dozens of unnecessary deaths. hello i'm kay jackson. >> i'm sally thorner. it is as dangerous as being drunk, using a cell phone behind the wheel. now is shocking claims that a government agency withheld research on the dangers. that information may have been able to save lives. >> what are you doing? >> reporter: driving and talking on the phone can increase an accident by 3 or 4 times and the administration has known it for years. even hands free driving can be dangerous. >> that risk is equal to drunk driving. >> reporter: some problems go back to 2002. two groups say the government kept the information private and misled the public and said that driving hands free is safe. >> the fact they can withhold

data and research on public safety is a disaster. >> reporter: the center for auto safety and public as advocacy group wanted the information released. they claimed there were political reasons for withholding the research. back then many states were starting to create the distracted driver laws. some in congress warned not to lobby over the issue or risk billions in funding. they point to the administration and the department of transportation says that it is concerned that the drivers are taking their focus off the road to send text messages or use their cell phones. the groups are hoping lawmakers will ban the driver's phone use all together. >> as of this fall, texting will be illegal in maryland. a update on the police officers shot over the weekend. in an interview, the family of

the accused shooter says he took dozens of ecstasy pills off the battle. they say two officers were injured when he opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon. the family apologized to the officers and families. his cousin said he was a loving family man but his battle with the drug turned him out of control. >> he started taking them constantly. and we found out on that day he took 30. it hit home to the point he was irrational, could you not talk to him. >> a look at the drug, how it moved from the club to the streets and what it does to a person. details in the trial of a woman accused of killing her four daughters. we have the accusations from a witness on the stand in the murder trial. >> reporter: she testified she saw the couple encourage one of the daughters to smoke spot.

they were 3 and 4 at the time. they were serving her an eviction notice in january 2008 and discovered the bodies of the four girls. they were 5, 6, 11 and 16 had been dead for seven months when their bodies were found. she said she died in their sleep one by one. back to you, she is charged with 12 counts and murder and cruelty to children. she faces life in prison without parole if convicted. a woman is being held and charged with abuse. the 22-year-old worked as a nanny. she showed porn to a 5-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl. she is accused of telling the boy to stand naked in front of a camera and having explicit conversations with the children. game on in the president's first battle with congress. the fight over health care. the president is continuing his

blitz to move reform through. joel brown reports for wjz news that both sides are playing politics. >> reporter: the president said the opponents of the push are just politics. >> a familiar washington script that we have seen many times before. >> the president said this time will be different. he laid out areas where the sides have found a common ground. he called on lawmakers to put it aside and seattle differences and move reform plan forward. >> the american people understand the status quo is not acceptable. they don't care who is up or down politically in washington. >> it's not just republicans who opposes the president. some of the conservative members of his own party do not like the version of the plan that's moving through congress. they say it costs too much. leaders agree. >> mr. president, time to scrap the bill. let's start over in a bipartisan way. >> reporter: the sides have

taken their fight to the airwaves each side broadcasting tv ads, republicans targeted the cost. >> a risky experiment. >> they highlighted a need for change. >> when i lost my job, i lost my insurance, too. the president is ready to work with congress and keeping the goal of keeping a plan passed before lawmakers before they take the recess. that's the message he will take to the american people wednesday night in a prime time news conference. in washington, joel brown, wjz news. the house will break for the summer july 31st. the senate is on recess august 7th. you can watch the president wednesday night during a prime time presidential address. it starts at 8 p.m. here. layoffs and furloughs will they be necessary for the state to balance the budget. and we go to the newsroom with a look at the plan to deal with

a massive deficit. >> and they describe the cuts as difficult and painful. it is laying off workers and eliminating 18 positions. the state must trim about 7 million from the 14 billion- dollar budget. it will hit higher education. it will cut 3 million for stem cell and 5.5 million from the lottery advertising budget. in the year that ended june 30th, 40 workers were laid off, 400 jobs were eliminated and workers took five furlough days. we have more on the plans and reaction to it coming up at 5:00 on eyewitness news. >> very positive news about the schools. elementary and middle school in the city have improved for a 7th year. we have more on the results of the assessment test. the school assessment results for 2009 have just been released. overall it looks like students did better than last year.

for the students in grades 3, 4, 5, they showed improvements in reading and in math except for fourth grade reading. middlele school did well improvements in reading and math. here is reaction from the state superintendent. >> i'm very pleased for the 7th straight year the state scores have gone up for elementary, middle school students in reading and in math. we're talking about 364,000 students. >> it's not all good news for the schools, 158 schools across the state have been identified as needing improvement that's down slightly from last year. adam may, wjz news. >> the rise means 19 schools can leave the federally mandated school improvement process. seven schools are located in baltimore city. we are always on. to find out how your child's school did go to www.wjz.com and click on the link. it is more humid than it

was this time yesterday. partly sunny, it feels looic it may rain this afternoon. that's good news. and bernadette woods has the updated numbers. >> well it is muggier than it has been and the funny thing is that this is more normal for july but it feels extreme because we have been dry. the dry air played against us. most of the action stayed off shore along the coast. you can see more of the storms are popping up some will move we may see a shower before the night is through. we have another chance coming up with a new storm. that's coming up in the forecast. >> let's check on the roads. well our biggest problem is actually in the clearing stages. that's an accident on the west side. it was on the inner loop. it is on the shoulder in the

clearing stages. you are looking at a backup. look for a crash. that is going to be at then we have three accidents in the city. two of them with pedestrians. the first is at west prat and they are cordelia and north monroe. and towned wires are an issue. there is a live look at that delay on the west side. it should be clearing up. it was because of an accident that is now in the clearing stages. this is brought by -- by the department of maryland agriculture. back over to you. >> thank you very much. still ahead out 4:00... my brother. >> a person responsible for a

shooting gets a staggering sentence. which cars get top scores. partly cloudy. will we see rain.

it is a delivery that sam sule jackson would be afraid of. a snake fell from the overhead compartment. there were more mixed in with the luggage but staff managed to keep them away from passengers until the plane landed. i'm telling you. children involved in a racism sandal at a pool. tyler perry will pay for 65 campers to go to disney world. he read about the allegations

that the valley swim club shunned them. the club said it was shut out because of safety issues since the children could not swim. 100 years in prison, that's the sentence for a teen who shot a passenger on a chicago because two years ago. mike parker has images from that ride. >> reporter: the first view is from a currency exchange. notice the gunman michael pace waiting for the bus. he gets on quickly. now from inside he opens fire with a handgun. another view the horrified passengers hit the deck to avoid the gunfire that would kill one. seconds later pace gets off the bus, turns and runs away. inside the bus holt is wounded. the family had to watch the video in court today. it was not easy. >> i had to do that. that was for me. if he could give his life for

somebody else i could sit there and endure what i had to see. >> reporter: this was in a way a double tragedy. >> there is another child that died in the courtroom. >> reporter: he is talking about the killer who showed no remorse. >> it will not hit him until tonight or someone says explain that. understand the rest of your life is in prison. there is no way he will be out. his life is over. we all lose. >> we're pleased to have in the studio. >> reporter: tonight on cliff kelly and a summit on the crime plaguing the cities. >> we need the white house to help us we need a summit. we have a summit on swine flu, how about on violence. >> his father has become an anti-violence activist and said in court he may run for political office to take that campaign to the next level.

>> can the rally continue today? the markets finished up for a 7th day. the dow is up, s&p is up. let's go to new york now for the money watch update. >> the reserve chairman assured congress he will reel in the stimulus package and he is lobbying to expand the fed's powers but some say he failed to see the financial crisis. the term is up and the president has not committed to keeping him in the job. a recovery is now underway but unemployment will continue to rise. e continental will cut 1700 jobs, 3 and a half percent of the workforce. it is after a loss in the second quarter. it will cost you 5-dollars to check bags. continental raised the fee to

$20 for the first bag. ci. it is not out of the woods. fresh off a loan the lender says it may not make its august debt payment which is 1 billion. bankruptcy is still an option. head to cbs money watch. at the exchange. soon they will be introduced as mr. and mrs. kelly hillbrant. the couple is encaged to be married but the bride will not have to worry about inching her name. the reason why, they have the same first and last names. they met on face look looking to see who shared their names. the only problem is that it is tricky when the mail arrives. i hope their middle names are different. >> i would say this is

something if i was a doctor but i'm not. hit and run driver causes an amputation. this story is coming up next. and a bit sticky outside, the skies are cloudy. is rain on the way. >> we're always on for the top stories for updates and weather all the time click www.wjz.com.

all right. warm, sticky, summer like. >> frizzy, bad hair day. >> the humidity is returning to the areas we expected. it is affecting the does for sure. doppler radar, we're still wrapping up the storm from yesterday. as you can see there was blue sunshine and blue skies because of the sunshine coming through. i want to show you that we have lingering showers and storms, most in the mountains. and that's where they will stay but some of these could make their way east as we head

through the afternoon and evening. let's switch it over and show you the majority of the storms made its way up the coast. since we had such dry air on top of us it fizzled out and it moved in. we saw the rain along the coast and off shore it is making its way off the coast. sunshine returning to the area we're seeing this round forming now. it will move to the northeast but it may die down in the next few hours. and generally out of the east that's keeping our temperatures down. we topped out in the 80s for most of us, 79 degrees. and low 80s and in the mountains. the difference today the dew points there. now into the 60s. this is more typical for july that's why you feel the difference outside. we did make it to 81 degrees. that's it. the average temperature right now is 88 degrees. we were far from that but we'll get closer to that over the

next few days. behind it. there liningerring showers. >> in between the coastal storm and this storm a they increase as it many coulds our way. and it ill with be a slow mover. however, by friday 95 east ward. turning around and picking up. that's going to put advisories to 66 degrees but not a high

chance. and the muggy levels. the five day. for the next several days. isolated on thursday with the next and could linger, we're talking about this at noon a big soccer game. we'll keep an eye on that. >> to the nearest pool. >> coming up, at 8:00 ncis. don't miss medium. it is now on cbs. it sairs here and followed by the news at 11. >> a lot of people love that show. >> we have a preview of what is coming up on the evening news. >> katie. >> a showdown over health care the president losing control of the issue. we'll hear from him on that and other matters in my interview tonight. only on the evening news. >> the attack an accident. a dog facing a new born baby

from the crib and drags the baby into the woods. a hero's welcome for the astronauts who saved the hubble. that's as we continue. >> and stopping the spread of swine flu. we continue after this.

79 degrees, partly cloudy. thank you for staying with us. this is what people are talking about. the world health organisation said the swine flu has claimed 700 lives since the start of the outbreak. they are keeping the h1n1 out of china is one of the strictest countries and some are learning how tough it is. we have more from london. >> reporter: the chinese

health officials in masks board flights and point temperature guns at passengers foreheads. if someone has symptoms as the swine flu, authorities track those seated within three rows. some of the extreme measures that china is taking to prevent the spread of the virus. these british school children in beijing are able to remove their masks and breathe freely after authorities forced them into quarantine in their hotel for seven days. >> we have been confined to the door then the room. >> reporter: back in 2003 it was criticized for not acting quickly enough to contain the sars outbreak. the chinese government quarantined 100 students and teachers after classmates had the swine flu. a group of american students in china for a volleyball camp

being quarantined at the same hotel. a few americans were among the students allowed to leave the hotel in the capital on tuesday. >> it is scary, yeah. there were people in suits around you. you feel contaminated. >> reporter: the majority of classmates are confined to their hotel rooms until the chinese authorities are convinced they're not contagious. , our media partner reports that several of those american students quarantined were from the maryland club. among them were students from towson high school. police have released information about the grave digging scandal in chicago. sally has that. >> reporter: well. the sheriff's office announced that the burr oak scandal cost tax pay ares in illinois $326,000. four people have been charged in the scheme which they dug up

300 graves and resold the plots for financial gain. the sheriff's office said it received 12,000 requests from people who want information about their loved ones and 50,000 phone calls. it has a new man in charge to handle those records. and finances will be straightened out and prepare the cemetery to reopen. >> the county board members voted to sue cemetery owners to reimburse the costs that are not related to the criminal investigation. the life of a mother of three is changed in a moment. her arm nearly cut off in a car accident in baltimore city. and police are asking for help. >> reporter: live changed forever on july 10th. >> lost control, jumped on to the curve, hit trees. hit a bge pole. >> reporter: but the mother is not to blame, she had the right to way not speeding when a gold

car pulled into her path. >> the person hit her and kept going. they think it was a woman on a cell phone. >> reporter: as a result of that accident, her arm was partially severed. she was transported with are she had her arm removed. >> she is doing as well as can be expected. having three kids, very active mother. >> reporter: the crash is a cold grand prix but it is damaged in front. >> tkw-bgtives are trying to find the vehicle. we know there are people out there, we have several witnesses who stated that the driven of that car was on a cell phone. >> they don't have any leads. >> we're hoping anyone who got a tag number or anything of this sort. we know that the car sustained damage to the front right

passenger side. >> reporter: now back to you on tv hill. >> the victim is recovering from home and need months of therapy. new crash tests to determine the safety of smaller cars and kai explains the 2009 two-door tests put to the test. the institute for highway safety gave top ratings. two versions of the topped the list in front and side collisions. all vehicles tested were equipped side air bags and protected the driver's head even in tests that simulated with a truck or suv. now, toyota scion got the worst news. it has lower ratings in rear crashes it's not equipped stability controlle which helps avoid a roll over crash. >> thank you very much. >> toyota has been doing upgrades to the scion in the vehicles. in the health watch as we

hit the beach or pool, we slatter on the sunscreen to limit damage to the skin but it your brand effective. we report with the results of a new study. >> it is another hot day which means that many of us are outside at the pool or on the beach to stay cool. we know it is key to protect ourselves by using sunscreen. the question, though, is how good of a job do they do? >> the sunscreens are getting better and better. they're adding uva, they are adding products so they have uvb and sp. if is higher. it used to be if you look back five years ago there was not a 70 or 100. >> reporter: the organization environmental working group has found that 70% of sunscreens on the market contain strong filters to protect from radiation as compared to only

29% of sunscreens sold last year. we take the issue very seriously. >> we're italian and the girls are lat union so they don't need it. they don't burn. so the importance is there. you need to put something on. >> the boys in irvin admit they should be better at using sunscreen. my mom every day we go to the pool. she tells me to put it over my face. i get burned. i'm not that bad i put it on but since i have live in california i have gotten tan i don't put as much on. >> and more than 1 million cases are diagnosed every year. >> there has not been a lot of

sun out there. there is a chance that we could get showers later on again. and we have weather and traffic again and the updated numbers from the weather; we got ripped off last night. we have seen a trace of rain. and out to the west there were scattered showers. there are some showers popping up to the west of us. you can see the motion there. most of the activity will affect the mountain areas to the west. showers and thunder showers. and some of the areas getting good rain now. south and that's moving off to the northeast. and not going to worry about that. and small reported in that. we may see more this evening but the chances are not that great. a slight chance then we think on thursday. >> let's check in on the roads

at traffic control. >> good afternoon, everyone. as far as problems we're not overly too bad as far as the problems go. we have a few accidents in the city. one of them will be on red run ad another run on the avenue and at two involving wedding. the issue on east cold spring lane as far as delays go light ones 895 and the beltway. there is a look. we're looking at a west side inner loop delay. that's due to an accident that cleared. 13 minutes. >> this traffic brought to you by the department of

agriculture. >> thank you. a collision in outer spate where supe ter was struck. we have these photos you can see it is now scarred by a large white spot. they are not sure what caused it but a contender is a comment. a scientist alerted nasa. the 7 astronauts who saved the hubble received a big thank you from the peoples who jobs depend on the hubble. the mission was high risk and leaves high hopes in its wake. they received more than a warm welcome. they had scientists and staff up on their feet. what they accomplished last may. >> it is amazing what they did. it was no words to describe it.

>> they went into a debris field. they left moreed a srapbzed than ever. >> we were trained by the people and even to expect the unexpected that it did go most of the question from the staff and family guests focus on what it was like to be up there looking down. >> i looked back you are going to have to move that. >> i had a hammock. >> he slept so well and we thought he was dead the next day. [ laughter ] >> and doing their job the astronauts save a telescope and save them. it keeps them going.

and the community depending on hubble going for another 5 or six years. it is great. >> get the astronauts in front here. and perfect. >> and a message. >> that secured and those who use it. they are being. images are expected later in the summer. >> that's exciting for everybody. straight ahead and no time to spare. here from one of the bystanders up for three people. some scattered clouds. updating the forecast.

not giving up, americans are pressing for the release of

a soldier. the soldier is being held by the taliban. the residents in his home town say that he has a strong spirit that will not be shattered. the president said his team is working to win his release. the first lawsuits have been filed after two trollies crashed a woman who is pregnant sufficient ared a wrist injury and another fractured her pelvis. they are suing the authority for an amount of money that is unspecified. officials say that he was text messaging at the time of the crash and 62 people in all were injured. a heartbreaking incident as a family dog attack as baby, dragging him from the house. the dog may have been jealous of the new born. >> the family thinks the dog did not know the baby and jealous he was getting so much attention. the family says the dog picked him up and ran into the woods

150-yards away. the family had no idea the baby was gone until they saw the dog coming back. the baby is now in the hospital in critical condition. back to you. >> the family dog has been quarantined. a new jersey police officer critically wounded in a shoot- out last week has died. mark denardo was shot as he and others stormed an apartment last thursday. four others were injured. he leave as wife and three young children. milwaukee's good sam air train who saved a family from a burning vehicle is sheiking out. the vehicle slipped over hit a tree and burst into flames. neighbors worked to get them out. one of them was a firefighter. >> we didn't think about it, we have seen there were people, we

heard the kids, when you hear that you do not think about it. i'm a father of three of my own, i didn't think twice. he ran and jumped in and thank god everyone came together. >> two of the rescue ares were firefighters. they cut a 4-year-old boy out of his seatbelt in the nick of time. he was in critical condition but alive thanks to the efforts. a womansy accusing the steelers quarterback of rape. she accuses him at a lake ta show penthouse. she worked at the casino at the time and harrah's would not investigate and she suffers depression since it happened. the attorney denies he was involved in any assault. he was long considered michael jackson's closest brother. now jermaine is speaking out. >> he was a human being his taut said it all, my daddy.

he was a person, he was a father, he was an uncle, a brother, he was a son. they need to leave him alone. >> he gave the interview to a station and he shot down the rumors that he was addicted to anesthesia. he says that he is not sure where his body is now but is pressing for him to be buried at never land. as for jackson's children, they are staying with their grandmother. michael's autopsy results are still pending. one of the big of the stars has an ap tide to match. we have more from hollywood. >> coming up, gerrard butler spill as seek -- secrets. opens up about his ugly truth costar. >> she is a classy lady but you know she loves a glass of wine, she loves to have a nice dinner and have fun. and have a burger king during

the day. >> i'm trying to package her with a double whopper, she loves to pilot into it. last last. >> this could be bad real quick. >> harsh stuff who gets under her skin in the movie out friday. he plays a relationship advisor to help her get hooked up with men. >> what do i solve or how do i solve relationships? i'm singled. you have a better idea than i do. i should ask you. >> there is more with mr. butler tonight, and our michael jackson investigation. where is his body now? will there be a jackson family concert that and more later on entertainment tonight. all the monkey business but a owner caught a thief. look at this video it appears to be a monkey speaking in looting and raiding the plants and planters garden store.

they believe the monkey may be trained to retrieve items and bring them to the human thief. there is not much they can do because they cannot press charges against the monkey. >> stealing plants? [ laughter ] >> you train a monkey to steal plants. >> i could do that, all due respect to my priest. straight ahead... it is more like the july we're used to. the forecast coming up.

is there any rain? >> we need the rain. >> we had a trace here on tv hill, trace and didn't see a drop of rain along the coast and a third of an inch. some of the areas picked up a quarter to a half inch. that's where the showers are happening. look at radar. this is going on far western maryland as you can see.

a batch of storms they have seen hail,, that's not expected to get in. dying out and using the heat of the sun and generate. and it is quiet. 79 it's not even that warm. the dew points are not that high humidity is up a bit and 59%. the east winds dropped temperatures and 30.05 inches now it is just falling just a little, little bit. temperatures around the state 73, showers close by. 79 here. warmer to the south. there has been quite a bit of sunshine. 81 and the dew point is up compared to what it was. i mean a couple of days ago in the 50s and the 40s. higher, 75 in bel air and more sun to the west.

84 in washington. and winds now have come back out of the east and primarily they are not going to be a factor the next 24 hours. rain this morning from delaware right along the coast and most of it is shifting. showers out in the mountains. in between we have the rip off zone. a lot of clouds. that's expected to clear up. and we have one impulse and the rain and an inch of rain. to the west of us, clearing skies but a funnel system. this one is out there is probably going to give us a chance of showers we think on thursday. in the meantime. we do see some showers, from about cleveland through pittsburgh and garrett county.

they are moved to the northwest. probably and the south. isolated showers. that's about it. and probably until wednesday night or thursday. you can see another chance of showers and primarily thursday afternoon and see activity. advisory through thursday. picking up. maybe it is gusting at high as 20 nots. and few and far between. partly cloudy skies. 66 tomorrow. back up warmer 85. sun and clouds. a shower or a thunder shower in the afternoon or evening. pop up stuff routine nothing well organized. >> okay, get starts at doing a rain dance around here. it is dry. >> still to come... >> results are in for the school assessment test.

test scores showing improvement. >> three children get in trouble for taking things from a neighbor. should they have been handcuffed for hours? their parent's opinions on that next. seven years after the research is down, findings on how dangerous to use a cell phone behind the wheel are released. and coming up why a group says withholding this has cost people their lives. the governor announces the budget cuts are jobs being cut. the news at 5:00 starts

making the great, students are improving their test scores. >> but are all counties on the road to excellence? >> this is what people are talking about. test scores are in and students are making the great for the 7th year in a row, test scores are up. and we're live. and we have the reaction. this he are up for every district across maryland but there is one somebody that is troubling for some students. >> a celebration in baltimore. perfect scores. 100%