i'm bbara harrison. no doubt the were some happy kids this mning and another rod of winter weather caused delays and cancelationbut when drivers hit the roadshey were pleasantly surprised. we have more on fairly smooth commute this morning from oxen hill. >> reporte we have been all over the regn this morning om prince georgesounty to virginia, back to prince georges county and here's what we have seen all around. great-looking ads. crews jumd ahead of the storm and drivers say job well done. >> getting out of the cplex is icy. >> reporter: looking okay >> looks okay. main roads look okay. i hope i have a safe trip . >> reporter: drivers expecting the worse pleantly surprised by an easy-flong morning commute. from the belay to major and secoary roads around the region, the presatreatment, salting and plowing paid of by and large, no oblems. >> it wasn't bad. i was coming out of d.c. not bad. >>eporter: prince georges countykids had a two-hour delay. officials hoped the latter start gives road crews timeo work just in case. >> looks like rash decision but in the best interest of the kids because had there been ice and come in time we wou have complained an about the. >> rorter: predicted to be a mess morning but looks like we dodged another with. >> last year we were hit hard but this year so far so go. >> reporter: wle we are in the clear for now we ve a melting. a lot of snow. and dealing with freezing temperatures so be careful again this evening. tracy lkins, news4. >> we definitely dodged another huge winter storm. right now pounding the northeas new york got about nine inches compared to 20 a couple of weeks ago and connecticut and boston under about two feet ofnow at this point and still coming down. added to that 40-mile-per-hour winds causing outages an major problemsn the roadways and the winter storm causi trouble in airports in the northeast, as well. trouble for passengers he in the area. news 4's melissa mola with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. you n see not too many people re this morning. peoplevery, very smart calling ahead and knowing that lots of flights canceled today. the story is the board. lots of fol checking for their flight this moing, 70 departures cut from the schedu. the problem, of course, suect the weather here but theeather there. cancel flight after canceled flht. piles of snow elsewhere translating into dozens of cancelations in the washingn area. janelle jones spent the night right here. >> the connectinglight at 7:30 nceled so they couldn't d anything else for me. >> repter: airport crews worked as stranded travelers tried to sleep plowing the runways. more than 1,500 fligh canceled because of the latest winter blast. >> m first and second fghts canceled and hopefully the third one th morning won't. >> reporter: travelers i general over old man winter. >> kind of de with it >> reporter: what a way to end a college break. janelle jones ting to get back to classes in abama. it was a 20-hour stayer and armed with this blanket. >> my mom actlly suggested that i keep this wh me because she's been stuck in the airport before for twoays so she kind of knew something might happen. >> reporter: this family dodged all thedelays. they're o to st. thomas ready for relaxation. the last few days haven't been fun. >> i have been nervous for 24 hours. maybe the last 48. even longer than that because i had been anticipating the storm. >> i'll believe i when i g there. >> reporter: wh parts of the cotry staggered by the snow, nelle just hopin she gets out of in time to get back to class. >> thankfully, school doesn't start until the 18th and trying to regter on time. >> reporter: now, the travel delays expected to last for a couple of days and it uld get worse as that additional snois expected to fall in the northeast. back the you, barbara. >> good advice from her motr to take a blanket along. i'll rember that trick. >> reporter: verysmart, very smart, absolutely. >> thank you. service disruption on amtrak. a falle tree in massachusts rced a temporary suspensio of service between new york city and ston. crews e working to reir the damage to the overhead power system. service is not affected but passengers are advised that travel delaysould pop up as the day goes on. aook outside around here. snow blowing arod the area this morning but theun is out and doing some work at melting things. tom's with us now and i thi you tell m the tperatures still belo freezi? >> most locations still below freezing and most of theime beeen now and saturday morning we are goi to be below freezing so what's fallen is likely staying in place here for the next several days. and this morning, we have had some temperatures around our regionhat have been hovering in t 20s and the radar's showing passing snow showers mainly to the north. right now getti light sno in northern frederi county, northerly carol, the pennsylvania border and north of there and to the west in washington county and panhandle of west virginia, the snow shers out of the north and west arod that powerful storm that's pounding new england and it's affecting the weatherven here. right now, just ave freezing reagan nationalnd southern maland with icingovernight. and some snow on top ofthat. lo at the latest wind gusts, gusting to around 30 miles per hour. the peak gusts and aa result our windchills are only in e tes and low 20s so even though approaching the freezing mark it feels like it's oy in the teens to low 20s. it's a cold morning in western maryland and west virginia. only near 20 degrees there. and it's nr the freezing mark on the etern shore. now that storm did dump about, oh, eight, ni, ten inches around new york city and unloadina lot of snow in you e new england andwind, as ll. we haveinter storm wnings for the westn mountains of western maryland and west virginia. sun and clouds, windy andcold. highs reaching mid-30s and some improvement by t end of the week. a look a that in a few minutes. we' going to check onhe midday traffic now. let's ta to sve hershorn about the roads. sounds like they were ready for the snow thi morning or last night. people got around pretty well this morning. >> there was one exception. here we are, footage of serious accident overnight on the outer loop after telegraph road that closed the through lanes or express lanes acro the wson bridge and closed it to be closed for quite a while. they're doing that again right now. if we can ad over to the live shotf the wilson bridge, we can show you that traffic is moving pretty smoothly acss the wilson bridge and being diverted at telraph road on to the local les once again. you can rejoin the expres lanes in alendria and that's still there to fix the wall tha accident damag so there's delays leavingspringfield heading toward the wilson bli g bridge it gets better. over to springfid right now, looking pretty go. road work well south of here now route 1 and movg well. barbara? >> thank you, steve. final preparations right now in tucson, arizona,or a public memorial to honor the victims of the last weend mass shooti. here in whington president obama is scheduled to leigho athe e that ceremo. noelle walker has more o what's ahd today. >> reporter: the university of arizona preparing t host a community memorial service night, one of many service to rember the victims of saturday'seadly shooting. ♪ hallelujah reporter: a mass lastight gave the community a chance to release emotions. arizona governor jan brewer at the site of a growi memorial the hospital lawn. >> the statistics, six dead, 14 wounded, no way explain the deptof this tragedy. >> reporter: suspe jared loughner's parents expressed their own anguish in a statement saying, quote, it may not make any difference but we wish we could change the heinous events of saturday. inside the loughner's home investigators say they fou a profanity-laced note expressing jared ughner's whes for congresswoman giffords to die. instead doctors say she is making progress. >> the only reason we keep that brthing tube in is to protect the airway. she has no right to look ts good and she does. we're hopeful. >> reporr: the chief of staff saidhe nationwide outpouring of sport is felt in e icu room. >> wfeel it inside. i think it's helpful, viously. psychologically helpful to the family and i think the coresswoman sees this and makea difference in the recovery. >> reporte giffords'amily released bedside photos of her huand at her side a. picture worth a thousand words. but these images need only two. love and hope. nole walker, nbc news, tucson. as doctorsonitor congresswoman giffords the colleagues in washington payin tributto her on the house floor. nbc 4's kimberly suiters is live in the newsroomith more. kimberly? >> reporter: good morning. representatives are debing a house relution although not truly dating and no question it will have unanimous consent. six hours today to condemn the attack i arizona, to pay ibute to those who died, to pray for those still recovering, to thank health professionals and ordinary citizens for extraordinary acts of urage, to comme that days likehis show congres at its best. it hors giffords for the serve and leadership and reaffirms the constitutional right of the peoe to assemble peacefully and recalls that congresswoma giffords herself read the first amendment on the house floor last week. ere she is. and states eloquently quoting here that it stands firm in its belief in a democracy in which intimidation and threats of violence cannot silence the voicesf any america. speaker of the house john boehner spoke first bringg emotion into the chamber. >> our heartsre broken but our spirit is not. this is a time for the house to lock arms in prayer for the fallen and the woued and resolved to carry on a dialogue ofdemocracy. we may not yetave all the final answers, but we already have the answerhat matters most. that we're americans and we'll make it throu this diffilt period. we will have the last word. >> reporter: just before 1:00, members willecess for a bipartisan prayer seice. and just as speaker boehner said we will have the last word, you may have heard ove the last few days how the accused gunman jared loughne said that words don't matter. government doesn'tmatter. where our u.s.ongress today is trying to prove the late. kimberly suiters, news 4, bac to you. >> thank you. in the wake of th tragedy in tucson, forr alaska vernor sarah palin says a statement on a video posted on the facebook page. >> actsf monstrous criminality stand on their own. they begin and end with the criminals who commit them. not collectively with all of the citizens of a state. not with those who listen t talk radio. not with maps of swing districts usedy both sides of the aisle. >> palin went on to say politicians usually find common ground in debate. last spring, palin targeted democrat giffords' district as e of 20 to be taken back by republicans. the 2008 vice presidential candidate has been kricriticize for marng each area with a cross hairs of gun fight. 13 minutes after 11:00 is our timenow. least 22 people dead and more than 40 are missing across australia because of flooding. we'll have the latest from there. plus, haiti one yeafter that devastating earthquake and w people in ourrea are rking the anniversary. >>also coming up, a stumble by the secretary of state and neither verbal or diomatic. caught on camera. st ahh!uto. sir? finding everything oka i work for a different insurance company. my ao policy's just getting a little t expensive. with progressive, you get the "namyour price" tool. it helps you find thprice that's right for you. oh, the ice gun. ♪ ahh wish we had this. we just ll people what to pay. yeah, we'rthe only ones that do. i loveour insurance. bill? tom? hey! it an office party! the "name your price" tool. only from progressive. call or click toy. here'shat you should be watching: yo cable bill. because you could beaying way too much. upgrade to vizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month for a year. us this special bonus: over 25 hbo and cinex channels free for 3 months. there's no term coract required. you can cancel anyti with no early termination fee. with fios, you get superior picture qlity, more hd, plus internet rated #1 in satisfaction, speed and reability. fios just keeps getting bett. and now you can watch select movies you buy on dend not just on your tv, but on your laop and smartphone. it's fios on the go. stop paying for second best. get fios for ju $99.99 a month, plus hbo and cinemax, fr for 3 months. call 1.888.884.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disilities th's 1.888.884.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a networahead. viceresident biden touched down in pakistan overnight. the trip wasot announc ahead of time. the vice president is expected to disss pakistan's efforts to crac down on the taliban and al qaeda militants. > the secretary of state adds new meaning t the expreion overseas trip. hillary clinton was boarding a plane in yemen and turned around to wave to the crowd and then apared to lose the footing walking through the pne door. she got right back, though. didn't appear to be hurt. clinton stopped in oman after yemen. and today marks the one-year anniversarof the devastating earthquake in iti. e quake which rocked the capital city of port-au-prince killed more than 230,000 people d left more than a million and a ha homeless. a year later, still more than 0,000 remain without homes and are livin in tents. former president bill clinton s been touring the country t monitor progress in the recovery there. but that recovery has been slowed by a chole outbreak and reduced aid coming in to the country. the earthquake was t fourth deadliest on record. and washington's roman catholic arcishop and the iti ambassador will hold a mass in remembrce of those that died in the earthquake beginning at 4:00 this afternoon. at 400 michiga avenue in northeast washinon. at least 22 peoe are dead and dozens are missing in sever flooding in australia. a focal point is the cotry's third largest city of brisbane and the river that runs through it there. emergency alarms are sounding and rising water forced residents to move t higher ground as the floodwaters pour in. ficials say 20,000 homes are danger there. many of e residents left their homes and crowdednto evacuation centers to wait out the flooding. it's expecd to reach its height tomorrow. and tom joins us. is foding and rain at this particular tim of theear a common occurrenc in australia? >> well, no. notike that. i an, that is incredibly unusua they get the monsoonains but no that incredible widespread flooding. here, we have a littleit of snow last night and this morning a winter wonderlanscenes of beauty around the region befe the winds kicked up. prince georges county looking beautifu there's just a light dusting of snow there. abt an inch fell there in near fort washington. further north they got about two ches but the windsave since picked upnd as a result much of t snow on this beautiful pine tree is gone. sn blown right off and right now ve view from our city camera showing the wind swept and ice chod waters of the pomac river. just down river is reagan national and the winter snowfall at 3.5nches thanks to the 1 inch that fell yesteay and still almost an inch below average toate for snowfall. have been getting some large storms this winter but so far we ha escaped the major storms and overnight we did pick up about one to three inches in northern virginia and in the zone around the district and much of maryland highe amounts in ntheastern maryland. some of e higher regions and south mouain and right along braddock mouain got about four inches there and some of the hi ridges, too, along the blue ridge, as well but later today they could get more snow in western maryland. righ now a few flurries. showing up in theanhandle of west virginiand doing that this morningn washington county, northern frederick county down to braddock mountn and then northern carol county. they're sort of snow themselves out and as they do we'll have a few remnant flurries further south here aroun washington in the next few hours. right now, it's generally still belo freezing throughoutost of the region. near 30 in prince georges, montgomery, arlington and fairfax. still below freezing mt points on the eastern shore. these are the latest wind gusts. peak gusts of nearly 30 mirns and higher further to the west and last few minutes winhills down into the teens. when you step out you need to layer up and getting above freezing and feels colder. meanwhile in western maryland, west virginia, near 20 deges there. justeginning to get a little above freezing around virginia tidewater. 12 hos, the storm sysm exited the regi. dump ten inche of snow in new rk and now 15 inches of snow on t ground right now from easterlong island up into connecticut, rhode isnd, eastern massausetts getting wind gusting to 50 miles per hour. and heavy snow. all thescount ties in pink under a winter storm warning. they could get four to eht inch of snow from the mor storm that really deepened rapidly and now the mai center of circulation is almt like a winter hricane that is inning right over cape cod, swinging in atlantic moiste in the cold air in place in new hampire, massachusetts and maine and getting pounded wit that heavy snow as the low does pull away, we are close enough to it to have winds whipping into the regio and then relax with high pressure beginning to move i and settle down here but stays cold. for the rest of thefternoon, we'lle above freing for a w hours and winds gusting to 30 mes per hour and a few clouds racing through and windy and ld tonigh uppe teens. thursday, windy andcold. just near 30 during the afternoon so generally sub freezing allhe way to saturday morning and then upper 30s. sunday, monday tuesday to warm a bit up to 40 or so each ternoon and might have rain on tuesday. and that'she way it looks right now. keeping you postedn that and esn't appear more snow in the forecast here for the next seven days. and that'she way it looks, barbara. >> should be happy about that. >> se are disappoint. >> thank you so much. and let's get ather look the midday traffic now. steve hershorn, good morning again. >> good morning, barba. there's a proem for traffic signals for those heading to the ceer of town at south i street and causing a backu both ways on south capital street. over to the belay near connecticut avenue, looks like the roads e dryg out. travel lanes right now moving very well. no delays. no rd work around theeltway in maryland right now. over to springfield, thgh, doin road work southbound on i-95 just beyond camera range. blocking a lane and not kaz ugh much of a backup. barbar >> thank you. >> 11:23 the time now and still ahead, a little trouble for the man with a golden voice. why police detained the once homeless man. and the results are in. this is betsy beforen ambush makeov. we'll show you her new look and how beauty professiols achieved it. but first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. copd makes it hard to breathe so i wasn't playing much of a ro in my own life. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i've got the leading pa. advair is clinicallyroven to helsignificantly improve lung functio unlike most co medications, vavair contas both an anti-inflammatory ana long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung functi all day. advair won't replace fast-actininhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used re than twice a day. ople with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair mayncrease your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have heart ndndition or high blood pressure before taking adva. if you're still ving difficulty breathing, take 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suffered a first ding. police temporarily dained ted willms at a hollywood hotel. he was the man that received job offers and national attenti after a video was posted online. someone called police whene was in an aument with his daughter. no one was arrested. police called it a mor disturbance. williams told "entertainment tonight" it was a family gathering that got out of contro judge in the michael jackson death ca has revoked the medical licee of jason's doctor and allowing him to be tried on involuntary manslaughter charges. the judge's ruling comes after a six-day hearing in the case. prosecutors say dr. conrad murray gave jacks aethal dose of a powerful sedative and iled to provide proper care to resuscitate him. an expert testified that it's possible that jacks administered the fatal dos of propofol himself. ou time right now, 11:27. coming up, the ntheast is geing slammed this morng by the winter storm that just grazed us. we havthe latest ononditions from nework to bost. and our area we could hav some sunshine later today but will it warm ? tom is back wh the latest on the forest. > and prescription drug abuse is a growing problem but there's no a medication that could help addicts. we'll exain. right now on "news 4 midday," the house honoring victims of saturday's shootings in tucn incding congresswoman gabrile giffords. later thi afternoon president obama will be in arizona to atnd a public memorial service for victims a families at the university of arizona. despite some heavy, wet snow overnight road conditions ha been faiy decent all day and didn't stop many schools from delayi or canceling classes today. be careful on the roads. whilmost main roads areclear, some side roads have slick spots. boston getng hammered by heavy, dense snow and high winds rit now. the city und a blizzard warning that began at 2:00 this morning until 8:0tonight. about an hour ago, snow falling at aate of one to two inches per hour. an 's all a result of a convergence of two storms. nbc's al roker reports >> reporter: ptsf the south are still reeling fm the ice and snow. alabama, georgia, louisiana and the carolinas called a state o emergency. roads became icerinks. thousands of homes lost power. now, the systemhat pummeled the south joins forces with another swstorm that raced across the midwest tuesday, together, they're combing for a classic n'easter that pound the eastcoast. the heavy sw ended in philadelphia but it stretches to heren boston where blizzard condions are expected. two weeksgo the east coast w hammered with as much a32 inches of snow. airports cled. holiday travele stuck for days. new york city paralyzed. overnight, advance crews trying to get an early jump on clearing the snow. >> in antipation of the storm, you should know tt our sanitation department has 365 salt spreade and 1,700 plows ready. >> reporr: it's badews for air travelers. over 2,000 flights can elled esday and many more today. >> i'm trying to drive out of here a that looks like it's hours. like a winter wonderland out there. you wonder ifou'll make it. >> and probably a winter wonderland right nownd hard to stayn top of a blizzar when it's going on, isn't it, even u in bost? >> ah. winds are blowing to 50 miles per hour there now and like you mentioned 1 to 2-ch per hour snowfall ras. we a affecting here in the rm of gusty winds and a spoke of energy around the storm triggering sw showers and flurries to the wes and north. panhandle of west virginia, shington, northern frederick, northern carol counties in maryland andacross the pennsylvia border into southern pennsylvania. th's a broad are of som light snow generally ting to slide south and east a tending to snow itself out by the time it gets here we may have a few flurries and temperatus are cold. only in the upper 20s a low 30s now and t latest wind gusts around miles per hour and as a result lo at the windchills. this iwhat it feels like steppingout. these are the coldest winds of winter her coming from the big area o low pressure spinning right over cape cod and pounding new engla with snow and wind ande have winter storm warnings for western marand and mh of eastern west virginia. ey could get up to eight inches of new stuff there today. winds diminish tonight and tomorrow and in the afternoon d evening going calm and main story is cold most of the te belowreezing into saturday morning, saturday afternoon upper 30s. might be low 40s sunday, monday and tuesday. that's the way it looks, barbara. >> okay. thank you. although we have been saying we dodged a bullet, the wet snow to a toll on the power lines. police shut down shady grove ad this morng for downed wires there causing a headache the morning commute but ings are cleared u now and traffic is movingmoothly in the area. talk about traffic ain. here's steve hershorn. >> thanks,barbar the map again. reminding you of the closure of the throughanes on the utter loop othe beltway from telegraph road for damage of an accident involved a truck last nighand sent to the local lanes to cross the wilson bridge heading toward the wilson bridge d here we are at the wilson brge right now. looking ry good in both directions. no problems on the bridge springfield is aittle slow and over to springfiel right now, traffic moving smoothly south and north. the road work south of here blocking a lane. rbara? >> thank you, steve jurks just 12 days into the new year, police investigating the 12th homicide in prie georges county. investigators say the latest case a deadly he invasion. it happened last night when a man tried to break into a ho. police say the homeowner saw the man and grabbed a gun. investigators have not released th names of those involved. invesgators in princ georges county looking for the gunman behind the 11th micide. police s a 22-year-old man was found shot to death in a home o 38thtreet in the college park area yestery. the victim was atudent at the university of maryland. police believe the shooting was drug related. lawmakers i virginia are headed to richmond for the first day of businessor the general assembly and they have tough budget decisions ahead of tm toy. first time, lawmakers considering borrowingassive amounts of mon to cover costs and address howo shore up the public pension system and if to implement a four-day wor week fortate employees. gornor mcdonald will attempt to end the monopoly on liqr sales. and lawmakers are also getting ready t convene in annapolis today as a maryland general assembly gets bk to work. lawmaker face a $1 billion shortfall and this year no federal stimus money toelp reduce the debt. the governor said he will try not to cut anyovernment jobs but hasn't ruled out more furloughs oftate employees. lawmers will also likely take up campaign financeegislation andsame-sex marria. and new today at midday, the national center for missing and exploited children and the dertment of jus sis is teaming up. theyill have amber alert pes to reach the popution. facebook users can opt i to receive posts when an amber alert isssued in the area. a similar system operating in parts of canada. this advance in the system comes on the 15th anniversary of the disappearance of the program's name sake in arlington, texas. it is now 11:37 and still aheadn "news 4 midday," stocks are starting the day upor a second day. we'll look at wh's movie ing at markets. this is tsy before. we'll show you her you might find itard to beeve but prescription drug abuse is the nation fastest growing drug problem. in 2009 over 2 millionmericans diagnosed with opiate adction. dr. joshua winer will talk about that. who, who are theeople that are addicted to these drugs? >> well, they're not the peoe you might expect actually, see a number of profsionals in my practice. i've seen lawyers and doctors who have found themselves addicted to tse medications, some of thaty accident so typically what i've seen is that peopleill get in a car accident or have some sor of injury, see a doctor, be put on the medications to treat their pain and afterhey've taken the medication for at least seval weeks or a month, at that point nobody can just stop these medicatis because their body is physically dendent on them and then people notice psychological benefs they're getting fm the medications so they start to realize the mood is better or anxiety is reduced and thatust perpetuates the desire to te the medications. >> let's talk about the fakts they're prescribed by a doctor d probably gives them, what? pills, 15 pills? >> right. >> it depends on the injury. but oftentimes they get a month's supply of dication. >> and thenhen the month is up and what happens? they must go back tohe doctor? n't it up to the doctor to make sure they don't keep taking the pills? >> it is up to the doctor they don't continue the medation but what can happen to some people is that wn they've been taking the medication consistently for a while you just can't stop the medication and so they may try to decrease theedication or stop it b then they have terrible withdrawal symptoms ando back tohe doctor and doctor deny them any further medication and then may do doctor shopping and see another doctor willing to prescribe them the medication. >> the goodews for doctors and the patients is that there's now a treatment, a medication that can be prescribed to maybe stop this addiction. >> right. so the medication is called siboxon. it's been around longer you longer in europe. the medication works by binding to the same area in th brain of e opiates and immediate takes care of withdrawal symptoms, takes care of the cravgs associated with using opiates and it has t affect o improving people's mood, decreasing their anxty and essentially making them fl quote unquote rmal. >> so anybody ltening should ask their doctor, hey, i can't seem to getff of this stuff. can you get me se of this? >> right. it's an option out there. a lot of people are more familiar with methadone treatment and thiis a wonderful option. and unfortunaty, not every doctor is licensed to prescribe the medication. you need a special dea license to prescribe the medication so people need to go to the substancabuse website and provide in priovids for a li. >> hopefully people listening ll get a hold of themselves and realize i have to get off this stuff. >> exactly. >> thankou so much. always goo to see you. >> my pleasure. see you next week. the federal reservereleases the bge book today. hamptopierceson has more on that and the head los. good morning. >> hey, barbar as a matter of fact, among oth business news at ts hour, stocks in positive terrory. right from the opening bell so far today. a little rryover of yesterday's wall street gains and good news today o of europe, specifically a good portuguese deb option. they browed in a longer long-term interest rate and easing invtor concerns, portugal mig join greece and ireland as needed a bailout. the dowp about 98. the nasdaq up 18 the s&p up 11 ter this afternoon as you mentioned wel look ahead at the fed putting out a beige book report and what's happeni with e economy and provide a rd map for the fed's next policy meetin in two wes. oil prices are holding as the operator of the transatlantic pipeline gets permission to restart production. the ai to warm things u to prevent ice and wax from building in the line to cause damage and one of the longest ut downs since it began to operating in 1977 and accounts for 12%f all u.s. output. me analysts see the pipeline as a catyst for oil prices moving closer to $100 a barr. finally, geral motors is looking to apply the technology from its new chevy volt electric car to a wide range of cars, possibly including a plug-in cadillac. gm ceo ss they're working on hatch back version of the volt and could make a crossover based on did technology again looking forward. i don't know about you, barbara, but a plug-in cadillac in now you're taing. >> yeah, amazing to hear it. thanks a lot. >> okay. take care. >> you, too. nd an annual sools report card out and for the third straight year the publication educatioweek ranked maryland first in the nati. maryland earned an overl b-plus for student achievement, financing and teaching. virginia fourth on the list with a b-minus and the district way behind in second to last with d-plus. critics of the rankings say they give too much of an advantage to states with weahy population maryland is o of the riche states in e cotry. our time now 11:46. cong up, the results of the ambush makeovs. tom will beack with another check of e forecast. stay wit us. we are coming right today we are unveilinghe first ofur ambush makeovers. betsy was a beautiful woman when we fst met her on mondaynd ready for a fresh, new look. with the helpf theponsors pr and partners, macy's, die to go and fitss first, she got one. we put out a call for eveone interestedn a brand-new look for this and-new year. and we had aood crowd that showed up this week at the macy's dowown metro cent. >> my name is my and i really need a makeover. >> my name is barbara, hi. i'm ausy mom of three and i have a 11th anniversary coming up. my husband's like, can you take time to do something for yourse? >> today's my day off and i need a hair cut. >>'m here to surprise my wife. >> it wasn't easy to choose. they all had good reaso they to us they needed or at least wanted a new look. >> i always watch ambush makeover, all the time an i have wanted to go to new york i watch you show every day, too. i saw them doing this. i have to just go try. >> betsy was one of the three chosen for the week's makeovers which begant pr partners salon on g street and into the chair oftylist becky rodriguez. >> i want to pop your eyes. >> i don't think. >> a then we are going to do some multi-dimensional highghts. >> into the shampoo bowl and the long, thick, grayhair, a color that most of us thi betsyas older than she is. >> she is 47 yrs old. >>'m 45. she was not sure if she had gray hair and i ask her if that's the hair she was born with. it was reddis if you wen't born with tt hair, it probably is gray. >> next ce betsy's meeting wi diet to go. >> diet to go is a healthy meal delivery program. >> the day punk waited with a healthy lunch and the promise of a full week of diet to go meals as part of a achieving new look d lifestyle. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> ngratulations. >> thank you. >> as part of amakeover experience, fitness first would like to extend to you a year's membership. oh my gosh. >> macy's broht jewelry for today and each makeover promise a consultation and a $500 gift certificat for a complete new ok. >> oh my goodness! wow! thank you. >> what a difference. >> really >> you look fabulous. >> ah! and she really doe look amazing. theryou see it. the before and after. and betsy along with jackie rodriguez of pr partners join us this morning to talk about the new look. welcome. >> thankou. >> thank you. >> we heard you ream. what did your husnd say? >>e likes it a lot. >> wt did he say? >> well, yestery, he was like, who a you? >> and do you feel like new person? yes. i love it. it really is amazing. i feel so muchbetter. so much younger. >> like a brand new person >> yes. >> let's talk wh you, jackie, how you decided what to d with betsy. >> as soon as i saw betsy i knew that i wand to choose her and i knew wanted to do the makeover. her face a her hai did not say the same thing. her hair -- >>beautiful, yng face and i knowe all were thinking that she s older as i said in the piece. >> exactly. that's because of how we feel out gray hair. and we don't assiate that with youth. and so, although it may be very beautiful, it is not a youthfu look so we decided to take her darker. the natural color had bee a warmer tone and her mother w a redhead so we knew that that was something to bring out her skin toneher eye color a the personality. so we went with a darker base and some multdimensional highlights an ju s and just gav spkle and looks like her own daughter >> do you think you can keep this up? >> i hop so. i'm going to seeer in six weeks. >> yes. >> we have already scheduled time. had you colored yr hair befo? >> yes. my mother used to do it for me so --hat's why i'll go to a salon now. >> wl, i'mure that you can help her to learn too some things f herself. this is a hair cut as well. >> we layered it up. agai to just have -- release some of that weight and give h a little bit more playfulness and aociated with youth and she can tie it back. she has lg hair but -- >> let's talk about some of the other things you got as a result of ts. fitness to go, yes,iet to go and what was the fd like? good? >> great. macy gift card, i'm excited abouthat. helping pick out a wardrobe. diets to go and the gym. m excited aboutthis. >> are you going to go to the gym- >> i'm hoping i am. >> well, y will have to make a promise to youelf that you will do it to continue to s how you look and tell us about the food, though, with the dt to go. they actually will bri food to you? >> yes. >> i think -- >> pick itp in arlington and the brownies are amazing. we just love that and the salads. and the chien lad. i think turkey salad is amazing. >> have you decided to lose some weight? >> yeah. i need to, yeah to go with my new look. >>ou look absolutely terrific anof course we have quite a few other thing that is are gog to happen this week because we haveome other people who y got meet. >> yes. >> along the way. >> they all look great, too. >> yeah. >> tomorrow and friday will be veryexciting. >> we are excited about your makeover and glad you're ableo end up the w you wanted. is this what you wanted toook like? yes, i love it. very lucky. >> yes. you did a terfic job. >> thank you. lots of fun. >> did you conder shorter than this? >> sure. we can. >> did you want to kee your leng? >> i like how she did it. i was afraid that you wer going to cut it all off. >> i think we need t consider shape of face. there's different things to consider, life style. all these go into py trying to choose the right cut. >> we like the way she looks. beautiful. congratutions. >> thank you. >> keep it up. >> that'sgreat. and i you're interested in a makeover, joins at this year's health and fitness expo th weekend. two people picked saturda and sunday eac day. be athe nbc 4 pavilion at 9:00 a.m. for a chance for a new look likebetsy. it's at the washington conventionenter 9:00 t 5:00. and we'll take a loo at the stories following on news 4 this afternoon. we have a preview of things to come pat, did you see the makeover? >> oh, i did. you should have seen the folks here in the newsroom. we were really exced to watch that happen. prettynteresting transformation. >> yes. >> welcoming up today at 4:00, new information about the shooter as president obama attends at service honoring th victims in arizona. we'll have that. toght at 5:00, a local contestant ofast year's "biggest loser" shares secrets ofhe success and what she learned and how it's changed her life. also, hear from you. what do you think about the fact that we ven't had any major snowstormsyet? weigh in on that on nbcwashingtocom and share comments on news 4 startsing at 4: this afternoon. barbara? >> thank you, pat. >> okay. time for a final check on the forecast. tom? >> good morning. on radar, picking up some linging snow this morning. far to the north and st, the panhandle of west virginia as well as in northern frederick county, northern carol county, southern pennsylvania, stil cold nearhe freezing mk in the regionnd latest wind gusts we hav had gusts around 30 miles per hours a result windchills are just in the teens to near 20 degrees. and so it's going to be a windy and cold afternoon. that's a coming from the big storm pounding new england with avy snow and wind and we will have aassing snow shower perhaps today and greater chance and up to eight inches of new snow tre later today and tonight. for us, the winds whipping in later today, tonig and into tomorrow and remaining cold all the way first part of th weekend and warming up sday into theirst part of mex week. wel see you tomorrow morning. >> thank you very much. and that's "news 4 mday." we thank you for joing us. be sure to tune in for news 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 and then tomorrow morni another makeover to show you, a really good one. we'll see you at 11:00 a.m. for "news 4 midday." hope youl join us. have a great day. 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