is aspartame dangerous?it's been around a long time and there's been studies on this and impact on human health the big question people ask is does it cause cancer. there's no evidence that it causes cancer. there's been a concern recently about artificial sweeteners in general. two things. one, they may not actually help you lose weight as much as people think and in fact there are a couple studies that show that people who drink diet drinks regularly versus other drinks actually had no benefit in terms of weight loss. and the other thing is more of the impact on the body. people who drink a lot of these type of diet artificially sweetening drinks tend to still crave sugar. there's a possibility they need sugar because they're not getting it from diet sodas. in terms of overall health impact there really hasn't been evidence that shows that aspartame causes an impact on human health. >> it's replacing aspartame with another artificial sweetener. do you know what that is? >> it's a combination of chemicals.

however, the food and drug administration says more than 100 studies so aspartame is safe.t said, diet pepsi will now be sweetened with splenda starting in august. >>> lower fuel costs have led to big savings for airlines this year but not their customers. the four big carriers saved a combined total of $3.4 billion in just the first three months of 2015 but average fares in the first quarter for american united and southwest only fell 66 cents. delta doesn't reveal fare information. >>> when we come back the dad showing his toddler and the world that the sky truly is the limit. >>> he claims he's hiding the height of murder. >>> as storms move in there's concerns the rain will cause more problems than it solves. story is a father and son and a little boy who is proving the sky's the limit thanks to his dad. amazing photos of him flying has gone viral, inspiring so many people. nbc's halle jackson has their story. >> reporter: look right there. photographer allen lawrence takes hundreds of pictures of his kids, but one of them is not like the others. because of all the lawr

it's ditching the artificial sweetener aspartame in several diet sodas in august.s replacing it with sucralose the sugar substitute known as splenda. the move is in response to customer concerns about the possible health effects of aspartame. the fda says there's no evidence that aspartame is unsafe. >>> well, he has neither an apple watch nor a diet pepsi in hand but he is in napa and paul deanno, you have some rain for us, too. >> you know, when you're in napa, it's a good thing. it's a wonderful friday evening. but big changes already in napa. those of you in the north bay have seen the weather get much cooler and cloudier just over the past few hours. two hours ago it was 68 and sunny of the now it's 62 and mainly cloudy. we are on first street, a great spot one of the many wonderful spots in and around downtown napa. but we are preparing for rainfall which will arrive here likely before midnight tonight. let's take a live look at dublin where it's windy. flags are flying, cameras shaking around a bit and it is not warm. santa rosa 63. san jose 63. san francisc

while the fda says aspartame is safe critics say studies show this session of the artificial sweetener might be laid everything from headaches to cancer. in fact what advocacy group the center for science and public interest says dye packs serve pepsi will still have a sweetener called ace c e k ace k which might also pose a cancer arrests pepsi officials a strongly denied that and also claimed that getting rid of aspartame was not about safety. >> pam moore: and what's happening with the fraternity whose members gary and his wife police feel will be responding to your comments and questions of and more information on seth currie about his at game time last night. keep up with everyday messes with the help of roomba from irobot sensors automatically guide roomba around your home, vacuuming up dirt and debri for a more thorough clean every day. roomba. only from irobot >> pam moore: the university of florida has suspended a fraternity after allegations that its members insulted and spat at a group of disabled military veterans in reportedly happened at a panama city beach resort last we

this is from pepsi, making a big change to its recipe for diet soda stop it will remove aspartame and replace it with another sweetener. there are allegations aspartame has harmful side effects, but the fda has said that it's ok to drink. pepsi hopes that it will help their plunging sales. leon: a computer glitch meant that a lot of people got some free starbucks coffee. several stores across the country gave away free drinks while the system was down. others close their doors to keep from having to give away free coffee, but the word quickly spread on social media. the cash register problem was from starbucks. they said it was not a hack, just happened during a daily menu refresh. tonight, i had a great time at the northern virginia urban league awards, the 25th annual event. tonight's honorees included the historic baptist church in alexandria, and former labor secretary alexis herman. they also recognize the top african-american high school students for success in academics. congratulations and good luck to all of you. alison: looks like a classy event. leon: it was and a classy cr

bo coke and pepsi blame the public perception that aspartame, nutrasweet isn't safe. it is safe. that said it will now be sweetened with splenda starting in august. >>> lower fuel costs have led to savings for air carriers the four big carriers saved $3.4 billion in the first three months of 2015. but average fares of the first quarter for american united and southwest only fell 66 cents. delta doesn >>> when we come back the dad showing his toddler and the world that the sky t thank you mom, for protecting my future. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are thankful for many things. the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. our world-class service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended large companies in america. if you're current or former military or their family, see if you're eligible to get an auto insurance quote. i love making sunday dinners. but when my back hurt, cooking all day... forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve. suc

today the company says it plans to remove aspartame from all of its diet cola drinks. they say the new diet pepsi sweetened with splenda will hit store shelves in august. consumers have been pushing for this change for years now over concerns of the rumored side effects. some scientists have even suggested a link between a sweetener and cancer but they say aspartame is safe and continues to do more research. >>> okay. coming up. a popular barbie is no longer for sail. the reason mattel is ditching its seaworld doll. >>> tonight at 6:00 it was a case that made its way around the country. tonight they say they will for given her legal fees of a million dollars, however, they want something in return. that story coming up on our 6:00 newscast. >>> seaworld barbie has been thrown overboard. today mattel announced it will stop making doll. it didn't give an exact reason but it's halts production. animal activists have pressured them to cut ties with the park. it claimed seaworld mistreated its orcas and other animals. >>> that's going to do it for us here. nightly news is u

consumers fear that aspartame perpartame may be linked to cancer though the fda says it's completely safe. the presence of aspartame is the number one reason americans are scaling back on diet colas. >>> the chairman of comcast says the company is not looking back after walking away from the proposed $45 billion acquisition of time warner cable. the deal would have given comcast control of nearly a third of the cable and more than half of all broadband customers in the u.s. critics included some competitors consumer groups and ultimately the fcc. comcast chair brian roberts told cnbc he sees other opportunities within the company and elsewhere. comcast is the parent company of nbc 4. >>> the blue bell ice cream company is rolling up its sleeves to prevent future contaminations. starting on monday, the company says it will begin intensive cleaning of its four facilities and its employees will go through a new training program that focusing on cleanliness. blue bell recalled all of its product thz week after two samples tested positive for listeria. at least ten customers nationwide ha

and they are announcing they are taking aspartame out of diet pepsi and using splenda instead. >> aspartameis the most contested ingredient in our beverages. we have 200 studies by numerous regulatory bodies and we make sure that the education and the awareness is out there and reinforcing to consumers that it is perfectly safe to drink. >> and coke is investing in the drink brands growing. the fastest one -- >> tea, gold pt and smart water. all three are growing fast. >> and still this is a company with 70% of the sales coming from soda. unlike pepsi which only gets 25% of the business from drinks and the last from salty snacks under the frito lay brand. instead of diversifying into food and another business the 129-year-old beverage giant said the growth will come from the company goes back to the roots. for "nightly business report," i'm sara eisen in atlanta. >>> coming up the housing market's biggest challenge is a lack of listings and a new report shows the shortage of inventory may actually be worse than it seems. that story, next. >>> here is a look at what to watch next week. earni

pepsico announced today it's removing aspartame from the diet cola because of a customer concern thaticial sweetener is unsafe. the fda maintains aspartame also known as newt ri sweet is safe, as one of the most tested ingredients in the world. it the hit stores in august with a blebd of artificial sweeteners. coca-cola has no plans to remove aspartame from diet coke. >>> the size and timing of your breakfast could impact your entire day. >> and a new lawsuit accuses tanning salons of playing down their dangers. jane king has those stories and more in today's wellness report. >> reporter: lawsuits have been filed in new york state for two tanning chains. they propromote the practice as being health pep they suggested indoor tanning could increase vitamin d production and reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. the tanning salons did not comment on the lawsuit filed by the new york attorney general's office. >>> extreme morning sickness could be linked to children's neurological problems. a study at the university of southern california found that children born to women

pepsi officials strongly deny that and also claimed that getting rid of aspartame was not about safety moore: as still ahead with of the ongoing drought water prices will only continue to get higher but there are a few steps you can take around alone to reduce your water bill we will explain coming up plus the effort to honor the late robin williams gets the green light. >> pam moore: after days of searching played the 17 year-old disappeared as return of two parents sullivan showed up on his own but this morning bill was talking. >> reporter: would try knocking on the door several times but no one answered. the 70 year-old arrived late last night and harm. the senate clare coveys sheriff's office says the boy's sister was a spur of the moment decision on monday morning to run away. he survived by eating food off trees. and went to the porter potties he also told authorities that his allotted time of the school's campus when no one was a rogue the reason why he left is still little unclear he told deputies that was stressful but that is not the reason that he chose to run away. authori

. >> the popular drink is ditching aspartame because of pressure from consumers. the new replacement and when you'll notice the different taste. >>> plus, what sparked an all-out evacuation at the statue of >>> everything is clear at the statue of liberty right now after some nervous moments earlier today. the nypd was initially called because of a suspicious package. then around 11:00 someone called the national park police threatening to blow up the statue. hundreds of visitors and personnel were evacuated on ferries. park police and the nypd's bomb squad checked the area and gave the all-clear this afternoon. >>> and check out this video from our sister station up in philadelphia. on scene when flames engulfed a bus overnight. the fire burned so hot, a nearby utility pole melted and dropped onto the bus. this happened near the hockey and basketball arena in south philly. the driver was on a break when the fire began so no one was on board. you may have noticed something different about your diet pepsi. you may notice in the next few months we hear pepsico tells

--aspartame is not safe. >>> a report is finding cigar smoking just as unhealthy as cigarettes. cigar use has doubled since the year 2000 and different kinds of cancers and heart problems can happen after excessive use over time. >> a lot of people think if you're not inhaling the cigar, that's not as harmful, but this study has clearly shown that that is not a fact. >> cigar smoking is becoming especially popular among young people. the study found 16% of young adult between 18 and 24 reported smoking a cigar once in the past month. >>> it might be the most anticipated interview yet. tonight bruce jenner reveals his new identity. >> as you know by now, the former olympian and celebrity dad has changed his appearance being more feminine, even wearing dresses and tonight he answers the rumors about whether he's becoming a woman. delia goncalves spoke to a local transgender woman to weigh in on jenner's journey. >> either bruce is getting fat or bruce is growing breasts. >> reporter: it was a no holds bar conversation. after all, consuella lopez and i go back years. >> luckily for

as far as the cdc and fda go, these are agencies that have let products such as aspartame, msg, high-fructose corn syrup, general netically modi general netically modified food on the market. >> i want to thank you for joining us today, pete. >> okay. >>> up next, a look at the news for the week ahead. >>> if you're one of the 3 in 4 americans expecting a tax refund, got plans? should you slurnlplurge, saver,. >>> for more on our show and our ges, go to our website. otm.cnbc.com. and follow us on twitte twitter @onthemoney. >>> the nonmanufacturing index is due on monday. tuesday, we'll get consumer credit data for february. wednesday, the federal reserve will release minutes from the open market committee meeting last month. american airlines and u.s. airways will officially merge when the faa issues them a single operating certificate. friday, apple watch will hit stores, on for a preview. you can try on the watch, only by appointment. also on friday, samsung launches the highly anticipated galaxy s-6 and s-6 edge smartphone. >> the tax deadline is near. joining us personal fitness correspo

consumer backlash against aspartame sent sales down more than 5% last year.coke is in the same situation. the fda says there's no proof of the health risks from the sweetener. i've been hearing a lot of stories lately that these diet sodas can blow to your belly more than tricking a sugared soda -- bloat your belly more than drinking a sugared soda. scarlet: there's a big trend towards sugar drinks. matt: there is also water that is good to drink. scarlet: matt is looking to be healthy. matt: trying to be healthy, lose weight, probably h2o. scarlet: we need to talk more about the bad and getting worse relationship between greece and its european neighbors tried -- tried. hans nichols is in latvia. hans let's start with you. matt was telling us about european finance ministers hurling abuse at varoufakis, calling him an amateur, a gambler, a time waster. what did varoufakis not do at this summit? hanis: he did not provide specifics as he was supposed to. he did not appear to grasp the gravity of the situation. the difference between where the euro great -- eur

american customersed raised concerns of health effects of aspartame though the studies show it is safe. new diet pepsi will hit stores in august and it may have a different mouth feel. so get ready for different mouth feel. >> i don't know if that's good. >> no. >> what about the forecast for the weekend. >> cold start for weekend that's for sure. stormtracker 6 double scan showing no rain out there and really no clouds up in the sky and temperatures are dropping very quickly. already down to 47 in philadelphia, 57 the high today. 10 degrees below normal. allentown down to 38 already millville 34 and wilmington 4 and reading 43 and trenton currently 406789 satellite 6 along with action radar showing we have a bubble of high pressure over us. this is what is keeping our skies clear and with clear skies the diminishing winds temperatures will take a tumble. so freeze warnings have been posted for most of the viewing area. areas not under freeze warning are under frost advisory. what this means if you started any early plantings outside a good idea to cover them up. also remember pets the

. >>> pepsi announced today it's dropping aspartame and replacing it with splenda.ill hit store shelves in august. >>> a new way to skip the line, the mexican food chain going to bring the burrito straight to your door only available in select cities. lucky for us d.c. is one of them. >>> three, two, one and liftoff of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. >> wow, that launch was 25 years ago today and since then hubble has given us some spectacular views of outer space. nasa credits the telescope with completely transforming how we see the universe from measuring the age of the cosmos to showing us the existence of those massive black holes. >>> always watching always tracking, wusa9's first alert weather, d.c.'s most accurate. >> topper will be tracking rain for the weekend. you said you were sweating today a bit with the 3-degree guarantee. >> i went for a high temperature today of 60. we know we hit 62. the question is did we go up to 64 or not. let's go to the graphic. at 11:00 we'll let you know. let's start w

. >>> and word that diet pepsi is removing aspartame, and replacing it with other artificial sweetenersnd when we come back so many remember mcdreamy and mcsteamy. but the fans were shocked tonight. what the actor himself is saying about it all. right here tonight. thank you for being a sailor, and my daddy. thank you mom, for protecting my future. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are thankful for many things. the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. our world-class service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended large companies in america. if you're current or former military or their family, see if you're eligible to get an auto insurance quote. constipated? .yea dulcolax tablets can cause cramps but not phillips. it has magnesium and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. for gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation that works! mmm mmm live the regular life. if you struggle with type 2 diabetes, you're certainly not alone. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. i

dropping aspartame from its ingredient. it will be removed this summer.e a mixture of other sugary substitutes. much healthier. what is behind this genius. it is worn from the surfboard into the office. it does cost $2500. styles include friday casual and party took cito. i imagine that would be really hot one you got into the office. you may also smell a little strange. let's check in with liz claman. liz: breaking news. anything can happen. right now the s&p one point oh way. they are revving their engines. it is the phenomenon that has been pointing. supercross comes to a head. how big of a business is this. how big will it become? plus stub public. one of the few companies. the feel of approval from apple. will you be able to buy a mayweather spot on the apple watch? back to you. melissa: thank you very much. anyone can buy a commercial drone. that does not mean that anyone knows how to fly them. we are headed to drone school to learn the tricks of the trade. five players ejected. including some of the team. at the end of the day it is all about money

instead of aspartame as a sweetener it's switching to sucrulose. it hopes the sweetener switch helps diet pepsi's slumping sales. that's it at 4:00. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts right now. cars collided. bullets flew. and then ticket were written. >> they should be sending me a letter of apology. leon: the saga of a car owner caught in a crime scene. the messages are blunt. >> becoming more normal and more mainstream to talk about. leon: and the reaction is strong. >> shouldn't advertise. leon: an abortion care facility explains the attention getting ads. and tears and memories on a sun soaked virginia campus. >> she's beautiful but there was so much more to her. leon: friends and family honor the victim of a college murder. alison: she says she was parked legally but unable to get to her car because of a police investigation. and now the woman whose car was trapped after that shooting at the u.s. census bureau and the chase through the district wants "7 on your side" to fight through the police tape. d.c. bureau chief sam ford is live along eighth st

and pepsi coming out today, announcing it's taking aspartames a peraspartame out of diet cola and goe world. coke zero's growing, coca-cola light is growing, which is a derivative of diet coke in the rest of the world. so purely in the united states diet coke is -- has been under pressure the rate of decrease is slowing down. >> yep. >> and i think it's work in progress. >> so he says there's growth outside the united states and inside the united states a work of progress. coke came out with a statement afterwards, saying we are sticking to our ingredients, unlike pepsi, in diet coke. and in fact i also got to talk to coke's head of sparkling for north america, head of sodas, wendy clark, about this very ingredient in question. >> aspartame gets a lot of conversation and it is the most contested ingredient we use in our beverages. it's had over 200 studies, been cleared again and again by numerous regulatory bodies, and part of us is us making sure that that education and awarps is out there and reinforcing to consumers that it is perfectly safe to drink. >> so coke says it is safe a

it's dropping the artificial sweetener called aspartame from diet soft drinks. pepsi will now use a new sweetener blend beginning in august. company officials say it will still be zero calories. >>> ahead for us "at this hour," to negotiate with terrorists or not. new questions at the forefront after the revelation that the family of warren weinstein paid his kidnappers for his freedom. that was a failed attempt to free him. >>> hillary clinton facing new scrutiny over foreign donations to the clinton foundation. we'll tell you how her campaign is now firing back. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) the twenty-fifteen subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. we alwith a shout,world and we see no reason to stop. so cvs health is creating industry-leading programs and tools that help people stay on medicines as their doctors prescribed. it could help save t

even, which it says the aspartame is safe.nding new ways to drive growth in those categories by smaller packages, smaller cans and bottles and by the freestyle, the technology they've built and the scientists and engineers they've hired to do that. it will be up to investors to see whether they find that kind of long-term vision and believe that this category of soda can continue to drive growth for coke like it once did. kayla? >> sara isen in atlanta with coke's innovation story. thanks. >>> it is compensation season as you now, we're getting some news on gm's barra. >> the proxi from general motors has been released. ceo mary barra did make $16.2 million in 2014. a 70% increase compared to the 2013 salary of her predecessor. people might say that's a huge bump. remember 2014 was the first year since 2009 when gm came out of bankruptcy that it was not under the restrictions that were in place because of the federal government and the treasury department being a stakeholder. they were allowed to determine their own compensati

. >> and sara i saw over the weekend pepsico is taking -- i think it's aspartame -- >> aspartame out it's amazing to watch. cnbc's sara'sen thank you so much. >> thank you. >> joining us now, the chair of elevate, a global professional women's network. sally crawcheck writes in the "washington post" that women are impacted disproportionately by the retirement savings problem in america. you call it a women's crisis as opposed to a retirement savings crisis. tell us why? >> think about the are tiermtretirement savings. we're at least a trillion dollars insolvent. walk through a nursing home. it's a women's crisis. they retire with two-thirds of the money as men, live six to eight years longer. if we have a retirement savings crisis, which we do it will disproportionately affect women which changes the lens on the potential answers for it. >> and you just before we went on the air, you were like the solution in some ways so obvious. >> well and you were on it right? if we close the gender pay gap which is after all, the law of the land we will close the retirement savings gap, the soci

and pepsi has decided to release a new diet pepsi reciept and to dump aspartame. is considering bills for the --considering offers from halliburton's energy assets with baker hughes. and private equity firms and hedge funds are offering lifelines with production companies as banks tighten their credit. joining me now is lydia who is a partner at local hedge fund firm, and lydia, think you for joining us. lydia: most people are waiting at this point, obviously, there has been some rather significant announcements such as shell and bp group acquisitions, but by and large, most larger assets have a fairly big spread between the bid and the ask primarily because the people who are interested in buying right now are really looking for bargains i mean, there is a whole lot of private equity and private rating on the sidelines, and in addition to private equity money, you have a larger oil and gas player out there who would be potentially looking for bargains. alix: lydia, give us a perspective on how much money in big oil is sitting on the sidelines right now? lydia: i

know, they had died drinks for a while here at consumers are rejecting some of those ingredients, aspartame and so on. it is a balanced approach. investment in coconut water. a plant-based protein trick in china, doing the best they can to diversify. eric: we thank you. a tough job for coca-cola. stephanie: breaking news for you out of london. accuse of helping to figure the crash, scarlet fu at our news desk for what -- with more. scarlet: the vendor's 36 years old, conditional bail. we do not know the amount yet. this is the only headline we have to work with this -- right here. in may of 2010, the dow jones industrial average and other index is plunged. losing 1000 points over the course of a couple of seconds that afternoon before recovering just as quickly. he said he will fight efforts to expedite him to face the charges in the u.s. we will keep you posted on any new developments including the dollar amount on the bail he has been granted. stephanie: we have got to take a break. when we return, more on the man u.s. regulators say helped cause the crash. we will take you to london. eri

interesting pepsi to ditch aspartame. the controversial artificial sweeteners. it. so pepsi is going make that switch. if it's bad for you, i'm already screwed. >> i'm with you there. >> i'm on the five a day diet. it's done wonders for my health. thank you so much. and we will hear about the devastation in nepal. stay with us. ♪ you're only young once. unless you have a subaru. (announcer) the subaru xv crosstrek. symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 34 mpg. love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru. if you misplaced your discover card you can now use freeze it to prevent new purchases on your account in seconds. and once you find it you can switch it right on again. you're back! freeze it, only from discover. get it at discover.com. you show up. you stay up. you listen. you laugh. you worry. you do whatever it takes to take care of your family. and when it's time to plan for your family's future we're here for you. we're legalzoom, and for over 10 years we've helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. so when you're ready start with us. doing the

. >> pepsi will fizz out the use of aspartame in diet pepsi after studies link the artificial sweetnerood for you? think again. research says it doesn't actually provide the health benefits you think it does. this doesn't mean yogurt is bad for you. it just may not actually improve your health. tucker, keep that in mind. >> well, chris christie might be trying to rekindle his presidential hopes brand new fox news poll has the new jersey governor behind all the candidates washington examiner susan cab tree. former communication spokesperson vermont governor howard dean christie welcome to you both. christie start with you. >> sure. >> chris christie, the other christie is at the bottom of the -- four.5% in the average of all the polls over real clear politics, but i mean boy do we have a lock way to go before the nominee is chosen. are these early numbers significant? >> somewhat, yeah. let's get a few caveats out of the way. it's definitely still early. field is still 100% still influx. he has also made some smart moves of late. whatever your politics. i think the governor's appearance