well, we just can't cat a break from this. since the big december blizzard of '09, it's been one big storm after another. four have dumped snow on the area. tonight, we'll be able to add another one to that list. let's head up to bob ryan with the latest. >> another one, and a bigger one. these were the amounts in washington, about four inches. imagen en iine if we get a sto times bigger than yesterday's storm. a winter storm watch, that is for friday morning, beginning friday morning. tomorrow will be a sunny day with delightful weather. there are watches now, winter storm watches, a winter storm watch over us. and also some warnings already going out through the midpart of the country. the storm system itself is just beginning to get going in west texas. look at the rain. as we go through tomorrow it will be moving in, picking up gulf moisture and from every indication, by the time we get into friday night and into saturday, we'll be intensifying

off the coast in a critical area to bring a major amount of snow not only for the washington area but much of the east. so here's my latest odds. bob's odds. 80% chance right now. we are looking at a major snowstorm friday afternoon, friday night into saturday. a 70% chance that it will begin noontime to friday afternoon. so a problem for the evening rush hour. right now i think there is a bit less, but still a significant chance, a 40% chance that some areas, especially west and north of washington, are looking at snowfall accumulations on the order of 12 inches to 24 inches. this is bearing some semblance to our february 1982 storm. remember that december storm was one of our biggest. have we ever had a winter when two of the 15 biggest snowstorms of all time here in washington occurred in the same winter? you'll have the answer to that and i'll tell you more of the details on what looks like

another lollapalooza. >> you've got our attention, bob. thank you. friday's storm will be the third in a week dropping snow on winter-weary washington. now everyone who has to respond to the bad weather is getting ready for this next round. jane watrel joins us now. >> hi, jim. as bob told us, two down, one to go. the winter storms are just hitting in waves with a seemingly monster one on the horizon. digging out this morning was relatively easy. the inches of snowfall melted away. but with the possibility of another snow emergency looming, places like george washington university hospital are looking at their staffing levels. >> we dropped the staffing during the snowstorm and we increased the staffing afterwards. because a lot of people who have medical illnesses put them off during the snowstorm and then there's a big surge of medical

demand in the day or two after the snowstorm. >> reporter: area utility companies who deal with electrical power lines are looking at how their crews might have to deal with friday's anticipated storm. not just the snow but possible high winds. >> this snow could be wet, similar to what we had this morning. the trees sag, the branches sag, our power lines sag. so if we have heavy snow on the lines and then the wind starts blowing, we could see power outages. >> as of right now, metro has work scheduled on the red and orange lines over the weekend. but will take a closer look at its system as the storm draws nearer. inches or more of snow, that does impact our above-ground service and we may be forced to go to underground service only. buses would also be impacted as well based on the road conditions, depending upon the road conditions. we could be faced with a situation like we were in december where we pulled our buses off the road >> reporter: from metro to local

medical teams, people getting ready. >> we make a commitment that our staff somehow manages to get in. if they can't get in, then the staff that's here stays. >> metro says it will begin making decisions on its operations beginning tomorrow. they ask everyone to keep checking its website for the latest information. reporting live in northwest, i'm jane watrel. back to you, jim. >> thank you, jane. coming up in our next half hour, our winter weather team coverage continues. we'll look at how all the snow can affect your mental health. the snow may have caused a small fire earlier today. it was on the tracks at the bethesda metro stop on the redline. trains had to share one track between friendship heights station and medical center. we're told the insulation along the rails apparently caught

fire. it's a problem triggered by wet conditions along the tracks. there were no reports of any injuries or damage to the cars. the station remained open during the incident. trains are running normally once again. mounting pressure from the federal government on toyota's global recall. a hearliing on capitol hill addressed toyota's troubles. >> but some of today's testimony added to the confusion. liz crenshaw is here to sort it all out. >> it was a bit confusing this morning, wendy and jim. today ray lahoud spoke before a house appropriations subcommittee on transportation and spouted out a powerful piece of advice to toyota drivers, but then he clarified his statement. >> if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to toyota dealers. they believe they have the fix for it. so what i said in there was obviously a misstatement. what i meant to say and what i thought i said was if you own

one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dler and they'll fix it. >> lahoud's initial statement came during a hearing to determine whether toyota responded fast enough and if the fix, a new reenforcement part, will solve the problem. toyota's most recent recall affects more than 2 million vehicles with the potential for sticking gas pedals. toyota announced a fix earlier this week, a steel shim to be installed on to the existing accelerator. meanwhile, federal safety officials have widened the investigation to see if the same problem could exist for other automakers. the government is also investigating complaints about the electronic systems associated with some toyota gas pedals. today in at least one dealership in the metro area it started receiving the new part to fix the pedal problems. lake forest toyota in gaithersburg, maryland, is one of the first service areas in our area to get their hands on the part and its instructions.

technicians started learning how to install the part today. we're told it takes about 30 minutes to fix. this particular dealer had only enough new parts for training purposes. >> it is our hopes that toyota will be able to provide us enough parts on a daily basis starting tomorrow that we can meet the customers' current demand. >> dealers say toyota owners driving a recalled vehicle should call a toyota service it accommode its customers. the new part is supposed to eliminate excess friction that apparently causes the pedal to stick. and toyota's troubles appear to be mounting tonight. it is now investiting potential brake problems with the new model of its prius hybrid. the u.s. national highway traffic safety administration has received about 100 complaints. the car has not -- has not been recalled. it is under investigation. two crashes have been blamed on the alleged faulty brakes.

some drivers complain the brakes are not sharp enough and more than a dozen complaints were recorded in japan. the prius hybrid went on sale last may. so not a recall on the prius. they're going to look at that and we'll start trying to get the pedals worked on as soon as they get enough parts. on and on and on. >> what a nightmare. >> yeah. tonight, police have made an arrest in the murder of a woman and her 8-year-old son in prince william county. 47-year-old natalia wilson is charged with two counts of murder. 41-year-old slavka naydenova and her son, paul wilson, were killed monday night. naydenova's husband found their bodies when he returned home from work. according to investigators, the suspect is married to the child's biological father. the death of a virginia tech student has been ruled a homicide. the state medical examiner released the findings today. morgan harrington's body was

found last week on a farm. that's not far from the arena at the university of virginia where she was last seen back in october. she walked out of a metallica concert to talk to friends but she was not allowed back inside. that was the last time harrington was seen alive. >>the woman who is charged in a car crash that killed two people in prince george's county this week is free tonight. she's not been charged yet, but investigators believe alcohol was a factor in that crash. it's not the first time that the suspect has faced trouble with the law. pat collins in our newsroom with more on this investigation. pat? >> wendy, since she hasn't been officially charged, we're not using her name. but're learning a lot more. the woman emerging at the suspect of that double fatal crash is out of police custody pending the completion of the investigation. that's not comforting news to the family of one of the

victims. >> she's out, right? she's describing around somewhere. is she drunk? you know? >> reporter: you have to wonder, don't you? >> everybody thought she wasn't ever going to get out again. they thought they would build a new jail and put her in it. >> reporter: two people dead. the alleged suspect in the case is out. >> right. >> reporter: how did that happen? >> in all of these traffic fatalities, the police department has to do an accident reconstruction report. takes about six weeks to do that right. we have to make sure we have that before we bring charges. >> reporter: the scene today, unremarkable but what happened here monday night will have lasting impact. too men exchanging information after a fender-bender struck and killed by a woman driving a cadillac. dead, 33-year-old roy lacayo and 30-year-old justo rosario. sources say the wum an hind the wheel appeared to be drinking.

the 30-year-old woman suspected as the perpetrator in this double-death accident is no stranger to the maryland court system. these are just some of the records that we pulled. the records indicate that on october 24th, 2008, she was arrested on the beltway near connecticut avenue and charged with driving under the influence. reading further now, it indicates that on january 27th, 2009, she pleaded guilty to the dwi charge and was sentenced to one year supervised probation. now look at this. november 13th, 2009, the 1600 block of st. camillas drive. she's arrested for driving with a suspended license. she's supposed to go to court on that charge nexteek. now today i talked to a relative of that woman. he said this is a terrible and

tragic accident. he said the woman driver is very remorseful and fears this will cause her to be separated from hir 5-year-old son. >> pat callns, thank you, pat. when we come back, what happens to your body when some of your dna has been deleted? researchers may have an answer. >> noo >>. also, a major announcement about the christmas-day bomber. we'll introduce you to the men who saved three children from their burning home.

attorney general eric holder says he is the one who decided to charge the suspect in that christmas-day attempted bombing in civilian court. republicans have argued that abdulmutallab should have been charged in the military system. that way he could have been held indefinitely without access to an attorney. holder says the decision to charge abdulmutallab in civilian court was discussed with the administration and the intelligence community and no one raised an objection. officials say he has been cooperating and has shared useful information. intelligence officials are sure that terrorists will try again to attack the u.s. in the next three to six months. those unsettling views came to light on capitol hill this week. pete williams is here now with more on that. pete? >> what does that mean? what do we do with this information when they say tt it's going to come in the next

three to six months? >> i think more is being made of this than should be. in a way this was a common-sense answer. dianne feinstein asked them what are the chances, what is the likelihood that in the next six months someone will attempt a terror attack on the u.s.? they said the likelyheood is certain. but there's been no period of time where someone hasn't tried to attack the u.s. look at just the cases in the last year. there have been at least six ranging from the incompetent all the way to the dangerous. the fact that they'd say the chances are likely that someone will try again are high, it just stands to reason. >> let's go back to the christmas-day suspect and criticism of the way interrogations were handled. did they get a lot out of him. were they productive? >> we know a lot more about this now, jim. we knew that he had been

questioned on christmas day right after he was taken off of the plane. after he came out of surgery, the fbi tried to talk to him again and he said i'm not answering any more questions. then he got a miranda warning and a lawyer. now starting last thursday, he's begun talking again. cooperating extremely extensively, saying everything the fbi wants to know and the break-through thing is that the fbi went to nigeria, gut members of his family, brought them back to washington and then took them to meet him in detroit and after talking to his family, he started talking again. now, back to the political point you made earlier about where to charge him. the administration insists and eric holder says today in his letter to senators that a key factor for the family was the fact that he was incivilian court, n military court. and they say that was one of the reasons the family agreed to cooperate, which got him talking again. the mere fact that you give someone a warning and a criminal

trial isn't a guarantee that they'll stop talking. >> very interesting. all right. pete williams, thanks. >> my pleasure. no word yet on whether formal charges will be filed against ten american missionaries in haiti. first, we have a big storm heading our way. >> and the busiest mann town this week, bobryan. >> no reason to panic right now. there's 24 hours at least. but it does look like -- >> we can start building up our panic. >> it looks like more and more that it will be a major snow producer. we'v been through this with the rain/snow mix and so forth. but everything is converging. all of the different things that we look at. >> all right. >> looks like it's going to be the real mccoy. which takes me to the wednesday weather quiz. pete, you can participate, too, since you're here. here's the question. we had that big, big storm in december which was one of the top ten storms. have we ever had a winter when we've had two of the 15 biggest

snowstorms in washington weather history occur in the same winter? >> myuess would be yes. >> i'd say yes, too. and i -- i know when it is. '96. >> 1896. >> no, 1996. >> you're all true. yes, congratulations. >> thank you, pete. >> the answer is yes. and it occurred back in 1899 on february 8th. that was followed by an even bigger storm on february 11th. as a matter of fact, that february 11th to 13th, that was our second biggest storm of all time in washington. over 20 inches of snow. take a look tside. this is some of the beauty scenes that we had. i know snow-haters and some of the snow-lovers are saying enough already. but it was one of those wet

snows, the clingy snow. this one will be a bit wet, too. here's what's going on in the atmosphere. 41 degrees. tomorrow we'll be having more melting o to our west. you see the temperatures into the 30s. there are the areas under winter storm watch already around us here in washington. these are winter weather advisories for some snow and ice. there's the storm beginning to get going. we've had that pattern with the jet stream to our south. the next storm will be following a similar pattern because it's been so, so active. the last time we had a storm like this that looked like it would be like this, 1983, we had over 16 inches of snow in washington. and 36 inches in the blue ridge. let me show you the radar. you can see where that area of rain is that continues to spread out through parts of texas on into -- on into parts of north texas. the radar is showing not only an

area of rain in texas, b it's raining in wichita falls, raining right now into north texas and then it's snow out into new mexico. tonight, what we'll be seeing as we go through the next 24 hours, high pressure in on us. a lot of sunshine tomorrow. more melting. here comes that storm. first in the form of rain in the southeast. then as it runs into the cold air, the snow spreads up and over us. by friday, the snow is around us and it will continue to point up as we go through friday night on into saturday. so for the remainder of the evening, partly cloudy skies tomorrow when you get up and head out. the clouds will be out of here. this was the moisture going up into the atmosphere from that me melting of the snow. lot of sunshine tomorrow. watch out for the wet spots. it will be icy with temperatures tomorrow afternoon getting above freezing. so good day to begin, think about preparations. certainly this is -- as any of

the big storms are, this is a dynamic situation as it develops and as we get closer, we'll have a better idea. but certainly reasonably confident at this point a major east-coast snowstorm. and i would say there's a 70% chance right now that we're looking at six to more than 12 inches of snow again from this one. it will be into saturday with a lot of cancellations. a major impact on the east coast. >> similar to the december 20th one? >> it will probably be bigger than that. >> okay. >> bob, thank you. so what is all this snow doing to your mental health? we'll look at the psychological impact coming up. d a warning to internet junkies.

you can spice up your meals with easy-to-make homemade sauces and spices. here to walk us all through it is joe, the food editor of the "washington post." hi there. >> hi, wendy. >> we really need to be enlightened by this. we just open a jar of mayo and we think we're done. >> if i have some cool little relishes and chutneys in my refrigerator, i can do such cool things like, for instance, this

is chili lemon pickle. you marinate lemons and salt and vinegar and then you add spices and oils to it. take your basic fried rice. >> i see you have a sweet potato here. a lot of us come home and cook a potato. i love what this is. it looks very dark and serious. >> yes. this is a great condiment. i added sake and sugar and it mellows it. and then you can just stir it, mash it into a sweet potato. it's a great marinade on meat. >> and then over here, this looks exciting. >> it's spicy. i tend to like spicy. it's spicy. it's got chilies and onions and oil. i broiled halibut and then i

dollop some of this on there. >> this will keep in the refrigerator? >> these will keep six months. >> great. thanks, joe. >> sure. >> and you can find these recipes and more on our website, nbcwashington.com/aroundtown. or washingtonpost.com/food. those sauces were fabulous. coming up tonight, major new developments this evening on the death of michael jackson. we'll tell you about

welcome back at 5:30.

i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handley. three young children hospitalized tonight after a fire at their washington apartment building. those three children are in critical condition tonight, but they are alive. tonight, we're hearing from the firefighters who saved their lives. chris gordon talked to them. he joins us live from the scene of the fire in the 1900 block of nailer road southeast. chris? >> this is a scess story. it could have been tragic. three young girls left alone in an apartment in this building on nailer road. it is not often that we are able to take you behind the scenes to witness a dramatic fire rescue, but we are doing so tonight. we start with video from d.c. fire engine 15 as it responded to this emergency call. the fire broke out at about 6:00 a.m. in the kitchen of a second-floor condo unit as

plastic melted the apartment filled with toxic smoke. what firefighters didn't know at the time was that three children were in a bedroom left alone by their father who went to work after asking a neighbor down the hall to check in on them. when the neighbor went to the apartment, she saw smoke. this surveillance video taken from a hallway camera in the building shows firefighters inside. the neighbor using a key to open the apartment door. firefighters running inside and rescuing the three little girls who were all suffering from serious smoke inhalation. they were rushed to a waiting ambulance. >> when i opened the door, to my hor, i opened it to find them doing cpr on a 5-month-old infant. we also had an 18-month-old child at the end of the stretcher and then also we had a 5-year-old child w was unconscious. >> sometimes people take the statement of secondsliche, but

it really mattered. that's why we were able to save three children. >> reporter: at the firehouse aof engine 15, d.c. chief larry schultz gathered all those involved in the rescue to congratulate them. >> this was the perfect scenario. three kids were ever to be trapped, they couldn't ask for a better scenario than to have the resources they had just two minutes down the road. >> the chief says that this is a good example of how community fire stations can respond quickly and save lives. the little girls are at children's hospital listed in critical but stable condition and they are expected to pull through. we're in southeast washington. back to you in the studio. >> all right. chris gordon, thank you. now back to our snow streak. we seem to be experiencing a lot of this. some are fed up with all of it. elaine reyes is in bethesda with more on the psychological

affects of saying positive during this cold winter weather. elaine? >> well, wendy, people just tell us that they are tired of all the work that goes along with the snow. not the physical kind of work, but the rescheduling, the building in the extra time when it comes to having a snow day. they tell us that it's just an extra burden on their already busy lives. some people can't get enough. >> it's beautiful, it's peaceful, it's quiet. >> we love it. and we -- it's wintertime. it might as well snow as much as it can. >> reporter: plenty of others, not so much. >> i'm totally over it. i'm from the d.c. area. we have not had snow like this since '96. >> reporter: to date, the d.c. region has already seen double its average yearly snowfall with more to come. >> it's like you scrape off your car and then three days later it starts snowing again. and then it's just snow on top of snow and then ice and snow. so i'm just not a fan.

>> ion't like to stay outside cleaning knowing that it's going to get dirty again in a few hours. >> the kids are enjoying having the day off. >> reporter: this doctor, a psychiatrist, talks snow psychology. >> what does snow mean for the average person here? it means an increased demand on your already heavy day that you may or may not be likely -- likely you are ill-prepared to deal with it. most people feel comfortable with the occasional day or two. when it starts to get into weeks, that become as bit of a struggle. >> reporter: dr. norris adds for busy people, it's frustrating to reschedule life events around the snow because it's a control thing. >> if it's a snowy day, if it's a bad day, you know what my favorite thing is? take time. ju slow down. take a little bit of extra time. if you can, reduce the workload. make sure you're finding joie

enjoyment in your work and your social life. >> reporter: it's advice some are considering as they prepare for more clearing and scraping this weekend. >> oh, my gosh. what can we do? we have to just go along and enjoy it. >> and not only are they enjoying it, they're preparing for this weekend. we stopped by a nearby hardware store. they ran out of shovels yesterday. they happened to get a shipment in today, but they expect to run out by tonight. we're live in bethesda. >> thanks, elaine. >> i'm not there yet, but check back on saturday. i think everybody we talked to would be there by then. >> i want to see how the liquor stores are doing. >> yeah. bang-up business. >> yeah. coming up on "news4 at 5," we have much more ahead this evening. michael jackson's doctor is expected to turn himself in to police. will he rlly be charged in the pop singer's death? mind games. we'll tell you why surfing the web may

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if a warm smile could melt the ice, we know the girl that could make that happen. tonight, we introduce you to a lovely 12-year-old that wants the love of a permanent family. tonight, we meet keyshon. >> reporter: she is a lovely 12-year-old with a smile that can light up the world. have you ever been ice skating before? >> no. >> reporter: she said ice skating was something that she always wanted to learn to do, so the ft. dupont ice arena is where we were heading. getting into skates the first time is not that easy. there's a magic to putting these skates on.

then magically thereas someone who knows a little bit about ice skates. in town for "disney on ice" mickey mouse and his tina helped. she was anxious to master this new challenge. >> what is the key to doing this? >> reporter: she proved to be a fast learner just as she is in school. what is your favorite subject? >> i like reading. >> reporter: do you read a lot? >> yeah. >> reporter: do you have faberafa favorite books. >> yeah. >> she's been in care since february of 2004. >> reporter: social workers say she is a delightful youngster. >> she has a very warm personality. she really touches anyone's heart. she's very pleasant. she actually asks a lot of questions. >> reporter: and she's not afraid to try new things. >> what do you do with your feet? >> reporter: she hopes to one day soon have a family that will

want her to be part of their li lives forever. >> they should want to have fun. they should like playing, having laughs and be fun to be around. >> reporter: by the end of her short lesson, she was skating. >> it's great. knowing it was my first time. >> reporter: and mickey brought along surprises, including tickets for "disney on ice." with a smile this warm and wonderful, keyshon is sure to melt the hearts of a family who could make her their own. >> if you have room in your home and your heart for a child waiting, please call 1-88-2-adopt-me. or go to nbcwashington.com. >> love her smile. >> yes. she has a great smile. coming up on "news4 at 5" tonight, first lady michele obama sits down for a one-on-one to give a personal look inside

her home life. coming up in sports, former skins' quarterback mark brunell finally make it to his first super bowl after 17 yea

health care reform might have hit a snag but it's not going away. >> as congress tries to agree on a plan, there are many americans struggling to pay for medical care. doreen is here to show the hidden faces of the health care debe debate. >> without good health insurance, many americans simply stip preventative care and needed procedures. the trouble is in the long run,

not taking care of those things can come back to haunt you. tonight, we look at one family's sorrow. they say lack of health insurance coverage led to the death of a wonderful father and husband. >> he was one of the few people that would tell us what we needed to know. >> reporter: you might not have noticed this mural tucked behind a gas station on connecticut avenue northwest. >> of course, fred is there. i like that part a lot. >> reporter: these haunting images centered around a lone man in a hospital bed. it's a testament to regina holliday's sorrow. >> people think they have rights. they think that they have the rights they have as a person in society, but once you hit the medical system, everything changes. and that's part of what we're trying to do is just spread awareness about this is how bad it can be. >> reporter: thi mural is one of three along connecticut avenue. all of them painted by holliday, an artistic message calling for change. not just in health insurance, but in health care. >> part of the reason i fight so

strongly, it's not just for everybody to become insured and to get access to medicine. it's that that medicine be very good. >> reporter: it's because holliday and her family did not have good access to primary care. it was tough for them to afford private health insurance. >> you have to make that choice. am i sick enough to go to the doctor? it's going to cost $145 just to go to the doctor. >> reporter: but for holliday's husband, fred, skipping out on needed care turned to be a death sentence. >> early treatment has shown lengthenned life. >> reporter: fred holliday avoided a procedure to repair a narrowing in his urethra. >> there's a very good chance that if he could have had that procedure, fred's life would have been saved. >> reporter: after undergoing treatments for back and chest

pain, it turned out that fred had stage four kidney cancer. regina believes if he'd had the surgery to repair his urethra, doctors would have seen the kidney cancer much sooner. >> he would have been caught in stage one or stage two. >> reporter: fred holliday died just weeks after his diagnosis. >> if we had had access to insurance and access to meadical care and the procedures that he could have been able to have, there's a really good chance he'd be alive today. >> reporter: now regina takes care of their two children alone, choosing to take her pain and put it up on these walls in hopes that it might save another family from going through the same thing. >> the way i think about it is if i can make other people's lives better, then it's okay. you know? that maybe i -- we didn't make the right choices but maybe if i tell other people, they will. and then we'll have change. >> sad story. shwantsiot s you to know if you

need a procedure and can't afford it, talk to your physician about programs that provide free or reduced-price medical services. that's also true with prescription medications. if you can't afford those, a lot of pharmaceutical companies have programs. there are a lot of programs out there that people aren't aware of. >> she has a powerful message. thanks so much. first lady michelle obama is opening up about life in the white house this week. mrs. obama sat down for an exclusive interview yesterday with matt lauer. she talked about how the first daughters, malia and sasha, have adjusted to washington. >> how much of an effort did that take or has it taken? >> it's taken a great deal of effort and focus. it's been important to me their entire lives because you don't just arrive at the presidency. i mean, there's a long pathway of sort of interesting life decisions that go along with it. so barack and i have always been mindful that we want to make

sure that the choices we make as adults, as parentses, don't negatively affect our kids' lives. >> coming up right here on "news4 at 6" tonight, michelle obama on her husband's graying hair. so we have the super bowl coming up. what have you got? >> this is -- you know, i like this story line. i think a lot of people will be rooting for the saints because of all the city of new orleans has gone through. but if you had to pick two players who will impact the super bowl the most, it has to be the quarterbacks, right? peyton manning going for his second super bowl title. and drew brees, the undersized, overachiever to helped resurrect the saints' franchise. brees completed 70% of his passes, threw for 4,300 yards and 34 touchdowns. he was also the top-rated passer in the national football league.

success, nothing new for brees. he threw for 5,000 yards last season. despite all he's accomplished, brees still gets advice from his backup, mark brunell. he's making his first super bowl appearance and he says he'll help drew any way he can. >> this is my 17th year. to finally get in this game, it means a lot. we've been talking all week long and how special this is, but it's really own special if you win the football game. and so we'll have a good week of practice. last week we worked very hard and put together a game plan. so we'll see how this goes. guys are excited. i think guys are very focused. >> mark has been awesome. he has been tremendous for me as a mentor, as a guy who's played a lot of football at a very high level. you're talking about a guy who's been to three pro bowls, led teams in jacksonville to two afc championship games. he's played in a ton of big

games, big atmospheres. he's a true professional. so there's certainly a lot of things i've been able to gain from him over the years. >> you know, there's a confidence level about him in the huddle and in practice that is somewhat contagious. i think that's a good trait to have. when you're someone that could be called upon at any time. >> the saints' head coach, sean payton, on his backup quarterback who happens to be mark brunell. another player soaking up every second of this unlikely part in the super bowl this week is a colts player. some in the organization have said they think he could be the second coming of dallas clark. >> i think its. >> steve: been different than, you know, the normal super bowl. started out on the practice squad. been cut a few times. was home for three weeks. was with the cleveland browns for ree weeks.

they cut me and i was driving home and had to hang a right because indianapolis called to come back to the colts. so it's been a wild ride, but i've just tried to stay even keeled. that's what i've learned throughout the year. never get too high or never get too low. i was called up to the active roster against buffalo in week 17. got my first nfl game in a couple of inches of snow. >> that is amazing. you guys were just talking about who he's related to. >> an investigative reporter here for many years and then was a producer for dateline, that's his son. we're going, oh, my gosh, he's gotten so old. >> he goes to gonzaga, then down. didn't really expect to have, you know, this bright future in the nfl. he's had a quiet season. he only had one catch, but they think this kid could be someone that could last for a while in the national football league. >> that's just great. that's just great. very exciting. >> great story.

coming up on "news4 at 5," details on charges linked to the death of mhael jackson. and researchers say they may have found the key to why people are obese. plus, say so long tai shan. we'll take you to his final day down at the national zoo.

investigators say prosecutors are expecting to charge dr. conrad murray with involuntary manslaughter.

law enforcement officials say that charge would carry a jail sentence of four years. jackson died in june from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic. there's more evidence that genetics play a strong role in obesity. a new study finds that some people who were severely obese are missing entire sections of their dna. researchers looked at the genes of more than 16,000 people in two separate stud aeies. all of them were extremely overweight. the longer you spend surfing the web, the more unhappy you're likely to be. that's according to a newtudy from great britain. researchers analyzed internet use and depression levels in more than 1,000 british citizens between the ages of 15 and 61. 1.2% were labeled internet addicts by researchers

researchers point out that it's hard to know whether the internet causes depression or whether those who are depressed are simply drawn to the internet. well, if you didn't go today, you've missed him. tai shan, our giant panda born nearly five years ago at the national zoo, heads to china tomorrow morning. he's old enough now to join that country's breeding program. tom sherwood was at the zoo today as the final visiting hours ticked away. tom? >> this panda has been a great tourist attraction. it's clear people are going to miss him. the popular panda was drawing a good-bye crowd wednesday. >> we have been so lucky to have him living here among us. >> reporter: everyone was trying to get the best angle, the last shot, the one to remember as the nearly 5-year-old panda spent his last minutes in the outdoor panda pen. >> i am a freelance photographer and that's one reason of being here. trying to get all the pictures i

can get. >> reporter: there were silly panda hats. >> put your head down so we can see it. now make a noise like a panda. >> i don't know if i can do that. >> reporter: and a man with not one but two panda pinky rings. >> i actually got them off of ebay from a seller in singapore. >> reporter: one woman who had volunteered in china to care for pandas was here for her good-bye. >> i'm sad to see him go, but he's going to fulfill his destiny in china. >> reporter: thursday morning, tai shan will be carried off to breed with other pandas. late wednesday, workmen began laying a path of plywood for hisehis exit. >> they can remember when he was the size of a butter stick. we came down here and we saw him when he was pretty young. they've watched him grow up. unlike politics and all the other things in die.c., everyon can agree that tai shan is cute.

>> tai shan's parents will return to china at the end of this year. jim and wendy, back to you. >> hope he misses us, too. thank you, tom sfwlnchlths co. coming up, another major snowstorm on the way. "news4 at 6" is next. transportation secretary ray lahoud says he misspoke when he told drivers of toyotas to stop driving the vehicles. court records show a woman who allegedly hit and killed two men while she was drunk had been in trouble with the law before. aig is handing out $100 million in bonuses after receiving $180 bilon in government bailout funds. as one storm moves out, another one is headed our way. a big one. good evening. i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm j