pause to recognize the men and women fighting for freedom. how the washington region is paying tribute to those who served and continue to serve overseas. >> good afternoon, everybody, i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. we'll have more on that story in a moment. first this afternoon, we take a live look outside where it's been a dreary and wet day. >> get used to it. there is talk this rainy stuff will stick around a couple more days. veronica johnson has more on what we can expect. veronica? >> that's right. outside we had the steady rain and pockets of modern rain throughout the area dark and dreary conditions off this storm system right here. this is what's left of ida. what was once a hurricane, then a tropical storm as it made landfall around alabama, is now a strengthening coastal system and will act like a nor'easter as it moves up the coast. there you can see the rain. we are sti on the northern-most fringe of all this. a system that will meander the next couple of days along the coast. ocean city seeing winds gusting to nearly 40 miles per hour and over 1/2 inch of rain. the worst is at the coast and south where there will be flooding in area of southern maryland down through the northern neck and south eastern, virginia. that potential is quite high. with that strengthening northeasterly flow, there is a coastal flood watch. strmt mary's county could see gusts up to 40 miles per hour. a wet one coming up. quick look at your forecast here. your storm headlines, rain continues through friday. the winds really picking up. we'll talk about how much rain right here in d.c. we could get in a few minutes. >> as you know, we are not the only ones getting a dose of this rainy weather. remnants of hurricane ida are pounding north carolina and georgia. rough rain appeared in nags head in the outer banks. there are flood watches and warnings for most of the tarheel state tonight. some areas could get up to five inches of rain tomorrow. now to the war in afghanistan. president obama is huddling with his national security team today discussing options for the u.s. strategy. on this veterans day, we are learning startling statistics abt the number of wounded men and women in that war-torn country. >> at least 1,800 troops were wounded during the first ten months of this year. nearly 1,000 of those injuries came during the last three months. those injuries include amputations, burns and brain injuries due to increasingly potent bombs targeting american forces. military officials say president obama is considering adding thousands of troops in the coming weeks. more on that from steve handelsman who is live on capitol hill. >> reporter: thanks. good afternoon. even the new so-called middle ground plan will still send a lot more young americans to the ever-more deadly fight in afghanistan. that is clearly weighing on the commander in chief. in an unscheduled veterans day visit, president obama spent time among the graves at arlington national cemetery, specifically in a section set aside from the fallen from iraq and afghanistan where mr. obama is considering sending more u.s. troops. a wrenching decision. >> as long as i am commander in chief, americans will do right by them. >> what is important he make a decision and make it reasonably soon. you've got young men and women out there carrying the battle who are at great risk. >> reporter: again today, the commander in chief met with advisers. he is getting more options. besides afghan commanding general stand mccrystal's call and biden's plan to send as fews 12,000, there are middle ground plan for 30,000 or more backed by defense secretary gates, secretary of state clinton, and by chairman of the joint chiefs mullen. that's almost as many new forces as mccrystal is requesting. president obama is looking to the troops' revamped mission. >> go back to focusing on al qaeda. back to pushing back taliban to the extent we can stabilize karzai's government enough so we can begin withdrawal from the region. >> reporter: short term, more u.s. forces would be at risk. the commander in chief is still working on the plan. and the new best guess on when president obama will reveal his new afghan strategy and how many troops he'll send is around thanksgiving. i'm steve handelsman, news4. back to you. >> thank you, steve. americans are saying thank you to the men and women who have risked their lives to protect our country. thousands of veterans have come here to washington to observe this day. many came to the world war ii memorial which is holding its first official veterans day ceremony. news4's megan mcgrath has our report.xd >> reporter: they are the veterans of world war ii. they sacrifice much, in many cases everything to protect the innocent and defeat those who sought to crush freedom and democracy. at the world war ii memorial, a special veterans day wreath-laying ceremony was held, the first since the memorial was dedicated five years ago. theseñr veterans are from rhode island and count themselves lucky to be here, but on this day, they're not thinking of themselves, but of those who did not come back. >> they gave everything. i think it's a good idea to honor them. i had a brother-in-law who was lost in the battle of the bulgei i'm here to honor him. i appreciate it. >> reporter: they have been called the greatest generation, younger veterans like those who served in korea came to honor the critical role they played in history. >> i am watching these guys here from world war ii and they had it on the line. they were the first line of defense at a very important time. i honor these guys of world war ii. >> reporter: at the war memorials around washington, people braced the rain and chills to pay respect to america's veterans, with so many men and women in harms way in iraq and afghanistan, day is all the more important. >> i pray for them every day. >> they are our brothers. >> they're a little bit younger than we are, but they're our brothers. >> reporter: megan mcgrath, news4. >> there were several other veterans day ceremonies that took place today across maryland, d.c. and virginia.çó family members of victims say they are relieved today following the execution last night of sniper master mind john allen muhammad. muhammad was put to death by lethal injection at a correctional facility in virginia last night for the shooting death of dean myers. myers was one of ten people shot and killed by muhammad, and accomplice lee boyd malvo over a period of three weeks back in october 2002. witnesses to muhammad's execution say he was unrepentant to the end and refused to utter any final words. they say his death was a contrast to that of his victims'. >> he was clean-shaven, he was calm, they laid him down, he didn't resist. they asked him after that, mr. muhammad, do you have any last words? didn't say anything. >> i think what you will see in the final moments is the death of a dignified man who maintained his innocence to the very end. >> lee boyd malvo is serving a life sentence for his role in the shootings. there are new questions and conflicting stories about how much was known about the alleged gunman in the ft. hood shootings. pete williams ins us with the latest on the investigation. i understand there was a news conference earlier today. what came out of that? >> reporter: i don't know about a news conference. i can tell you this. we have a better idea about one of the big questions all along here, which has been what did the army know about major hasan? the big question has been, were army officials aware that for several months starting late last year and continuing into eay this year, that he was exchanging about 2 dozen e-mails with an outspoken imam in yammen, someone an advocate jihad against the west. the allegation we have been told the past couple of days is the army was aware of this. now there is a consensus in the government the army did not know. there was a joint terrorism task fof a secon task force here looked into hasan's past. each task force had investigators on them from the defense department criminal investigation services. they could have told the defense department had they sought permission from the fbi too so. both task forces thought the e-mailings were innocent. >> so there's been a lot of finger-pointing in the past couple of days about who knew what, when and yes this didn't act sooner? >> reporter: this is something congress will look into. the fact is that all the members of this task force thought the e-mails were easily explained. he was doing research for his masters degree. he was working on issues about muslim soldiers and combat. they thought nothing further needed to be done. now we know that nothing included not telling the army about it because they thought he hadn't done anything wrong. >> are we closer to determining what a motive might have been for the shooting? >> reporter: no. i don't think so. i don't think the overall view of the people who looked at this has changed in the last several days, which is that it was a combination of factors. he was upset about his pending deployment. he was troubled by his own counseling with these soldiers who were returning. he felt abused and upset as a muslim in the military and didn't like the war in afghanistan. >> it makes a lot of people question and makes them very uncomfortable to know he had contact at all with these extremists who have been very outspoken. >> reporter: i think that's the point that's going to be looked into. no matter what the content of the e-mail was, no matter how innocent the content, the fact he was reaching out to someone who had been known to inspire other home grown terrorists say that should have raised red flags, but didn't. >> thank you, pete. right now d.c. police are investigating a deadly shooting at a northeast washington bus stop. a man waiting to board a bus was shot just before noon today in the 1300 block of h street northeast. the victim died a short time later. police believed the shooter may have been at the same bus stop as the victim. no arrests have been made. to prince george's county where a pedestrian was struck and killed by two secret service vehicles. it happened near the intersection of suitland paray in temple hills before 3:00 a.m. the secret service vehicles were heading to the district from andrews air force base. the investigation is ongoing. independent safety monitors are now allowed to walk along metro's tracks. metro agreed last night to grant inspectors access to walk along the tracks. the independent group tried for months to get access to live subway tracks to make sure metro is following safety rules after employees were killed on the tracks. news4 at 4:00 is just getting started. giving back. >> the story of one man's ultimate goal to pay tribute to every single soldier who fought in iraq or afghanistan. then at 4:30, the fallout continues as we learn new details about the david letterman blackmail bombshell. some simple steps you can take to save money. on this veterans day we bring you the story of a man named scott krieger. he made it his personal mission to recognize the service of every american who returns from war. norah o'donnell has our insider report. >> reporter: these stickers are both memories of summer, but this veterans day, two new sets of initials send a very different message. >> my ultimate goal is to have every single person that served in iraq or afghanistan be able to get a sticker. >> reporter: these are stickers for soldiers. krieger has sent out 180,000 stickers so far, and has received orders on his website from all over the world. >> we've gotten requests from th coalition troops from russia to canada to the u.k. >> reporter: he has a son in the marines fighting in afghanistan. >> we hope that people will be driving down the street and simply see a sticker that says "afg, i serve" and come up at a traffic light and give them a thumbs up and a god bless you. >> reporter: some vets consider it a badge of honor. >> my company took some pretty bad casualties. >> reporter: army specialist peter shoemaker who served in iraq wears it on his motorcycle helmet. >> it's a positive thing to remind people, through my people and myself, of the sacrifices that have been given for this country. >> reporter: one colonel who was wounded in iraq likes the simplicity of the sticker. >> for all of us in the army, navy, air force, marine, coast guard, brothers and sisters. >> reporter: as we pause to honor the service of our veterans, a small reminder of a major contribution. norah o'donnell, nbc news, washington. and we invite you to stay tuned for more on nbc nightly news with brian williams right after news4 at 6:00. howard county is fighting to become the first county in the country to ban minors from using tanning beds. the measure would prevent indoor tanning bed use by anybody under the age of 18. it passed unanimously at a council hearing last night. council members say they want to protect kids from cancer, especially since many doctors call tanning beds cancer machines. >> anybody before the age of 30 increases their lifetime risk of melanoma by 75%. >> howard county faces stiff opposition from the tanning bed lobby which claims only the food and drug administration and the state have the authority to regulate tanning bed use. montgomery county is reconsidering a new regulation aimed at anti-abortion centers. those centers often bill themselves aslaces to get information aboutxd abortion. then try to steer women away from the procedure. under the proposed legislation, centers in montgomery county would have to give women a disclaimer soñi theyxd don't ma the medical clinics that provide abortions mistake those for centers. backers of the regulation say it's about consumer protection. evans abortion groups say they are being unfairly singled out. a hearing is scheduled for december 1st. ahead on news4 at 4:00, too drunk to fly? a pilot about to take control of an international flight is arrested for flying under the influence. plus, the big changes millions of holiday shoppers can expect on black friday. and how much money was forked over to bury the king of pop? it's a sign of the times. take a look. a 76-foot norway spruce from connecticut is on its way to rockefeller center in the big apple. crews choeped down the free this morning.ñrñi the spruce was spotted through aerial searches. it will be put up at rockefeller center this thursday. the lighting ceremony happens december 2nd. after christmas, the tree will be donated to habitat for humanity to use as wood for a home in connecticut. that is a lot of wood. >> and to spot that perfect tree from the air. >> i didn't know that's how they scoped it out. >> we are showing you video with this coastal storm system. n%;át(q where the beaches are taking a battering.xd some very high waves coming in. nags head. we are seeing winds around ocean ñ put on the currents for you. it has been a dreary day out there with steady rain throughout the area. 48 degrees, the temperature. we picked up 0.3 inch right now at reagan national airport. northeasterly wind 17 miles per hour. just so persistent. let's look at the radar right now. while we've got lighter showers around the area, dale city and areas south, it's moderate andñ heavy rain falling from orange east to stafford and around fredericksburg. that's what we have to contend with for the next couple of xd days. steady rain withçó embedded moderate and heavy rain at times. the northernmost edge of xdthis and where not much has been going on today, cumberland, hagerstown areas off to the west. rainfall amounts to over an inch in pax river. winchester, just over 0.3 inch.r over 1.5 inches in spring lake, north carolina. 52 degrees in raleigh, north carolina. 48 degrees here. yesterday we were in the mid 60s. we are crashing into the 50s. temperatures aren't going to drop much tonight. the fact is even tomorrow we stay cool in the 50s with that persistent northeasterly wind. there is most of the rain, north carolina and south carolina. we had two or three inches down there they'll have to deal with ooding the next couple of days. around here, south eastern virginia, areas of southwestern virginia seeing flooding, as well. high wind advisory in effect for those areas across the south. futurecast for the next two days. we'll keep rain around here with that low pressure system spinning. one to two inches of rain. that through saturday. breezy and chilly with temperatures dropping out of the upper 40s to the mid 40s. we'll have your seven-day forecast in a few minutes. some are calling his comments out of line. hall of famer john riggins isn't backing down from his criticism of washington's football team. derrick ward is in the newsroom working on the story. you got a preview, we'll say, of riggins verbal rampage. >>ñi indeed. this stemsñi from comments wher he characterized dan schneider having a dark heart. he didn't back down much today. they did cause a rift between riggins and joe theismann. he did have a conciliatory form for joe theismann, but not dan schneider. he called snyder a bully. >> no love lost there. >> not at all. >> derek, we'll get the rest on news4 at 5:00. >> indeed. >> derrick ward. and a reminder that news4 at 4:00 is connected to you on twitter and on facebook. for up to the minute breaking news, weather and traffic, we want you to follow us and become a fan. you can find us on both social networking sites by searching news4 at 4:00, one word. >> on the air here at 4:30, much more ahead. the fallout continues today. lawyers of both sides of that letterman blackmail case are facing off in a heated debate. >> plus the amazing survival story of a teenage boy stranded on a chunk of ice for days. >> then helpful tips to put a bit mo money in your bank account. hello and welcome back to news4 at 4:00, i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. some of the big stories in the news right now. thousands of veterans have come to washington to observe veterans day. many came to the world war ii memorial which is holding its first official veterans day ceremony. wreaths were placed to honor those men and women who risked their lives to protect this country. an organization that represents thousandof black churches across the country declared the swine flu a health emergency. the national black church initiative based here in washington is urging all families in america, especiay minority families to get vaccinated. the group says it's now working with health officials at the federal, state and local levels to make sure the vaccine is there and that it happens. metro gave the green light today for an independent group to walk along the tracks during regular hours. the tri-state oversight committee says they haven't been able to see if metro made enough safety changes to prevent accidents. metro says inspectors can look at the tracks as long as they get safety training and are with a safety escort. now to our top story at 4:30. the man accused of blackmailing david letterman was back in a new york courtroom. joe halderman's attorney asked the judge to throw out the case saying his client's actions were nothing more than a typical business transaction. >> attorneys for letterman have a different view. peter alexander has the latest. >> reporter: david letterman was cracking jokes on the late show tuesday night. but no one was laughing hours earlier outside a new york state court. >> we argued that mr. halderm halderman's conduct did not violate the law. >> reporter: in his first court appearance since his release from jail, letterman's accused extortionist claimed prosecutors had it all wrong. he was simply trying to sell letterman a tell-all screen play about the late night star's past sexual relationships for $2 >> this was a commercial transaction. it was nothing more. >> reporter: halderman's lawyer asked the judge to dismiss the charges. newly-filed court papers showed a sharply differentiew of events. claiming they discussed tax issues. halderman said woe talk to his account ant and letterman's lawyer said he would issue a check to the rights for halderman's story.ñi >> i suggest that evidence is notñi a legitimate business transaction and is classic blackmail, no matter how mr. halderman's lawyer wants to dress it up. >> reporter: it forced letterman to make a stunning on-air confession last month. >> i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. >> reporter: caught in the middle, halderman's former live-in girlfriend stephanie burkett, a frequent guest in sketches who reportedly had a relationship with letterman. halderman faces growing money problems, too. cbs news reportedly stopped paying the suspended producer who already owed an ex-wife $6,800 a month in child support. one thing both sid aee upon? they're ready for a trial. >> it's pretty good. he lost weight. he's in fighting shape. >> that was peter alexander reporting. letterman's lawyer says the comedian is prepared to testi if this case goes to trial. >> one day after last week's terrible shooting rampage at ft. hood, office worrs in florida were terrorized by a man with a gun and a grudge. police there now released the first 911 calls from thateadly incident at an engineering firm in orlando. investigators say the gunman walked into his former office and began firing. panicked employees and witnesses called for help. >> sir, i need information. >> i can't stay on the phone. he may come back. >> where are you shot at? >> i'm shot in the leg. there are other people. h you ary, hurry, please. >> he's coming this way. he's coming this way. >> who isñi coming this way? >> the shooter is coming this way. >> frightening call there. one person was killed and several other people were wounded in that ñrattack. suspect jason rodriguez surrendered to police later this day at his mother's home. he was fired from the engineering firm two years ago. police in cleveland searched a home next door to the house where they found 11 bodies. investigators say they're searching next door justçó as a precaution in case other bodies were buried there. they will use thermal images to search the property. last month police arrested sandt any sowell, a convicted sexual predator and charged him with five counts of murder. too drunk to fly? a united airlines pilot being charged today for having too much alcohol in his system. irwin washington was arrested at heathrow airport. theñi 51-year-old allegedly faid a breathalyzer test. washington is the third u.s. pilot in 13 months to be arrested for being over the strict alcohol limits imposed by airline staff. if convicted, he faces up to two years in prison, a fine or boechlt. pieces of an airline started falling from the sky around dallas love field in texas,ñi tuesday. the airbus a-319 had just taken off from the airport whereñi it was undergoing maintenance when a door and emergency slide fell off. luckily no one was hurt. there are no reports that the debris caused any damage to the surrounding neighborhood. the faa's investigating how the parts fell off. a teenager who was stranded for two ds on a massive chunk of moving ice in canada has been rescued. the 17-year-old boy went on a hunting trip with his uncle in coral harbor on friday. their snowmobile broke down. when his uncle went for help, the ice the teen was on broke off and drifted about 50 miles away. what's more, he was sharing the ice with a polar bear and two cubs. he shot the bear in self-defense.xd rescuers say the mission was extremely dangerous. they had to chair pout in and crawl through icy waters to reach him. finding him was almost as difficult. >> he was notñi moving, not responding to any signals. we are flying about 1,000 feet, 500 feet with a small target to see. >> the teen was suffering from frost bite and hyperthermia when rescuers found him. he is recovering in the hospital. the husband of retired supreme court justice sandra day o'connor xddied. john o'connor dd today with complications of alzheimer's. they met in law school and married back in 1952. they both practiced law and sandra day o'connor went on to become the supreme court's first if he mail justice. when she ñiretired, she became advocate for alzheimer's research. in addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons and six grandchildren. a private memorial is being planned. just ahead on news4 at 4:00, supply and demand. >> promising news we are now learning about the swine flu vaccine, and just when, oh when, you might be able to get your hands around it.xd >> plus, olympic all-star miael meps is speaking out about his failure at the world cup. >> and just why did michael jackson's funeral cost more than $1 million? we'll crunch the numbers. the mother road turns 83 years old today. we are talking about the famous route 66 which goes from chicago, illinois, to california. the original point of the route was to downtown los angeles. the road was extended to santa monica in the 1930s. workers put a sign in place to mark the official end of route 66, not to be done fused with i-66. >> we should have a song to go with that. >> the rte 66 song. here we're just crying the blues. >> singing in the rain. >> coldxd ñioutside. we'll start to see winds being a factor.çó for the next two days, at least, maybe into saturday, a little coastal storm system moving slowly east and northeast ward. here is a look at our current radar live information for you at hagerstown. winchester areas off to the east. a little drier in western maryland right now. flood watches in effect for the northern neck and down through southern maryland where they will see maybe downed trees across north carolina. 45 mile-an-hour wind gusts already in norfolk. we are wet and windy tomorrow morning. 42 in town. 47 the high temperature here. running cooler. likely with wind and rain thursday and friday, saturday morning. could get up to at least 70, drying out on sunday. >> now it's pushed into saturday. all right. veronica, thank you. when we come back on news4 at 4:00, saving sense. >> simple tips to help you save money. >> plus the big holiday changes shoppers want to knowbout for black friday. >> a warning for parents about a popular sport and whyñi it's putting many kids in danger. now more than ever many of us are worrying about how to save moyer money. we have four important tips for you in our monkey see report today. here is tracy baker. >> reporr: if you are spending more than you're earning, there are two ways to get yourself back in the black. you either must increase your income to cover your expenses or you must trim your spending to bring it in line with your income. there are four important steps you can take to save money. the first step is cut out avoidable expenses. eliminating unnecessary services is an easy way to save money. for example, you can eliminate telephone and cable extras, a credit monitoring service, late fees or over-limit fees and bank charges. once you cut out avoidable expenses, the next is to reduce variable spending. stop the bleeding by cutting back on your spending. simple steps like shopping at sales, carpooling and turning down the thermostat can save you money. the third step is to plan for lower fixed costs. if you plan ahead, you can save money on housing costs, utility bills, loans and insurance. the last step is to learn to make those hard decisions. there are a number of fairly simple ways you can rein in your overall spending such as leaving credit cards home and fight impulse buying. telling yourself no every so often, you can save money. managing your cash flow efficiently and being toughn yourself when necessary, you'll be have to save for the future and improve your quality of life. >> you can find more money-saving tips on our website. go to nbcwashington.com and search monkey see. stores are making changes they year to keep shoppers safe on black friday after stampeding holiday shoppers trampled a worker to death last year. many retailers are making changes to how they are doing business on the biggest shopping day of the year. walmart plans to open 6:00 a.m thanksgiving day and stay open through friday evening. other retail chains plan to add workers and give out tickets to shoppers who wait in line. just in time for the holiday shopping season, the internet giants are unwrapping a big wi-fi special. microsoft and google are giving away free wireless internet connections at many airports and hotels. google is offering wi-fi on virgin america flights through january 15th while ebay is doing the same on delta flights. yahoo is giving away free wi-fi access in new york's times square for a whole year. as high school players get ready for football friday, parents need to be concerned about the increasing blows to the head. recently the nfl commissioned a study and found former players have 19 times the normal rate of dementia or memory-related diseases. even though we are talking about nfl players, the concern is trickling down to the high school level. a california high school coach says the high number of concussions is cause for concern to student athletes. >> i think it will have a dramatic impact. it alrea has. they take it more seriously now. >> it can affect their mental clarity, their ability to pay attentionn class. it affects their balance, their coordination. >> the coach says if any of his players have any kind of head injury, they're out indefinitely and their health always comes first. >> have you turned to the web to diagnose aches and pains may be making you a cyber chondriac. people look up health systems on the web and come away feeling it's something different. a search for the word headache is likely to produce a web page discussing brain cancer is a it is to turn up a page on caffeine withdrawal which is a much more common cause. researchers at microsoft analyzed hundreds of thousands web searches and found % of people said their web search put them over the edge and led to them making a doctor's appointment. >> that's interesting. ahead on news4 at 4:00, an absolute fortune. >> just how much money was spent on pop star michael jackson's funeral? >> and there is news out today about the swine flu vaccine. news4 at 4:00 is connected to you on twitter and facebook. for up to the minute breaking news, weather and traffic, follow us and become a fan. find us on both social networking sites. welcome back to news4 at 4:00. a look outside. it's been cloudy today, dreary and awfully wet. rainfall across the area. here is a look at live digital doppler from winchester. hagerstown, we are wet pretty much. there's been moderate rain south. we can see pockets of this moderate rain for the next two days, at least. that low pressure system moves slowly up the coast. to well over an inch in richmond, virginia. raleigh picked up more than three inches of rain today. that's what we've gotten so far. here is what we can expect through friday. an additional one two two inches around here and three to six inches around eastern north carolina. we start the day wet tomorrow, 39 to 46. cold and wet. we'll see a high temperature of 47 degrees. here is a look at your four-day forecast. it's not until saturday we clear out. a chance to warm up this weekend, too. could get close to 70 on sunday. >> thanks, veronica. after the break on news4 at 4:00, fighting the flu. >> we've got an update for all of you out there who have yet to get a swine flu shot. welcome back. some of the hot topics on the web today. michael jackson's private funeral was not cheap. documents show the costs added up to $1 million. $35,000 was for his burial garment. $13,000 spent on invitations and programs. another $2,000 went to new clothing for the family. >> aerosmith fans can calm down. steven tyler is not, not quitting the band after 40 years. earlier this month tyler reportedly said he wanted to pursue solo projects. he crashed the stage during a recent new york concert and laid any rumors of his departure to rest. >> he warned us it could happen. michael phelps words ring true today. he is leaving a major swim meet in sweden without a win. he won eight olympic gold medals last year, but is 0-5 at the world cup in stock home. he admitted he isn't in the best shape and his training isn't where it's supposed to be. there is progress in getting more swine flu vaccine to the public. the food and drug administration has okayed another version of the vaccine. the company that makes that version promises to get 7 million doses out by the end of next month. tracie potts has the latest. >> reporter: standing in line for swine flu vaccine, the cdc says don't give up. >> we have twice as much vaccine right now as we had two weeks ago. the pace is picking up. >> reporter: 41 million doses have been made, less than 1/5 of what's expected. glaxosmithkline just got the fda's okay to release 7.5 million new doses that will roll out in december. the largest manufacture reports more data with less problems. >> we are not only to meet our objections, but will succeed them. >> reporter: novartis ceo says they are working quickly, but expectatio were too high. >> i would say there has been probably delay compared to expectations. but now a delay within production. we have produced as fast as we could. >> reporter: not fast enough for the hundreds of americans who died. the national institutes of health is studying how h1n1 affects the lungs in hopes of identifying the sickest patients before they end up in the hospital. >> these finding may alert early on in the process that this patient could have a more severe complication from the h1n1 infection. >> reporter: for now, the government says vaccine is your best bet to fight the flu. one poll found people who want this vaccine but had trouble finding it aren't giving up. 90% said they'll look again. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. despite long lines and countless numbers of complaints, some makers of the swine flu vaccine say production is ahead of schedule. that's news4 at 4:00. news4 at 5:00 starts right now. live tonight, ida's aftermath. we are getting a soaking rain after the storm made landfall and moves up the east coast. >>. >> good afternoon, i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly. it is our top story from the north carolina coast to the rising waters in atlanta. it looks like what's left of hurricane ida is causing problems from the south to the east coast. >> we begin with the rain that we're seeing here in our area. bob ryan has the latest. >> we are going to see more also. what had been ida now is a plain old low pressure area. it's a coastal l