right now on midday. speed limit changes could soon affect your regular commute through parts of montgomery county. >> what you need to know before you buckle up. the fight over obamacare. it's back. i'm tracie potts. plus it was another cold start this morning. here's a live look down toward the titlere basin where w on blossom watch. when we'll see peak bloom plus when we hit 70 deees in m updated forecast. "news4 midday" starts now. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. i'm molette green. >> i'm pat lawson muse. let's kick things off this morning with a check of your storm team 4 forecast and amelia it's beginning to look a lot

li spring. oh, absolutely, pat. even just a few days ago compared to this morning arting to see more green out there, more blossoms coming out. it was a cold start this morning. many of us especially in the suburbs kicked off the day with temperatures around or below freezing. at this point we've warmed into the low to mid-40s. 46 degrees in thedistrict. 43 in frederick and 44 in manassas. we're going toarm to a high temperature today of 55 degrees, so overall a few degrees warmer than yesterday and we have beautiful sunshine in the forecast from s rt tofinish. that being said, though, 55 degrees is about five degrees below normal for this time of year. our average high at about 59/60. we're running below normal today. as we move toward the end of the workweek, we see our temperatures soar. i'm going to have more on just how warm we'll be plus when you'll be dealing with rain coming up at 120, molette. >> thanks so much. in an effort to cut down on umber of deadly pedestrian

crashes, the maryland department of transportation will reduce thepeed limit on parts of georgia avenue in montgomery county. >> some stretches of this road areus notor for deadly crashes. news4 drew wilder is in wheaton in spots where you'll have d to sln beginning this week. >> reporter: some pretty significant changes coming to one of the more dangerous roads in our area. we drove up and do you remember it this morning and we hadnyt seen signs posted notifying drivers about these changes. if you take a look at your screen right now we'll let you knowhat's coming. georgia avenue in wheaton, that stretch is dropping from 35 miles per hour down to 25. then just north of there the stretch of georgia avenue between glenn allen and connecticut and silver spring ll drop from 45 to 35. we'll take another stretch of georgia avenue the speed limit hour p from 50 miles an to 45 miles an hour between

connecticut and valerie avenue. you'll need to adjust your schedule and get out the door five or ten minut earlier. all of this might seem like a hassle, but you got to remember that so many families have lost loved ones walking along georg avenue and this is the highway safety administration's attempt to try to make this a little bit safer for pedestrians. reporting in montgomery county, drew wilder, news4. today five students areg be treated for injuries after a crash in prince george's ayunty. policeone of the students were wearing seat belts. just r finchorts on the strong message being echoed after the crash that could been much worse. >> reporter: as young drivers and passengersake to the road today, officials here in prince george's county hope they learn from what happened here yesterday. the three teens now recovering from some very serious injuries. they were in the back of this nissan sedan with their two other fellow passengersin who we front of that car spared

only injuries we are told because of air bags. all five are seniors who were on good luck roa close to noon yesterday traveling when a driver pulled out from a nearby drivew their vehicles collided. that nissan spun around and stru a third vehicle in a head-on collision. prince crews come immediately here to the scene to assist those who were injured. we are told that the people who were inside those two other cars did not suffer any major injuries mostly minor injuries for them, t butse three teens in the back of that nissan have suffered some s veryious injuries. the county executive angela brook says that she hopes all drivers young and old learn to be safe on prince george's county roads at all times of the year. >> we just finished a terrible winter with 13 fatalities, traffic fatalities in the count and it l to me like we're

headed into a frightening spring and so what i want to communicate to our community is it's so important, t ites two seconds to put on a seat belt. >> these numbers now some context from the national highway transportation safety adnistration showing thateen drivers were involved in more than 2,000 fatal vehicle crashes back in 2016 and that more than half of passenger deaths ages 15 to 18 were unrestrained or not wearing a seat belt. you see figures likethat, you understand why wearing a seat belt is so critical and why here in prince george's county they want teens and all drivers to really understand tt ct. we know today there will be counselors here at the hospita lping all process what happened here on good luck road yesterday. back inside to you. today the white nationalists convicted of deliberately iving his car into a crowd of demonstrators in charlottesville two years ago is expted to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges. in doing so,am jes fields jr.

avoids the death penalty. heather heyer was killed ander several o seriously injured when police say flds turned weapon. nto a deadly the victims and survivors were in charlottesville to protest a unite the right rally. a jury has alreadyed recommend fields serve life in prison plus 419 years. virginia governor ralph northam making a return to public appearances this week. b hen laying low for weeks working out of sight following the release of that controversial photo inside his medical school yearbook. it showed a man in blackface standing next a tonother man in a kk hood and robe. northam said it wasn't him but later admitted he had worn blackface in the past. the govhinor isng for a new bill that would change with a devices drivers are allowed to use behind the wheel and we'll take a closer at that legislation coming up in the next half hour. as the trumpdministration making a big push to get rid

of the affordable caresact, democrre pushing to strengthen the law. tracie potts rorts. >> reporter: it's a new battle in the war over obamacare. ca>> the republin party will soon be known as the pty of health care. >> if that is true, god help middle class >>americans. eporter: the justice department has told a federal appeals court it sup rts getting rid of the entire health law, not just pieces of it. 28 million americans could lose coverage. >> the gop will never stop trying to destroy the affordable health care of americans families. >> reporte republicans say they're fixing it. >> we want them to have more freedom. they're seeing double digit increases. >> reporter: democrats are pitching a plan to make more middle class families eligible and give insurers more money to cover the poorest and sicke patients. it's not expected to even get a vote in the senate controlled by

republicans. at risk if the affordable care act goes away, insurance for preexisting conditions and adults under 26 years old. >> we got to prove everybody if they get sick they're not going to ose theircoverage. >> reporter: if the courts strike down the affordable care act, there's stillo plan to replace it. for this year so far just over 11 million people have signed up for the insurance plans from those obamacare exchanges. that's a lithae bit less last year. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. today leaders of the d.c. police department will no doubtt face tough qning at an oversight hearing. the department's use of forceons he rise for a second straight year. new data shows african-americans are overwhelmingly the target of that force. according to the office of police comp ints, there were just over 1,000 use of force incidents in 20. in 2018 that number increased to 1242 incidents.

a 20% increase. ic african-amerans were the subjects of 9 of those cases in 2018. e report also found 80% of the use of force were justified. it's important toote here the department defines use of force as anything from taking at suspown to handcuffing them to discharging a firearm. counsel member charles allen says the numbers are concerning. >> when you see a number likees 90% blackents on the receiving end of use of force it's pr.clematic. >> police say with nearly 32,000 arrests in 2018, only 4% involved force. t the departm adds that in the majority of those cases, officers were within the depament's guidelines. tomorrow is opening day at nats park. it's not only the fans who are excited for the new season but the players and managers. the team missed out on the orayoffs last year, but put in some hard during the off-season. be sure to join us tomorrow

morning. jim handly will be joining us live from nats park for much of thmorning. and mk it on your calendar, folks, april 1st n is th date the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom. peak bloom moved up two days. k the p service looks at both temperatures and where the trees are in the blooming process. right now the indicator tree is in full bloom at the title basina the natio cherry blossom festivals run through april 1 14th. ahead of tonight's drawing, the jackpot is u to $750 million. it's the fourth largest in lotto history. no one has hit all the numbers since december. the cashption would leave you with about 465 million before taxes. the odds of winning, one in 292 million but someone will entually win. we know that.

in case you missed the big announcement on the "today" show, news4 alum sna guthrie is this year's commencement speaker at george washington university. it will take place on the nation mall on sunday, may 19th. by the way, it's the only graduation ceremonyt will take place on the mall. >> that's a lot of pressure of the she talked about it on the "today" show this morning saying she's jotted down some notes but she's working on the speech. >> it's a big speech. 11 minutes after the hour this morning, a stunning turnf events for "emre" star jussie smollett. >> questions continue after charges against him are dropped. we have the very latest from both sides when "news4 midday" continues.

now to the stunning reversal for jussie smollett. he walks away wit a clean record just weeks after a grand jury indicted him for staging his own hate crime.

>> the latest twist in the case infuriating chicago police tho sayy have a mountain of evidence against him. miguel almaguer has more on the fallout. >> reporter: walking out of court no longer facing criminal charges, jussie smollett claiming victory and still maintaining his innocence. >> i've been truthful and consistein on everye level since day one. >> reporter: but while cook county prosecutors droppedhe 16 felony counts of lying to police, they say the "empire" actor has not been exonerated. >> he's not a victim of a hate crime. >> reporter: the bombshell decision comer a cook county prosecutors agree to a deal charges dropped in exchange for two days of community service and $10,000 in court costs. throsecutor calling the controversial move, standard procedure. >> it's not something that is unique, it's not the first time this has happened. >> this has been an incredibly difficult time. honestly, one of the worse of my entire fe. >> reporter: while the

prosecutor says he stands by the police investigation and calls their case solid, chicago's top cop says he was blind side i had. >> if someone falsely accused me, i would never hide behind a brokered deal and secrecy,pe od. >> reporter: chicago's mayor also offering a sharp rebuke saying the actor was sure to be convicted. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a cl message that if you're in a position of influence and l power, you'let treated one way. other teople will bereated another way. >> reporter: it was just three weeks ago smollett was indicted by a gra jury after the actor told police he was beaten on this stree t by masked men who yelled, this is maga country. poured a chemical on him and left a noose around his neck. police say smollett hired these two brothers to stage the attack and was lookingas to in on the publicity. >> we have nothing to say tlithe department except to investigate charges and not try

their cas in the press, but to allo matters to be investigated. >> reporter: with the case now sealed, the publicay never see the evidence gathered by investigators. after this la month. he left score monday stopping to take a selfie with a fan. >> i'd like nothing more than to just get bac to work and move on with my life. >> is there no decency in this man? this is a person now who' led off scot-free with no sense of accountability of the moral and ethical wrong of his actions. >> that was miguel aaguer reporting. smollett could still face a federal charge of mail fraud. chicago policeay he mailed himself a fake death threat also to drum up publicity. that case i n engslatind spatr owner robert kraft will attend the annual nfl meetings in phoenix, arizona. this is his first major leagu meeting following his arrest for

soliciting prostitutiopa at a in florida. the 77-year-old has requested a juryial. he could have avoided that if he admitted prosecu rs had enough evidence to convict him. g turned down that deal. commissioner rogdell says the league will wait to hear all of the facts in the case before ruling on a punishment for kraft. the growing measles outbreak is prompting one of newyork's counties to take extreme action. officials inro land county have declared a state of emergency after more than 150 cases of measles. now they are banning unvaccated children from public places including stores, even schools. t >>his is a public health crisis. >> reporter: officials are now takingst d action after a record 153 measles cases in new york's rockland county since last october. >> we must do everything in our power to end this outbreak. >> reporter: as of midnight tonight a state of emergency

will prohit unvaccinated children under 18 from going to public places such as stores, restaurants and schools. she has worried her toddler is vulnerable. >> do you think this is appropriate or too drasti >> when other people aren't vaccinating their children, it's putting my children at risk. >> reporter: measles are so contagious the virus can linger up to two hours even after aned area.t person leaves the officials say they won't be checking vaccination cards but instead hope the mere threat of crimin palties will make more parents vaccinate their children. the fallout continues in that college admissions scandal. the department of education has opened an investigation to figure out if there were any violations f toeral financial aid program laws. georgetown university is one of the universities being investigated. the feds allege dozens of wealthy parents, including hollywood actrses, lied and

paid massive bribes to get their children into elite schools. the university's themselves were not implicated in the scandal. ce> a southwest boeing 737 max 8 jet was f to make an emergency landing yesterday after being in the air for just 11 minutes. the plane is part of a fleet of max 8 jets that have been grounded following twoeay crashes. the plane was flying from florida to california to be order until the groundi is lifted but shortly after takeoff the engine overheated. tw pilots were the only people on board at the time they landed the plane safely. earlier this month the faa ounded the boeing 737 max jets after two crashes involving the same model that killed everyon onboard. the faa says the latest issue is not related to the antistall software that is suspected as a cause for those deadly crashes. since our s kids are overscheduled these days, the

big issue that parents deal with is how to get the kids to all of their activities. >> and now there's an unconventional alternative. we'll break down the details of a new kid friendly rideshare program. [ ding ] show me the crown. [ ding ] show me homecoming. [ ding ] baby sloth videos on youtube. amy, do you, uh, mind giving someone else a turn? oh, yeah i made myself a little comfortable here. i got a pizza for amy! yes, that's me! xfinity lets you search netflix, prime video, and youtube with the sound of your voice. and i don't have my wallet. so... that's simple. easy. awesome. switch to xfinity and get started with this great offer. plus, ask about 4k ultra hd and packages that include netflix. click, call or visit a store today.

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when it comes to getting the kiddoes around to all of their different school activities, extracurricular things time is of the essence. >> now a company wants to hel you out. busy parents in this area can ake advantage of a new servi called hop, skip, drive. think of it as uber for kids only. >> but is it safe? transportation reporter adam tuss takes closer look. >> reporter: every parent wants the best for their kid and a hth grader jalen walker is big kid, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, boxing, swimming. >> how much time do you spend in the car? would you say you're in the car a lot?

>> yes, sir. >> reporter: six sports! that's a lot of running to and from places and with our traffic, you know how that story goes. >> picking him up, run, once you dropped him off you got to go home try to do something and go back and get him again. shawnaalker is now using a new service called hop skip drive like uber for kids. >> it's great in advance we can plan. >> reporter: trips a scheduled hours in advan and the difference here from traditieal rideshar services is these drivers have to go through a strict background chec they a have to have at least five years experience as a caregiver. she just started driving for the company. >> i got fingerprinted. they did a full fbi background check. they definitely checked into my driving record pretty specifically. >> reporter: plus another extra layer of security, when a driver shows up to pick up til that driver and the child have to exchange a code word. >> i like the code. >> reporter: the code word? >> how they use it so i canfy identi the person w's taking

me placesop >> reporter:kip drive is starting in northern virginia but planning to expand. >> we'rt sg in fairfax, arlington, alexandria, we'll be in the districttithin the n couple weeks and then maryland soon after that. >> reporter: the company already in service in l.a. and the denver area. average rileds are about 20 to 25 bucks. in alexandria, adam tuss, news4. >>on another op >> for you? >> yeah. so and let's switch gears and talk about the cherry blossoms. they are really putting on quite a show already around the tidal basin. >> i loved how you described , ring of pink bloom. >> we are eecting peak bloom on monday. that's april 1st. you either want to head down this week, next week and next weekend you get a pretty nice showdown there at the tidal basin. this afternoon is goingo be cool. after that we continue to see

warming temperatures tough our saturday. we're around 70 on friday and70 mi on saturday. you see your second weather headline. in the some rain forecast for the weekend and that's going to be on your sunday. e you are heading down to tidal basin this weekend, you're trying to determine saturday or sunday. basedfon the weather cast, i would recommend heading down there on saturday. peak bloom is forecast to be next week. right now we're at 46 degrees as we head on in to the aernoon hours, we're warming to a high f 55, about five degrees below normal we have plenty of sunshine. we have lighter winds compared to yesterday and not a drop of rain in the forecast today, tonight or tomorrow either. 7:00 tonight, everything starting to wind down. it's cool and pleasant. we're at 51 degrs at that point. pleasantly crisp out there, pleasant cool out the for your wednesday afternoon. as we look to tomorrow on thursday, a lite bit more cloudiness out there especially after lunchtime but we will be

rmer by almost 10 degrees. high temperature tomorrowg warm into the mid-60s which is a little bit above normal and as we look to the weekend on saturday, starting off at 55, so already pretty comfortable. you have to think that's ourem highrature forecast for this afternoon. we continue to warm by 5:00, 6:00 p.m., we hit 75 degrees so nice and mild despite plenty of clouds throughout the daily and it's going to be a bit breezy out there onrdour sa. keep that in mind for the kite festival or whatever plans you have outdoors. not windy just breezy. now on sunday, we do have rain in there st. a high likelihood that we're dealing with rain especially right now. it looks to be during the morning and midday hours, maybe lingering showers in the evening hours. rt we s at 52 in the a.m. so timing it out on future weather and this is just one computer model, but notice at 6:00 a.m. we already have rain in the area especially along and west o i-95. we track showers out there for

the mid-day hours heading into the late afternoon and evening hours. th rain starts to push out of the area and that is going to cool us down for next week. noup coming i'm going to have more details on the weekend forecast and taking a closer look at that 10-day, what you can expect next week, la

you're watching "news4 midday." >>ime n is 11:29. this is the third straight year education secretary betsy devos has been forced to defend budgetpo pls with deep cuts to the education department including a call to slash allra fe funding for special olympics. >> but this is the first year devos has faced a congress with democrats in control of the house, yesterday she got quite a grilling. nbc's kristen welker reports. >> reporte secreta of education betsy devos in the hot seat after getting grilled by lawmakers for proposing to cut

funding for special olympics. i sti can't understand why you would go after disabled children in yourdg . you zero that out. it's appalling. >> reporter: it was the first time that devos, a wealthy former michigan republin party chairwoman had been called before a democratic led panel to go over the president's spending priorities. wisconsin congressman pushing devos asking if he knew how much children would be affected by the elimination of special olympics funding. >> we had to make some hard decisions this budget -- >> how many kids not about the budgno? >> i don't about the number of kids. >> 272,000 kids. i'll answer it f you. no problem. >> let me just say -- > 270,000 kids that are affected. >> it's an awesome organization, one that is well supported by thehinthropic sector as well. >> reporter: the conversation growing hore tense aft talked about his own family members. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is it that we have a problem with children who are in

special education? why are we cutting all of these programs over and over within this budget? >> sir, we have continued to retain the funding levels for idea and held that level,>>o -- 'm sorry. i don't think i brought up i.d.e.a. i brought up special olympics, special education grants, the national technical institute for the blind. >> i willddress the broader question -- >> could you address the question i asked? that's an eve better question. >> supporting students with special needs we have continued to hold tt funding level -- that funding at a level amount an in the contextf a budget proposal that is a 10% reduction -- >> reporter: the exchange going vira this tweet from 2017 resurfacing, devos saying it was great spending time with special ympic athletes, one person ieeting overnight, this hypocrisy absolutely astounding. >> kristen welker reporting there and she reports thahe

special olympics just released a statement saying, it plans toue cont working with what the group calls their congressional champions. you may have heard the popularrory store chain shoppers is shutting down. this morning the company says it hdoes note immediate plans to close any locations. the company says the plan is , quote, thoughtfully and economically divest its retail operations. several repor say the new parent company wants out of the retail business. they want to focus on wholesale instead. some wonder where they will shop, others wonder about their jobs. >> to many people this job is all they have. they want to know what's going on and they're very frustrated with being kept in the dark all these months. >> if theyn close dow the shops, where we supposed to go? >> giant has bought several former shoppers in virginiand in montgomery county. there are still 12 locations ino prince george'ty which are considered -- which is considered a food desert by usda

standard, meaning the county lacks healthy fresh food options. turning to sports now, the washington nationa swap their jerseys and cleats for suits at their homecoming gala. ye>> oh, ah. take a look here. the gala was held last night at e anthem located at the distri's wharf. hosted by lindsey czarniak. g thea included a dinner and silent auction all of which helped to raise more than a million dollars for the dream foundation. news4 will haveeam coverage of nats opening day. we'll have everything you need to know to te yourselfut to the ballgame including the latest news on the team,hat's new at nats park and weather for the first pitch in our coverage starts tomorrow morning and t we'll continuoughout the day here on news4 a in the nbc washington app. jim hanley will be out there in the morning.

>> he'll get up. new research suggests that storytime is better with traditional print books than electronic books. a new study from the university of micgan says reading print bos tohildren generates more conversation and leads to better interactions tha ebooks. interactions between parents and children were less frequent and focused more on thee dev with digital books. researchers say shared reading promotes child's language development, literacy and bonding with parents. getting story time to them ready to college, it seems like those years in between fly by. millennials who have a good relationship with their parents may have an easierime transitioning to college life. researchers from the university of missour surveyed over 300 rising freshmen, those who felt supported by their parents worried less and successfully adjusted to college and those who felt their parents were controlling and overinvolved had a harder time with t

transition a new book is shedding some light on former first lady barbara bush. >> from her standing in the republican party to her feelings about president trump, we're breaking down what many did not know about mrs. bush until now.

this had us really talking earlier this morning. have you heard of vampire facials? have you heardf that pat? >> not before now. >> right. it's a new process where dermatologists use your blood to give your skin a youthful >> and now the same concept is being used on your scalp, your blood could help your hair grow. it's called pr and as news4 doreen gentzler shows us those three letters could hold a lot of promise for people with thinning hair. >> reporter: hair loss can be an emotional and embarrassing issue for men and women. >> for a decade, it's not more

than a decade we have very few treatm tts toat men and even fewer treatments to treat women. >> reporter: now there's some new hope with doctors using your own blood to stimulate hair growth. it's called platelet rich plasma or prp. this doctor is a board certified dermatologistho in virginia w walked us through this cosmetic procedure. first, she draws blood from a tient's arm. >> we draw the blood, we spin the blood and use the plasma and inject it back in the scalp. >> reporter: this machine separatesed blood cells from the plasma, plateletselp to repair blood vessels, promotes cell growth and simulate the hair follicles to grow. >> it starts off as peach fuzz. >> reporter: each treatment costs $150. the doctor says most patients need five sessions w ch makes this about a $nt0 invest

most people see hair growth after three or four treatments sand the doctor s the results can last as long as you protect your hair. that means avoid coloring it too much and stay away from blowur dryers,ng irons and extensions to which can cause breakage. doreen gentzler, news4. t>> witht little bit at the end makes me pause. maybe i'll try this -- a then you can't even comb your hair, color your hair, curl your >> there's always a flip side the weather's pretty nice out there, so are we on the upward trend? we're on the up and up. we're talking about high temperatures today in the mid-50s, tomorrow we're in the 60s. by friday we're around 70. >> moving in the right direction. >> surday mid-70s and we' not going to talk about sunday because we do cool down with rain. check it out rightnow. we have beautiful sunshine out there. yesterday we had lots of nice sun, but b it was a breezy. the winds not an issue today but our current temperature kind of chilly at 46. also notice that wind direction

thatorerly component to the wind. we had that yesterday as well. so that actually helped to bring down the tree pollen, tree pollen today now coming in moderate with our latest report. so some good news for the allergy sufferers there. mold spores are low. weeds andis grasses at ime are absent. i do think as we head throughout the week, we'll see that tree pollen become high maybe even extremely high especially friday d saturday when we get nice southerly winds coming out of th south where we're already having lots of blooming going on sending all of those allergens into our area. we're in bloom watch. stage four out o t six f cherry blossoms. always a really fun stageo say. and with that we'll see peak projection on mondays. we have that puffy white stage and stage six is peak bloom. make plans to head downtown la tohe tidal basin. i think i'll be there tuesday afternoon. we're still ironing out those

details. regardle, though, peak bloom is when 70% of the cherry blossoms have opened so if you'reven heading down there right now some of the trees are already open. now, of course, getting the blossoms out the biggest variable is temperatures and warm temperatures is what the blossoms love especially temperatur 7 abovedegrees so we're going to be seeing that friday as well as saturday and that's why we do think peak bloom is goi to be on monday and after that it's going to last for a few days. you can head down to the tidal basin thist weekend, n week or even next weekend i still think it's prettyice down there. of course, we have the kite festival on saturday. expect hazy sunshine, breezy winds. 10:00 a.m. the festival's getting under way. 75 degrees at 3:00 in the afternoon, so really comfortable down there and here's look a your 10-day. i'll have another peak coming up at 11:55. 64 tomorrow, 73 on friday. maybe an isolated shower out there on friday, especially north and west of the d.c./metro

area. plenty of cloudsut mild on saturday, mid-70s, rain in the forecast on saturday with oemperatures in the 50s. we're headed break and we'll be back just a moment. in

welcome back. barbara bush was knoor her outspokeness. the former first lady appears unfiltered and quite candid in new biography in the matriarch we got a rare insight into the wife of the 41st president and mother to the 43rd, a clear remind she h no problem speaking her minds. nbc's andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: this morning the f formerirst lady in the last month's o life revealing to her biographer her strong dislike for donald trump. so fierce mrs. bush suffering from congestive heart disease blamed trump f what she called a heart attack after comments like this about her s jeb. >> bush's 1% in nevada.

this guy -- why doesn't he just give up and go home? go home. mom.me to >> reporter: then candidate inump famously mocking jeb and belittling him durg the primaries. >> like bush, this guy bush, he's lik low energy. >> reporter: mrs. bush said she was originally hesitant for jeb to enter the race feeling she shared on "today" in 2013. th >> there are oer people out very qualified and we've had enough bushes. >> reporter: but she was so dlarmed by trump she eventually agreed jeb sho run and campaign for him in new hampshire. >> he's decent, honest. he's everythin we need in a president. >> reporter: according to the book, her dislike for trump went back decades. in her diaries from the990s ich she made available for the book, bush describes trump as quote greedy, selfi andugly. by 2016 the book reveals, she was dismaid by thenation's divisions and by the direction

of the party she had worked for andor so long. telling paige in one interview, i don't understand whyoreople are him. and in another expressing astonishment that women could support him. mrs. bush confide to go paige she no longer considered herself a republican. in fact, when the bushes went to vote that november, she wrote in her son jeb's name ander husband voted for hillary clinton, the first time in his life he had voted for a democrat, but despite her harsh feelings for donald trump,co ing to the book, the former first lady wrote, melania trump, welcoming her to the first lady's very exclusive club. >> this is a bronx ta"a bronx t ♪ the street wise broadway musical based on the one man show and now classic film is on stage here in the district. bronx tal"bronx tale" is now a at the national theater for one week only throughhe 31st of

march and f those who may not know it's jersey boy meets west side story. joining me is one of the stars of t show, richard h. blake. welcome. >> thank you. thanks for having yme. >> you p lorenzo. >> i do. i play the father, the robert de niro role and the show ionbased - i get to play his real life father. >> you- play with you're working with big names attached to the show like oscar, grammy tony award winner, "beauty and 're beast" and little shop of horrors" and y also working with robert de niro who's directing. ork witht like to names like those? >> you know, at first when you hear about it and you g cast, this is going to be really intimidating, but they're wonderful. robert de niro and zack codirected the show both of them are legends and to -- you walk into the room and you're ok like, , i got to do everything right and they make you feel so comfortable right

off the bat. they're very, very warm andoa apable. so it's been great. >> you're somewhat of a broadway legend yourself. >> i've been around the block. >> what attracted you to this particular production? >> well, one it's one of my favorite movies, the story is one that i've loved since the movie came out in 1993 and i was doing jersey boys at the time when this came about and it seemed like a natural progression for me and i love play a father. i'm a father of a young boy myself so this was a chance for me to get to play a father on stage. >> for anyone who comes out to see this show, what do you want them to see, absorb and walk away with? >> i mean, one of the great things about this show is we sort of say it's a show for guys. not the traditional theater crowd. if you've never seen a show before, come see our show because it's got -- it's very testosterone driven.

it's got grit and the beautiful love story. we find that a lot of people who are fans of the movie come to the show and they say, we were really worried. we're huge fans of the movie and we're worried. we had to come check it out. but we loved it. ed we lt better than the movie and that's the biggest compliment with can get and he's always considered this story a fable so the best veron of a fable would be musical version of a fable, so -- >> yeah. >> so hopefully we live up to that. >> you're a dad and moms will like it too? >> absolutely, absolutely. it's a gat piece of theater, if you have a guy that's not usually going to theater, you can get him to come see this show is i what saying, which is nice. >> we'll give you folks the information again. it's called a bronx ta"a bronx at the national theater for one week ly. you only have through the 31st of this month and we have ticket information in the nbc washington app. richard h. blake, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me.

>> good luck with it. >> back to you. we'll get a final check of the forecast when we come back. don't forget to tune int 3:00 for

mcdonald's will no longer lobby against efforts to raise the minimumwa . the fast food chain have been th target of several protests by workers calling for higher

pay. ep politicalts in a letter to the national restaurant association, mcdonald's it believes wage increases should behased in acr all industries. this ss most of its restaurants have an average starting pay of above $10 an hour. ups is teaming up with a start-up company t experiment with using drones to deliver medical supplies. it's starting with test in raleigh, north carolina. the program will be overseen by the faa. these drones can only carry pay loads of up to five pounds over distances of about 12 and a half miles. ups has expressed interest in using drones to deliver health care products. in 2016 it partnered with a nonprofit to deliver blood donations in remote locations in rwanda. i'm frank holland. after years of paying relatively low interest rates on auto loans, car buyers are now doing a double take. terest rates have risen to their highest levels in a cdecade. >> c phil lebeau has more on

the higher rate and the showdown that couldome in showroom sales. >> reporter: it's getting more expensive to buy a new car or truck. not only are automakers raising prices on vehicles, the interest rates on auto loans have soared to a ten year high. last month the average rate for a new car auto alone was 6.26%. up more than 1% compared to a year ago and well above the average rate from five years ago. >> if someone's coming back into the market after paying a 1.9 which was quite common and now they're up to 5%, that is a big monetary difference. >> reporter:ng why is it costi more to borrow money for an auto alone? one factor is the federal reserve raising interest rates which in turn is pushing up rates on all types of loans. it's also forcingo automakers pull back on offers for 0% financing, meanwhile both dealers and lenders are much more selective about who

qualifies for the lower rate loans, even though buyers are beingd for pay more, it's not stopping them from choosing pricier models of trucks and suvs. >> people right now are ponying up and still continueo go buy these cars, although we do think there is, you know, some caution ahead in terms of how long this can last. >> everyone down! >> anyone see where those shots came from? >>no! call it in! >> daddy! a mayoral candidate is shot you by an unidentified sniper and they race to catch the ooter. an all-new episode is coming up tonight at 10:00. be se to stick around for news4 at 11:00. >> that's one of the shows that i have to ecdvrse it's so good. they always have something dramatic unfolding. >> i watch it on saturdays. time now for a check on our

final forecast or final check on the forecast. >>et keep that 70s going in the forecast, amelia. >> friday and saturday two days re look forward to with the temperature st, really not bad at all for the rest of the workweek. plenty o sunshine and comfortable temperatures. right now we're in the 40s, 47 degrees in washington. a high today o 55. beautiful sunshine out there. we're just running about five grees belownormal. here's a look at your 10-day forecast. doug and i will have updates to this but 60s tomorrow on friday. we warme into low 70s despite plenty of clouds and maybe an isolated show, maybe a few peaks of sunshine on friday. same thing for saturday. mild. unshine, breezy but completely dry on saturday. highs in the low to mid-70s. rain i looking likely on sunday so make those outdoor plans on youray satu temperatures sunday will also be cooler only in the 50s throughout the day and then notice next week we're on the cool side again, monday, tuesday andednesday with highs in the

50s, molette. >> all right. thanks so much amelia. before wego, check this out. watch as one of the stars of the harlem globetrotters nails a trick shot while riding a roller coaster. he scoreke the buct while visiting the mall of america in minneapolis yesterday. this is the first time a globetrotter has ever done this in the team's 93 year history. they have to keep topping themselves and they keep doing it. >> apparently they're going to keep trying to do it everywhere they go going for a shot they've never taken before. >> i love it. >> yeah. >> oh, wow. >> they're the globetrotters. >> yeah. that's it for "news4 midday." thanks so much for joining us. >> we're back on the air first at 4:00 this a ernoon and get your news and updates a time withny t

we're live in five, four, three, two, one. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪appy birthday, dear -- [ cheers and applause ] ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> from one to anothe a surprise serenade by beyonce to wish dianaoss a happy 75th. welcome to "access" -- that's the way we do it. >> you go, any time you look around the audience. beyonce, did you want to sin something? yes, yes,