good morning, everyone. welcome to quaelt news 4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is thursday, july 26, 2012. in a little more than 24 hours the games of the 30th olympiad will be under way and kick off with what is expected to be a blockbuster opening ceremony. the competition itself has begun with a win by the u.s. women's soccer team and so far everything from security to traffic seems to be on target. news 4 melissa mollet joins with more on our final countdown to the game. melissa? >> tens of thousands of people have flooded into olympic stadium for another rehearsal but as far as any real details

much is still a secret. one newspaper said trying to pull any snippets out of the sworn to secrecy attendies is tougher than located the lost city of atousofatous. meredith vieira talked with the director of the opening ceremony on "today quaeths show. danny boyle revealed some details about the extravaganza two years in the making. it's estimated 1 billion people will be watching. >> we're trying to do a live film, yeah. >> how do you do that? >> it's, it's tough. the way you experience it on television will feel a hole much more medial and visceral and more close ups which is a way of conveying emotions. the title of the show is ises of wonder and there is a belief in that wonder throughout. >> here is what we do know about the top secret ceremony. the show will open and close with a 27 ton bell being rung.

10,000 volunteers are participating and peter pan may play a part, though preps are still under way, technically the games, as we mentioned, have begun with several soccer matches. but for a few athletes, olympic dreams are already over. a moroccan runner was suspended from the games after testing positive for a banned diuretic and a greek. the high security in london there was a scare near olympic village just a couple of hours ago when a fire alarm sounded at a nearby mall and had to be evacuated. but outside olympic park, all is well and the custom strike has been averted. barbara? >> the excitement is certainly building. >> it is. >> we will continue to follow this story for the next two weeks. thanks so much. nbc 4, of course, is your home for the 2012 olympic games. remember, you can visit the london 2012 section of nbc washington any time for athlete profiles and the latest on the games. in order to watch live video of

events online, however, you will need to register. you can find instructions on how to do that on our facebook page. and turning to our weather now, two concerns this morning. the heat and a chance of severe weather later. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast for midday. hey, tom. >> hey, barbara, good morning. we also had the humidity returning this morning, but one thing, the cloud cover we had has kept the heat down. the cloud cover coming from a cluster of thundershowers that came through. now, this is what it looked like at 7:00 this morning. they were producing thunder and lightning out of the mountains and rolled and moved north of the metro area and dissipated. pretty much dissipating over northeast maryland and still clouds over the metro area, but cloud cover is breaking up and off to our west, lots of sunshine. as that sun continues to break out around our region here over the next couple of hours, our temperatures will climb quickly. right now, just past 11:00, 83 at reagan national. we're near 90, though, from

fredericksburg over to charlo e charlottesville and that area they could easily get up to 100 later this afternoon. around the metro area, we might not make it to 100. but heat advisory in effect from noon to 8:00 p.m. and the heat index that feels like temperature 105 to 109 especially those areas south of washington. we'll talk about our threat for severe sthorms after that. that is coming up in just a couple of minutes. barbara? >> all right, tom, we'll see you shortly. you can expect if you're taking 270 towards frederick. crews are still clearing debris strewn on the hewway from a when a truck overturned this morning. the tractor trailer was carrying beer and sent some cargo flying near route 109 in the clarksburg area. no one was seriously hurt, though. let's look at a our mid-day traffic and what's going on the roads right now. here's danella sealock. >> i-270, crews have got the roadway cleared and you're still seeing delays as you make your

way northbound as you make your way to 109 where the overturned tractor trailer was. it's clear, but look at some of these delays. still just very slow as you continue to make your way northbound. it was a mess all morning, still pretty slow. again, that truck is out of the roadway and no more debris. hopefully you'll find a much smoother ride if you're getting red ay to head out of the house. i-66 eastbound. view at nuttily, delays start around chainbridge road. back over to you, barbara. >> thanks, danella. a a northern virginia family is mourning the loss of a 4-year-old boy who shot and killed himself while playing with a gun. prince william county police say the boy found a gun in the pickup truck outside his home on empire street in dale city. police say he died from a gunshot wound to the head. they say his family was inside the home at the time. neighbors heard the shot. >> a lot to work out and i heard

a shot and thought it was like a fire cracker or something and probably about ten minutes later prince william ambulance came by, which this street is very quiet, not normal so. we came down here and one neighbor said the police was down here and they said it was a shooting. >> no word on whether charges will be filed. but right now police are calling it a tragic accident. and new today, some scary moments for some commuters looking to get breakfast at burger king. firefighter husband to be called in after a fire started in the duct work in silver spring. crews were able to quickly get it under control, though. no one was hurt. and doctors expect a woman who was hurt trying to save children from a burning apartment building to be okay. the fire broke out late last night on first street southwest just blocks from nationals park. firefighters say six kids were inside at the time. they all got out safely. investigators still don't know what caused that fire.

police are calling it a double shooting in fairfax county. they're calling it a murder/suicide now. shots rang out at 7:30 last night on an apartment on trevor house drive in oakten. alexander shot his roommate. this happened last night. and he did this before turning the gun on himself. investigators are still trying to figure out what led to that shooting. cal ripken jr.'s mother is safe at home this morning, but police are on a statewide search for the mother who kidnapped her at gunpoint. 74-year-old violet ripken was taken from her home at aberdeen or in aberdeen early tuesday. she was forced into her car and tied up and blindfolded. she was found 24 hours later and less than 20 miles from her home. still tied up in her car at a gas station. ripken, who is now resting with family told one of her neighbors what the gunman was after.

>> he just wanted her car, her money and she was to go with him. >> you know, 74 you never know, she could be frightened for the rest of her life. >> police say the kidnapper should be considered armed and dangerous. well, it's that time of year, again. the redskins kick off training camp today in virginia. fans today will get an up close look at the new franchise quarterback robert griffin iii. tracee wilkins has more now on what fans can expect at training camp. >> it's the day redskins fans have been waiting for, since the rg3 announcement. today they'll have an opportunity to see just how well this team will gel and also get a good look at its new quarterback. parking lots open today at redskins park at noon. gates open at 1:00 p.m. for fans and practice begins at 2:55. remember that gates will close at 6:00 p.m. while practices are free, fans are encouraged to go to redskins.com, fill out their

training camp fan invitation and bring it with them to the park. now, for those wondering how much action they're going to see at this year's training camp, the staff is promising it's definitely going to be worth your time to make a trip to ashburn and, yes, robert griffin iii will be on the field. >> absolutely. he'll be here. he's going to be practicing with the team and running with the offense, as well as the whole entire roster will have 90 players that are assigned, participating in drills. do individual drills and then they're going to get as a team offensive/defensive squats. more or less practice against each other. it will be nonstop action. >> there will be 13 practices that fans can sit in on during training camp and, of course, august 4th is the big fan appreciation day. in ashburn, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. nine minutes after 11:00 is our time now. coming up, playing politics at the olympics and during the olympics, as well. plus, new developments in the effort to bring a las

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today mitt romney will raise money for his campaign overseas. he'll hold a fund-raiser tonight in london. the candidate met today with british prime minister david cameron and separately with former prime minister tony blair. much of the conversation was small talk with all three men focusing in on the upcoming olympic games. romney will be at tomorrow's opening ceremony. a pro-obama super pac is using the olympics to go after romney. >> welcome to the olympics. there's mitt romney, who ran the salt lake city games waving to china, home to a billion people.

thousands of their jobs to mitt romney's complaints. >> priorities usa just released that ad which accuses the former massachusetts governor of shipping thousands of u.s. jobs overseas. the ad is running in a number of battleground states, including virginia. right now, the governor mcdam mcdonnell and his wife are on a wine tour. visiting vineyards and this is part of maureen mcdowell's foengs on the virginia wine country. the common wealth is home to more than 200 wineries. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein. you visit any of those wineries over in virginia? >> in loudoun county, some wonderful ones. >> you have the weather for it. >> all has to do where you put the vineyard and it has to be on a slope and good drainage and all of that. hey, here locally, we had the cloud cover coming in and that has been acting as a heat shield keeping the sun's heat from

really getting us abnormally hot. right now there is that hazy sky over washington. live view from our hd city camera. right now at 83 national. dew point up there at 72 and that is the humidity that has returned. yesterday's dew points were in the low 50s and now, that is a fading dream. here's what's been happening over the last several hours. this cluster of showers and thundershowers now passing us and dissipating and gave us the cloud cover which has held that sun back a bit, but it's all clearing out to our west and this area of clearing is going to be right over us here over the next couple of hours and that will allow us to begin to heat up. right now around the metro area, low 80s. montgomery, aural aingten, prince george's county and upper 80s near 90 and southern maryland and culpeper and down to charlottesville. this area get to 100 degrees this afternoon. but because of the cloud cover, holding temperatures back and farther to our north, probably not going to get up to 100.

but, nonetheless, a big heat advisory for the afternoon with the humidity building and the heat building and likely most locations south of washington will have that heat index 105 to 109 by mid-afternoon. here's the wide view of the radar. going to be more storms around locally and there are some firing up southern michigan, way out into illinois and parts of indiana a, but we have a severe risk zone that is right over us here and we have this risk zone generally for most of virginia and maryland and eastern shore from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and that's when you might get some isolated storms that could produce some wind damage and even a higher risk here in this orange zone right along the mason dixon line western maryland into pennsylvania and you could get serious storms there later this afternoon. as we go forward, here comes the heat, going to be with us here during the afternoon and probably have more likely and a chance of those firing up on friday afternoon, but then as we get into saturday, this is saturday morning, things will settle down a bit. but saturday afternoon more

showers and storms firing up and then lower humidity begins to move in for sunday and into monday. so, relief is on the way. for the rest of the afternoon, we'll have hazy, humid conditions. just a small chance of an isolated storm. probably reaching the 90s in the metro area, but just to our south, may reach near 100 and then as we get into the evening hours, any storms around dissipating and we'll drop from the low 90s early evening down to the 80s by midnight and then by dawn tomorrow, we'll be down to the upper 70s near 80 but still quite humid and partly sunny day on friday and, again, probably some of the storms firing up tomorrow afternoon and a greater chance of that happening tomorrow and some of those tomorrow could be severe, as well, with damaging winds. that will be during the afternoon and early evening. and then on saturday, partly cloudy, afternoon highs low 90s, but still a possibility of an afternoon storm when the drier air does begin to move in. as we do get into sunday, we'll have that lower humidity in place, cooler highs 80s and still not too humid on monday.

more storms around on tuesday and wednesday as we get into next week and that's the way it looks. >> we will see you again, shortly. all right, tom, come on back. we'll check on the mid-day traffic, again. danella, how is it looking on the roads? >> still seeing delays on our area. crossing the outer loop of the beltway and i'll let you take a closer look. your delays continue as you head towards the dulles toll road this morning. no issues to report, just general delays and look like this while you're making your commute. let's head over back to i-66 in virginia. here's a look at chain bridge road. as you continue eastbound towards the beltway, you are slow. further up at nutley those delays continue. not seeing any accidents, but just pretty sluggish. barbara, back over to you. 11:18 is the time right now. still ahead on "news 4 midday" the thing all these women have in common. if you could see the ones in the back row, you'd probably be able to guess. they're celebrating something together this weekend and we'll tell you what, stay with us for

that. plus, a workout does not have to be all work. a few fun ideas for a day in the park. first, here's a look at what's over the next four months,at's you have a choice to make. not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. governor romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top. roll back regulations on big banks. and he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried that top down approach. it's what caused the mess in the first place. i believe the only way to create an economy built to last is to strengthen the middle class. asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. so that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and home-grown american energy for good middle class jobs.

sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. ♪ i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

this weekend the first official reunion of former nfl cheerleaders is being held at the gaylord national resort and convention center. also the 50th anniversary of the redskin cheerleaders. welcome to all of you. this is really exciting. you could probably tell us some secrets. have you thought about writing a book? you are, fantastic. >> the history of the redskins cheerleaders and like to have that available in the fall for the first game. we're going to be doing a half-time show at the fedex field and the book will be ready then. >> let me introduce everybody first. i'll walk across here. tell me who you are. >> i cheered three super bowls.

>> that's a tough act to follow and i'm amanda mitchell and i cheered from 2009 to 2011. i cheered in '93, '94, '95 and '898. >> i started in 1974 and my last season was 1980. >> fantastic. >> my name is terry lam sxb i cheered in 1979 through 1983 and was lucky to participate in two super bowls. >> and. >> jerry mitchell may and i was original cheerleader in 1962 to 1968. and you very happily told me that you're the oldest of all the cheerleaders who are here. one of the originals and do you want to share your age with everyone? >> 72. >> well, you are absolutely beautiful, as are all of you and we've got some other cheerleaders back there in the back who may have been a little more recent and who is this? >> my name is susan and this is my second year as a washington redskins cheerleader. >> you are cheering this year?

>> yes, i am. >> my name is christy and i'm also a second year on the team this year. >> you guys have a lot to live up to with all of these ladies here. i have a few questions that i want to ask you about what's going on. let's start with jerry. how do you think cheering has changed through the years? >> the format has been very different. first of all, the uniforms. we weren't allowed to show skin and then -- >> what did you wear? >> we dressed like indians. we were covered from head to toe and we had the little feathers and we also, the choreography was quite different. we twirled two fire batons. >> there's a picture of you we're looking at right there. and you twirled batons. >> we did. i remember rfk stadium at night twirling two fire batons. >> was it as gymnastic as it is now? >> it was more military-style. we had the pleasure of marching down the field with the

wonderful redskin marching band to the wonderful tunes of john philip, something that most of the kids don't know today. >> how many of you were there at that time? how many? >> 32 on the squad. >> is that how many there are now? >> this year we actually have 38. usually about 38 or 40. we've grown a little bit over the years. >> and amanda, tell me how do you react or how do people react when they hear that you were a cheerleader for the redskins? >> it's always a big talking point. you know, the most common thing i hear is, did you fight? was it catty and i say, no, we all get along. that's kind of a prerequisite that the director looks for. girls that are well rounded that come in as girls and leave as women. it's just a really special organization of ladies. >> and do you have to practice. >> all the ladies are required to have full-time jobs and that's another thing that people

don't know. is this all you do? we say, no, this is just one small piece of our pie. everybody is involved. i think that's also a prerequisite of all the ladies. to be well rounded and have busy lives and take on a lot of responsibilities. >> what is going on at the reunion this weekend? >> the reunion is real exciting because we're celebrating our 50th, but also invited other nfl alumni cheerleaders and we have over 14 teams celebrating there with us and burr foperfourmance other cheerleaders and larry michaels will be hosting it for us. we are real excited about bringing t bringing the sisterhood of the nfl cheerleaders. >> the first day they're out there practicing, right? so, hopefully it will be a great season and hope you'll have a great weekend. thanks for coming. thank you, congratulations. thank you. it is 11:26. coming up in the next half hour of news 4 midday, final good-bye for some in colorado as a key

piece of evidence in the theater shooting surfaces. plus, tom kierein is back with a look ahead to the weekend. will the heat stick around? we hope not. a boat tour of london from dan hellie.

right now on news 4 midday london is counting the hours down now to that 2012 olympic ceremony. much is still being kept secret about the ceremony, which is expected to feature london's past, present and future. meanwhile, the games are already under way with a win by the u.s. women's soccer team. crews have finally cleared debris that was spilled on to i-270 when a beer truck overturned. no one was hurt in the accident, but the crash is creating a mess for drivers heading north near clarksburg. and another eerie twist involving the suspected gunman in last week's tragedy in colorado. police are confirming james

holmes sent a package to a faculty member at the university of colorado medical campus. it arrived on monday and police are not saying what was inside that package. meanwhile, some of holmes' neighbors are finally allowed to return home. police say he had rigged the apartment with explosives shortly before last week's shootings. and some of the victims still recovering from the shooting will not have to deal with costly medical bills when they get out of the hospital. some of the hospitals treating the victims say they will limit or wipe out their medical bills altogether. well, some of the funerals for those killed in colorado are being held this week. today, 23-year-old micayla medek will be laid to rest. gordon cowden was laid to rest yesterday. his daughters still remember his last words. >> the girls told us that as

they were leaving the theater that he was yelling after them, i love you, i love you both. >> colorado's governor and aurora's mayor were at yesterday's funeral. maryland governor martin o'malley is expected to announce tomorrow a special legislative session to bring table games and a new casino to prince george's county. top state lawmakers are preparing for a special session that is expected to happen next month. megan mcgrath is life. megan, good morning. >> well, good morning, barbara. about two weeks ago governor martin o'malley gave gambling legislation only about a 50/50 chance. well, it appears those odds have improved and that the governor is now ready to call for a special session. the expansion of gambling in maryland. will the issue be put on the november ballot or will the plan be shelved, once again? governor martin o'malley is on

the verge of calling lawmakers back to annapolis to decide the matter once and for all. he is expected to call for a special session some time on friday. i it's a money issue thing. everybody trying to get paid and everybody want that dollar bill. >> reporter: actually, more than a dollar bill, a sixth casino at national harbor would generate millions in tax revenue. supporters say it's also about job creation. governor o'malley and prince jornl's county executive baker are pushing hard for legislation but what will ultimately happen is far from certain. twice the plan was scuttled by house delegates. even if lawmakers pass a bill, maryland voters would have to approve the plan and many mixed opinions on the merits of expand aed gambling. >> i moved here from louisville, kentucky. i'm for it. it brings revenue to the city. >> it's not something that we need in our community right now. we have enough issues with the, with people holding on to their

money and casinos that are just another way to take money out of people's pockets. >> the clock is ticking. if gambling is to appear on the november ballot, lawmakers need to pass legislation by august 20th. reporting live from national harbor, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> thank you, megan. things are getting tense between d.c. mayor vincent gray and the media. listen to this. >> not a simple one of you came to yesterday's press conference. not one of you here. not a single one of you here. >> bother to come out to yesterday's press conference. >> that's the press secretary yelling at reporters for not covering gray's various press conferences. reporters were trying to ask the mayor if he was distracted by the federal investigation into the 2010 campaign. he wasn't answering their questions either. gray insists he's done nothing wrong and vowing to remain in office. let's check again on our forecast. let's talk to tom kierein about when this messy weather is going to leave us. tom, it is really yucky out

there. >> what a change from yesterday. in fac, the humidity has been like a yo-yo up and down, up and down. two days ago high and low humidity and now today it is right back up, again. we have the sun breaking out, too. after we have the morning cloud cover and let's look at what has been happening over the last 12 hours. we had that cluster of showers and thunder passing just to our north and now moving off north and east and dissipating and behind that we have a clearing under way. we have lots of sunshine breaking out. all those areas you see in the dark orange are already around 90 degrees and that covers much of virginia. but right around washington, we're in the low to mid-80s now and probably not going to get to 100 this afternoon here locally, however, it probably will just to our south, fredericksburg and warrington and get up to 100 degrees in parts of maryland, as well. metro area high 90s to mid-90s and an isolated storm popping up later this afternoon and just a slight chance it would be severe with damaging winds. a greater chance, though, of

storms tomorrow afternoon and perhaps early evening. some of those could produce damaging winds. then over the weekend, cooler weather moves in and could get some storms tomorrow afternoon and maybe more storms tuesday, wednesday. that's the way it looks. i'll be back in a few minutes, barbara. >> all right, tom, thank you. metro riders may want to plan ahead in case the heat forces metro to impose speed restrictions on its rail service. those restrictions would limit trains to just 35 miles per hour while above ground. metro announced possible restrictions to prevent a similar derailment like the one that happened on the green line because of the heat. and let's check on the mid-day traffic, danella, how is it going out there? >> as you make your way past germantown road as you continue towards 109, you're slow. here's a live look at 109. very sluggish. the earlier accident is out of the roadway, but they're still working on debris in the shoulder lane that is causing drivers to slow down. just be aware of that if you're

traveling along i-270 northbound. fairfax county parkway northbound lanes were blocked but now police activity is clear. barbara, back over to you. >> thanks. july is official park and recreation month. there are many parks to enjoy. our fitness expert steve hayes is here this week with great workout ideas next time you visit your neighborhood park. good morning, who did you bring with you today? >> this is jasmine rogers. >> hi, nice to meet you. >> great to have you with us to talk about some of the things you can do to enjoy the parks, even when it's hot and yucky like it is today. >> barbara, hot fun in the summertime in the park. >> okay. you say that many of the parks in our area have stations where you can actually work out. >> oh, yes, they have stations where you can work out, plus, you can play ultimate frisbee and volleyball. >> we have some video here. this is using one of those stations in the park to do pulps. >> when you're doing pull-ups

you can't do it on the pole itself, so they have the chains that allow you to pull up which makes it even easier. >> many stations. you can move from one to the other. >> this is one where you're working your arm as and legs and back you're just hopping over. you notice how it elevates. for a shorter person you can go down to the bottom and for a taller person, you go the top and put more tension on the exercise itself. >> that's great. now, you also talk about frisbee. playing frisbee. >> the ultimate frisbee. that is one of the most osam games i've seen. they are playing football with a frisbee, but it's so cardio vascular, plus, it's a lot of fun, too. >> you can kind of find a pickup game. >> that's what it was, a pickup game. >> what about volleyball? >> jasmine. i met jasmine down at the volleyball court and she and her friends were playing volleyball. tell me more about the volleyball on your team? >> you can come down any time to

lincoln memorial volleyball court and play couple's pickup and you can do it on the weekends, as well. >> like the beachball volleyball. >> beach volleyball and has the same setup as basketball. if you go to the open court you call next and get on the very next game. >> you just show up and you can do it. >> bring a friend and come play. >> who are the people that show up? are they people who had experience playing and maybe in college or high school? >> theres a lot of levels from people from beginner to people like myself who have college experience it's for everybody. come on out and have a good time. >> how do you know when your level is going to be playing? >> you can see based on the courts where you fit in. >> they are advanced and then ones that are just starting. >> you are going to show us a warm up. >> matter of fact, go ahead. we're going to do the stretch first. >> okay. >> this is what you want to do, especially when you're in that sand. you want to stretch that because you're going to jump. >> that's good for running, too. >> and now we'll show you the

one warm up with just the volleyball. just warming it up. >> that's a good warm up for just about any kind of exercise that you might want to do. very nice. so, when can we catch you down on the volleyball court? >> you can catch my team down there team smarty pants next tuesday night. >> let's get barbara. we'll get a team together. we'll get a team together. >> as long as i don't have to wear a bikini. no bikinis. >> no bikinis. >> jasmine, thanks for coming to share that. you have a wellness tip today. >> this is national grilling month. when you're grilling your food, they say that's the best way to get your food cooked and to eat it when you're going outside. >> grilling. we always have to remind people when you're cleaning that grill be careful not to leave any of the stainless steel rods on the grill. that happened a few times in the last summer we have been reporting on. thank you very much. jasmine, nice to meet you. we look forward. maybe you're thinking about going to the olympics one of these days.

>> i wish. >> we'll watch you here. it's 111:40. all eyes are on london as we're a day away from the olympic opening ceremony. even if you don't have tickets to any of the events, plenty to see in london. a different way to experience the city. >> we cleared the bridge. >> city cruises is like the mcdonald's of tour boats on the river. theiggest and the most popular. for the young captains who take turns serving as tour guides, the goal is simple. to make people laugh. but it's not always easy. >> it's not easy now, especially when they don't understand you. but, it's nice to see them interested in what you're saying. if they're laughing or sometimes all right, that's interesting. >> reporter: interesting it is. we learned that the shard is the tallest building in europe at just over 1,000 feet. how about the london bridge, the oldest bridge in the world. the london eye is only 13 years

old, but for 20 pounds, you get a bird's eye view for about 20 miles on a clear day. and, of course, big ben. now, you don't see big ben, you hear big ben because ben is actually the bell inside of the clock tower. surprisingly, we even found some londoners on board. >> there's so much in london to see and, i mean, kids, they love it up here. i mean, look. don't you enjoy it? it's great. >> reporter: from one of the most famous rivers in europe to the surinty of the canal water that runs from the camden market. for captain chris gray who has been working on the water for most of his adult life, this trip that he takes eight times a a day never gets old. >> the boat it's known as a 1947 -- working here and some of the last working here noticed that it's a a lot more of a

relaxed way of life. that's what i found with the water ways. on the canal, you just see the water and there's something about the water that just makes everything a lot more relaxing. >> and that's dan hellie reporting from london. nbc 4 is your home for the 2012 olympic games. remember, you can visit the london 2012 section of nbc washington any time for athlete profiles and the latest on the games. 11:43 is the time now. still ahead on news 4 midday, why all eyes are, once again, on facebook's financial records. plus, we may call it ping-pong, but for the more serious, they call it the table tennis game. a look at where the game is drawing big crowds in our area.

big gains for the dow in early trading. we'll check in now with brian shactman and joins us live with more on that and the day's

business headlines, too. good morning. >> we have huge rally going on. we're up 150 points on the dow, which is actually off of the highs. the head of the european central bank coming out with comments basically saying he's going to do whatever it takes to keep the euro zone together and keep the euro currency in tact. that is lending a lot of optimism to the markets and then we've seen a big jump in that currency, which has weakened the dollar which also helps stocks. jobless claims down 35,000, which was much better than expected and, of course, leading to a little bit more optimism into next week's government job's report and update on the unemployment rate. if you're a facebook fan and you like it, if you will, they report their first ever earnings as a public company after the close today. the stock is down about 5% right now because zinga which has all the games, words with friends and so on, they reported earnings yesterday and the stocks down about 37% right now because they disappointed and facebook in the past, barbara, has gotten at least 10% of their

revenue from zinga so a little bit of nervousness about what to do with facebook. if we talked about a lot just because it is a great company, doesn't necessarily mean a great stock. back to you. >> i see what you mean. thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> see you later. in this week's wednesday's child we meet a teenager who loves playing tennis. jeremy says the game teaches hi. it also helps him to build his confidence. >> good to see you, again. >> good to see you. >> murphy jensen coach of the washington castles tennis team which incidentally includes venus and serena williams welcomed us and offered to give jeremy some help with his game. >> now, what part of your tennis game do you need work on? your serve? >> serve. >> you need work on your serve? you're in luck, that's my specialty. thanks, barbara. yeah, man! and that's all you got to do to

be a wimbledon champion. >> jeremy says besides being a forensic pathologist some day, he would also like to play tennis and he plans to work hard to do well. and then what? >> and then winning. even though you win some, you lose some. if you lose, then you can study that loss and get some, something better from it. >> jeremy has been in foster care just about his entire life. his adoption recruiter says he's a terrific young man. >> i describe jeremy as being outgoing. he loves to be active and loves all sports, especially tennis. >> he got a surprise at the court. >> jeremy, this is leander, one of my players. he's the number one doubles player in the world. >> another surprise, the washington castles mascots showed up. and while they watched, jeremy got a special lesson, his real dream at the moment is to have a family to belong to. >> i would like to have two parents with not, i don't really

care if there is a brother or sister, matter of fact, i would love it. >> the castles had some gifts for jeremy, including tickets to see serena williams play. he hopes one day to play here himself with parents in the stands to watch him. he says adoption would be a real win for him. >> adoption means like a fresh start, be able to move into a new family that's kindly towards you. that really wants you for who you are. >> if you have room in your home or your heart for jeremy or another child that is waiting. please, call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me or visit our home page for more information. our time right now, 11:50. coming up, they may not be olympic sports, but they get the competitive juices pumping. we'll show you what they are. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back. over the next four months, you have a choice to make.

not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. for the folks at the very top. roll back regulations on big banks. and he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried that top down approach. it's what caused the mess in the first place. i believe the only way to create an economy built to last is to strengthen the middle class.

asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. so that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and home-grown american energy for good middle class jobs. sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. ♪ i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

in today's weekend scene a guide to the no-sweat olympics. here to explain and, good morning. >> hi, barbara. >> is this a guide for folks who don't rise to a level of olympic competition? >> that's right. just like me. you know, every time the

olympics come on, i'm so inspired but i have no athletic ability, but it's not that hard to be a skeeball star is what we're saying. >> table tennis is one, we call it ping-pong, but if you're serious about it, you call it table tennis. >> it is an official olympic sport but it's called table tennis and lots of places you can play around here and hone your craft. >> you can play right here at channel 4. we have teams competing all the time. >> at bread soda in gloerve park they have tables and every tuesday the ping-pong is free and lots of people come out and they have great tacos and it's a fun scene. a lot of other places you can do it, too. look out for it when you're out at bars and restaurants. >> it's really becoming popular all around the country, more popular than ever, i think. >> that's right. >> moving on to arcade games. one in particular you say people like to play. >> skeeball. we all used to remember from chuck e. cheese. there are actually skeeball

leagues and a great place you can play ironhorse tap room in downtown china town they offer it for 50 cents a game and completely for adults. you can have a beer and try your hand at your old childhood sport. >> corn hole. i don't think i know what this is. what is that? >> probably the easiest sport if you have no athletic ability. basically tossing a bean bag into a hole. this is popping up across town, too. we're seeing this at bars new york avenue beach bar and you can have a beer and sit out on the sand in china town and play corn hole. it's about as simple as that. >>ia just throw a bag or a ball or something into it, really? wow. that's pretty challenging. actually, it probably would be for me. >> could make you feel good about yourself if you are good at it. make you feel like an olympian. >> the more beers you have, the more exciting it gets. >> that's fantastaic. thank you for sharing those. there are probably lots of games that are coming up out there, especially with everybody in the competitive spirit as the

olympics begin. >> definitely a trend to look out for. >> for more ideas on your weekend or for your weekend, logon to nbcwashington.com. we'll take a look now at some of the stories we're following on news 4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us with a preview of things to come. pat? >> hey, barbara, coming up this afternoon on news 4 at 4:00. the story of a father arrested after disciplining her daughter by putting her in the trunk of his car. he said it was all a misunderstanding. we'll explain that. plus, liz crenshaw joins us with this summer's edition of tricks of the trade. when it comes to having folks over for dinner. that can be tricky. we'll listen to liz's tips coming up today on news 4 at 5:00. barbara? >> thank you, pat. time for a final check on our forecast. tom, looking for some severe weather later today? >> there is that possibility, but the morning clouds were a blessing. they acted as a heat shield. here's what it looked like 7:00 this morning. they came from some clusters of

thundershowers that came down out of pennsylvania into western maryland, the panhandle of west virginia. then as they advanced east across northern maryland over towards the northern part of the bay, they dissipated, but brought us some clouds and that was good because that did hold back the heating rays of sun but now we're getting the sunshine breaking out. the temperatures, as a result, are climbing quickly. now, 88 at reagan national. probably going to climb another ten degrees into the upper 90s locally and near 90 through central virginia and southern maryland and those locations will get to near 100 by mid-afternoon. feel like 105 or higher with the humidity. then there is a small chance of some isolated strong storms perhaps late this afternoon and perhaps into early evening. and then tomorrow, hot, humid, again. highs mid-90s and more clouds around tomorrow and probably more storms perhaps during the afternoon and early evening. some of those tomorrow could be severe, as el. over the weekend, partly sunny

saturday and highs mid-90s and might get afternoon storms and lower humidity and pleasant weather for late july, early august. first part of next week have a cool afternoon, if you don't have to absolutely be out, stay in the ac and stay with nbc 4 and we'll let you know what is going on. >> storm 4 will be up and running. thank you, tom. that's news 4 midday for today. thanks for being with us. we invite you to tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. backby right here tomorrow morning with more news 4 midday. plan to join us for th