news 4 midday begins with breaking news. and we do have breaking news. there is a verdict in the case of a bolt mother police officer charged in the arrest and death of freddie gray. i'm barbara harrison. >> melissa, tell us the verdict. >> breaking news right now, not guilty on all charges, that is the verdict just in in the case of baltimore police officer edward nero, not guilty four different charges. now, nero was one of six officers charged in the arrest and death of baltimore resident freddie gray last april. prosecutors were arguing that nero arrested gray without

when he was not buckled in the van. prosecutors say nero committed a crime when he detained him, handcuffed gray after gray ran from officers, nero's defense argued that the law does allow for a stop like the one that happened. the 30-year-old officer was charged with assault, two charges of misconduct in office and also reckless endangerment. he did plead not guilty. again, this is a trial that was a bench trial, that is what officer nero opted for instead of a jury trial. it was a six-day trial. judge barry g. williams just issuing that ruling a couple minutes ago not guilty on all counts. back to you. >> all right. melissa, thank you. >> again, we have that breaking news a not guilty verdict in the case of baltimore officer edward nero. >> it is the latest in the fredfre freddie gray trial. let's go to chris live in baltimore

the courtroom when judge barry williams read a very well reasoned and detailed verdict. it took almost a half an hour. he broke down every charge. he told what had to be proven by the state. and he concluded by saying that the state did not carry its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and found the defendant not guilty of all charges. now, he said on the main charge assault, these were all misdemeanors, but assault carries with it a very stiff penalty ten years. this was the allegation that officer edward nero, a bike patrol officer, touched freddie gray during an illegal arrest. at that point the judge said that another officer who the prosecution brought in as a key prosecution witness, garrett miller, said he was the one that stopped freddie gray when he ran on the morning of

2015, that miller was the one that handcuffed him and moved him. and that officer nero was not involved therefore did not assault freddie gray. there is a lesser charge of misconduct because the allegation was by the state that officer nero corruptly touched freddie gray. again, not guilty, the state failing to prove the charge of misconduct. then we turn to reckless endangerment that in this case it has to be proved an act that puts another person at risk of serious injury or death, and the allegation was that officer nero should have been found guilty because he did not seat belt gray into van and he put gray's safety and life at risk. however, again, the judge went through the requisite evidence, what happened, t

there were superiors that this officer was with and could have and did rely on that a reasonable officer would rely if he had a superior officer that the superior officer would seat belt the defendant, freddie gray into the van. that this defendant in other words acted reasonably thinking either that there was a superior there, lieutenant rice, and there was a van driver, the transport driver, and that when he was involved in the arrest he had transferred custody over to the van drivers whose responsibility it could reasonably assumed would be the safety of freddie gray and to seat belt him. and finally, there was a misconduct charge, the charge of reckless endangerment and the fact that as a police officer he should have had the training. that there was a general order mandating all prisoners be seat

belted, that that general order went out as an e-mail three days before this incident, but the judge found there was no proof that this defendant edward nero read that e-mail. and that he had received any train i training in seat belting detainee in van. also proven in the trial that baltimore police officers generally none of them said that they seat belted detainees into the van. so the main takeaway here is that the van driver, the transport van driver named cesar goodson, who will be standing trial at this point scheduled for june 6th, that custody was transferred to him and that he was responsible for the security of freddie gray. so once again, all four charges, misdemeanors, but misdemeanors that carried substantial penalties if he had been convicted. he s

charges. let me send it back to you in washington. >> now, chris, city leaders asked for calm and peace following the verdict here. we know there were some protesters who were standing by even before the verdict was reached. can you tell us about protesters or what's fwoing on there now? >> reporter: of course. well, there's a helicopter overhead, there is a police presence. but what you see behind me is the sidewalk here at the court. this is where the protests began after the mistrial in the case of officer william porter. there is no movement or activity behind me right now. there's a police helicopter overhead. baltimore police are on duty. they have help from other local counties including anarundel police on hand. a lot of people said because officer nero, the defendant in this trial, was not a prime actor, was not charged with

porter who was tried in december, and is not charged with second-degree murder as the van driver is, that there might not be a big reaction to this even if it was as it is, a complete acquittal. >> all right. chris gordon, thank you very much. chris gordon in baltimore reporting on the not guilty verdict in the case of edward nero in the death of freddie gray. and the next baltimore police officer to go on trial will be officer goodson on june 6th. goodson was the driver of the police transport van where prosecutors say gray was critically hurt. he faces seven charges. on july 2nd more officers head to trial. final two trials are set to begin in the fall. all the officers have pleaded not guilty. stay with news 4 all day as we keep an eye on the situation in baltimore. you can see what charges all of the officers are facing by opening the nbc washington

good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. what's this? what's that bright object in the sky? what's that color? is it blue? is that the sun? it is. nasa just confirmed it, that is the sun. we haven't seen it for a few days. there it is gleaming off the capitol dome. live view from the storm team 4 capitol camera. temperatures jumping up nicely as well. mid to upper 60s all around the region from the bay to the metro area. reagan national now at 67 degrees. beautiful day under way north and west in the mid to upper 60s, but still some clouds and cool weather around the lower part of the bay where it's just around 60 degrees. they have a few light showers there, cambridge to leonard town, st. mary's county, northern neck of virginia, all of that is tracking off to the south and west, stay well south of the metro area. we'll have the sunshine in and out through the afternoon. but have an umbrella ready. we might have a passing shower or thundershower. you'll be comfortable in short sleeves and shorts. have the sunglasses ready but you may need rain boots later in the day as w

lightning. new timing on that in a few minutes. happy to see the sun, tom, thank you. we are still tracking developments on a murder investigation unfolding in temple hills, maryland, right now. police are searching for the person who shot and killed a man overnight along 23rd parkway. news 4's kristen wright is there live with details from a witness who saw what happened after the shooting. kristin. >> reporter: you know, people who live here that we talk to are trying their best to go on with their day, but it's very hard knowing that a man is dead and police are looking for a killer who was right here. >> it was one loud one. it sounded like a boom. >> reporter: the gunshots woke regina harvey. >> i looked out the window and saw him on the ground leaned up against the car and he fell over. >> reporter: the white mercedes sat in the middle of the crime scene, the driver's side door wide open. police got a call reporting the

>> try to keep him awake, keep him alive until the ambulance got here, and i saw them kind of doing the cpr thing. and i said, oh, my god, i hope he doesn't die. >> reporter: the man didn't survive. police had the car towed. now they're looking for a ller. and putting together a possible motive, after ten years in her home, harvey is completely shaken. >> i couldn't sleep all night long because that really shook me up. >> reporter: there is a $25,000 reward in the case through prince george's county crime solvers. police have not told us anything at this point about the man who lost his life. in prince george's county, kristin wright, news 4. a man is in critical condition affairfax police say someone he knew shot him. this happened in falls church on stillwood circle just before midnight. police say the gun accidentally went off when the victim was shot. it's not clear whether the shooter will face any charges. and right now grief

counselors are helping local elementary students deal with a difficult loss. 24-year-old terese sampson shot and killed friday morning in the alexandria section. his girlfriend told news 4 he returned home to find a crime in progress. fairfax county police have not made any arrests in his death. also right now president barack obama is overseas to announce the u.s. is lifting its ban on armed sales to vietnam. nbc's tracie potts has ts details behind today's announcement. >> reporter: despite lingering concerns about human rights, this morning president obama announced the u.s. is lifting its near decades long arms embargo against vietnam. >> this change will ensure that vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself. >> reporter: against china claiming disputed islands in the south china sea, and it eases vietnam's reliance on russia. the president ao

u.s. investment in vietnam, 100 planes from boeing, engine and electricity from general electric totaling $16 billion. and the white house says 60,000 new jobs. >> new companies and new jobs being created constantly, so the united states wants to be a part of that. >> reporter: there are still concerns about human rights abuses in vietnam, which the country's president says will be addressed. >> translator: we need to work closely together, expand our dialogue together and by so doing we can narrow the gap. >> reporter: historic agreements announced today expanding america's reach into one of the fastest growing regions of the world. also this morning the president talked about the tpp, the transpacific partnership, that trade deal that's been stuck here on capitol hill. he says even though it's an election year he thinks they can get it done. tracie potts, nbc news, washington

new poll results are in and we'll tell you how the race looks in a head-to-head matchup between hillary inclnto and donald trump. plus, the search for the black boxes from the egyptair plane that crashed last week,

morning noon or night there's always a moment to discover visit annapolis and create your moment we have breaking news right now, just minutes ago a maryland judge has found baltimore police officer

on all charges in the death of freddie gray. nero was acquit of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office. one of six officers charged with crimes related to gray's death while in custody in april of 2015. we are keeping an eye on protests at the courthouse right now and live updates at 11:30. developing in syria right now, a series of bombings at least 65 people are dead. syrian state tv says isis terrorists targeted two cities on the coast, both which support president bashar assad. suicide bombers, rockets and a car bomb all went off within hours of each other. investigators are still trying to figure out whether terrorism caused that plane crash. they said some kind of catastrophic event brought down egyptair flight 804 last week. the only way to know for sure is to find the black boxes, however the flight and voice recorder batteries could run out before they're found.

united states, a french ship and an egyptian submarine are all searching right now. funeral services have started for some of the victims of that plane crash. we're looking at services for two of the victims. they lived in cairo. we know there were no americans on board that plane. pope francis is working to improve relations with islamic leaders. the pope is meeting with the grand imam today, talks between the churches and islamic leaders have been frozen for the last five years because of religious attacks. after meeting with the pope al-azhar grand imam will take part in a conference in paris. to decision 2016, a new nbc news/"the wall street journal" poll show hillary clinton and donald trump nearly tied. last month clinton held a nearly 11-point advantage, that lead narrowed to three points in the poll out yesterday. senator bernie san

better against trump leading 54 to 39 percent. nbc's peter alexander has the latest on the push for unity within the gop. >> reporter: they're duel now a dead heat, hillary clinton's lead over donald trump just three points, within the margin of error. down from 11 points last month. >> there's no evidence he has any ideas about making america great, as he advertises. >> hillary is weak. she's a weak person. she has bad judgment -- >> reporter: the 2016 contenders now unloading. the latest flash point, guns. with trump accepting the nra's endorsements. >> we're getting rid of gun-free zones, okay. >> reporter: clinton is taking aim speaking to the families of gun violence victims including trayvon martin's mother warning the risks of allowing guns in schools. >> if you want to imagine what trump's america will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry. picture more anger and fear. >> reporter: trump trying to clarify his position, but contradicting himself in the sam

classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly, because teachers are, you know, things that are going on in our schools are unbelievable. >> reporter: trump and clinton are the two most unpopular likely nominees in the history of our poll. 58% with a negative view of trump, 54% for clinton. clinton now looking to capitalize after a recent report showed the last time trump's tax returns became public in the late '70s he didn't pay the federal government a cent. >> if you've got someone running for president who's afraid to release his tax returns because it will expose the fact that he pays no federal income tax, i think that's a big problem. >> reporter: but it's not a one-on-one race yet. clinton's immediate challenge wooing bernie sanders supporters. only two-thirds of democrats behind sanders say they'd vote for clinton this fall. 17% for trump. sanders now seemingly at war with the party, now backing dnc chair debbie wasserman-schultz's

democratic challenge. meanwhile, bill clinton overnight in california setting his sights on trump, name dropping the presumptive republican nominee four times, using his own slogan against him. >> you know what make america great again really means is, hey, i'll make it the way it used to be, you'll be better off and if not at least you'll have somebody else to look down on. that is a dumb idea. it will no work. >> peter alexander reporting there. the next big primary is two weeks from tomorrow, california and four other states will vote that day. parents and teachers will weigh-in tonight on a plan to rename a fairfax county school. j.e.b. stuart high school is named after a confederate general. the superintendent believes if there's enough support to change the name, a public vote will be held. today students from across the country are testing their geography knowledge to win a

to alaska. the national geography bee kicked off this morning here in washington. sidwell sixth grader is one of 54 students competing. later this week more with kids will be here for the scripps national spelling bee. some really impressive kids who have a lot of knowledge. always humbling to be around them. >> it certainly is. the new information on when zika could become a problem in the u.s. plus, severe weather, dramatic new video and who is in the danger

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right now 14 million people are at risk for severe thunderstorms today. this comes after at least 27 tornadoes were reported across several states on sunday. you're looking at pictures of a tornado that touched down near spearman, texas, yesterday. so far there are no reports of any injuries or damages. look at that dramatic video. >> i know. we've got a little sunshine here today, at least so far. >> it's about time, tom. my goodness. >> we deserve it. >> we do. >> you know, 19 of the 23 days so far in may we've had at least a trace of rain in washington, don't we know it. and we're going to finish up the month with a few more sunny days to come, so let's look forward to that. there's a live view from the storm team 4 tower camera overlooking there's ten litown, middle friendship heights, foreground montgomery county, bethesda. it's not sunny south and east of us, that's where the moving

rain now in southern maryland, northern neck of virginia down to near where williamsburg is, william and mary, down that way, that college is getting a little bit wet today. we've got a group of their students here, great to see you all. and as we are going to be looking the rest of the day we're going to be on the dry side of that and going forward into the afternoon hours, we have a chance, a small chance this is as of about 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon of some of these popping up some showers maybe some thunder and lightning this area in orange, some thunder and lightning southern falkier county down to just west of fredericksburg, that's by 3:00 p.m. then around 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. a few of these passing showers, maybe some thunder and lightning area wide in maryland and virginia and the district, that's by about 6:00 this evening. then this may continue off and on all the way until about 9:00 or 10:00 and most of it will end after that. and then things will be drying out just in time for tomorrow. we're well into the 60s now, mid and upper 60s north and west. metro area upper 60s. low 60s wher

the rain now. get a run in today, get some exercise, we'll stay dry until about 3:00 but after that chance of passing storm, temperatures climbing into the low 70s by 4:00 back down into the upper 60s by this evening. play ball, nationals and mets big series starts at nats park tonight. first pitch at 7:05 and may be rain delayed as well as through the seventh inning as we drop back into the 60s and the game should end with things drying out. then tomorrow and wednesday, thursday here comes the heat and here comes summer, well into the 80s. maybe afternoon storms thursday, friday and again on sunday. and perhaps on memorial day. that's the way it looks. >> all right, tom, thank you. and in about a month experts say mosquitos carryi ining zika virus may begin infecting americans here in the united states. at this point the majority of cases in the u.s. were contracted overseas. the head of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases says soon we could see local transmission. there are competing bills in congress to determine hoch

zika. coverage of breaking news out of baltimore continues here on news 4 midday. after the break we'll hear from the lawyer of freddie gray's family. we're also keeping an eye on developments out of baltimore where officer edward nero has been found not guilty in the arrest and subsequent death of fred di

we have breaking news, reaction is pouring in on the verdict of baltimore officer edward

he was found not guilty on all charges. he was accused of assault, misconduct and reckless endangerment for his role in freddie gray's death. >> news 4's chris gordon is live in baltimore now. chris, tell us more about this verdict and what it means. >> reporter: well, i was in the courtroom, judge barry williams gave a well-reasoned opinion. it took about a half an hour for him to read. he went through each charge on assault he said that it was not officer nero who did the touching when freddie gray ran and was stopped and cuffed. that was another officer, garrett miller. therefore there was not enough evidence to prove assault or misconduct for the assault. and then there was the reckless endangerment that officer miller failed to seat belt freddie gray in a van where he sustained a broken neck, which led to his death. in this case the judge said that the reasonable officer could have assumed that a superior inside that van would have taken responsibility for belting, or

ultimately is responsible and that a change in general orders which mandated seat belting freddie gray was not necessarily read by this officer. so the judge found him not guilty of assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct. and joining me now is the attorney for freddie gray's family, billie murphy. will you tell me your reaction to this complete acquittal? >> you could not have asked for a better judge for this circumstance because barry williams is a prosecutor in baltimore city, and then for a long time he was a prosecutor of police who had been accused of misconduct. so it is though he was born for this day. the second thing i want to commend judge williams for is not bending to the tremendous pressure in the black community to find these officers guilty. that pressure

because guilt or innocence should be determined based solely on the evidence presented and on the law that applies to the case. and unless you were in that courtroom everyday and heard that evidence, you can't complain that his ruling was either right or wrong. now, from my vantage point as a lawyer you want judges who are going to be faithful to listening to all of the relevant evidence and applying the law correctly. and in that regard i don't believe judge williams can or should be criticized because he did an amazing job not only of correctly applying the law and the evidence, but of explaining in detail the reasons for his ruling so there will be no misunderstanding about why he did what he did. >> reporter: since you represent freddie gray's mother and stepfather, the family, you got a $6.4 million civil judgment, a settlement from the city of baltimore, that's cil,

not criminal. what would you tell this community, what would you ask them now that they're faced with an acquittal on all charges for officer edward nero, one of six police officers facing criminal charges, he no longer faces criminal charges. >> i would exhort the community to stay calm because they have no legitimate basis to criticize judge williams' decision. the community worked very hard to get him appointed as a judge, the community found that his background was excellent and that he was well-suited to do this. he gave a detailed opinion about why he did what he did, which should be enough to educate those members of the public who were not there. and what more can you ask? >> reporter: so you're calling for calm? >> i'm calling for absolute calm because we should be proud that justice was done. and justice doesn't have a name. justice isn't white. justice isn't black. justice isn't il

justice is justice under the particular circumstances of the case. >> reporter: billy murphy representing the freddie gray family. there you have it the latest live from baltimore, back to you. i'm melissa molet at the live desk and, chris, of course we're getting a lot of reaction now as the news of the verdict spreads. now, baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake, just tweeted out this is our american system of justice and police officers must be afforded the same justice system as every other citizen in this city, state and country. in case of any disturbance in the city because of today's verdict, police are prepared to respond. residents outside the courthouse are also reacting to the verdict. >> this city is messed up, it's corrupt, it's messed up. this is not right. that boy's back got broke. he's dead. if something happened to my son,

momma's shoe and that family's shoe, that is not right. that verdict is not correct. he should have gotten something. >> now, again, chris gordon there on the scene. we'll be there all day long. you can follow him on twitt twitter @chrisgordonnbc. you can watch for the latest updates on the nbc washington app. right now the trial of former actor michael jace is slated to begin at any moment. he's charged in the 2014 killing of his wife, april. his attorneys say his state of mind on the day of the killing will be a key element of his defense. jace, who played a police officer on the fx series "the shield," turned himself in to police after the shooting and has been behind bars ever since. a second victim is testifying in a trial against a lawyer accused of terrorizing a mcclaincouple, accused of

killing his wife's former boss and his wife in their home in 2014. he believed medications left him so impaired he didn't know what he was doing. they say his wife was calling the shots that night. news 4's meagan fitzgerald is in court right now. be sure to follow her on twitter for updates on this case. today, you can check out what the future metro station in potomac yard may look like. alexandria city officials will show off concept drawings at an open house this evening. the new yellow and blue line station is going to be built in a growing neighborhood between reagan national airport and braddock road. >> we look at a city's plan moving forward it really is an economic driver for that development. and it's very important for the city. >> the metro station is expected to open by 2020. tonight's open house is at the charles huston recreation center from 6:30 to 8:30 in alexandria. you may have heard about it, it's a program just for women and its aim

explore career opportunities while they're still in high school and college. it's called genheration. note there's a her in the middle of that. this program is helping to make our new generation of young women able to go as far and rise as high as their chosen field or in their chosen field as their aspirations, skills and talents will take them. and joining us to tell us all about genheration is the founder of the project. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for coming. how did you have this idea? >> i'm originally from buffalo, new york, and i grew up in a very empowering environment. i was a girl skoult, very supportive father. when i went to business school i realized there was a lack of women in the high position power. so i wanted to create a media company that could connect young aspirational women with the most successful women in the world in order to close that gender leadership gap. >> how are you able to get so many companies including our parent company, nbc, comcast,

>> i think in order to be an entrepreneur you have to be persistent. when you know you want to work with these companies, i sort of set a goal and just keep working towards it. but what i think speaks volumes is all these we have more than 30 companies across ts country pamping in our upcoming summer tour, they realize there's a need to include women with diverse opinions in their pipeline. so all of the companies we've talked to have been willing and eeg tore join this initiative. >> so where do you find the young girls? they're out there, we know that, but picking out the girls in high school and college going to participate, how is that done? >> so this summer we're hosting discovery 2016 and taking the bus to visit one of the most vibrant cities in the country. we get word out by visiting high school, colleges, work with guidance counselors and career counselors and looking for young women motivated and ambitious and want to make a change in the world by being the best version of themselves. >> motivated in what

broadly. we're looking at tech companies like google, government agencies like the state department and nasa, media companies like comcast, nbc, universal and even athletic companies like the new york yankees. so i think it's really just about having wanting to climb and grow to the highest position of power ntd organization no matter what industry that might be. >> so if you don't show up at someone's college or high school and their mom is listening right now, how can they get ahold of you to find out how they can participate? >> go to our website www.genheration and tab says discovery dates 2016. we'll be transporting girls by boat bus around your city so they can go and visit all of these exciting companies. >> that sounds fantastic. it certainly will give young women a boost in getting their careers going. >> that's the plan. >> thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. memorial day gas prices are expected to be the lowest in 11 years, but that does

you are not noticing a steady increase right now. a look at what you can expect to pay. plus, changes in our weather. we are seeing a break in the rain right now, but we could be in for afternoon srms. ttoom

♪ they go ooh ooh. ♪ hey! ♪ they go oh-ooh-ooooh. ♪ sitting, watching, waiting, wishing. ♪ ♪ i tell you one thing, you never knew it. ♪ ♪ at the back of the bus ♪ there is so much to give, so dream big. ♪ ♪ yeah. ♪ and when they screaming get out, get out. ♪ ♪ all i wanna hear is get down, get down. ♪ ♪ yeah. ♪ and when they screaming get out, get out. ♪ ♪ all i wanna hear is get down, get down. ♪ ♪ get down, get down.

haven't felt it guess what gas prices are going up again. they jumped 55 cents in the last three months, but they are still down from last year. around our region a gallon of regular will cost you $2.45 on average in d.c. in maryland it's $2.29, a cent above the national average. if you fill up in virginia, a gallon will cost you $2.11. in west virginia $2.33. >> i guess we knew it was coming with summer coming. >> a lot of people gearing up for road trips. tom, you know, i am so happy about this break that we're getting. >> i've never seen you so giddy. >> you know what, after how many days? 19 consecutive days. >> i know, it's been like a

last an hour. >> no, it's only going to last three hours. >> i'll take every minute of it at this rate, tom. >> yeah, maybe about 3:00 or 4:00 we're going to get some more showers coming through. we'll take the sun while we can there it is over the capitol now, i love the capitol dome newly painted and gleaming beautifully in the sunshine here on this monday morning. there's the radar showing rain falling in southeastern virginia and across the potomac into southern maryland, some light sprinkles. that will stay well south of washington as we get into the next several hours. temperatures now upper 60s to near 70s. leesburg up to 70, winchester 78. reagan national 67. where they're getting the rain it's cooler, only around 60 degrees. hour by hour forecast for the rest of the afternoon we'll be climbing into the low 70s, some sunshine in and out but also passing thundershower is possible around 3:00 or 4:00. all the way until 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 tonight. not a, you know, complete washout, just a brief passing shower, maybe with some

and lightning likely. no severe storms. and then tomorrow welcome sunshine all day long, a dry day, highs reaching upper 70s, low 80s on wednesday hitting upper 80s maybe an afternoon storm on thursday, a small chance of that as well as on friday. saturday looks like a great day as we get into the holiday weekend on sunday maybe an afternoon thunderstorm, but a greater chance on memorial day itself, some storms around with temperatures in the upper 80s, but those storms passing by quickly just in the afternoon. that's the way it looks. >> all right, tom. thank you. the moment everyone is talking about from the billboard music awards. >> and the local chef who has been croed a wnch

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he proved himself on one of the toughest cooking competitions on tv, chef adam greenberg was crowned the winner of food network's "chopped champions" last month. and for foodies in our area he's very familiar. he joins us in our studios this morning. adam, thank you for joining us, chef. >> thanks for having me. >> you are the executive chef that place is always happening, heart of logan circle. >> it is. always busy. >> this is your second time winning "chopped." tell us about that experience. >> actually, it was three shows. so i won three episodes, but the "chopped champions" was 16 returning winners. we had all won the $10,000 episode. we had to go through one more episode to get to the finale. and then the finale, the winner of the finale got $50,000. and a nice

it was a really great experience. it was surreal. >> what was your toughest challenge, toughest ingredient you had to work with in this competition? >> toughest ingredient was blue cheese lollipop and it was nothing like blue cheese, it has the color of blue, it was a tough challenge. just kind of put on my everything that i've been doing my whole life and just kind of went out there and just gave it my best and let it all hang out. >> how is "chopped" different from other food competitions we see? >> well, "chopped" it's one episode, it's do it and you're done. there's no real drama. they don't put you in a fish bowl. some of those other shows it's more about the interactions, like the raeeal world of cookin thank god i'm not on those shows. this is more one day, one competition, winner goes home and that's it. >> and you won a big prize for the "chopped champion". >> yeah, nice check for $50,000. we're going to go to hawaii. >> oh, good for you. >>ed to we're doing a reall

really simple thing, base using seafood, fish, salt and acid. today we have scallops, i usually like to use a white fish for this. scallops, fluke, whatever you have in season. and then you're going to use some acid. and the acid in the salt will help cook it. so it's essentially a nonheat cooked item. >> so it is cooked. some people wonder is it a raw dish. >> it's not tartar, tartar would be raw. in this case this is actually cooked through the acid. >> interesting. >> so when you prepare it you want it to sit in the acid for about 45 minutes. i'm just going to cut up our scallops. >> so 45 minutes is the amount of time you need to put it in the -- >> in the acid with the salt i recommend. some people like it a little less time or a little more. it's really up to you. once it sits there and you put the right amount of acid in it, it can stay overnight. so if this is something you wanted to make hours before, it's okay to do that too. >> now, can you use -- you were mentioning white fish, is that

>> yeah, white fish is. if you end up using tuna it ends up mealy. in the area we have rock fish, which is maryland -- >> talk about you're using citrus. >> you can go with anything you want. i'm using lemon and lime. there's usually always some lime juice in here. we have the scallops, squeeze our limes over the top. we do variations in the restaurant, i will use grapefruit or orange. >> oh, nice. >> you always need something a little more acidic than orange or grapefruit. >> you've added some things, some cilantro, jalapeno to spice it up a bit. >> yeah, we add our acid, our salt. you can essentially be done there. you can add red onion. you can kind of go with whatever you look. if you want spice, you can add more spice in a jalapeno, a little less, use chile flake. cilantro gives the nice clean flavor which is more traditional speaking. but there's a bunch of different variations. >> chef adam

barcelona on 14th street, thanks so much for joining us. looks good. >> it looks delicious. ♪ everyone's talking about prince this morning after emotional tributes at last night's billboard music awards. madonna lit up the las vegas stage singing prince's "nothing compares to you." another memorable moment celine makes her first tv appearance since the death of her husband and her brother. ♪ >> and the weekend was the night's big winner taking home eight awards and dedicating one of them to prince. the controversy this morning that the tributes weren't good enough. b.e.t. is behind some of the criticism promising to do better at their awards ceremony this coming up weekend. an inspiring graduation story. >> how a man in his 50s went from janit

there are some college graduates who are of a different generation than their classmates. kate snow explains how one massachusetts man took a unique path to earn his diploma. >> reporter: for eight years now michael has spent his days with classmates at worcester poly techniqcal institute and his nights cleaning those same classrooms. he ued

when the recession hit demand dried up. he and his wife lost everything. >> it was really hard because i couldn't look my kids in the eye and tell them you do a good job and work hard and you're going to be successful. i couldn't do that. >> reporter: when michael found the custodian job, he realized he'd make half as much money, but there was one big perk, free tuition. >> i wanted just a glimmer of a chance to turn my life around and do something that i could look back on and say, hey, you know, that was pretty good. >> reporter: in between classes he studied in the custodial closet. >> all i did is go to school, study, go to work, eat and sleep. >> i felt like i ran tackle for him, really. i kept the distractions away. >> reporter: their sacrifices paid off. last weekend michael walked with his class of 2016 alongside classmates 30 years younger. his graduation cap saying it all. >> it was a

i was walking on air. it was superb. it was so much better than i ever imagined it would be. >> congratulations. >> reporter: yes, it was a little hard to head back to work on monday, but now he's hunting for a new job. >> you know, with the help, support and encouragement of my fellow classmates and all my professors, they helped rebuild my american dream, you know. and now i dream again because what they've done. >> what a wonderful story. >> for sure. and congratulations to him for making his dreams come true. and congratulations, tom, for getting us a little bit of sunshine today. >> yeah, we'll take it while we can. it's going to be around here for another couple of hours. temperatures are warming nicely already in the upper 60s to near 70 te grees around much of the region except around the bay where still a little rain southern maryland and the northern neck. that's passing well south of the metro area. will stay south of us here until about 3:00 or so, but then with that sunshine may have some blossoming showers and

around 4:00 p.m. to around 9:00 or 10:00 this evening. likely not severe, but a passing shower with some thunder and lightning is possible again around 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. before then low 70s. and then tomorrow lots of sunshine into the upper 70s to near 80 degrees tomorrow. not very humid, a spectacular may day. and then on wednesday lots of sun into the low 80s, still not very humid, but getting a little more humid on thursday. and a small chance of afternoon storms with highs in the upper 80s as we get into the memorial day weekend just in time we've got beach and pool weather with high temperatures in the afternoons in the upper 80s, perhaps a passing thundershower on friday afternoon, a very small chance saturday, a little bigger chance on sunday and, again on memorial day we could get some thundershowers around with highs in the upper 80s. >> tom, thank you. that does it for news 4 midday. thanks so much for joining us. we are back on the air this afternoon first at 4:00. >> and remember you can get your news and weather updates any time with the nbc washington app. we hope you'll have a great day. get out and enjoy a little bit

morning.

today on "the meredith vieira show" some of the biggest stars of reality tv from real housewives nene leakes and betthany frankel. to the sexy property brothers. >> why have one when you can have two? >> to an unforgettable reading with long island medium, theresa caputo. we are looking back at favorite moments with reality tv stars and it starts right now on meredith. ♪ ♪