we're following a developing story out of pakistan. five young americans have now been charged with terrorism. it has been aough and dangerous morning commute. several accidents have shut down major roadways. and happy st. patrick's day. from the white house to dublin, people are showing off their irish pride. "news 4 midday" begins right now. good morning, everyone. welcome to "news 4 midday." it is wednesday, march 17, 20 # 10. we begin with the developing story out of pakistan. five northern virginia men arrested in december have been charged with six counts of violating state and antiterror laws. the young pakistani-american men appeared before a judge this morning. we're joined now with elaine from the news room. >> reporter: the men were active in their youth group at a mosque. they are from alexandria. this morning they pleaded not guilty to all charges against them. these five young men, including a former dental student at howard university, could face a life sentence in a pakistani prison. a judge will hear their case because there are no jury trials in pakistan. authorities say the group went missing in late november. they obtained visas from pakistan's embassy in d.c., claiming they were to attend a wedding there. but police investigators we tipped off, claiming they approached two militant groups with ties to al qaeda. they allegedly used facebook and youtube to make contact with extremists and asked for training but were denied. their family and friends in virginia say at the time of their arrest, they saw no signs of extremism. >> during my time, knowing these young men, i never observed any extreme behavior from them. i never became suspicious that they were planning to do harm to anyone else. i have always known these kids as fun-loving, career-focused children that had a bright future for themselves. >> reporter: pakistani police say the group hoped to battle u.s. troops in afghanistan. one left a disturbing video in virginia before his arrest. today in court they denied every making contact with extremists and said they were being tortured in jail. the first part of their trial begins later this month and that could take about six months. back to you. >> elaine reyes. thank you. traffic is moving this midday along the baltimore washington parkway in green belt after a deadly accident brought the morning rush hour so a standstill. all southbound lanes were closed after a car flew off the road and crashed into a median around 4:00 this morning. the mab behind the wheel was killed. northbound traffic was also brought to a halt while police investigated. southbound lanes reopened around 78:00 this morning. police are still piecing together exactly what happened. a pedestrian was killed while walking in capital heights is morning. that person was hit by a car after 4:00 this morning on hampton park boulevard. the driver of the car did stay on the scene. hampton park boulevard was shut down in both directions while police cleared the scene. there is no word on the victim's identity. we also have a traffic alert along the george washington parkway. northbound lanes are closed in the area of the first overlook while police investigate a deadly truck crash that happened on monday morning. 11:03 is your time. let's get the latest on any troubles on the roadway. jerry has the latest. >> good morning. it was a very busy and for a lot of folks very frustrating commute. we settled down a little bit in some spots. other spots are we jammed because of midday roadwork. that's the outer loop of the beltway, leaving virginia. outer loop at the dulles tollway, crews will be out there for part of the midday. heavy and slow from springfield up towards 66. no incidents. however, crews did some additional lane striping in the overnight hours. on the beltway at interstate 66 interchange. seems to be confusing, as a result, traffic is roll, very slowly through that intersection. back to you. >> looking outside right now, bright sunshine. that is quickly warming us up. we love this great weather. let's get the first forecast from meteorologist top keem kie >> we had quite a chilly start but with the bright sun angle, there's that royal blue sky over american university in the foreground, virginia in the distant, excellent visibility. temperature continuing to climb. in the morning lows, got down into the mid-30s in prince georges, mayor fax. many locations were below freezing west of interstate 95, upper 20s to near 30. it has warmed up quickly. any 60 degrees in washington. mid 50s to upper 50s in prince georges county. arlington, fairfax and montgomery counties. all around the region, continuing to climb. eastern shore, temperatures are near 50 degrees. over the last six hours, high pressure moving in from the north, giving us this spectacular blue sky that will be with us throughout the rest of the afternoon and mild temperatures, we should make it into the upper 60s by midafternoon with a light northerly westerly breeze. a look at the weekend coming up in a few details. >> we'll see you then. thank you. right now, mayor fenty and city health officials are making a major announcement about the aids crisis. washington has one of the highest aids/hiv count. kimberly suitor downtown. >> reporter: you can see the press conference is going on behind me. interesting new numbers coming out. first time the district is saying they can report there a decline in new aids cases of 33%. that's a major improvement. now, the rate of hiv infection is still going up in the district, but officials credit that to better testing. in fact, the district tested more than 95,000 people the last time it counted. that's more than double what they did the year before. so testing has improved. the hiv rate is going up because of better testing but fewer full-blown aids cases. yet still people are asking, when is hiv testing going to become part of your annual physical exam? >> i think it's scary. i think it really is. >> reporter: to be single in 2010, living and dating in d.c. >> more shocking is the fact there are so many young people infected. that's what's really scary because 10, 20 years ago from now, those -- they're the powers that be. >> reporter: one of those rising powers, michael gilbert o his way to class at a technical class. he and his friends have strong opinions about kids who don't use condoms. >> they don't care about their life. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> like they don't use a condom, they don't know what they take a risk of catching. >> it's stupid not to use a condom, especially in marriages as well, that you never know. >> reporter: she makes biannual testing a family affair. now that the stigma of hiv is less severe than it used to be. >> now is not like a hush-hush, a dirty disease. >> reporter: but it's the old reputation of aids as a death sentence that's made testing harder to come by. >> i think it's gotten better over time. but there's still a fair amount of stigma. we attack about it the at the clinic. we would like to see it just as people get their cholesterol screened that we do the same thing with hiv. >> reporter: the people we talked to in the southeast say the time to make testing routine is long overdue. you think it should be easier for people to find out if they have -- >> i think so, i think so, i really do. if not now, when? >> reporter: and at the podium now, the head of the d.c. department of health. one thing the department is trying to do is get primary care physicians to make hiv screening part of your annual health exam. they also say ers across the district of columbia will do hiv screening as part of their regular screening. and also the whitman walker clinic does free screening for anyone who walks in the day. now back to you. >> kimberly, thank you. new add midday, he is officially thrown his hat into the ring. baker has announced he will run. he will succeed jack johnson. baker made it official this morning. >> anybody ready for a new day? is anybody ready for a new day? is anybody ready for major change in prince georges county? >> johnson defeated baker in 2002 and 2006. a new exhibit is opening at the smithsonian national museum of natural history. the exhibit called the hall of human origins is a perfect exhibit and explores human evolution over 6 million years. it tracks major milestones of human development including when humans started walking upright and started speaking. on display are more than 285 fossils and artifacts including the only knee andra thol skeleton in the united states. very cool. this morning the senate is working on passing a jobs bill. coming up, we'll tell you who could benefit if the bill get the green light. plus, tiger woods, we'll tell you what his coworkers think of his plans. a mix of holiday cheer and politics at the chous if i had to sit on a bench during the middle of a game due to diabetes it would frustrate me. in a basketball game a couple minutes could mean a big momentum shift. my bayer meter is very important. 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(announcer) the contour meter, only from bayer. now the senate is set to vote on a jobs bill today. it's expected to pass the legislation, which would give companies that hired unemployed workers a temporary tax holiday. the bill would also extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year. this is the first of several jobs bills democrats have vowed to enact this year. democratic party tim kaine is calling it the fullcourt press to pass health care reform. president obama has been making phone calls and having private chats with lawmakers who voted no last time on health care reform. now house democrats are weighing a tactic that would allow them to vote only on fixes to the senate plan. by doing so they could deem the whole reform measure passed. democrats say it's legitimate but republicans are outraged. >> most people, i think, in the house at this point have voted for something exactly like this or very similar during their professional career. >> i don't care what trick they try. it's not going to work. this is the biggest vote that most members will ever cast. you can't hide from it. >> democrats will meet tomorrow to decide how to proceed. they hoped to have a final vote by the end of the week. president obama will get to make a small -- take a small break from health care reform to mark st. patrick's day with irish prime minister cowan. this is the fountain in front of the whithouse that has been dyed green. the annual meeting is a mix of light-hearted cheer. right now irish is dealing with massive budget cut. this is a scene this morning in dublin where there was no problem finding a rich pride. thousands lined the street to take in the annual parade and festival and millions more watched it live on television. what a beautiful day for a parade in washington, d.c. tom kierein has the latest on this great forecast. >> hi, eun. midafternoon in dublin, 55 dgdz there and partly cloudy. kind of chilly. here, we're approaching 60 degrees. we've got a beautiful blue sky. that's the live view from on you skywatcher camera. as we take a look at the view from our city camera at this hour, that is showing the sunshine pouring down on lincoln memorial and monument on the mall. right now at reagan national it is 59 degrees. and the long range out look calling for warmer than average temperatures for the last week march. it's certainly going to be warmer than average for the next several days. right now on radar, we do have just a scan of the sky. and that's it. no precipitation. it is 59 in washington. and it's in the upper 50s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties and mid-50s in prince georges county, southern maryland near the bay, northern neck and east bay. eastern shore in the mid-50s. still a bit chilly in the mountains. near 60 in southern virginia. we do have a clear sky across all the entire region from the mountain city aantic beechs, courtesy of high pressure. we had that beautiful blue sky yesterday afternoon. this is when i visited the friends community school in college park, maryland, and prince georges county. this is a new school and a green school. part of it is the fact it has very thick insulation made of compressed straw that keeps it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. the classes there were certainly bright. the students had a lot of fun. we had a blast talking about all different types of weather. and the teacher that invited me standing next to me in the back, michele. and the students were certainly delightful. we had a lot of fun talking to the friends community school in prince georges county. well, over the last 12 hours, this high pressure has moved in from the north and cleared out the entire northeast. we certainly do need it to dry out. we still have flooding problems in new england. and we do have a little rain now moving into georgia, out of florida for the spring breakers there. they're getting rain. that'sssociated with a coastal area of low pressure that is going to be becoming close to cape hatteruss tomorrow but not coming close enough to us to give us cloudiness. friday morning that will move off to the north and east and pull away. for the rest the afternoon, sunny and mild with temperature climbing into the upper 60s. just a delightful spring day and a light northwesterly breeze around 5 to 10. overnight tonight, just right around sunset, we' see the crescent new moon in the western sky along with venus. that will be the bright spot near the moon. by midevening into the mid-50s. sunset is at7:17. by dawn tomorrow at 7:15 we'll be near 40 degrees under a clear sky. then lots of sun again tomorrow. we should climb to near 70 degrees on thursday. and friday, more of the same. fort in the morning, sunny, afternoon highs near 70. on saturday as well. morning lows, mid-40s. afternoon highs near 70. on saturday morning, as the sun trust national marathon in washington at the 7:00 a.m. start it shod be chilly, in the mid-40s. for the rest of the marathon, by noontime, climbing quickly. should be up in the low to mid-60s by then and a sunny morning. then on sunday, increasing clouds. a front will be approaching. might have a little sunday sun in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon. looks like we might have late afternoon showers. thundershowers may come in as the front pulls in colder weather for the first part of next week. at least temporarily. it should clear out, though, monday and tuesday, sunshine. and afternoon highs monday low to mid-50s. may be in the forlgs fort to near 50s on tuesday. quite a chill behind that front. that's the way it looks right now. >> thank you, tom. let's head to jerry edwards and get an update on this traffic. >> can't catch a break out there. tough going everyhich way you turn at midday. left side of your screen, i-95 jammed from the beltway headed down toward newington and lauritan. takes away the right lane southbound. ma have a work zone northbound. so heads up both directions. let's see how we're doing along i-270. southbound, construction crews out there right at 9:00 this morning, much to the displeasure of late morning commuters. from montgomery village to 370, now finally no delay but just be aware of the construction zone. back to you. >> thank you. it looks like frederick county, maryland, will not be the 51st state. yesterday they voted not to succeed from maryland. they made the alternative to putting up with what he deemed as financial irresponsibility in annapolis. he wanted to apply to congress as a new state. the panel of commissioners voted 4 to 1 against that measure. 11:20 is your time. still ahead on "news 4 midday," could losing weight be as he's a si as popping a pill? pepsi announce it's dropping out. where u'll no longer see the soft drink. and a new musical coming to the district. we'll hear from the creator of the kid-friendly show. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. it's a new kind of pepsi challenge. the soda maker says it's joining the fight against childhood obesity by limiting options in school. they say they will no longer sell full calorie sugary sodas in school by 2012. they are expanding this policy worldwide make tgt first soid da maker to do so. coca-cola has made similar moves. coke says it will not sell its drinks in primary schools unless parents or school districts specifically ask for them. trash talk over march madness may be spilling over onto capitol hill. university of maryland alum steny hoyer tried to pass a resolution recognizing the terps tournament berth. it seemed sweet enough but california congressman john campbell shot that resolution down. it seems he's bitter that he pulled the resolution last year honoring the university of california-ir california-irvine. terp fans may be unhappy with president obama's final four picks. he has kansas and kansas state going to the final four. he picked a pairf wildcats, kentucky and villanova. his pick to win the tournament will be revealed but he's pretty good at predicting games. he predicted north carolina to win it all last year and the tar heels did just that. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday," tiger woods' return to golf is good news for sponsors but how are players reacting? we'll tell you what carmaker is now having braking problems. d.c. says pay up. the city says less people are fashion -- fewer people are paying for parking in the wrong. tom kierein is back with more on our delightful forecast. ♪ [ male announcer ] now the best seat in the house is in your house. in fact, with the fios total ticket, it can be in every room. unlike cable, only fios gives you a multi-room dvr that lets you record shows in one room and watch them in up to six other rooms. one dvr puts you in control of all your family entertainment. now you can get a mui-room dvr plus set top box free for six months when you sign up for fios tv, internet and phone. you'll get tv with twice as many very satisfied customers than cox, america's top-rated internet, and phone. get it all together for just $99.99 a month -- a great low price -- guaranteed for two years. it adds up to savings of $419 over two years. fios total ticket with a free dvr and set top box for six months makes every seat in your house the best seat. so why sit still for cable? call now. 1.877.717.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. right now at 11:35, young men from northern virginia are facing terror charges in pakistan. they left behind a farewell saying muslims must be defended. their lawyer says the men have pleaded not guilty to a total of five charges. if convicted they could face life in prison. mayor fenty have released a number of people living with aids in the district. they say the number of residents with full-blown aids is down 33% in recent years. health officials say the number of people who are hiv positive is on the rise. but they expect that because they doubled the number of resident they've tested for hiv in recent years. drivers are taking detours along the george washington parkway. northbound lanes are closed near the first overlook while police investigate a deadly truck crash that happened on monday morning. all traffic is being diverted to spout run parkway. tiger woods is returning to professional golf. he announced he will play in this year's masters starting three weeks from tomorrow. it will be his first tournament since november when the image he spent years perfecting came crumbling down. kristin dal grhlgren has the la from tampa. >> reporter: disgraced superstar will take his first swing at returning to professional golf in this year's masters. other pros playing this week near tampa seemed eager to add the world's best back into the mix. >> enough's enough, let him fix it and let's go. >> reporter: can the fallen star make a comeback after so much tabloid foder? >> in modern sports we've never had anyone take such a steep, hard fall from grace. the way tiger has. and we don't have -- rkt can may be exactly why he picked the masters. >> it's always been a gintility about the masters crowd. >> probably easier to control. >> reporter: woods has been seen little over the last month. this rare picture snapped this week of tiger and his wife elin. while questions over the future of his marriage are sure to linger, colleagues say expect to see the old, competitive tiger back on the links. >> tiger's tiger. he defies imagination, defies odds. he just does things that nobody else can do. >> reporter: whether he can rebuild his image is yet to be seen. but you c be sure the world will be watching. kristin dahlgr, nbc news, tampa. tiger has had great success at the masters. he's won the tournament four times. it was also the first major he ever won. let's take another look at today's forecast. great news, tom. it's beautiful out there. >> sure is. great weather for the st. patrick's day revelers hitting the streets later this afternoon and tonight. beautiful blu sky at this hour. you can see tyson's corner in the distant to the right. we have lots of sunshine pouring down. that has warmed us up quickly from a warm start. it was below freezing in many areas west of interstate 95 but now into the 50s. now nearly 60 degrees in washington. and all around the region we have plenty of sunshine, courtesy of high pressure that has pushed in from the north. so for the rest of this afternoon, it will be sunny and mild. temperatures should make it into the upper 60s on the next three hours or so. we'll have a light wind coming in out of the northwest around 5 to 10 miles an hour. then overnight tonight, right around past sunset you'll notice the new crescent moon in the western sky along with venus. midevening should be down to the 50s. sunset at 7:17. sunrise tomorrow, 7:15. we have just about 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of darkness, which is why we call it the equinox. temperatures by midnight near 50. by dawn, near 40 degrees under a clear sky and another day with lots of sun tomorrow, maybe a tad warmer up around 70 degrees. thursday night should be mostly clear down to the mid-40s by dawn on friday. mostly sunny day on friday. again, afternoon highs should make it to near 70 degrees. the average high this time of year is upper 50s so quite a bit warmer than average. more of the same on saturday. morning lows in the mid-40s, afternoon high near 70 with lots of sunshine. should be great weather on saturday morning for the sun trust marathon, the national marathon in washington, starts at 7:00. by then, it should be chilly, mid-40s, but rapidly warming through the marathon. by noontime into the mid-60s and should be a sunny morning. just a few high clouds during the afternoon and evening. sunday, increasing clouds, front comes in and may give us passing showers. maybe even thunder showers sunday evening quickly clearing out for monday and tuesday. turning chillier. that's the way it looks now, eun. >> thanks so much, tom. a final check of your midday traffic. jerry edwards with a check of the roads. >> dealing with midday delays due mainly to roadwork but the news is much better along interstate 66, inbound or eastbound, of the left side of your screen thinning out from the morning commute, believe it or not this time of the day. westbound side a little sluggish but no incidents to report. i suspect we'll have an early start to the afternoon rush hour. call me crazy but i think we will. let's head over and see how w are doing. american legion bridge. construction takes away the right lane. backup begins around the i-270. extra time needed there. >> if you plan on celebrating st. patrick's day with a few irish drinks call and get a free cab ride home. the washington regional alcohol promise is offering the sober ride program today. it's available to all residents in the district as well as montgomery, prince georges, arlington, fairfax, prince william and etern loudoun counties. everyone can get a free cab ride costing up to $50 from 4:00 this afternoon until 4:00 tomorrow morning. to get your free cab call 1-800-200-taxi. ddot has had months of bad work but crews are optimistic the chain bridge will get the facelift. they plan to should it down from friday until monday. crews have been planning this weekend's shutdown for a while but they keep having to reschedule because of the bad weather. if you have some parking tickets lying around, the district is urging you to pay up. d.c. issues tens of thousands of tickets every year. but recently fewer and fewer of those are getting paid. the city took in $113 million in fines last year but another $65 million went unpaid. so far this fiscal year the city is already missing $29 million. >> well f they're going to give more parking tickets then they need to increase parking. it's not building all these places to live and party. >> the fact of the matter parkg particularly on our downtown and other crowded areas, you know, is a valuable resource. it's a valuable public resource for which there ought to be a fair compensation. >> council member jim graham says he's reviewing what, if anything, needs to be done to get more people to pay up. 43,000 and counting, that's how many potholes virginia has repaired this month. governor bob mcdonnell launched a pot hill blitz started on march 1st. he says crews will continue to prioritize based on size and severi severity. today the ceo of virgin america is sending a personal apology letter to the passengers who were delayed on a flight for 17 hours with nothing to eat but pringles potato chips. flight 404 left los angeles for new york on saturday night but once it got close to its destination, fierce winds forced it to land in newburg, about 90 miles north of the city. the plane sat on the runway for 4 1/2 hours. passengers were allowed to get off. for those who chose to stay on board, they were only given water and four potato chips each. >> it was a roller coaster at months for for several hours sitting on the tarmac. positive to negative to positive to negative. >> every passenger was refunded the cost of the flight. starting next month new federal rules will prohibit airlines from keeping passengers on board a grounded aircraft for longer than three hours. this morning the alexandria school superintendent is explaining a decision some parents have questioned, that is to accept the designation of low performing school for tc williams. earlier federal official named tc williams one of the lowest achieving schools in the country. that's not a title most schools want to have, by accepting the designation the school can receive up to $500,000 in federal grants. that's something school superintendent says could help dramatically. >> one, must we accept the money? no, we don't have to accept the money. two, must we accept the designation? well, we already have it. we can't duck it or shy from it. it is the designation we have. so, whether or not we take the money, we are officially labeled as a persistent lowest adhooefing school. >> sherman says this designation does not mean tc williams is a failing school. he maintains it is a hard-working, high-achieving learning facility. a program to pay middle students for good grades has received more money. the council voted to add $250,000 to the capital gains program at a meeting yesterday. the program was in danger of running out of money. it pays 3,000 public school districts in 15 schools up to $100 every two weeks based on attendance, behavior and grades. during the first year the district spent $950,000 on that program. this year students are earning more in the program's second year. tonight the greater washington urban league will honor local individuals and businesses with the whitney m. young junior community service award. we're joined now to talk more about these awards and tonight's gala. thank you for joining us. first of all, tell us about this award. what does if mean and what does it represent? >> whitney young was an extraordinary individual. and to name the awards after him suggests that these individuals help with t standard he started. whitney really -- whitney young really brought the urban league from where it was, if you will, to the corporate boardroom, recognizing that jobs, housing, all of those kind of things came through the corporate community. not through the nonprofit community. and he was extraordinary. >> and some very interesting diverse group of recipients tonight. james brown, sport caster. chuck brown, god father of go go. tell us about why you chose the recipients. >> we chose these individuals really add to the makeup and the framork of the district of columbia. the during the rio when other buildings were being burned, they were not. because people knew who they were. and they knew they were a part of the community. james brown, fkt, is one of ours. but he's also a person who i am so impressed with. he is smart, dedicated, nice, human being. as well as a former athlete. and those kinds of people are truly role models, whether they want to be or not. and,f course, clark construction, aside from all that they do in buildings like the convention center and others, they also supported us. our parking lots, they built it. >> i got you. we know that tonight's event is also a gala to raise money. tell us about why it's important to raise money for this cause. >> well, at wachovia wells fargo we've been contributing for over ten years to this organization. they provide food, housing, financial, litry education for some of our underserved constituents. it's been helping people in this market for over 70 years. it is not a new organization. it's one with a long, deep history of helping the people in the district of columbia. >> where do the funds go that's raised tonight? >> most goes into our operating budget as well as to support the programs we have. often we run out of money. and so we use these funds that supplement and to make better the programs we now have. and, again, it's never enough. i mean, as the honorary chair, george has just done an incredible job of stepping up to the plate, to help us celebrate. that's our theme. celebrate. celebrate all the good things going on in the district. i mean, people say, well, you know, 12% unemployment. well, yeah, but it's 88% employment. so we're going to separate -- we're going to celebrate that part. >> thank you very much. we appreciate you being here today. >> thank you. >> to get involved the gala is involved at the marriott wardman park hotel. go to gwul.gov. a drug that claims to be the fight against obesity. we'll tell you about it. a new show great for the whole family. we'll hear from the producer and districter of the musical. an update on a story we told you about earlier in the ne newsca newscast. the senate has passed the job bill, giving unemployed workers a temporary tax holiday. the bill extends highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year. this is the first of several jobs bills democrats have vowed to enact this year. there is a new vehicle recall this morning. let's check in with cnbc courtney reagan with the latest. good morning-p. >> good morning to you, eun. right now the stocks are higher. looking for a pretty good day for the markets. up about 50 points or so on the dow. that's just the first couple of days of trading. who knows where the rest of the day would take us. maybe the luck of the irish will be with us today. overseas, asian markets trading higher off the fed decision to keep rates the same. european markets also higher in response to the greek loan plan over there. this morning we have the producer prices, turned out they dropped 0.6% last month. that's the biggest decline since last july. it was led by tumbling energy costs, one of the key measures of inflation we look at. investors listening to ben bernanke and what he has to say about banking regulation as well as the overhaul and overall health of the economy. another recall hitting another auto company, like you mentioned. honda is recalling more than 400,000 odyssey mini vans and elements. those are those small trucks, due to a faulty brake system. in a statement about recalling the 2007 and 2008 models, honda said over time brake pedals can feel soft. if left unrepaired it can cause a loss of braking power. honda says this is part of a customer satisfaction program and not a full-fledged recall. mo move aside, google, facebook has overtaken the search industry showing it scored more viewer hits last week. according to the research firm hitwise, the site accounted for 14% of all u.s. internet hits last week. facebook accounting for 7.07% of traffic just edging out google's 7.03%. facebook suggests this data could mean the web is actually becoming more socialable than searchable for u.s. users. pretty interesting. i know people who are pretty addicted to facebook, whether on their computers or on their hand-held devices, whatever that may be. it's pretty amazing phenomenon. >> it really is. it's surprising it overtook google because everyone's on google every day looking up stuff. interesting. courtney reagan, thanks very much. those who struggle with losing weight may get the help with the assistants of a new wonder drug. is this pill another gimmick or the real thing? >> reporter: when it comes to losing weight we've been told there's no such thing as a quick fix but that soon may change. >> we believe we actually have the first product that actually treats the cause of these diseases. >> reporter: peter tam, a silicone valley biotech company with the next blockbuster drug. it's a once daily pill to fight high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. >> so far, all the treatments that are available right now are able to achieve about 3% to 5% weight loss. we are the first treatment that is capable of achieving 10% to 15% weight loss within one year. >> reporter: it's a big claim that got mixed results on the street. >> there are people that really need medical help to lose weight. most of us just need to exercise more. >> if somebody is in dire need of, you know, a fix, then that's one thing but for most people hopefully that's not the case. >> reporter: and it still needs final fda approval before it can be sold. he says they expect to hear by october. with an estimated $150 billion spent a year to fight obesity, this kind of pill could make a huge difference. >> it's really about making the patient better. feeling better about himself and living a better life free of these weight-related diseases. so that's what drives to us work hard 24/7 pretty much over the past year. >> reporter: possibly taking a big bite out of a nationwide problem. good morning, i'm meteorologist tom kierein. as we approach the noon hour, temperatures are warming up beautifully with with this blue sky. a live picture from our city camera. i'll have the latest updated forecast coming up next. a new musical for children is about to open up in our area. it is called show and tell the musical, one of the show's stars is broadway and tv veteran stewart. it's a tongue twister. >> that's all right. it's nice to see you. >> nice to see you. tell us about your musical "show and tell". >> it's about the story of a girl on show and tell day but she doesn't have anything to show because she doesn't have any money. her friend convinces her she has something fabulous to show, her voice. >> how did you come up with this concept? i know you had fitness in mind. >> i wanted something clean for kids much like annie and the lion king. this is a whole set of new characters. it's in a classroom setting as far as your characters are kerpd. they have a home room teacher you wish you had. she sings, the fabulous blue wig and the twins, they wear purple wigs. all the wigs look like cotton candy. >> i love the names. sounds like so much fun. we know you've been featured on dr. oz about your fitness. the first lady is fighting childhood obesity right now. why do you think it's so important for people to see this musical and get the idea of why fitness is so important for kids? >> because of the fact that you are -- dr. oz has operated on many young adults who have had that teen obesity thing going on that they -- we're overeating. that's one character you will not see on my stage. you won't see a heavy child because i want to give a vision that you have a kid in a wheelchair, that character is there, the diabetes character, but i want you to see themselves but not see themselves as -- and say, i was the fat kid. i was always the fat kid. >> you were? >> i was. i lost those pound by dancing. i'm able to bring it together with the music appear pitts high energy, duke ellington theater also part of the duke ellington school of the arts. because of the school music appear based in a school, we wanted to have it premiere at a school. >> and tell us, can you really loose weight and get fit by dancing? it's so much fun -- >> oh, honey, yes. >> -- but be honest. >> you just have to put down the sausage and get up and get moving. anything you do, show and tell is high energy. you see the dancers hitting it, moving it all day. the new soundtrack is out. this is for you. >> oh, thank you. >> and also this ready teddy bear. when you come to the show and see the show, the teddy bear is also in the show. vivian lorraine is the main chashgt ter. we open tuesday. after each performance the cast will come out and meet the actual -- they'll meet the audience members and kids get their pictures taken with the charact character. it's great. >> talking to you today makes me feel like i need to see it right now. >> you do need to see it right now. all of washington, d.c., bring sasha, malia, michelle, come in and see it. >> receipts key cap details. opens march 23rd at ellington theater at duke ellington school of arts. tickets are available online at showandtollthemusical.com/ tickets. we're joined in the studio of what's to come later. >> hi, eun. today worry working on several new stories for "news 4 this afternoon." a growing number of women are outearning their spouses but most don't even know about finances. we'll have helpful tips for women to put you on the road to financial success. at 5:00 tonight, i'how safe are the over-the-counter flea and tick medications. sn why the epa is considering issuing a warning. all coming up at4:00. final check of today's forecast with meteorologist tom kierein in the storm center. everyone's loving you today, tom. >> yeah, and st. patrick's revelers will be loving it too. this afternoon they'll be heading out early. yes, temperatures climbing to around 60 degrees. we've got a beautiful blue sky, courtesy of high pressure that's moved in and cleared things out. sunny and mild for the rest of the afternoon. temperatures in the upper 60s by midafternoon. and for those who are going to be out tonight, well, we'll have a crescent moon in the western sky after sunset today at 7:17. that accompanied by the bright spot in venus, by midnight, 50 degrees. by dawn, 40. bright and sunny on thursday with afternoon highs near 70. should hit near 70 again on friday. so, some delightful weather coming in. after our four days of clouds and gloom, this is certainly welcome. we'll see continuing into saturday as well. morning lows mid-40s. afternoon highs near 70. should be great weather for the sun trust national marathon saturday in washington. start time should be in the mid-40s, bright and sunny through the morning. by noon, should be in the mid-60s. by sunday we'll have increasing clouds, could get some showers sunday afternoon and evening, maybe even thunder. after that goes by, we'll have cooler and dryer weather moving in first part of next week. we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> see you. thank you, tom. someone should call the fashion police if they catch someone with a mullet but if you catch someone with a muchlt. llet in green bay police you should call the real police. someone keeps stealing mullet place street signs. public work screws have tried to outwit the thief by pushing signs higher up on the pole but that didn't work. we'll see who's stealing those signs. that's it for "news 4 midday." tune in to "daily connection" and at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 for all day's news. have a great day. we'll seal you tomorrow.