new at mid-day. walkout. students demanding actn head to capitol hill. their message to lawmakers and thepresident. this is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us. >> that's part of beto o'rourke's announcement that he is running for president. we'll have more on his quick start to campaigng and his background. and a mild day in store. some cloudiness out there today and some rain in the forecast tomorrow. i'll have the latest timing and how that impacts your weekemy in updated forecast. annocer: "news4 midday" starts now. >> good morning.

and welcome to "news4 midday" i'm erika gonzalez. >> i aaron gilchris we want to start with a big demonstration downtown involving a large groupf o local high schoolers. >> kids walking out of classes this morningnd heading downtown to call for gun safety measures within the past hour demonstrating outside the whi house. >> megan mcgrath is down in that area. she joinss live now with how this group is moving toward the tol. good morning, megan. mo reporter: well, gooing, guys. the students actually walked out of class ps tty muchon as school started this morning and about a half hour ago, there were hundreds of them marching down 15th street right on the midd 15th street as they made their way from the white house to the u.s. capitol. they are calling for tougher gun laws and an end to school violence w classesere just getting under way for the day when students at spring brook high school walked out and boarded a bus bound for

the metro station. the teens are calling forr toughe gun control lawsp ifically universal background checks. choolwant an end to the violence that has become all too familiar to their generation. >> i'm a kid growing up, always ing at the tv and seeing other kids dying, right? that's really how i feel. i'm just hurt that we've gotten to the point where a lot of people don't care because it's become the new norm and we realur have to make we do everything we can. we have a moral obligation to, you know, speak out and do the right thing. >> reporter: the first school walkout happened last year following the deadlyparkland shooting. ornizers hope itappens every year. this video shows students leavin montgomery blair high school this morning. they hopped on to the metro and headed into the city. >> we're trying to show the student movement actually has staying power. it's not a fad. >> reporter: the teens made their way to the white house and observed 17 minutes of silence

forpahe rkland victims. they theno marched tthe capitol. the message no more student deaths. how important do you think gun control is? >> very. >> reporter: why? >> just because it impacts so many people every day and it could chang peoples' lives. >> is my school next? am i next? will my face be on the news next? will i be forgotten and shot just because i wanted to go get my education? >> reporter: and the students are up on capitol hill rig now. they're staging another rally there so keep in md if you'r downtown you may encounter some rolling road closures as they thmove back out o area. many of the students say that they don't want this movemento fade. they plan to participate in this rally every ar. back to you. >> really well spoken young people. megan mcgrath, thank you very much. those pro jsts comet a day

afntr five studes and two school employees were killed at a school in pobrazil. ce say two former students with guns, grenades and crossws attacked during a snack break. the shooters killed themselves before police could do anything to stop them. brazil is o onef the most violent countries in the world but school shootings like this are veryrare. days begins three official of mourning for the seven people killed. > today a d.c. government employee accused of exchanging sex and cash for food stamps and welfare benefits will be in federal courfa >> scott mane and mark segraves broke the story on twitter. et de mcmillan is the employee. according to crt documents he issued more than $1.45 million in food stamps and welfare benefits to people in exchange for sexual favorsnd $380,000. sources tell news4, at least two dozen peopl benefited from the

crimes. d.c. mayor's office issued this statement. the crimes and acts alleged in the charging documents are emonstrate and lack of values. the district government takes suspected abuse and fraudent activity seriously. let's switch gears now, take a turn to the weather and the start of what looks lik another beautiful day out there. k> amelia's joining us now. those numbers l really good. 15 degrees colder when i started th>> morning. the good news, though, even starting off this morning it wasn't as cold i ashas been these last few days. right now our temperatures ranging from the low 50s in frederick to 60 in washington. we had nice sunshine out there right now. here's a look of the satellite and radar agery. the white house is the cloudiness. we'll see some clouds out there today, a mix of sun and cloud overall. notice this rain back to the west into parts of kentucky and tennessee moving into ohio. this is part of thatve mas

storm system that was bringing blizzard conditions to colorado yesterdayevere weather to parts of the south. as the storm system moves our area ahead of it it's going to allow nice warm winds out of the south to boost our temperatures todaybe t warmer than yesterday and we'll keep it mild out here on friday. here's a closer look and we'llom stayetely dry out there today with a high temperature of 70 degrees. a nice mild day. a bit of a breeze at times with a mix of clouds and sunshine. there is some rain in the forecast tomorrow. i'll be timing that out at20 1 with future weather, aaron. >> all right. thank you. you c want tock before you head to the airport this morning. your flight may be canceled. boeing 737 maxes are grounded across america as investigators try to figure out why two of them crashed overseas. news4 tracie potts is tracking the latest developments. >> all of those planes areed grou effective immediately. >> reporter: the u.s. becomes the last country in the torld

ground boeing 737 max jets after an airlines max 8 crashed sunday killin 157 people. the faa's emergency order kamz as somelights were in midair. >> i got wi-fi connection and, boom, got the word. >> reporter: overnight the planes damaged black boxes were being shipped to france for analysis. four days after the secident. >> tlack boxes are key and they should have been analyzed two days ago. >> r sorter: it's thee type of plane involved in a lion air crash in indonesia last october. 189 people died. >> y have to establish at least more than a gut feeling than two crashes are related before you ground an entire fleet. >> reporter: boeingromised an urgent fix to flight control software amid rorts of at least five complaints last fall about autopilot in the max jet suddenly taking a nosedive. the emergency order effects 275

flights daily in the u.s.an politics comes into play here. democrats say they want some oversight which means we could easee congressionalngs on this. tracie potts, nbc ne, washington. news4 cameras also captured this southwest 737 max 8 planer rning. it was headed to florida. someids on board were on their way to walt disney world. >> they are very upset. evyone was crying, but that's okay. >>eporter: there were kid crying on the flight? >> yes. eo >>e on these flights headed out of reagan national had to rebook their trips. today several senate republicans arxpected to break with their party and give the president a rare rebuke. the senate is set to vote on a resolution to block the president's national emergency declecation. theration allows the president to redirect federal funds to pay for a bder wall without congressional approval. the house approved the resolution. it appears there is enough

republican support in the senate to pass the resolution. meanwhile, the president is already talking about the vote. tweeted this message, he odid, quote, a big national emergency vote by the united states senate on border security and the wall, which is already under major construction. i am prepared to veto if necessary. the southern border is a national security and humanitarian nightmare but it can easily be fixed, end quote. in race for 2020, beto made it official. former texas congressman announced he is runng for president. >> the challenges we face right now, the interconnected crisis in our onomy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater and they will either consume us or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the united states of america. >> o'urke spoke with his wife by his side. the three-time congressman made a splash i texas politics. he raised his profile when he

ran agast ted uz. he made a name for himself. oh, rourke joins a croed field of candidates now running for the democratic nominaon. met wants to pay riders not to take metro late at night. go with me on this. the agency is considering a pilot program that would cover the first $3 of your fare in a taxi or rideshare vehicle between the hours of midnight and 4:00 a.m. it wouldly only a to the metro service area and it would cover a maximumf ten trips per week. you'd have to register for the g m. $1 million pilot program could start as early as this summer. metro's been fighto go keep late night service scaled back so it can do more system mants when trains are not running. roger stone is in court this morning. > new information from the courtroom. >> reporter: keep these students safe. i'm david thculver. 're now using a new version of an app to protect students and staff but does it reveal too

much information? and a massive storm system ausing major problems it gets closer to our area. the wind even flipping a truck in texas. look at that! we'llave more h [music playing] (sashimi) psst. hey, you! the one with the designer dog collar. wondering how i upgraded to this sweet pad? a 1,200-square-foot bathroom, and my very own spa. all i had to do was give my human "the look". with wells fargo's 3% down payment on a fixed-rate loan and a simpler online application, getting into my dream home was easier than ever. get your human to visit wellsfargo.com/woof. what would she do without me?

this morning preside ump's long time ally, roger stone was back in federal court in the district. the judge in his case set a trial date. it'll be november 5 l andt about two weeks. stone ple not guilty to multiple charges handed down by robert mueller. the judge was also expected to question stone and his attorneys over the rerelease of a book which is critical of mueller, but the judge said she did not want to waste time talking about it >> the sameudge sentenced president trump's former campaign chairman yesterday paul ma sfort wastenced to three and a half years in prison. this was his second sentencing hearing last mocht last week in virginia he was sentenced to 47

months in prison for a different conviction so he may serveeven years but he could face a bigger problem. a short time after his sentence kere in d.c. yesterday, a grand jury in new yor indicted him on charges related to mortspge fraud, cacy and falsifying business records. during yesterday's hearing, the judge had some tough talk for manafort and his legal team. she smacked down what she called s no collusion mantra. it was not even apart of the case and that robert mueller's t investigationthe suspicious of collusion isn't even over. one analysis likened this to a lawyer leaving a bank trial saying psecutors never showed evidence of murder. when he was outside talking to the president, president's lawyer talked of no collusion. >> judge jackson conceded that no evidencesolute of any russian collusion in this case. s >> tha not what she said. >> protesters quickly started

shouting him down before he could finish. after jussie smollett jus oreaded not guilty in court, the 36-year-old act facesny 16 feloharges after allegedly staging a racially motivated attack and lying to police. you'll recall smollett claimed he was attacked by two men who puoo a around his neck and yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him. he has beenired from the hit show "empire" and forced to surrender his passport. new details tnt growing college admission scandal. it now looks like hundreds of wealthy parents paid millions of dollars to break the rules in order to get their kids to top ranked schools like georgetown. among those parents is lori loughlin. h he and hband are accused of paying hafg a million dollars in bribes to secure their daughter's admission to usc. they paid ringleader ric singer to fabricate records that their

daughters were being recruited for the school's rowing team. they were not rowers. court documents show singer performed similar services for 800 other families. lawmakers addressed t scandal during a hearing on education yesterday. >> we can all imagine how many students and parents are anxiouslyrswaiting those let on admissions today and how in many ways powerless they must be feeling when they know they were worked hard and played by the rules and yet whave this scandal that we're all going to be following. >> four families with students who applied to georgetown are accused of paying more than $2 million as apart of the scam. federal agents say more arrests are possible. ayou know there is an app for just about anything and there's one designed to keep students saf but tracking them on college campuses. >> it's used on the george mason university campus but as david culver explains some students fear that it's impacting their privacy.

>> reporter: this freshman is all for new technology especially if it means making his campus more secure. >> it's cool. i think it'll make people more o safeknow. >> reporter: would you download it? >> yeah, i would. >> reporter: he's r rerring to the guardian app now used by the university. on thehe website promote the app for schools or organizations designed to help student and faculty communicate for effectively. >> they cha submit tips are anonymous. or >> reporter: they can alert police to your exact location on campus. they used to t havese blue light phones that you could physically hit if there was an emergency. we notic here on campus, they no longer exist. we're told they werese rarely and seen as a dated way to alert police. >> they may not be where you need them when you want this. pplication provides basically a virtual blue light phone in your pocket that's available to you whenever you might need it. >> reporter: students worry who

has access to that tracking information. >> i would just like to know where the information's going. what are they doing with th data and all that? >> reporter: the executive director david ferris stresses the data is secured adding that students can choose what features they opt in to or out of. >> you can provide as much or as little information as you'd in the app and your location services in order for them to be active have to always be on and most folks don't do that. er reporter: other students believing volung your location could be worth it. >> you think that tracking location for safety, as long as it's -- if they're not selling your data for like, i don'te know, som kind of marketing thing. reporter: the university trying to adapt to a new generation putting safety in the palm of their hands in fairfax, david culver, news4. one of music's beloved and most respected power couples accepted a special award last nigh here in d.c >> gloria and emilio estestifyen accepted the gershwin prize.

they a the first married couple and thest firatinos to receive the award. gloria estefan explained what that means to her. >> i was two when i got here. he was more like 15 and to be receiving this amazing popular song prize from theib lry of congress, no less, is beyond our wildest dreams. >> i just love them. the couple joined some pretty prestigeus names. previous winners include stevie wonder and billy joel. good company. the powerball jackpot is climbing to $495 million. l nobody wont night's drawing. no one has won the jackpot since last mber. the odds of win are one in 292 million.wi the next d is on saturday. good luck. facebk and instagram are working again. we have the latest on

yesterday's big outage. plus snow, winds, tornadoes. much of the country is dealing with a massive storm system. a look at some of the damag ande

welcome back. kemaryland business says it's being att after a former employee went viral for all the wrong reasons. >> the man jumped off dock and landed on a pelican and it was all caught on camera. hunter grabbed the bird, didn't let go of it f some time. florida authorities saw this and l crueltyim with ani and molesting a protected species. his formerla workp says the video has turned into their nightmare. >> and pple were justaying hateful things. i don't even want to repeat because theyt think t we are associated with this man. we're not. >> we donated to thedl we foundation in key west, florida, to show we have no -- weon't

agree with his behavior. >> his father who lives in maryland, saysec he's reived threatening phone calls even since the video was posted. let's take a look at theff powerful eects of this so-called bomb cyclone we've been hearingabout. look at that! it just flipped that tractor-trailer rightn o its side on a highway in texas. you can see it better in slow motion here. the wind lifts the trail right off the ground. that, of course, took the cab with it. we understand the driver w not seriously hurt here but this is just one incident in a weather event that really created havoc in the middle of the country. here's dylan dreyer. >> reporter: this morning an epic winter cyclone slamming the middle of the country, millions hit with blizzardnd conditions a dangerous wind gusts. >> visibility is -- it's impossible. >> reporter: blinding snow creating treacherous conditions on the road and causing massives pile

the weather service warning do not even attempt to drive in this st despite the warnings, firster responders w called into action. firefighters rescuing this stranded driver after a multi-vehicle accident that totalled his car. >> it's scary. couldn't see andomhen >> reporter: colorado, one of jaredrdest hit, governor poe list calling in the national guards with me than 1,000 drivers stuck on the roads overnight. the highways turningdeadly. colorado state patrol officer daniel groves killed by a skidding car while responding to strande vehicle. the historic bomb cyclone shutting down all of denver international's runways lead together canation of 1,400 flights. airport employees handing out blankets to stranded passengers spending the night at the airport. the hurricane for winds also wreaking havoc. in new mexico the dangerous winds causing a train to derail. luckily no one was injured. in texas, wind gusts reaching

almost 80 miles per hour. violently blowing over a semitruck and completely ripping the roof off an amazon warehouse. with spring just weeks away, the wicked winter eather refusing to let up. >> just incredible scene all across the country and for us it's having like a counter effect. we've got 60 grees today. beautiful sunshine. >> i feel a little guilty. >> i know, right? >> yeah. what's happening is ahead of this storm system we're getting nice winds out of the south. it's classic textbook ahead of a cold front, you g your warm winds out of the south. behind the cold front, you'll in out of air moving the north and west and that's what we'll see here over the weekend and we're not going to see that severe intense weathern because ther of this storm is going to be passing well to our north. let's take a look atour weather headlines out there right now. mild out there today and tomorrow i had to put the flower background in there. please share your pictures

owing signs ofspring. i love to see them. it's just so refreshing out there, something to look forward to after we just had a gray and chilly winter. as we take aook at your second weather headline, we'll have rain in the forecast tomorrow. that being said we have plenty of dry time as well. lookin to the weekend, it'll be noticeably cooler but pleasant with plenty of unshine out there. here's your midday planner. by 1:00 we'll jump u to about 63. plenty of sunshine. clouds will slowly be building as we move toward the late afternoon and evening hours. it's mild at 4:00 p.m. with the temperature of 70 degrees by 7:00 p.m. still really nice, 67 ggrees. we'rting into that time of year where the temperatures get bym enough during the day, the evening hours you can eat outdoors, the kids can play a ra outside. they're not coming in frozen out there. you can go for that runrk after r even take the dog for a nice longer walk than normal and tonight is one of those nights where all of those thi going to be perfect.

here's future weather tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. s maybewer back around the mountains. most of us start off early in the morning dry. as we move toward 10:00 a.m., catice on future weather we have someered showers moving through the area. most of us are staying dry even at mid-day.e area's looking mainly dry some scattered showers in the afternoon. friday night most of us will be dry. you dopa want to be pd maybe to deal with the a shower or two tomorrow but plenty of drive times well. chance of a shower around the morning or mid-day hours. thisime tomorrow we're at 66 degrees. we hit a high tomorrow o 71. with any rain tomorrow afternoon might have a rumble of thunder out the, but again, you're going to go throughout your friday noticing dry, cloudy breezy conditions for the majority of the day and maybe a shower. that being said, the cherry blossoms are still in stage of six. i'll have more on the cherry blossoms and your weekend forecast coming up in 15 minutes, guys. >> all right. thank you, ma'am.

a mother is caught on camera poisoning her hospitalized son. you'll hear her defense and find out how the boy is doing now. aan believed to part of a mob boss was gunned down outside his new york city home. we'll have a closer look at

announcer: you're watching "news4 midday. >> we have a sad update to a tory many of you watched play t ounewsivcast yesterday. >> a balanced eagle had to be etrescued from the tracks. chopper 4 was over the seen as metro transit police andep maryland dtment used lankets and towels to safely catch the bird -- there they go -- the eagle was stuck against the blue and the silver line tracks near the edison road station. the eagle was taken to the city wild life rehab center and today, they tell us the bird's

wing had multiple fractures. they say it cannot be repaired and humane euthanasia is the only responsible option. sad to hear that. all right. what you are seeing iere more than just a murder scene. >> it could be the first maj new york city mob hit in decades. the person allegedly at the top of the notorious gambino cri family was gunned down in front of his home last night. >> investigators have at the house throughout the night ying to piece together exactlywh happened. kathy park has more. >> reporter: the brazen shooting straight out of a crime drama. 53-year-old was found with multiple gun shot wounds to the torso outside his home. calley was having dinner with his family around 9:00 p.m. when he stepped outside to talk to someone and was shot and killed. law enforcement sources tell nbc news that officials are investigatinghe attack as a possible mob hit.

he was believed to be the acting boss othe gambino crime family. the shootingth took place in stateen island which is well-known for its crime connections. it was used as a location for fictional crime boss done corleone compound. >> i'm going to make him an refusee can't >> reporter: federal prosecutors in brooklyn ha referred to him as the underboss of the gambino organizations. calley's only mob related criminal conviction came a decade ago when he pleaded guilty at an extortion conspiracy involved a failed attempt to build a nascar track on staten land. inwas sentenced to 16 months federal prison and was rel. sed in 2009 the gambino family was once among the most powerful cminal organizations in the u.s., ther prosecutions in the 1980s and '90s sent its top leaders to prison including john gotti. unlike the well-dressed gotti,

calley kept a profile. now police are working to solve his high profile murder. >> no arrests have been made. the last major mob hit in w york was back in 1985 when paul caelato was shot to death outside ase steak hn manhattan. we have an update to a deadly shooting. the woman killed was see lina, rivera. she went to american was a popular deejay in the area. she played at several dpots in th.c. area. police believe she was shot during a robbery at her apartment on bell crest road. the family has started a gofundme page to h pay for her burial expenses. home surveillance cameras were rolling as a wild shootout unfoldro nednthoke brei oghlyborh tooved

edge because the gunmen have not been caught. residents shared their concerns with news4 meghan fitzgerald. >> reporter: neighbors were home when the suspects opened fire right in the middle of the street. this happened saturday evening. take a look at this. one o those bullets hit a family's front door. >> i felt something hit the house and then the lights flickered. >> reporter: this woman didn't want to go on camera but she says she's thankful a neighbor's the illance video capture entire scene so she can understand what happened and hopefully police can make an arrest. you can see suspects with their heads covered, opening and returning fire in the middle of the street. this video captures the moment one of those bullets struck a power line lely causing lights in the area to flicker. >> it was fear. i started -- my first reaction was to sta crying right away. i was just in shock. >> reporter: that's how a lot of neighbors feel around here. >> i came from my garage,

returning from the store, walked through to the epsteps. >>ter: she's the neighbor who's camera captured the gun fight. she will says she was walking up her back steps as you can see here when she heard gunfire. >> i come through the door,mom, mom, she's in the dining room down on her knees. stay down, stay down. >> reporter: some neighbors say it felt like a war zone and they're worried about what could happen next. that's why ford says her cameras are always ro jing. >> it't fortunate and the grace of god that we have fwhot been hit yet. reporter: meghan fitzgerald, news4. new details about the theft of an atm from a 7-eleven. a group of thieves crashed a pickup truck into the store and took the atm. the same guys are responsible for similar thefts in the d.c. and baltimore area. the thieves takhe cash and then set the machine on friday

in a desolate place. you might also remember this footage from last month in montgomery cou ty. police she same group tried unsuccessfully to steal another atm there. s fairfax county mother accused of harming her disabled son and setting off a medic emergency. only on news4 we are seeing the hidden camera video played in court thated to her arrest. >> as northern virgini bureau chief julie carey reports, young mom denied that she noent hurt her child. >> reporter: this is hidden camera video of the moment that got thi mom arrested for child abuse. elizabeth malone injecting her disabled son with her own blood as he laid gravely ill at hospital. these are some of the syringes she used to put blood in the 5-year-old's traik tube triggering a medical emergency as doctors and nurses soon come rushing in. later in this police interview, malone starts by denying she did anythi to her boy only finally

admitting it teaully when detectives tell her they have >> i don't want to intentionally cause him harm. i know i did. know i did. punish me but -- >> reporter: the mother of three pleading guilty. she denies any intention to harm her child. she lovld her c like any mother. malone's lawyer further telling the judge, she didn't like how her son was being cared or so she injected him to get a better response. prosecutors told the judge that since malone's been in jail, her little boy's condition has improved so much hhas been able to attend school. malone will be sentenced in july. if you or somebody you know takes a cholesterol lowering drug and side effects could be a problem. a new drug that could help change that. amelia isin tracking she'll let you know when it arrives and if ill impt'ac

> it was an emergency hire last year after a promising rook went down. and now it looks like adrian peterson will be around for ahi little longer. the redskins signed him to a new deal. peterson hadn impact when he fillingfield last year in for injured rookie i don't know where i got that from -- derrius guice. peterson ran for more than 400 yards. it should make for pretty interesting backfield -- >> are you thinking of the real ousewives? >>yes. >> i've never even watched that >> sure? >> sure? >> 60 degreess and i only a 20 minute shy before the noon area. things are looking good u for

today. >> we're warming to near 70s. you start to question, are we done with snow for the season and chuck put together this z-brask today showing how much snow eh airport receive as reagan national. we saw right around 16 inches, about an inch above normal. at dulles we saw almosthe 27 i of snow. that's about six inches above normal. bwi seeing about 18 inches of snow and that's about one inch below normal. so to answer your question, any more snow this seas? i think we can say no more snow this season. looking at our 10-day forecast we haves no cha for snow there and once we get to the end of the 10-day it's just really hard tono get in our area. it's not unheard of, but i'm not seeing that in the overall pattern. here's a look at the imagery system. this is that massive storm system. it's f stretchingm canada down to the gulf. we'll see a few meager showers. maybe a rumble of thunder from

it tomorrow. only 50% chance that you're dealing with rain. i'm seeing tse rain chances with the latest computer models coming down. that being said it' be breezy out there tomorrow and mild. a high tomorrow, 71 despite plenty of cloud cover. not a bad dayou ide. you could be dealing with a shower here or there and really that caince of is during the morning midday and afternoon hours, unfortunately. as we look to the weekends the rain tomorrow is a cold front. that's going to cool us down. a saturdut 52 degrees. sunday a high of 50. we'll be on the chilly side. seasonable for this time of year. it's breezy out there n your saturday. it's going to feel-like temperatures are in the 40s throughout the day when you factor in the winds and it's a cold start on sunday if you're heading out early for st. patrick day's parade. we're starting off with temperatures in the 30s and we only warm to near 50s. that means temperatures are main in the 40s throughout the

day. you'll want the sunglasses. beautiful sunshine. here's your 10-day. we are nowhere near freezing and we barely have any chance of rain on there next week. the only chance falls on thursday. aside from that, temperatures generally in the 50s next week, guys. >> thank you, amelia. questions remain this mornind about what cau the facebook and instagram outage. we'll have the latest onlhat the soc networks are saying. all of us have seen bad driving in this area but it may driving in this area but it may not be as b as you think. years, for 50 cracker barrel has been making folks feel right at home, with meals like homestyle country fried steak, grandma's sampler, and our signature chicken n' dumplins. so, come on home to what you love. come on home to cracker barrel. so, come on home to what you love. and families are gathering itaround the table.america, thanks to reynolds wrap, dinner preparation is perfect, and everyone knows to be mindful of their manners. dinnertime has changed. our quality hasn't. reynolds wrap: foil made in the usa since 1947.

facebook and instagram back up again after being down for hours. facebook users around the world in toed issues logging and posting throughout the day yesterday. everything came back online around 11:00 last night. it was one of the longest outages facebook has ever experienced in 15 years. no word yet on what caused it.

good morning. i'm leslie picker. l fede prosecutors are reportedly probing data deals facebook struck with large tech companies. a "new york times" says grand jury had subpoenaed records from at least two big smartphone makers to access information such as contacts and friend lists without getting consent from users. the deals which were first reported last summer were me to help facebook develop apps for phones and other devices. facebook says it's cooperating with s prosentoeval investigations. with your morning business report, i'm leslie picker. there is renewed push to keep ecigarettes out of the hands of teenagers. the food and druginistration is moving ahead with guidelines that tigh the sale of flavored e-cigarette products. you'll notice the changes at gas stations and convenience stores. these rules are unlikely to effect vape shops which already impose age restrictions. ed fda is exempting certain flavors which appeal more to adults than teens.

there is a 3 pday commenteriod before the plan is final ted lates year. many parents keep medications tucked safely inside cabinets and out of the reach of young children, but often kids get into dangerous medicines left inside pses or bedside tables. it's a common occurrence that can be adly. erica edwards reports. >> reporter: every ten minutes a child in the u.s. is rushed to an emergency departmentfter tting a hold of medication. >> it only takes a couple seconds for a child to get into epmething. >>orter: a new report looks at the number of kids who are poisoned often p byrescription medicines like those used to trt high pressure and diabetes. >> even medications that are over the counter which many people carry in their purses can very dangerous for children. >> reporter: while pill organizers can be connient for adults, they're generallyr easy little fingers to pry en. experts recommend keeping ote

purses, t bags, pill boxes, anything with any kind of medication up high and keep t poison control number on speed dial. 1-800-222-1222. ericedwards, nbc news. a promising new drug could be on the way to replacing statens for heart patients. millions of americans already taking statins to help lower their cholesterol and they worked but often cause painful side effects. a new study found taking anri exntal medication with a statin could lower their cholesterol by 18%. >> the mpicine could h a lot of people. many people can't take a high dose of a powerful statin. so particularly we use combinations, two medications, sometimes lordosis to get the >>same effect. he fda is reviewing the drug now and could be approved by early next year. it's expected to cost about

$3,500 a year. t> do you know w today is? it is national pi y. pizza pie, cherry pie. >> i3.14. s march 14th. pi is 3.14 which is t ratio of a circle circumference to itser diam >> i just remember the 3.14. that's all i remember. >> i've never used it. so stores and restaurants are celebrating by often special eeals on pizza and baked pies. i did a tweet from v. dot where they explain that had when they bui highways they use this pi formula to figure out the curve in these ramps for highways. so it does getsed by, you know -- >> i knew somebody. she and her now husband very, you know -- i use the term nd it was very important to them and they were married on pi day at the time on bang. e, the whole she >> good for them. you may have a hard time

believing this next story. >> but d.c. is one of the leastg aggressive bities to drive in. ? real a survey. says d.c is actually ranked 20th out of 30 when it comes to aggressive drivers. the city with the most aggressive drivers, los it graded driving on speeding, hard breaking and swiftce ration. i don't see any finger flipping in there either. it found that friday is the most aggressive day of the week on the roadsay and wedne is the calmest. baltimore ranked just ahead of c. at number 18. i don't know how confident i am in that study. >> all right. you ever want to just, you know, smash you computer, it's not working the right way. >> maybe you want to take a hammer to a picture of an ex or something. there are people who can help with that. >> here's the story. >> reporter: this is a place where grown-ups pay to throw a

temper tantrum. and pulverize their problems. >> it is the absolute most amazing feeling of release. >> reporter: hundreds of rage rooms are popping up across the country,loncluding che, north carolina, where we took a swing atio recrel smashing. >> it's a place, safe environment where you just come to relief yourstress. >> reporter: starting around 40 bucks, you can pick out items to break. >> everybody loves prorters. >> repter: gear up in safety equipment and grab your weapon of choice. >> i'm going to go break some stuff. >> reporter: i'm starting to see what all the buzz is abou customers say breaking things from beer bottles toars help them relieve stress, blow off steam and increasingly get over a break-up. >> they even write their spouse's name on a plate and break it or throw it. >> reporter: the owner says 95% of his customers are females. >> women are very strong, not

at. you see a woman with a bat, run. >> reporter: and they keep coming back for more. >> relieving that anger and frustration that's been building up for years or weeks. >> reporter: t trend isn't slowing down with dozens of new rageooms opening up. >> it's fun to be aggressive and just smash something. >> reporter: perhaps the best part, someone else cleans up the mess. >> interesting. they are advertised as the world's most comfortable shoe. >> coming up, see how shape

shoe shopping overwhelming. the variety of athletic shoes is pretty big and some are really expensive. >> the "today" show ran down some of the top options according t shape magazine. >> fashion meets function. >> we have the same sneaker on. retails at $95. machine washable. it has aod woo resistant insert. he's eco friendly. you're helping the planet basically with this sneaker. >> and they're super comfy? >> i'm walking on a cloud. >> every sho is machine washable. just throw them in. this is the nike freer 8. it is the ultimate gym shoe. you can see more options on m. today. so later today the maryland

g tenbut. they'll take on nebraska this afternoon in icago, the turpz have already beaten them, but a -season win will be new for maryland's players. none of the teams top scorers has ever won a post-season game in college. tip-off today is set for3:00. that won't be the only match-up people are watching "today." george washington university beat u mass > that tip-off is set for 2:30. let's get you o l lastk at the forecast. amelia? >> we're looking at a nice mild day out there with temperatures warming to near 70 degrees. beautiful sunshine right now but clouds will in slowly incre as we head toward the late afternoon and evening hours. it is dry today t from start finish. it does become a bit breezy in the eningend. it's noticeably breezy tomorrow. highs around 70.

i think with could even make it into the mid-70s tomorrow afternoon. plentyf dry time. you can make it through your entire friday based on the latest model info bation. it iezy and much cooler out there on saturday with the high temperature around 52 degrees and a mix of clouds and sunshine on sunday, a high around 50 so a chilly st. patrick's day but betiful sunshine out there on sunday. >> thank you, ma'am. that is it for us. we are back on the air this afternoon first at 4:00. >> you canet news and weather updates with the nbc washington app. have a great day, everybody. we'll see you tomorrow.

♪ we're live in five,four, three, two, one. ♪ ♪ you'l never know the way i love youy the wa that i love you ♪ >> sometimes actions speak louder than words. [ cheers and applause ] >> yes! >> oh! one of the best moments in tv. by the way, we have the golden