we have new information about the arrest of oscar pistorius. the first double amputee runner in the olympics. he's accused of killing his girlfriend. why his first appearance in court was postponed and what police say about the couple's past problems. good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday i'm barbara harrison. >> and i'm keith russell. we're staying on top of that developing story this morning. oscar pistorius, the man who became known as blade runner after becoming the first double amputee to run in the olympics faces murder charges this morning after police say he shot and killed his girlfriend. news 4's melissa mollet joins us now with the latest. melissa, what can you tell us?

>> good morning. an olympic athlete now accused of killing his girlfriend. here's pistorius leaving the station early this morning. he was heading to court. his first hearing was scheduled for this afternoon. it's now been postponed until tomorrow to give forensic analysts more time to investigate. police say pistorius shot 29-year-old reeva steenkamp at his home in a gated complex early this morning. she was hit four times in the head and arm. right now they're interviewing witnesses they say heard things that happened there earlier in the evening. at a press conference this morning they answered questions about previous calls made to that house. >> related to the person who's been arrested but i can confirm that there has previously been incidents at the home of mr. oscar pistorius. the allegations of domestic nature. >> now some media outlets were reporting that 9 olympian may have shot his girlfriend after mistaking her for an intruder. already her facebook and twitter pages have scores of tributes.

just yesterday steenkamp tweeted about her excitement for valentine's day saying what do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow? then later on, it should be a day of love for everyone. now the couple have been dating a couple of months. steenkamp was a law school graduate and was considered one of the top models in south africa. keith? >> what a sad story. thanks melissa. right now, moms of gun -- for gun control are lobbying congress to pass strict gun control measures. the mother of 15-year-old hadiya pendleton is on capitol hill right now. that teen was shot a week after she marched with her school at the inauguration. tony is live on capitol hill now. he spoke with pendleton's mom. maybe he can tell us how she's doing now. tony? >> well, barbara, if you take what she says for face value, she's doing okay. but i can tell you i spent a few minutes with her this morning and she is still in absolute shock and pain, not doing too

well. she's in town. she spent tuesday night with miss obama at the state of the union address and then today, as you mentioned, she and some volunteers will be delivering teddy bears here on capitol hill, hoping to sway some of the officials here to change some of the laws pertaining to gun violence. >> i'm just trying to keep them moving and keep her name out there. this can't be for nothing, because she was a special kid. >> cleopatra pendleton, the mother of slain 15-year-old hadiya can't even show emotion as she talked, still in just absolute shock after the shooting death of her baby girl, a majorette gunned down in a chicago park just weeks after she performed at president obama's inaugust vags celebration. >> i'm very different than i was, obviously, before the incident. >> reporter: miss pendleton is in washington after accepting an invitation from michelle obama to attend the state of the union address that took place tuesday night. but it was not their first meeting. miss obama traveled to chicago

to attend hadiya's funeral just a few short days ago. >> let's pause now for a moment of silence to remember the children and educators lost in newtown. to remember those lost in aur a aurora. and virginia tech and columbine. >> reporter: and here at the children's defense fund offices in the district, patty hasler takes a moment of silence to remember all those lost by senseless gun violence. she along with hadiya's mother and 20 volunteers are heading over to capitol hill to deliver teddy bears with a broken heart, urging members to tighten loopholes in gun transactions. >> tell me why in the world would anyone not agree that you should get a background check before you buy a firearm? >> this is one of the many victims of gun violence. >> reporter: even though cleopatra just buried her daughter, this is a cause she wanted to be a part of. >> i'm happy to help. that's who i am. that's who we've always been. and hadiya always loved the

kids, you know. so it's what i can do to assist. i'm honored. >> and barbara miss pundleton says she plans to hit every office here on the hill and after that she will be headed back to chicago. that is the latest from capitol hill. we'll send it back to you. >> thank you, tony. switching gears, area roads are finally drying out on this thursday. this was the colesville road at the beltway in silver spring during this morning's commute. it was one of dozens of accidents in maryland because of slick and icy roads. anne arundel county police reported 60 crashes between 6:00 and 8:00 this morning. traffic in northern virginia wasn't much better. this accident brought heavy traffic on the fairfax county parkway, at rolling road and springfield, virginia. icy conditions even closed part of the memorial bridge during this morning's rush more on the roads in just a minute. first have the temperatures climbed above freezing yet to melt that ice? tom kierein joins us with the first forecast. >> yes, thanks to that sun we just saw there in that live picture of the washington

monument, probably about 9:00 we were above freezing, just about the entire region. since then we've been climbing into the 40s. right now, we've got temperatures into the mid 40s. last night we got some snow, we got some rain. that snow, this is what it looked like 12 hours ago. it zipped through and left about a half inch to an inch, mainly on grassy areas. but it made all of the roadways, sidewalks, and steps wet, and they stayed wet until about 4:00 in the morning, then the temperatures dropped below freezing. and as a result we had the iciness, and starting at 4:30 this morning we were warning about that. the patchy ice all around the region. and it stayed that way all the way until about 8:30, 9:00 this morning. now it's into the mid 40s in montgomery county, arlington, air fax, prince george's. closer to washington right now, upper 30s. montgomery, prince george's the low 40s. now low and mid 40s in the district. and arlington and fairfax also the low and mid 40s. and even a bit warmer this

afternoon. we'll talk about that and big changes on the way for the weekend coming up in just a couple of minutes. keith? >> all right. tom see you in studio in just a few. >> and let's take a look at the mid-day traffic now, see if there's still problems on the roads. danella? >> good morning, barbara. much better. still seeing some trouble spots but nowhere near what we were facing earlier this morning. i-270 southbound, crash at quince orchard road. crash has been moved to the left shoulder lane. you may still see delays. connecticut avenue, northbound at the beltway, construction blocks two of your right lanes. over to the beltway traveling the inner loop at connecticut avenue, a work zone happening right now. we'll take a live look, actually let's head there now. here's a look at it and you can see just along the right lanes, two of them, in fact, that's where the cones are, stick to the left to get by. >> thank you, danella. redskins fans, if you want to take a little road trip today you may want to head to richmond. you still have time to make it there for the groundbreaking on the team's new training

facility. the washington redskins training center will be built near the science museum of virginia. virginia governor bob mcdonnell will be at today's ceremony. the training center should be completed in time for training camp this summer. >> just minutes ago we received new information an an elderly man's death in alexandria. his body was discovered in his home. megan mcgrath joins pus whap did police just tell you? >> well, keith, just a short time ago police released the name to me of the 94-year-old who was found dead inside this house that you see behind me. he's been identified as elmer rohrs. again, 94 years old. found last night around 7:00 by his stepson inside this home on hole li street. he was suffering from trauma to the upper body. that's all police will say at this point. they say the autopsy is happening right now so they don't don't have a cause of death so they are just classifying this as a suspicious death. but we are expecting to have more information very soon after

that autopsy is completed. now, residents who live here on this street, they say this is a very nice family that lives in this home. they are stunned by what they heard about last night. all the police activity and word that one of their neighbors had died. they say that this family, though, did seem to have an issue with break-ins. that there had been a number of break-ins here at the home in recent years and that they actually recently put in security equipment at the house. can you see in the upper corner there, there's a surveillance camera that's pointed down at the front door. there are also flood lights on the side of the house and signs advertising that there's an alarm system here. what do you know about that situation? >> i just know there were several break-ins. that's it. i don't know what was taken or anything. >> but just their house? not any of the others? >> to my knowledge, no one else has been burglarized. i think it's been targeted several times. so, yeah, it's -- it's a little strange. >> and police have a report of a break-in last november and they're researching other years to track down what neighbors say

was a pattern of break-ins here. now this was the scene last night around 7:00 p.m. when the discovery was made. police called to the scene by the stepson. he entered the home, and found his stepfather bleeding. he was pronounced dead here on the scene. neighbors say that the family owned a number of rental properties in the area, off of route 1, and that they would often see tenants coming here to the house on holly street to drop off rent checks around the first of the month. as for activity here today, we have seen very little as of yet. but what i was told was that investigators are en route back to the scene. last night when they were collecting evidence, it was raining, it was dark. they want to come out in the light of day to take a closer look and we're expecting to see them here shortly. megan mcgrath, news 4. >> still a lot of questions to be answered. thanks, megan. our time right now 10 after 11:00. and coming up, president obama's headed to georgia right now. how he wants to change when children are first introduced to

school. plus, a big airline merger. was announced just a few hours ago. we'll tell you what it will mean to travelers now, and in the future. and we're going to introduce you to two military wives in our area caring for their wounded warrior husbands. we treated them to valentine's [ male announcer #1 ] verizon fios is the fastest internet in america. just ask pc mag. [ male announcer #2 ] cable can't touch fios upload speeds.

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right now, president obama is on his way to georgia to unveil his universal preschool plan. he'll be visiting the college heights early childhood learning center in decatur. it's the second trip in two days to push initiatives he introduced during his state of the union address. today we expect him to outline how to make preschool accessible to all kids nationwide. georgia was the first state to offer voluntary prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds, regardless of a family's income. >> new this morning, former secretary of state hillary rodham clinton is being honored

at the pentagon at this hour. general martin dempsey just presented clinton with the highest award he can present to a civilian. the honor has a long name. it's called the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joint distinguished civilian service award. >> you've moved diplomacy into the 21st century. you've recognized that there are limits to hard power, and that we need both hard power and soft power. all the while, remembering that it's the investment of your personal time that builds relationships. >> general dempsey added that hillary clinton has been a steadfast supporters of the military. more so, he said, than any other secretary of state in his career. we're learning new information about pope benedict, the 16th health. the vatican said he hit his head and bled during his trip to mexico last march. the vatican said that accident had no relevant role with his plans to step down at the end of this month. this morning the pope told cardinals he'll be hidden to the world once he steps down

february 28th. >> and storm team four meteorologist tom kierein, joins us now to look at our forecast. hey, tom. >> yeah, what a crazy start to the morning with the iciness we had around for the morning commute. fortunately it all melted off by about 9:00. now we've got the bright sun, and got a little bit of snow last night. and that's what students at riverside elementary school in alexandria wanted to know all about. snow, and different types of weather. i visited that school in the mount vernon section of alexandria earlier this week and we are all watching us right now. the second graders, a shout-out to you there at the riverside elementary school. it was a lot of fun talking to all of you. and we had a lot of great information about different types of weather. and the teacher there on the back, third one from the left, sherry brick was the one who invited me to this terrific school in alexandria, the riverside elementary school. we had a lot of fun. they've already had a unit on weather there. take a look at what happened last night. look at that. the snow came down pretty hard.

this was in bethesda, and it did come down pretty hard in many areas north and west of washington. enough for a coating that melted on roadways and then accumulated on grassy areas and turned to ice this morning when we got down below freezing. now it's 44 at reagan national. winds gusting out of the northwest around 15, 20 miles an hour. and it's mostly sunny right now. there was that snow we had last night, between now and then we've had sky clearing out. we've got lots of sunshine now. a few clouds beginning to move into the mountains right now. but they're going to stay pretty much to our west. and these are the temperatures now around the region. we're in the 30s, montgomery county, points north and west to near 40, and it's in the mid 40s. arlington, fairfax, the rest of northern virginia, including alexandria at the riverside elementary. right now there about 45 degrees as prince george's county write now, in the mid 40s. these are predicted highs for the afternoon. probably around 50, right around washington, upper 40s farther north and west. and low 50s parts of northern

virginia. but mostly, most of the region right around 50 degrees during the afternoon. and then, this evening, we'll have the temperature drop back down to near 40 degrees by midnight, under a partly cloudy sky is the way it looks right now. let's go forward here over the next couple of days. just a few clouds this afternoon and then overnight tonight partly cloudy. during the day on friday, by friday evening an area of some snow may move our way similar to what happened last night. leaving, perhaps, some snow on mainly grassy areas again and many of the same areas may get the same amounts. maybe a half inch to an inch on late friday night and then on saturday morning a lot of it pretty much gone, but still some snow showers perhaps. a small part of that out of the mountains during saturday afternoon. next couple of days, big changes. forecast near 50 this afternoon. mid 50s tomorrow afternoon before any of that snow comes in late, probably not until mid to late evening. and then ending during the morning hours on saturday. colder for the weekend. highs just in the 30s, on saturday and sunday. in fact, sunday morning down to

just near 20 degrees. maybe down to near 20 again on monday. monday afternoon with sunshine ought to make it into the mid 40s. highs near 50 tuesday, chance of some rain. that is the way it looks. >> all right. thank you, tom. and we're going to check on the midday traffic again. >> danella, what's the latest? >> i'm still checking on that earlier accident. 270 southbound at quince orchard road. it is blocking your left shoulder lane just a bit sluggish as you make your way toward the accident. head over to i-95 and check out some delays here in maryland. as you travel from 198 to the beltway you are slow, and this is the reason why. closer to 212, just past powder mill road you're going to see construction blocking two of your right lanes, and so just a bit slow to the beltway. under speed, just about 41 miles per hour. will take you 15 minutes to get from 216 to the beltway. barbara and keith? >> thanks, danella. it's 19 minutes after 11:00. still ahead on news 4 mid-day on this valentine's day, there's one lucky couple that doesn't have to choose between love and

money. >> who's that? plus, meet a local westminster dog show winner. and hear how she gets ready for big competition. boy is she cute. >> but first here's a look at what's hat on nbcwashington.com.

with the westminster kennel club dog show over, rigby, a bed linkton terrier is back home. rigby and rigby's owner laurie joins us this morning. and you were just saying, do you look at me or you look at the camera? i want you to look at me. because i want to focus on rigby. i want to eat her up. how can you describe such a unique-looking dog? >> well, they were bred to go to ground and so they're very thin, and they have a long head so

that they can go after badger and fox and whatever else they -- they're set on. >> and you said this is called a wedge? the way her head is shaped. >> their head is shaped like a blunt wedge. >> and the tassels for the ears? >> to distract the quarry or the prey that they're going after and also to protect their ears underground so that they don't end up getting the very thin ear leather cut up by roots and sticks and twigs under the ground. >> we love rigby's valentine's day leash. her own valentine's day leash. it's beautiful. you say you have a long history with rigby. >> i bred rigby. rigby is 5 years old. i bred rigby and i bred her mom. we knew right from the start that she was a really special little girl. that she would go far in the show world. she ended last year as the number two bedlington in the nation. number one owner handled. she's handled by myself and my daughter. and she just loves the showing. she loves people. she's very friendly. >> and she has two sons? >> she took last year off to

have a litter of puppies and two of her sons from last year's litter are already champions themselv themselves. >> if you had to say one thing, look at that little drool, even that's cute. if you had to say one thing about rigby that just amazes the judges at these competitions? >> probably her side gait. when she goes around the ring she floats around the ring. also her personality. she smiles and winks at the judges i think. rigby has a little trick. when she's examined in the ring, she's on a grooming table, when we put her down she does a play bow and stretch and it gets the judge's attention and the crowds. you'll hear people go, aw. she did it as a puppy, got that reaction. now she does it because she has a sense of humor. >> quickly, what's next? >> she's retired to the when ing box after our national in march. she'll be having more puppies. >> she certainly made us smile. everyone on our staff came into the green room before the show just to get a look at rigby.

including barbara and i. we love you. happy valentine's day. i love it. that's the in mobile alabama. plus it's valentine's day. storm team four meteorologist tom kierein will look ahead to the weekend weather. why it may not be the best weekend to plan something outdoors. and it's time for the big reveal. two military wives show off their makeovers today on valentine's day. you'll love the sight of this. stick around for the

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♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. right now on news 4 midday the olympic sprinter blown as blade runner, after competing as a double amputee faces murder charges. oscar pistorius was arrested this morning. police say he shot and killed

his 29-year-old girlfriend model reeva steenkamp. he's scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. right now dozens of moms are on capitol hill lobbying congress for stricter gun control measures. members of the children's defense fund are delivering teddy bears with broken hearts to congress. they're urging members to tighten loopholes and gun sales. new today, it will take even longer for that stranded carnival cruise line ship to return to port. the company says it's taking longer than expected for tugboats to pull the ship to mobile, alabama. it's now expected to reach report after 8:00 tonight, instead of this afternoon. carnival's "triumph" boat had an engine fire then lost power last weekend. passengers at this point have no air conditioning, little food, limited bathroom access. carnival says it will refund the trip to passengers, and discount future cruises. how would you like to have a gift worth $217 million? this valentine's day. well, that's just what one lucky virginia couple is getting. virginia lotto officials say the

lucky pair hit the powerball earlier this month. they bought the ticket at the richmond airport and that's where they'll be presented that massive check. the ceremony starts in just a few hours. going to check in again with tom kierein with the latest on the forecast. he's outside on the storm team 4 weather day. >> it is a beautiful february day. we've got a gorgeous blue sky on this vol tine's day. there he is the washington monument, jefferson memorial. this is my valentine's gift to you right now in the mid 40s. around much of the region, reagan national now at 44 and later today, up around 50 degrees. then overnight tonight, it's going to be partly cloudy and cold start tomorrow morning, down to the low 30s. but all the pavement drying out, i don't think we'll have iciness like we did this morning tomorrow morning. then friday afternoon the mid 50s. could get snow late friday night as it turns much colder after midnight until perhaps the morning hours on saturday. similar to what happened last night, might get a dusting or maybe a light coating on grassy

areas mainly and melting on roadways. the rest of saturday looks like it's going to be cloudy and cold but highs only in the 30s. very cold sunday morning and 20s. also on monday morning, afternoon highs 30s, sunday mid 40s, monday, maybe some rain on tuesday. barbara? >> all right, thank you, tom. >> let's check the midday traffic once again. danella, first of all, happy valentine's day. secondly is it a love affair on the roadways? >> thank you for that happy valentine's day. same to you on the roads, okay, it's a lot better than earlier this morning. we do have the issue in northwest d.c. if you're traveling sherman avenue your road is blocked between morten street and monroe street because of a gas leak in that area. while crews are working avoid that roadway. i-270 nice and clear here. earlier crash at quince orchard road is out of the roadway. smooth sailing. here's a live look as you make your way in both directions, north and southbound. no issues to report. keith, back over to you. hundreds of people turned out in the district to help kids battle cancer.

the group tracy's kids held its courage awards fund-raiser last night at lucky strike in northwest washington. the pediatric arts program helps young cancer patients deal the stress associated with cancer treatment. comcast executive vice president david cohen explains how it started. >> the beauty of tracy's kids, which was founded by a nurse, is that you have a child who's diagnosed with cancer, has to be treated, and the treatment is really hard. i mean chemotherapy, radiation. it makes you sick. it's scary. it's disruptive to themselves, their lives, and to their families. and what she has done in this program is -- >> -- in our area. come cast and nbc universal, parent company of nbc 4 paid for this event. so all donations could go

directly to tracy's kids. well, already this week, we've introduced you to two moms in our area helping their sons recovering from wounds suffered in war. now we want to introduce you to a wife and mother who's helping her husband deal with injuries suffered in afghanistan. we treated julie headrick to a valentine's day makeover. take a look. >> reporter: while some of our makeover candidates were getting makeup, others were picking out new styles of comfortable clothes to wear. most of the wives and moms of wounded warriors spend so much time either at the hospital or running from one treatment to another with their wounded son or daughter. what they needed was a break to do something just a little different. >> how long do you have in the morning to do your hair? >> not long. >> not long? how long does it take you normally? >> about 15 minutes. >> 15 minutes. >> that's because julie headrick not only has to take care of her

two children, but she needs to be with her husband, army specialist gregory headrick who is recovering from injuries suffered in the war in september of 2012. >> my husband was injured in afghanistan, and we are here for -- at walter reed for his rehabilitation. he has a left leg below the knee amputation and he lost his pinkie, ring finger and thumb. they said that he had lost his left leg, but he was alive and he was stable. we just had a one-month baby. >> with her baby and her 6-year-old she's been here helping her husband to recover at walter reed over the last year and a half. how is he doing now? >> he's doing good. he is starting to walk on his prosthetic. his spirits are a lot better now that he's not confined to the wheelchair anymore. and he's doing excellent. >> stylist jackie davis said she would create a new style that would take into account julie's busy schedule. >> so julie one of the things

you said to me is that your hair feels very straggley, very layered and you want something that's going to make it look a little thicker. >> next stop was makeup. bobbi brown stylist sharon. >> how does that feel? >> good. >> after that, julie joined some of the other wounded warrior wives and mothers to do a little shopping in neiman marcus gallery. annalisa had some suggestions for a new look. >> a big trend for spring is prints. i want to show you these print pants. which are really, really cute. feel them, they're very soft. very easy to wear. >> with her head spinning with choices, jewelry said she was thrilled to have such a special day. okay, here's what she looked like when we met her on monday. and now the new look, jewelry. after you look fabulous. >> thank you. >> fantastic. how do you feel?

>> i feel fabulous. >> was it fun? >> it was incredible. a day to myself. and all the treatments, and i can't even express how grateful i am. >> we saw that you were having a little trouble holding back the tears just now as you watched the story. what did your husband say when he saw you? >> he loved it. he loved the hair and he was very happy for me. >> now, let's talk a little bit to the folks who helped make this all happen. we'll start over there on the end, we've got michelle shankshaft who did the makeup. tell us aut that. >> julie has beautiful eyes. we really defined her brow and gave her a strong liner to really bring the eye out and then really popped a bright pink on the cheek and the lip. >> and the team from p.r. and partners. >> yes, so with julie she was really concerned about her hair

being very stagly, and then frank did the beautiful haircut. >> thank you. >> you like the hair cut? >> i love it. >> it's really fantastic. it's not easy to lose your long hair. >> no. >> but it looks great. >> it's fresh. >> and annalisa, tell us abouts wonderful clothes she's wearing. >> the first thing she noticed about julie is she was wearing clothes two or three sizes too big. she put her in beautiful skinny jeans, complement her gorgeous figure. popped her haircut with a yellow blazer and come plepted her beautiful blue eyes with turquoise necklace and earrings. >> we've got another one coming up right after the break. we are going to meet another wife who just went through a beautiful makeover, as well. she's standing by, she'll be out here in just a minute. congratulations to you. >> thank you. >> and good luck with your husband and your family. >> thank you. >> so happy to have you with us. and we also have a lot of news coming up, so stay with us. we'll be right back.

for today's merger of merge airlines and us airways means to

our next military wife came to our area a little differently. her husband became very sick while serving in afghanistan. here's kerry bright' story and her amazing valentine's makeover. 11 kerry bright was one of our wounded warrior wives. she told us she's been here since last october, helping care for her husband, sergeant first class samuel bright, who fell ill in afghanistan. >> he was diagnosed with a bladder tumor while he was deployed in afghanistan. they removed the tumor, and then flew him here to walter reed to finish out his recovery. >> kerry had to pick up and move with her four children, two girls and two boys. kerry has been a military wife for 16 years, and knows the fear of having a husband away in a war zone. >> it's kind of scary sometimes but i've learned to deal with

it. i have to stay strong for my kids. i just try to keep busy, and stay focused and be with him. i don't think of it as a job, i think of it as an honor to be decide him, you know, while he does everything for the country. >> kerry's life taking care of her kids and helping her husband to recover leaves little time for things like this. we have multiple color. >> perfect. >> and it will look more natural. >> sounds good. >> stylist ola, a pr and partner salons talked about a new hairdo for kerry. >> by the time we're done it's not going to be -- we'll do that flat iron on it, and we'll be good to go. >> what are your concerns for your skin right now? >> and there was a consultation with bobbi brown makeup artist, sharon. >> we're probably going to do something very neutral for you.

a little bit of pop on the lips. but very neutral eyes with a little cheek color and a little bit of bronzer. and very natural. >> so right this way. we've got some beautiful cuts. what colors do you tend to like, prints, solids? >> annalisa helped look for a special valentine outfit. >> find something you look very comfortable in, sparkly. >> kerry said this day was the best she's had in a long time. >> okay, this is kerry on monday, when we met her. that's the way she looked. here is her brand-new look today, and you look fabulous. how do you feel? >> wonderful. >> you can barely say anything.

we're not going to make you talk right now then. let's ask ola about your beautiful new hairdo. >> actually what we did, she has a very natural curly hair, and one thing she asked me for, i can do whatever i want, but don't cut it too short. >> she likes to keep it in a ponytail. >> exactly. >> so that's what we did. but i didn't cut it short. i just pin it under and cut above on top of it so she can wear it both ways. >> and michelle, tell us about the makeup. >> once i saw what she was squaring i wanted to give her a fun valentine's look. i gave her a sexy, smoky eye and a little pop of color on the cheek. >> annalisa what a gorgeous dress she's wearing for valentine's day. >> yes, kerry said she wanted a beautiful valentine's day dress. we gave her this amazing kay unger dress with beautiful sparkle. she looks beautiful. >> are you feeling sparkly right now? >> absolutely wonderful. >> we have a special guest who wants to see what you look like right now.

your husband samuel bright is here. and he is going to come right in. you can turn around now and head on in and take a look at your wife. and how she is ready for vol tine's day. >> you look awesome. happy valentine's day to both of you. how are you feeling? >> i'm feeling good. >> we are so happy to see you here and that you're doing well, and anything you want to say to your husband? >> love you. thank you all. i want to say we want to thank all of you who participated in this. we're not over. we have another one coming tomorrow. we want to thank bobbi brown cosmetics, pr partner salon, and neiman marcus for the beautiful clothes the girls have been wearing. the ladies. our wonderful lives of wounded warriors. thanks again. you stand there with your beautiful wife, and keith? >> that moment right there is what valentine's day is all

about. everyone is tearing up in this studio right now. meantime, we switch gears and talk about some business news. and the $11 billion merger of american airlines and us airways. let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. happy valentine's day. >> to you, as well, steve. stocks are a bit lower. the dow off about 20 points on this valentine's day. just when you thought europe's woes were a memory for us, it's concerning u.s. markets again. germany's economy contracted the last three months of 2012. it shows the recession in the region has deepened. now evident in the continent's largest economy. jobless claims fell to the lowest number in three weeks. shattering economist's expectations. good news for the u.s. labor market. it's a deal that creates the world's biggest airline with the number three airline and the number five airline coming to the. amr, the parent of american airlines and us airways have approved their $11 billion merger. the new company, which will be called american airlines, run by current us airways ceo doug

parker, will have more than 900 planes and 3200 daily flights. the deal has been in the works since august. american airlines has been in bankruptcy since november of 2011. and warren buffett is putting the ring on a finger of h.j. heinz this valentine's day. the maker of ketchup and classico spaghetti sauce has said i do to $28 billion acquisition deal with berkshire hathaway and 3g capital. it's the largest food industry deal ever. heinz shareholders will receive a 20% premium to wednesday's closing stock price. buffett called in to cnbc and said while berkshire is putting up half the equity for the deal 3g will be primarily responsible for running heinz. >> thanks, courtney. we have some breaking news in connection to that suspicious death of a 94-year-old alexandria man. police say they arrested a woman for burglarizing the home of 94-year-old elmer rohrs back in november. neighbors tell police the home

was burglarized a number of times in the past few months. police say the arrest has no connection to last night's death investigation. we'll continue to follow this story throughout the day and on nbcwashington.com. in this week's wednesday's child we meet a young man named kerry with dreams of one day performing surgery. before that he hopes to have a loving family to adopt him. >> this is what we call a human simulator. >> reporter: professor howard striker welcomes 16-year-old cary to experience firsthand the kind of things we'll do some day if, as is his dream, he gets to go to medical school to become a heart surgeon. >> you know what an iv is? >> yeah, that's something that pumps fluids into a person's arm. >> very good. >> cary proved to know quite a few things about medical practices already. and was ready to don a white coat, after watching this procedure just once. >> oh. >> you're a natural. look at that. >> he got it right in, didn't he? >> sure this is your first time doing this? >> yeah. >> okay.

what are your studying right now? >> chemistry. >> you like chemistry? >> yes. >> cary really enjoyed trying out all the medical apparatus at the medical stimulation lab. his social worker says he's overcome a lot in his young life. >> he's very respectful. he's very focused and dedicated. he's just committed to just being a good guy all around. >> he says he's hoping for a supportive, loving family to adopt him as their son. >> i'd like to have a special kind of family. a family that's not afraid to go and have fun on the weekends and weekdays. >> a little of his dream came true when he was invited by sharia thompson to come back this summer to attend a medical camp at george washington university with other kids who aspire to medical professions, as well. >> a lot of tears. if you have room in your home

and your heart for cary or another child who's waiting call 1-88-20-adopt-me or visit nbcwashington.com and search wednesday's child. >> the time now 1151 right here on news 4 mid-day. a festival bringing to the more than 750 different artists. >> plus storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check of our mild forecast today. and he'll tell us about tomorrow, too. what's coming. stay with us

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in today's weekend scene a festival involving more than 750 artists. lavonia from "the washington post" is here with us. nordic cool. what's that? >> the kennedy center almost every year have a really great cultural festival and this year they're looking at the nordic cultures, places like sweden and norway and one of the really amazing things is that so much of it is free. there's so many reasons to go

down to the kennedy center. and you don't have to actually spend a dime. >> that's the best part of that. always. >> and the 750 artists that you can see in like just a month. >> a lot of art on display and we can all appreciate that. and when you're talking about the art, what are we looking for? >> well, i think one of the things that really binds these cultures with the various countries is they're sort of -- what they have outdoors, aurora borealis, elk, iceland, water falls, and one of the cool things -- >> that's pretty right there. >> this is the aurora borealis. a danish artist is going to be attempting to recreate that on the surface of the kennedy center every night beginning on february 20th. so, it begins next week. what you want to do as you're driving down the key bridge, if you're driving anywhere, sort of that's sort of circles the kennedy center just look. just take a look because it's going to come on every night at 5:00 p.m. and look like the northern lights. really cool. >> just look and gander. motor through the last few. moving on to music. >> there's a great festival.

a lot of bands, one of the cool things to see is called iceland airways. this is a festival that happens every year since 1999. it's a great place to see the next big things in music. this is one of the bands that has played the festival that's going to come to the kennedy center and play a free show on february 24th. this is a great way to see what's happening in that part of the world. if you like bjork, if you love the sugar cubes, you've got to be there. completely free. >> timely stage? >> on stage a lot going on including a performance of standing in alexander. this is an award winning production that is inspired by the film by ingmar bergman who was from that part of the world. this is a really amazing show. we're really lucky to have it here. the original company is going to come perform it and that's going to kick off during the festival. >> sounds like a fun time. by the way, happy valentine's day. >> happy valentine's day, keith. >> for more information and ideas on your weekend, logon to

nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on "washington post."com. >> we're going to take a look at some of the stories we're going to be following on news 4 this afternoon. pat joins us with a preview of things to come. >> coming up this afternoon on news 4 at 4:00 a virginia mother sent to jail for slapping the school bus driver. we'll tell you what set that mother off. also coming up on news 4 at 5:00 today, a $217 million lottery ticket purchased at the richmond airport. tonight the winners are revealed. find out if they have a local connection. all those stories and the latest on our weather coming up tonight on news 4 starting at 4:00. >> thank you, pat. and let's check on our forecast one more time for midday. >> it's a little bris being but nice. a lot of sun here for your valentine's day. noontime temperatures mid 40s. should be near 50 for going out tonight for valentine's this evening. should be good weather. we'll be in the 40s through the evening and 30s tomorrow morning and into the 50s tomorrow. but maybe friday night after midnight into the morning hours on saturday. another area of snow moving

through like we did last night. maybe on grassy areas mainly and melting on roadways and then cold after that for the rest of the weekend and in first part of next week. we'll see you tomorrow morning. have a good afternoon. >> thank you, tom. >> and barb, happy valentine's day to you. >> i look at my two guys with their red ties, everybody looks so valentiney. >> thanks for watching. tune in at news 4:00. >> and we'll be back tomorrow morning. we've got another makeover coming. you're going to want to see this one. have a terrific day.