coming up on "early today," the plot thickens as the investigation grows and additional arrests are made in the boston marathon bombing case. it's the most sensational murder trial in america today. now it's time foreclosing arguments in the jodi arias legal drama. >> santa ana winds are causing havoc for firefighters in california. plus chris kelly is found dead. a florida homeowner finds four feet of mud in his home and the ad is being called the most racist commercial in history. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, may 2nd. good morning, everyone. i'm mara schiavocampo. the investigation into the boston marathon bombings is far from over and for you three friends of jailed friends of

dzhokhar tsarnaev have been arrested and charged. >> reporter: the fbi says three days after the devastating bombing at the boston marathon three college friends of the surviving bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev fearing he may have been one of the bombers went to his college dorm and found a black pabackpack and thw it away. agents found the backpack five days ago containing those empty fireworks tubes. federal bomb technicians believe the marathon bombs were made using the explosive powder from fireworks. the three charged today, robel phillipos and two men from kazakhstan, azamat tazhayakov and dias kadyrbayev appeared briefly in court in obstructing justice and lying to

investigators. the fbi said the three became concerned the night the fbi released pictures of the bombing suspects. >> somebody knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members. >> reporter: instead of calling the fbi with their suspicions they did something entirely different. court documents said dias kadyrbayev texted he looked like one of his suspects. barely an hour after the fbi released the suspect photos investigators say the three friends did go to his college dorm room. court documents said dias kadyrbayev decided to take backpack to help his friend avoid trouble. the two foreign students told the fbi that a month before the bombing tsarnaev told them he knew how to make a bomb.

>> that was pete williams reporting. this morning airport officials are investigating a runway mishap. the wing of the scandinavian wing clipped. no injuries reported. passengers were booked on other flights. sensational murder trial of jodi arias could be in the hands of a jury. nearly four moves testimony from 36 witnesses concluded late wednesday with attorneys now prepping foreclosing arguments. the 32-year-old has admitted to shooting and stabbing her then boyfriend travis alexander back in 2008 but she argues it was in self-defense. her attorney claims she was abused. prosecutors contend arias is a calculating and cold-blooded killer who can't keep her story straight. she faces the death penalty if convicted. more than 400 firefighters

in southern california are battling a fast-moving wildfire fueled by fierce santa ana winds. the blaze has burned 3,000 acres destroying one home and displacing hundreds of residents. >> reporter: the fast-moving fire broke out in the foot hills of the san bernardino mountains in southern california. it sent a cloud of thick black smoke billowing into the sky blanketing the nearby valley. the flames consumed one home and forced officials to evacuate a nearby neighborhood. >> she's 83 years old. she has all her belongings and she's upset, she's crying. >> reporter: other residents have lost their belongings. >> that used to be my bedroom. and the closet is behind there. >> reporter: more than 400 firefighters and six air tankers battled the blaze. crews say as long as the winds stay low they should be able to control fire.

however the red flag warning in place many in the area aren't taking any chances. some sad news to report. chris kelly, better known as the mack daddy half of kriss kross has died. ♪ authorities say 34-year-old kelly was unresponsive when he was found in his atlanta home last night. investigators are unsure of the cause of death. a coroner's office said an autopsy is planned for today. kelly together with chris smith were discovered at an atlanta mall at 13 years old before shooting to fame with their hit "jump." >> more snow in store for the midwest. a may day storm dumped ten inches of snow in denver causing flight cancellations. for more on the weather we're

joined by bill karins. to go back to chris kelly, how many middle school dancers dance to that school. >> they probably still do. it gets you going a little bit. sad for everyone in the midwest. this storm system has caused a lot of problems with this extreme temperature changes. now we have freezes heading as far south as oklahoma and north texas. we're still going to be dealing with it this morning. minneapolis has actually been spared slightly. omaha had a couple of inches of snow. white and blue is where it's still snowing very hard especially northern portions of iowa in the northwestern sections of the state. minneapolis is being spared from the storm. the heavy snow band set up just to your east. va narrow band. underneath that band from austin northward to west side of eau claire you can expect six to ten inches of snow.

just east of minneapolis and just in the north there of des moines those are the areas that will be shoveling and by the way the pain in the midwest is the gain on the eastern seaboard. pretty much beautiful weather from atlanta northward. enjoy 74 in that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. that was for you, mara, the 74 you'll be enjoying this afternoon. you'll feel a little guilty. very cold. look at kansas city. 39. chance of snowflakes mixing in. little bit of everything out there today but still no severe weather. we didn't have too many bad reports yesterday. >> thanks so much. coming up, where have all the beer drinkers gone? we'll show you what's called the most racist commercial in history. a foreign country is beefing up their air power with a multibillion dollar purchase of

100 f-35. "early today" is back in two.

welcome back. possible new leads on the september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. new evidence proves the first american settlers turned to cannibalism during the winter of 1609 and 1610. the skull of a 14-year-old girl found near jamestown settlement had cuts that are consistent with butchering for meat. heavy rain caused massive mudslide in florida with mud in this home piling up as high as four feet. no one was home at the time. tremendous clean up effort there. may day protests in seattle turned violent with police. rocks were thrown at law

enforcement. there were multiple protests. six in ten babies born in 2011 to mothers in their early 20s was born out of wedlock. that's up from the 1980s. to business we'll see if weekly job data and sales can turn around a rough start to may. the fed will keep interest rates at record loss to boost a weak economy but didn't keep stocks from tumbling at the end of the day. facebook beat the streets revenue estimates but fell short in overall earnings. automakers say the housing recovery is driving sales of pick up trucks and today ford is announcing it will add 2,000 jobs and a third shift at its kansas city plant to kee up with demand. new this morning australia is about to place an order for up to 100 lockheed martin f-35 seattle fighter jets and attack

planes. only 30% of u.s. workers are full gentlemen engaged in their job. 18% call themselves actively disengaged while 52% are not engaged at all. i consider myself engaged. big beer companies are reporting it's been a rough year. anheuser busch joined several others reporting first quarter sales slumped. up to $100 for carry on bags. inflight coffee and soda will cost two bucks on frontier. how much does it cost a family of four. $146 to $289 a week. it depends how thrifty you are. jc penney apologizing for this ad. there's complaints an facebook

that the ad is aimed only at young thin model types. it's being called the most racist commercial in history. we'll show it to you coming up and let you decide. that's coming up next.

. pepsi is under fire for a highly controversial mountain

dew ad that one academic said was the most racist commercial in history. the ad created by rapper depicts a battered white woman facing a police lineup of all african-american men and a talking goat that intimidates the woman. let's take a look. >> all right ma'am we got them lined up. nail the guy. >> i don't think i can do this. >> just point to him. >> you better not snitch on a player. >> pepsi has pulled the ad and issued the following statement. we apologize for this video and take full responsibility. we have removed it from all mountain dew channels and tyler is removing it from his channel as well. there's a new poll revealing interesting insight on the second amendment. 29% of americans, one in three people in this country think an armed revolution might be

necessary in the next few years. fairleigh dickinson conducted the poll. one in four believe facts about the noun shootings are being hidden. turning now to sp celtics stay alive. paul pierce had 16 points in a critical game five against the knicks and jeff green had 18 in the 92-86 win to force a game six on friday night in boston. day mian lillard was named rookie the year. in baseball the chicago cubs might leave wrigley field if the plans to renovate the park is blocked. it's been met with opposition. cleveland fans are upset about the offensive headline in the philadelphia "daily news" which read gentlemen stop your

injuns following a 14-2 cleveland win. psy sang his new hit song "gentlemen." undefeated floyd mayweather jr. met guerruro. >> well beat up that women beater the one who beat up his wife. he must have learned that from his dad. >> well as they get ready for saturday's kentucky derby seen here on nbc the post edigs were drawn. orb is the morning line favorite of 7-2.

in oregon the portland timbers of major league soccer made an exhibition game with an 8-year-old and his green machine teammates. he missed some games because of cancer treatments but scored four goals including the game winner and happy with his decision. >> kids like to go to disneyland with their family. i chose something that lots of people are doing. just ahead, rocknroll icon who refuses to listen to music on an ipod. you're watching "early today."

weather maps were turned upside down. 20 degrees warmer today in new york city. dallas, texas all the cold sunk down through the central plains down into the deep south much watch out in florida, heavy rain over the next couple of days, could see minor flash flooding problems there. the storm that's now providing the snow will become a cold rain maker heading for areas like kansas city tomorrow, st. louis will pick up heavy rain as we go through friday and saturday and the southeast will get a soaking. slow moving storm that's going to plague the midwest, maybe even the kentucky derby. we'll have to watch. it will be a close forecast there. turning now to entertainment. finally time to say good-bye to lindsay lohan. the 26-year-old actress is shipping off to rehab today for

90 days. the facility doesn't look that bad. each resident of the clinic gets their own private home across from the bay and to top it all off lindsay tweet ad photo wednesday with a caption 90 days and 270 looks. in a recent interview keith richards revealed he has no desire to own an ipod. the rock star argued cds and vinyl records have a much better sound. according to a new study half of americans think movie trailers show way too much of the film. "iron man" 3 has been pointed out plus "sum of all fears." castaway showing tom thanks getting off the island. michael jackson's doctor conrad murray was in deep financial and legal troubles. because of this he gave the singer whatever prescription drugs he wanted in returns for

large sums of cash. finally some sources from beyonce's world tour revealed her diva like demands. hand carved ice balls, red toilet paper and titanium strauss used to drink alkaline water at 21 degrees. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a large demonstration gets out of control this morning. violence that led to arrests at this protest. developing right now. the factor that could make raging wildfires out west become an even harder battle for firefighters. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> welcome to "news4 today" for this thursday, may 2nd, 2013. we're learning details about what caused the death of a possible '90s rapper. >> we'll have those stories and more ahead. first, your forecast. we want to look at cool temperatures to start the morning off. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here with that. good morning. >> off to a clear start this morning around the region. we've got a few clouds that have been pushing in from the east. they are right around the bay now in our eastern suburbs and south of washington. there's some cloudiness stafford county, fredericksburg, northern neck and we have a clear sky elsewhere and chilly temperatures. in the 40s much of the region

right now. it's just in the low to mid 40s in montgomery county, arlington, fairfax and also just low to mid 40s right now reagan national at 52. much of prince george's county just in the mid 40s. culpeper down to 43. we're going to stay a bit chilly here for another few hours and then a nice warmup on the way later today. i'm back in a few minutes with another update. here's danella now with a look at our very early thursday morning commute. >> good morning. tracking a few things. serious accident shuts down westbound suitland parkway. if you are heading outbound at forest hill road travel lanes are open but westbound lanes are blocked. also tracking a power outage widespread in old town alexandr alexandria. i'll be back with an update on both. we'll be in the courtroom

later today when a former culpeper police officer is sentenced for shooting a woman to death. daniel wright was convicted in january. prosecutors say he shot patricia cook in her car. he fired when cook rolled her window up on his arm and started to drive away. an eyewitness told news4 at the time that the officer had his hand on the door handle. the jury suggested three years in prison. hate crime charges could be filed today accused of attacking a taxi driver who happens to be an iraq veteran. >> if you are a muslim flying jets into the world trade center than [ bleep ] you. >> the driver took that video of the confrontation. the man called him a terrorist and then punched him just because he's muslim. we learned the man in the video is the president of emerald

aviation in manassas. he denies getting physical. don't forget to lock your car after a spike of break ins. there have been 80 in the past two months. neighbors tell us they feel violated. >> we had nothing of value in our car but it was still very disconcerting to see glove compartment cleared and someone we didn't know had been in our car. >> community leaders say plain clothes police officers are patrolling the streets. so far no arrests have been made. a busy day no virginia governor after signing in 200 bills passed by the general assembly this year. first one will repeal the death penalty in his state. he'll also sign into law legislation establishing a medical marijuana program. it will allow researchers to give marijuana to sick patients. governor o'malley wil