they discovered a burned body in the driver's seat. >> there were no immediate signs of foul play at this scene. however, our detectives are open to all possibilities at this stage of the investigation. >> reporter: police say the van was found partially on a median strip on bradley boulevard in bethesda. joe mcdonald says witnesses told him the burning van actually came to a stop at this fuel station on the corner. >> they pushed the vehicle back away from the gas tank, back into the road and then put the vehicle fire out. >> it was pretty close to the pump? >> it was hitting over the top of the main tank for the station. >> so that could have been a disaster right there. >> possibly. wouldn't have been good. >> reporter: police tell news4 the circumstances are unusual and suspicious. they're not sure if the driver died from the fire or some other way. and they're investigating whether the van caught fire because of some sort of mechanical or electrical problem with the van or if there was foul play. >> right now we are conducting a

joint investigation with montgomery county police major krams detectives for the death, the fire marshal's office for the fire and our montgomery county police collision reconstruction unit to understand whether or not there was a traffic collision involved in this fire and death. >> reporter: the scene snarlled traffic at this busy intersection for hours during the morning rush. >> it's very surprising in this area. it's very sad. you know, but we get more and more, you know, problems. so we just have to be careful. >> police are still investigating to see if this was simply an accident or if there was some sort of foul play involved. police say they have been able to identify the victim, but right now they're not releasing the victim's identity pending the notification of next of kin. all they'll say at this points that the victim was an adult male. darcy spencer, news4. back to you. >> thank you. police are also

investigating a suspicious death in silver spring today. early this morning, police were called to an apartment on garland avenue. when they went inside, they discovered the body of a 23-year-old woman. it's unclear how long she may have been dead. investigators tell us there we o outward signs of traum to the body, sore they' trying to figure out how she died. an autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death.he > we have some breaking new e-ivho sginn the 700 n the block of atlantic street. that's in southeast d.c. that's where jackie bensen is. >> wendy, police are here investigating this shooting that has shattered the piece of a summer afternoon. you can see the invtigators on the scene over there. now, there is a vehicle that is a black vehicle, a four-door vehicle that is in front of ose officers on the other side of that red car. wenderstand that's the vehicle involved in the shooting, which actuallyçó began a short distan from here at a gas station on

southern avenue. we understand that police have recovered a number of shell casings at that scene. there may have been some witnesses to this shooting. what we hear at this point is that two teenagers are injured. one shot in the abdomen area and one shot several times in the back. but on the scene right now are detectives from the district station here, not homicide detectives. so our feeling at this point is the injuries may not be life-threatening. we do not have any information from police at this time. now, we understand that police are looking for the vehicle they believe was involved in this. a tan suv with maryland agriculture tags that was last seen heading toward prince georges county. again, police at this point trying to find that vehicle, trying to get more information about the shooting that leaves two teenagers injured. wendy, back to you. >> thank you, jackie. we have breaking news tonight in the sports world involving michael vick. just a short time ago, the nfl commissioner ruled on whether or not vick could play this year in the nfl.

>> lindsay czarniak is here to tell us what all this means. >> really this should not be a surprise. we knew this decision was imminent. today nfl commissioner roger goodell conditionally reinstated michael vick. so this means that vick can return to the nfl this season and if he signs with a team, he can play in the regular season beginning week six. vick can practice immediately and even play in the final two preseason games if the team does sign him. commissioner goodell said this to vick. in a lette t tha he sent the quarterback. he said, needless to say, yout margin for error is extremely -- excuse me. is extremely limited. i urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. if you do this, the nfl will support you. so vick is a free agent. he can sign with any team. he will not be able to play for the first five weeks, but could play in week six if he maintains a clean image. former colts head coach tony dungy will work with vick.

vick released this statement. he sa,id i fully understand that playing football in the nfl is a privilege, not a right, and i am truly thankful for the opportunity i've been given. the last two years have given me time to reevaluate my life, mature as an indivi,nd a fulltaunrshede tnd terrible mistakes i have made in the past and what type of life i must lead moving forward. we are expecting to hear from the nfl commissioner, roger goodell, in the next hour. guys, a lot of questions remain. which team he'll end up with is the biggest one. >> but the timeline for earliest he could play -- >> is week six of the regular season. >> all right. >> he could immediately be on the field practicing with a team. >> all right. thanks. we now know the name of the teen driver killed in friday's crash involving a sheriff's deputy. 18-year-old rachel campbell of dunkirk, maryland, died when the deputy's cruiser slammer into her car as she turned left at an intersection. this happened at route 4 and

apple way. the deputy was responding to a domestic call. campbell graduated this spring. an investigation into this crash continues. a woman narrowly escapes injury after a large tree came down on her house. this was the scene just a short time ago on west street in vienna. cleanup crews are now on the scene. the tree just toppled over this afternoon. the heavy downpours we had over the weekend caused the trees to fall. an elderly woman in the house got out just in time. the home sustained heavy damage. good afternoon. good evening. we did have some rain, but the ground is still dry and there were some breezes out there. but we have to remember we do live in a forest. no rain here, but look at where there are nasty storms. down in the toddwater area, the very tip of the northern neck and out in the beach areas, too. here you can get an idea. these storms that have been forming and also some severe

thunderstorm warnings that have gone out since this afternoon. there are watches out for this evening. right now in and around us, 89 degrees. i think we're going to be seeing a -- a hot time ahead. and we may be seeing some more rain before we end this month of july, which is right now -- right now the second -- still the second driest that we've had. even with the rain that we did have over the weekend. so a warm, sticky evening for your week ahead. it's going to be a hot one with temperatures probably tomorrow in the low 90s. tell you more about that and the likelihood of storms before the week is out for us, too. >> thank you, bob. sgrnchlt drivers are running into traffic troubles around the 14th street northwest. part of the street under construction between constitution and pennsylvania avenue. remains closed until 6:00 this evening. the reason, a special meeting is taking place today between u.s. and chinese officials. president obama and members of his cabinet are attending this event billed as the first economic dialogue between the two countries.

to get around the traffic closures, ddot is recommending drivers use 9th or 12th streets. well, wall street had a late rally today. the dow was down most of the day but made a comeback in the last hour of trading. it closed up 15 points to end the day over 9,100. the nasdaq kept up its winning ways, finishing up two points. this late rally came amidst good news on the housing front. hampton pearson joins us now with more on this. hampton f i was in vegas right now, i would be ordering another drink and another bag of quarters. this has been a good run the past few days, huh? >> absolutel right. especially today. the dow in particular had more of a finishing kick than we thought with the close today. three straight days of positive territory. 10 out of the 11 for the dow. the major averages up about 4% last week. 11% over the last two weeks.

stronger than expected earnings and the analysts also say a lot of new money is coming into the market. >> we also got a good report today on home sales. can we get excited now that t maybe we're turning this thing around? >> not so fast. however, it really is the best economic news overall for the day. last month, new home sales up 11%. best monthly performance in eight years. but on an annual basis, we're only seeing 384,000 new homes being sold. the inventory was down dramatically as well. but, again, you're dealing with incredibly low volumes in terms of these numbers in real numbers of houses. so the percentages looked good. for example, the housing boom of two years ago, we were selling 1.4 million homes on an annual basis. >> we have to keep that in perspective. another thing, the unemployment rate. it's still a major problem. i understand verizon is going to

be bringing some cuts in pretty soon. >> well, verizon was the biggest drag on the dow today until that late-afternoon rally. disappointing earnings for the quarter. also the fact that they're going to lay off something like 8,000 people over the next several months. >> okay. thank you so much. >> you got it. well, as we mentioned earlier, if you own a gas-guzzling car, you can trade it in for one that is more fuel-efficient. the cash for clunkers program officially kicked off today. transportation secretary rurged americans to exchange their cars. drivers can qualify for cash incentives depending on the bump in mileage you'll get from turning in your old car and getting a new one. the program. et aside $1 still to come, new details about the condition of the local police chief when he was arrested on drunk driving charges in virginia. i don't know what's happening. i just saw an older woman

standing here and she saw two gentlemen trying to get in a house at that number. >> police release tapes of the 911 call that led to the consvertial arrest of a harvard professor. there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut.

to being able to manage your diabetes properly. it's very important for me to uh check my blood sugar before i go on stage. being on when i'm feeling low can be like a rollercoaster. it does at times feel like my body is telling me to do one thing... and, my mind, my heart is telling me to do something else. naging my highs and lows is super important.

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police in massachusetts have released the 911 call that led to the arrest of henry gates. police say the tape clears up a misconception. it's been reported that race was mentioned in that call. but investigators say they acted when a passer-by noticed a possible break-in at theom he. lissen. >> they kin of had to barge in. t dany broked the screen door aninth feylyalroot.in ienin. i went further cser wo t the o house a little bit after the magelentn was already in the house. iotleedic twoed suitcases. i'm not sure if these are two individuals who actually work there, i mean who live there. >> gates was subsequently arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when poli say he became belligerent with officers. that charge was later dropped. we have brand new information tonight in the dui arrest of alexandria police chief david baker. police arrested baker over the

weekend near i-66. julie carey joins us live now from old town alexandria with what she's learned. >> well, more on that new information in a moment. right now, an internal investigation is under way here at city hall. information the cityanager will use to decide the future, the fate of chief dave baker. meanwhile, just down the street, baker met for the first time with the alexandria attorney who will represent him in court against these shocking charges. within hours of his dwi arrest, dave baker issued a statement to his police force telling officers he was disappointed and angry with himself. this afternoon baker met with the alexandria attorney who will defend him in court and make his case to the city manager who must decide whether to keep the chief or fire him. >> he is very upset with himself, that he's put himself and the city in such an awkward position. but he, you know, we're going to see it through and get to the

bottom of it and try to get a just result for everybody involved. >> reporter: court documents reveal new details about the case. it was just before 10:00 saturday night when arlington police were called to an accident on i-66. the man behind the wheel of a green suv that hit another alexandria police chief dave baker. officersve oerbsd aertrong odor of col.al the chief told them he'd had two beer20es minut on oeericctedr conducted four field sobetydu tests. the chief failed all four. d two ifferent breath tests, t balor' bs a llcohol bevoh regiered .177nd a .19, both than twice the legal limit. court documents show baker was released just before 1:00 a.m. sunday to arlington county's deputy chief. he then turned baker over to alexandria police commanders. >> this is a sad day for us. certainly we have a lot of

respect for police chief baker. he served the city very well. >> it's very disappointing, obviously, when any of our colleagues make a bad decision. >> reporter: officials said they were stunned, disappointed andm saddened by the chief's arrest, calling it completely out of character. baker is on paid administrative leave. the city manager has ordered an internal investigation. and a decision from the city manager on chief baker's employment is expected in a week to ten days. coming upn "news4 at 6," more from chief baker's attorney and more on where the chief had been before the accident. reporting live, i'm julie carey. back to you. >> thank you. a vacation home belonging to the woman who stole $50 million from the district is now on the auction block. harriet walters forfeited her home in the virgin islan when she was convicted of defrauding the city while working as manager of the d.ctacex offi. bids will begin online today and then close on wednesday. the minimum bid is listed at

$212,000. walters is currently serving a 17-year sentence. we start off with a hot and steamy start. >> it is july, yeah. >> yeah. but our temperature -- our july is still running much coo av e.anager than average. also dry, even with that rain that we had. outside now we've got building clouds, but the nasty showers are down. the temperature outside right now is 87 degrees. big day today. big day. last day that our average high is 89 degrees. tomorrow the average high is8. and in four weeks, the average high is down to 85 degrees. july is the hottest month of the year on average. although it may thought be -- maybe we'll have an august hotter than july. look at the morning low temperature. we made it down to 72. but it has been a cool pattern around the lakes. but now to the pacific northwest. that's where some of the records have been. record warm mornings. record warm to hot afternoons. midpart of the country with a lot of clouds.

not that bad. the drought continues in south texas. right now in dallas, it feels like it's 83. we feel like we're 87. there's the reason for the big "d." there's a little spin in the atmosphere, a little area of low pressure. around us we've got that pattern. that has allowed this moisture and the humidity to really come in. as you can see to our south, look at that line of nasty storms, thunderstorms. there have been warnings out for a good part of the afternoon. parts of the tidewater area. let me zoom down to that. you can see around williamsburg, boy, it is a nasty afternoon. this is the area that is still under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8:00. look at those storms down around ocean city. it is -- you got friends out there? not the really wonderful afternoon with a sunny condition that we're having here. so those are going to be staying away. look at ocean city. today over an inch and a half of rain. they've had closing in on over two inches of rain for the

month. only 81 degrees there right now. wallace island, just today the rainfall closing in on three inches of rain. germantown, it feels like it's in the low 90s. overnight tonight, we'll see the skies break up. we'll still be into a humid pattern tomorrow. as we get on into wednesday, i think there will be an increasing chance of that area of low pressure left over from texas moving to our west for an increasing risk of afternoon showers and thunder showers. we may get a bit more rain before we close the book on july. in the meantime, overnight tonight for the remainder of the evening, partly cloudy, warm and humid. temperatures 81 to 85 degrees. it will be a warm evening. and then the skies will be clearing. tomorrow morning when you get up and head out, sort of hazy, a few clouds around. temperatures for overnight lows, only around 70 degrees. 70 to 73 degrees. then tomorrow afternoon, look for partly to mostly sunny skies. i think it will be hazy, warm,

humid. temperatures into the low 90s tomorrow afternoon. back to you. still to come, a trio of tiny tigers takes the zoo by storm. the handy vac says it pulls air out so the flavor and nutrients stay in your food. does it really do that? find out coming up next. h

astronauts aboard the shuttle "endeavour" are making their final space walk today at the international space station. the astronauts are working on pan's space station lab. they're installing a new porch, some tv cameras, and doing some other chores during the 6 1/2 hours of work. "endeavour" will undock tomorrow and return to earth friday. a highly anticipated public meeting on a proposal to bring a walmart to orange county, virginia, has been canceled. the store would be located near the wilderness civil war battlefield. the meeting will be rescheduled because proper legal notice has not been published for a planning commission hearing. the proposed store sparked a firestorm of protests among preservationists and historians. walmt, however, says the store's located a half mile away and would not harm the historic battlefield. fire officials in virginia

are pushing for tougher sprinkler requirements in all new homes. a public heari was held today on whether to adopt the proposed regulations. it passed in september last year. it would require sprinklers in all new homes beginning in 2011. there will be another public hearing next spring before a final vote. a trio of tiny tigers are the newest residents at a south dakota zoo. the tiny tiger cubs were born at the great plains zoo in sioux falls on saturday. the stress of their birth was too much for mom, who can't care for them. so zookeepers are pitching in, feeding the newborns every four hours. they're also massaging them, imitating what their mother would normally do. i want that job. they're tiny now, but when they're fully grown they'll weigh more than 600 pounds. don't want to be doing that en. they are adorable. >> i want to kiss their little faces right now. coming up, a hearing today

in the case of a teen charged in a plot to blow up his school. it wasn't that long ago that virginia shut down rest stops to save some money. now the state's department of transportation is being hit by more budget cuts. a judge deciding the fate of a woman charged in the murders of her four children. ñ l%

if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. and welcome back, everybody, to our second half hour of "news4 at 5." coming up in this halhour, closing arguments in the case of a woman charged with killing her four girls. vdot tells employe they're out of a job. and liz finds out if the

handy vac really does that. a day in court for a bethesda teenager charged in an alleged bomb plot involving his former teachers and possibly the president of the united states. >> he graduated from st. john's college high school last year. he and a former schoolmate were charged with having weapons. the question now is who was the ring leader? chris gordon reports live tonight from the u.s. courthouse in maryland. chris? >> good evening. colin mckienzie appeared here i court. he has been held for the past year at the montgomery county detention center. you may recall there was a 17 yeefr 17-year-old accomplice. he came under the spell of mckenzy, but the defense lawyer said it was the youngster who was the mastermind. one year ago that montgomery county police searched the bethesda home of colin mckenzie. confiscating a cache of assault

rifles, handguns and ammunition. there were 50 pounds of chemicals, wires and timing devices that could be used to make bombs as wel as counterfeit identification cards from the cia and department of defense. that's when it became a federal case. in court, mckenzie's defense lawyer unsuccessfully argued that the evidence was illegally obtained and should be suppressed based on a search warrant which relied on false statements from the aunt of mckenzie's friend, patrick, who told police that mckenzie brought the weapons and chemicals to her gaithersburg home. >> and i would suggest to you that patrick has had to go to the hospital for bombs that he's exploded in his own home. >> reporter: the defense contends that 18-year-old patrick was the one who was fascinated with the weapons and exosives which he kept at his gaithersburg home. he has already pleaded guilty to four charges in montgomery county court and awaits sentencing.

>> what was the -- [ inaudible ] >> no comment today. the comment will be at trial when he comes to testify at trial. >> is he cooperating? >> he is under subpoena by the defense for trial at this int. >> reporter: investigators say that patrick and mckenzie had tested an explosive device in gaithersburg, maryland. that they were on the air rifle team at st. john's college high school. mckendzy had just graduated before he was arrested. there are allegatns that mckenzie had a highlighted list of faculty members at st. john's inferring it was a hit list and a map of camp david with the presidential motorcade route, intimating he had possible assassination plans. >> they gave me a map that you would get at the gas station, okay? and there -- and that -- i assume that's the suggestion that's a motorcade map. more importantly than that, in the last 20 years, i've never

seen anybody take a motorcade to camp david. >> colin mckenzie is scheduled to go on trial here at federal court on august 18th. if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years and a fine of $260,000. we're live at the u.s. courthouse in maryland. back to you in the studio. >> chris gordon reporting. thank you. it was a final showdown today in the benita jacks murder trial. the prosecution and defense presenting closing arguments. jacks' fate now in the hands of a judge. pat collins is at superior court. pat? >> wendy, a powerful finish for the prosecutor here today. she says there is no doubt that benita jacks murdered each and every one of her children. an impassioned closing argument today by prosecutor michelle jackson. she talked about benita jacks' house of horrors. and she asked for a verdict of guilty on all counts.

the prosecutor says benita jacks' daughtead h their own prison of ttu aornd that it was inside their home on 6th street southeast. the prosecutor says t girls' jailer was their own mother. 35-year-old benita jacks charged with murdering her four daughters ages 5 through 16. the decomposing bodies of the girls discovered january 9th, 2008, as marshals came to evict jacks from that hoe. the prosecution says that jacks lived in that houseor several months after her daughters died. the prosecutor says jacks starved her dahters, tortured rher daughters, made her teenag daughter live like an animal. because of the decomposition, the exact cause and time of the deaths are in dispute. but the prosecutor says there's

evidence one girl was stabbed and three others strangled. the defense attorney says in this case, the official cause of death is undetermined. he says there's evidence of neglect but no evidence of child abuse, no evidence of child cruelty. there's no jury in this case. benita jacks' fate will be decided by judge frederick wiseburg. some spectators have been in the courtroom for the entire trial. thiss what they had to say. >> is this hard for you to watch? >> yes and no. well, it's hard in a way because i felt sorry for the kids. you know, the way the kids suffered. the way they died. >> it's hard for me to get my head around the fact that there are four dead girls and they're really gone because she just sat there the whole time and i kept thinking, we, who is going to -- where is the justice for the girls? they're gone.

>> so when can we expect a verdict? well, the judge has set up a meeting with the attorneys wednesday morning. wendy, back to you. >> pat collins, thank you. traffic was a mess earlier today near burtonville because of a gas line rupture at columbia pike and fairline road. construction is taking place in that area for the intercounty connector. no homes or buildings were evacuated. the gas line was capped and the roads reopened in an hour. or wk is soon going to begin on a new w terunl.unl. the new pipe will help supply watetor toesidents in montgomery counties.e grg es th wasthngton, d.c. suburban sanitary commissionayous wthwit this new pipe, somees rtsenid in wheaten could notice a drop in water pressure. construction on the new pipe will begin next month. vdot began notifying around

600 employees today that they are out of a job. it is the first of more than 1,400 layoffs in the works. the goal is to close a $2.6 billion transportation budget gap. employees who do preliminary work on road construction projects are most likely to be cut. that's because construction projects have been slashed by more than a third over the next six years. it was a hot and steamy one out there today, bob. >> it is still. it is july. we've got the humidity. there is our sky. no storms around us. looking at the shenandoah valley and the beautiful areas in virginia. it's hot. 92 degrees with the doppler picking up some nasty storms. look at the amount of lightning in that northern neck area and down into the beach areas. boy, it has been a really wild afternoon with up to an inch and a half to two inches of rain.

tonight, our temperatures will be into the 60s to low 70s. low 90s tomorrow. we'll get up to 90, 91 degrees. a risk of an isolated thunderstorm. more general showers and thunder showers, i think. we should expect on wednesday. and even into the tail end of the week. with that humidity, there's always the risk of an afternoon thunderstorm. for the most part, it will be sunny and summary with the averages now by the weekend 88 degrees. the weekend right now looks pretty good. mixture of clouds and sunshine. a summary pattern continues into early next week. back toyou. >> well, it is july. thank you, bob. when we come back on "news4 at 5," some new recommendations from top health officials in the country to deal with a weighty matter. a white house known for its technology puts a ban on twitter.en there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stufd pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone...

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[ sniffs ] an olive. [ sniffs ] green, with pimento. ooh. he's good. nothing gets past him. [ snif ] piece of cake. [ male announcer ] kill bugs on contact without the bad smell. raid ant & roach killer is specially formulated with no lingering chemical odor. what's that? [ sniffs ] i don't smell nothing. raid! raid! raid!

raid ant & roach killer kills bugs dead! with no lingering odor. sc johnson. a family company. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut. the white house staff cannot twitter because the site is blocked on all white house computers. gibbs does not tweet himself. he's on camera enough, says he. people should have a good sense of what he's doing most days. president obama still uses his blackberry. it's unclear if he twitters. the white house has a twitter account but it's not clear whether the president is actually using it. bill gates is no longer using facebook.

the microsoft founder says he had to close down his account because just too many people friended him. about 10,000 in all. gates says the facebook experience became too much of a hassle. i'd like to be his best friend. now i know why he never confirmed me. there we go. hanging out there all this time. coming up next, the hefty price tag that comes with obesity in our country. the handy vac says it will vacuum seal your food and save you hundreds of dollars a year. does it really do that? found out coming up. try the new subway big chipotle cheesesteak.

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you can save more than $1,000 a year on food that you would otherwise toss out. that's what the handy vac claims. >> it's a vacuum bag sealer that claims to keep your food perfectly fresh, but does it really do that? >> handy vac is made by the folks that bring you reynolds wrap, and it says it's a breakthrough device that will protect your food and save you money. but does it really do that? let's find out. ♪ >> looks like you need handy vac, the vamume saling. >> reporter: the world of vacuum sealing has just gotten easier if you watch the handy vac commercial.

it'she handheld vacuum sealer. so we sent the handy vac and its commercial to lisa coach's house. she was especially interested in preserving leftovers and thought the device sounded like the answer. the handy vac and bags cost $9. $9.95. for that price, we're going to save a ton of money on toss-out food. >> how does the handy vac work? what do we do? >> basically, you just take your food and put it in the bags that are provided to you. >> so they gave you a couple of different sizes? >> they did. there's this size and then there's the gallon size. >> reporter: the bags look like regular sealable bags except for the small button-shaped area near the upper rn. the difference is apparent when

you're ready to seal. >> then you take the device, you put it over this button, press the button. >> oh, and it just starts sucking the air out? >> reporter: it only takes a fa moments to remove all the air. >> what do you think about that? >> well, it definitely does a good job. it's very easy to use. but -- >> reporter: and it sucks the air out. >> it did suck their out. >> reporter: as lisa sealed some lettuce, she said you have to be a bit careful that the liquid from food doesn't get near the sealing button because the juice then ends up in the handy vac itself and needs to be cleaned out. after sealing her lettuce, lisa showed us lettuce she sealed a week earlier. >> what do you think? >> well, it definitely seemed to still be crisp. >> reporter: the handy vac says it will also seal meals like lisa's leftover chicken teriyaki and veggies. >> it doesn't look dried out. >> it looks fairly fresh. >> reporter: the bags only fit

smaller plates, not binneen dind plates. it protects food from freezer burn like this steak. so here's a steak lisa froze a week earlier. >> looks pretty good. >> that looks pretty good. >> reporter: lisa had much the same verdict for week-old frozen chicken. >> it was pretty good. >> reporter: and frozen fish and salmon. >> looks pretty good. so does it really do that? >> it does. at least so far it's done what it set out to do. >> reporter: for $18, would you buy it? >> i think i would buy it. it seems it would be worth while. >> a happy customer. to contactilmae-, we have an es ilma w, we have an easy way for o tu h do mail e-mail questions, doesn't questions, doesn't do dot. reatt.ng you'd like esthqu anything you'd like to send me, go to twitter.com and just

search liz crenshaw. yeah, she was happy. i was thinking with all of the fresh fruits and vegetable this time of year, kind of a cool thing to be using. >> i wonder if you can put a bag on hanley and seal him to make his fresh? >> thank you, ladies. let's find out what's coming up at 6:00 tonight. jim vance is here with the preview. >> hey. coming up, we'll continue reporting on the nfl commissioner's decision to reinstate michael vick. police say they've broken up a ring involving 150 fighting cunares. and we'll report on new research about a link between stomach problems and autism in children. those stories and more in just a few minutes. >> canaries. who knew they had it in them? all right. redskins training camp. >> oh, yeah, right around the corner. >> it's hot enough for it. >> yeah. and the guys do a lot of different activities. one of the things that redskins cornerback jason campbell did was pay a surprise visit to

8-year-old c.j. landsdown. c.j. was so sick that he had to get special permission to leave his home to be able to throw a football with jason. but now just four months later, he has made significant progress that you won't believe. here's c.j.'s story. >> reporter: this is c.j. at 8 years old, his greatest joy is playing for the redskins. his boys and girls club flag football team that for a second year in a row is playing the steelers for the championship. but win or lose this game, it doesn't matter because c.j. has already won a much bigger, much more important battle. his father knows how much this game means to his son. >> seeing him get out there on the field and playing the very first time, i'm extremely proud of him. >> reporter: not even five unths ago, being near his teammates was impossible. in centerville, virginia, his

desk sat empty waiting for c.j.'s return. instead of dreaming about football, he was here in his family dining room taking lessons from a social worker. >> you're right, though. it came from the -- >> trunk. >> yes. >> reporter: c.j. was quarantined to his house for 100 days, recovering from a bone marrow transplant in early december. part of his treatment for lymphoma. still, his parents say his strength is how they've gotten through. >> we were so devastated when we found out. i mean, both of us were falling apart. but when you see him day after day fighting so hard, it's hard to feel sorry for yourself. you can't when he's fighting so hard to feel good. he has fought the whole time from the very beginning. >> reporter: c.j. was diagnosed when he was a year of chemotherapy kept him from school, but then his cancer went into remissn and 11

months. c.j. spent the spring waiting until midmarch when his amune system was strong enough to leave the house. on one special day, the leukemia society helped bring football to him. there's a special visitor at the door, and c.j. senses the guest. >> c.j., what's up, man? what's going on? >> nothing. >> going all right, man? >> yeah. >> reporter: four months later, c.j. is use jason's tips for himself. this month with his cancer in remission, c.j. was able to join his team in the championship game. they didn't win, but it was c.j. whmade the biggest play, running the ball back 80 yards for the touchdown. his dad was so overcome with emotion, he could barely hold the video camera. >> my heart was pounding the whole way down. that determination is just the thing that -- he's determined to beat cancer and he beat it. he was determined to get to the end zone and he did it. it's just a strong testament to his strong will.

>> reporter: c.j. has been an inspiration. his love of football has helped him fight and overcome the biggest battle of his life. c.j. is in remission. he does have to get frequent tests at children's medical center. that family is amazing. it's also cool because whenever i talk to jason campbell, we often talk about c.j. he has a, you know, distinct love for the kid as well. >> sure. he's a bright child. >> yeah. >> just a light coming out of him. >> what a special kid. can we do a shout out? what a year they're having. >> i know. i know. >> it was really cool. yeah. great. >> thank you, lindsay. when we come back, the unhealthy habits of cancer survivors. what doctors say they are not doing even when they want to. and soda lovers with a sweet

tooth spend money and calories to get the real deal.

the rising costs of treating obesity. a new study out shows caring for someone severely overweight costs about $1,400 more a year than a person who is normal weight. health spending on obesity-related problems costs $147 billion every year. that's about 9% of all medical spending. and nearly double what it cost a

decade ago. unless obesity can be controlled, medical costs will continue to spiral out of control. the centers for disease control is sponsoring a conference on obesity in washington this week. it's the first time the cdc has sponsored such an event. the goal is to discuss progress that's been made in the prevention and control of obesity and to find strategies to make more improvements. earliertoy, bill clinton addressed the conference. >> if we want to change it, we have to give people rational information and understand both the economic and the psychological pressures that have made this perhaps the number one public health problem in the country. certainly put the younger generation at risk of being the first in the history of our country to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. >> the cdc issued some recommendations today. they include making healthy food and beverage choices and more

affordable, encouraging physical activity and limiting sentary behaviors. a new study shows most older americans who are cancer survivors surprisingly have poor health habits. researchers examined the exercise habits of more than 750 long-term cancer survivors. they found that while patients wanted to exercise, they rarely did. the study found patients averaged only ten minutes of modete to vigorous exercise a week. the national recommendation is 150 minutes. some eating habit are tough to break. even if they are not healthy for you. some people who love soda prefer their drinks with sugar. and beverage companies are responding with more products made with the real thing. ellen goldberg has more on this sweet trend. >> you'll see a lot of people reading labels in here. >> reporter: but most of these people aren't checking calories

or fat grams. they're looking for, get this, real, actual sugar. >> i have a lot of customers that will come in and only buy products that are sweetened with sugar. >> reporter: tony owns the soda gallery. he says he's seeing a resurgence of real-sugar sodas. >> it's way different when it's real sugar. >> reporter: soda lovers like tina turn their noses up at soft drinks made with artificial sweeteners. >> i don't like the way the fake sugar tastes. it leaves a taste in your mouth. >> reporter: pepsi is paying attention. >> many manufacturers are putting on the label that it's made with real sugar. >> reporter: this summer, the company introduced two throw back versions made with pure cane sugar. >> it's good. >> fresca is made with real sugar as well. and it's a popular drink.

>> reporter: also popular among the real sugar soda crowd, dublic dr. pepper and the entire line of jones soda. >> personally, i think that the ones made with real sugar taste brighter and cleaner. it's a fresher taste. >> reporter: and in this self-described soda connoisseur's opinion, worth every calorie. >> that's good. that's really good. >> you thirsty? that was ellen goldberg reports. that does it for "news4 at 5." coming up now, micel vick reinstated to the nfl. wendy joins jim vance next for "news4 at 6." the police have released the 911 tapes from the arrest of a harvard professor trying to get into his own house. >> new information about the drunk driving arrest of alexandria's police chief. and a tree came crashing down a