change throughout the morning. at one point we had the vehicle here, the mercedes. that's the car that was shot up by the suspect or suspects. that was the car carrying two males who were injured. they moved that car off of the parkway and then moved their investigation farther down the parkway, heading south into northbound lanes. they are saying that they had several hundred yards involved in this crime scene. so, several different areas that they needed to investigate. they believe that the shooting actually started closer to riverdale road and then ended in this portion of the bw parkway closer to the beltway. >> we've got one crime scene because of one crime, but we've got multiple locations because it was an unfolding incident starting in the area of riverdale road and the final resting spot for this crime scene is just south of the beltway. >> this caused major backups this morning for commuters as they did this investigation. at this point, there is still plenty of unanswered questions, but this is what we know so far. they were saying, again, this was a double shooting. two male victims shot on the baltimore parkway and both are expected to survive their injuries. they were inside of a mursades a at the time, but what police don't know is what started this shooting. what led to all of this. they also don't know if gunfire was exchanged at this point. they're not saying if there was another weapon found inside of the mercedes. so all of this, these are still questions that need to be answered, again. with no motive, we don't know if this was an act of road rage or if this was a hit, if the suspect knew these two men. they will have to talk with the gentlemen involved in all of this and hopefully get from them more information that could lead to a motive. in riverdale, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. president barack obama left washington a short time ago. he is in new york city at this hour to mark the death of a man who masterminded the september 11th terrorist attacks back in 2001. the president will lay a wreath at the area that quickly became known as ground zero where the twin towers once stood. before the ceremony he will meet with family members of those killed in new york in the attack there. he is also expected to meet with first responders. the first account of what exactly happened in osama bin laden's hideout is evolving as special operators who took part in the raid debrief. jim miklaszewski reports. >> reporter: as the first s.e.a.l. team broke into the compound, they came under fire. killing bin laden's currier and the currier's wife caught in the crossfire. the second team entered the first floor of the residence where they could see a shadow holding something behind his back, he was unarmed. as they moved through the house, they found several stashes of weapons and barricades intended to slow down any invaders. the americans ran into bin laden's 19-year-old son who was shot and killed. he, too, was unarmed. once on the third floor, the seals charge under to the compound. standing in his pajamas and fired two shots, one to the chest, one to the head. although there were weapons in the room, bin laden was also unarmed. instead of a chaotic firefight, u.s. officials now describe the american command assault as a precision clearing operation. in fact, most of the 40 minutes inside the compound was spent gathering up intelligence, computers, hard drives and files that could provide valuable information on al qaeda members and operations. as members left the compound with bin laden's body they blew up one of their helicopters revealing the u.s. military's closely guarded secrets. the remains of what appears to be a stealth helicopter, a modified version of a blackhawk that makes it difficult to detect by radar. pentagon officials refuse to comment. >> nbc will have a special report today as soon as president obama arrives at ground zero. you can watch it live right here on nbc 4. new today, d.c. council member is out of jail. police arrested her and seven other women during a protest. place a federal band on the district using its own money, not federal money to pay for abortions for low-income women. and right now d.c. residents are rallying behind another group of district leaders arrested last month while protesting for home rule. several of those arrested are in court right now. new 4z megan mcgrath is live outside d.c. superior court northwest and has details for us now. good morning. >> well, good morning, barbara. the budget deal struck last month by the president and congressional leaders sparked d.c. voting rights protests. during those events there were acts of civil disobedience as well as arrest. in one of those protests, 41 people including the mayor and 46 county leaders were taken into custody. many of those protesters paid the fine and are no longer a part of the legal action, but 17 others who did not pay the fine are not and they were arraigned here at the courthouse earlier today before they went into the courthouse, though, they rallied outside. they also entered a plea of not guilty. and in an interesting moment, magistrate judge richard ringel seemed sympathetic towards the protesters. always good to see people standing up for what they believe. he set a status date of june 28th. we spoke to a few of the protesters arrested earlier, and they say they have no regrets. >> i lived here in the district now 35 years and i'm a part of a lot of different organizations trying to make the country a better country. people suggest i write my senators or call my senators and i don't have senators. people say write my congressman, i don't have a congressman. i find that outrageous. >> it's been 210 years and turned into nothing more than a political dog fight. you know, we're not recognized as full fledged american citizens. >> now, several of the protesters who were here at this arraignment today did, indeed, pay the fine and, so, they will no longer be a part of the future legal action or a trial. others also may do so as well before that june 28th status date. but we are expecting several members, several protesters, rather, to take this to the trial level. they want to focus attention on d.c. voting rights and challenge what's going on here in the district of columbia. we're expecting a trial date to be set at some point and we will know how many protesters are involved at that status hearing. the mayor has called for the citizens of the district of columbia to rise up and fight for home rule and voting rights and we can expect to see more of these similar-type protests in the future. barbara, back to you. >> megan, thank you for that report. turning to the weather now, a cold start to this day. felt more like autumn out there but bright sunshine and that's warming things up. tom joins us to tell us what we can expect for the rest of this day. >> what a wonderful spring day under way. a fresh and cool start to the day we had and now warming up into the 60s in many locations. out of the mountains, though, it was at or a little below freezing predawn. right now there it's in the 40s to near 50 degrees and over the last 12 hours, high pressure has been moving in with a clear sky and bit of a blustery wind out of the northwest and that will be with us from time to time throughout the afternoon and gusts to 20, 25 miles per hour. otherwise, lots of sunshine and the strong may sun warming us up. by mid-afternoon and the winds will begin to settle down tonight over this evening. we will have a clear sky. it's going to be cool, a light wind. temperatures on the low 60s early evening down to the mid-50s by midnight. changes on the way for friday, we'll look at that as well as the mother's day weekend and photos from my latest school visit as well as a historic visit on this date in u.s. space program history. we commemorate something that happened 50 years ago today. >> look forward to seeing that. we'll head out to the roads now and check the midday traffic with tanya hutchins. >> we do have an accident before 15th street northwest. the right lane is blocked. let's look now 395 northbound at the 14th street bridge. we have a little bit of volume inbound coming into town and an earlier accident near the pentagon is gone, but on the bridge mid-span you can see the left lane is closed and the hov lanes will also be closed. top side of the beltway, we also have volume. could be heavy on and off between university boulevard and georgia boulevard. you will run into left-lane construction. stay to the right. slow at 7. the actual construction is after route 7. leesburg pike. check back with you in a few minutes. >> thank you. gas prices are inching closer to the $4 mark. we just checked with aaa. the national average is $3.99 a gallon. $4 is considered cheap in the district where the average is now $4.16. we found gas topping the $5 mark. in maryland the average price is $3.98 and west virginia $4.16 on average a gallon. we talked with drivers trying to deal with this rising prices. >> it's ridiculous. i can't handle it. i live in maryland, but it's getting there. you see that on there, don't you? 3. 90 where i live. >> what does it cost to fill up your car? >> 100 bucks. >> as the price at the pump keeps rising the demand for gas has been falling and if has for six straight weeks. 11 minutes after 11:00. new progress at japan's nuclear plant. plus, exciting news from the royal newlyweds. it's the little things in life that make me smile. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. at least 13 people are dead and another 30 injured after a suicide bomber in iraq it happened south of baghdad. police say the bomber crashed a car into a barrier outside a police building. iraqi officials say the force of the blast was so powerful it knocked over concrete barriers that surround the building. inside the damaged nuclear power plant since it was damaged back in march. tokyo electric power company told reporters that crews are planning to install ventilation machines to help absorb radiation that is inside the building. originally the radiation levels were too high, but new readings last week showed that the levels had dropped enough for crews to safely enter for short periods of time. prince charles returns to england today. he's wrapping up his three-day trip to washington by prezsidin over a ceremony. he will present honors from his mother, the queen, to three americans. the prince spoke yesterday at georgetown university. he toted the importance of sustainable farmer during a nearly one-hour speech. he later met president obama at the white house and had a private dinner with senator john kerry at his home. the duke and duchess of cambridge will take a trip across the pond. they will visit california in july. it will be part of the first foreign trip this summer, their first foreign trip. the royal couple will visit canada, first, and then head over to california for three days. william's first official trip to the united states. and we can't talk about what kind of weather he will have coming up in july, did we say july or later this summer? >> yes, yes, july. >> but in san francisco, if that's where they're going, almost always the same weather. >> cool there. maybe they'll go to cambridge, maryland, hopefully. here we had a big cool down overnight and a beautiful blue sky this morning. here's the live picture from the skywatcher camera looking off to the west. a glorious may day coming right now. we have just a few clouds off there in the western horizon and cinco de mayo. 60 degrees at reagan national and wind out of the northwest at 12 and you can see the camera bouncing around and a bit of a blustery wind. look at the lows we had this morning. stanton, virginia, shenandoah valley got down to 35 degrees on may the 5th and closer to washington, our temperatures bottomed out in the mid-40s west and north of washington and low 40s northern montgomery county and to the east and south of washington, temperatures bottom out mid-40s there and the low at reagan national was 46 and now, we have climbed back up to around 60 degrees with that strong may sun coming out from the bay to the eastern shore and into the shenandoah valley and generally in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. near 50 in western maryland and much of west virginia. over the last 12 hours, high pressure moving in and that brought in the chill and those winds diminishesing a we get into the afternoon hours. the wind coming from a combination of low pressure and the high pressure pushing in giving us a blustery condition but as the high moves on top of us later today, those winds will diminish considerably. now, as we go forward over the next 48 hours where we see the colors and we could get rain and a disturbance coming our way on friday and during the afternoon, looks like it will be coming through early afternoon, later evening and it will quickly move off to the north and east clear out and saturday morning get some sunshine and showers to our north on saturday. here's how things are looking for the rest of this thursday afternoon, lots of sunshine and mild and breezy afternoon as temperatures climb to around 70 and the winds will diminish although gusts 25 to 30 for the next few hours and then overnight tonight, clear and cool early evening low 60s and by late evening in the mid-50s by midnight and then by dawn tomorrow, down into the mid-40s starting off friday morning. and during the day on friday, we'll have increasing clouds during the afternoon and temperatures climbing into the low 70s and a small chance of a passing shower late afternoon or early evening. then on saturday, near 50 in the morning, some sunshine, a few clouds in the afternoon and highs climbing to near 70. on monday's dther's day on sunds reaching the upper 60s, otherwise mostly cloudy on sunday. here's a look into next week. monday, tuesday and wednesday partly cloudy to cloudy at times and morning lows near 50 and afternoon highs in the low and mid-70s. last week i traveled to chevy chase and visited the rockford school in montgomery county and talked to the bright and happy students and they studied weather and we learned a lot about weather and discussions and they loved looking at the videos i showed them. we had a lot of fun. i want to thank jennifer hitchcock the school counselor for the invitation. now, 50 years ago today, we witnessed the launch of freedom 7 the first american in space alan shepherd was in that little capsule there at the top of the rocket and he was launched into space on this date back in 1961. it was a sub orbital flight only lasted 15 minutes and splashed down in the atlantic ocean and the capsule was retrieved and the capsule is now at the u.s. naval academy visitor center because he was a navy guy and you can see it there in the visitor center at the u.s. naval academy in annapolis commemorating the historic of the first man in space, first human in space. that was three weeks after the flight. >> i thought you were going to say three weeks after you were born. >> so he was the first american in space. >> thank you so much, tom. thank you for that. that is exciting to hear of it. it's been that long. and we're going to check now on our mid-day traffic. tanya hutchins standing by with a look at the roads. >> prince william parkway, the eastbound lanes are blocked. let's look at 95 north of the aquaquam. if you're passing 123, the construction will be in the right lane. slow from the prince william parkway, but traffic is getting by. 66 just west of nuttily at blake. we had a report of a disabled tractor trailer that had the right lane blocked earlier and the arrow that we had earlier is now gone and those delays are now easing. back to you, barbara. >> thank you so much. it is now 11:20. still ahead, a workout guide with busy moms in mind and why exercise can be a great mother's day present to yourself. ♪ a look at "ruined." it's playing right now at the arena stage. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. so, what happens if i'm in an accident and need to get my car fixed? progressive makes it easy because we give you choices. you can pick where to get your car fixed. we can cut you a check. or, at our service center, we take care of everything for you. ♪ [nervous laugh] whoo! so many choices. take your time. the service center. okay. giving you choices. now, that's progressive. call or click today. this sunday is mother's day. a great time to encourage the busy mom in your life to take a little time for herself, maybe put a new emphasis on health and fitness. steve hayes is here to help our moms out there and everyone else to get started. hello, steve. >> hello, barbara. >> you brought some moms with you today. some good-looking moms that look like they're taking time for themselves. who are you? >> i'm lisa. >> how many children do you have? >> i have two daughters. >> and you are? >> jen and i have two boys. >> you two look like you spend time working out. how much time do you work into your busy schedule? >> four days a week. >> for how long? >> an hour each. >> a minimum of five for me. >> oh, wow. you put in a lot of time and that's a good thing, right? >> that's great. >> you think we have to be out there every day, though. >> every day we can do something different but just take it in moderations. >> i have definitely incorporated your walk. that is one of the things that you all say we have to do. get this in and let's show them how to do it. >> that walk is important. open up the palms and get a nice, brisk move. >> ladies, you do it, too. >> we're stationary, but when you're moving -- >> i'm out there, my neighbors see me doing it. >> you engage the hips, abs and everything and incredible cardio. >> at least a half hour of that in a day. >> half an hour of that a day, at least three times a week. at least three times a week. at least three times a week. >> that walk very, very important for circulation. >> you want to show us now the step-up lunge. this is different from a regular lunge and tell us what it works on. >> the step-up lunge. we are going to step on here coming from this side and this works the gluts and hips and the quads. one thing about it -- >> go for it. >> she squats down and she takes her time and pushes back up. >> you can use the stairs in your house, something that is stationary. >> the reason i brought this, you don't need any expensive item in order to do this. your stairs iniourhouse is perfect. it works the hips and quads. >> ten repetitions. >> any minor adjustment. >> just step right up on it and instead of pushing back, keep your body up and kick back without coming off. >> your next exercise is a standing leg raise and extension. >> the standing leg raise. jen is going to do this. this one works hips, quads and abs. this is to get the hips in shape. jen, again, as you come up, bring the knee up and extend the leg out. this way you're working the hamstring and as you're bringing the weight up. the reason you have the weights up, allows you to put emphasis on your abdominals and have gravity pull it down. you need your abdominals hold it up. works the hamstring, the back of the leg and the hip. >> this has to be good for the core, too, which is what we hear all the time. >> excellent. very important. that's why the weights are like that and the resistance. >> as we get older the core exercises are very, very important for keeping everything together. quickly, show us the one for our back sides. hurry, hurry, hurry, let's do it. >> if you don't have, here's a partner. as you come back, you bend this knee up and you just row back and you keep that leg tightly engaged like this. >> step back so they can see them doing it. you need a partner. >> you don't need a partner. you can hold on to the wall. just in case you don't have a partner. you engage the hips and quads. >> butt buster. that's one of the most important ones for all of us. men and women. >> yes, yes. >> we will save your nutrition tip for next week. >> i have a good one for you, too. >> we'll be eating lots of doughnuts and stuff as mothers. thanks so much. >> thank you. thanks for coming. steve, always good to see you. >> now 11:28. coming up in the next half hour, how to do it yourself project caused a local home to blow up. we have information on that. you want to hear this. flooding in the midwest has a real crisis out there. we'll tell you what extreme measures are being taken right now. it's thursday, which means tom kierein is looking ahead to right now on news 4 midday, traffic is moving, again, on the bw parkway. all lanes were closed after this morning's rush after two people shot on the parkway. both rushed to the hospital and are expected to survive. president obama is in new york city right now to honor those who died in the 9/11 attacks. the president will lay a wreath at ground zero around 1:30 this afternoon. it has been nearly ten years since osama bin laden, who is now dead, of course, masterminded a terrorist attack on new york city that killed around 3,000 people. vice president biden will be at the pentagon today to lay a wreath. well, as fighting continues to plague the midwest and south, the army corps of engineers decided to blow up another levee. crews will detonate the last levee in order to divert water away from vulnerable homes and businesses. meanwhile, president obama has declared emergencies for kentucky, tennessee and mississippi, which authorizes fema to step in. in fmemphis, the mississippi river will crest at 48 feet, that's 41 feet above flood stage. >> it's the worst one we ever had. get this water down to the gulf of mexico, with the least amount of damage to anybody and get it down as fast as we can. >> the river is expected to overflow all the way from minnesota down to the gulf of mexico with 11 locations already measuring record crests. and let's take a look at our traffic here in the washington area, see how things are moving out there. here's tanya hutchins. >> the eastbound lanes of dale boulevard are closed due to an accident there. this is 95 at the springfield interchange. earlier we had heavier traffic running southbound. it looks like it's getting a little bit better. they are about to change over the hov lanes and right now they look closed at this point. northbound traffic is running no problem here. let's look at 495 just north of the american legion bridge. all lanes are opened here moving between maryland and virginia and no major delays or problems to report. 66 just west of nuttily, we do have some slow downs stemming from an earlier accident. we had a disabled tractor trailer in the eastbound lanes and that is now gone, and these are some of the remnants from that earlier accident and this is what it looks like, 66 at 123. that's it for now, back to you, have a great one, barbara. >> all right, you, too. thank you. here's a story that will make you think twice about doing something on your own. an improperly installed natural gas drier is to blame for a massive explosion that sent a couple flying out of their montgomery county home. the house exploded early yesterday morning in the garret park area. the man is in serious condition and the woman has life-threatening injuries. the man was cryitrying to conve gas dryer to electric by himself. they estimate the damage at $750,000. one fairfax county neighborhood is on alert with a man who sexually assaulted one of their neighbors still on the loose out there. the 62-year-old woman was taking out her trash at her home in franconia when she was attacked in broad daylight last month. the masked man grabbed her from behind and raped her. they returned to the neighborhood yesterday for the second time in a month looking for clues in this case, police did. investigators say they fear that the suspect could strike, again. and today a federal commission will submit a report calling for a national museum devoted to american latino history. here's a live look at capitol hill where the commission will turn in its report to congress. it calls for the museum to be established as a smithsonian latino museum located on the national mall. the commission recommends congress provide half of the cost and get the rest through private donations. the total price, they say, will be $600 million. in news 4 your health, it appears that the meseles are making a comeback in the u.s. already this year, 89 cases. normally the u.s. sees 50 cases a year, thanks to vaccinations. europe is also seeing a big increase with more than 6,500 cases in 33 countries. medical experts say almost all of these cases in the states were sparked by people bringing it back here from other countries. well, the capitals' quest for the cup is no more as the tampa bay lightning has ended the team's run for the title. another season full of hope, promise ends with washington on the wrong side of the post-series handshake as the caps are unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs. the caps were knocked out in four straight against the tampa bay lightning losing last night 5-3 to end their season. washington just couldn't shut down tampa's dynamic offense and rookie goalie was shaky, letting in five goals on 37 shots. afterwards, veteran forward brooks told reporters, no matter their regular season accomplishments not winning the cup this year is viewed as a failure to players and fans alike. >> where we finish in the regular season or anything like that, you measure yourself by the ultimate goal and when you don't achieve it, it's tough to take and tough to accept that you're not quite there yet. >> the caps now have another long, painful off season full of questions. this is the fourth straight year washington has lost a playoff series to a lower seed. well, a trip to target was more exciting than one maryland couple could have ever imagined because of what they found in the parking lot. joe and sadie were leaving the frederick store when they noticed something on the ground. sadie finally decided to pick it up. it turned out to be a 2 karat tiffany-style engagement ring. they called the store for four straight days and the store told them that a desperate woman just called looking for her ring. four hours later they showed up at her door. the woman is getting married in just three weeks and gave them a thank you letter and a cash reward. still ahead on news 4 midday, we'll sit down with the stars of the production "ruined." it's the story of war, resilience and hope. plus, looking forward to this summer's blockbuster. a what's with the... hydrangeas ? uh huh. checking fees. what ? my shrink said i need to channel my hostility towards checking fees into something 'beautiful.' touch the ball. get rid of checking fees. get electric orange checking, from ing direct. no "you're not rich enough fees." no "fee of the month fees." because we don't like fees. beautiful. more than 100 people will be out of a job in prince william county in july. budget cuts at the pentagon are translating into layoffs for a contact plant. the marine corps decided not to buy fighting vehicles from general dynamics. the company's plant will lay off 112 employees because of that. that's about a third of the workforce there. the year-long battle to reach a contract agreement for nurses at washington's largest hospital may finally be over. officials from washington hospital center and the union representing 1,700 nurses announces a deal, but it still needs to be approved. they have been working without a contract for a year. their one-day strike after negotiations broke down. it ended up with them being locked out from work for an additional four days. nurses will hold an official vote friday and saturday in order to ratify this new contract. the number of people applying for unemployment benefits surged last week to the highest level in eight months. we'll check in now with cnbc courtney reagan. she joins us with more on that and the rest of the day's headlines. hi, courtney. >> stocks are slumping. the dow is down by about 65 points and that follows a drop yesterday. precious metals also lower. gold is now trading below $1,500 an ounce. oil prices falling again today. i believe we're around $102. it's hard to keep track. asia was lower, as well, on concerns about the u.s. and chinese economies. a mixed bag of economic news this morning. same-store sales came in strong for the month of april so that shifted the sales into april from march. but then as you mention, barbara, jobless claims climb to an eight-month high posting a gain of 43,000 for the week, surprising economists predicted a drop of 410,000. gm reported very strong earnings beating the street by 4 cents per share after posting some very strong sales numbers earlier this week. now, bank of america will focus on parts of the country hit especially hard by homeowners struggling to make monthly payments because the payment will open new centers in different areas around the country, including seven locations in california and three in the detroit area. last month federal regulators ordered the nation's biggest mortgage lenders to step up their efforts to help home owners. hopefully this is one small step to help us finally turn around this housing market slump. back to you, barbara. >> all right, thank you. have a great day. >> thank you, you do the same. in this week's wednesday's child, we reconnect with a teen who is still hoping to find a forever home and a loving family for advice. i caught up with michelle as she was on a shopping trip for the prom. picking a prom dress is not easy. especially when there's no mom there whose taste you can argue with, but usually depend on for being the best for you. >> michelle, hi. >> hi. >> how are you? good to see you all grown up. looking for a prom dress? >> yes. >> well, let's look together. michelle is still waiting for the family she told us she was wishing for at 9 years old when she first appeared with us as a wednesday's child. back then she wanted to be a chef. today she has some new ideas. >> well, i want to be an artist and i want to go to school to be a doctor. >> how are you doing in school? >> i'm doing good. >> that's great to hear. at 16, michelle is still waiting and hoping for that family. right now she's living in a group home. >> what's it like living in a group home sph. >> all my life i never had a family to care for me. so, i always wanted to be adopted by a family that will care for me. >> someone to care about the things that she cares about, like what dress to wear to the prom. >> i have some wonderful ideas. >> dana tresler offered to give michelle some help in her selection. she picked some dresses, shoes, bags and accessories to try on. >> how do you invasion yourself at the prom? >> beautiful. the bell of the ball. >> and it was off to the fitting room. >> you look gorgeous in that. fantastic. that's a good one. and the one she liked best. you look absolutely fabulous. >> you think this is the one? >> yes. >> on behalf of jcpenney, the dress, the shoes and all the fashion accessories are yours for prom. >> thank you. >> you are so welcome. >> it was hard for michelle to hold back the tears. we all agreed she was destined to be the bell of the ball. and one day, there may just be a family around to tell her that, too. barbara harrison, news 4. if you have room in your home and your heart for michelle, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me or go to our website, nbcwashington.com. keeping audiences on the edge of their seats with a thrilling plot twist and beautiful music, too, at the arena stage. join us this morning to talk more about the production. welcome. did i say your name right? this is our washington native here. i got to get it. say it for me. >> jamaris. >> i said i was going to have a hard time with it and i did. i was lucky enough to get to see all three of you perform on your opening night last week. and it was just unbelievable. just amazing. and i hear that that's what everyone is writing about this production. i think the post has a review today. first of all, i wanted to hear their voices because they play characters from the congo in africa and i had to hear you speak to realize you're all american, but your accents are just amazing. this is not the first time you have been on the stage. yours maybe? >> yes. >> your first time ever. >> my first professional production. >> arena stage discovered you. let's start with you, jeremiah, tell us about your background. >> born and raised in new york city. my theater background started from, i guess, as soon as i came out of the womb. >> give me a little taste of that accent i heard on there. give us a couple of lines. >> a curveball at me. >> you weren't expecting that one. >> i was born and raised in new york city and my family got me into the acting business. >> incredible. >> and how did you study that? >> you know, being raised in new york, you are related to, your accents are all around you. >> as a good actor, that's what you would do. >> absolutely. >> amazing. there you are on the stage. and rachel, let's move on to you. i know your family is from jamaica. >> yes. >> but you grew up in new york city? >> very proud first generation american. my father was an olympic boxer and my mother was a model. i'm the youngest of nine. >> you're not only an actress but a singer a well. >> yes. >> you sing in this production, which was a surprise. >> i heard that a lot. shall i ask you to sing? one or two notes. you sing ocpelo in the show. >> sure. ♪ ♪ douse the fires of your fears my friend ♪ >> what a gorgeous voice and she sings throughout the show and it is astounding. and you are really the comic in this, aren't you? >> yes. >> the comic in many ways. how tall are you, actually, and how tall do you play? >> i'm 5'11" without heels on and in the show i think i have four inch heels on throughout the show. yeah. >> where did you study acting that led you to the arena stage? >> i went to school here in d.c. and i went to rutgers university for acting and got my bfa from there. >> now, is that you? >> that's me. >> yes, there you are, again. wonderful, wonderful job from all of you. one of you, i would like to gyo give a summary of what the play is about. >> it takes place in the congo, and it is sad that it is still going on. runs this brothel and, basically, she gets caught. for business you want to serve everyone, but there are rebel soldiers that are pitched against each other. all about getting this precious mineral that is in our cell phones and devices as we speak and the congo has, what is it? roughly 60% in the world so everyone is going after this colton and, basically, it catches up with her because one of the rebel soldiers finds out that she is fighting with the other side and she has to have some answers. >> pretty amazing and interesting plot. it tells a story. it's sad in many ways and also funny, as we said. and a lot of really incredible sexuality displayed, which you would have to have in a brothel to make it real. >> yeah. >> but that without taking any clothes off is pretty amazing feat. we're glad that you're here. >> thanks for having us. >> arena stage, brand-new building. they renovated a few wreyears a >> it's amazing. i mean, sometimes people talk about how challenging it is, but, for me, you get to play. and every direction you turn there's somewhere to play. you just have to keep going and keep acting and my sister came to see the show the other day and she said she kept watching to see this is going on over here, but she kept watching. are you still in it? you can't hide on that stage. >> we are so thrilled that you came. "ruined" is the show. how much longer will it be there? >> june 5th. >> are tickets still available? >> yes. >> been a pleasure having you here. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for coming. thank you. our time right now, 11:51. a preview of big movie releases ware starting to hear about the summer movie season. we thought we'd look at a few of the films we thought might be worth your time. hi. >> hi, barbara. >> you have some picks for us that you think might be good. let's start off with the one that you say a comedy that will have some familiar faces from "saturday night live." >> that's right. the movie is "bridesmaids." the female answer to "the hangover." and basically the movie stars mia rudolph and kristen wig as women planning a major bachelorette party and everything goeses awry. critics are really liking it. the movie is going to open may 13th ask i think this will give "the hangover 2" a run for its money. >> let's move on to another sequel. this one is for "pirates of caribbean." >> the third installment of the franchise and this time he's playing in a movie called "on stranger tides." he's starring with penelope cruz who looks gorgeous, as always. this film is reminiscent of the last few. folks aren't really excited about it, but i think a lot of people will see it because people just love jack sparro. >> do you need to see the first one to see the second one? >> no, i think this is a whole new story line. >> for kids, a new "transformers" movie. >> you can't get bigger than "transformers." called "dark side of the moon" and a lot of people know megan fox is not back. this is going to be a really interesting film to watch and it comes out in july. this is a big one for kids. you know it. >> have you been a fan of "transformers"? >> i really liked the first one. i was a kid when "transformers" was really popular. >> thank you for those ideas. for more ideas for your weekend logon to nbcwashington.com. and let's find out what's coming up later this evening. let's go to pat lawson. she joins us in the newsroom with a look at things to come. >> coming up at 4:00, reactions a president obama visits ground zero today. also coming up, the story of a woman who underwent routine surgery and came out speaking with a foreign accent. tonight on news 4 at 5:00, bubble trouble. craola has a new line that has parents fuming and we'll tell you why. after being swept by the tampa bay lightning, we want to know which changes you think the caps need to make during the off season. weigh in on that on nbc washington facebook page. we'll share some of the results. barbara? >> i can't wait to hear about that, the lady waking up with the foreign accent. >> called foreign accent syndrome and this is not all that rare. >> amazing. thank you so much, pat. we have time for a final check of our forecast. here's tom. >> you have a beautiful blue sky over us now and a bit of a blustery wind and cameras bouncing around and live picture there and lots of sunshine and that warm may sun will warm us up. climbing to the 60s and mid-70s by mid-afternoon and winds will diminish over night tonight and mostly clear, down into the mid-40s tomorrow and tomorrow's afternoon highs mid-70s. a small chance of a shower tomorrow afternoon. sun in the morning and a few clouds in the afternoon and highs climbing into the low 70s and could get a few showers on mother's day on sunday, mostly cloudy. highs upper 60s. a look into next week. seasonal temperatures and partly cloudy skies and afternoon highs into the 70s and that is the way it looks. we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> all right, tom, thank you. that's news 4 midday for today. we thank you for being with us and invite you for more tonight at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. have a terrific day and we'll - ( music playing ) - we know technology can make you more connected. but now it can make you more connected to your doctor through e-mail. test results from home. check records. change appointments. now doctors, nurses, techs, pharmacists are all digitally connected to each other. and ultimately connected to you. at kaiser permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful. kaiser permanente. thrive.