good morning and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm aaron gilchrist, in for barbara harrison. it is wednesday, september 5th, 2012. and right the now crews are getting ready to take care of what's being called a safety issue. decaying trees in montgomery county. news 4's melissa mollet live now in chevy chase with more. melissa? >> reporter: well, good morning, aaron. tree crews are actually here on the scene, just a couple blocks here behind us, but they're waiting for state highway crews to show up here, to start that lane-blocking process so they can begin the tree removal. let me step out of the way so you can see which trees we're talking about here.

this is one of five elms that are being taken out. the plan is to have all five of these decaying trees out of here, cleared out by friday. the state highway administration says the trees are a safety hazard. they're trees that have been severely damaged over the years and now marked with red xs. some of trees were hit during car accidents. others have missing limbs. and several cars have recently been hit by low-hanging, drooping branches. they also took note of their close proximity to power line. all of these factors added up and the trees are being taken down. they sit along the stretch of wisconsin avenue between norwood drive and cumberland avenue in chevy chase. it's a section neighbors call the green mile. brian canon has lived just across from the trees for 16 years. >> yeah, i think it's necessary. they've got to be taken care of in some way. >> reporter: in july, a decaying tree fell on a man in great falls, virginia, killing him and crushing his car. though that incident happened after plans were in place to

remove these trees, the hsa says they want to prevent anything like that from happening again. >> the stories are really, really, really sad. if you want to prevent those, i understand. but i hope they've done a thorough investigation of it. >> reporter: some neighbors, though, say they're surprised these trees are being taken down. >> it's always a contentious issue whenever trees are taken down. i'm actually more concerned about trees that are in neighborhoods where we live. eventually more trees along the green mile could come down for a sidewalk along this side of the roadway. right now, those plans are in the design phase. now, once work starts, one northbound lane between wisconsin and cumberland will be closed, today, tomorrow, and friday, up until 3:00 p.m. they're going to start work at 9:00 a.m. of course, weather could obviously impact this process. live in chevy chase, maryland, melissa mollet, news 4. back to you, aaron. >> thank you, melissa. we turn now to the weather. another humid morning. lots of clouds out there too. storm 4 meteorologist veronica

johnson is in for tom and joins us with a look at our forecast. >> you're right, it has been humid this morning, but right now we just have clouds. there's no rain falling from those clouds currently. i do expect that to change, though, over the next couple of hours, especially by the time we get into 2:00 and 3:00 today. here is a look at that radar, as we take a look there with the washington monument and jefferson memorial. gaithersburg, bethesda, areas around bluemont, all dry right now. in fact, we're getting a little bit of sunshine. so as we heat up and with a cold front coming into our area, i am expecting some storms later on. so over the last hour or two here, we've seen more breaks in the cloud cover. take a look to the north and west of front royal, west of fricke there, some sunshine. more of that coming through. high temperatures today will be into the upper 80s. some spots south, perhaps touching on 90. i wanted to show you our temperatures throughout the area, we're 79 to 82. now look at the current heat index.

that's right, i'm talking heat index. we've got that much humidity tout there right now. we're 83 to about 90 currently, what it feels like in d.c. i'll have your seven-day forecast, aaron, coming up in a couple of minutes. >> thank you, veronica. new today, the metropolitan washington airport's authority trying to repair its image by introducing new ethics rules. the group which oversees the metro silverline product has faced stiff scrutiny since a report this spring detailed lavish travel spending and questionable contracts. today, it's putting new limits on what members can spend on plane tickets and meals and introducing new rules on disclosing conflicts of interest, so that contracts are not handed out to former board members. let's get a check on the midday traffic for you now. a tough commute this morning in a lot of places. danella sealock is here with the latest. >> hi, aaron. like you mentioned, it was a big problem this morning, and still seeing some delays right now, but here's the issue. if you're traveling on 95 northbound, as you make your way past etzel, you have a crash, it's blocking the left lane, police are on the scene.

let's talk about delays. sorry for this blurry camera, but you're jammed from the beltway even, jammed from the beltway as you make your way towards etzel. and good news if you're traveling along i-270. this road was a mess this morning, no issues right now. southbound at father hurley, and northbound as well, lanes are open. back over to you, aaron. >> thank you, danella. well, alexandria city councilman rob caprika will soon take a house in the delegates after a decisive win in a special election. he won 75% of the vote to win the seat for the 45th district covering alexandria, arlington, and fairfax. timothy mcghooe came in second. only 15% of active voters turned out for the election. d.c. teachers will now receive salaries -- rather, raises based on performance and the poverty level of the schools

they teach in. a new career ladder introduced yesterday allows high-performing teachers in high-poverty schools to move up the scales faster. the goal is to stem teacher turnover and keep the best educators in the city. there are five rungs on the ladder, with expert teacher marking the highest level. those teachers will also be eligible to take on bigger leadership roles in schools. a figure skating coach who competed in the 1988 olympics in calgary is behind bars this morning in maryland. we have the exclusive new details on the sex abuse allegations that landed him in trouble. the 50-year-old teachers at the garden's ice house in laurel. new york police are not releasing a lot of details, but the charges stem from an incident at lake placid last december. the city is a mecca for figure skating training and competitions. news 4 spoke exclusively to his wife and his lawyer. they say his students support their coach and the charges will be fought. >> there's a forcible touching

charge, a sexual offense charge. >> i could not believe those allegations and i fully support him. >> he will be held in the howard county jail until his extradition hearing later today. this afternoon, a maryland navy s.e.a.l. killed in afghanistan will be buried at arlington national cemetery. flags are being follow up at half-staff across maryland in honor of petty officer first class patrick feeks. he died last month. his funeral will be held at 12:45 at the ft. meyer memorial chapel before his burial service. your time right now is 11:07. coming up this morning, an important night at the democratic national convention. why president clinton is a good choice for prime-time. and why are girls suffering more sports injuries than boys? stay with us.

we're following a developing story in afghanistan. hundreds of afghan soldiers linked to insurgents were arrested or kicked out of the army. that's according to the defense ministry. many of the soldiers were reportedly expelled because of discrepancies in paperwork or missing information. this comes as insider attacks continue to cause tension between the afghan people and their allies. nato says at least 45 troops have been killed this year, 15 in the last month alone. 35 were killed in all of last year. president obama will have to give his acceptance speech at the democratic national convention inside. organizers decided to move his speech from the large bank of america stadium to the smaller time warner stadium. nbc's tracie potts has more on the speech from mrs. obama that electrified democrats. >> reporter: democrats bring in

their heavyweight tonight, former president bill clinton. t the only person more popular in a recent gallup poll, my khiche obama. she brought democrats to their feet last night with a rousing speech about decisions based on family values. >> when, in the end, for barack, these issues aren't political. they're personal. because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. >> reporter: a message aimed at women. >> he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices our bodies and our health care. he didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically. no, that's not how he was raised. he cared that it was the right thing to do. >> reporter: not once did she mention mitt romney. but plenty of others did. >> so here's what we're going to say to mitt romney in november -- we're going to say no! >> if mitt was santa claus, he

would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves. >> reporter: the woman who fought to make sure that women don't earn nearly a quarter less than men. >> maybe 23 cents doesn't sound like a lot to someone with a swiss bank account, a cayman island investment. >> reporter: romney under attack, as democrats prepared to nominate their president today. critics say this first day of the convention largely focused on social issues and not what polls show voters care most about, the economy and fixing the national debt. tracie potts, nbc news in charlotte, north carolina. the country is also getting a chance to learn more about maryland governor martin o'malley during this convention. he was one of last night's featured speakers, and he didn't pull any punches in his attack on mitt romney and paul ryan. >> instead of investing in america, they hide their money in swiss bank accounts and ship our jobs to china.

swiss bank accounts never built an american bridge. swiss bank accounts never put cops on the streets or teachers in our classrooms. governor romney, just because you bank against the united states of america doesn't mean the rest of us are willing to sell her out. >> many people are speculating that o'malley is considering a run for president four years from now. and our jim vance and tom sherwood are in charlotte for the convention. they'll be bringing you live reports today and tomorrow evening, only here on news 4. republicans also hoping to make some noise in north carolina this week as well. virginia governor bob mcdonnell campaigning today and tomorrow near the convention site in charlotte. mcdonnell is one of mitt romney's most active surrogates. a former virginia congressman could be a threat to mitt romney in a critical swing state this november. the board of elections in november ruled that virgil gude

junior is eligible to be on the ballot as a constitutional party county. gude has a long history in politics and conservative appeal. even if he only earns 2 or 3% of the vote in november, it could be enough to swing the state in president obama's favor. the state republican party is challenging gude's eligibility and have accused him of petition fraud. some breaking news right now, a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck about 50 miles off the coast of costa rica. that's according to the u.s. geological survey. there are no reports of any injuries right now, no damage to be reported either. once again, a 7.9 earthquake off the coast of costa rica. we, of course, will follow this story, and as always, you can get the latest on nbcwashington.com. right now we turn to storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson. >> and one more thing with earthquakes, you get those tsunamis sometimes, so the chilean navy, they've issued a tsunami alert. >> that's a big earthquake. >> it is. it is a big one. as far as our weather here, bigger storms today.

we had some isolated storms yesterday. we're going to see more of those today. some more widespread coverage on the rain. and as i talk about the rain, take a look, because here's the facts, folks. over the last 90 days, our departure from average, most locations down 25% below average. many neighborhoods on rainfall for the year. we're almost 6.5 inches down. i know that sounds odd when we continue to see these scattered storms, but it's just that scattered. not everyone getting wet. for fairfax, for prince willi s williams, for charles county, even western portions of the district, right inside the beltway, some 26 to 50% below average rainfall. and out there right now, you can see a mostly cloudy sky, sure looks like rain, right? 84, your temperature. we've had those breezes coming out of the southwest today, kind of helping to mix things up again, and maybe make it feel a little better, with that high humidity. on the radar, you can see, just the dry, storm team 4 radar, gaithersburg to waldorf and back

up, and off to the west from warrenton over to annapolis. dry conditions now after some early morning sprinkles and showers that came through. most of those were down here around leesburg and up around frederic. we have a scattering of showers off to the west, but it's that cold front that's going to help be the trigger for some worse storms. you can see it right there, falling apart a little bit with some clearing skies. but the clearing, the front, the tropical moisture still lingering, and a better chance for some rain this afternoon. after about 2:00, 3:00, we've got a good chance of seeing those showers and maybe some isolated storms forming. and then behind it, some clearing. and i think that clearing will take place pretty early, as early as about 7:00 p.m. or so, as the rain ends across southern portions of maryland, around our southernmost counties. for thursday, the front, it's east, but still some unsettled weather, just a slight chance for, i think, a few showers around the area. and then, another front. we're dry on friday, and

fortunately, the weekend, we get yet another front. it steps in. i think with rain late saturday, probably early sunday. sunday, when that front moves the through, we'll see some cooler temperatures. and then much cooler temperatures, areas around the midwest, areas north of us, getting a little taste of fall now. that's what we're going to have the early part of next week. so for your afternoon here, we're mostly cloudy. areas of rain, some heavy. 84 to 89 degrees. there could be a location or two that hit 90, even 91 down to our south. the evening, the rain will be ending and we'll see some clearing, 71 to 85 degrees, your evening temperature. your four-day forecast, good chance of rain for today, the high, 88. 92 for tomorrow, so we warm things up with more sunshine. friday, 92. there's your other front coming in for saturday. and look at that temperature, the high on sunday, just 80, and upper 70s for high temperatures the early part of next week. that's our taste of fall. but for today, again, umbrella

weather still. >> all right. we've gotten the warning. we're used to it now. thanks, veronica. i want to get another look at the midday traffic for you. danella sealock is here with that. >> thanks, aaron. first let's start with i-95 in virginia. it was tide up this morning, nice and clear right now. here's a live look at the ok kwan as you make your way northbound. if you're connecting on to 395 northbound, that's where you're going to see your problems. still seeing the accident blocking the left lane here. police still on the scene. and as you connect to 395, you're jammed from the beltway, crossing that accident, stick to the right. but once you pass this accident here, clear to the 14th street bridge. back over to you, aaron. >> thank you, danella. still ahead on news 4 midday, preventinging injuries. what parents and coaches should know before their kids hit the field. and the smartphone war is heating up. heating up. but

i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. mitt romney's position on women's health...it's dangerous. vo:mitt romney and paul ryan would get rid of planned parenthood funding. and allow employers to deny coverage for cancer screenings and birth control. we can't afford to let him take away our choices... to take away basic health care. vo: both backed proposals to outlaw abortions...even in cases of rape and incest.

i don't think that women's health issues have faced a crisis like this in decades. 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.

some 30 minutes kids here in the u.s. participate in youth sports, and as that number grows, so does the number of sports injuries. dr. david guyer is the director of sports medicine at the medical university of south carolina. he's here to talk about what is causing the increase, especially in girls. doctor, we appreciate you coming in. >> oh, thank you for having me. >> let's start with what's causing these injuries. as you look at kids who are dealing with these kind of things, are we talking about poor preparation or just doing too much? what do you think it is? >> the bottom line is it's essentially overuse. we think that half of youth sports injuries are actually related to just overusing it. playing the same sport for all year long without rest, and playing through pain, things like that. yes, traumatic events, bad falls, can happen. but more often than not, it's overuse and repetitive wear and

tear. >> just like we think with exercise, you have to take breaks. even if you're a trained athlete, you still have to take some time off. >> absolutely. it's probably even more important in kids who are still growing and they don't have the muscle strength that the adults have. >> why do you think it is that boys seem to be less susceptible to serious injuries than girls seem to be? >> well, especially as they get older, it gets back to that muscle strength. they develop the strength to basically protect that stress on, say, their growing the bones and ligaments and tendons of their shoulders and elbow and knees better than the female athletes. plus, there's some risk that female athletes have related to how they land, how they turn, that put them a little bit more at risk, especially for knee injuries, than the male athletes. >> so we've been looking at some numbers. it's elbow and shoulder injuries among young baseball and softball players, up 500% since 2000. why do you think that is? >> it's staggering. we think it's largely related to this trend, i don't know how it was when you played sports, i played a different sport year-round as when i was a kid. there's been a dramatic change

to this shift of kids playing one sport year-round. and that starts to take its toll on these young bodies. >> what would be the message you want to get across to volunteer softball and baseball coaches, kids who are bringing these kids in to play. what should that be doing? >> there's two things i should really stress. one is, i'm a big believer in either playing different sports year-round, or if you're going to have a kid play the same sport, take two or three consecutive months off. maybe not complete rest, but let them play another sport, to give that part of the body time to rest. the other thing is, look for pain and don't push kids to play through pain. talk to them, get the conversation going about how you feel like they're doing. kids are very reluctant to tell you that they're hurting. they don't want to let their parents down, their coaches down. if you get that dialogue going and get the sense they're starting to hurt, give them some time off. >> what about from a protection

perspective? is there something that coaches should be thinking about doing there to protect kids? >> i think, again, it gets to opening the conversation, getting that dialogue and knowing when they hurt. and teach proper mechanics. that, as a coach, is very, very important. fix their technical flaws, because with these repetitive motions, if they're doing a bad motion, over and over again, they're even more likely to get hurt. >> i want to ask your opinion about something that's been sort of a point of controversy here in the d.c. area. the washington nationals deciding that stephen strasburg should be shut down to sort of save his arm. what do you make of that decision by the nationals? >> well, to be fair, there's no right answer in all of this. i applaud them for looking out to protect him from injury and looking to the future and having him. the problem is knowing what is an acceptable level of risk. is it 160 innings, like they've apparently chosen? is it this season or next season? is it watching for his velocity to decrease? there's no right answer. i do applaud them for trying to protect his elbow. the problem is, we don't have enough data to know what to look

for, to know if he's at risk for re-tearing it. >> great information and advice there. dr. david guyer from the medical university of south carolina. we appreciate you coming in today. >> oh, thank you for having me. well, stay with us. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday," a neighborhood on alert. we'll have the latest on the violent attacks that could be connected. and what are you drinking? why the tsa is interested in your answer. plus, when will the threat of rain finally be out of the forecast? veronica johnson

anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year.

now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools. while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. right now former president bill clinton is preparing to take the stage of the democratic national convention. he will introduce president obama's name for nomination in prime-time tonight. the obama campaign hopes clinton will help the president get a boost among several key voting groups. a new gallup poll shows two-thirds of americans rate clinton favorably and half of republicans do too. police in canada working to figure out the motive behind a deadly shooting and an election

rally. this happened late last night in montreal, quebec. the new premier was in the middle of her victory speech when guards whisked her offstage. the shooter hit two men, killing one of them. police arrested the suspect outside the building shortly after they say he set a new fire. detectives do not believe anyone else was involved in the attack. d.c. police trying to figure out if two attacks on capitol hill are connected. in both cases, the men were robbed and beaten on east carolina avenue. the first victim was found on a front porch last month. police believe he was going door to door looking for help. since the attacks, police have increased patrols. >> even with police presence, we're not going to be able to cover every block. and i don't know how determined these criminals are. but it certainly is -- we're going to have to be extremely vigilant on our own as well until they're caught. >> police say they're trying to identify three men possibly

connected to these cases. surveillance video shows them inside a car at a gas station less than a half hour after the first attack. the army says it is punishing a soldier after disturbing hazing incidents were caught on tape. the video of what happened was posted online. it shows the soldier swinging a large wooden mallet at a lower ranking soldier who then fell and hit his head on a chair. this happened at ft. bragg in an unauthorized promotion ceremony, but the video is just now coming out. the army says it has relieved the soldier at fault of his duties, ordered him to pay a fine, and put a letter of reprimand on his file. the release of a book about the osama bin laden raid has led to warning of member to the navy's elite. they sent a letter to all members of special operations. it warned them not to reveal the details of their missions. the letter comes as the pentagon considers legal action against a former navy s.e.a.l. who wrote the book "no easy day." the author claims to detail the

raid that killed osama bin laden last year. defense officials say the book reveals sensitive and classified information after that s.e.a.l. signed a nondisclosure agreement with the military. this morning, the nfl announced it is donating $30 million to the national institutes of health to study traumatic brain injuries. the information will help nfl players who have suffered concussions on the field and veterans who have suffered injuries on the battlefield. general ray odierno and nfl commissioner roger goodell talked about the need for research this morning on the "today" show. >> we're really focusing on is making sure that the same qualities, mental toughness, physical toughness, dedication to mission accomplishment, does not impede people from saying, i have a problem and i need to get help. so that's why this initiative is important to us. >> and general odierno and i have spent a lot of time talking about our cultures, and what it is to make sure that our people stand up and say, i have an injury. and it's okay to ask for help. or to have your teammate or your

fellow soldier to say, i've got an injury. so i need to get the proper medical attention. >> now, the first set of initiatives will focus on mild traumatic brain injuries. the research will benefit military members and the general public. this morning, the maryland student accused of opening fire on the first day of school is officially charged with nine counts of attempted murder. a 17-year-old special needs student was critically wounded and is still in the hospital. the suspect, 15-year-old robert gladden, is charged as an adult. police say he used an antique shotgun to open fire in the cafeteria at perry hall high school in baltimore county last month. new at midday, jurors in the drew peterson murder trial have begun deliberations. the former chicago police officer is charged with first-degree murder in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, kathleen savio. he's also suspected, not charged, though, in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, stacy peterson.

deliberations started just about an hour ago. it may take another week before firefighters in southern california can contain a wildfire at the angeles national forest, just northeast of l.a. the fire is now 24% contained, but it has already burned at least 3,600 acres in the san gabriel mountains. no communities are threatened. that fire broke out sunday near a campground, forcing thousands of people to evacuate during the busy labor day weekend. i want to get another check now with veronica johnson for the latest on our forecast. she's outside now, on the storm team 4 weather deck. how's it feeling out there now, j.v.? >> it feels a little bit better. there's a little bit of sunshine, a little bit of brightness hitting my face. we've got some sunshine breaking through the clouds and partly cloudy in a lot of areas here already now. take a look there at the washington monument, there in the distance. and we've got some sunshine. but nothing on radar. that's what i like. the fact that it's staying quiet a little bit longer. gaithersburg down towards woodbridge and quantico, all quiet on the radar now.

so what you can expect. let me take you through future weather, over the next couple of hours. down to the south, some showers, i think, will be forming, in culpepper around waldorwaldorf. scattered showers, yes, and some areas that get the heavier rain with the cold front moving through. by 7:00, 8:00, the front will be moving out of here and our rain will be ending. so at 11:00, a clearing sky for us. any plans to go to the game, know that it's by the start of the game, when we could see some showers. again, that front will be moving out of our area around 7:00 or 8:00. so a chance of rain, maybe at the start of the game. the temperature will be around 84 degrees. we'll hit a high of 88. and aaron, the other thing that i like is the fact that we've got some nice breezes going too. making it feel a little better out here with the humidity. >> nothing like a nice breeze o out there. thank you, veronica. we're starting to get a sense of how devastating  hurricane isaac was. emergency officials in louisiana say storm challenge -- the storm

damaged more than 13,000 homes in that state and that number could climb. already, about 95,000 people have asked fema for aid and for help with repairs. meanwhile, oil has started washing up on some louisiana beaches. scientists are testing it to see if it was leftover from the deepwater rig explosion two dwreer years ago. a public memorial service will be held for neil armstrong here in d.c.. it will be broadcast live on nasa tv. armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. he died late last month of complications from heart surgery. he was 82 years old. southern california preparing for space shuttle "endeavour" to arrive at a museum next month, but getting there has some people in los angeles a little upset. crews are cutting down 400 trees along a 12-mile stretch from l.a.x. to the california science center. the move is part of a two-day parade, which will now likely also feature protesters.

officials say the shuttle needs the extra room to make it down neighborhood streets. they say dismantling the shuttle or airlifting it are not options. >> sitting at the stoplight with a little bit of shade, and now it's gone. it's a concrete jungle. more like new york than it is los angeles. >> i'm excited to see the "endeavour." it's a once in a lifetime chance and i'm excited to see it. >> crews also plan to raise power lines and remove traffic signs to make room for the orbiter. they agreed to replant twice as many trees along the route once the shuttle is moved. the big move scheduled for october 12th. let's get another check on the midday traffic right now. danella sealock is here with that. >> i've got good news if you're traveling 395. northbound at etzel, had a crash. it was blocking the left lane. the good news, the crash is gone. the not-so-good-news, you're still a big sluggish in this area. if you're traveling 50 and maryland, starting to hit the breaks as you make your way westbound at landover road.

i just checked this camera a minute ago, and things were clear. but right now, it's making me think there's an incident just as you pass landover road. so if you're jumping on 50, heading inbound towards new york avenue, just be aware as you're making your way past landover road. you may want to take the parkway instead. that looks nice and clear. not everybody happy with a plan to convert a small shopping center into an urban town center in chevy chase. developers have big plans for the chevy chase lake complex between connecticut avenue between jones bridge road and east/west highway. they want to redevelop that land by adding apartment buildings, retail space, and some open space as well. the proposal getting mixed reviews. >> i think it's actually going to be a detriment to the community. we already have so much traffic as it is. it's just going to exacerbate it and just make it so much worse than things already are. >> the community sees that this is an opportunity for new development. as you can see, you know, that there is an opportunity here.

i think that we could make this a great gateway to the community. >> the redevelopment is part of a master plan that includes metro's purple line. it would run from chevy chase, bethesda, to the new carolton metro station. the montgomery county city council still has to approve the plan before the community can be rezoned. also in montgomery county, a construction project will close a busy road in downtown bethesda on friday. crews will close woodmont avenue for two years. two high-rises and an underground parking gra ining g go up on what used to be one of the biggest parking lots in the area. to help deal with the congestion, montgomery county is adding circular buses and converting about 100 long-term parking spaces to hourly spaces. just because you made it through security at the airport doesn't mean the tsa is done screening you. video posted online shows agents checking passengers' drinks for hints of explosives. and as nbc's tom costello reports, it has people talking about whether the agency is

going too far. >> an unexpected sight at the columbus airport. two tsa officers holding a test strip over passengers' drinks to check for explosive vapors after the passengers had already cleared security and bought the beverage on the concourse. dan holland was there with his wife and son. >> having someone come up to me and demand that i submit to another search, without really any probable cause, seems a bit -- a bit much. >> reporter: the tsa says the drink screening has been going on for years as it employs multiple layers of security throughout the airport. it limited passengers' carry-on liquids and gels in 2006, after terrorists plotted to blow up u.s.-pound passenger planes with liquid explosive over the atlantic. screening drinks in front of the gate area is meant to guard from potential threats inside the concourse. perhaps an employee who could smuggle in an explosive and hand it off to a passenger. but while airline passengers face the prospects of additional

screening every day, neither the trust of vendors nor the airport employees are screened every day, and the tsa won't say how often they are screened. screening drinks brought into a secure environment garnered complains. >> kind of ridiculous. >> i think it's a worthwhile thing for them to do. can't be too safe. >> i am a little concerned about how invasive it's getting. >> reporter: passenger who is declined the beverage check may be denied boarding. two years ago, the tsa invited us into its laboratories as it tested equipments that it hoped could sniff out explosives inside plastic bottles. >> we're trying to measure and quantitate how much of a gas is leaking out from a victim through the plastic seals and bottles. >> reporter: but foolproof technology has pron elusive. offense at airports remains the best defense. tom costello, nbc news, washington. right now, alexandria police need your help finding a missing

man. 71-year-old david short was last seen at 9:00 a.m. yesterday. short suffers from dementia and needs daily medication. he was reportedly on his way to virginia hospital center in arlington. police say he may also be in the gainesville area of prince william county, trying to find a relative. short may be driving a 2006 silver or green honda crv with virginia plates, kbk-6001. anyone with information about short or his car should contact police. well, talk about being in the right place at the right time, a congressman from maryland being called a hero after helping a toddler on the side of the road. 2-year-old nathan smith's parents say they pulled the car over along route 50 about a year ago when they noticed nathan wasn't breathing. storms closed road that day on andy harris' usual route, so he pulled over to help. he also happens to be a physician. harris replied, wishing the boy

well. still ahead on nbc 4 midday, why mcdonald's is saying hold the beef and the chicken. plus, a new addition to the president clinton: this election to me is about which... candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true.

...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

. well, you won't find big macs and quarter pounds at some new mcdonald's restaurants. they plan to open all-vegetarian restaurants in india. it already separates its kitchens in india into vegetarian and nonvegetarian sections. it also doesn't sell beef or pork. mcdonald's did not say when it expects to open these new-style restaurants. well, small gains this morning on wall street. cnbc's hampton pearson live with the day's business headlines. hampton, good morning. >> hey, aaron. right now we've got stocks mostly higher after some good news about american workers, just two days ahead of the latest jobs report. checking the major averages right now, the dow up about 36 points, the nasdaq and s&p up about two points as well. the labor department says

worker productivity introduced by 2.2% in the april through june quarter, higher than the initial estimate of 1.6% from economists. part of the drag, however, on the markets today, news from fedex, cutting its profit outlook for the year, because of the weakness in the global economy. facebook stock rebounding today after co-founder and ceo mark zuckerberg says he won't be selling any of his shares for at least a year. another top early investor in the company will only sell enough stock to cover his tax bill for now. yesterday, facebook closed at the lowest point since the company's ipo after two analysts cut their price targets. the market will be flooded with several new smartphones and other devices over the next few weeks. within the last hour, nokia kicked things off, unveiling its first smartphone, based on microsoft's new windows 8 software. this afternoon, google's motorola unit takes the wraps up what's expected to be a new hd droid razor phone. tomorrow, amazon is expected to show off a new kindle tablet,

and it's all capped off next wednesday when apple shows us what's behind the curtain number one. the expectation, the new iphone 5. christmas in september for the consumer technology industry. aaron? back to you. >> absolutely. sounds just like that. hampton, thank you. >> you got it. the feds say apple device owners are likely the victims of a hoax. a group says they hacked 12 million apple i.d.s from an fbi computer. a federal law enforcement official tells nbc news there's no evidence the fbi requested that type to have data from apple. they say a list that anti-sec posteded of allegedly hacked number may be a ploy to steal numbers from those who read it. more now on all the new cell phones hitting the market. nokia unveiling its newest smartphone today. it is one of several companies looking to create a buzz before the holiday shopping season. here's nbc's mark barger. >> reporter: the smartphone war has basically been the iphone versus android. together, they control 85% of

the market. but microsoft hopes to dent that dominance starting today. its new windows 8 operating system powers a new line of smartphones being unveiled by nokia, a tech company that's in need of a boost. >> it's lost more than 90% of its value over the past five years. and the reason is, it hasn't had a hit phone in the smartphone age. that's what they hope this phone will be. >> reporter: cnbc's tech correspondent jon fortt says with the market largely saturated in the u.s., nokia and microsoft are not after brand-new smartphone users, but ones they can lure from the competition, with new features such as wireless charging. >> the lowest-hanging free is the former blackberry customer and the android customer. nokia's got to hope that they can pick off those customers as

they try to make what's been a two-sided battle into a three-way one. mark barger, nbc news. the time is 11:50. coming up, we'll get you caught

lance armstrong says he is done talking about doping accusations against him, but his

former teammates are not. tyler hamilton rode with armstrong for three of his seven tour de france wins. and in his new book called "secret race," he details armstrong's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs during their time together. hamilton, who is an admitted doper, told the "today" show's matt lauer that there are ways around tests that armstrong passed, and that lying has become second nature in the sport. >> i passed hundreds of tests, when i probably shouldn't have. >> how? the average person wants to know how that can happen. because the testing's pretty sophisticated. >> the testing's great. back in the day, we had doctors that were one step ahead of the testers. i denied it for years. and after a while, you get pretty good at it. you know, i've lied to you before, straight to your face. so for me, it's like a huge weight off my back. >> armstrong gave up his fight against charges leveled by the u.s. anti-doping agency about two weeks ago. well, tonight the question is, are you ready for some football?

the nfl season kicks off tonight, right here on nbc 4. the reigning super bowl champ new york giants take on the dallas cowboys. you can see the whole thing, catch the first matchup of the season right here on nbc 4. it starts at 8:30 tonight. well, he has yet to take a snap during a regular season game, but already one teammate is giving robert griffin iii some pretty lofty praise. wide receiver josh morgan jushed about rg3 calling him humbled, focused, and a great man. but he also says he has the talent of some of the greatest qbs. here's what morgan said, "he's as fast as michael vick but he can make all the throws that peyton manning can make and he can make all the reads that tom brady can make. he's got the whole package." griffin gets his first chance to live up to the hype sunday against the new orleans saints. is and a drive to left. turns one way and the ball's right there for him. and the nates have done it

again. >> the nationals have their largest first-place lead of the season. they bet the cubs 11-5 last night and the braves lost 6-0 to the rockies. that means the nats are in first place by 7 1/2 games now. adam laroche hit two home runs last night in that victory. the nationals will look to win their fourth game in a row tonight against the cubs. let's take a look now at some of the stories we're following on news 4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joining us from the newsroom with a preview of what's to come. hey, pat. >> hey, aaron. coming up this afternoon on news 4, starting at 4:00, nicki minaj makes a political statement in one of her songs, and now she's gettinging death threats. we'll have details about that. also, surveillance video shows a mother at a store shoplifting using her kids. and coming up at 5:00 this afternoon, which is worse? the tick or the pesticide that one local county is now using to get rid of the disease-spreading bug. we'll have that story as well, and all the day's latest news coming up tonight on news 4 at 4:00 and 5:00. see you then, aaron. >> thank you, pat.

i want to get one final check on our forecast now. veronica johnson is here with that. >> some wet weather again expected throughout our area. talking about scattered showers. and i can narrow that window a little bit more for you, between 2:00 and probably around 6:00 p.m. you can see some sunshine coming to us there in the distance, for this afternoon. high temperature, 84 to 89. maybe a spot or two around 90 or 91. there could be a few locations that get the heavy rain today, aaron. the evening, we'll see the skies clearing, the rain ends. 75 to 81, for a temperature. and note that i'm watching two storms now out in the atlantic. it's leslie and it's tropical storm michael. the track on leslie is the one of concern. very close to bermuda, at the end of the weekend, we will see some strong rip currents and some rough surf this weekend. as far as the forecast goes for around here, we're going to hit a high today of again, 88 degrees. and then for the weekend, we're going to see highs anywhere from 80 to about 84 degrees.

>> all right, sounds good. thank you. we're getting some breaking news into the newsroom right now. triangle elementary school is on lockdown right now. apparently some shots have been fired in t area. not at the school, but the school is on lockdown near the quantico area at this hour. you can go nbcwashington.com and follow us on facebook and twitter for updates throughout the afternoon. that is "news 4 midday." jen and pat will be here at 4:00 with an update on that breaking news for you. i'll see you tomorrow morning for news