and now from washington's leading news station, this is "news 4 midday." good morning, and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm angie goff in for barbara harrison. happy labor day. this morning residents of one of d.c.'s neighborhoods dealing with an all too familiar crisis, flooding. last night's rain sent water rushing into homes in the bloomingdale neighborhood. residents sa they have had enough. megan mcgrath is there with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you can see that all of the water is gone, but the telltale sans remain. we have mud still here on the pavement on one sidewalk here. it's become a very frustrating

situation for folks that live here. every time we get a heavy rain, the bloomingdale neighborhood floods. for some folks they flooded four times this summer, and it happened again last night. >> i came down here from upstairs. all this water and everything. i stepped in it. it was up to my ankles. >> reporter: alonzo is tired of cleaning up mud and water. this is the fourth time this summer that the rhode island avenue row home has flooded. >> it was coming up through the drains in there. when i went out back to the back porch out there and tried to open it, there was more water coming in there. >> once again, torrential rain caused a flash flood in the bloomingdale neighborhood. the water got so high that rescue crews had to fish out one man using a boat. the floodwater is gone now, but left behind a mucky mess. residents spent the morning

cleaning up again. >> we had about close to 2 to 3 inches of water in the basement. we had to take up all the carpet, move the furniture around. >> reporter: george lives in a basement apartment on second street. he began taking on water soon after the rain started. >> as i looked around, i saw the water was coming in down the sides of the walls, and once i went to the door, the water was proceeding to come inside the door. >> reporter: just what caused this spike in flooding is the subject of much debate. a task force has been put together to try to come up with solutions, but for the waterlogged residents of bloomingdale, a fix can't come soon enough. >> i think it's way past time for something to be done. >> reporter: and a lot of residents in in neighborhood will be keeping an eye on the sky today, because, of course, there is rain in the forecast, and some of it could be heavy. reporting live in northwest, megan mcgrath, news 4, angie

back to you. >> thanks. the shaw howard station is back open after shts down the station. all train service between georgia avenue and mount vernon square was suspended. everything re-opened around 7:00 this morning. taking a look outside right now, seeing a lot of cloudy skies. verronica join soron johnson jo forecast. >> extremely muggy out there. i'll head out in a couple of minutes. look at the clouds, ohio in the atmosphere they billow up already. they hold a tremendous amount of water, and for us when those rains come in, when the atmosphere squeezes, we'll get downpours once again. of course, through the weekend we talked about the flooding around howard university, adams morgan area and even georgetown. we've got the possibility of some more heavy downpours today. we're at 82 degrees and the wind

picking up a little bit where it's light throughout the morning. a big story again, the humidity and the potential, the rainfall potential and the atmosphere today. we get heavy rains and a lot of rain in a short period of time possible. we're at 79 degrees right now up in olney, maryland, and college park in green belt at 82, 81 forth melbourne in arlington right now. when you factor in the moisture, it feels like mid to upper 80s to the south, dc around hunting town and camp springs area. forecast then, we deal with the cloud cover and a good chance of showers and storms for the afternoon. there on radar we have already at quantico around the beaver dam area heading to the northeast. we'll talk about today and the next couple of days that is looking pretty soggy. i'll tell you how much rain we could get. >> bracing for more rain. thank you. isaac has come and gone, but the storm left a trail of devastation in its wake.

president obama will visit the storm-ravaged region later today. he'll tour louisiana and review recovery and response efforts. the president declared federal emergencies in louisiana and mississippi. right now hundreds of thousands of people are still without power including more than 200,000 in louisiana alone. the storm is to blame already for at least seven deaths. most of new orleans avoided isaac's floodwaters thanks to new levees built after hurricane katrina, but there's some controversy over whether those levees sent all that excess water where it sent it. some louisiana residents say the levees deveiverted the floodwat to other parts of the state. >> the flood system a good thing. it stopped the city from flooding. it's a good thing. but you're not going to worry about where you're pushing the water. >> we would not have built a system that would have induced flooding in other places. >> the corps of engineers said it will run a variety of

computer models to figure out if the new levees caused problems in other areas of the state. labor day travelers are expected to pack the roads today. let's check on the conditions right now. mike is in for danella and joins us with the latest on midday traffic. mike. >> not much happening on the interstates. things look clear. it's a federal holiday. we have a small problem in the district. traffic lights working incorrectly at massachusetts avenue at dupont circle. 395 is fantastic, no major backups to worry about. here's a live look. it's about a 12-minute ride from the belt way to the 14th straight bridge at 59 miles per hour. angie. starting today it will cost you a pretty penny if you speed on some of the streets in the district. the grace period is over for drivers busted by the city's 11 new speed cams. tickets set you back between $75 and $250 depending on how fast you're going. the speed cameras have generated more than $66 million for the

city this year alone. police say the cameras are more about keeping the roads safe. right now a local navy s.e.a.l. kild in afghanistan is being honored. petty officer first class patrick feeks of edge water, maryland died in a blackhawk helicopter crash last month. six other u.s. service members also died. family and friends are lining his island road with flags as his body travels to the funeral home. a viewing will be held there tomorrow. a new e book released today explains why a former navy s.e.a.l. wrote about the raid that killed osama bin laden. the e-book titled no easy daf said matt bissonnette had bad blood with s.e.a.l. team 6. he told his teammates he wanted to leave the s.e.a.l.s and start a business. they pressured him to retire and leave the s.e.a.l.s. bissonnette wrote that book, "no easy day" under the pseudonym mark owen.

it's set to go on sale tomorrow. it's 11:07. coming up, it's the democrats' turn. their convention is getting under way in north carolina this week. we're going to have the latest on today's agenda and local delegates. and he looks a little like spider-man, but this right here is a member of the british royal family repelling down an 87-story building. we'll reveal the prince and tell you why he's doing it. stay

a developing story out of pakistan. at least five people are dead and a dozen others injured including two americans from a suicide bombing. the aattack happened in the northwest city of pashawar. a car filled with explosives

crashed intoed embassy. two americans were seriously injured. no terrorist group has come forward to claim responsibility for this bombing. michelle obama will arrive in charlotte today, a day before the democratic national convention begins. the first lady is scheduled to speak tomorrow night at the convention. she's expected to speak wednesday to the african-american and hispanic caucuses and attend a luncheon na honors elected officials who are gay, lesbianr transgendered. president obama arrives in charlotte later this week. over the weekend he criticized mitt romney and republicans over comments they made last week at their convention. tracie potts has more from charlotte. >> hello, colorado! >> reporter: president obama's road to charlotte stops in battleground ohio and storm-ravaged louisiana today, sunday in colorado he slammed last week's gop convention in tampa. >> there was a lot of talk about

hard truths and bold choices, but the interesting thing was nobody ever bothered to tell us what they were. >> reporter: while mitt romney went to church in new hampshire -- >> good morning. how are you doing? >> reporter: he sent running mate paul ryan on the campaign trail to respond to the president's claim that the republicans are running on empty. >> he's running on fear and frustration. we're offering a vision. >> reporter: this week we get the democrats a vision. smters are eager for their turn. >> we didn't like all we heard during the rnc, but we're motivated now. >> he's done a lot for me, so i can help him, too. >> not everyone is cheering in support. hundreds demonstrated this weekend in the south's big bank capital. they want tougher regulations on banks and the environment. this morning we have more details on exactly what the president will be doing in louisiana. doing a walking tour of st. john

the baptist parish about 30 miles away from new orleans. that's the latest from charlotte. >> thank you. virginia delegates are pretty pleased with where they will be sitting for the convention. their seats are right on the floor of the arena, and that means you'll probably be seeing them when you watch the convention on television. they say it just goes to show how important the commonwealth will be in the coming months. >> we are a key battleground state receiving a lot of attention. >> delegates from the district of maryland, which are both heavily democratic, aren't so lucky. their sea are in the back of the arena. we want to remind you jim vance and tom scherrwood are in charlotte right now for the democratic national convention. they will be live on news 4 all week. well, it isn't just democrats heading to north carolina. paul ryan will campaign in the tar heel state today. the republican vice president aal candidate will be in greenville. that's about 250 miles from

charlotte. the democrats had planned a similar strategy last week. vice president joe biden was going to campaign in tampa during the start of the gop convention. he canceled those plans, though, because of hurricane isaac. mitt romney is using this labor day to draw attention to the nation's high unemployment rate. he says more than 23 million americans are struggling to find work today. he says his economic plan would help create jobs for millions of americans. romney will spend much of his week in private preparing for his up coming debates. romney will hold several practice sessions in vermont. meanwhile, we want to talk about the holiday weather. we knew the rain would come, would be coming and we knew that the mugginess would be in the air. we're feeling it all. >> what do you want, the good news or bad news? >> the bad news first. get it out of the way. >> the bad news is i think we're likely to get more heavy rain today, but it won't rain the entire day. when we get it, we'll get it heavy and hard, but not wet for

the entire day. >> it's a fair trade. >> it's a fair trade. right now there's parades throughout the area, labor day parades like in kensington, maryland. i start with a look back at the weekend because this weekend parts of our area got hammered hard. berkeley springs, west virginia, over 6 inches of rain. you can see there's a bull's eye with more than 6 inches. same thing right there around salisbury, and a lot of locations that picked up more than 2 inches of rain right around the district and south and right around faulkner county and principle whe william count. look at the clouds that are outside. they're really puffed up like they can't hold any more water. 82 degrees right now. we have some showers throughout the area. south wind at 9 miles per hour, and that dew point temperature currently at 74 degrees. could go a touch higher, too, later today. anything between 70 and 74

degrees is very humid, and i can vouch for that. i've been outside. it is yucky. normally you don't notice the air, but this is one of those days where you notice the air but it seems like a bother with how it feels. so, i don't know. the ac inside might be the way to go today, even though we won't have high heat. look at all the clouds covering the area. we have more rain and moderate rains, too, making their way through baltimore, maryland from quantico to fredericksburg showers moving to the east. heavier in fact with an area of moderate and heavy rain pulling toward areas of 83, i-83 there. then you have more showers around the shore in annapolis. all this the ghost of isaac, but still producing again some scary rains and flooding, too, in spots after coming inland days ago in indiana. there's your spin, the area of low pressure. it's not just isaac's remnant tropical rains that get to us

today. it's also a weather front around the area. here we go with your future weather at lunchtime today. some scattered showers more. we see heavier stuff to the north and east already up around baltimore. more scattered showers and heavier embedded thunderstorms coming our way for the earlier part of the night. early tomorrow morning when you start your day tuesday, back to work and back to school, there will be rains around our area and probably fog, too. all this as we deal with the front that will make its way more up to the north and stationary right now. the tropical air stays over us. tuesday we're wet, and then we have the cold front coming in for wednesday when i think we actually have a better chance for showers and more thunderstorms in the area wednesday afternoon and wednesday evening. so your forecast for this afternoon, a wet one. keep your umbrella handy, and i'm talking about the big one at that if you don't want your family to get wet. get them under the big umbrella. for this evening some showers and storms, a chance of 72 to 77

degrees. here's a look at the four hi-da forecast. today's high is 82 degrees. the humidity gives us a heat index about 3 to 5 degrees higher. that through the day, and 86 on wednesday. it is wednesday when the tropical air sticks around. the drier air starts to move in on thursday, but just an uncomfortable stretch and a wet stretch coming our way. weekend weather for next weekend, we look at athat in a couple of minutes and what's going on with tropical storm leslie. >> we need to get through the next couple days pretty much. we can do it. let's check in on the midday traffic now. mike is in for danella and joins us with the latest. >> thank you. things look great out there right now, federal holiday today. no major backups on the interstate. we have a small problem at the inner loop at the beltway. it's not causing any major b backup. let's look at 270 and germantown. no serious backups there, and looking good near democracy

boulevard and inside the beltway, about a two-minute ride at 60 miles per hour. angie. >> thanks. still ahead on "news 4 midday," it is becoming an end of the summer tradition in our area. we're going to tell you how you can become part of the green cup and the cause it benefits. plus, how to spot trouble in your child's mouth? we get advice from a dentist. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. a must attend event is taking place this weekend in maryland to raise funds and awareness for several environmental and alternate energy organizations. it combines polo and a gala for the cause. to talk more about the event and how to tailgate green, we're joined by marcos, the director

of operations at the capital polo couple and veronica greenland. >> welcome, and thank you for inviting us to your show. >> marcos, this is the sixth year you're doing this? >> sixth year o green cup polo. we have a polo club, and for a long time we started to do charity polo matches to help the nonprofits. with the global warming and everything we tied up to do the green cup of polo. >> this is a green certified event, rights? >> it's the only green certified event in washington, d.c. this year the co-chair is the ambassador peter jensen from denmark, the greenest country in the world right now. >> you're teaming up with the danish embassy which is great. this is a sport more washingtonians are taking on? >> absolutely. he has grown the club tremendously over the past three or four years.

>> tell us about what we can expect to see. it's not just watching a match. >> for the people who don't know about polo, you're not only really helping a good cause, our benefactor this it year is epic, equestrian partners in conservation. you watch it like hockey on horseback. you're riding a horse 30 miles an hour hitting a ball with another horse bumping into you or hooking you. you try to put aa very small ball between the goalpost, and the one that scores the most goals wins. it's very fascinating. >> very entertaining to watch. i know that the green theme is going to run along the tailgate as well. tell me about the food, the cuisine. >> polo is a very elegant sport, and a lot of people get a chance to dress up. we have a hat contest for women, and as you can see here on the table, this is a typical tailgate.

you can bring your family, get a tailgate spot and dress up. we have a flowers and a tailgate contest. it's a great chance to go out and watch a fantastic game of polo and drink some champagne and dress up and bring your friends over. >> sounds like a great time. juanita, as a polo player yourself, who can we expect to see? some of the best, huh? >> absolutely. we have marcos playing, of course. >> i'm an old veteran. in the past we had last year we had john walsh from america's most wanted. he was one of the our players. we have several high goal players from florida, and really it's all about the ultimate purpose is to raise funds to awareness of the environment and green cup polo.com is where you can purchase tickets. you can purchase your tickets at the gate, and you can really expect to have a great time in

the country. it's only 40 minutes to the polo club from d.c. >> it's absolutely beautiful out there. saturday, september 8th, capitol polo club. as marcos mention, you can find it at greencuppolo.com. a way to watch a great game and also help the area go green. thank you so much, juanita. >> you're so welcome. coming up in the next half hour, a morning earthquake in beverly hills. plus, record gas prices. just how much more are we paying at the pump compared to past years? veronica johnson is back to let us know how much rain to expect over the next few days. also coming up, the royal who skipped the elevator in this 87-floor building to make his way to the ground floor. stay with us.

president obama is in ohio campaigning. after a speech in toledo he heads to louisiana for a firsthand look at the devastation from isaac. he has declared federal emergencies for parts of louisiana and mississippi. also right for you people in the bloomingdale neighborhood in

northwest d.c. have another cleanup job ahead of them after another round of flooding. news 4 was there as d.c. fire and ems crews rescued a man trapped in his car in a flash flood along rhode island avenue last night. gas prices continue to rise leaving people in shock when it comes to filling up the tank. news 4's seth lemon has more on the increasingly painful trips to the gas station. if you're really feeling the pinch at the pump, you're not alone. gas prices are at an all-time high and there's evidence right here in silver spring at a gas station. someone left after getting only $2 worth of gas. >> it's increasing. >> it's the last holiday of the summer season, and if you're one of the 23 million drivers who fills up their car today, you're guaranteed to notice a change. >> my pockets are being pinch a lot. >> drivers that stopped for gas in the d.c. area say the rising gas prices force them to make

changes. >> i don't get any nails done no more or my feet done or my hair down like i used too. you don't buy the groceries. you can't. you have to cut back somewhere. >> the national average is $3 $$3. $$3.85. that's 20 cent more than 2008. drivers paid $3.86 per gallon then. some take advantage of discount programs. >> i have to pay cash now to get it cheerp. >> the gas is cheaper when you pay cash? >> yes. >> experts say hurricane isaac is partially to blame for the sudden increase. still, drivers don't seem to optimistic. >> there ain't nothing i can do about it. >> reporter: there is a little bit of good news. gas prices are expected to drop by the end of september when the summer travel season dies down. in silver spring, maryland, seth lemon, news 4. now is a good time to economic in on our midday traffic. mike is in for danella with the latest. mike. >> not bad out there right now.

no serious interstate delays. after all, federal holiday today. we have a problem on the inner loop of the belt way at landover road. accident on westbound 66 was quickly removed. taking a live look, no serious backup there, and it's about 11-minute ride from beltway to 286, fairfax county park way. angie. a grandson of the creator of red bull is behind bars this morning accused of hitting and killing a policeman in thailand. police arrested him today at the family home in bangkok. he allegedly hit the officer with his ferrari, then dragged him down a road. police found his car with severe damage to the front end and arrested him. if convicted he faces ten years in prison. we're following a developing story out in california. massive wildfires forced thousands of people to evacuate today from the angeles national forest. officials say a fire started

near a campground yesterday afternoon and quickly grew to more than 3600 acres. about 300 firefighters are battling the wildfires using water dropping helicopters to try and knock down the blaze. fire investigators are still looking into what started the wildfire. also in southern california the u.s. jgeological survey say an earthquake struck this morning. it was centered in beverly hills just before 3:30 this morning pacific time and there's no reports of major damage or injuries. the first person i heard about this earthquake came from veronica johnson who saw it on her twitter feed early. >> got to love twitter, right? i've been tweeting about all the humidity in the air. they're humid and there's humid. that's when the air is so thick. that's been the case all day today. at least there's a breeze that's blowing. you can see probably some of the leaves on the trees and branches

that are swaying right now. the puddles have gotten a little smaller out here on the storm team 4 weather deck. look at the cloud cover across the area. it is a lot of it, and that's the potential for rainfall hanging over us right now. we have 79 degrees, montgomery county and annapolis, maryland good afternoon to you. almost afternoon. 82 degrees and 72 in hey market, virginia and 77 in manassas, virginia. we have the showers and storms west of the area and down to the south. that spin in the atmosphere is, again, what's left right now of isaac. still causing a lot of trouble and could in some spots today as we get more of those heavy rains coming in in a few locations. i think we'll have moderate rain and not as much trouble as what we had yesterday, but we do have that heavy rainfall potential over the next two and three days. heavier rains moving away from baltimore, maryland, and again down to the south we have still that spin in the atmosphere with more showers and storms.

so headed to the game today it's at 1:05 first pitch. we take on the cubs and the forecast for this afternoon, take your rain gear, your rain jacket, 82 degrees with showers and possible downpours just like yesterday in the forecast. again, we look at the track of tropical storm leslie coming up in a couple of minutes. >> veronica, thank you. this country's ongoing drought has destroyed field after field of crops, and it soon may affect your wallet. retailers are spending more money to buy corn and popcorn, at least $10 and they're passing on the the price increases to the consumer. but experts say you probably won't have to pay more for popcorn at the movies, just at the grocery store. long commutes are common in our area, which means the miles add up quickly on our vehicles. the key to saving money could be keeping that car just a little longer. here's a few tips on how to do just that from nbc.

>> reporter: cars today are less likely to spend a lot of time here because mechanically they're so far superior to those of a decade ago and that's showing up in how long people hang onto them. >> the average age of cars on the road today is 11 years old. >> jeff bartlett at consumer reports has an article this month on making cars last 200,000 miles. the key he says is routine maintenance. following the manufacturer's recommendations. servicing the differential, the transmission, making sure the timing belt is done at the right time. >> changing the oil should follow the owner's manual, although many automotive experts say you can fudge on that up to 10,000 mile intervals. >> i wouldn't go beyond 10,000 miles. >> if something needs replacing he says use only parts made or approved by the manufacturer. >> using no name parts or cheap

imitations are only going to lead to cheap results. >> the payoff for following maintenance procedures can be lucrative. >> the longer you hold onto it, you save a tremendous amount of money versus buying a car every five years. >> up to $30,000 can be saved making the existing car go the distance. . the korean evangelista liss who called himself the messi and founded a new religious sect passed away. moon died yesterday at 92. he founded the unification church in the 1970s. it's best known for holds mass weddings. he was the founder of the washington times newspaper. officials say moon died from pneumonia. this morning we are getting a look at the surveillance video that led to assault charges for a prince georges county officer. the foot arrange was taken from a sfor in brentwood, maryland.

it shows an officer striking a man with the gunn. you saw the flash right there. the gun went off. because of the video, he was charged with second degree assault last month. police say taylor lied about the february incident. he claimed the man trying to rob a nearby gas station attempted to take his gun. that support, 19-year-old ryan dorm, spent four months in jail until prosecutors dropped the charges. >> the video contradicts what the officer originally wrote in his charging documents. it shows that my client didn't lie. they painted my clint as a criminal and put his face on television and said he committed these crimes, and he didn't. >> dorm and his plalawyer have filed a $10 million lawsuit against the police department and kcorporatal taylor. milton berry did not say what condition his 17-year-old son daniel is in.

15-year-old robert gladden is accused of shooting him at perry hall misin baltimore last monday. he suffered a bruised lung, broken rib and a hole in his torso. gladden is charged as an adult with attempted murdert. police say a 59-year-old man drowned in his backyard pool in deerwood yesterday afternoon aalong needwood road. police say his wife found him at the bottom of the pool. they took him to a nearby hospital where he died a sthort time later. police say there's no suspicion of foul play. an aautopsy will be performed. still ahead, why hurricane isaac is adding worries about the west nile virus. plus, how to help a child scared of going to the

ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter what? too? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who e you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. your head-start to home cooked.

it's time to brush your teeth. go get your toothbrush. brushy, brushy. brushy brush. >> oh, just a fun and friendly remind from elmo, it's part of a

new ad campaign called kids' healthy mouths. we are going to talk about what parents should do to help the children achieve that goal. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> that's one of the many psas that they put out there to encourage kids to brush two minutes a day twice a day. this is important. >> it's important because a lot of times kid brush for 30 seconds and say they brush and don't really brush. they go for two minutes so kids can brush to them dploochlt they're catchy and sit them in front of the computer and let them watch it. this is it a protect time, we're talking back to school and new rituals are born. incorporate mouth health into the plan. >> it's really important. it's important for parents to set a good example by going to the dentist themselves and flossing and brushing themselves and let the kids watch them do it. >> let's look at things maybe we should avoid. that's really -- we're packing

lunches now so this is important. spotting some trouble. >> it's important to stay aaway from the sugary snacks. the sport drinks are bad because they're acidic and sugary. >> these make an impact. >> if they have swollen or red gumbs or bad breath for a sore in their mouth, you have to check out the fluoride. if they have pain in or around their mouth, take them to the dentist. >> it could be the result of eating stooch of this stuff right another. you said there are tips, there are things to consider when it comes to substitution for packs lunches. >> not so good. vegetables are good. water with fluoride in it. >> where do you find water with fluoride? >> every time i go in the grocery store to buy it, it's up in the corner hidden away. it's there. filtered water or tap water will have fluoride in it. >> i don't water with fluoride. i'm admitting it. does it taste different? >> no, it tastes the same.

a lot of times people miss out on the fluoride and don't realize it. >> we see a lot of fruits and vegetables. if you don't have the chance say after a meal -- >> chew gum. it will make a big difference. definitely chew gum. it will increase the saliva flow and get rid of stuch left over. drig out of a straw it won't sit on your teach as long. that's important, too. >> how about getting the kids to go to the dentist and actually opening up their mouth? >> it's really important -- >> what's some of the tricks. >> it starts at home. parents say you better do this or else i'll take you to the dentist, that kid will have a fear of e dentist. if you set a good example, tell them what it's going to be like and maybe schedule a previsit and go in first and let them see what's going on. they won't be scared anymore. >> we have great examples here i'd like to show the aarray of things. as a new mom, i was giving my daughter a lot of juice.

is that a mistake, a very common miss take? >> it's a very common mistake because it calms them down. baby bottle carries is a problem. >> you want to avoid juices at night or even raisins are sticky and stick in between nir teeth. anything with sugar or acid can harm the teeth. >> what are the worst cavity causing culprits? >> hard candy because it sits in your mouth for a long time. the acid and sugar sits there for a long time. >> we know that brushing obviously is important. what are other things that parents and kids should consider in keeping their mouths healthy? >> well, one of the things they can do is floss. flossing is really important. a lot of kids don't floss. >> at what aage do you do that? >> as soon as two teeth touch each other. >> my 2-year-old i would floss? >> are her teeth touching each other? >> not really. >> as soon as they touch each other, you need to floss.

you can get kissing cavities between the teeth. >> where can we find out more information? >> the ada and the whole elmo campaign, there's a lot of information over there as well. >> all right. a lot of great tips to get our kids to the dentist and showing us what we should consider and avoid to keep our mouths healthy. thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me. maybe we shouldn't have included this next storile. in our segment plug your ears, if you're not a coffee drinker taco bell has a drink that might suit you better. the fast food restaurant is introducing a new breakfast drink. it's called mountain dew a.m. and it's a mix of a whole lot of sugar. a mix of mountain dew, soda and orange juice put together. no details on the ratio of soda to o.j. or where it will be tested before becoming a mainstay at the fast food restaurants. doctors are warning this

could be the worst year for west nile virus ever in this country. there are cases in every one of the lower 48 states, and standing water left by hurricane isaac might make the crisis even more. nbc's cheeft medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has more. >> reporter: the cdc's latest numbers indicate this could be the worst year on record for the west nile virus since it was detected in the united states. >> it was introduced into the united states in 1999, and then it spread over a series of years through the bird population. it got into the mosquitos, and then, of course, the mosquitos bit people. >> reporter: the number of cases this year is skyrocketing. nearly 1600 infections have been reported and 66 deaths, up 40% in just one week. >> it's a late summer disease, so the fact that we've got so many cases this early and it's so widespread really does not bode well. >> every state except alaska and hawaii has seen outbreaks and

more than 70% of the cases come from six states. the hardest hit is texas with nearly half of the infections. health officials from coast to coast are launching efforts to prevent the spread of the potentially damage yus disease from the air, to the ground people are on patrol distributing flyers with preventative nervous and symptoms that tend to be mild. in 20% fevers, headaches and body aches and most worry some for people over 70 are with weakened immune systems. west nile virus is a known threat to animals. while there's a vaccine for horses, there's no vaccines yet for human beings but there are increased calls to speed up development. experts remember the four ds. dressing in long sleeves and pants, staying indoors at dusk and dawn, use deet bug repellent and draining pools or puddles of warm water which are breeding grounds for infected mosquitos. as people clean up after hurricane isaac, the cdc is on  alert. it's offering to help states

hard it's hit by flooding to prevent a potential uptick in cases. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. the time right now is 11:51. coming up the end date for a pitching star stephen strasburg. police veronica johnson is back with another check of our forecast. stay with us.

you're watching "news 4 midday." well, just because you're a royal doesn't mean you can't live on the edge, right? this is britain's prince andrew. he repelled down london's tallest skyscraper today. he began on the 87th floor of the shard. that's about 1,000 feet high. the 52-year-old was one of 40 people who completed the death-defying feat to raise money for charity. andrew's nephew, prince harry, will make the first public appearance tonight since embarrassing photos of him went viral. harry will attend an awards ceremony recognizing sick children. it comes weeks after pictures surfaced showing the prince naked at a party in las vegas. the u.s. coast guard is taking credit forrest could youing one of hollywood's leading men. they rescued russell crowe on saturday. he was kayaking with a friend on the long island sound when the

two got lost although night. the coast guard helped crowe. he's currently in long island filming a movie. with exactly one month to go in the regular season, the nationals already have more wins than they had in all of last season. they won again yesterday, beating the cardinals 4-3. it was the nats 81st victory of the year. they won 830 last season and hold a six and a half game first place lead over the atlanta braves. stephen strasburg pitched brilliantly yesterday. he struck out nine hitters and gave up two hits and did not allow a single run in six innings. the nationals will only get two more outings from strausburg. he'll be shut down for the season after a september 12th start in new york. that means his final game at home will be friday night against the marlins. the nats have been the talk of

the baseball world in recent weeks because of their decision to shut down strasburg earlier this it year. strasburg isn't paying attention to all the controversy. >> i'm just focused on the next start. that's all i can focus on right now. >> he leads in pitching. hail, the wet weather couldn't stop the annual labor day concert. the concert was moved inside to the eisenhower theater at the kennedy center. officials made the decision early yesterday because of the threat of bad weather. thankfully it didn't impact the crowds at all. the national symphony orchestra played to an almost packed house. and we are talking about this a little earlier. always great to have a backup plan. you might want to have one for

today. >> have a backup plan. >> we find out from meteorologist veronica johnson. >> excellent idea for today. we're talking about more rain up today. you can step outside and feel how yucky it is and the moisture in the air. we're getting a little sunshine right now breaking through, so still not a photo perfect day for us and doesn't feel all that great but a day off is a day off, right? >> we can't complain. >> look at the numbers right now. 83 college park and green beth and 83 in d.c. and 77 in ma nas success. that's the area down to the south and west that got the rain. you can see morcoming e coming woodbridge and down around montrose, heavy rain and annapolis making its way over towards centerville in eastern maryland. the forecast for today is 83. humid with isolated heavy rains. the other story, of course, from today's temperatures is that we are tracking leslie.

its track is very close to bermuda by the end of the week as a category 1 storm. we will see here some high surf at the end of the week and for the weekend. drier air thursday and friday. >> the remit nants of isaac are something we need. we need some rain. >> yes, we do. thanks. that will do it for "news 4 midday." thanks for joining us. tune into "news 4 at 6:00" later today for all the days news and weather. until then, make it a great labor day, everyone.