right now, female firefighters in fairfax county are coming forward. i'm barbara harrison with what they want you to know about their work environment. >> i'm pat lawson, news with a look at the steps being taken at the white house right now that could mean a bigger paycheck for you. and we've had another rainy morning out here in the washington, d.c. area. anymore rain left for today and what does that weekend look like? we've got those details coming up. news 4 midday starts now. some firefighters fighting back against claims about their department's culture. it all comes after a

county firefighter died. erika gonzalez was live at the conference. >> reporter: these are female firefighters and paramedics saying they reached out to the media because they wanted to see the positive come back into the light and said they would only speak to us about their positive experiences with the fairfax county fire department. >> as a woman i am not afraid to come to work, and i am not ashamed to be a member of this fire department. >> reporter: firefighter paramedic alicia is one of the members of the fairfax county fire department that chose to speak out today, disheartened, she said, by the way the department is being portrayed. the spotlight on the department was cast about a month ago after the suicide of firefighter paramedic nicole mittendorff and allegations that disparaging comments were being written about her by co-workers on an anonymous online platform. "the washington post" reports last week the fire official in charge of professional s

morgan, was put on leave after inappropriate imannals and comments were discovered on facebook. just yesterday the fairfax county board of supervisors announced it would hire a third har pi consultant to, quote, assess the working environment within the fire and rescue department focusing on equal employment issues, work force morale, mental health assistance and communication issues, quote. would not answer specific questions regarding the ongoing investigations but said the actions of a few should not tarnish the reputation of the entire department. >> this fire department and these men and women have worked hard to earn your respect. we're a family and like any family we have some black sheep. but these black sheep do not represent who we are as a whole. >> reporter: admitting it's been a difficult time for a lot of people, but she says she and the other firefighters and paramedics that she was surrounded by today wanted the public to know that both the personnel and the department as a whole can be trusted.

erika gonzalez, back to you. thanks, erika. today the man charged with hitting and killing a montgomery county police officer will enter a plea. we expect to plead not guilty. last november leotta was working a dui checkpoint when he was run over. police say he had a blood alcohol content almost three times the legal limit at the time of that crash. developing not just hundreds of people but hundreds of families are missing in sri lanka right now. soldiers believe they were buried in a massive mudslide. they've discovered 16 bodies so far, and more than 150 survivors. right now rain is slowing the search for more survivors. another earthquake in ecuador, but early reports indicate there's no damage, a big one measuring 6.7 on the richter scale shook the country this morning. last month a quake killed more than 650 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. that quake measured 7.8 on the

today's quake qualified as an aftershock and that there could be more in the months to come. well, we've had plenty of rain out there this morning. and it is coming to an end. at least for some of us. temperatures though are staying in the 50s right now. we made it up to 359 degrees hee in d.c., 58 in baltimore, 57 ma manassas. we will eventually see temperatures go up, i'm going to say low to mid 60s. we get a little more sunshine few and far between that temperature will scoot on up if we keep the clouds which i think will be more of what we see this afternoon, those temperatures staying in the lower 60s. you can see that rain just to the west of the shenandoah valley. so areas in the shenandoah valley along i-81 could see that rain a little while longer especially throughout the afternoon while east of the blue ridge will really remain dry throughout the remainder of the day. we don't have a dry

and it's may. we've had rain pretty much all through it. we have a wet weekend and i'll show you what we mean coming up. thanks, lauryn. the obama administration is unveiling new overtime rules. making 4 million americans eligible for overtime pay. under the new rules businesses would not be allowed to deny overtime to anyone making under $47,500 a year. that nearly doubles the current annual salary threshold. hourly workers would still be mostly guaranteed overtime, but some businesses say the change could force some small companies to convert salaried workers to hourly ones. at the live desk, this just into the newsroom, top u.s. intelligence officials say the u.s. has seen evidence of foreign hackers spying on presidential candidates. they did not say which candidate, they did say the hacking activity follows a pattern noticed during the past two presidential elections. the national intelligence director

fbi and homeland security department are working with campaigns to make them more secure. we'll have more from the live desk as we get more information. i'm eun yang. to decision 2016 now. and one of the closest races so far in the presidential campaign. less than 2,000 votes gave hillary clinton the win in kentucky last night. now, the sanders campaign could ask for a recount. nbc's tracie potts has more on what's ahead. >> reporter: it's a slip for the democrats. >> we've just won oregon. [ cheers and applause ] and we're going to win california. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: bernie sanders celebrating another west coast win. >> nbc news can now project that hillary clinton is the apparent winner of the kentucky democratic primary. >> reporter: and hillary clinton eking out what appears to be a narrow victory in kentucky. sanders t

recount. either way he gets about half of kentucky's delegates, still not enough to erase clinton's large lead. meantime donald trump's working on a joint fund raising agreement with the republican party, and talking to fox anchor megyn kelly, in a re-tweet he called her a bimbo during a heated exchange last year. >> did i say that? >> many times. >> oh, okay. excuse me. when i'm wounded, i go after people hard. okay. and i try to unwound myself. >> reporter: this morning trump is scheduled to meet with former secretary of state henry kissinger to talk foreign policy. he's also striking back at that new clinton super pac ad calling it flawed. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. new this morning, new jersey governor chris christie has one of the worst approval ratings of all-time. that's according to a poll released a couple of

by quinnipiac university. 69% of new jersey voters say they don't think christie is doing a good job. when asked whether donald trump should consider christie as his running mate, 72% of those polled said no. even among republicans 64% said krischristie wouldn't be the ri choice. now to the trial of baltimore police officer in the death of freddie gray. defense attorneys are expected to wrap up their case today. officer edward nero faces assault, misconduct and reckless endangerment charges in gray's death. prosecutors say nero unlawfully arrested gray and was negligent when he didn't buckle him in to a seat belt in the transport van. nero's attorneys say another officer arrested gray, and the wagon driver should have made sure gray was properly buckled in. gray died after being critically hurt in the back of the police van. and right now both defense and prosecuting attorneys are preparing to deliver their opening statements in the trial of andrew

he and his wife are accused of nearly killing his wife's former boss and his wife in their home november 2014. alicia had been fired from her job. andrew schmuhl's defense is involuntary manslaughter, claims his mental state at the time was the result of medication he was taking at the time. nearly 4,000 ex-felons are registered to vote in virginia. those new numbers this morning are sure to frustrate those who oppose governor terry mccullough's order. some say the governor's decision was a blatant move to help hillary clinton who is a long-time friend. the district plans to appeal a court ruling involving part of the city's tough gun law. right now d.c. requires that people show good reason to see your injury in order to get a concealed weapon or to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. just yesterday a judge halted enforcement of the law. d.c.'s

the courts to allow the city to continue enforcing the law until repeal. new federal guidelines on transgender students and bathrooms in schools. >> we'll talk to a psychiatrist about why this can be such a confusing time for the teens caught in the middle of the controversy. plus, the massive fire still causing major problems this rning formo ♪ ♪ to the women who know what real values are, you inspire us to bring you real value every day.

morning noon or night there's always a moment to discover visit annapolis and create your moment

right now, limited train service has been restored on some new york city commuter lines after this raging fire under elevated tracks last night. the fire started at a garden nursery and then spread to a center column under the tracks. delays are expected throughout the day as the repairs continue. because of the damage the morning commute was slow and crowded for thousands. the man responsible for a scare near the capitol is now in the hospital undergoing a mental evaluation. if you have our nbc washington app, you got the breaking news alert about this. u.s. park police tell us a man drove his pickup truck on to the mall yesterday afternoon claiming he'd been exposed to anthr anthrax. >> he collected it as i believe it was a farm in virginia, a substance he thought to be anthrax, and he brought it here. he wanted to let us know about this threat. >> the test for anthrax came back negative, however, robots searchhe

be safe. two special police officers at a d.c. hospital are facing involuntary manslaughter charges. officer clinton montgomery and charles brown tried to stop 74-year-old james mcbride from leaving med star washington hospital center before he'd been discharged last year. after they pulled mcbride to the ground, mcbride had to be resuscitated. mcbride died two days later from what the medical examiner called blunt force injuries to his neck. and right now montgomery county police are offering a $10,000 reward to help them find this man. they say he shot at someone during an argument in wheaton, it happened just off georgia avenue last week. in these photos you can see the man was holding a silver handgun, even though he shot at the other person, he did not hit that person. the first responders who helped save lives at this fiery crash in hyattsville last november are being honored this

maryland's statewide ems system is presenting the awards in annapolis. four people died including the driver who plowed his truck into a van, a church van. more than a dozen others were injured. other local first responders are also being recognized for their heroism on the job. the men and women ot d.c. fire department were honored last night. one couple had the chance to thank the firefighters who saved them. >> i was told that i expired upstairs trying to get out the window. >> once they pulled him out, they found me on the floor. and they pulled me out and wheeled me down the stairs and brought me down. >> mayor bowser also awarded lieutenant kevin mccray's family, he died battling a fire in an apartment building in shaw. president obama is saying the new federal rules on school bathrooms are designed to protect transgender students from being bullied. the new guidelines announced last week require schools to allow transgender students to

rooms that correspond to their chosen gender. dr. joshua weiner joins us to talk about these guidelines and what it means toempb, not just the transgender students but the other students as well. with kate -- are you seeing mor people identify as transgender in your practice? >> i am. up until the last year and a half i never saw anyone identifying as transgender. in the last year and a half i've seen five. you wonder what's going on there, is it sort of the new hip thing? i don't think that's what's going on. i think what's happening when i talk to these individuals is they're saying, you know, i always knew something was different about me. i just didn't have a label for it. and now with the internet and now with more publicity about this they're able to put a label on what they're experiencing. the other

questions over all these years about whether somebody's sex matched the way they felt with their gender. so i think it's a combination of those two factors. >> is it something you ask now routinely? >> you know, i still don't. i really don't. >> let me ask you, how stable is a person's gender identity? is someone identifying at one point as transgender likely to go back to whatever their original gender was? >> so this is interesting, we know with sexual identity there's some fluidity. might be a teenager at one point identifies at gay or bisexual and later identifies heterosexual. with gender identity depends on your age. prepubescent, the majority identifying as gender not the same as their biological sex, the majority of those will eventually identify as the same as their biological sex as they get older. post puberty that is not the case. so the majority of kids who identify as an opposite gender will maintain that gender identity, but you also have these kids who

gender neutral. meaning they don't identify really as any gender, or at some point in time they feel more like their biological gender and at other times may feel more like the opposite gender. it can get very complicated. >> question out there probably a lot of people are exploring what they really think they might be. >> right. >> especially during puberty. so let's talk a little bit about these students who are identifying as transgender. are most of them taking hormones? or are they electing to have surgery? >> so the majority are not, particularly for younger kids. i do have one patient in my practice actually who's on puberty blockers and is transitioning from a female to a male, but the majority do not. and actually even through adulthood the majority of transgender individuals do not end up having sexual reassignment surgery, vast minority only about 20%. >> let's talk about the obama administration guideline. a teenage male who looks like a male but identifies as a female will be able to use a girls

affect everyone involved? >> well, you know, i think this is a very tricky situation because i think there might be cases out there where we're going to have certain individuals, boys who might say just as a hoax i'm going to identify as a female because i want to be able to go in the girls locker room, i want to be able to go in the girls bathroom. these schools, you can't prove somebody's lying about their gender identity. so this is very, very tricky. when i talked to my transgender patients, what i think is what they really want is they want their own bathroom. they're not comfortable using the bathroom of boys or girls. they're not comfortable with their bodies yet. that's really what i think is necessary. >> quickly, i know you want to give me your opinion on the new guidelines. what do you think? >> what i think is that the intent was right. they're trying to protect the dignity, rights and safety of these transgender individuals, but i think it gets back to what i just said. what i really think the obama administration should have done is said, you know what, schools, you have a few years to comply, but in the next few years all

private bathrooms that people can use. because, again, people who are transgender they're not comfortable in either bathroom. so this is i think the best way to go about it. >> all right. dr. weiner, thanks so much. something we're all talking about right now. >> my pleasure. >> back to you. thanks, barbara. well, there's some good news about the weather for the end of the workweek. lauryn is back to tell you what you need to know, and the work being done right now on capitol hill that could protect you from the zika virus this com

nchs it was a scary tuesday in vero beach, florida. this funnel cloud was caught on tape. it's not clear if it actually touched down. meanwhile some neighborhoods in deltona, florida, were absolutely washed out. drivers had to find new routes to get home because of several roads were flooded. workers also believe a sinkhole was caused by all that wet weather out there. boy, they were really getting the rain. we've been getting a lot of it too, but not quite that bad. >> no, we have a lot of cloud cover this morning. >> we do. >> how much moisture will we get from those today? >> well, you know, most of the rain has ended right now, thank goodness. >> the sun out right now? >> no, if it is i can't find it on our satellite because it is just cloudy out there. we've got that easterly wind bringing that moisture off the atlantic. oh, boy, look at that. it's just another dreary day. i mean, we're getting used to it at this point. there's nothing you can do about it except to tell you that we're going

tomorrow afternoon and through the day on friday. so we'll get some sunshine by the time we get to friday. and thank goodness hopefully this picture will look a lot better by that point. right now those temperatures we're doing a little better, we're up to 59 degrees under plenty of cloud cover. winds a little on the breezy side coming out of the northeast. and since they're coming out of the northeast, again, it's pulling some of that moisture off the atlantic and bringing it right in here as cloud cover. current temperatures up to 61 in fredericksburg, 60 charlottesville. low to mid 60s today. if we get thinning of that cloud cover, we will see a little bit more increase in temperatures. we got a few changes. here is the rain that came through earlier today. most of that rain is going to stay today along i-81. if you're in the shenandoah valley, you're going to have a better chance for rain than us here in the d.c. area. some of the models indicate that rain creeping over the blue ridge mountains into loudon county and frederick county, maryland, later on this afternoon. again, some slim chances. so some drizzle out there,

temperatures will be in the low 60s, rather cool, we should be in the really mid 70s for this time of year. and that's at thursday. i had to think. it can't get through this week quick enough. future weather 4:15 mostly cloud cover stuck in our area. here's a little bit of rain trying to make its way through into our region. and most of our area going to stay dry. tomorrow we're going to keep the clouds in in the morning with some sunshine in the afternoon. then we'll have full sunshine by the time we get into friday. friday's temperatures will be in the low to mid 70s. we're going to be talking about the weekend. we got a lot of things going on this weekend. and we got a lot of rain to talk about, so we're going to be time that out in a few minutes. thanks, lauryn. as summer approaches, lawmakers on capitol hill are working to protect you and your family from zika. today the house will debate a multimillion dollar bill that will provide funding to prevent the spread of the virus here in the u.s. yesterday the senate passed a $1.1 billion bill to combat zika. experts expect zika to spread m w

mosquito season. the virus as you may know causes severe birth defects. this week on news for today helping you get a head start on summer safety. as pat just mentioned this year's summer mosquito season is a big concern because of the zika virus. that's why insect repellants might be a smart choice while you're outside. consumer reporter susan hogan has what you need to know. >> there's novak seen for the zika virus, and no drug to treat zika infections, that's why consumer reports tested insect repellants, specifically for their effectiveness against the kind of mosquito known to transmit zika. >> products that contain a right percentage of deet were the most effective at preventing bites from aggressive mosquitos in our tests. >> so here are the repellants consumer reports say work best. sawyer fisherman's formula picaridin and

contain 20% and off deep woods contains 25% deet, which consumer reports considers safe and effective. all kept mosquitos from biting for about eight hours. in addition to insect repellants wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants outdoors will also help protect you from mosquito bites. i'm susan hogan, news 4. today reaction is pouring in over the appointment of a new secretary of the army. why even talk show hostel l ell degeneres is singing the praises. and introduce you to student filmmakers with a chance to share thei

i'm eun yang at the live desk, a developing story out of nigeria. one of the girls abducted by the terrorist group boko haram has been located after more than two years in captivity. the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls triggered international outcry and the bring back our girls movement. an activist confirmed to nbc news that the girl was found in a village and people from her hometown confirmed her identity. nigeria launched a large scale operation against boko haram, and the government has been heavily criticized because many of the girls remain missing. now, nbc does not have independent

the nigerian military have been wrong in the past. check nbc.com for updated information. i'm eun yang at the live desk. major milestone for the u.s. military. >> an openly gay man confirmed by the senate to be the next secretary of the army. first nominated by the president eight months ago, and as nbc ease willie geist reports, late last night the final opposition to his nomination was dropped. >> the is do have it, the nomination is confirmed. >> reporter: history on tuesday night when the senate confirmed eric fanning to be secretary of the army, historic because fanning will become the first openly gay civilian leader of any u.s. military service. >> mr. fanning is imminently qualified, imminently qualified to assume that role of secretary in the army. >> reporter: the vote to confirm fanning came after months of delays held up by republican senator pat roberts from kansas who wanted assurances that

would not be sent to his state. after dropping his opposition, roberts had nothing but praise for the nominee. >> he will be a tremendous leader as army secretary and will do great by our soldiers at ft. le vinworth, ft. riley and every soldier serving our nation today. >> reporter: fanning held several military posts during the obama administration including acting secretary of the air force, said in a statement, i'm honored by today's senate confirmation and thrilled to return to lead the total army team. the confirmation comes five years after the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, which prevented gays and lesbians in the military from being open about their sexuality. >> i think it demonstrates not only has the military moved on from this issue, but americans are increasingly accepting of their lgbt friends, neighbors, family, colleagues. important step in that direction. >> reporter: it's a milestone also not lost on openly

tweeted, congratulations army secretary eric fanning, first openly gay leader of a u.s. military service. five years and we're already running the place. >> that was nbc's willie geist reporting. fanning previously served as the army's secretary -- army secretary principal advisor on management and operations. a new crime trend police in our area want you to know about. it's called virtual kidnapping. officers tell us no one is ever in any real physical danger, but the crooks call making people think a ransom is all that will keep their loved ones from harm. the prince william county police department has this warning on its facebook page. and just yesterday people reported three scams in our area, two of them at george mason university and the third at an unidentified catholic school. a nuz 4 i-team has more on what to do if this happens to you. you can find the tips in our nbc washington app,

virtual kidnapping. if you take it every day, you know the issues on the bw parkway are obvious. lanes with no markings and stretches of road just littered with potholes. in many places the outer fog line on the roadway is missing as are the center line dividers. the park police say the deteriorating road conditions are making their jobs a lot harder. news 4's megan fitzgerald has more from laurel. >> reporter: the union president for the park police says major arteries in and out of d.c. that his officers patrol, like the bw parkway behind me here, are becoming increasingly dangerous because of maintenance concerns. >> many cars hit these potholes rendering their cars disabled. >> reporter: if you take a drive on the bw parkway, you'll notice in some areas the lane striping on the roadways is wearing off, or very difficult to see. the president of the union says that's a major safety concern along with potholes. many drivers say they're

collar barton and the gw parkway as well. the national park service says funding is a big concern for them, but they say a plan is in place to repair the entire stretch of the bw parkway. they say starting this summer they'll begin the process of restriping roadways. they're working on getting sustainable paint so hopefully those markings will last. reporting in laurel, meagan fitzgerald, news 4. people don't want to date you because you're dark and all you hear is, oh, i don't date dark skinned girls. >> this is a theme from one of the student documentaries being showcased to lawmakers on capitol hill this week. the films were all made by students at the youth documentary academy in colorado. >> the films explore contemporary issues through the eyes of teen film makers. with us this morning two of those film makers. and with them the director of the youth documentary academy tom shepard, thank you all for being with us. >> thanks for

tom, i want to start with you. this is a unique situation kids many of them with issues that they're dealing with who join your group. and why did you start it? >> you know, there are a number of these kind of film arts programs on the east coast and west coast, fewer in the midwest. and they tend to be kind of reserved for advantaged families. so we look for families across the board, sometimes from underserved or unrepresented and invite them to learn all aspects of documentary film production. and they in turn come and bring story to the table and often that involves their own kind of lived experiences. >> so you obviously felt this would help to enrich their own personal lives and help them as they deal with their peers. >> absolutely. and also i think people sometimes negate the views and beliefs and attitudes of young people, and of course they can't vote until their 18. this is a powerful vehicle for young people to kind of find their voice and amplify that voice. and engage peer-to-peer with h

know, most hot button issues in society. >> well, they've done some great work. looking at yours you call it shade. and you deal with skin color and the damaging stereotypes. tell us a little about it as we take a look at the film. >> for me, we're all brown. that's what i think. there's no team white skin, no team dark skin. >> why did you decide you wanted to tell this story? >> i decided to tell the story in fact it was an insecurity of mine that i came out and spoke about. and it's just a problem that i see that's relevant within my generation and within my african-american community. >> and do you think that there really is a team brown skin and a team light skin out there in our culture? >> i think there is. there shouldn't be, but it's definitely something that started with slavery. and it's still prominent in our culture today.

there. did a good job with that. >> thank you. >> bailey, your film, after war deals with your own personal experiences with your dad's ptsd. we're going to take a look and then talk to you about that. >> i was in the bedroom watching "modern family." he came home, you were in the kitchen, and i heard a scuffle. and he had attacked you. and he was holding you over the kitchen sink and he was strangling you. >> so what did making a story, a documentary about this, do for you? and what are you hoping others will learn from seeing it? >> well, for me it brought my family closer together. you know, made it easier to talk with my dad about, you know, these issues and stuff. because they used to be kind of taboo. very beneficial, it's very therapeutic experience making this film. i hope that people get out -- i hope what people get out of my film is that it's not only

soldiers that get affected by the ptsd, it's the families as well. >> you certainly make that point. it's great. who funds it? >> we have a group called the russell grin nel memorial fund in colorado springs, we're hoping to bring it to other cities as well. >> we hope to get one here. >> program like that we could use that. >> great work, all of you, thank you so much. >> thanks for coming and sharing your stories with us. >> thank you. take a look at storm team 4 radar. a break in the rain. we must be lucky. lauryn is back after the break ho tell us

an important news for your health as we head into the summer new study shows many sunscreens on the market aren't doing the job as well as they claim. consumer reports tested 65 water resistant sunscreens claiming an spf of at least 30, researchers found that 43% of them didn't measure up. the fda doesn't regularly test

sunscreens. they also don't require that the manufacturers send their results to the fda. well, let's take a look outside and see if we're going to get any sun protection today sfwl that's what i was thinking. >> even when it's cloudy. >> yeah, i think we're all right. i don't know. i mean, i shouldn't say that because i don't really know. yeah, you can probably still get the rays from all of this thick cloud cover, but it seems like we're never going to see full blown sunshine again. temperatures we're not going to see warming temperatures again -- all right. i'm being pessimistic. we will eventually. let me go ahead and throw this out there, looks like by the time we get into memorial day we could -- weekend temperatures start to go back up. that's good. that's when we want the warm temperatures. today for a wednesday it would be nice, but this is what we're stuck with. temperatures right around 60 into the upper 50s. now, we have a few rain showers moving through the region earlier this morning, a few rain showers will be confined to i-81 as we continue into the afternoon. but i think east of the blue

dry. so you pick up the kids from school, rain again along i-81 but mostly clouds, sunshine few and far between. we're going to be dreary, temperatures again right around 60 degrees. let's go ahead and show you future weather, 4:15 this afternoon you can see down to the shenandoah valley we've got some rain, otherwise we've just got clouds out there. and then by the time we head into the overnight maybe a few rain showers, little disturbance comes through that will be west of d.c. we'll start with cloud cover tomorrow morning and eventually get some sunshine by the afternoon. but friday looks like the best day to see some sunshine. going to be the nicest day we've seen in a while. temperatures still running below normal for friday in the lower 70s. we should be in the mid 70s. and definitely on saturday we're running below normal with plenty of rain. 61 will be that temperature. by sunday we start to clear off but see some rain showers early in the morning. i know we've got preakness among a lot of other things going on for this weekend. so if you're headed to preakness in baltimore, look at that, muddy with rain. temperatures again only right

we've got some rain showers as we get into saturday. rain showers into sunday. but then we're looking dry as we continue through this week and early next week, guys. thank you, lauryn. so what makes d.c. the fittest city in the united states? it's an honor the nation's capital has been given for three years now. a look at the habits keeping our area on top. and, we're going to introduce you to a chef who is part of an event that foodies across the area will love. gives you a chance to eat some

on monday 38 of the area's best chefs and mixologists will serve up special tastings of their signature dishes at chef best, the event will benefit food and friends, a nonprofit organization based in d.c. helps people living with hiv, aids, cancer and other life challenging illnesses. chef michael friedman is here now with more on the event and to do a little cooking. nice to see you. >> great to see you. >> you are chairing this event this year. >> i'm chairing this event. i'm honored to be able to do it. my first time ever chairing an event, hope i don't mess it up. >> no way. tell us about the work food and friends does. it provides life changing services. >> they do a really great job. they serve over a million meals a year to people with life threatening illnesses, so hiv, aids, cancer like you

over 10,000 volunteers. and i'm just happy to be able to host chef's best, which is event held this monday may 26th -- or 23rd, something like that. >> monday, yep. >> and like you said almost 40 chefs and mixologists and all my friends, so they all said yes. >> see, can't say no to you. tell us, you're going to make this maple custard, which is on your menu. >> yes. >> tell us how to make it. >> so the maple custard super popular as you know. i can't take it off the menu because my mother would kill me. it's her favorite too. >> well, if your mom said keep it on, keep it on. >> it's a very easy custard. we heat up a little cream, we add some eggs and egg yolks for richness. and instead of sugar we incorporate maple syrup, which is one of my favorites. >> no sugar at all. >> zero sugar, all in the syrup. we make a custard base and i would like you to be my helper and pour it into the oven safe

ramikens. this will bake up with a little water bath so it doesn't dry out. and instead of caramelizing sugar on top, for texture we decided to come up with a crumble. in this case this crumble has hazel nuts, little brown sugar, sea salt, ground cinnamon and this awesome liquore from italy. >> you can drink it, you'll get ri really sick, but you can drink it. we mixed the nuts, tossed it and make a crumble. the custards come out and they chill. and then all we do is add this delicious crumble that adds incredible texture and flavor on top. finish that up for me. >> and you can apply this crumble to sounds like a lot of different desserts. >> we actually put on ice cream as well, and really great with gra nola on top. >> how old is she now? >> two and a half. i'm a busy guy. >> congrats to you as well because you just opened all purpose, a new r

>> tell us about that. >> all purpose pizzeria, a love letter to my youth, i grew up in jersey, straight up italian cuisine. a great, great deck oven pie, we worked hard on developing a crust that is a little different than what everybody else is doing in d.c. and no rules with the toppings. so we got everything from pepperoni to andoulle sausage to a bunch of stinging nettles, artichokes. >> i'll have one of each. >> yes, ma'am. again, chef's best this monday. really excited to be a part of it. >> so good. thanks as always, chef mike friedman. >> my pleasure. >> all right -- thanks. >> oh, save us a taste. >> i know. >> it's delicious. >> it's delicious. wow. ll

nation's capital but the nation's fittest city. >> it is. and it's the third year in a row that d.c. has been recognized as the fittest city by the american college of sports medicine. some of the factors that were looked at included how often people exercise, how much parkland is available and the rate of smoking. >> yeah, that's true. as the rest of the top four, minneapolis, denver, portland, oregon, rounded out the list of the top fittest cities. we're at the top there. news for your health now, new study could put you at ease if you've been worried about genetically modified food. since they've hit the market there's been a lot of controversy about whether they're safe. well, the national academy of sciences says gmos are safe, they pose no health risk and they don't harm the environment. that report calls for more transparency in how foods with gmos is marketed with some calling for labels on all products with gmos. >> you know, there really is no evidence that there is

engineered foods than there are from foods from the conventional counterpart. >> again, that report calls for more transparency. if you have visited the vietnam memorial lately, you may have noticed all the things visitors leave behind there. >> after the break how the small tokens are treated with care and as memorials to t he now at havertys furniture, it's our annual memorial day sale. which means it's the perfect time to create the perfect home. now through may 30th, take an extra hundred dollars off every thousand dollars you spend. plus, enjoy 36-month, no-interest financing. with havertys, your home can be perfect. even when life isn't.

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every day tributes to fallen heroes are placed at the vietnam veterans memorial here in d.c. kevin tibbles gives us a rare look inside the place where all those memories live on. >> reporter: the things we carry to the vietnam veterans memorial, respect, honor, heavy hearts. but many who visit this solemn black wall with its 58,000 names often leave something behind, a momento. >> they're family to all of us. >> reporter: reminding us these names belong to someone. >> it's not just a statue. it's actual people. >> reporter: each evening all are solemnly collected and delivered to a national park service warehouse. janet donlan is charged with curating these personal powerful pieces of who we are. >> this is a sweater. >> reporter: the baby sweater of a boy who grew up to perish in vietnam, left by his mother. >> she's saying that she couldn't bear to part with his

his first teddy at the wall. >> reporter: a beloved las si. >> built and painted by a 12-year-old boy who died at 21. >> reporter: a token of love. >> the letter says even though she's moved on will always be her first love. >> reporter: some leave medals, one left the bullet that killed his friend. a toast with champagne, or a simple can of beer for a buddy. >> i always hope that what i'm doing would be acceptable to the people who leave things at the wall. >> reporter: row upon row, hundreds of thousands of keepsakes, all treated with respect. at the memorial, ranger peter printner watches them come. >> some days it's very emotional. you just realize how important it is. >> reporter: because it is part of the healing. >> if he can just grow up and get to have children and grandchildren. >> reporter: a collection of who they were to hold onto forever. kevin tibbles, nbc news, washington. >> an

>> yeah. and what's the story about the weather right now, lauryn? >> well, we've got cloudy skies and a little rain. rain mainly confined along i-81 and that's where we'll see it later on throughout the afternoon, but we're stuck in this cloud cover. we can't seem to get out of it. you're picking kids up from the school bus, again, rain along i-81 otherwise dreary and just a little overcast. thursday and friday look a lot better. we're going to start off with some cloud cover on thursday, maybe a few rain showers early in the morning on friday looking completely dry. and a little on the mild side. still below normal. we should be up to 76 for this time of year. some heavy rain coming down on saturday. so if you're headed out for any festivities, bring them on inside. if you're going to preakness, just know it's going to be a muddy one, maybe betting on preakness you can catch it here on nbc. we also have some rain early on sunday morning. guys. >> thanks, lauryn. >> and thank you, that's news 4 midday. thanks for being with us this morning. we're back this afternoon. >> at 4:00 pat will be here. and we hope you'll join us tomorrow. and don't forget you can get all of your weather and news updates on t

hope the sun stays

♪ ♪ >> today on the meredith vieira show, we are talking about what's hot now and why people say zach ephron has taken his six pack too far. and the one question they want to ask drump. can they spot the newsmakers that went viral? find out when they play nailed it or failed it. and rachel platen is here. it all starts now on meredith. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪