right now we're learning the daughter of a senator is pulled from her car b carjackers near the verizon center. >> lawmakers are trying to figure out how this virginia couple got into the white house state dinner uninvited. >> the national christmas tree lighting is hours away. "news4 midday" begins right now. good morning. welcome to "news0.04 midday." i'm barbara harrison. >> i joe krebs othis thursday, this third day of december, 2009. in the news we begin with breaking news out of the district. that's where we learned a senator's daughter was carjacked not far from the verizon center, this happened to julia corker, the daughter of senator bob corker. she was driving home around 9:15 last night, she stopped at a traffic light when a man knocked on her window. when she rolled it down he dragged her out and threw her to the ground. she was not injured but two men drove off in her car. police in maryland caught up -- caught the two suspects a short time later. road crews and utility workers are busy all morning long, heavy rain and high winds caused major problems for early morning commuters. a fallen tree brought down power lines in silver spring and shut down the intersection to route 29 and lockwood drive t. lanes reopened but traffic remained backed up and it was the same story in many other locations. looking outside now, the rain is gone, sun is out but there's another round of bad weather headed in this direction for the weekend. >> let's get our first forecast. veronica johnson is in for tom. >> that it is, joe and barbara, looking more like we could have a wtening of the ground on saturday. so, the first part of the weekend, some real cold air sets to move in. right now, though, we're dry across the area. drenching last night is gone and the other thing you'll notice is wind. it's breezy. it's how mild it is outside. 61 degrees right now in manassas, 64n d.c. and pax river is at 64 degrees. so, a dry westerly wind, lots of sunshine through the area. while we're mild today, it's going to be great, too, pretty nice, temperatures drop in the 40s for the big tree lighting downtown. we should be around 53 degrees by then. down to 51 by 9:00 under clear skies. sun sets at 4:46. here's a look at your four-day forecast. dry for tomorrow, too, but starting early saturday, rain showers, some snow showers. we'll talk about the probabilities through the area of our first inch of snow. >> thanks very much. >> jerry edwards has the latest on the midday traffic. >> good morning. we'll head back over to route 29. this is the scene where the tree came down, the wires came down early this morning. 29 and lockwood drive. authorities have come back and are blocking the right lane again so we are again seeing heavy traffic out of white oak. looks like they are about wrapped up so hopefully things will get back to normal. new hampshire avenue may be a better bet. headed downtown, road work along 395 and the 14th street bridge. rolling slowly until mid span. barbara and joe, back to you. deal reached. comcast is buying nbc our parent company. it's a media merger of enormous proportion. it will create one of the largest entertainment companies. courtney reagan joins us with more on what this means. >> good morning to you. this is something we've been hearing about for a while. now the details are official. i'll run through some of them for you. comcast and general electric which is a parent company of nbc universal of which wrc and cnbc are a part have agreed to spin off to be majority controlled by comcast. the deal values nbc universal at $30 billion, ge will acquire vivendi's 20% for 5.8 billion. comcast will contribute about $14 billion to the deal and cash and value of its cable assets which include the golf channel among others, the cable assets are very valuable to the joint venture. they represent 80% of the cash flow and they include usa, bravo, versus cnbc and msnbc among other properties. zucker will remain ceo and headquarters in new york. it's a sizable deal and will change the broader media landscape and subject to regulators which could take time to settle the details. we hear as much as a ye. both boards approved the deal. there will be three directors from com costs cast two from ge. so big deal and lots for us to think b. but i think it's going to be good for us all. >> certainly big news. thanks a lot, courtney. we have an open invitation but refused to show up this time t. couple accused of crashing the state dinner is saying they will not testify on capitol hill today. the house homeland security committee is holding a hearing into the matter and kimberly suiters joins us with more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, joe. i'm following this from the start. it's astonishing to hear the director of the secret service admit protocol for security was not followed at the state dinner. he says the couple represented themselves as being on the list, the secret service agent did not see their names on a list, but let them through anyway. so far in that hearing room the name salahi has barely been uttered. >> mr. and mrs. salahi. >> the white house says the salahis were not invited here but did accept an offer on the "today" show. >> we were invited, not crashers. there isn't anyone that would have the audacity or the poor behavior to do that. >> reporter: thursday they turned down an invitation to capitol hill, to testify as to what's happened at the state dinner. >> how somebody can walk in off the streets, through seral layers of security, not on the list, and shake hands with the president of the united states. >> reporter: that's the head of the house homeland security security committee, congressman bennie thompson says athe least he wants to get assurance from the director of the secret service that such a breach could never happen again. >> an error in judgment, a mistake was made. in our line of work we cannot afford even one mistake. >> reporter: he wanted to hear from the salahis in person but their publicist informed staffers wednesday night at 7:00, quoting now, the salahis believe having provided all relevant information to representatives king and thompson there is nothing further they can do regarding inquiries regarding certain security procedures, they respectfully decline to testify. someone else who won't show up, white house social secretary desiree rogers, the white house citing separation of powers. in the meantime, presidential adviser valerie jarrett told the oday" show they reviewed the security internally. >> after working with the secret service we determined that we needed to improve our practices, have people at the gate full time. we think we answered the question. >> reporte the chairman did not seem to mind the social secretary's absence. >> from the social secretary, they plan parties. >> it appears the committee won't force her to testify but the salahis may receive a stronger invitation in the form of a subpoena. congressman peter king, the ranking minority member on the committee, says he does want to issue a subpoena for social secretary desiree rogers. he said previous administrations always had someone from the office at the gate and had one been there the couple would have been stopped. the congressman king says the hearing is incomplete without rogers' testimony saying nothing about the absence of the salahis. >> thank you very much. also right now, metro's crunching the numbers, the agency holding a budget meeting as we speak on the agenda, a $144 million shortfall. today we could get updated budget numbers and learn whether fare hikes and budget cuts might be in the works. a board member says not to expect a specific proposal because metro is waiting for the ntsb's final recommendations after the deadly crash back in june. those recommendations could be costly to implement. he was a high school football star whose life was cut short by a drunk driver. today loved ones say good-bye to steven dankos. a standout in ellicott city. tracy joins us live from hyattsville on how the community is struggling to cope with this sudden loss. >> reporter: good morning. there is no question how much this kid meant to his fellow students and also teachers and parents in this community. you can see there's a huge group of people here over at this church. the parking lot is so packed that we had cars out on the street as well. these folks are dealing with a tremendous loss, especially his classmates. hundreds of students, parents and teachers streamed into st. mark catholic church in hyattsville. they gathered to say good-bye to a fallen high school football star taken unexpectedly. >> anyone this young, 17 years old, really like makes you look at life and realize how valuable and easy iis to lose. >> reporter: the 17-year-old was killed when his teammate, lost control of the pickup truck they were in. it killed steven and injured the teammate. now the driver is facing multiple drunk driving charges. all three kids were friends. the funeral leads these parents, tough discussions that need to be had. >> you have to let them know that the decisions that they make can have a profound effect. and you try to remind them every day that if you get in a situation where perhaps you're not in control, call mom and dad, call someone else who can take care of you. >> reporter: the teammates gathered outside the door in the football jerseys. he hopes that the parents and kids get the message there is no coming back from some choices. >> sometimes i think teenagers think they are a little immortal. i did when i was a kid. you know, it has unfortunately something like this has to hit home. it's a hard lesson for all kids. >> reporter: police are standing by here ready to escort everyone down to the burial site. it's going to be a large and long funeral procession. david erdman has been charged with drunken driving, homicide by motor vehicle and manslaughter by a motor vehicle. steven's mom has said that she hates to see him have to go through these charges, they are family friends. she says she believes he has been through enou. i'm tracee wilkins live in hyattsville. back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much. a few hours ago there was a multicar accident on i-395, the accident happened on the southbound lanes near the franconia road exit. one witness tells us how cars drove over a hood that flew off a car. he describes how one of the drivers went unconscious and he used his own car to help that driver. >> i sped up, got in front of her, adjusted the speed and allowed her to hit me so i could bring her to a stop or she would have hit someone else in front of her. >> the scene is clear now. no word on what caused that accident. right now crews are on the scene of a water main break in northwest washington. this is 22nd street between s street and virginia avenue. expect detours if you are headed in that area right now. and our time now 11:12. temperature 62 degrees. president barack obama focuses on jobs today. the president is looking for ideas on how to get more americans back to work. >> plus, who are the worst drivers out there? their professions might surprise you. >> the lighting of the national christmas tree. it happens tonight. and the rehearsal is under way here this morning. a live report coming up. health care reform is also at the top of the agenda. senators will vote on key amendments to the health care bill, one coresponsible everied by barbara mikulski. lawmakers will also decide whether to restor $460 million in cuts proposed for medicare. in a couple of hours at the white house president obama will be talking about jobs, the president will meet with executives from big and small companies, economists and union leaders to talk about putting americans back to work and bring down the 10.2% unemployment rate. that's the highest it's been since 1983. aides say president obama will be listening. >> what i think the president wants to do is hear from them on type of environment that we can have that would allow for that hiring to take place. >> admission that the economic policies of this admistration and congress failed. >> today capitol hill republicans plan to hold a meeting to offer their own ideas. tomorrow the government releases the unemploymentumbers for november. a sure sign that christm is around the corner. toght the annual lighting of the christmas tree. it will be a star-studded event. security will be even tighter than usual. megan mcgrath joins us from outside. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. i got to tell you, it doesn't feel like the tree should be lit given the weather. we're not even wearing coats. but of course the tree is going to be lit tonight. there is a big event, big pageant taking place. there are rehearsals taking the stage now is p.s. 22 choir out of staten island, fifth-graders here and will begin rehearsal shortly. if you are planning on coming to the ellipse and attending, you better make sure you have a ticket. ♪ sheryl crow is among the entertainers performing during the lighting of the national christmas tree. also singing to the first family will be "american idol" winner jordan sparks. both rehearsed earlier this morning. ♪ i'll be home for christmas >> reporter: the actual lighting of the tree will be the same as in years past, but this time it will be president barack obama who presses the button. interest in the event has been very high this year. for the first time, tickets were distributed using an online lottery system, and they are the hottest seats in town. >> this year we had a lottery to try to open it up to more people. we had 10,000 tickets and 37,000 people applied for those. there is huge interest from the public to be here and part of the lighting. >> reporter: in previous years people without tickets could come and get a spot in the standing room area. that will not be allowed tonight. all areas now require a ticket, and given the recent allegations of party crashing the rules will be enforced. >> the tickets were mailed out on november 15th, so there should be no reason why anybody shows up without a ticket. if you do not have a ticket, you will not get in today. >> is there heightened sensitivity? >> i think there is heightened sensitivity. >> reporter: and there you go. that's the national christmas tree, of course it's all wrapped in lights and ready to go waiting for the president to flip the switch during the program tonight. an interesting thing, barbara. when they light the tree, the lights are hanging down in straight lines because this is a live tree. they don't want to wrap it around the branches because ha damages the tree and they want this tree to be around for many years to come. something i didn't know until this year. i should mention they are going green here. they have all led lights which save energy. >> it gets us in the mood for this holiday season, doesn't it. >> reporter: it does though it's so warm it's a little odd. >> we were noticing that. joe says he wants it cold. >> it does feel a little strange. >> thanks a lot. and getting us in the holiday season will be some cold weather coming our way and something else. >> that's right. joe said he wanted it cold, joe wanted snow. >> absolutely. >> and joe said he was going to get his tree on saturday. because all of that, that means it's going to snow. >> good. i'm happy. >> let's talk about the prospects of snow here, then, for saturday. it's looking a little more like some of us will be doing light shoveling here on saturday. but as megan said, it's mild out there. you saw a little bit of wind in her hair. it is breezy outside. we've got winds now that are out of the west and southwest at about 10 to 20 miles per hour. a look at temperatures through the area, hey, we're in the 60s. it's a great looking sky. mostly sunny, the temperature 62 degrees. the winds at 12 miles per hour. with the last storm system we picked up under a half inch of rain. that puts the rainfall for the year at now 4 inches above normal. annapolis it's 63 degrees, early this morning temperatures started out at 66, there's a look at the inch that fell with this storm system. and almost 1.5 inches at gaithersburg, now at 57 degrees. through the area we're doing fine. in the low 60s for the tree lighting this evening. temperature will be right at about 50 degrees. then falling off to the 40 you're sticking around down there. here's the storm system scooting quickly up to the north and east, even dry through new york now. high pressure builds in but only for a brief period of time. we clear out tonight and it's going to be cold. you can see where the numbers are now to west. 36 in chicago, 40 in detroit. so, we again, will be cooling down tonight and some of the high spots west may even see a little bit in the way of some snow showers on the western ridges. here's what i'm predicting for our first inch of snow in terms of probabilities. i think for areas of the shenandoah valley and for the piedmont now, there is at least a 50% chance that we will have more than an inch of snow. so, some light shoveling for you folks around loudoun county, around fauquier county and prince william county, even madison again pushing all the way off to the shenandoah valley. that's the way it's looking. i think if it's going to trend any particular way, it may trend toward more several inches of snow as opposed to nothing at all. so we'll be watching the storm system closely. it's yet to form off the southeast coast. that will happen on friday. for today, we're mostly sunny, mild, we're breezy. 55 to 60 degrees with breezy conditions. here's a look at your four-day forecast. the average high, 51 degrees. even the early part of today it felt like an early october afternoon. so, tonight we'll drop down into the 30s, we'll hav a high tomorrow of 50 degrees with again, partly sunny skies. then for saturday, again these rain showers that are going to move in, likely going to be in the form of rain, maybe snow mixed at first before switching over to snow. it certainly will be cold enough and the high on saturday up to 40 degrees. so it's the areas west that may see temperatures colder, lower through the day that stand the best chance of seeing anything sticking around. then the weekend by sunday we're back to sunshine, 43. and it's going to be dry. then the next week in the 40s, maybe rain. here for early december now we may have our first inch of snow and b ryan may be out there with his golden shovel. >> if the ground is warm. >> not for long. but we'll see. we'll continue to look at the guides and see how it changes. >> thank you very much. we'll see you shortly. >> let's go to jerry edwards and check on the midday traffic. >> good morning. hey there. we'll head over to the beltway in virginia where there had been an accident on the outer loop near telegraph road. that has been cleared out of the roadway behind the construction barrels there over to the side so. the lanes open, a little slowdown both directions but the travel les have reopened. see how we're doing elsewhere, trip on the east side of town, prince george's county very quiet. right side of the outer loop, left side of the inner loop moving along very nice. >> thanks, jerry. could your profession shed light on what kind of a driver you are? according to a new stud i the answer is yes. quality planning corporation released a list of the most crash prone professions. turns out those who endure the most stress were the worst on the roads. topping the list is doctors. for every 1,000 doctors, there were 109 accidents, and 44 speeding tickets issued every year. coming at a close second was lawyers who have 106 accidents per 1,000 people in their profession. architects were third, followed by real estate brokers and enlisted military personnel. where do we fall in? >> journalists? >> we never have accidents. >> not at all. they are all on purposes. >> still ahead on news 4 at midday, more confusion about breast cancer screenings and when women should get checked. >> plus, why the grammys could turn into ladies night. >> in today's weekend scene, holiday entertainment, the traditional and less traditional. >> here is a look at what is hot right now on nbcwashington.com. joe biden. joe biden has spent 36 years -- >> that's vice president joe biden peeking through the curtains. he was running late when he arrived for a speech on pennsylvania avenue. and in his hayes he made his entrance too early. the vice president realized his mistake and playfully hid behind the curtain. it was ladies night at the grammy award nominations. ♪ >> beyonce scored the most nods, she picked up ten nominations. they included each of the categories, record song and album of the year. taylor swift and lady gaga could be major competition as well. swift received a total of eight nominations, lady gaga five. the actual grammys will be awarded on january 31st. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," tiger woods' problems are not over. new revelations could be released today. >> plus, teen dating violence. a hearing is taking place this morning. attorney general eric holder says it's a growing problem. and space beer. what a new brand of beer has to do with the international space station. >> veronica thompson will be back with a look at what's ahead. right now at 11:32, a senator's daughter is okay after being carjacked in downtown washington. 22-year-old julia corker is the oldest daughter of tennessee senator bob corker. his office says two men pulled her from her car last night and drove off. she wasn't seriously injured. police later arrested two suspects in that carjacking. final preparations are taking place now ahead of tonight's lighting of the national christmas tree. 10,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony held on the ellipse at the back of the white house. a number of celebrities will perform including sheryl crow. the tree will be lit by the president and if first lady. the house homeland security committee will question a couple who crashed the white house state dinner without invitation. the committee is holding a hearing today. tareq and michaele salahi were asked to testify but they declined. now the committee chairman bennie thompson says the couple must be questioned and they will issue a subpoena if necessary. it's off. a woman accused of being tiger woods' mistress cancel add news conference citing unforeseen circumstances. the woman has repeatedly denied the affair allegations but according to tmz she now claims she w lying to protect woods. it's the latest in a bizarre series of events that threaten to tarnish the golf star's golden boy image. >> reporter: tiger woods admitted wrong doing but offered no detail when he indirectly acknowledged a number of gossip reports alleging marital infidelities. on his web side he said i have let my family down and i regret those transgressions with all of my heart. i have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. i am not without fault. woods asked for privacy for himself and his family which includes his 29-year-old wife elin and two small children. woods addressed media questions whether he and elin had fought before the crash. he wrote the stories that physical violence took part were false and malicious. elin has done more and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect. >> sympathetic to everything he writes, the only problem is it's ur days too late. >> reporter: last week the "national enquirer" claimed that woods had an affair with rachel uchitel who denieshe accusations. this week comes us weekly which alleges that he had an affair with jaimee grubbs, a cocktail waitress who claims to have received racy text messages and a voice mail worried about his wife finding out. >> hey, it's tiger. i need you to do me a huge favor. can you please take your name off your phone. my wife went through my phone, and may be calling you. >> reporter: while nbc news has not confirmed the voice on the phone as that of tiger woods us weekly says it believes that grubs is telling the truth. >> when you listen to the voice mail i don't think there is any doubt that it's tiger woods. it's 100% tiger woods. >> reporter: a third publication claims yet another woman has quietly been seeing woods for months, an account she would neither confirm nor deny. despite the bad news threatening his wholesome image two major sponsors stand with woods. nike said our relationship remains unchanged and gatorade said tiger and his family have our support. meanwhile, in florida, authorities released photographs of the car and the accident report in which they show how the crash occurred. with woods backing out of his driveway, driving forward, striking the curb on the right, then careening left across the street int a fire hydrant and tree. troopers charged him with careless driving and say their case is close. it's his personal crisis attracting more scrutiny and threatening his carefully managed image. >> yesterday woods released a statement saying i will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. >> attorney general eric holder and education secretary arne duncan met with students and parents to discuss dating violence among teens. the forum is part of the year-long celebration of the 15th anniversary of the violence against women act. holder discussed how the reports of 10% of teens are victims of dating violence of it he wants to find innovative solutions to end the problem. >> the attorney general, i have three kids including two teenage girls. i'm concerned about the statistics. >> i have a lot of friend who is don't see a problem with treating their girlfriends badly. they aren't the only ones. >> i'm passionate about my friends in making sure they are in healthy relationships, and it's really just about having the courage to realize that they can't see what they are doing wrong. >> the meeting is also part of nationwide events for the sixth annual it's time to talk day with liz claiborne. from prince georges capital, glenn ivy looking for a run for congress. he is forming a committee, he will look at challenging fourth district representative donna edwards in the democratic primary next year. >> well, you know, i worked on capitol hill, i enjoyed it, had a chance to work under senator sarbanes, senator daschle. those were great experiences. i think it would be good to go back to the hill. you have president obama in the white house. i think it's a good time to move on a progressive agenda. >> his congressional aspirations mean he will not run for re-election for state's attorney. right now funeral services are under way for the arlington county utility worker who was electrocuted at work. friends an family are gathered in arlington to remember james. the 59-year-old died while working at a water main break last week along glebe road. he was taking down lights when his metal ladder came in contact with a live power line. he was a long time employee of the county. parents and students are fighting to kee music programs in the schools next year. dozens turned out to protest a proposal to cut elementary band programs to help shore up a $175 million budget deficit. all day kindergarten and foreign language courses are also being considered to cut. school leaders met last night to get input before they make a final decision. >> all of the kids with me are in music. all of them have grown so much as people because of their music. it's not something they could have done without being in school. >> the economy constricted so there is less money available. so you either have to reduce where you spend it or you have to get more. and the only way to get more would be to raise people's taxes. >> some parents say they are okay with higher taxes. one of the main concern to keep the fairfax school system among the top in the country. >> for another look at our forecast. >> let's go to veronica johnson. >> yeah, we've got sunshine outside. can't wait to get out there. sunshine but also some mild temperatures. hard to believe that inside of two days we're going to have wintry temperatures and precipitation, too. here we are satellite and radar, we're at 64 degrees here but it's fallen to 39 degrees in elkins, west virginia, some of the high spots on the western ridges a little light snow tonight. 41 degrees our temperature now. storm system starts to develop off the southeast coast tomorrow and makes its way north. with an easterly wind we have a chance of snow. greater than a 50% chance of maybe an inch of snow around fauquier county and loudoun county over to the shenandoah valley. that again for saturday. but only half the weekend because we're back to sunshine and cold for sunday. >> thanks very much. let's get a final check on our midday traffic now. jerry. >> good morning. planning on heading downtown later this afternoon, this evening, should have the road work out of the way in time. this is 395 northbound, mid span t 14th street bridge. usually they pull that up 2:00 or 2:30. other than that, head over to virginia where we're not doing badly. northbound and soutound, there are small work zones between woodbridge and newington. you can see minimal delays if any at all. and sunshine. back to you. >> thanks. well, since a government task force put out new recommendations for mammograms there has been a lot of confusion. a senate subcommittee is asking those experts for clarification. the u.s. preventive services task force faced tough questions yesterday. the task force recently recommended against routine mammograms for women younger than 50. the panel has admitted it could have done a better job at releasing its findings. >> we recognize the communication of what the recommendations say was poor. >> you put doctors in untenable positions and patients at risk of death. >> an american cancer society official who als attended yesterday's hearing said they still recommend that women get annual mammograms beginning at age 40. if you consider yrself a beer connoisseur, listen to this. a new brew that may be out of this world. the new space beer is brewed with barley kbroen aboard the space station. it was taken into space and did not change it in size or color which means the fineroducts can be grown in spe. the six-packs of the brew will be sold to 200 people chosen by lottery and the price -- $115 for a six-pack. all proceeds will be donated to an educational science charity. still ahead on "news4 midday" we're going to check the markets after new retail sales numbers. >> changes at "the washington times." we're coming right back. good morning. welcome back t. washingn times is planning for layoffs to make room for more need wra. the newspaper says it plans to make changes through the first half of next year, some of the changes include expanding the paper's the conservatives.com website and the morning radio program. there are some 370 employees at the times with the times says it's going to lay off 40% of its staff. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke goes before a senate committee. >> courtney reagan joins us with more. >> good morning. stocks now slipping a little, the dow down by more than 13 points. but hasn't been off too much more than that today. in fact, we saw slight gains earlier. asian markets higher, europe is positive. and first time claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in 14 months, dropping by 5,000 from last week to 457,000. as we told you before it is official, comcast and general electric agreed to a joint venture giving majority control to comcast. the deal is subject to regulatory approval. bank of america striking a deal to repay its $45 billion in government bailout money in the next few days. it would help recruit a new ceo to replace ken lewis. bank of america wl repay the money with cash it has and plans to raise $19 billion through a stock sale. as you mentioned ben bernanke is facing tough questions from lawmakers now on capitol hill about the financial crisis and big government bailouts. the senate banking committee is holding a hearing on bernanke's second term as fed and asking tough questions over decisions in his first term. getting into arguments for sure. back to you. >> thanks very much, courtney. have a great day. >> thank you. for wednesday's child we have a sibling group of three, a sister and two brothers. jasmine, malik and dimitrius. >> we're having problems with that tape so we'll get it for you and hopefully show it to you in a few minutes. >> right now our time is 11:48. 62 degrees. coming up in today's weekend scene, holiday entertainment the traditional and less traditional. >> veronica johnson will be back with a check on the forecast. we'll be right back. welcome back. it's time to look ahead to the weekend scene. joining us again is livonia of "the washington post" weekend seion. thanks for joining us. let's talk about this season because it's the season for ""the nutcracker"" and more and less traditional. >> absolutely. we compiled events for hanukkah, kwanzaa, christmas, "the nutcracker" is something everyone can enjoy. what we're looking at is the pennsylvania ballet. they finished a run at the kennedy center. we've got two big ones ahead. the only ballet theater is performing a traditional version. this is the one you want to take your kids to t one that they will remember. if you're looking for something more contemporary you have to check out the washington ballet's current nut cracker. it's got king george as the rap king and -- george washington is actually the nutcracker. it's very modern and fun. >> sounds like fun. there is also something interesting in alexandria. >> yes. this is the way to get the holidays in alexandria. it's the scottish weekend. it's a big deal, two days, friday and saturday. but if you want to do it in a couple of hours saturday is the day go. the parade which features pipe bands, marching band, and also dancers and even a dog parade, is on saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. get there around 10:30 and take the metro. because the roads are blocked off. so, head on down, then at 1:00 p.m. there is a concert in market square. going to be fun. >> and the stratmore. thering there. >> strasmore is home, dance ensemble, it's city dance, they went to theiddle east for inspiration. it's called "crush." it's friday and saturday. it's about the refugee experience for iraqis. they interviewed iraqis in the middle east and came bac and tickets are going fast. this is going to be an interesting performance. if you don't see it this weekend, they are also performing it free on tuesday at the u.s. capitol visitor center. >> like a documentary dance performance. interesting. thanks very much. and forore you can log on to the around town of nbcwashington.com and go to the going out guide on washington post.com. thanks so much again. good to have you. now a wednesday's child. a group of three, sister and two brothers. >> hi. >> hello. >> jasmine? >> yes. >> malik? and dimitrius. how do you do. so glad to see you. we have a great day planned. you know where we're going? >> best buy! >> let's go. i think they got something there that you like to play, right? >> wii. >> inside we were welcomed by roger. jasmine, malik and dimitrius get along pretty well for siblings. >> push a and b. >> they have some of the sam hopes and dreams, including a wish for a permanent home. together. >> the children came to the center and the family service agency in august of 2003, due to lack of care in their home environment. >> they depen a lot on each other. all three agreed on which wii game to start with. and all were willing to try to teach me how to play. >> go. go up and hit. >> at 10 she says she loves teaching, and learningew things. >> you like school? >> yes. >> what's your favorite subject? >> math. >> do you have a favorite subject at school? >> yes. science. >> malik who is 9 the is in the fourth grade. >> what's the best thing of going to school? they like learning and are competitive when it comes to doing about everything. >> we won. >> you're kidding. >> we won. we got one. >> they have been lucky to be able to stay together through their years in foster care. >> a family we're looking for is a family that will help the children to heal, to help them trust again. >> do you know what foster care means? >> yeah. when somebody take care of you a little while, and adopted mean they can forever and ever. >> a home that's a home for good. >> i got a surprise for you. best buy and geek squad is giving you guys all brand new lap tops. >> what do you say? >> thank you! >> barbara harrison, news 4 for wednesday's child. >> if you room, please call our special adoption line or log on to our home page at nbcwashington.com. >> go, barbara harrison. >> let's look now at some of the stories that we're going to follow later today. >> let's go to jim handly in the studio with us. >> nice forehand on you, barbara. a busy afternoon, joe and barbara. starting at 4:00 we'll have the latest on the hearings on capitol hill, into how that now famous virginia couple managed to get into the white house uninvited. plus, the mysterious disappearance of two oregon parents last seen when they set off to find the perfect christmas tree. then tonight at 5:00, holiday gift baskets. how do you know if you're getting your money's worth. we ask a man who knows gourmet when he sees it. the news begins at 4:00. hope to see you then. >> thanks. >> let's get a final check on the forecast now. >> here is veronica. >> it's been mild all day. we started out in the low 60s, right now we're at 64 degrees. you can see the cloud cover there, most of it gone. we've got some clouds in pennsylvania now so nothing but sunshine for today. mostly sunny, breezy, mild 55 to 60 degrees. if you're going down on the ellipse south of the white house, temperature at 51 degrees. sun sets at 4:46. meanwhile, don't think we'll have enough in the way of wintry precipitation for this weekend to get snow lovers jumping up and down, but it may be enough to get you smiling. could be enough to cover the ground, maybe an inch of snow west of d.c. joe, barbara. >> thanks very much. >> thank you. that's "news4 midday." we thank you for being with us. we have news at 4, 5, 6 and 11.