right now, water and road crews working to clean up after a water main break early in wheaton. electrical problems cause delays for amtrak riderses. there are also cancellations and today, president obama will sign a massive bipartisan tax package that prevents a big new year's day tax hike for millions of americans. news4 midday begins right n. good morning, everyone. bem welcome to news4 midday. i'm barbara harrison. the morning commute.

georgia avenue in wheaton. a water main break slowed traffic but, for most part, motorists welcomed clear roads. highways and main roadways treated after yesterday's snow, and that kept commutersoving. take a look outside. gray skies and ic on the potomac. this something we d't see generally this early. can't skate on it, right? >> no, n this is the earliest that i can remember. this is the earliest anyone can remember, the potomac freezing over since the infamous air florida crash in 1982 that was a cold december and early january. and was frozen over then. there is that live view showing frozen waters near the 14th street bridge. 33 in washington. we're above freezing, one degree, though. upper 20s in prince georges

county, arlington, fairfax. montgomery near 30. sunshine breaking t tohe west but cloudy around the region. and we've had a disturbance passing to our north over last everal hours spreading snow along the mason dixon line. in the mountains it's 20s. most of the region is below freezing as we've had this unusually cold pattern continng. it will continue into the weekend. a low cstal pressure system will move up our way on sunday, perhaps spreading snow. but later today, we ought to get sunshine back which should give us melting of the snow that happened yesterday and refreeze tonight. highs above freezing from noon time until perhaps ound 3:00, 4:00, then freezing backp again tonight. latest, perhaps snow sunday. stay tuned. >> that makes it worse when it melts and refreezes because you've g ice and not the snow to deal with.

>> could be slippery going later tonight into tomorrow morning. >> tom, we'll look forward to seeinyou shortly with an update. the winter weather make it challenging to walk to work or school. snow coved sidewalks, created a slippery mess. megan mcgraph in bethesda live. >> reporter: we have had a drop in temperares so anything that wasn't cleaned up yesterday froze up overnight, and that meant a lot of sidewalks this morning were very, very slippery. things were slippery enough that school systems like montgomery county decided they needed extra time to clean things up before they opened up classes. with the roads in good shape, the big challenge of the morning was the actual walk to the office door. some sidewalks were shovelled and clear. you're okay? >> no problems. >> reporter: othe were not. people had to tread gingerly over the frozen ice pack. >> pretty good so far.

little icy, no spills yet, so it's good. >> taking it slow, walking slow yeah. yeah. >> reporter: surprised? >> i am, actually, because normally it's, you know, it's a sidewalks and stuff that are not done actually. >> reporter: with lots of shoveling yet to be done, school systems like montgomery county decided to open late. students got anxtra two hours of shut eye, and parents had to rearrange their schedules. it's wonderful. i -- i -- we went sledding yesterday and i had a lot of fun. >> reporter: tell me what you like about t snow. >> i like sledding down the hill and doing snowball fights. >>. >> reporter: going in late was good? >> yeah. >> rerter: and so we are still seeing some slushy conditions on some of the neighborhood streets. this is newingt road. we have slush here in the center of the roadway. continue to be cautious, take it

easy out there. major roadways look good. the crews did very good job yesterday and overnight getting them cleaned up, treated. so we didn't see major problems on the major roads this morning. so really the big challenge, those sidewalks. some of them are definitely snow packed. barbara, back to you. >> were you able to get in a snowball fight out there this morning? >> reporter: not me, not me. i wa basically in quest of coffee all day. but there's a lot of -- there's a lot of snow, though. looks like they got two iches at this location. fun for the kids. >> fun for the kids. thank you. we're going to check on the midday traffic now with steve in f jerry edwards. hi, steve. >> good morning. we're going to start with a look in an incident on the beltway, outer route near 50, tractorrailer ran off last night. they blocked two right lanes to retrieve it from the dich. there are delays, as we can see

on the left side of the screen beginning back at route 4, pennsylvania avenue, just to get past that incident right now. half an hour extra travel time. springfield not bad north and southon i-95. hov heading northbound. passengers traveling north on amtrak need to check in with custor service, amtrak had to cancel trips becau of equipment problems. derek ward live at union station. we understand problems had some customers waiting a long time. od morning. >> reporter: good morning. indeed, they did earlier on. most of the long delays have been cleared out. but this is the same problem that can be vexing to us here when the weather gets bad, when you freezing rain, snow, it has to do with overhead power lines and it's affecting travel alongi alongialong tr amtrak's northeast regional line. downed power lines, rail lines led to long lines.

a commercial power line came down on amtrak overheadlines south of deathwlaware andhat le to problems. >> got here early and the board saidverything was on time. then they had an announcement there was a delay due to the structure on the tracks. we're waiting it out. >> reporter: others were caught on thether side of the problem. they had to wait on board the train. >> i was relaxing on the train. the train was warm and comfortable. we were in business class. it wasn't a big problem. >> repoer: the problem had started last night. the trains had to be single tracked for a 13-mile stretch and that pushed some days to as long as two hours for some travellers we're going into sleep mode. >> reporte something calming about train travel for so, even when a delay stands between a weary worker and last leg home to richmond. >> the nice thing i don't have to make connections. when i get to the oth end i can get in my car and drive home.

so it's much better than sitting in an airport, i'll tell you. >> reporter: now, again, this is affecting the northeast regional line. this is not affecting acela trains. could be disruptions later. two trains affected early this morning, both before dawn. those passengers have been moved on and rout around, made other plans. trains181 and 127, which run from new york to d.c., have been canceled. those train schedule for later this afternoon. amtrak says there could be other cancellations or delays. if you plan on treling, check the website or call amtrak to find out if your train is still running. they say customer service -- hopefully this problem won't be too bad for travelers today. we're live the union station. back to you. >> thank you, derek. dozens of stranded passengers hope to fly to where they need to go.

delta alone canceled more than a dozen flights from reagan las night. angry passengers told us they didn't have any food or a place to sleep overnight. >> i had delays several times and we got on board finly, and as we got on board it got cancelled. >> right now the faa is not reporting delays at reagan national, dulles or bwi thurgood marshall. check your airline to make sure your flight is running ontime. be prepared to get your bags inspect before you ride metro. it will look in riders' bags at random before it enter the stations. it won't say when certains ll begin. this is not a response to a specific terror threat. simil programs are under way boston and new york. this afternoon, president obama will si the tax cut compromise ll into law. lawmakers burned the midnight oil to pass the bill. >> on this vote the yeas are 277, nays are 148.

the motion is adopted. >> the huse passed the bill before mnight, after several delays fro liberal critics. the bill extends the bush era tax cuts, reduces socia security payroll tax, extents unemployment benefits and allows families to pass up to $10 million to hei tax-free. anything more will be taxed 35%. lawmakers on both side of the aisle voiced their concern bere the vote. >> nobody on the floor likes this bill. and therefore, the judgment is, is it better than doing nothing? >> if we don't pass this legislation, there's about to be a $3.9 trillion tax increase on the american people. president obama brokered the deal with republicans. the senate passed the same version earlier this week. we have breaking news from the rskins. quarterback donovan mcnabb is benched for the game in dallas. backup rex grossman will start

the game. grossman played for redskins' ofnsive coach kyle shanahan in houston. this will be the send time this year mcnabb will be taken out of the game. grossman took over with two minutes left, and of course the redskins lost that game. time 11:11. founder of wikileaks is talking after being released from jail. what he hado say about new secret documents released on the web. plus, proof we are in the middle of one of the colde decembers on record. tom kierein tells us how cold the ice is this year. we're waiting to hear from you today. cal 202-686-nbc4 if you're able to help the organization d.a.s. how the group helps domestic how the[ female announcer ]c safeway talks hostess gifts.

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[ female announcer ] everything for holiday baking. just add love. safeway. ingredients f life. we continue our 12 days of giving today. we're introducing you to a local organizationhat needs volunteers anddonations. pat lawson muse introduces us today to a group called d.a.s.h. >> hi, barbara. the district alliance for sfe housing provides refuge for victims of domestic violence. volunteers are taking calls this morning in our phone bank. 202-686-nbc4. joining us is peg, the founder of d.a.s.h. d.a.s.h. runs a shelter here in

washington, but also a program of transitional as well as emergency housing for victims of domestic violence. tell us about them. >> that's right. we consider ourselves an innovator in seeking to ensure access to safe housing for victims of domestic violence all along the spectrum. so while we do provide housing and, in fact, recently opened our largest facility yet for emergency and transitional housing for victims which is 43 apartment units for wen and children escaping abuse, we also do a lot of housing counseling and working with other housing progrs to make sure that their housing is accessible to victims as well. >> victims are primarily women and children? >> exactly. we have single women. but women with their families and families of all different kind of configurationses. we really try to make sure that women from whatever situation they are cing from have a safe place to go. >> how many shelters are there in washington?

>> there's three different shelter programs that i believe have somewhere around 100 units available for safe confidential housing. and d.a.s.h.rovides 53 of those units. we really thought to expab the availability of housing for victims. >> you have found that domestic violence tendsto increase around the holidays, why is that? >> what we see happening a lot is that families try to hold it together in der to have nice holidays, they really want it to be a close, meaningful family time. so they try to keep conflict to a minimum. what happens is that puts a lot of stress on the families which ultimately then, you know, results in some sort of a conflic or outburst. so we typically get calls then following -- immediately following holiday for our services. >> you need volunteers this morning and donations. >> we need support in whatever way we can get it. when we are able to get

resources, you know, as little ors large as people can provid it really enables us to serve the families that come to us for housing. so you know, if we can get the in permanent housing or emergency housing, we look do that in whatever way possible. >> all right. peg of d.a.h., the volunteers are taking your calls this morning. if you can donate time or cash, call 202-686-nbc4 and help relieve domestic violence this holiday season. new today, australian police don't plan to charge wikileaks or its founder for releasing secret u.s. government information. police say julian assange and his website did not violate any laws this thatcountry. u.s. detectives are trying to determine if assange could be charged with espionage or other tims. assange is wanted in sweden on sexual assault charges. army private manning is suspected of leaking the

classified information. he's currently being held in a military jail. meanwhile, assange calls the sexual assault accusations against him baseless. authorities in sweden want to question him, after two women accused assange of rape, molestation and illegal coercion. on the "today" show, he said the accusations are an attempt to ruin his name. >> this has been a very successfulmear campaign so fa but i think its days are numbered, and people are starting to wonder, is what is claimed really true, and if it is true, where's the evidence? >> assange is currently on house arrest in london. the wikileaks founder posted the $316,000 bond last night. swedish prosecutors lost an appeal to keep him in prison. let's talk about our weather out there. we've been watching at ice on the potomac, snow on the ground. not a lot of melting yet, huh,

tom? >> beginning to ge near the freezing mark. we have been unusually cold a of this month of december. there is ice on the potomac. this ice has formed in the last 24 hours. it takes a whilefor the moving waters of the potomac river to freeze up. for moving water to freeze up, scenes along the potomac river. after the snow fell it accumulated on the ice. there is ice from bank to bank from areas from near georgetown down to the 14th street bridge. we've got this ice that is continuing to creep to south. and it's getting a little bit south of the 14th street bridge now, too. as the cold weather continues, ice may continue creeping south down the river. a live picture of the neighborhoods of northwest washington in the foreground. yesterday with the show we could barely make out gnat cathedral. now we've got the cathedral visible. above freezing at national

airport. quite dry. a light breeze coming in out of the north. look at the lows we had this morning. it was down to 5 degrees in martinsburg, west virginia, this morning. reagan national bottomed out at 23. upper teens in prince georges county. bottomed out in the single digits and low teens in montgomery county. near 20 in arlington county and teens in fairfax county this morning. a cold start but it's warmed up to around 30 degrees in the suburbs and rural areas. eastern shore, is it below freezing there. still subfreezing temperatures, western maryland. norfolk, at 32. overhe last 12 hours a weak disturbance moving out of the ohio valley and across pennsylvania, spreading snow, western maryland. that is beginning to break up. sunshine south of washington and south and east. and on the eastern shore. t cloud cover over us now should begin to break up. last week, no clouds but i visited belmont el men industry

school. it was sunny. i talked to the fourth graders. they wanted to know when they were going to get a snow day. they did today, prince georges countyschools are cosed today, due to yesterday's sn and aftermath. talked to the second graders there at the belmont elementary school, prince georges county and woodbridge. teacher elizabeth zuits inmighted me. a wonderful group of students. over the last 12 hours, an area of low pressure ving out of the mountains of colorado, now through the southern plains. will begin to tap a bit of a disturbance along the gulf coast. when that happens we'll likely have low pressure along the atlantic seaboard late saturday. we'll see the low pressure system creep up our way and by saturday midnight we could have some snow developing coming up from the south and toward washington, and then after midnigh until around noon time on sunday, we'll likely have that snow begin to taper off and end. but we could have perhaps an

inch toward of snow in washington, higher amounts around the bay and eastern shore. this low will head up toward new england. could be snow for them. all depends on the track of the orm. goes farther east, we won' get any snow. if it stays farther west, accumulating snow sunday. today,sunshine, highs mid-30s. tonight, partly cloudy to cloudy. low near 20 by dawn tomorrow. cloudy saturday into the mid-30s. a chanc of snow, looks like east of interstate 95 will be higher amounts sunday through midday. clearing out sunday and monday. tuesday a little sun back. light snow on wednesday. we'll have it remaining colder than erage. it does appear to the end of the montof december. i don't see any break in this pattern, and that is the way it looks now. >> thank you, tom. we keep watching to see what happens this weekend. thanks a lot. it is 11:22. ahead on news4 midday today,

frugal finds. why procrastinating can pay off. today on nbcwashington.com.

if you have plans to do online shopping, do to today.

1500 participating stores, including toys are us, old are part they plan to deliver your order by december 25th if you order today. of course there's a catch in some case out some stores require you make a minum purchase in order to get free shipping. to find a list, head to nbcwashington.com. today we continue our week-long sies to help those searching for the perfect holiday gift. we help you stay on budget. today, deborah, owner of a unique store, joins us with some of her picks. welcome. >> thank you so much. appreciate this opportunity. >> the store jus opened. >> yeah, we opened october 21st. >> you have great ideas for unique things that you've brought to show . tell us about some of your picks. >> ell, the idea of the store is a company that is almost 100 years old, it's goi through the third generation of the

family. it's pretty much the solution for the basic problem for the everyday people, and the solution is being done by the major architects of the world. we have several items. everything is under 100. we offer gift wrapping from the store that iscomplimentary. we offer messengerservice to everybody in the d.c. area. >> this is in georgetown? >> thiss in goeorgetown, located in katie's alley. >> i guess that's a big doing bowl? >> we know everybody has their gs. you can clean these. this is $80. this is to grab it, easy to move arod. you have a small dog, you can control also the food intake. so you can open it and, you know, they can eat from here and when you're out of home -- the cat, too. >> -- we have the same thing for the little catty. and these are like beautiful

items. >> very colorful. you say energy your store was designed by architect, right? >> yes. >> tell us about this bowl. very pretty. >> this is a autiful bowl. and it was designed by an architect in milan. i'm so bad because i cannot remember the name. it's a rose bowl. it's like the roses, they show the family. it's a fruit bowl. it comes in different sizes. this is a small size 80. it's a larger size, it's $100. comes in different colors. >> this one of a sample for an architect. this is phillip stark citrus juicer. >> you squeeze your juice in. >> more than 20 museums have a perm collection. you squeeze your range, lemon, lime. comes directly into your cup. it's a beautiful piece to stay outside the kitchen. $93. >> interesting things here. things that we wouldn't have seen or can't even guess what they're for. >> the salt and pepper for kids. you to teach them that they have

to know how to condiment their food. they can play with it. everything comes with a magnet. it's fun. >> how much i that? >> this $50. >> wow. beautiful and interesting things, color things. ere is the store located? >>3319 katie's alley, south between 33rd and 34 in georgetown. lots of beautiful things. we're so glad you could bring them with us. a cheese shredder. >> it's for the parmesan cheese shredder and the nutmeg. there are beautiful things. everything meant to be left outside the home to be een. >> deb ra thank you very much for coming. >> thank you for giving the opportunity. >> now 11:29. coming up in the next half hour, could we get more snow this weekend? tom kiernan back with the latest on the forecast. plus, why some virginia residents are praising vdot

after yesterday storm. part of your 12 daysf giving series. call if you're able to help the organization d.a.s.h. we' explain how the group helps domestic violence victims find safe hous

right now on news4 midday crews fixed water main break.

it happened in wheaton. traffic is moving along after crews repaired the 16-inch pipe. water made a very wet commute forsome. what do the temperures and water mean for drivers? tracee wilkins out and about talking to drivers in virginia and said was smooth sailing today. >> reporter: leer in annandale they got an inch of snow. the question was, what was it going to be like today? with all of the road crews out working overnight to help make sure these roads were straightened out, pretty much it was a simple commute. >> they prepared this road ahead of time before even the snow forecast. i applaud vdot. >> reporter: it's not something you hear every day but this morning, commuters were pleased how roads looked in northern virginia. seven hundred crewwere on the roads this morning tryinto beat the morning rush.

drivers we spoke with say, job well done. >> talking about black ice out on theside roads. in my area, it's not tha bad. it's really good. >> reporter: from beltway to the little river turnpike in annandale, roads were cleared but side streets were slushy. we also found snowy streets in some neighborhoods. spokesmen say that's due to cars parking on both sides of street, prohibiting plowing. even in those situations road crews still staed, part of vdot's work toriple efforts. spokesmen were happy how they handled the storm they warned for the possibility of slick spots. something drers were already looking out for. >> it'slushy but you need to watch your speed and be careful and maintain some sort of distance between the drivers in front of you, you'll be fine. >> reporter: after yesterday's rush hour, they scaled back crews to about 700 pieces of snow removal equipment and they're saying they're going to

mainin that throughout the morning and until after the morning rush and then scale back even more because they're expecting temperatures to go up. tracee wilkins, news4. >> we're going to talk about the weather right now, what we can expect for the restf the day for the afternoon commute. any more snow? >> no. more melting of the snow, thankfully. right now it's on the ground. live picture from sky watcher camera. american university and off in the distance is virginia and tyson's corn where there's sunshine breakingout. temperatures are not getting near the freezing mark. continue to climb in the mid to upper 30s. we have had a weak disturbance passing to the nth, gave us cloud cover. but beginning to move off to the east. we're getting cloud cover breaking up. we'll have sunshine this afternoon. as we get into tomorrow, we'll have mostl cloudy sky, but colder than average, highs mid-30s. after midnight saturday through midday sunday, a chance for

accumulating snow across virginia, the district, maryland, mainly areas east of interstate 95. higher amounts, 2 to 4. around washington, two inches or less on sunday. maybe through the morning midday, clearing out in the aftnoon. monday we'll have it drying out as we as tuesday. midweek, another weak disturbance with light snow wednesday. that's the way it looks now. back with another upate in a few minutes. >> thank you. we're going to check on the midday traffic. steve, how's it looking. >> a couple of problems. on westbound 66, we'll start with at map, an accident, that was moved over to the side of the road but slow in both directions to see what was going on. th's 66 near nutley street. back to the beltway, prince georges county to the left, traffic heading toward us is the outer loop ar pennsylvania avenue. the problem was the tractor-trailer being retrieved from the ditch has been removed. everything is open, but lefter delays back to route 50, as a

development. spring field, starting to get heavier, southbound 95 on friday afternoon t not too bad past newington, where there is no road work today. back to you. the florida security guard who protected the florida schoo board members from a man trying to kill them is being called a hero this morning. now, he's talking about how it all went down. mike jones says he was on the fourth floor of the building when he received a phone call that clark duke was in the boardrm with a gun. jones re-enacted the scene with reporters. he knew duke was serious and tried to lure him outside the boardroom. when that didn't work, he went in and faced him head on. >> when he fired the first shot at the superintendent, i thought heas dead. i opened the doort and he and i went at it. i saw him laying there, and i thought he was already dead and i saw him pull the gun up to his head. when the superintendent came from behind that counter, it's like seeing your firstborn

child, i was like, my god, he's alive, and i started crying. >> jones, a retired police officer, insists that he is not a hero. but he was simply doing what he was taught to do as a policeman. bruce boudreau might not want toisit his mother soon, he might get his mouth washed out with soap. >> [ bleep ] not going right. it's not [ bleep ] working the last ten days. [ bleep ] getyour heads oust your [ bleep ] and [ bleep ] make it work. >> you just have to imagine what the beeps were covering up. that salty speec is part of hbo's 24/7 coverage of the capitals before the winter classic. coach has heard criticism for his potty mouth fromis mother. mama boudreaux is not happy with her son's not safe for work language, but coach says he's not changinghis language. and as long as the team is struggle like it has been, expect the bleeps to keep coming,he says. mother nature's apparently wreaking havoc with the

redskins' preparation for the matchup with the cowboys this weekend. team had to practice at an off-site indoor facility yesterday because snoeof the snowstormer. they're hoping the game goes well against the cowboys at fedex field. burgundy and gold beat the rivals in a thrilling fashion, you may remember, but there will be a difference in this game, as we reported erlier in the newscast. quarterck donovan mcnabb is benched in favor of rex grossman. lindsay czarniak on the phone to talk about the benching. does surprise you? donovan mcnabb injured? >> reporter: he's not injured. that's not an explanation that we've heard. he had said this week in fact that he was healthy, that he is healthy. it's surprising because you would think if you have confidence in your quarterback, that you're going to proceed with him. on the other hand what i peck the redskins to say when we hear from mike shanahan this afternoon they felt they wanted to take a lok at rex and see

what he had and get a good analysis of what talent he has in the future, if they ever go to him. i believe this says youon't have confidence in mcnabb. i don't expect that we will see him as a quarterback of the team next year. i can be completely wrong, but that's my gut feeling because, i think when you make a move like this, there's a lot more damage that can be done than good. >> lindsay, there have been rumors this was going to happen. how are the other players reacting to this, do you know? >> i haven't had a chance to talk to them yet. we're going to do that in a little bit when we get into the lock room. but what i've heard from certain people in the organization is that it's divided. there are players that certainly have donovan's back, it's n question, and they look at this as something that they don't understand and they think it's unsteady and shows a lack of confidence. there may be some that feel that, okay, it's good, give rex an opportunity. if we know our playoff hopes are dashed anyway. i would suspect that most of them, they believe in donovan. when you get a quarterback that

comes in with leadership skills that he showed early on that the players talked about, bought into, when you bench him, they take it rsonally, too, you know? i think that it's also got to be a factor, too, that obviously this is a huge step in admitting that your season's totally done and you're taking a look at pieces for next year. >> well, we will expect to hear more from you this afternoon after you get a chance to talk to some of thepeople out there, redskins park. thanks so much, lindsay, for being with us this morning. >> you got it, barbara. we go to pat for more on the 12 days of giving. >> we are introducing you to d.a.s.h., strict alliance for safe housing. it ensures access to safe refuge for victims of domestic vionce. volunteers are taking your calls in our phone bankat 202-686-nbc4. 202-686-nbc4. joining me, tiffany louis, a domestic violence survivor,

she's a mother of two who first went to d.a.s.h.'s emergency shelter. tell us what hapned. >> actually what happened, i became a survivor of domestic violence earlier this year. my abuser abused pc i came in with one outfit. me and my children ran with everything we had. i came in with self-esteem isues. i came in wh no goals. i came in with no short-term goals. when i cme to d.a.s.h., it was originally a60-day program who allowed my stay and gave me more than one extension to stay, to develop myself, rebuild my self-esteem. now today i have short term goals, midterm goals, long-term goals. want view to know there is a way t. it is not easy. took seven times for me to escape. when i did escape, it was best day of my life. it was escape to freedom, escape for a betterpart to me and my children's future. i know women who have children, abused of domestic violence, it not just physically, it's

emotionally. i went through emotional abuse. i'm scarred in the inside of my heart for being emotiolly abused for five years. any woman who doesn't recognize what domestic violence is, there's so many resources to call, and d.a.s.h. was the first person who answered their phone to accept me. i called many other programs. every program is great, but no program would leave me on hold d.a.s.h. offered so much counseling, addiction counsel, self-esteem classes. you don't have to go outside of d.a.s.h. doors to get help. they offer so much inside. it's a two-year program. >> you're in the transitional housing now? >> yes. >> and d.a.s.h. -- transitional program's my own style apartment. me and my children all have beds, we don't have to share beds. i can cook a hot meal on my own stoeshg stove i have my own key. they don't crowd you with other women. >> you're on your way up and out? >> yes. i'm better than i was a year

ago. >> okay. tiffany lewis,hank you so much for eaking to clearly about what it's done for you. the organization is in need of volunteers and they also need donations, right? >> yes. not just speaking on myself and my children. other women, we are in need of christmas toys, coats, toiletry for our home, try regroup ourselves into the new program. we're in need of what anyone can help us, we're not selfish, whre no one can -- just to say congratulations on being a survive. >> congratulations to you on being a survivor. >> thank you. >> tiffany lewis. she's gone to d.a.s.h they've helped her. you can help them. 202-686-nbc4. 11:44 is the time. ahead on news4 midday, investigato investigators hoping for more gains to end the trading week. we're going to attempt to define physical beauty today. for example what makes selma

hayek one of most butiful women in the world? we've got answers.

it could be a quiet day on wall street, after stocks hit two-year highs. let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning. >> reporter: hi, good morning to you, barbara. stocks are quiet today. it's sort of not did i guess i should say it's not unusual in the month of december with investors and traders gearing up for holidays. we're not seeing a lot of

reaction, at least in the stock market, the house passing president obama's tax cut deal. it happened just after midnight so the house of representatives literally burning the midnight oil. stocks advanced yesterday on the positive news of unemployment and manufacturing. today is date to score free shipping for all of your holiday gifts. it's the third annual national freeshipping day. 1500 retailers, big and small, offer free shipping for all orders placed today with delivery by christmas eve. freeshipping.org. your last day to get packages out to fedex ground to be delivered in time for ristmas. you have no excuses anymore. get th in the mail. back to you, barbara. >> have a great weekend. see you monday. cosmetic surgeons hear this all the time i want a nose like that or cheekbones like this. but it really makes what does -- what does make aeautiful face? how hard is it for them to deliver? a series of reports called

"she's got the look." i guess he's got the look, too. welcome. >> how are you? >> of course, everybody, many people, consider selma hayek as one of the most beautiful women in the world. why? what makes her so beautiful? >> well,e're going to start a series of she's the got the look. there are icons in our society that define beauty and atactivess. selma hayek is one. angelina jolie's lips. >> let's take her face. >> all right. >> something in particular about her? >> back to that previous slide. leonardo ddainci for harmony of the face. that picture was showing how the upper third of her face is equal to the middle third whichis equal to the lower third. whepeople come in for facial analysis, if one portion of the face is weak, we consider tightening neck ordding a chin implant. if the nose is too strong, we

soften it. you can do this with nonsurgical and surgical ways. this is the way we analyze based on the tools we learn from the great masters. >> can somebody say, i want to look like selma hayek and you actually do that in. >> no. if they come in and say i want to look like selma hayek, thank you very much ian't help yo people come in, they want ashlee simpson's new nose or angelina's lips. they have sort of icons that they identify with. the derriere of -- i'm blanking on her name. >> maybe that's good. anyway, but you can differ with some of those things. i'm thinking of the aoctomom. >> jennifer lopez's derriere, she's redefined that anatomy. >> with selma hayek, is her nose considered a perfect nose? we have her there.

>> here's -- we're showing how she's aged from young selma to a -- she's 45, she's had children, she -- but again, she's 120 pounds, she takes care of herself. her neck remains tight. yes, nose diminutive. brows are high. maybe she's doing botox, maybe not. for 45 she can still play leading roles. >> we're going to finish the series -- we're gointo continue with the series how to t the look. >> next time, angelina jolie. >> we'll figure out what it that is makes h perfect. >> why people want to have what she has. >> doctor, thank you. great to see you. time right now 11:51. holiday treats that could pack on the pounds quickly. plus, tom kiernan back with another check on the forecast. [ male announcer ] are you watching cable?

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no wonder people gain weht during the holidays from parties an treats sitting around the office and at home, too. what about the morning cupof brew? try one of the holiday blends at your favorite coffee shop? tommy mcfly is here and he tried a few. i read this in the "new york post" and i sit my coffee drink at my paper because -- >> you didn't know how much sugar. >> top three offenders are ridiculous. starbucks white pepper mint mocha, with whole milk, imagine, guess now many?

>> 250. >> 700 calories. >> tt's whipped cream on top? >> that's the whole nine yards. >> 700. >> 17 candy canes equal that. you can suck on candy canes the entire day to make up for one of the drinks. mcdonald's on the offender list. fr frappe caramel, 680 calories. >> but save a calorie or two than the other one. and is it good? it's good caramel, chocolate taste? >> awesome. in research for the segment, i of course tri all of them and ran for three days. but they're delicious and fantastic. is it worth it, not worth i >> that has the same amount of calorie as 31 original caramel chocolate candies? >> you can have candy all day long or that one drink. >> starbucks has another one. >> they got the bronze.

eggnog latte. 630 calories, like two slices of pumpkin pie. >> panera bread's pepper mint hot chocolate. >> 14.25 ounces and that's going to cost you 610 calories. >> wow. boy, eating up your entire day's worth of calories. duncan dough not, gingerbread latte. >> the sa thing. the best of the worst list, 440 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated. >> if youtick to your diet drink that one, that has the least of all of them. was that a good one? >> it was so good. it's delicious. youun around, try the drinks. that's the holiday season, everyone's at christmas parties. they say eat small meals all day. >> i'm going to watch you. i'm going to weigh you. >> i'm going to run home now. >> thank you. a look at the stories wre

following this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us. >> those drinks make you feel really guilty. >> coming up, kate middleton has lunch with the queen, we're going to look at the dress she's will wear on her royal wedding day. at 5:00, a rite of passage for childhood, writing letters to sant but this year, this christmas, it's what kids are asking for that's striking achord with postal workers. coming up at news4 at 4:00 this afternoon. >> time for a final check on the forecast. tom? >> sunshine this in afternoon. we will continue to have temperatures above freezing again tomorrow. a slight chance of accumulating snow. we will have that happening in the morning through midday. st tuned. >> all right. thank yo very much. that's news4 midday. thank you for joining us. we invite you to tune in for

more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and at 11:00. news throughout the weekend. we're watching for that storm that we could be getting on suny that tom was telling us about. we don't know how much snow we might get, but at least a dusting it sound like. stick with us throughout the weekend to follow that. i'l be back monday at 11:00 with news4 midday. hope you're planning to join us. have a terrific day. a great weekend. we'll see you mday. [ female announcer ] safeway talks gift ideas.

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