good morning, welcome to news 4 midday i'm angie goff in for barbara harrison. it's thursday, july 12th, 2012. we begin with breaking news. a critical report on how penn state handled allegations that former assistant coach jerry sandusky molested boys that was just released. it criticizes joe paterno and senior university officials for not doing enough to prevent sandusky from harming children. the report found the universy president, the vice president, athletic director and paterno knew about the police investigation into sandusky showering with a boy in a football locker room back in

1998. the report also says if university officials had banned sandusky from bringing children on to campus after that incident, they could have prevented other abuse. the eight-month probe was led by former fbi director louis freeh. >> poenn state failed to implement the provision of the query act that requires the collecting and reporting of crimes such as sandusky committed on campus in 2001. indeed, on the day sandusky was arrested penn state implementation plan was still in a draft form. it is our sincere hope that this report and the subsequent actions by penn state will help to bring every victim some relief and support. >> a jury found sandusky guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse. a judge will sentence him later

this fall. so far, d.c. mayor vincent gray remains mum one day after mounting calls for his resignation. three members of his own council have publicly asked him to step down amid an investigation into his 2010 campaign. tracee wilkins is live outside the wilson building with more. good morning, tracee. >> good morning, angie. everything is quiet right now after what has been an amazing week of allegations and guilty pleas. all of this surrounding this federal investigation into how money was spent and used during the 2010 campaign for mayor vincent gray. "the washington post" is now reporting that in january of this year, the mayor knew that associates spent money on behalf of his campaign that was not properly reported. according to "the post" a source close to the investigation says that gray met with jean clark harris, the public relations consultant she had an illegal campaign on gray's behalf. now, the associated press is

reporting that campaign workers who worked for gray's 2010 campaign that day laborers were routinely paid $100 in cash, twice the legal limit. now, three people associated with gray's campaign have pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with illegal campaigning practices. three of gray's fellow council members are calling for his resignation, that includes david katania and bouser of ward 4. all of them are saying that the mayor is responsible for the corruption already uncovered since it was his campaign. after months of silence, the mayor spoke for the first time about the investigation during a press conference yesterday. >> i think many of you will remember that more than a year ago, i was the one who called for an investigation of my own campaign and, you know, we will continue to work with this investigation, but, you know, again, there are questions that you may have that i can't answer

at this stage and hopefully this will be, there will come a point soon where we can. >> now, the mayor was very clear making the distinction between his 2010 campaign, which he said clearly had issues and his administration, which he says he is very proud of. so far, we're not expecting to hear anything today officially from the council nor the mayor. reporting live in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins news 4. >> tracee, thank you. now, turning over to the weather. what a beautiful july morning we had. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast. tom? >> good morning. the humidity is not extreme, although it is still rather humid, it's certainly down from what it has been the last couple of days, that's great news. a beautiful summer day under way. good morning. there's the view from space and over the last few hours, just a few streaks of cloudiness across northern virginia, the district and much of maryland bright and sunny. south and east of washington, still a bit of cloudiness on the eastern shore.

they're getting a few sprinkles right around the beaches now. but that's moving out and heading farther to the east. all these areas in orange are into the 80s. reagan national now at 83 and it's in the 80s across most of virginia and maryland. out in the mountains, many location still in the 70s where it was down to the 50s, again, this morning. a nice, cool start there. now, for the rest of the afternoon, partly sunny, just a few high clouds coming through and not too humid. we'll have highs reaching near 90 degrees by mid-afternoon and then back down to the mid-80s by late afternoon. we'll have a light southeasterly wind around five to ten miles per hour. does look like the humidity returns for the weekend. details on that, we'll look at next week, as well. just a couple of minutes, angie. >> say it ain't so. all right, thanks, tom. let's check in on the midday traffic now, mike is in for danella. >> much better college park to silver spring but a serious problem accident westbound route

150 right at the beltway and traffic is getting by to the left. let's take a live look as you can see it is causing a bit of a backup and delays begin before mlk. angie? >> thank you, tom. right now, safety is the topic of discussion of metro's board meeting. the transit agency is giving new details about the derailment that shut down a stretch of the green line last weekend. the extreme heat may be to blame after three cars jumped the track outside the west hyattsville station on friday. you can see a slight bend there in the tracks where the derailment happened. news 4 megan mcgrath is in that meeting and will bring you more information in a live report coming up at 11:30. also, on metro's agenda today, the transit agency will discuss a new report about bus driver fatigue. the report says some bus drivers are working more than 20 hours in just one day. that's four more hours that are allowed under transit agency's own rules. it's not clear how many tired workers have caused bus crashes. this is the second study from the agency about fatigue issues.

later this afternoon, metro will take up how it pick station's names. the transit agency will ask its board to avoid using commercial names as well as stations named after hospitals and colleges in the future. similar talks in the past brought on a number of requests. metro now wants no more names after institutions unless the main campus is within a half mile of that station. the transit agency is also expected to ask its board to stick to station names based on nearby landmarks. today, d.c. will unveil a new call system called smart 911. the system allows users to create an online profile with information, such as existing medical conditions, allergies and even if you have pets inside your home. now, that information is then automatically displayed to dispatchers in the event of an emergency. smart 911 is already operating in other parts of the country. verizon says a power outage along with mechanical failure

led to 911 system, the 911 system crashing during last month's massive storm. the emergency system was down for days as people tried to call for help. in a special session of the counsel of governments leaders demanded answers from verizon about what caused that failure. experts believe the expensive solution of power lines under ground will not prevent a similar system outage in the future. the time right now is 11:08. coming up, still looking for answers. why some are not satisfied with jesse jackson jr. explanation for his medical leave from congress. and a little girl's pet has gone missing. why her neighbors may not be

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the pakistani taliban is claiming responsibility for a deadly ambush at a compound housing policemen. at least six gunmen opened fire on the compound, where police were training to become prison guards. the pakistani taliban called the attack revenge for police torture of their fighters in prison. new today, vice president joe biden is addressing the naacp convention in houston. within the last few minutes, he just took the stage. you're looking at live pictures now. the group is the nation's largest civil rights

organization. the vice president's remarks come one day after mitt romney addressed the same crowd. yesterday, the republican presidential candidate said he could do more for african-americans than president obama has while in office. vice president biden is expected to say that romney's economic plans could hurt working families in the black community. mitt romney was booed when he brought up the president's health care law. >> and, so to do that, i will eliminate every nonessential expensive program i could find, that includes obama care, and i'm going to work to reform and save -- >> romney said much more must be done to create jobs and improve education. for the most part, though, the crowd gave the republican a polite reception, including a standing ovation after his speech. tonight, mitt romney is getting big-name campaign support. former vice president dick cheney is hosting a fund-raiser for the republican presidential candidate at his home in

wyoming. the night will include a private dinner at cheney's wyoming home that cost $30,000 a couple. today, governors from across the country will begin gathering for the annual national governor's association conference in williamsburg, virginia. william governor o'malley and bob mcdonald are expected to be there. the supreme court's ruling on the medicaid expansion will likely be a hot topic at the conference. they'll talk about growing state economies with better policy options. they'll also discuss the reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act. the convention runs through sunday. speculation is growing over the mystery illness of congressman jesse jackson jr. nbc news has learned he is getting intensive medical treatment at a facility in arizona. his office says the chicago democrat is being treated for a mood disorder. the statement comes a month after jackson went on medical leave. republicans have said jackson is hiding his condition and some

democrats say his constituents will learn more in due time. >> i think congressman jackson and his office and his family would be well advised to advise the constituents of his condition. >> last month, jackson's office initially said the congressman was being treated for exhaustion, but staff later said his condition was worse than previously thought and disclosed jackson has been battling emotional problems. jackson's father, the reverend jesse jackson sr. said his son is regaining strength and they asked for privacy. well, all morning long we have been raving about this fantastic weather and, if i heard you correctly earlier, tom, you made mention this could be the best morning of july. >> yeah, but it's now almost noontime. >> i know. >> morning is dissipating. >> it's slowly fading. >> and the humidity has been dropping a bit since yesterday. not really dry, but we'll take every little bit of dryness we can get in july and it was a spectacular morning.

we were down into the 60s, but now into the 80s and it's getting pretty warm. there's the live view from our hd nbc 4 city camera. you can see two skies on the left all sunny and looking towards the east and southeast, all cloudy. runways there at reagan national and there at the airport, it's at 83. but the dew point is a comfortably dry 60 degrees. normally the dew point is around 70. this is welcome. we have a a light, northeasterly breeze and bringing us this more comfortable humidity. right now, though, near 80 degrees across most of virginia and most of maryland and around the bay and the eastern shore and a little bit of a breeze off the bay and pax river there in the upper 70s there. farther west and north, temperatures, too, right around 80. panhandle of west virginia, much of northern and western maryland and out into west virginia, it's in the upper 70s now and here is what has been happening over the last several hours.

we've had a front that's been stalled out here to our south and this front is gradually sort of creeping a bit north, but it does look like it is going to be dissipating by saturday. as a result, that will allow the humidity to begin to move back in, but, right now, it's the barrier between us and extreme humidity. we do have a lot of sunshine just to our north. just a few streaks of high clouds passing over us now and we will have these clouds in and out across the metro area all into the afternoon, getting a few sprinkles at the atlantic beaches and as we go forward over the next several hours, just a few clouds in and out during the afternoon. wherever you see any color breaking out, that's where we have a chance for some showers and we stay dry here, all the way through the day, much of the day on friday. this is by friday around mid-afternoon to late afternoon. still just a lot of cloudiness coming in and then by friday evening, the humidity will begin to increase, as well as our chances for showers. here comes those areas in green and yellow. zones of potential showers moving in maybe around noontime

and parts of northern virginia. the timing for saturday, for any rain, looks to be around the afternoon hours around the metro area. if you're planning on going to the beaches, just a slight chance of an isolated storm maybe on saturday afternoon, otherwise, a great beach weekend. just some clouds in and out. by late saturday night, though, a lot of the showers and storms do get going. will be dissipating. here's how we're looking for the rest of this thursday. partly sunny, rather humid. highs reaching near 90 and back down to the mid-80s by late afternoon, early evening. then this evening, sunset 8:34. by midnight, back down to the mid-70s under a partly cloudy sky and then during the day on friday, we'll have those increasing clouds and we'll have temperatures a bit cooler tomorrow, up into the low and mid-80s but still not really humid. that's not going to arrive, though, until late friday night. when it does, we might get an isolated shower popping up monday night but a greater chance perhaps sunday mainly in the afternoon and into the early evening hours it should

dissipate. any showers or thunderstorms highs near 90. the big story, steamy humidity for saturday, monday, monday, tuesday, into next week. >> it's endless. >> it had to come back, it's july, after all. highs in the mid-90s on monday, tuesday, wednesday next week. >> did is we have to talk about it? >> let's just enjoy what we have. you're right. >> always better to be prepared. let's check on the mid-day traffic and mike is here joining us with more. >> thank you, angie. looking much better right now on the outer loop of the beltway at college park and still dealing with the accident on westbound route 50 at the beltway. traffic is getting by to the left, let's take a live look. things are moving smoothly past that accident. had serious accidents beginning near mlk and that volume has cleared up. angie? still ahead, proof great food does not have to be unhealthy. plus, steve hayes introduces us to a man who's lost 80 pounds, thanks to diet and

exercise. we're going to ask him the keys to his success. but, first, here's a look at the first time i saw fios it was absolutely amazing.

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now to a weight loss success story. steve hayes is here to introduce us to a man who lost more than 80 pounds by eating right and exercising. good morning, steve. i would love for you to introduce us to your buddy. >> this is michael. michael was introduced to me by todd schaefer. i wanted to do a success story and he told me about michael. >> michael, what motivated you, 80 pounds, this is truly amazing. >> over the holidays last year i had some time with my family and they just had let me know that i was kind of on the wrong path with my health and they kind of motivated me to get my life together healthwise. >> the big question is the keys to your success. we always hear good diet, good exerci exercise. what are the real secret? >> just eating well.

i knocked out all the high carbs and fast food and what not and a lot of high-protein, high-fiber, stuff like that. >> i know we have a before and after picture. this is really a amazing. >> it doesn't even look like him, does it? >> it doesn't. the fact that this was six, seven months ago. >> yes. >> this has to have changed your life. >> absolutely. >> in what ways? >> i feel a whole lot better right now. just everything in life seems to be a lot better. i'm a lot healthier. just on the right path overall. >> his buddy, andy, the manager at fitness first, andy is, i mean, they train together sometimes. >> that is really important. pairing up with someone who can keep you motivated. i know you say one thing that you encourage everyone to do, walking. why? >> walking, again, you can engage the quads, abs, hips, plus, you don't put any stress on the joints. you can see we have a fast pace

walks moving the arms like that makes you engage the aba dominals. >> shoulders, back, quads and, believe it or not, almost like a sprint, but a sprint and more control of yourself. >> a lot of people like to do that more than running. >> here, again, one thing about when you lose a lot of weight. the body has a tendency to round itself off because you are losing muscle. i am showing him some exercises to build up the back and get the body more erect. >> as you take this fitness to the next level you want to shape that core. there are some exercises that you have to share with us. >> oh, yes. michael, let's start with the one on the bench. this one is, i love this one. this is the s, sideways to the bench. >> i'm in your way. okay. >> now, here's the one, this is one, again, always like three in one exercises. he is going to go from quad and from an ab, ready, let's go. he comes up and he brings the body in and do about ten reps.

here's one now, we're going to a by sepone which makes you go from the lower abdominal to the side obliques. just those two simple exercises. >> you don't need a whole lot of equipment. >> no, matter of fact, you can do this on the floor. now, here's the next one we're going to do. come on, michael, we'll show the one. >> work it. >> we need some gym music to get going. >> this is the one, this is the great one. this is the one where we're coming up and we're working the abdominals. ready. come on down and stretching the hamstring and as he comes up, two count up, two count down. as he locks in, he's working the abs and also coming up with that weight here, he's working those shoulders. >> as you get stronger, i assume you can increase the weight. >> you don't really need a lot of weight with this anyway. for the third one, this third one is really a great one. ready, michael, let's go. he's worn out already. this one we're going to work, we're going down to the floor and this is a squat and two

around the neck twists. come down to the waist, stop and here. see, look at this. i want you to watch his stomach as he goes down. ready, let's go down. watch as he comes up and pull this out like that. the core tightens. >> love it. >> yeah. >> while we're talking tips. what is your wellness tip? >> my wellness tip, it's so hot, very hot. we need to hydrate. when we hydrate for every 45 minutes you're working out, get one of your drinks that has a lot of electrolytes and potassium and everything you're losing, you need to rebuild yourself. go to hayesway.com and we have everything for you. >> we know that. >> michael thank you for joining us and good luck. >> thank you so much. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday" -- safety is up for discussion after the derailment last week on the green line. the latest in a live report. plus, a beautiful july morning. tom kierein looks ahead to the weekend.

and a thief caught on tape, the best catch on this fishing trip is the one they didn't even reel in. the first time i saw fios it was absolutely amazing.

for years and years we had to put up with cable. once we got fios it was like somebody like took our computer and shook all the junk out of it. [ male announcer ] don't settle for the same old cable technology. switch to a verizon fios triple play and upgrade your entertainment equipment with our 100% fiber-optic network and whole home solution, including a high-speed wireless router plus a new multi-room dvr and new hd set top box free for 12 months. everything has to be fast now, and that's what fios provides us right now when we want it. [ male announcer ] and now, with new fios quantum speeds, you can enjoy internet more than twice as fast as anything you've ever seen. fios gives me way more for my money. [ male announcer ] switching to fios has never been easier with our whole home solution. get what you need in one easy package -- a $359 value. call 1-877-827-fios. that's 1-877-827-3467. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974006 tty/v.

say goodbye to your old technology. welcome to life on fios. ♪ in the black forest. [ metallic bell toll ] [ car speeding down the road, lightning strikes ] where things aren't always what they seem. [ wolves howling ] because thrills hide in the shadows just waiting at every turn. [ coaster whoosh ] brave the black forest on verbolten. the all-new multi-launch coaster. only at busch gardens. right now on "news 4 midday"

a report on the penn state child sex abuse scandal is out and its conclusions are scathing. the reports find a total disregard for the welfare and safety of jerry sandusky's child abuse victims by the senior leadership at penn state, including the late coach joe paterno. the report found if university officials had banned sandusky from bringing children on to campus after a 1998 shower incident, they could have prevented other abuse. also right now, metro's board is meeting. today they are discussing safety issues amongst other business. news 4 megan mcgrath is live outside metro headquarters in northwest d.c. with more. megan? >> well, angie, the safety committee is giving a presentation right now before the board and they're actually discussing a number of different safety issues. right now, specifically, they're talking about the issue of fatigue among metro employees. basically employees not getting enough sleep. now, as you would imagine, overnight shifts they pose the greatest challenge. can just be down right

exhausting working those kind of hours and, also, a concern that employees who work that overnight shift that they will also work second jobs that will cut down on their ability to get sleep during their off hours. and, so, metro is talking about a number of things that they are going to be doing to make sure that their employees are getting enough sleep and that everyone is safe along the system, including providing greater access to medical exams so they can identify possible sleep disorders among their employees and also going to be limiting their hours worked by employees with safety critical jobs. >> our automatic train control personnel were put under work hour restrictions, the 14-hour maximum on duty, ten hours off, minimum effective this was effective in april of this year. two other functional groups were put on notice, the new work hour restrictions would be required at the beginning of 2013 for our electric power group and on-track equipment operators

within track and structures. >> and, also, today the metro board is expected to talk about the recent derailment on the green line during that heat wave. trains, several cars derailed between prince george's plaza. now, they believe that heat was a factor in that, it was right in the middle of that heat wave and the tracks actually kinked and, again, they believe that it is heat related, but we are expected to learn more information a little later on this afternoon about that as peck of the investigation. reporting live from metro headquarters, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> megan, thank you. a man with ties to prince george's county is considered a fugitive father and among the fbi's ten most wanted. he's accused of kidnapping his two boys during a court-approved visit back in november. the children's mother says he was supposed to return the boys two days later, but, instead, flew them to tunisia. she says the kidnapping happened after the couple's divorce. the federal judge has issued a

warrant for his arrest. >> our court case, that is pending any moment now and i suspect everything to be in our favor. >> the tunesian government won't let eedena fly the boys back to the u.s. she is going through a legal process and hoping to get help from the tunesian court. police hope this surveillance video will lead them to a man who cashed a fake check. take a look at this, the video shows a man going into a united bake in alexandria last saturday and cashing a counterfeit check. the teller gave the man more than $1,500. he tried to cash another check in another bank in aural aingten but the teller there became suspicious and then the man ran away. if you recognize this man, call alexandria police. right now, a fire in ohio sparked by a freight train derailment is still burning more than 24 hours after the initial wreck. the train jumped the tracks just

after 2:00 yesterday morning in columbus. it was carrying 30,000 gallons of ethanol. some of the rail cars exploded. no one onboard the train was hurt but two investigators were hurt but are expected to make full recoveries. the ntsb is working to find out what caused the derailment. a new video is making waves on youtube. it features a shark stealing the spotlight. [ bleep ]. >> okay. sarah brave posted this video from her first fishing experience. her first fishing experience in myrtle beach. the shark appears to be a bull shark. the animal is between four and six feet long. the video is gaining popularity online. so far, it has more than a million hits on youtube. let's check in, again, on our forecast. tom kierein is outside on the new storm 4 patio and i know you're just loving this, tom. >> beautiful day under way.

we have a little soft breeze, some high clouds passing over and the birds are chirping. i even heard a few cicadas going off here. some of my co-workers are spending their lunch hour at the picnic table with their laptops and wireless, a beautiful day under way. take a look now around the region. our temperatures are climbing into the low 80s around the metro area and it will continue to climb, as we look here at the wider view into the 80s all throughout most of virginia and maryland. the areas in orange is 80s and the yellow is 70s. any breeze off the bay feels nice and there's the view from space. just a few high clouds coming through and we'll have them with us off and on throughout the afternoon. stalled front to our south will dissipate and that will allow humidity to sweep back in. that will move back in tomorrow night into the weekend. but, today, rather humid, but not too humid. afternoon highs near 90. mid-80 and still not too humid tomorrow. but getting much more humid as we get into friday night and saturday, sunday and into next week each day hot and humid.

might get mainly afternoon passing thunderstorms each day. that is the way it looks, angie. >> we knew it would return, tom. >> it's coming. >> thank you. and let's get a check on the roads now with mike. mike? >> things look much better out there right now. on the beltway, a bit of a problem right near connecticut avenue. a report of a disabled vehicle that is causing a bit of a delay getting from connecticut to the beltway and good news at the beltway, that accident has been removed still have some activity on the shoulder, but the delays have cleared out of the way. angie, back to you. >> thank you, mike. a scary moment on the set actress kristen chenowith rushed to the hospital after a piece of scaffolding hit her head. this is a photo from tmz of her being taken away on a stretcher. she was in the middle of filming for a scene on the cbs drama on the set of "the good wife" in brooklyn. she reportedly fell to the ground and hit her head on concrete.

her condition has not been released. the olympic torch is making its way closer and closer to london. the games, they're just 15 days away. take a look at this. this morning american sprinter michael johnson carried the torch at stonehedge. quite a sight to see as the gold medal winner walked through the iconic site while the sun was rising over it. johnson called it an incredible experience. history is already being made at the london olympics. two weeks before they even begin. for the first time, saudi arabia will be sending women athletes to the games. two women, a judo competitor and 800-meter runner were invited to participate. it also means that every country competing will have women athletes taking part for the first time in olympic history. female participation in sports is extremely controversial in saudi arabia where some clerics denounce women for exercising. you may see a lot of britain's military guarding london's olympic venues.

3,500 more troops are being added to security forces because of private company says they might not have enough guards. g 4s a security firm says they're having trouble recruiting and training more than 14,000 guards they committed to providing. 11,000 troops will now help provide security, as well as 3,000 unpaid volunteers. tonight, our week-long olympic preview continues. doug kaemmerer will take a look inside the aquatic center. join doug tonight on news 4 at 6:00. and don't forget to check out the london 2012 section of nbcwashington.com for more on the u.s. swim team, including how one of phelps' biggest competitors, ryan lochte became one of the world's best swimmers. tomorrow morning on "today" show a hidden camera report on

cornvil carnival games. are they rigged? jeff rosen joins us with a preview. >> when i heard about this, jeff, it just blows my mind. you've got to be kidding me. the games look like so much fun. this is something all of us did as children. are they, in fact, getting chee cheated? >> the experts say in many cases on some of these games you are being cheated and that the games are rigged so you lose. in fact, one carnival official told us in indiana, look, we wouldn't make as much money if these games were completely fair and completely normal. we checked out the basketball game, i mean some of the classics, the basketball toss, the tub toss where you throw the softballs in the tub and the milk bottles where you throw the softball at the milk bottles. those are the ones we focused on. not only are we focusing on are they rigged or not, we're going to show you, i think for one of the first times, the actual tricks. we'll walk you through exactly how they do it with our expert

coming up tomorrow morning on "today" show. you'll never play these games and look at them the same way, again. >> you talked about the games you checked out, how wide spread? a small sampling of carnivals? >> our experts say this is pretty widespread in that this is happening at carnivals across the country. in fact, we went online, there's actually a company out there, at least one, probably more that make these special basketball rims, which are misshapen to say the least and they actually manufacture the rims that way for carnivals. so, they buy them. this isn't some carnival working out back banging out a basketball rim. they sell it that way to them. >> that's so unbelievable. >> yeah. >> real quick, anybody regulating these games? we'll have more on your report tomorrow? local law enforcement is supposed to. with budget cuts, not a top priority. so, the laws vary from state to state. sometimes it's illegal,

sometimes it's not. right on the line in many cases. enforcement is not where it should be with some of these games. >> thanks, jeff. >> a reminder your story runs tomorrow morning on "today" show and we all will be watching. >> thanks, angie. this morning, one family in aural aingten is asking for your help to find a baby python. 6-year-old ava rigs had her snake happy with her tuesday while playing with her brother and sister near their home. the snake looks just like this one the family owns. happy slithered off while the kids were having a picnic. >> ava took happy out of the bag and wanted him to join in their picnic and put him on the grass and looked away for a minute and forgot just for a minute and happy was so fast. >> pythons can grow to be four feet long. the rigs hung up a poster in their neighborhood hoping someone will find the missing

pet and give them a call. and they say the snake is very nice. the time right now 11:41. still ahead on "news 4 midday" good numbers released today in the weekly jobs report. plus, some of the best vegetarian dishes in our

where the challenger space shuttle explosion and the death of osama bin laden. researchers ranked tv moments by asking people if they remember watching them and if they recall where they watched it and who they were with and whether they talked to others about what they had seen. the number of people seeking unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in four years. let's check in with cnbc jackie deangela as she joins us with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. good morning. >> good morning, angie. the markets are lower after further hope from the stimulus from the fed faded. and, also, as you mentioned, we are looking at americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week. that number fell sharply, but the data had an important caveat and that's why the markets are not that excited about it. a labor department official

noted that part of the drop might be due to auto manufacturers keeping their plants open during the first week of july to meet demand. that's not something that is very typical. meantime, the number of u.s. homes entering foreclosure rose in june. the second straight monthly increase. realty track says this comes as banks step up action as against delinquent borrowers as they work through a backlog of paperwork. not before next year. realty track says it's taking an average of 378 days for a home to get through the foreclosure process. and vicomramps up its fight with directv after they pulled 17 channels from its lineup. viacom has blocked popular shows on the website, for everyone, not just for directv subscribers.

that is after directv told their customer where to go to find their favorite shows. the meeting comes as data -- back over to you, angie. >> all right, jackie, with a lot of business news this morning. thank you. hundreds of young people from across the country come to washington each summer to become interns on capitol hill. 15 of this summer's interns hope to change the nation's foster care system. all of them know how it works, because all of them were once part of that system. news 4 barbara harrison has more on their mission in a very special wednesday's child segment. on capitol hill, there are 15 young summer interns who hope to make a difference in foster care across the country. they know the problems. >> we all come from similar backgrounds. >> reporter: they know because they've all been there. >> i have been in the system my

whole life. >> i was abused from everybody in my life. >> i had roughly 20 placements throughout care. so from 2 to 18. >> there is a troubling statistic out there in the state of south dakota, nearly 700 kids get pulled off the reservation and put in nontravel foster homes. >> reporter: each day these young interns head out to work in the office of their congressional representatives. the program now in its tenth year was the idea of the coalition of adoption institute. >> they spend ten weeks getting to see policymaking from the inside out and then using their experience from foster care to try and make change. >> 13 to 15 was probably the most difficult time in my life. bouncing around from house to house. >> from 3 to about 6 i was going to different foster homes. the good thing is, i got to stay with my brother and sister, but, we experienced abuse and neglect in the foster homes, so that was hard. >> i was 14 when i entered the foster care system in las vegas and it was, the beginning was

pretty rocky but the end turned out well. >> what happened in the end? >> i found a great foster home where i stayed. >> reporter: they come with a message they hope will bring a change to the lives of children in foster care. >> tell members of congress who are leaders here the issues that these youth are facing and the struggles that they go through every day. >> voicing my voice for the native youth who are in foster care and making sure they don't go through the same stuff i've gone through. >> what tribe are you? >> you think this is the place to make the difference here in washington? >> most definitely this is the right place. >> not the only place. but this is where everything can happen at the top level and then we can help trickle down. >> 15 voices with a powerful message they hope will bring changes for children across the nation. barbara harrison, news 4, for wednesday's child. >> if you have room in your home and your heart for any wednesday's child you see on our newscast, call our adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me

or logon to our home page, nbcwashington.com. the time right now is 11:49. coming up, a very, very lucky virginia man. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education.

university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu/beltway to find our 5 locations in your area

an arlington man is on a lucky streak. joseph sylvester recently won $100,000 in the lottery cash 5 game for the second time in three months. he won the first time back on april 3rd and then did it again last week on july 3rd. sylvester used easy pick and let the computer randomly select his numbers. no word yet on how he plans to use his latest winnings. when he won his first time, he used the money to pay bills and bought a new truck. good for him. in today's weekend scene some of the best meat-free dishes in the washington area. a look at some local favorites. welcome. >> hi, angie. >> i've been waiting for this all morning because i'm hungry. >> lunchtime. >> where did this idea come from? >> we actually last winter asked readers. whenever i go into a restaurant, i see a dish and i always get the same thing every time because it's so good.

we asked readers, send us your favorite dishes and it turned out to be a huge hit. so many people talked about it and argued and we came back and did it, again, with vegy dishes. send us your dishes that are meat free. >> and when i was going through this list, this is stuff you wouldn't normally think would be meat free. i know you have a couple examples of some of the biggest favorites out there. >> that's right. >> what is the first one? >> the first one is the vegetarian taco. it is a restaurant where anyone can eat. this dish is so cool because the mushrooms are forged. there are three or four different kinds of mushrooms in there and hardy and they can totally vegan for you and they're delicious. just $4 apiece. >> it can be different every time you go. >> it's so cool. >> very neat. moving on to one of the best vegetarian pizzas you can get out there. >> this is one of my favorites. if you like egg plant pete's new haven comes with chips made of

egg mrnt on the top. it's really cool and, again, this is a restaurant that accommodates people who don't eat dairy products. they can make this pizza vegan for you, if you don't want any cheese. >> a lot of the dishes, they do the gluten free thing, as well. >> pita is a great one for gluten free. >> finally, a vegan meal from northwest d.c. this one sounds yummy. >> you have to see the picture. pan fried tofu. it's delicious. actually a panko crusted and served with a vegan rizoeto. one of the dishes when it comes to the table, no one is feeling sorry for the vegan at the table. really hearty and really delicious. >> as someone grew up eating tofu it is truly, truly so delicious. it takes the flavor of anything you cook it in.

>> this one is marinated in all kinds of spices. where can we find that? >> we can find thought at goingoutguide.com. >> thank you so much. >> thanks, angie. >> now, we're all hungry. there's a lot more. >> coming up. you can go to washingtonpost.com to find out more about these great vegetarian dishes and, as we mentioned before, a very lovely and tantalizing slide show there, as well. and there's a lot more coming up tonight on news 4 today. today at 4:00, the photo that rihanna posted on twitter and why it's leading to concerns about her well being. then at 5:00, how to keep your farmers market produce fresher longer. tips on washing and storing your veggies. those stories coming up tonight on news 4. now, it's time for a final check of our forecast. tom kierein joins us, once again. >> a dreamy summer day, under way. here's a live view from our nbc 4 sky watcher camera. it's showing a beautiful sky

over washington, visibility is not too bad, not a lot of humidity and only moderate humidity in the air along with soft breezes, temperatures, all those areas in orange are in the 80s. it's a perfect beach and pool day. just a few high clouds coming over. temperatures now 84 at reagan national. ought to climb maybe another four or five for the afternoon. overnight tonight, partly cloudy and still not too humid. by dawn tomorrow, the 60s, again, like we had this morning. afternoon highs, though, with more clouds around on friday and probably not as hot, but still not too humid tomorrow, but, here it comes, inevitably it will return, coming back on friday night and into saturday is it going to get rather steamy? in fact, friday night might have a passing shower and hazy, hot and humid and up around 90. might get an afternoon thundershower as well as on sunday, monday and tuesday. hot and humid each day. in fact, highs maybe even mid-90s on monday and tuesday. going to stay lot and humid through midweek next week.

it's july, it's summer in washington, that's the way it is. >> and the rain, we do need it. can't complain too much about that. >> see you tomorrow morning. >> yeah, that's right. we have to work on getting you a pool by your patio outside. that's it for "news 4 midday." thank you for joining us. be sure to tune in to news 4 at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 later today for all the day's news. until then, make it a great day, everyone.