>> right now, we're following breaking news from northwest washington where police have taken one student into custody and are questioning another after reports of a gun found at an exclusive school. >> did not get any response back from, if you will, the beating on the pipes as a signal. >> yeah. and he is officially in the race now. former maryland governor robert ehrlich want his old job back. "news4midday" begins right now. >> good morning and welcome to news4 midday. i'm pat lawson muse. it's wednesday, april 7th, 2010. we're following breaking news in northwest washington this morning. that's where police have arrested a student at st. albans school where they think the students had guns on campus. another student is being questioned. megan mcgrath joins us now with the very latest on the story this morning. good morning, megan. >> good morning, pat. things are back to normal here. the students are able to walk freely on campus once again. there were some pretty tense moments early this morning when someone called police and said they saw a person in the area of st. albans with a gun. one student has been arrested, another stupid is being questioned by police. and investigators are trying to figure out if a weapon they recovered is actually a real gun, a bb gun or something else. >> officers take a teenager out of hearst hall in handcuffs. he's taken from the scene in a squad car. investigators say the teen is a student at st. albans school. he was taken into custody after someone reported seeing a person with a gun near the school this morning. >> began with a 911 call reporting a man with a gun in the area of the cathedral. and the area was immediately shut down. and you know, security procedures were followed within the school. >> the school was placed on lockdown as police searched the campus and hearst hall, a building used for classes and gatherings. as for that reported weapon, investigators found some kind of a long gun inside a jeep parked on the campus of st. al bans. >> there is some facsimile of a weapon that we're investigating as to what type of weapon it is, whether or not it was an actual firearm or a bb gun or you know, one of those plastic guns that looks like a real gun that you can buy at some of these surplus shops. >> and you're taking a live look at hearst hall where that student was taken into police custody in handcuffs earlier this morning. now, this building is used by st. albans as well as the cathedral school and the lower school for the cathedral school. so there are classes held in there at certain times. should mention that nobody was injured and once again, they're trying to figure out if the weapon or wa they've recovered is in indeed a real weapon or possibly a bb gun or some kind of a toy. but the one student is in custody, isfation charges and they are questioning a second st. albans student, as well. back to you, pat. >> thanks, megan. st. albans school opened its doors in the fall of 1990 as an epis cocal schools, it requires all students to attend chapel several days a week. luke res sert is joining us this morning to talk more about the school. you went there so you know the campus. are you surprised at all by this news? >> this morning we heard the school was on lockdown with the possibility of a student having some sort of firearm. that is a shock. st. louis chapel is required two times a week and there's really a sense of brotherhood from the beginning when you're there in fourth grade amongst the student body. kind of you help out your neighbor. but now hearing reports that it possibly was a bb gun, i was in high school there. we do know young men 18 years old who can buy bb guns sometimes do buy bb guns, baby some sort of teen angst. hopefully that's the case, it was some sort of air pellet gun that frightened a mother as she drove by on the school parking lot. >> in terms of security, it is a school where religion is the core of the curriculum. is there security on campus and has there been an increase if security in recent years? >> the security primarily is the cathedral foundation police who make sure the tourists and students are safe. they patrol that area 24/7. when we were younger, we were there late hours, they would find us. they do a very good job. that being said, it's a very, very safe school. it's not necessarily that has what we see in a lot of modern day schools. like metal detectors or dogs. they try to foster an open campus where kids can go and come as they please. that sense the academic structure feeds all around the campus. you can come and go, you can seek knowledge. there are no checkpoints. it's not like you have to put a key fob in to get in the door. the doors are kept open. it is a novel idea in this day and age when there's so much tragedy in the world. >> in terms of the student body, talk a little about the makeup of the students. >> it's interesting. 540 kids, usually by the time they graduate, about 70 to 80 kids in the class. the student makeup quite interesting. there's obviously the basis of it comes from more wealthier dynamic, exclusive dynamic. there's a real commitment to diversity where almost 30% of each class having a multi ethnic background. from a young age they bring that in. classes start at 7:55 in the morning and if you sports, you're not usually allowed till 6:30. almost a 12-hour day when you're in high school and about an eight-nine-hour day in lower school. very rigorous, the boys they try to go to the ivy leagues more than anything else, and the one thing they like to say is we hope to prepare them for not only the kingdom of harvard but the kingdom of heaven. that's the st. albans' mission. >> we're glad this story ended the way it did. >> indeed. >> thank you, luke. >> in other news this morning, four people are in the hospital after they were shot early today in laurel, maryland. police found the victims at two scenes less and that two miles from each other in howard county. one in the 9100 block of hitching post lane, the other at a trailer park income alma abknew. news4's trace ewilkins has the latest from laurel. >> reporter: howard county police are investigating two shooting scenes, one happened here in this community. another one just a few miles away. in both instances neighbors say when shots rang out, they couldn't believe what was happening in howard county. >> i was scared. i immediately, you know, went and checked to make sure all my windows were locked. >> at 12:51:00 a.m. on hitching post lane in laurel, shots were fired in this community. >> i've seen the ambulances leaving and there was a mother out here that was crying saying one was her child. it's sad, >> the morning sun reveals the dang. a bullet hole ripped through this car in the parking lot. the shooter was standing on that end of the park lot. one victim was found here. another one, according to neighbors, was found right there in that corner. according to sources close to the investigation is, both victims were juvenile males who are expected to recover from their injuries. howard county police say two minutes after the teens were shot, there was another shooting just a few miles away on al malavenue also in laurel. according to people who live in this community there were some folks here at this trailer having a get-together and then got into the an argument with some people staying there at the hotel. next thing they know, the folks down there at the hotel say they came up here and started shooting at the folks there at the trailer, hit two men, one guy was found lying over there on the ground, his blood still stains the roadway. another made his way back to the trailer but both had to be taken to the hospital. >> folks who live here say they heard multiple fast-fired shots. some bullets left holes in one woman's trailer. courses say the two shootings are not related. police are looking for suspects in both shootings. in howard county, i'm tracey wilkins, news4. >> both victims in that trailer park shooting are in serious condition. >> right now, d.c. school's chancellor michelle rhee is announcing a new contract with the teachers union that would end more than two years of negotiations. we'll hear the new deal -- we hear the new deal includes a race for teachers, more than 20% over five years. that money would come from $64.5 million in donations pledged by a group of private foundations. the union members and the d.c. council still have to approve the contract. >> former maryland governor bob ehrlich is on a mission to get his old job back. just a short time ago, he announced he will run for governor in november. the republican lost to current governor martin o'malley back in 2006 after serving only one term. since then, o'malley has made some unpopular budget cuts and ehrlich has been quick to criticize those decisions. >> well, let's take a look outside right now where the heat is on. in fact, we could get record heat today. let's get the forecast now from chuck bell who's filling in for tom kierein this morning. >> hello, pat. good morning to you. off to a bright and sunny start. temperatures though, they are really going to be climbing here later on this morning and into the afternoon hours. check out our morning low temperatures this morning. a few spots were comfortably cool. clarksburg back to 51, manassas 48. most everybody stayed in the load to mid 60s for overnight low temperatures. now with all that strong april sunshine out there, already down at springfield, 83 degrees in springfield, virginia. already 83 in fairfax county out at dulles international airport where the record high today at dulles is only 84. so they're 1 degree away from tiths record and two from breaking it already at dulles international airport. of course, dulles' airport records only go back to 1963. the record at national airport is 94 degrees back to 1929. temperatures are going to continue to warm here as we have this strong western atlantic ridge of high pressure, the old bermuda high we usually talk about in august and july, it's here in april. sunny today. near record high temperatures. no doubt about it. the uv index is high today. spf 30 or better if you're going to spend time outside. highs today, 88 to 94 degrees. wait till you hear the list of impressive cities we beat to 90 degrees this year, including your hometown. >> all right. that means las vegas. >> that's right. >> all right. thank you. jerry edwards has an update on our midday traffic. how is it rolling along in this heat? >> good morning to you, good morning, everyone. tough going because of the roadwork. make sure your engine's coolant is functioning properly if you're going to be using your air conditioning in traffic in this heat. 395 northbound, very heavy getting across the 14th street bridge. the right lane about mid span on the 14th street bridge taken away for midday construction. anticipate a little bit of a backup. we also find it a bit so on the outbound side of the bridge. south of town, left side the inner loop had an accident in the local lanes. poofed to the shoulder relatively quickly. fire and rescue took away a lane. looks like they finally move everybody out of traffic. but out of oxon hill into alexanderdryia, the inner loop running slowly. outer loop looking pretty good at this hour. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> no response yet, but there is still hope. a desperate race to reach four coal miners missing after a massive explosion in west virginia. 25 people were killed and now crews are drilling ventilation shafts hoping to restart the rescue efforts. jay gray has the latest. >> reporter: overnight, very little has changed on this mountain. crews are still frantic little working to drill four 1100-foot holes, three of those to vent the dangerous buildup of methane and carbon dioxide, a fourth to help rescue teams because of conditions have been idle for more than 24 hours now. >> we're hoping we can get the mine and the air safe enough to get our teams back in sometime this afternoon. >> it is an agonizing wait for those on the outside. >> it's very emotional. and because we're all family. i mean, it's just like brothers and sisters. >> a family that will unders the dangers and risks of the job and the reality of the situation for the four miners who are still missing. >> these are very, very strong people, strong in their faith and strong in their family, and i knew they would be vigilant and they were vigilant all night long and they're still waiting and still prayerful. >> as the slow search for survivors continues, so does the search for answers here. >> we know it wasn't operating safely or we wouldn't have had an explosion. >> even before the deadly blast, the upper big branch mine had been cited for 124 safety violations this year. including serious problems with ventilation, dust, and methane gas. jay gray, nbc news, raleigh county, west virginia. >> the families of the missing miners are praying for a miracle. dean jones is one of those still unaccounted for. his sister judy jones peterson appeared on "the today show" this morning. >> well, i believe that the reason that they probably have not heard anything back is that as you can imagine, if the air is toxic, they're not going to come out of their safety zone to tap on a pipe when they're in an area where they're safe with oxygen that's life-sustaining. so even if they heard it, i wouldn't believe them to come out and tap back on the pipe. so my hope is that my brother is still safely tucked away in that safety tent and that he will come out when the three booms go off bob that signal to the miners that the air is clear and if they can safely come out. >> dean jones also has a twin brother who isn't giving up hope. he says he can feel dean's presence and he says he knows he's alive and well. a new nuclear arms treaty. coming up, president obama is headed overseas today to sign the deal with russia. 'l plus, a warm welcome for the shuttle astronauts this morning as they arrived at the international space station. and don't look now, but gas prices are soaring. once again. we'll explain why some say this is a good thing. stay with us. we'll be right back. >> we're following a developing story from indonesia this morning. a magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook the island of sumatra. a tsunami alert has been lifted. there were reports of panic and power blackouts and scattered reports of injuries but only minor damage in most areas has been reported. the quake wasn't centered near any major population centers which could be part of the reason there have been no deaths reported so far. >> president obama heads to prague today to sign a nuclear arms reduction agreement with russia. the new agreement commits both the u.s. and russia to making significant cuts in their nuclear arsenals. this new treaty replaces the 19919 s.t.a.r.t. treaty that expired last year. next week, the u.s. will hold a summit aimed at improving nuclear security worldwide. the crews of the space shuttle "discovery" and the international space station have held their first meeting of this new mission. "discovery" dock with the space station and unsealed its hatch early this morning. the crews of both took time to take some pictures and to shake some hands. this is one of nasa's final stockpiling missions to the outpost and this is the first time four women are in space at the same time. >> well, it is a warm day, and it's going to get warmer. but i don't hear a lot of complaints yet, chuck. >> you weren't here earlier this morning, pat, when eun and joe, the whole crowd. >> were they complaining? remind them of the blizzards. >> well, there is a good point in that, no doubt about if? >> it. >> it's a little bit early. it's not supposed to be this hot this early. a lot of places in the united states have not even made 90 yet and we may have our second one of the year coming up today. outside in our city camera view, there's a quiet little boat nestled up alongside there. quiet day so far. temperatures on their way up. 77 degrees the current temperature at national airport. winds out of the south at ten miles per hour. today's record high temperatures, the record at national airport, reagan national 94 set in 1929. dulles international airport where they've only had records since the early '60s, their record is only 84. and baltimore, washington, their record high for the day, 93. that one may be safe, as well. but that one at dulles, there's no way they will miss that one. current temperature at dulles already 83. only one more degree to go to tie the record. 83 in springfield and dale city. a little bit of breeze coming up the norton neck has quantico's temperature down to 72. annapolis 655 degrees because of a hint of a bay breeze. later on today with a broad southwesterly windy think even at annapolis eventually that wind will put their temperature to the upper 80s to near 90 degrees. so we're at 77. new york city 82 degrees. raleigh, north carolina, 78 degrees where the core of the real warm air is left at this point in time. satellite review over the last 12 hours, a huge ridge of high pressure centered over the western atlantic has that big flow of southwesterly air coming into our area bringing in the warm air and the little touch of really spring humidity out there. plenty of heat for the remainder of the day today and the showers and thunderstorms that are now lined up across the great lakes and parts of the upper midwest, those showers and thunderstorms are coming our way late in the day tomorrow. here's our future cast model through the next 48 hours. that ridge of high pressure gradually giving way, moving out further off the shoreline. but eventually for us, the next big weather player is going to be that very strong cold front arriving here in the washington area very late tomorrow afternoon early tomorrow evening. because of the timing of this coming in at peak daytime heating tomorrow, we may be under the gun for the threat of severe weather. we'll have to keep you posted on that. by friday morning, temperatures plummeting back down into the 40s. you may not be looking close enough. those are scattered snow showers downwind of the lakes. there might even be a snowflake or two in the highest spots in the great state of west virginia. we'll watch out for that. for today, the rick of severe weather is primarily well out to our west. flights toward cincinnati and chicago and st. louis and memphis may be delayed due to the severe weather threat. for us, tomorrow we'll be in the yellow zone, a slight rick for severe weather tomorrow from ballot pore and washington northbound up into the hudson valley. otherwise, you have isolated storms out to our south and west. for today, sunny, near record high temperatures. upper 80s to low 90s across the region. a little bit of a cooling trend tomorrow. highs only in the low 80s. still 15 degrees warmer and that average. starting mid to late afternoon in our western suburbs, that's when the rain showers and thunderstorm chances start to roll in. showers should be gone by noontime on friday. noticely cooler. overnight lows in the upper 30s and low 40s on saturday fight and again into sunday. highs only around 70 degrees. that's a little bit more like april. i was mentioning to you earlier, pat, we made 90 degrees this year before tampa, miami, houston, dallas, phoenix, tucson, and las vegas. >> you know, that's unheard of. >> that is crazy stuff right there. >> so i've got something to brag about when i call my dad. >> just call and say we're hotter tan you are. >> thank you, jerry, i'm sorry, chuck. jerry edwards in the news4 traffic network. how is it looking out there this morning. >> some very slow traffic due to construction and an accident. right side of your screen westbound 66 inside the beltway headed out from falls church towards wet more land. police are dealing with an accident with the right lane taken away, a pretty good sized backup. heads up for that. eastbound coming in towards the roosevelt bridge not bad at all. along i-95 southbound, construction takes weight right lane. again that long-term construction project. as you head south toward loudoun, the jamup. it is indeed a jamup begins back at the capital beltway. be very careful. watch your temperature gauge in your automobile this afternoon, particularly for your last stop and go traffic, if you have an older car too because they tend to overheat very rapidly. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. still ahead on "news4midday," passengers might say it's mean spirited. what one airline is going to charge for now that could become an expensive trend. plus, good fuss for a reality tv family. baby number 19 is coming home. and the fastest tans in maryland. we'll introduce you to a 10-year-old who has a whole lot to break brag about. first here's a look what's hot on nbcwashington.com. >> the duggers are welcoming home their 19th child today. josie brooklyn dugger is coming home after spending mour months in intensive care. her mom michelle duggar tells "people" magazine, "we are so excited we're running on adrenaline. " they now have 19 children ranging in age from four months to 22 years. the smallest will be featured on a special episode of the family tlc show "19 kids and counting" airing sunday, may 9th. if you've played scrabble, you know how frustrating it can be to be stuck with tiles that won't get you points. a new version of everyone's favorite spelling game lets you use proper names. that means your kids' names, your hometown, even your favorite sports team can help you win. mattel says it want to introduce elements of pop culture to the game. stom some purists however think they will never ever allow propernounce when they play. just in case you're wondering, lawson muse will now score you 50 points for whatever that's borth. barack obama. coming up in the next half hour of news4 midday -- >> we will continue to follow breaking news from northwest washington. police arrest a student and question another at an episcopal school after finding a gun there. plus, an update this morning from west virginia where four miners are still missing. what officials said in the latest press conference. we'll share that with you. and brace yourself for some pain at the pump. why some experts are predicting prices are going to spike. and it could hit four bucks a gallon soon. chuck bell is also back with a change coming to the weather. stay with us. are you making it easier for bacteria to grow on your dentures? you are if you use toothpaste instead of soaking them in polident toothpaste is abrasive on dentures look, scratches where bacteria can collect and grow and bacteria can cause bad breath that's why i recommend replacing toothpaste with polident only polident is proven to clean without scratching and kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria don't scratch your dentures clean use polident every day >> right now on "news4midday" a student at st. al bans school in northwest washington is in police custody after police got a call that someone was carrying a gun near the campus. another student is being questioned. the school was placed on lockdown while police searched the campus. and hearst hall, a building used tore classes. a gun was later found in a jeep parked outside the school. >> and in west virginia this morning, rescuers are banging on pipes in a coal mine to get a response from any survivors. they did not get an answer back. this is the same mine where 25 miners were killed in an explosion on monday. crews are still feverishly trying to drill to the bottom of the mine where four are believed to be trapped. the before rescue crews can go back inside they have to let out the toxic gases inside. >> a press conference under way in west virginia with governor know manchin and other officials. crews are currently digging a tird hole to ventilate the mine faster. once that's completed, officials blan to use 30 rescuers. >> we've got two locations we talked about earlier that people were unaccounted for, three in one area, one in the other. they'll fan out in two different areas. there won't be 30 that will be advancing. we have to have as many people in an outby area in case something would go to rescue the mine teams in an inby area. when we talk 30, just in round numbers, we would expect 15 to be advancing, 15 to be backing up those individuals. >> even after crews ventilate the mine, crews will need at least four or five hours to repeat area where the four miners are believed to be trapped. >> time now for a check of the morning's other top stories. investigators say two early morning shootings in laurel, maryland, are related. four people were shot in the howard county portion of laurel. two of the victims were found on hitching post lane. one is listed in critical condition, the other in serious condition. two other people were found shot in a trailer park on alma abknew. both of them are now in serious condition. bob ehrlich is running for maryland governor again. just a short time ago, he announced he will run for governor in november. the republican.lost to governor martin o'malley back in 2006 after serving a single term. >> well, our weather is making news today, as well. this heat could hit record levels today. meteorologist chuck bell is in the storm center with the latest. this pollen is really tough on us. >> yesterday, the pollen count up to 1,425. yikes. that is a high alert on the sneezometer. no doubt about it. all the trees which may not have wanted to pollinate for another couple weeks said 90 degrees, it's time to get things going. outside today, looking towards drafly point, a couple of beautiful red bud and cherry trees in full bloom. a couple of folks enjoying an absolutely beautiful day today. temperatures are already on their way up. climbing into the upper '80s and low 90s with more summer like heat around the area for today. and druze air force base already to 82 degrees. great falls, virginia, 85 already. fairfax, virginia, at 80 degrees and silver spring maryland already up to 86 degrees. it is definitely a july and august kind of an afternoon around here. a broad southwesterly wind flow promises a very toasty warm afternoon today. a lot of the spots, up very close to the records. dulles is certainly going to break their record today. national airport's record of 94 i think is probably on the safe side. nonetheless, it's going to be a blazer out there today. showers and thunderstorms tomorrow lead to much cooler weather as we get towards friday and saturday. by saturday morning, the western suburbs will be in the 30s and there play may be know flake or two flying tomorrow in the mountains of west virginia. >> hard to talk about 90 and snowflakes in the same sentence. a final look at the midday traffic this morning. jerry edwards has the latest from the traffic network. >> hey, pat. let's head out to northern virginia on 66 outs the belt way. authorities are checking for an accident, possibly an overturned car from 66 west to 7100. again, just the initial reports did see fire and rescue crews looking in that general vicinity. right now, looks like traffic on 66 south although it's sluggish appears to be moving pretty well. heads up for that. south of town, really haven't improved much. if anything, looks slower and that it did last time. the inner loop of the belt way at the wilson bridge, there had been an accident where were wrapping everything up. looks still fully alexandria. outer loop, good to go. pat? >> thanks, jerry. hang on to your wallet. gas and oil prices are heading up again. they've climbed to an 18-month high this week and do not appear to be slowing down. according to some experts the price is going to spike. by the summer travel season, they could be as much as $4 a gallon. brooke hart has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: the numbers keep ticking up. nationwide, the price of a gallon of gas hit $2.83 this week. that's up eight cents over the past month. it's up 80 cents from a yearing. >> we continue to climb like we are doing here where the price of crude oil, we could likely get to the $4 mark. >> analysts call it a perfect storm of factors. more drivers on the road in warmer weather. refineries switching fuel blends for the summer. and what could be the biggest driver? futures traders betting on a growing economy. >> people who were trading oil futures in the speculation market who were rallying and predicting that the economy is going to increase tremendously. >> they bid up the price of oil to a five-month high. that f that trend continues experts say. >> that could take the wind out of this economic recovery that we've seen, could stall the economic recovery. >> it will means americans spending more on fuel would have less for other things. companies facing less demand would have less reason to hire. >> the lesson is learn to use less gasoline, drive more efficient vehicles and ultimately produce more domestic oil so it's not such a drag on our economy. >> on the many see ahead. >> critics demand a government crackdown on futures trading they say inflates prices into a market bubble. in this case they say the oil industry profits while ordinary americans struggle to pay the at pump. brooke hart, nbc news. >> a heads-up this morning if you live in upper northwest washington. someone's been breaking into houses there. the latest incident happened monday night on fessen done street in a house where a group of american university students live. someone broke into a basement apartment and stole thousands of dollars worth of electronics. police have seen a decline in the number of break-ins. residents are taking matters into their own hands in the meantime. >> when things like this happen, people start looking out for each other. a lot of neighbors are going to have a lot more interest in watching out for the neighbors, see if there's any suspicious activity signify there have been similar crimes reported in montgomery county and investigators there are working with d.c. police to see if there is a connection. fairfax county is recognized nationally for great public schools. and parents and students don't want budget cuts to ruin that. several popular school programs could be eliminated due to budget constraints, and that's generated a large rally held by people hoping to keep those programsaround and in place. news4's john trimpb has more. >> these youngsters are out here to represent the nearly 26,000 students who participate in the elementary school program. the fairfax county program gives kits the opportunity to try different instruments at a young age. these cases might soon be empty, something is that scarce daniel legal who recently got into george twon, university of virginia and by sfoou without that foundation when i was 9 years old, i probably wouldn't be at the level i am to you. without music i probably won't have gone into the colleges i did. >> that's not the only program on the chopping block. at stake, freshman sports, smaller class sizes, full day kindergarten and a foreign language immersion program which allows mckenna it take science and health all taught in japanese. >> they're taking a whole opportunity away to learn a new language. >> people move to fairfax county because they want world class schools. if you take these things out of the school system, you don't have ta school system anymore. snooflt $3.2 billion in the county's budget, there are some who don't want the schools to get and you fair share at expense of taxpayers but supervisor jeff mckay says it looks like the majority of the school system's budget from 2009 and 2010 will get rolled over for next year. >> i think we're going to come out of this budget with flat tax bills for most of our residents and salvage a lot of our services. even if we have to trim arptd edges, we're still going to be a top rated school system without a doubt. >> mckay said he want to hear from the public and will use that input to make his final decision. the public will have two more opportunities to speak today and tomorrow. both starting at 3:00 p.m. but there's still plenty of work left to be done on this budget before it's adopted on april 27th. reporting from fairfax, john shrink, "news4 today." >> some employees are furious over proposed budget cuts in montgomery county. >> fire it up. >> don't cally fornicate montgomery county what some workers are preparing. they held a rally yesterday in rockville to protest recent budget decisions which they claim will have a major impact on county residents. they say the county needs to reorganize to prevent it from facing the same budget problems plaguing california in recent years. >> a controversial val tradition has been reborn. governor bob mcdonnell has declared april confederate history month and says virginia played a major role in the civil war and he believes the designation will attract tour theists next year to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of war. critics call the proclamation offensive. virginia's two previous governors, mark warner and tim kaine refused to issue the proclamation so this is the first are confederate history month since 2001. >> for a second day, waiting to see if the dow can hit 11,000. we'll have the latest numbers. you the dietician from the biggest loser" talks about keys to a allergies? chlor-trimeton. hey, one dose of this, six hour relief. chlor-trimeton relieves itchy, watery eyes and sneezing for 12 full hours with less drowsiness than benadryl. it does all that? chlor-trimeton. less drowsy relief that lasts 12 hours. laxatives? i've tried all these. this one's gritty. this one can make you bloated. clearly, miralax is the one for me. it relieves my constipation with no harsh side effects. miralax. restore your body's natural rhythm. >> new documents reveal that toyota released internal repair guidelines for sticky gas pedals in europe months before warning the u.s. about the problem. the a.p. reports toyota issued the guidelines the same day it told the u.s. government it was recalling loose floor mats. transportation secretary ray lahood says toyota made a huge mistake by not revealing the problems sooner. federal regulators fined the automaker a record $16.4 million for not disclosing the problem southeastern. >> well, the dow has started this wednesday down. let's check with cnbc's courtney reagan live with that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> good morning, pat. stocks are down right now. i see the dow is down about 33 points. we've been around that range for most of the morning and ended mixed yesterday. the fed did reiterate its pledge to keep interest rates low for an extended period. no no specific guideline given. investors listening very carefully every time bernanke speaks. europe a touch lower. fed chairman bernanke will speak this afternoon. investors listening for any clues he might give on rates beyond the statement we saw yesterday. and the panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis start three days of hearings today. they've already started and are focusing on risky mortgages. former fed chairman alan greenspan has been testifying already this morning, critics say his policy to keep interest rates low encouraged lending to borrower who's had little chance of paying the money back. the panel hears from former citi ceo chuck prince and chairman robert rubin tomorrow. blockbuster inks two more deals with hollywood studios so it can rent movies the same day they go on sale on dvds. netflix doesn't have such a deal which could give blockbuster a month of exclusive access to top titles like "avatar" which goes on sale in two weeks. think these are to check bags are bad? how about fees for carry-on bags. spirit airlines will start charge up to $45 for carry-on luggage in august. it says anything you can stuff under your seat is still free. fewer carry-on bags will help empty planes faster. of course, that's a major source of contention today. the ceo was answering questions on cnbc but it looks like this is the case. >> what will they charge you for next, takeoffs and landings. >> i know, exactly. they charge you for every mile, charge you by the mile the plane flies? i don't know. >> thanks, courtney. have a great day. >> in news for your health this morning, new research shows that walking can greatly lower a woman's rick of suffering a stroke. a harvard study found that women who walked two or more hours a week had a 30% lower rick for any type of stroke. compared with women who didn't walk. women who walk at a brisk pace where is were also 37% less likely to suffer a stroke and that inactive women. interestingly this link between walking and strokes does not apply to men. many people play be a few pounds heavier after enjoying all the good food over the easter weekend but there's some good news for you. melting pounds can be tough but it can be done, which contestants on the popular show the biggest loser" prove every single week. the dietician has written a book. eun yang has that story. >> this book was based on. >> after nine seasons as the dietician for the biggest loser," charl foreberg nose what works and does not when it comes to eating well and losing weight. >> the contestants have a lot of things in common that a lot of overweight americans do and one is they don't drink enough water. they don't exercise enough. they eat very few fruits and vegetables for the most part. >> foreberg co-wrote the biggest loser, six weeks to a healthier you organized into six weeks of meal plan and advice including how to prevent diabetes and high blood pressure and heart disease. >> the same foods we use to promote weight loss are the ones we use to promote health. so it's a win win. >> people should not expect the same results as the biggest losers get on the show. >> the contestants are away from their job and their children, their family and it's their full-time job to lose weight. they have trainers, a fabulous gym, wonderful food. beautiful kitchen. >> but she says follow her advice and you will see and feel the difference. >> if you combine the eating plan guidelines that i've outlined as well as get moving and do more exercise, you could absolutely lose a couple pounds a week. >> eun yang, news4. >> and this is the perfect day to start getting healthy because this is national start walking day. the american heart association is encouraging everybody to get up and walk for at least 30 minutes. >> the time now is 11:50. coming up, the fastest hands in maryland. plus, meteorologist chuck bell will be back with another check on our forecast. stay with us. are you watching cable? here's what you should be watching: your cable bill, because you could be paying way too much. stop spending more for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone, for just $69.99 a month for six months -- three top-rated services for one rock-bottom price. but don't wait, this is your last chance. fios gives you what cable doesn't: the best channel lineup and the most hd, facebook and twitter on your tv, plus america's top-rated internet. fios is the future, but after april 17th this price will be history. get fios tv, internet and phone for just $69.99 a month for six months with a two-year agreement. call now. if you stick with cable, you'll be stuck with the bill. last chance to get three fios services for an amazing $69.99 a month for six months. call 1-888-884-fios. that's 1-888-884-fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. >> have you ever heard of an unusual and popular sport called stacking? participants compete by seeing how fast they can stack cups. and the world record holder is a 10-year-old from maryland. tim tooten watched kennard gardener practice for a competition in denver. >> to say he's quick would be an understatement. and just two years time, kennard gardener has become a master stacker. >> the first time i tried them like it was pretty hard for me. and while there's a special dvd to show you how to stack >> he went from a dvd to a state and then world record. up 2.8 seconds and it's all over youtube. >> it felt good. and it was really exciting and i'm going to denver. >> and that's where he'll compete as a member of the world teal over the weekend. at first kennard's parents didn't know what to make of his new hobby which quickly became a sport. >> very proud of him. to this day he didn't really recognize it. it's not like if you told him to stack the cup ten more times, he would do ta and that break the recovered. >> his mother says it's been nothing short of therapy. >> before the cups, he had like the anxiety thing and we tried to get him to do something to keep him caulk and how to keep his, what should i say, keep him focused and keep his mind-set on what he needs to be doing. >> and the family friend gets credit for buying kennard his first set of stacking cups. >> kennard had a real interest them. he would sit there for hours. everybody would say aren't you tired of those cups yet? no. just wait a minute. >> even the world record holder has time to pass along a few stacking tips to a rookie. >> for someone who's never done it before like me, any advice? >> no, it's just practice. >> yeah, just practice. that was tim tooten reporting. kennard also says you should stay tooked and try not to go really fast, which of course he did. but oh, well. we are working on several new stories this afternoon on news4 at 4:00. first, ever left your cell phone somewhere or had someone steal it? there is a new app out there that can help you find your phone if it happens to you. then tonight at 5:00, yoga doesn't have to be just for the flexible. find out how it's helping multiple sclerosis patients with their mind, body and spirit. those stories coming up on news4 starting at 4:00 this afternoon. right now, let's get a final check of weather. chuck bell is is in the storm center. >> pat, i'm still amazed that the young man's ability to stack those cups. >> it's almost a little bizarre, but you got to admire the fact that he can do that so fast. >> wow. that's incredible. i thought they sped the video up. that's how speedy he is. >> you can practice for a year and not be able to do that. >> no kidding. yeah, i can see me practicing. kids, practice if your mom's best china. outside on a beautiful wednesday now, temperatures are really climbing very quickly. a lot of spots already up in the 80s at this the point in time. 77 in washington itself. 71 back out to our west. in cincinnati, ohio, the heat is here for one more day. kind of two more days. today will be far and weight warmest of the next two up in the low 80s to near 90s. rick of severe weather shifts to around the washington, baltimore, philadelphia corridor tomorrow. there you can see, i hit the button too fast. but showers and thunderstorms late tomorrow. cooler and dry for the weekend. >> thanks, chuck. well, here's the answer, your answer if you want a sandwich with more meat and less bread. you won't find any bread in fact on this. kfc's new double down. it's been replaced by two fried chicken filets. that's right. the sandwich also includes bacon, cheese and sauce between those if i lays. you know what else you'll find on the double down? 540 calories, ten grams of saturated fat and 60% of your daily salt allowance. it goes on sale next week. only available for six weeks. your arteries are probably going to be happy about that. that's "news4midday." thank you for joining us this morning. be sure to tune in to the daily connection starting at 2:00 and news 4 at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 for all the latest. until then, have a great wednesday. enjoy the sun and hopefully not the pollen. see you later.