well, bob and suzanne wright, thank you so much for giving so many with autism a voice through autism speaks. so good to see you. >> thank you very much. >>> all right. college grads, they were hit hard by this economy, but things just might be looking up. a new study shows more companies are recruiting. the companies looking to hire and why, next. i have twins, 21 years old. each kid has their own path. they grow up, and they're out having their life. i really started to talk to them about the things that are important that they have to take ownership over. my name's colleen stiles, and my kids and i did our wills on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. >>> new college grads have been particularly hard hit in this economy, but a new survey of potential employers indicates that hiring is making a comeback on many college campuses. according to the survey, employers expect to increase their hiring of this year's batch of college

today is world autism awareness day. >> today is world autism awareness day. we would like to wear light blue to shine a light on autism. >> hence the light blue puzzle. cdc released a report showing that one in 88 kids has autism. that's a rise. >> it's a huge rise since the 2009 report. 23% increase from the report and 7 8% increase from the report earlier in 2002. one in 88 u.s. children have awe system. >> what do the numbers mean? does it mean there is an increase or better at diagnosing it. >> it doesn't mean there is an increase in development but diagnosing and recognizing autism and disorders in our children. >> what is autism? >> autism and autism spectrum disorders, it's a complex group of development disorders. issues with ability verbal and nonverbal communication skills, social interaction skills, repetitive behaviors, those different things. it's a disease there will be a huge range of symptoms from. children that exhibit mild symptoms and severe symptoms. >> we will have more on the report and the latest research showing people could do to decr

that's according to research by autism speaks. when you talk about the cost per person, somewhere in the range of 1.4 to $3.2 million, and the severe end of the spectrum it will cost $2.3 million to raise that child. it doesn't go away in adulthood. when you talk about how much families with kids that have autism make, they make less than the average family. you just heard it from that family. generally 28% less. when you talk about mothers trying to raise these children, they make 56% less than families with children without health issues. that's just another burden they have to bear. of people say doe insurance, christine, help out. doesn't insurance cover the covet the cost of autism? it doesn't. you've got 29 states right now in the united states where insurance does cover autism treatment. also you've got to remember that once these kids are adults, they're still dealing with autism. so what happens when they're out of the education system? how are they being paid for? a lot of the funding comes from the state, from the feder

then they counted the cases of autism in each group and calculated the autism rate. they found no difference. children who didn't get the shot had the same risk of developing autism as those who did. the team published the findings in the "new england journal of medicine." other studies carried out by researchers in sweden, britain, finland and the us also found no association between mmr and autism. additional evidence came from japan. the japanese changed their vaccine schedule in 1993, replacing the mmr triple shot with three separate vaccinations. but following the change, autism rates did not fall. in fact, they appeared to rise, thus making the triple shot an unlikely cause of autism. the danish team now went on to investigate the second theory: the mercury preservative thimerosal. it turned out that in denmark there was a simple way to test this as well. >> in denmark, since the '70s, only one vaccine has contained thimerosal, and that was a pertussis vaccine. it contained thimerosal until may-june '92. then the same vaccine continued but without thimerosal. >

it's one in 54 boys have autism and one many 252 girls -- one in 252 girls have autism. that difference occurs. >> there is research going on, is it environmental, genetic? >> there is a ton of research. it's not just one thing. it's a combination of factors. as you said it's probably a combination of ge net expik environmental factors causing autism. >> i'm sure people who are watching, you hear about it in news. is there anything anyone can do to decrease the risk? >> one study showed that it may help to take prenatal vitamins with folic acid. the thing that autism speaks and autism awareness is about is the ability to screen and the early diagnosis. that's the most important thing for us to do along with research. >> we will get in to more of that in the next half hour. today is april 2nd, world awe system day. people are being asked to wear a certain color. >> wear light blue, if you have the puzzle piece pin, it's an indication for all of us to recognize how important this disease is. it affects so many of our children and we should concentrate our efforts and givin

and as states about one in every eighty eight children has either autism or part of an autism spectrum disorder and while autism is quickly becoming an epidemic in this country its causes largely remain a mystery however new research suggests an alarming link between two other very common health problems in this country and their possible role in causing autism if you think that autism is still it is sort of the doctors and scientists know very little about that everything you know is wrong joining me now is dr herb hertz pitch pitch. an environmental epidemiologist with a special thank you thank you very much for the specialty in autism and a professor and chief of the division of environmental and i patiently health within the department of public health sciences at the university of california davis dr walker tell us thank you for having thank you tell us about your study what did you set out to investigate we have been casting a very wide net in terms of chime to identify factors there associated with the risk. there not that specific we do genetic factors although we are also look

you starred the hidden epidemic of autism. now we have to continue to get the things we need for our community. >> lastly i'd say that the medical community has got to come out. they're so quiet. they should be screaming about this saying this needs to be addressed. the accessory organizations, they should be out here. i feel like we're doing the work of organizations that should have been out ahead of us years and years ago. they are so reluctant to say anything. i can't believe it given the epidemic aspect of what we're dealing with, where are they? >> that is the question. thank you so much, bob and suzanne. you know we love you. >> we love you too. >> there is a nation of children and parents grateful to you, and the work continues. >> thank you. >> thank you so very much. >> thank you very much. >>> at any moment now, we'll have live coverage from the president's joint press conference was canada's prime minister stephen harper and mexico's president philippe calderone ahead right here on "andrea mitchell reports." [ sigh

. >> a possible link to autism is discovered among mothers. the role that obesity may play in the rise of autism >> in silicon valley there was a billion dollar deal today involving what are probably your two favorite social media companies. >> mobile 5 is live along boiled drive as we near went,,,,,, >> north bay commuters, the last weekend of this month to will drive will close down for for good and drivers will need to adjust to a temporary road for a while. we put mobile 5 live there to give you a look at how it looks currently. caltrans says it will close friday april 27th at 8:00 p.m.. demolition will last until at least 5:00 a.m. monday morning. workers will shift traffic on to attempt it temporary road. traffic from the golden gate bridge to highway one will stay open but drivers should expect delays. facebook is spending $1 billion to acquire the popular vote of sharing application instant gramm, whose fans don't want to see a change it >> instead gramm is a mobile application for sharing photographs >> i like it because you get to ke

. >> a medical mystery continues with new news about autism. cases are on the roois rise, and not just by a little bit. we'll tell you what we think is going on and also what to look for. >>> also, a just retired top army general has a focus on an increasingly important issue, post traumatic stress disorder. i'm going to ask him about that soldier accused of mass murder in afghanistan. >>> for three days unprecedented for a single case, justices argued about president obama's massive health care law. we've been getting lots of questions, which i'll try to answer in just a minute. first, let's get a quick recap. >> remember, the most controversial part of the law is the so-called individual mandate. that's the requirement that you carry insurance. is it constitutional? it's balancing the other part of the law that the insurance company must cover people who get sick. without healthy people in the system, companies say they would have to make rates, premium rates, sky-high for everyone, but critics say you can't force individuals to buy a private

many more people are being diagnosed with autism than before. have you been thinking about that? >> well, i've been very much involved with it over the years. i have some great friends, bob and suzanne wright who used to head up nbc, as you remember, they've really devoted their life to autism. and they've had a serious event take place in their family and they're fantastic people and i've helped them over the years and we've had fundraisers at other places and i've gotten to be pretty familiar with the subject and, you know, i have a theory and it's a theory that some people believe in. and that's the vaccinations. i mean, we never had anything like this -- this is now an epidemic. it's way, way up over the last 10 years. it's way up over the last two years. and you know, when you take a little baby that weighs like 12 pounds into a doctor's office and they pump them with many, many simultaneous vaccinations, i'm all for vaccinations, but i think that when you add all of the vaccinations together and then two months later, the baby is so differ

davis, that links autism to expectant mothers and obesity. cheryl hurd has reaction from one mom who has her doubts about the study. cheryl? >> reporter: raj, no one really has the answers to the cause of autism or prevention. but this latest study is getting a lot of attention. >> he was born with a smile on his face and his arms outstretched. and he loves the world. >> reporter: she knows a lot about autism because of her 17-year-old son, ian. >> he didn't really speak until he was 4 or 5. he didn't say mommy until he was four. >> reporter: they have opened a center and counsel autistic children in san rafael. lawsen says the new study linking to beesty and autism is a stretch. >> we're being called fat moms. that doesn't help us. >> reporter: a ten-year study by the u.c. davis mind institute says, that women who are obese during pregnancy, are 60% more likely to deliver a child with autism, compared to women of normal weight. >> our intention is not to make women feel like they did something wrong. >> reporter: but paula, a co-author of th

that's where we are now in fighting autism. these new studies are very exciting and they offer incredible promise. >> but what does this mean for men, that men now have to consider that they have a kind of medical biological clock that they have to work against? >> reporter: i think they do. this study showed age was a factor. but it only accounted for about 5% of the increase in autism. so, older men can have children. but i do think that not only women have a biological clock. >> all right, so, go ahead and make your plans but know that this is out there and it is at least a preliminary clue. >> reporter: that's right. >> thank you dr. rich besser. >>> and now we have an update for you on the u.s. soldier being held in a kansas military prison tonight. sergeant robert bales, accused of the massacre of 17 afghan civilians. today, u.s. investigators had their first chance to talk to the witnesses inside those villages. they waited this long, the investigators did, more than three weeks, because of the danger from the afghans so

earlier i spoke with bob and suzanne wright, co-founders of autism speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization. and i asked the former executive officer of ge and nbc along with his wife how they hope these new findings will help families deal with the emotional and financial costs. >> we're hoping that we can really get a prioritized approach from all kinds of people, from the federal government, at the state level, at the municipal level, with academy -- medical academies. we've got so many people who are standing by, but not taking an active role in this. when you have 1 in 54 boys, and 1 in 88, we don't have anything even comparable to this that has anything nearly the devastating impact on families. >> the wrights have firsthand experience with autism. their grandson was diagnosed with it. i asked them what their biggest challenge was when they learned the news. >> it was very heartbreaking. we had to move them from another state here, because there were no services. and then bob and i, and you know, he was the chairman of nbc at the time, i couldn't beli

. >> and it's autism awareness month. linda so is speaking live with a local doctor about the condition and the latest in research. >> also the snow came down fast and furious. in -- furious in some parts of the northeast. we will look at the cleanup going on. >> we have plenty clouds around this morning. i am going to tell you when the next chance for showers work their way back into the forecast coming up. >> reporter: on the roads, do we have delays on the west side of the beltway? and check your drive towards the capital backway up next -- beltway up next. >> let's head to new york for the latest in tech bites. >> reporter: in today's tech bites facebook and growth spiritpaying 5 50 million to microsoft for patents they he bought from aol after buying instagram. intel says the next generation ships will go on sale. they are the first with a 3-d structure to be fatter and use less power. and a bathroom scales are smart. the new it measures weight body maximum index and body fat and sends it wirelessly to your online ac

. >>> april is national autism month, and baltimore county schools partner for an autism day event, an all-day conference to teach people the real facts about the disorder. they heard presentations from professionals and teenagers with autism. rep say it is crucial for families who are struggling with the condition -- representatives say it is crucial for families who are struggling with condition. >> we bring them together to teach them about autism, and it makes the world a friendlier place and makes the parents and families feel not alone. >> according to the cdc, one in 88 children suffer with autism. tomorrow, wbal radio will look at how baltimore area families are coping with autism, tomorrow morning at 11:30, right here on tv 11. >>> still to come, ted nugent finds out his punishment after comments he made about president obama. >> i think there are still a lot of emotions wrapped around the case. we are worried that some of those emotions may play out against him. >> neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman could be out on bail. that story when we come back. >>> charles co

a study suggests a link between obesity during pregnancy and autism. its the first time research linked autism with weight. >> this 7-year-old diagnosed at 4. his mother says he has add ai sues year after an immunization and she thinks there is a connection. the theory has been rejected. now a new study says obesity might increase of chance of autism but ronnie says her weight was always normal, and anyway, she tried not to dwell on discovering a cause, focusing on needs, now. >> i would love to find what caused it. then, i think intervention is the key. i think when you, i know it's hard to find out when your child is suffering but i think the quicker intervention it's better for everybody. >> the davis study looked at a thousand children two to five years old. nearly 700 add developmental delays. more than 300 did not. and there is a one in 88 chance of having a child with autism. >> what we've found is the children with autism were more likely to have a mom who had been obese during pregnancy or diabetes or hypertension that is about a 60% higher ri

and when you say autism it runs the gamut because there's the autism spectrum disorder and getting the clear diagnosis is key for a lot of parents. >> it is. because it gives access to early intervention. >> and tell us about this event you are having this sunday the 8th annual roar event. what he's going on and why should families -- what's going on why should families come out. >> there's a opportunity to ride bikes and hiking. we have free food and there's a wonderful playground and lots to do. >> and money that is raised goes to research. you have a lot of that going on. >> and using the money, we come at trying to understand autism and better treat it from different and i angels. >> reporter: and -- angels. >> reporter: and there's stale lot of reer is notch yes there's a lot of work. >> reporter: -- research? >> yes, there's a lot of work. >> reporter: and you are look at factors. >> we are looking at what's causing it. we are looking at novel and more creative ways to detect it early in life and better ways to treat autism. >> reporter: thanks so much. again, learn more about th

mother's weight may impact her child's chances of having autism. her weight during pregnancy. >> this is a study that just came out the other day in the journal "pediatrics." women who were obese, gained more than they should during pregnancy, their kids had a 60% increased risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder. but it's an association, not a cause. we can't say being obese causes it. there's just this association. there's also been an association with ssri, or antidepressant use during the first trimester of pregnancy and also an association with older parents, both mothers and fathers, who are older, 35 for a woman or older, or 40 for a man or older. their kids have a higher rate of developing autism. >> and do we think there's a genetic component or environment plays more of a part in this? >> it's probably roughly 50-50. they did studies with identical twins and found if one twin had autism, there's a 70% chance that the identical twin would. it's not entirely genetic. but environment plays a big role as well. >> what about vaccination

. >>> a new link in the autism mystery. the new research on what mothers to be have to look out for. >>> d our tribute tonight to a game changer in our line of work, mike wallace. "nightly news" begins now. >>> good evening. after a long period of emotional protests, tonight, there are signs of movement in the case of trayvon martin, the young unarmed man who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in florida. tonight, the special prosecutor in the case has reached a decision that should advance this case to the next step now. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's kerry sanders in sanford, florida. good evening. >> good evening, brian. there's no indication if the special prosecutor who was appointed by the governor, plans to file charges, but george zimmerman's legal team confirmed to nbc news that their client has set up a web page and is soliciting donations for funds to help fund the defense if one is needed. special prosecutor angela corey's office issued a short statement today that read in part, state attorney

. >>> a new link in the autism mystery. the new research on what mothers to be have to look out for. >>> and our tribute tonight to a game changer in our line of work, mike wallace. "nightly news" begins now. >>> good evening. after a long period of emotional protests, tonight, there are signs of movement in the case of trayvon martin, the young unarmed man who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in florida. tonight, the special prosecutor in the case has reached a decision that should advance this case to the next step now. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's kerry sanders in sanford, florida. good evening. >> good evening, blien. there's no indication if the special prosecutor who was appointed by the governor, plans to file charges, but joenchlg zimmerman's legal team confirmed to nbc news that their client has set up a web page and is soliciting donations for funds to help fund the defense if one is needed. special prosecutor angly coy's office issued a short statementing saying special attorney corey has de

children have autism. which is an increase from the report from 2009 and from 2002, 7 8% increase in diagnosis from 2002. >> people maybe more aware, looking for it as far as diagnosis goes. are there signs, symptoms that parents should be looking for? >> most children that have autism are autism spectrum disorder are diagnosed by age 3. signs do demonstrate earlier and by around 12 months, you can start to see signs. the warning signs are lack of verbal skills. not babbling by 12 months or forming real words by 16 months. early signs are not smiling or cooing or something the social interaction by 6 months or pointing, waving, by 12 months or later. those are the things you should bring up to your pediatrician as well as if your child is having normal developmental milestones and not doing things. bring it up to your pediatrician in how formal screening performed. >> do we know what causes autism? >> we don't. what we know is that it's not one thing. it's probably a combination of genetic and environmenta

teams of sciencists have identified several gene mutations that increase the chance of autism. they found that the risk increases if the father is 35 or older. they are very rare and only account for just a tiny fraction of cases. >>> and to learn more about the possible link and the risk of older dads, tune into world news. a doctor will look in the evidence and explain how this could lead to better treatment. >> a new survey shows many moms doing more than just hitting the gyms to get back in shape. how far they are willing to go. >> i will cut. >> reporter: tina has two young sons. after a second child she decided to take care of herself. >> i didn't like my stomach. i think all moms can related to muffin top, especially with the styles now. >> she met with a plastic surgeon about a tommy tummy tuck. in the past decade the number of mommy makeovers has skyrocketed. breast surgery increased 39%, lifts up 70% and tucks have increased 85%. >> once mothers have completed having all their children they are ready to restore the body they had before the children. they want their st

that's where we are now in fighting autism. these new studies are very exciting and promise real hope. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. >> some reasons there to be optimistic. >> definitely. that's what i was going for. >>> in other news, pregnant women and girls in the state of mississippi may soon have to go out of state to have an abortion. lawmakers have passed a bill restricting the kind of doctor who can perform abortions at the state's only clinic. the bill now goes to the governor who has said in the past he intends to make mississippi, quote, abortion-free. >>> also, scientists are questioning last year's study on the health risk of cell phone use among children. insisting the risk is far greater than first thought. research just published by the environmental health trust shows cell phone use doubles the risk of brain tumors in children and adolescents as well. that's contrary, though, to studies released just last summer. the latest report shows cell phone use is increasing and that young users are more suscep

and figure out why -- had with autism. what is interacting and going on in there and in that environment and genetic makeup making it more difficult to them? it moves us closer to understanding what is going on. >> and still so many questions. nice we're working to figure it out and ann gibbons, the executive director of autism spokes for the national capital area. thank you for coming in. >> take care. >>> hope for teenagers and young women that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may increase your risk of developing breast changes that may lead to cancer. researchers analyzed data on nearly 30,000 teenaged and young adult women. for each drink they consumed each day, the risk of developing preliminary benign changes in the breast increased 15%. >>> could spider venom hold the key to curing breast cancer? a doctor will test her theory by isolating molecules in the spider venom and expose them to cancericallies and see how they react. she was awarded $200,000 for the research. >>> the number of lyme disease cases in loudo

. >> what we found is that the children with autism or autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have a mom who had been obese during pregnancy or had diabetes or hypertension and that was about a 60% higher risk. >> the study senior author said all three of those conditions share chronic inflammation and increased insulin levels but that's just a jumping off point for more research. >> exactly how that would affect the brain of the fetus is not very well-understood. >> there needs to be more work to show how those conditions can actually increase the risk of you having autism. i think it's pretty preliminary. but it kind of adds another suggestion as to why it's not a good idea to be obese when you are getting pregnant. >> the u. c. davis researchers say they would like to see more studies on environmental factors contributing to autism. abc7 news. >> looks like our weather is going to be heating up, right, francis? >> heating up and getting into the 70s today. i have a beautiful live shot to show you. we are looking at the sunrise from mount tam, i believe? yes, mound tam, sun advic

. >>> a new link in the autism mystery. the new research on what mothers to be have to look out for. >>> and our tribute tonight to a game changer in our line of work, mike wallace. "nightly news" begins now. >>> good evening. after a long period of emotional protests, tonight, there are signs of movement in the case of trayvon martin, the young unarmed man who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in florida. tonight, the special prosecutor in the case has reached a decision that should advance this case to the next step now. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's kerry sanders in sanford, florida. good evening. >> good evening, brian. there's no indication if the special prosecutor who was appointed by the governor, plans to file charges, but george zimmerman's legal team confirmed to nbc news that their client has set up a web page and is soliciting donations for funds to help fund the defense if one is needed. special prosecutor angela corey's office issued a short statement today that read in part, state attorne

it doesn't mean that obesity causes autism. but there's a risk factor. the study's senior author joins me now live. this was very troubling, i have to say right off the bat, irma. and there's something in the study that actually incorporates some -- why is it that weight has anything to do with autism or developmental delays. >> sure, thanks for having me. we took a look at a group of children who had autism spectrum disorder. a second group that had developmental delays and a third group of normal children. we found that women who had any one of obesity, diabetes, or hypertension were at higher risk for having a child who had either an autism spectrum disorder, or also a child with developmental delay, a cognitive impairment. a 2.4% higher risk if the mom had one of these three conditions. it's not proof of a causal link. we as scientists like to be a little bit cautious, and we think it needs to be replicated in another study. a large study, more than 100 children in each group. this was statisically significant for finding. >> i was looking through th

. >> what we found is that the children with autism or autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have a mom who had been obese during pregnancy or had diabetes or hypertension and that was about a 60% higher risk. >> the study senior author said all three of those conditions share chronic inflammation and increased insulin levels but that's just a jumping off point for more research. >> exactly how that would affect the brain of the fetus is not very well-understood. >> there needs to be more work to show how those condition can actually increase the risk of you having autism. i think it's pretty preliminary. but it kind of adds another suggestion as to why it's not a good idea to be obese when you are getting pregnant. >> the u. c. davis researchers say they would like to see more studies on environmental factors contributing to autism. abc7 news. >> the national forest surrounding lake tahoe will be getting a much needed trim this summer. the u.s. forest service has received the okay to begin a major forest thinning project. the goal is to reduce the threat of a catastrophic wildfir

why is this connected to autism? >> well, we all have changes in our genomes that amazingly were present in either our moms or dads. these are spontaneous. and they occur perhaps at random. we don't actually know entirely how they occur but all of us have them. one possibility here is that those people who have autism have random mutations like this spontaneous that are occurring in just the wrong part of the genome, affecting genes that you need for neural development. >> sreenivasan: what about the correlation between aging fathers and autism? what do these studies reveal there? >> well, these studies suggest that the risk is somewhat higher in dads over 40. now, we have known that for some time that especially dads over 40, boys with autism are about six fold more likely to have a father over 40, girls with autism about 17 fold more likely to have a father over 40. but let's be clear that that's a very small part of the risk for autism that contributes in a very minor way. >> sreenivasan: there's always been a rag

they looked at 1000 children, half of them with autism and half of them not. is this a critical piece of the autism puzzle or just a good piece of information to consider? for a pregnant mother, an alarming new study saying the risk of autism in children was 60% higher at the mother was obis hypertensive, or diabetic while pregnant. >> now we have something that we can look to man do something about. we know obesity is on the rise. >> they say the new findings linking obesity to autism must be taken seriously. more than one-third of adults in the u.s. are obese. >> of the mother of an individual with optimism, what caused it? not who caused it. if we can help people understand that, it is a step forward. >> the cdc estimates one in the 88 children now have autism. this says the risk rises to one in 53 when no bees. >> i would not say this is a smoking gun. if you compare our obesity verses of norway, they have an 8% increase -- obesity rate. >> it does seem to be a serious problem and should be taken into consideration. >> won a copy is good for you the next d

you've son with autism. can you take us back to the beginning and tell us how you found out something might not be right. >> we knew -- we had two children when he was autistic and when he was 12 months we knew the warning signs. we went to the pediatrician and they said keep ion on itism watched the oprah show this story about red flags for autism. i brought him back into the pediatrician and said we need to get him help and went to a development and psychologist. >> reporter: what were the red flags. >> not being able to point and not connecting. we have an older child and we were able to compare him with the older child and things weren't the same and didn't seem right. he was not making icon tact just seemed very different. >> reporter: you went to the psychologist and referred to kennedy krieger. and tell us what happened with that. >> we went to kennedy krieger. they got him in for evaluation and they did diagnose him on the autism spectrum like our psychologist did. and they told us about an early int

of a link between a pregnant woman's rate and whether or not her baby develops autism. karen trave vers has the -- travers has the story. >> reporter: an alarming new study says maybe. the study says more than 500 autistic children are in california and compared them to the same number who do the not have autism. they said the risk was 60% higher among those born to mothers who were owe berks hypertensive or diabetic. >> now scientists have to explain y what is this about obesity. is it the high levels of sugar in the blood, high levels of insulin or the chronic inflammation. >> reporter: one in 88 american children now have autism. that's up from one in 110 in 2006. obesity is also on the rise in the u.s. affecting more than one third of american adults but medical experts say there may not be enough information to say whether the two are connected. >> if you're pregnant and you're obese, wouldn't lose sleep over the study. i think the chances that your obesity will cause obesity in your child as -- are as of yet unprove & if you really want to give your child the best

aimed atfighting autism. the first segment starts at 5:15. linda so, abc2 news. >>> in other news, a new sed of guidelines to help those suffering from migraines and prevent attacks altogether. unlike acute treatments which relief pain and symptoms, preventive migraine headache treatments are taken daily. among them medications typically prescribed for seizures and a few overcounter option and eye by proben and in a approximatein. >> my my recommendation is if a person has tough headaches and going nowhere they ought to seek out a board certified headache specialist. >> the complete list of guidelines can be found in the journal of newology. >>> too much television can be bad for your child's developments. the catch it can happen even when you are not sitting in front of the screen. kids ages 8 month to 8 years exposed to about 4 hours of television background television every day so you ask what does it matter? previous studies linked background tv exposure to lower attention spans and lower scores in school

. >>> also new research from northern california shedding light on the possible causes of autism. >>> a live look outside at san francisco. it's pretty clear out there right now, but meteorologist christi christina loren says be prepared to have the umbrella handy the rest of the week. the news starts right now. >> nbc bay area news starts now. >>> good morning and thanks for being with us. i'm marla tellez. >> i'm jon kelley. we begin with a family and community in mourning after an accident leaves a concord man and his 9-year-old daughter dead. a teen driver slammed right into them during this weekend on a morning bike ride. now investigators want to know exactly how this happened and if a cell phone may be to blame. we're live in concord with a memorial that's throwing. >> reporter: more and more people throughout this morning have come by with flowers adding to what is a mountain here at the memorial with balloons and candles from a vigil that happened here last night. people family with treat boulevard say the city need to use this tragedy as a lesson. >> great girl. always a smi

second, a sharp rise in the number of kids diagnosed with autism. medical experts say part of that is because doctors are more aware of the symptoms. this new report does not make direct conclusions. but it does ask research encouraging mothers to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancies. i'm sergio quintana, abc7 news. >>> one final check on weather and traffic. >>> we have clouds on the increase it has been like groundhog day with this front offshore and associated three doesn't want to move. today it is going to move and allow for the clouds to thicken and parts of the north bay and then the rain spreads south, starting out warmer with mid and upper 40s now, partly to mostly cloudy skies throughout the day, more clouds in the north bay, san francisco overcast at times head out east of oakland, concord and livermore, more sun as well as south bay and your temperatures will be in the mid and upper 60s to around 70 here's the timing on the rain not until overnight tuesday morning compute nice and soggy even in the afternoon scattered showers beh