national outrage. a bronx mother faces a judge after being charged with taking her 5-year-old to a tanning salon. good afternoon. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. it's our top story. she says she didn't do it. a mom is accused of letting her 5-year-old daughter use a tanning bed, which is against the law in new jersey. >> in court today she pleaded not guilty to a child endangerment charge. >> reporter: 5-year-old anna was playing outside her home unaware of all the trouble her mom was in. did you go to a tanning salon with your mommy? >> i didn't care. >> reporter: not really sure? i understand. her mother has been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor accused of taking the girl to the tropics tanning salon in nutley and giving her second-degree burns. >> we went for a walk and i tanned. she doesn't tan. it's called a tanning booth.

and a tanning room. >> reporter: she says it was a misunderstanding, that she took her daughter inside the room similar to this one but had anna wait while she alone went into the tanning bed. she says her daughter was never exposed to uv rays. >> she's my little girl. am i going to bring my little daughter into a # 90-degree bed? i mean, that's not normal. >> reporter: well, later that day anna's mother and father say she was playing in the back yard. it was 80 degrees. anna got a minor sunburn. at school the next day, they think she proudly told her friends she went tanning with mommy even though she didn't actually get a tan. they think her teachers heard her say that, saw the sunburn, made an assumption, and called the police. >> she got sun burned. that's it. that's all that happened. >> reporter: the incident happened over a week ago but we couldn't see any burns on anna or even any indications she even had a sunburn. new jersey law prohibits kids under 14 from going tanning at a

salon. the salon denies she wasñr ever there. >> krenzel says many mothers have their children in the rooms while they tan in the beds. she is out of jail on a $25,000 bond. meanwhile marijuana use is up among teens according to a report today by the partnership at drug free.org. the survey finds 1 in 10 teens admits to smoking pot 20 or more times a month. that number is up 80% since 2008. 70% of teenagers say they have friends who smoke dope regularly. the abuse of prescription drugs remains virtually unchanged at about 17%. only about half the teens surveyed say they get or see a great risk in regular marijuana use. hang on to your umbrellas. we expect a stormy night. >> get ready. here we go, folks. meteorologist veronica johnson is in the storm center with your first forecast. all right. >> we could see some showers and some thunderstorms move through the area during the evening

hours. now, i'm not seeing much pop up on radar right now as we take a look there toward the capital. we've got some cloud cover across the area and it's that cloud cover once again that's kept us on the cool side. look at the wind. it's out of the east at reagan national, the temperature 73 degrees. other locations also in the 70s because of the cloud cover. but inland locations and where there is a southwest wind temperatures have been much higher. we've got some storms popping north and west of front royal right now, so sliding out of western maryland. i do think that some of these storms are going to make their way down through fauquier county, prince william county, and southern maryland so that includes charles and st. mary's i think during the late evening hours. so we've got the clouds now but we could see some storms popping, some strong, possibly evening. we're at 72 degrees now in montgomery village and gaithersburg. 67 pax river, st. mary's where the east wind is. inland locations in the 80s. it's 89 in charlottesville,

virginia now. so while the radar may be mostly quiet i think for 7:00, 9:00, chance for some showers and thunderstorms and again those storms could be quite strong. talking about a little warmth in the area for the end of the work week. yeah. how much longer are we going to stay with this unsettled pattern where each day we've got that threat of seeing some storms. we'll talk about it in a couple minutes. we have breaking news out of california. a former nfl superstar is dead inside his home in an apparent suicide. police in oceanside say junior seau was shot to death and it appears he killed himself. his girlfriend found him with a gunshot wound to the chest. the 12-time pro bowler played for the chargers, dolphins, and the patriots. junior seau was just 43 years old. a chevy chase man is charged with arson after he admitted setting the fire that heavily damaged a silver spring apartment building. police arrested 24-year-old

abraham kifloo overnight. investigators say he went to the police station and confessed. the fire damaged or destroyed nearly three dozen units at the terrace drive complex yesterday afternoon. damage is estimated at close to a million dollars. he is related to someone who lives in the building. suicide bombers struck the afghan capital overnight about two hours after president obama left the country. the taliban attacked a housing compound used by hundreds of foreign diplomats, contractors, and aid workers in kabul. seven people were killed when a vehicle loaded with explosives crashed into the compound's main gate. president obama was in afghanistan yesterday to sign an agreement that outlines a ten-year plan for the u.s. role in afghanistan after the troops leave next year. there are conflicting reports about chinese dissident chen chang. earlier today u.s. officials helped negotiate a deal in which chen left the u.s. embassy in beijing and was taken to a

hospital to be treated for injuries suffered when he escaped house arrest last week. u.s. officials say chen never expressed a desire to leave china and that it was his decision to leave the embassy. they say the chinese assured them chen and his family would be treated well. but a few hours later in an interview with the associated press, chen said he feared for his family's safety and he publicly appealed for help leaving china. now to decision 2012. big changes today in the republican race for the white house. it is official. finally. after a poor showing in primaries newt gingrich suspended his campaign about a half hour ago. he vows to remain an active citizen. meanwhile, his now former challenger mitt romney is spending the day here campaigning in northern virginia courting those all important swing voters. steve handelsman has the latest. >> reporter: as newt gingrich dropped out of the race he gave his former rival a boost. mitt romney, he said, is

conservative enough. >> compared to barack obama? you know, this is not a choice between mitt romney and ronald reagan. this is a choice between mitt romney and the most radical, leftist president in american history. >> reporter: the former house speaker topped the republican field in december polls, but he won just two primaries. gingrich out today is a mixed blessing for mitt romney. he is still being hammered by newt in a new ad by the obama campaign. >> i don't know of any american president who has had a swiss bank account. >> are you calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. >> reporter: barack obama, back this morning from afghanistan, has spent two days above the fray. under attack by romney for politicizing the killing of osama bin laden, the president shared the credit in the war zone with u.s. troops and navy seals. he is crediting the bush administration, forcing republicans to tip their hats to

him. >> it was a huge lap around the tracks for the president and, you know, look, kudos to him for it. >> reporter: hoping to return the focus to his big issue, josjobs and growth, mitt romney campaigned in virginia, where barack obama won in '08 but has disappointed some swing voters. >> what would you do to get the economy going? i say well look at what the president has done and do the opposite. >> reporter: back to the main campaign without newt gingrich. gingrich vows he will keep speaking out and nobody doubts him. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. in just a few hours, the caps will hit the ice at verizon center to rock the red. tonight they play game three of their second round playoff series with the rangers. the series is tied a game apiece thanks to a late goal in fwgame two by alex ovechkin. game time tonight at 7:30. watch it on nbc sports network. the nfl is dropping the

hammer today on four players involved in the new orleans saints bounty scandal. punishments were handed down today. linebacker jonathan vilmo also got an unprecedented 16-game suspension. he will miss all of next season. the league says he offered $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked quarterbacks kurt werner and brett favre out of the playoffs. linebacker scott fujita and lineman will smith and anthony hargrove were also suspended, ranging from three to eight games. >> today pitcher andy pettitte admitted he might have misunderstood when he thought he heard roger clemens say he used human growth hormone. he was cross examined here at the federal courthouse in washington. the baseball great is accused of lying to congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. today pettitte said there is a 50/50 chance that he misunderstood a conversation that happened about a dozen years ago in which he says clemmons talked about hgh.

pettitte's admission could weaken the prosecution's case. also in court today another former aide took the stand in the john edwards corruption trial. prosecutors are trying to paint a picture of a greedy and manipulative politician who used illegal campaign donations to cover up his sexual affair. jay gray has the latest now from north carolina. >> reporter: the defense wrapped up a pointed cross examination of sherry young this morning, providing details of her financial gains, including a diamond ring and luxury car as a result of john edwards' affair and the alleged coverup. and outlining her role in that process, cashing checks from wealthy donors going along with the plan to have her husband claim he was the father of rielle hunter's child and traveling across the country, moving her family to hide the presidential contender's mistress. >> she was saying her family was doing everything it could for john edwards. >> reporter: something that according to young's testimony both scared and sickened her. but the defense, with their final question for the star

witness, framed her role differently, suggesting, quote, what kept you doing these things was the money, wasn't it? young answered forcefully, quote, no, sir, it was not. as she walked away from the federal courthouse, there was a noticeable shift in the tone and tenor of the trial. >> the jury is breathing out. they're seeing different witnesses. they're also laughing on occasion. so it's very different pace. >> reporter: a pace that will include testimony from edwards' traveling staff. former aide josh brumberger was called to the stand this afternoon and prosecutors hope the inner circle can help piece together the timeline of events and fill in gaps in the money trail. >> they're also going to try to, for the prosecution, identify how john edwards was in control. he was the master here, the puppeteer. they worked for him. that's really an important part of the prosecution's case, that it was john edwards who was controlling. >> reporter: it speaks to the question at the heart of this high profile case.

was that control outside the bounds of the law? there was an emotional turn in the case today as the testimony shifted to her mom and how she found out about the affair. kate edwards, who stood by her father's side for most of this trial, whispered something to him before leaving the courtroom in tears. in greensboro, north carolina, i'm jay gray, news 4. coming up on news 4, pucker up. a birthday kiss for david beckham in front of a packed house. >> they're blushing. bobby brown talks about whitney houston's death. find out what he says about her drug use. ♪ and find oust about the inspiration behind some of the top breakup and love songs.

the artist advancing to the finals is jermaine paul. congratulations. >> she nodded before they said it. alicia keyes' former backup singer beat gaithersburg native erin willett last night to advance to the finals of "the voice." willett celebrated her 23rd birthday on the national stage. she even told her coach blake shelton, let's go out and get drunk. erin and the three other semifinalists appeared on the "today" show this morning. erin talked about singing for her father who passed away

during the taping of the show. >> i definitely had him with me the other night. it was really incredible, just basically taking in the entire moment. it kind of was an overcome with emotion type of situation and it's just incredible. i mean, to be part of the show and as far as i've come i can only be proud of myself and really just ready for the journey ahead i guess. >> she did us all proud and she went out with a bang. make sure you don't miss next monday for the final performances and tuesday the big finale. one of hollywood's hottest couples engaged in a little pda in front of more than 20,000 people. victoria and david beckham puckered up for the kiss cam at the lakers game on monday night at the staples center. the camera stopped on them and after a little cheering from the crowd they shared a kiss. they were at the playoff game sitting courtside of course.

bobby brown today says he did not cause whitney houston's death or get her on drugs. the pop star drowned in a hotel bath tub. an autopsy report cited heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. >> brown and houston were married for a total of 14 years in an exclusive interview with the "today" show brown said houston used drugs before they got together. >> i didn't get high before i met whitney. >> on narcotics. >> on narcotics, no. no. i smoked weed. i drank the beer. but, no. i wasn't the one that got whitney on drugs at all. >> so this was a part of her life before. >> way before, yes. >> you and she got together. did you talk about it? did you worry about it? >> i worried about it when, you know, we first got together until i tried it and when i tried it, for some reason i have an addictive personality.

it's unexplainable. but, no, i wasn't the one that, you know, got her addicted to drugs or i'm not the reason she's gone. >> bobby brown walked out of whitney houston's funeral. you may recall. he'll address that tomorrow during part two of his interview on the "today" show. we may never know what caused a massive fire at the studios of film maker tyler perry. no one was injured in last night's blaze in atlanta. witnesses said the flames shot six stories high. today the fire chief there said the cause of the fire will be recorded as undetermined. the flames were so intense that they consumed any evidence that could reveal how the fire started. perry's films include diary of a mad black woman and why did i get married. we've all done it. you've heard a song and wondered who they're singing about. >> we wonder all the time. well, now we reveal some of the inspiration for some of the most popular songs. nbc's jane hansen reports.

>> reporter: they're some of the most famous songs of all time but you would be shocked to know what their true inspirations really are. you ought to know that alanis marisat's '90s classic was about a breakup with dave drchlt oulier from full house while billy joel's up town video stars his then wife it was written for another model elle mcpherson. ♪ an uptown girl >> and it is believed the love triangle between eric clapton, george harrison, and patty boyd was the inspiration for "lela." ♪ and this song is to let you know ♪ >> many are saying taylor swift wrote her newest hit after a brief romance with none other than john mayer. ♪ dear john i see it all now that you're gone ♪

>> reporter: but inspiration doesn't always come from love. it is no secret that neil diamond's "sweet caroline" is actually caroline kennedy. what many don't know is that the song stemmed from a picture of her in "life" magazine. ♪ sweet caroline >> reporter: and sources say christopher cross was literally caught between the mood and new york city writing the lyric on a plane circling jfk airport looking at the moon in the window. ♪ when you get caught between the moon and new york city ♪ >> reporter: but sometimes mystery can make a song even more popular. the subject for "you're so vain" has been speculated for decades. warren beatty to david geffin and mick jagger. carly simon has never revealed the truth. ♪ you're so vain >> reporter: next time you're singing along to your favorite tune, take a moment and think, who could this song really be about?

♪ ♪ mockingbird don't everybody have you heard ♪ >> dumb and dumber there that was in case you're wondering. >> yes. "mockingbird." love that song. coming up on news 4, one airline has changed its theme to "hello kitty." ♪ the piano man

finally a little sunshine today. it's about to change. >> it's about to change and for the areas that have gotten the thunderstorms we could see thunderstorms forming and we are already far west of the area seeing some of the storms form and they're making their way into our area. for seven, eight, 9:00 p.m. keep a watchful eye on the sky. i do think there will be some thunderstorms around here. right now we've got kind of a murky kind of day, right? clouds, overcast for the most part. a little hazy, too. 73 the temperature. we have an east wind at 7 miles

per hour. like the last couple days, we've had these meandering weather systems around our area so it really depends on what side of the weather front we are. we're on the cool side at reagan national. 73. with an east wind. take a look at some of the readings here throughout. in the 60s, low 70s in leesburg. but we've got some 80-degree temperatures just down to the south. that's kind of the air that i think we'll be in tomorrow. as far as storms, you know, we had some slide through the area early this morning. i think we'll have the same deal for tomorrow morning. so for 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 p.m. a chance for some showers and storms. after midnight the chance is back that will take us into tomorrow morning. so there it is right now. north of front royal and around western maryland. a couple of these cells are starting to pop and again sliding to the south and southeast. so for spots like fauquier county, prince william county, warrenton right around 29 will likely be some isolated storms moving your way that could be producing a bit of lightning, i

think some brief, heavy downpours, and there is even the possibility of some high winds and maybe a little bit of hail. but for the most part, i think it's high winds and a little lightning and moderate rain that you get. for 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. we've got cloud cover around the area. it is going to be mild too to start the day tomorrow but again we'll get a break and then the showers and even some storms are back for tomorrow morning. the same deal that we had this morning. here it is. that weather front is over us and tomorrow morning it's going to start sliding to the east, so on the east side of that front we'll be in the warm air. a lot of folks were trapped again in the 60s and 70s today but it's warm air for most of us tomorrow and that means we'll be pushing highs into the 80s. same thing for friday. highs in the 80s with a lot of unstable air over us so showers and storms also in the forecast now for friday and perhaps even on saturday. your forecast for the evening, partly cloudy. it's warm, even humid out there. 69 to 76 degrees. so again pretty mild across the area.

for tomorrow morning, we'll be able to start out with short sleeves but, no, that again rain will be in the area so don't forget the umbrella heading out the door early thursday. 58 to 63 for a temperature. highs tomorrow into the 80s. there is the summer type air we've been telling you about. showers and storms for the afternoon will be popping any time after 3:00. here is a look at your four-day forecast. for the next two days showers and storms. in fact, even on saturday we've got a 40% chance posted. if you like the warmth it stays with us also through saturday. we drop it to the 70s on sunday. i say that to the 70s on sunday but, you know, again it depends on where the front is going to be. so right now we've got us in the 70s but it could change for sunday. might be a little warmer. >> all right. >> all righty. >> stay tuned. busy day today though. thanks, veronica. still to come on news 4 at 4:00 this afternoon a texas couple's new six-pack. hear from the mother who delivered sextuplets. >> plus marilyn monroe's huge statue in her most famous wind blown pose is headin

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welcome back, everybody. at 4:30 i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. here is what is happening in the news. at this hour a new jersey mother pleaded not guilty this morning to a charge that she let her 5-year-old use a tanning bed.

44-year-old patricia correspondenkrenzel says her daughter was at the tanning salon while she tanned but never in a bed. the father says the child got a mild sun burnett next day and a teacher overheard her talking about being at the tanning salon so he says the teacher jumped to the wrong conclusion and called police. a chevy chase man is charged today with arson after admitting to setting this fire in a silver spring apartment building. investigators tell us 24-year-old abraham kifloo is related to a person who lived at the terrace drive complex. the blaze caused $1 million in damage and damaged nearly three dozen units. we'll have a live report at 5:00 tonight. the nfl is suspending four players for their role in the new orleans saints cash for big hits bounty scandal. linebacker jonathan vilma was suspended for 16 gachls ames an miss the entire 2013 season. other players got suspensions that range from three to eight games. stocks wound up on a flat

note today ahead of friday's jobs report. the dow fell 11 points the nasdaq actually up about 9 and the s&p 500 was off about four points. imagine the size of your family swelling from 2 to 8 in a span of four minutes. it happened to a texas couple last week. lauren perkins gave birth to sextuplets. the family journey is one of faith and hope. >> reporter: the world's newest sextuplets belonged to a remarkably calm young houston area couple, lauren and david perkins. >> hey, hey. >> reporter: after what lauren describes as an easy pregnancy the couple became the proud parents of a six-pack -- three boys and three girls born in four minutes by caesarian section. >> my heart was beating like crazy. the first thing i noticed was lauren was shaking like crazy. i did not expect that and didn't know it was perfectly normal.

>> reporter: some 35 doctors, nurses, and other specialists at texas children's pavilion for women were in the delivery room, a team for each baby. >> baby a is out. oh, we're starting. they came out within four minutes of each -- total four minutes they all six were out. >> reporter: andrew, ben, levi, allison, caroline, and leah. the largest was just 2 pounds 15 ounces. >> when the mom came in the hospital, we knew where the equipment was going to be. we knew which teams would be at which bed and which baby so, again, it's being ready. you don't want to do that the first time that night. >> reporter: five of the perkins six-pack are now breathing on their own. only leah is still on a ventilator and facing greater challenges. she had surgery monday and came through it well. >> get in your little blanky. >> reporter: after 18 months of trying on their own lauren became pregnant with fertility drugs through a process known as iui. they made the decision not to

selectively reduce. >> you've seen the six babies and their heart beats and there is no sign of any problem so, you know, how do you choose? >> you're okay, buddy. >> reporter: now they're simply overjoyed. >> does that feel good? >> yeah. that's when i feel like a mom. >> reporter: for at least a few months the babies will remain here and even with all the challenges ahead and leah's fragile condition their proud dad looks forward to the day they will all be home. >> i don't think we'd be taken this far just to have something not go home with us. we are very confident in that. >> multiple births are on the rise but sextuplets are still extremely rare. the perkins say they are shocked at all the attention they are getting. a high school in iowa now holds the world record for the most twins in one grade. valley south woods in west des moines has 16 sets of twins. one of the parents thought there seemed to be quite a few in school and brought it up to school officials there. the school applied for the guinness record late last year. the previous record was held by a school in connecticut.

they had 13 sets of twins. people in chicago have only a few more days to see one of the most popular pieces of public art in the city's history. >> it looks familiar. it's a larger than life statue of marilyn monroe and the pose made popular in the movie "the seven-year itch." for the past seven months the sculpture has left little to the imagination in its place on michigan avenue at pioneer court. its run ends on monday. some people will be sorry to see it go but others say it's an eye sore and sexist. >> you can see her underpants. i can imagine it's controversial. >> kind of looked up to see what she had on. oh, wow. >> i saw you were taking a picture of her back end. >> that was just for scientific purposes. >> research there. the realty company that owns pioneer court commissioned the statue as part of a long-time commitment to public art in downtown chicago. it moves on to palm springs, california next and will be there until june of next year.

one of the world's most recognizable paintings is up for sale at sotheby's. "the scream" painted by edward munch will be auctioned off today. the 1895 painting depicts a man holding his head and screaming under a blood red sky. the symbol of anxiety has been featured on everything from mugs to t-shirts. proceeds from the sale will be used to establish a new museum in norway. the painting is expected to get at least $80 million. >> whoa. a 6-year-old boy with autism is a pint-sized piano playing sensation. his name is ethan wallmark. he can play a song after just listening to it for a few times. >> this is amazing. ethan performed live on the "today" show this morning and brought down the house with his rendition of billy joel's hit song "piano man." ♪ and the piano sounds like a

carniv carnival ♪ ♪ >> ethan's mom says she comes from a musical family but she is not sure what ethan has is just a gift she says. they are not sure how much of a role his autism actually plays in it. ethan says he just likes to play so much. >> and he plays so beautifully. >> he does. he learns it fast, too. >> and he sings well. there is more to come on news 4 at 4:00. hello kitty gets its own airplane. parents of a missing girl who disappeared five years ago now have a message for the

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it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. oh, wow! that feels really good. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. to celebrate 25 years of better sleep, for both of you sleep number introduces the silver edition bed set, at savings of $1,000 for a limited time. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. harvard and the massachusetts institute of technology m.i.t. are partnering to offer free college courses online. the announcement today was made by school administrators. the new partnership is called edx. anyone with an internet connection will have access to the program. faculty at both schools are developing the curriculum. research from the project will be used to show how technology

can be used in the classroom. the first sets of courses begin in the fall. a taiwanese airline is launching new jets inspired by hello kitty. eva air made the announcement earlier this week. the jets begin service later this month so your flight will start off with your getting pink boarding passes and then passengers will get paper cups and utensils and tissues inspired by the japanese icon. the jets will travel between the cities, between cities in taiwan, japan, and south korea. last year eva air launched three other hello kitty aircraft. two new original content channels are coming to youtube. one will focus on original series and short films exploring female characters. the other is about the u.s. olympic athletes. this is part of the google owned company's $100 million plan to lure viewers away from their tvs and streaming movies and to attract more advertisers. there are also rumors that the tribeca film festival is

planning a channel. youtube has already launched 100 channels over the past several months. well it's the most important meal of the day. coming up the battle to dish out the best and quickest breakfast foods. plus the dea's apology to a college student aft

it could be a busy night in the skies for some. >> for some neighborhoods. we're not seeing a big broad

brush area with a whole bunch of storms foreladying. we are seeing isolated storms popping. off to the west there is a little storm just north of winchester and that is making its way east and southeast. in fact, there are a couple storms starting to form but the one i'm really watching is the one that is north of winchester right now because that one has the potential of producing some small hail. certainly quite a bit of heavy rain with it, too. you can see by the deeper shadings of red there some heavy rain and that means that there could be with that cell for folks out on the area roads a little ponding taking place. right now around gainsberg. we have another one we're watching around rockville headed toward northern fauquier county affecting areas like bethel, blue mountain in the next 26 minutes, della plain in the next 49 and in the next 56 minutes heading toward asheville. you can see off to the west of hagerstown around gainsburg the storms forming and making their way east and southeastward through the area. as far as your future cast, put

it into the future. 3:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. we get some showers and storms. tonight we get a break and then once again for tomorrow morning it's looking wet like we'll have more storms around the area. hagerstown, frederick, martinsburg the storms will come sliding on through so there will be some lightning again too for the morning rush though the case this morning and for the last two. then we get some clouds and the clouds will break. that means more storms could pop for tomorrow afternoon. i think the coverage for tomorrow afternoon may be more broad. highs tomorrow, into the 80s. 82 to about 85 degrees. actually that's an 86 for la plata. 85 la ray. stanton up to maybe 88 degrees tomorrow. here is a look at the four-day forecast. there is your summer time type for the next three days and also a chance of showers and storms. not only for the afternoon but for the morning. 83 saturday. a chance of storms. we get a break on sunday but sunday is also looking cooler with a high of 74 degrees. that puts us really back to

average. seasonable conditions. warmth expected next week and also a chance for more showers and storms tuesday and wednesday. so keeping an eye on the sky for the next couple hours. doug kammerer will be up in a couple minutes. >> thanks, veronica. research shows americans are consuming their morning calories over a period of several hours instead of sitting down to one great big breakfast. >> and the last five years, breakfast sales are up 10% and prices for breakfast foods are rising faster than prices for lunch and dinner. cnbc's dan ravelle reports how it's getting even faster. >> reporter: it's the fastest growing segment of the quick service restaurant business, worth $42 billion annually. market research firm npd group says 84% of morning meals are purchased from fast food restaurants. a research firm says 33% of

customers who buy a cup of coffee in the morning are loyal to the restaurant that sells it to them. starbucks got a sales boost when they started selling breakfast sandwiches and wraps to go with the standard fare of bakery items and signature coffee. dunkin donuts saw sales grow over 7% at the end of 2011 boosted by strong sales of breakfast sandwiches. fast food breakfast has come a long way since mcdonald's introduced its egg mcmuffin in 1971. almost every fast food player is ready to serve breakfast by 6:00 a.m., even taco bell, which had been a breakfast holdout, joined the game unveiling its first meal menu in february. while bacon, sausage, and ham are the traditional breakfast meats, turkey and chicken are on the morning rise. data indicating younger consumers are more likely to buy these nontraditional breakfast meats, a good sign for establishments like chick fillet, which has been serving

chicken in its breakfast since 2004. last year the privately held reached $4 billion in sales and boldly started serving its spicy chicken biscuit during morning hours. >> i'm suddenly craving a miss kitt and pancakes. >> i like chicken and fish for breakfast. >> fish i haven't tried. >> oh, yes. >> all right. interesting. coming up next on news 4 at 4:00, lost and finally found, a college student's trip to jail. he'll never forget it. >> and mark zuckerberg talks about facebook's new organ donation section. i'm wendy rieger. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 a member of the air force honor guard rushed to the hospital after a violent beating at a college park bar. a showdown over metro's silver line. tonight the issue that could spell trouble for the second phase of that project. from tragedy to triumph how a deadly car accident helped a local fashion designer turn his life around and fulfill his dream. the owner of a harley

davidson that was swept away by japan's tsunami is reunited

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everyone grows with miracle-gro. ♪ [ female announcer ] repel mosquitoes without spraying your skin. try off! clip-on repellant. in minutes, its fan surrounds you, head to toe with effective odorless protection. whether it's at a game, enjoying family, or just relaxing, repel mosquitoes away without a spray. off! clip-on. keeps bugs off. sc johnson. a family company. the dea is apologizing today to a college student who was forgotten in a holding cell for five days. a week and a half ago daniel chung was picked up in a drug raid in san diego. he admits he was smoking pot with friends but he was never arrested or charged with a crime. instead, he was left in a 5 x 10

foot cell without water, food, even a toilet. he says he drank his own urine to survive and also tried to kill himself. when he was found, he was showing signs of kidney failure. the dea says it is investigating now why he was not released. an organ donation group that says more than 100,000 people have declared their donor status on facebook. the new feature was launched by facebook just yesterday. it allows users to register to become a donor as well as add organ donor to their status. still to come on news 4 at 4:00, five years later parents of a missing chi

the parents of a british girl who disappeared in portugal five years ago say they still believe their daughter will be found alive. stephanie gosk has the latest on the search for little madeline mccann. >> reporter: sweet faced, smiling, and playing. some of the last images of madeline before she disappeared on vacation in portugal five years ago. speaking today on british television, her parents say they haven't given up the search. >> we know there is a very good chance she could be alive. there is no evidence to the contrary. we know year after year missing children, children that have

been abducted, you know, are found alive. >> reporter: for the last year british police have been reviewing the case. 40,000 pieces of information. it's helped the mccanns say they have been asking for for years. >> it does now finally that someone -- the authorities and the british authorities are actually trying to find madeline. >> we're probably as positive as we have been in a long time. >> reporter: last week british police put out this image of what they think madeline would look like now. they say they have identified what they call 195 investigative possibilities, the mccanns still hopeful trying not to let themselves imagine what it would be like to see their daughter again. >> i don't often because it is almost like it's so good, so beautiful i guess. i don't want to take myself there and for it not to be real. it would be amazing. >> reporter: portugese police closed the investigation in 2008

but they are looking at these 195 investigative possibilities given to them by police in this country. and if they find something new, they say they may reopen the case. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. next, doug is tracking fast moving storms in the area. off the top tonight a 400-pound bouncer facing charges after an attack at a popular college bar. we'll tell you how a young airman ended up in the hospital. dozens displaced by a fast moving fire. investigators say this was no accident. it was arson. big developments in the race for the white house. newt gingrich is now officially out as mitt romney shifts his focus to northern virginia. and a new jersey mom in big trouble accused of taking her 5-year-old to a tanning salon.

why she says the whole thing is a big misunderstanding. it's a busy day in the news. good evening everybody. i'm jim handly. >> i'm wendy rieger. the threat of severe storms moving into our region. >> let's get right to storm 4 chief meteorologist doug kammerer to break things down for us. doug? >> watching these storms right now back to our west, temperatures today really depend on where you live. we've seen clouds from washington up to the north and east. sunshine down to the south and west. temperatures have responded. only 69 degrees right now at the airport with winds out of the east at 10 miles per hour north and east of washington. we've been in the upper 60s to low 70s all day. down to the south we've seen more sunshine. martinsburg at 81. 82 in culpepper. 81 in fredericksburg, the area that has the most unstable air and where we're seeing our thunderstorms. right now back towards frederick county, virginia in through clark county some of these storms are on the strong side. you can see a lot of lightning with this storm and also some storms just up to the north of