a number of retailers reporting lower sales volumes for april. they anticipated this morning, may see saks, target, costco, all disappointing and macy's blaming the early easter and later mother's day for the lower sales. if you're catching a flight to visit mom for mother's day on spirit airlines, it will cost you about 7% less fon the fare than a year ago, but the low-cost airline which trades under the ticker save still tripled first quarter profits because of its sky-high $45 in luggage fees each way for carry-on. and the airline is looking to boost those fees, including

reservation fees, starting next fall. and it's enough to make you want to scream. speaking of which, the iconic "scream" painting by edward munch sold last night at sotheby's, for a record of $119.9 million that includes the commission, but not the sales tax. i can tell you, i was there, but i didn't raise a finger. it was very exciting. >> $119 million. >> that's with the commission, no sales tax. >> i've seen kids duplicate it with colors, you know, with just crayons. >> and there's mccauley caulken. >> quite a price, we'll see you tomorrow. in this week's wednesday's child, we meet tamika, an rotc in her high school, she wants to be a naval officer some day and she also wants to own her own bridal salon. i meet up with her this week in northwest washington.

>> 16-year-old tamika wants to learn the bridal business, because one day she thinks she might like to own a couture brightal salon like this one. pitched bridal salon owners julia and karen explain to tamika how it works. >> what if a bride comes in? >> julia and karen thought it might be fun to let tamika try out her skills with a pretend customer. >> hello, welcome. >> thank you. >> we have a lot of dresses for you, so let's start over here. do you know what kind of fabric you want? >> owning a bridal salon is only part of her future plan. >> right now she's concentrating on doing well in school. >> what kind of grades are you making now? >> i'm a b-average student. >> she is really driven. really dedicated. and determined to pursue all of her dreams. >> tamika was a wednesday's child two years ago and although disappointed she didn't find a forever family then, she hasn't

given up. >> i always wanted permanency, that's something that i always wanted. and a family gives you that, because you know this is home, i can come back, when i go off to college or work, or i just want to come for a family dinner, so it's just something i belong to them. they can't disown me. >> do you know how you're going to have your hair for your wedding day? >> tamika showed patience and kindness with her customer, something we think she would bring to her adoptive family. who surely would love her. >> i want a family that's going to be there for me, i'll be there for them. >> if you have room in your home and your heart for tamika, call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-888-to adopt me. what a lovely young lady she is. 11:48 the time now. coming up, taking it to the streets, kennedy center events starting this weekend that brings the arts to you. plus, meteorologist tom

kierein will be back with more i was paying too much with cable.

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hits one high in the air, to left center field. it is near the track -- and that is a game-winning home run!

>> wow. well the caps might have broken your heart last night or early this morning, when their game ended but the nationals didn't disappoint. ian desmond hit this two-run home anywhere the ninth to beat the arizona diamondbacks 5-4. nats fans also got to see bryce harper get three hits, including a ninth-inning double. the first mullet i had-hit game of harper's young career. a new list of the nation's worst airports ranks dulles at the top. or in the top ten. the recent poll from "travel & leisure" magazine ranked it as the seventh worst. dulles lost points for location and its staff. new york's laguardia took the top spot for worst airport, followed by l.a.x. and los angeles and philadelphia. and airports were cited for having outdaded infrastructure, overcrowding and chronic delays. travelers say the best airport is minneapolis/st. paul. charlotte's douglas international airport took second, followed by detroit's metro.

and bwi made the best list, coming in at number six. a slice of history can be yours, a piece of the royal wedding cake is up for auction. the duke and duchess of cambridge just celebrated their first anniversary last weekend. i hope it's been frozen since the wedding. fors first time, the kennedy center is taking its performances to the people. staging shows in its week-long "look both ways" street arts across america festival. the "washington post" reporter is here with highlights of the event. welcome. >> hi, barbara. >> we've been hearing from the kennedy center about this, it sounds like a lot of fun. >> it is. it's really unique festival. because it is the first time that they're going outside of the kennedy center itself and they're performing in parks and even on the side of a building. >> it sounds like you've got an unusual marching band that's going to be taking part, is that right? >> chicago's mukapazza, playing accordians, guitars, mandolins.

they're actually clasically trained performers, but when they're out there, performing, it's a lot of fun. they'll be kicking off the festival on sunday. they'll be performing at the fairgrounds near the ballpark and then they're also going to be on the kennedy center stage in the evening, completely free. >> and you say there's a modern ballet that's going to be nearly 300 feet in the air, is that right? >> you want to mark your calendars for friday, may 11th, the lookout night fair. it's going to be right near the old post office pavilion. this is project bandaloop. they'll be performing this particular dance on side of the old post office building. it's going to be really fantastic. 300 feet in the air at 9:00 p.m. you want to get there and stake out a good spot. >> that sounds very interesting. they use ropes? >> they use mountain climbing gear which has been modified for them. they're all classically-trained ballet dancers. >> they do it to music. there's a live musician who goes

up in the air with them. >> tell us about dancing at the yard. >> the yard's park is going to be the kickoff, the ending celebration for the big festival, lots of performers will be back there, if you want to go, one performance to see, that would be the one. it's on may 12th. saturday. and nick cave, the contemporary artist, it's going to be staging a live performance of his work. as you can see, great dancers will be putting on his famous sound suits. >> is that a costume? >> it's a sound suit, a sort of fabric sculpture and local dancers will be putting them on and performing. >> all over the city. where can you get a list of where the things will be and when? >> go to the going out guide, goingoutguide.com. big stories and features on all the performers. >> thanks, lavonnia. for more, log on to nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on washingtonpost.com. we're going to take a look at some stories we're following

this afternoon. pat lawson-muse joins us with more. >> coming up this afternoon on news4 at 4:00, ashton kutcher's new commercial is pulled from the air after some viewers call it racist. we have all the hollywood headlines. and before you book your next vacation you'll want to see this report. tonight at 5:00, why skipping the internet and using your travel agent could save you time and money. and later at 6:00, the medical marijuana bat sl growing in district. find out why some want more access to the drug at 6:00. barbara? >> thank you, pat. time for final check on our forecast. here's tom. >> we have the sunshine out, and as we approach the noon hour, it is beginning to warm up. that's a live view from our sky watcher camera all around the region, we're getting increasing sunshine. still a few clouds lingering in southern maryland, parts of the northern neck and eastern shore. elsewhere, a lot of sun is breaking out. temperatures as we approach the noon hour into the mid and upper 60s around the metro area, it's

climbing into the 70s in much of the shenandoah valley and 80 degrees in parts of east and west virginia. parts of the eastern shore, it's around 60 as well as annapolis. that's going to be the cool spot. here are the wide range of temperatures for highs this afternoon, from 80s in virginia to low to mid 70s throughout much of maryland. near 80 in the metro area, tomorrow, most of the region ought to make it to the low to mid 80s. might have an isolated thunderstorm popping up this afternoon. maybe a morning shower or an afternoon thundershower friday, a smaller chance, and a smaller chance as well on saturday. otherwise, the weekend looks dry. >> thanks, tom. sometimes it seems the animals at the zoo are as amazed with visitors as those individualsors are with the animals. this lion at a portland, oregon zoo is fascinated with a 1-year-old boy named jack. the animal is doing anything he can to get jack's attention, but jack doesn't seem to have any clue what's going on behind him. look at that. jack's mom apparently loved it. she's heard in the video telling

jack, say hi, say hi, kitty, hi, kitty. hi kitty. a little bit bigger than your average kitty. that's "news4 midday" for today, we thank you for being with us. and invite you to tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00, we'll be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with more "news4 midday." we hope you plan to join us for that. until then, have a terrific day, stay tuned for the sentencing we expect to happen later today for harry thomas junior and we'll see you in the morning at 11:00 a.m. what makes the sleep number store different? you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those, if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the hips.

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