>> i made a decision i was going to start rex grossman. >> thanks for start urge weekend with us and welcome to "news4 today". i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm kimberly suiters. it is saturday, december 18, 2010. the news is just ahead. first we want to check in with meteorologist chk bell who joins us in the studio right now. chuck, it's a little chilly yould but it's not in the teens,

right? >> no, it's not in the teens. it's still pretty cold by december stand no howling wind. just plain cold. we'll be able to deal with this pretty effectively. not much in the way of sunshine. tperatures to get your saturday morning under way, mostly in the 20s this morning as you look live over washington, sky that's becoming increasingly cloudy first thing this morning. downtown temperature 25 degrees. i stand corrected. there are some teens on the map this morning. they are just not here in town. 25 in washington. 18 now in prince george's county. necessary numbers have body out in the last hour or o. nobody below20 degrees t hours ago. 16 in culpeper. 10 in manassas. you folksin prince william and fauquier counties, very chilly start. there's a couple of snowflakes. there's achance to see some

snow flurries. nothing in the way of accumulation. people get nervous when they see snowflakes on the radar. not a big deal but enough to whitened the ground primarily south of washington. >> snow mcgeddon. i was able to drive my audi all over the place. >> whenit starts like that it makes that glaze. until you have a chance to treat the road or plow it or scrape it. >> made a big difference. thank you, chuck. ine our headlines now a potentially huge day today in the senate. it plans to vote on whether to repeal don't-ask, don't-tell and it appears that there are enough stroets make it happen. republicans scott brown of massachusetts, lisa murkowski of alaska and olympia snowe of maine support the bill. now that it's been separated the

policy thatans homosexuals from serving openly in the military could soon be repealed. after much debate the extension of bush era tax cuts are official. president obama signed that bill into law which extends the cuts for another two years. democrats and republicans sparred over many different aspec of the bill but finally came together before the cuts expired at the end the year. the bill extends the tax cuts for every tax bracket. it also reduces the social security payroll tax which helps businesses. unemployment benefits were also extended and th estate tax modified so families can pass up to $10 million to their heirs tax-free. president obama says this law will help a recovering economy. >> this is real money that's going to make a real difference in people's lives. rig now what all of us care about is growing the american economy and creating jobs for e american people.

>> although there's bean l of noise about the cost the tax breaks will cost $858 billion over two years. house speaker nancy pelosi was not present at the bill signing. i think we can agree there's never a dull moment when it comes to the redskins and this latest bombshell has topped all of them. coch mike shanahan has decided to bench donovan mcnabb for the rest of theseason. the six time pro bowl quarterback will now ride the bench as third string bend rex grossman. because the skins have been eliminated from the playoffs he wants to evaluate the whole team including grossman. he also said he couldn't guarantee that mcnabb would be in washington next season and that revelation has a lot of people inside the organization, outse the organization, even in the stands in a complete state of shock right now. the man was supposed to be the beginning of a resurgence for

the redskins. he's seemingly out the door now. the fans absolutely are scratching their heads now. hn trippen has more. >> it's the redskins. you never know what will happen. >> reporter: friday mike shanahan dropped another bomb on the fans. quarterback donovan mcnabb i now benched for the rest of the season in favor of the back up, rex grossman. >> it's been bad for a while. you can't say shanahan did it or mcnabb. it's crap for a while. >> i'm mad myself because i like mcabb and when they took him out the last time it blew me and blew our fans and i think takin him out for the rest seasons even worse because he's our qw. >> reporter: to give you and idea how popular he is, once his jersey hit the shelves it was one of the hottest items in the store. as for his replacement, portis,

cooley, haynesworth,oss. can't find a rex grossmanersey anywhere. how did things get to this point. >> without any further ado our quarterback donovan mcnabb. >> reporter: shanahan proudly introduced mcnabb to the faithful. things were loo good. >> i was thinking we were going to get a super bowl. >> reporter: the playoffs oust reach there are only three games left in the season. >> you're going to wat the rest of the games? >> yes. because i'm die-hard. always bean redskin fan. but, you know, i got to go down with the team. >> porter: redskin fans certainly are dedicated. i talked to the manager here the sports authority behind me he said there's no plan to order any rex grossman jerseys. for those mcnabb jersey, if

mcnabb gets cut that's when these jerseys will go on sale. in potomac yards, john trippen, "news4 today". >> we'll have much more on donovan mcnabb's benching later this hour. in other news alexandria police have not said if a driver will face charges after hitting and killing a woman. the accident happened just before 6:00 last night outside the king street metro station. poli say the woman was running across the bus stop when a shuttle, a hotel shuttle van hit her. we're told the driver stayed on the scene and was questioned by authorities. other metro customers say that parking lot at the king street station can be difficult to cross at times. >> the buses do do a good job here. but once you get past here, whe the trolley comes you're on your n. >> police say the victim was a 25-year-old woman from maryland but they have not released her name. detectives near frederick, maryland are trying to figure

out how a man got trapped in a rock crusher and died. chopper 4 was over the scene at laurel sand and gravel. investigators say around 8:00 last night the worker was using the crushing machine and somehow got stuck. metro is stepping up security at all of its bus stops and train stations. >> metro transit police are going to randomly select riders and then search their bags. news 4 derrick ward got reaction from riders. >> reporr: bags on any given dayust about everybody has one of one kind or another and now just about anybody who rides metro is subject to having their bags checked for explosives. >> this is an additional security measure we're taking to ensure the safety of our passengers and employees. >> reporter: a suspicious package report briefly closed entrance to the l'enfant plaza.

the search is initially what they call non-intrusive, a chemical swabbing that would lead to a more thorough search opening a bag if explosives are detected. some riders say they are ok with that. >> it's just going to help to make things secure and make it better for the public. >> reporter: those selected for a searchould say no but they would not be able to ride with the bag in question. a couple of riders that we talked to say they would not allow it. >> i have no ideabout me letting anybody looking in my bag without a search warrant and going through the proper channels or whatever. no. i don't think iould like that at all. >> reporter: metro's police chief says it should be quick. >> there wl be a slight inconvenience. we're expecting anywhere from maybe 30 seconds to a minute. >> reporter: not good enough for one rider. >> what's the probable cause to do the arch?

jusbecause there might be a possibility of something in my bag. >> reporter: like it or not this new level of scrutiny is coming. >> it's possible it could pop up at any metro facility, any bus stop throughout national capital region. >> reporter: the way metro plans to get around any accusations of profiling is to do a count of passengers past a certain pnt. there will be a number predetermined for scrutiny. if your number comes up you get searched. it works it boston and new york and they think it will work here. derrick ward, news 4. >> metro will be working with the transportation security administration otherwise known as the tsa. billions of dollars will soon be on the way to victims of bernie madoff. wait until you hear wre the money is coming from. one woman's quest

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the auction for that purse, a woman used to try to disarm the florida school board gunman has been tak off e-bay. there it is. i didn't pay attention to the purse. well, it was on e-bay. now it's off. bids on the faux crocodile purse reached more than $1,000 but it was removed because it didn't meet the requirements. she planned to donate the proceeds to the secured guard who wounded the gunman before he killed himself. those who lost millions in bernie madoff's ponzi scheme are celebrating a huge win. the estate a florida philanthropist wil payback $7.2 billion to victims of the scheme. the money given back represents the money he made off of madoff's scheme over 35 years of investing. federal investigators say th is a huge win for those who lost

so much. >> this settlement provides a significant measure of hope for many victims of bernie madoff's horrific crimes with close to $10 billion now recovered we have together collected close to 50% of the principal that victi lost to madoff's ponzi scheme. he died in 2009. his widow said in a statement her husband was not involved in madoff's scheme but giving the money back was the right thing to do. not everybody is so happy about happy meals, in fact one woman has filed a class action lawsuit against mcdonald's because she says it uses toys to get to eat unhealthy food. >> reporter: if happy meals had a home outside of their cdboard boxhis household in cincinnati might be it. leslie started eating happy meals with her son 25 years ago. back then he was enticed by the

toys. she was enticed by the cheap meals. ever since their home is practically sprouted ampbltss. >> to have something that they can play with that doesn't cost very much money is a good thing. >reporter: she sees toys as collectibles r future grand kids others see as a plot to entice kids to eat poorly. >> i like my children to make decisions about food aside from a toy that they would like to have. >> reporter: renee is leading a class action lawsuit against mcdonald's claiming the hamburger chain features toys to bait children which is deceptive and unfair. >> the power of the red box. >> reporter: why? because she claims that kids aren't old enough to understand that ads for a to doesn't mean good nutrition. >> think then respond to those advertisements by asking me to take them to mcdonald's. >> reporter: asking, begging, even crying. whatever the tactic that little person in your car set uses to

get the happy meal is persuasive. this lawsuit has caused a lot of people to ask one basic question. >> you're going the parent or going to let the kids run you? >> reporter: the debate over childhood obesity is no small argument but is happy mal toys the problem? >> i think it's the most absurd lawsuit i've seen in my career. >> reporter: mcdonald's says it's proud of its happy meal. it intends to via grously defend our brand, reputation and food. critics say the toys are the carrot, the bad diet is the stick. for people like leslie, sometimes the toy is just a toy and parents sometimes a no has to be a no. >> this holiday season some children will get hand picked toys chosen by first lady michelle obama. she volunteered at the toys for tots distribution center yesterd at boeing a force base in southeast.

the first lady praised other volunteers and donors who helped make this program a success. the marine corp reservist and his wife found toys for tots 60 years ago out in california and it has spread out across the country. every year millions of kids send letters to santa letting him know what they would like for christmas. this year it's different. >> i know my mom can't buy me stuff this christmas. we lost our houe. then our apartment. my mom g sick then she got laid off from her job. we need help. >> elve at the brentwood post office in northeast have been reading letters as part of operation santa and this year the tone is much more needy than greedy. botharents and kids are writingto saint nick asking for shoes, clothes and even food. now the post office isasking people to adopt 500 families. >> i would love for 200 people

to come in and sponsor 200 more families chiren. >> he said all children deserve a gift at christmas. let the kids know that they are being thought of. that was the motivation for me to come out here today. >> there is still plenty ever time to adopt a family. letters can be picked up at the brentwood post office or at the national capital post office on massachusetts avenue on monday or tuesday next week. there's also more information on our website that's nbcwashington.com. we picked up those letters before at the national post office and one year my husband didn't read them and we got them home and t kids wanted bikes so we got them bikes. wasn't going to let them dow it was good to give. if you' a procrastinator one

store is meeting your needs. >> toys " us in times square will be open 24 hours a day until christmas eve. the store will have been open for 184 continuous hours of shopping. other stores across the country will be open 24 hours a day starting this tuesday beginning at 6:00 a.m.. it's the first time a t company has been openedll day leading up to christmas. 6:20 right now. have you finished your christmas shopping? >> i haven'tstarted. i don't like shopping. >> it's one thing not to be done. it's one thing to not even started. i love shopping. >> now that we got that straightened o. >> there's a chance for snowflakes beforeur weekend is true. complete check of the forecast is coming right up. [ female announcer ] safeway talks gift ideas.

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9:23 right now. 29 degrees. >> warm here. >> under the toasty light here in the studio. not too ba little bit of a snow chance. compared to a year ago -- this is the year anniversary of the big blizzard, the first, the 18th of december we had our first inch and a half and 19th

saturday last year we got another 15 inches of snow. that was a good one, everybody. unfortunately this one is not going to be quite the prolific snow producer we had a year ago. a few snowflakes before christmas keeps people in the festive spirits. skies are going mostly cloudy and a few breaks of clear skies earlier in the evening, but my drive into work this morning about quarter to 4:00 i could see the clouds sneaking in from the west and we might t a little peek or two at the sunshine but a cloudy day for sure. 25 degrees now at national airport. can you believe it now here we are on the 18th of the month, only two days this month have been warmer than average and for the month now we're 7.1 degrees below average. last december en with all the snow we were only 1.5 degrees colder than average. it's been way colder this december than last even though haven't had as much snow. ten now in manassas and

warrenton. 18 in quantico, virginia. degrees down in southern maryland. here's a look at the radar. there are some light snowflakes falling out here into the southern parts of the shenandoah valley down towards harlottesville. steadier light snow in far west virginia. this is grazing in our direction. can't rule out a snowflake or two today. noccumulation but enough especially south of i-66 to whitened the ground from time to time. real cold air is still bck up to our north and west and unfortunatelyor us that colder air will be sticking around. as far as advisories go the only winter weather advisories that are out are down across north central portions of north carolina. so everybody up and down the eastern seaboard agree this weather system is not much of a snow producer. snowflakes across nashville to memphis. main area of low pressure is going stay far enough off the coast. as it comes up it may throw enough moisture back to southern maryland and eastern shore where

we could get light snow late toight. by 6:30 this evening the leading edge of that snow shower activity south side of virginia. by 6:00 tomorrow morning, again, grazing southern maryland in the lower parts of the eastern shore. that's going to be the best chance for seeing anything in the way of snow and more than to just whitened the groun tomorrow afternoon we might get sunshine back in. chilly air moves back in. for today cloudy and cold. light snow possible. mainly southf town. south of i-66. cloud in the morning giving way to sunshine. still well colder than average, tomorrow's highs only in the mid-30s. average high this time the year is 46 degrees. we haven't been close to that in weeks. 30% chance late tonight early tomorrow for snowflakes. another chance coming up during the day on tuesday. that one also not looking like a big snow producer. could be enough. alberta clipper similar to thursday. tuesday, tuesday night that's what we're looking at. maybe an inch.

>> w had more than an inch in northern virginia. >> some folks did. >> didn't have morethan an inch. >> perfect snow. there's much more ahead on "news4 today". up next new delopments in the investigation into controversial robo calls in maryland. we'll tell you whose home investigators just raided. out of jail but not out of trouble the legal battle still ahead for wikileaks founder julian assange. oh, see. a throne for the tv... room for movies... your workout gear...

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bush era tax cuts are now the obama tax plan. how will you be impacted? good morning welcome to "news4 today". i'm kimberly suiters. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. it's saturday, december 18, 2010. before we get to our news headlines we'll talk about the forecast, tke a look outside. >> i think we could. >> let's take a look inside. >> cold weather sticking around for, unfortunately, most of this weekend and really as i look forward down into next week as well, colder than average. all the way down the line until we get to at least christmas and next saturday, of course a week from today is christmas day. may have to worry about a little

bit of precipitation on christmas. we'll foll that very closely. our oddsf a white christmas might be sneaking up a little bit. outside right now, those no need to worry about the weather. clearing skies. an opportunity for a few passing snowflakes. doesn't look like a big deal. it's chilly this morning. 18 degrees in brandywine. 23 in annapolis and shady side. 23 degrees in st. mary's county. warmest ire is up across northern maryland ithe panhandle of west virginia. charles town and martinsburg in the upper 20s. the reason why it's warmer in northern maryland than southern maryland the clouds moed in earlier and as a result tempetures didn't fall quite as much. snowflakes across central virginia. they are very light, indeed. t there will be conversational snowflakes at the most. that's all we need to worry about. staying on the cold side today and staying plenty chilly tomorrow. best chance of light snow today early tomorrow. not looking for anything in the way of maj accumulations.

for a leader of the redskin revival, donovan mcnabb has been benched for the rest of the sson. the six time pro bowl quarterback will now ride the bench behind rex grossman and john beck. skin's head coach mike shanahan sa because the skins have been eliminated from the playoffs he wants to evaluate the entire team. he also said company not guarantee that mcnabb would be in washington next season and fans are not happy about that. >> it's been bad for a while. you can't say shanahan did it. or just say mcnabb did it. it's crap for a while. . >> i'm mad myself because i like mcnabb, and when they took him out that last time, it blew me. and it blew our fans. and i think taking him out for the rest of e season is even worse. >> the decision seemingly signals the end of a very short

mcnabb era in washington. grossman will get his first chance to helm the offense on sunday at 1:00 against the cowboys. this morning we're working to learn the name of a woman hit and killed in alexandria. she was crossing a bus parking lot outside of the king street metro station around 6:00 last night. police say the woman was runnin across a lot when a hotel shuttle van hit her. driver stayed on the scene and wasquestioned byauthorities. so far police say the viim was 25 years old and from maryland. investigators have not said if the driver will face charges. the clubhere a man died after an altercation with employees has now reopened. dc9 oned its doors again after being closed for five months. five employees were originally charged in the death of the man but later dropped. the community has been vocal what they feel is injustice in this case. two police cars were parked outside of the club all night to

make sure there was no trouble. dc9 must perform mandatory background checks on all of its employees. a judge has declared christopher ike competent to stand trial. he's charged with killing eight people back in january. in june he was sent to a state mental hospal after he was deemed too mentally ill to assist in his own defense. the judge acceptedhe hospital's finding he's now competent to stand trial. he was arrested after an overnight standoff with police. hislleged victims include his sister,brother-in-law, 15-year-old niece and several neighbors. bush era tax cuts will continue for another two years after present barack obama signed them into law. cuts are for every tax bracket and also include a reduction in payroll taxes. unemployment benefits will be extended too. the estate tax was modified. famils can give up to $10

million to their heirs tax-free. rate changes after that. but it doesn't come without a cost. the tax cuts will add more than $858 bill thrown the defit over the next two years. let's tke a live look now at the u.s. capitol building all lit up. congress will vote on two major issues before recessing for chrtmas. the senate will vote on repealing the controversial don't-ask, don't-tell policy which forbids gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. he senate will also look to pass the dream act which could provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants w were brought into the state as children. investigators in maryland raided the home of a political consultant over a robocall controversy. maryland's attorney general has reportedly filed a civil lawsuit against julius henson happen he was on the payro of bob ehrlich's examine when robo calls were sent out on election

day. i want encouraged them to stay home. henson has admitted responsibility. >> d.c. mayor-elect vincent gray want to keep some key leaders in heir position as he transitions next month. yesterday he renominated directors of public works, department much motor vehicles and d.c. development. gray has yet to ne a school chancellor. he said he would like to finish making all appointments by christmas. vincent gray takes the mayoral office on january 2nd. a soldier fr our area died this week. sean cutsforth was killed. he graduated from brentville high school in manassas. his family said he was a talented athlete who played baseball in college and virginia beach. his wife is expecting their first child in april. specialist cutsforth was 22 years old. wikileaks founder julian

assange is relang at april friend's mansionn the uk while swedish authorities want to extradite him on allegations of sex crimes. >> assange spoke to reporters and claims that the swedish government has a vendetta against him and this is nothing more than a smear campaign. we have more now from london. >> reporter: waking up on the ground of an english country estate instead of britain's largest prison, julian assange can enjo the fresh air but he has a long way to go before he can secure his freedom. he is out of prison but still has to fight his extradition to sweden where he's wanted in connection of allegations of sexual assault and rape. accusations he strongly denies sayinghe swedish authorities are weighing a vendetta against him. >> this has bean very successful smear campaign so far but i think the days are numbered and people are starting to wonder is

what is claimed really tr and if it is true where is the evidence? >> reporter: the australian freedom of information campaigner is subject a number of conditions under his bail. he hasto abide by a curfew. he has to wear an electronic tag and the report a local police stati daily. assange does, however, still have access to the internet and made it pretty clear earlier today that his wikileaks would continue to release more of those 250,000 be cables over the coming months. it is 6:38 right now. up next, mayhem at the mall. we'll tell you why holiday shopping could be particularly ctic this weekend. one of history's great mysteries may finally be solved. why scientists

ready or not there's only one week left until christmas and with just one full weekend left you can bet malls and shopping centers will be packed with people today. we have more on the push to get you to spend money. >> reporter: a big rush retailers are braced for last minute christmas shoppers. it's because of what happened last weekend. major winter storm kept most of the country in the deep freeze. shoppers away from shopping and now in a rush. >> i'm going out on my lunch breaks. i'm running around after work. >> if you're last minute, hope something is still there. get a gift certificate which is what i'm doing today. >> reporter: ev before this weekend the national retail feration raised projections for holiday sales to grow 3.3% over last year. >> consumers lk like they are willing to splurge. >> reporter: that means splurging on discretionary items too like jewelry. >> last year was rough.

people were tight on money. budget was low. but this year it seems like people are doing pretty good. >> reporter: the push will continue right up to christmas next wekend. starting tuesday morning at 6:00 toys "r" us stores will stay open for 88 straight hours until 10:00 p.m. christmas eve. >> w know a lot of our customers have procrastinated. >> reporter: it's procrastinatation retailers can live with because one out of three shoppers is said to be only halfway through their christmas shopping. >> the mystery of amelia earrt's disappearance might soon be solved. three bone chips were recovered on an island in the south pacific back in may and june and now they are being sent to the university of oklahoma for dna testing. earhart went missing in 1937 during her attempt to circle the globe. her plane disappeared somewhere over the south cific.

researchers say while these signs are promising the results of the dna test could take several months. >> what a kind it could be. >> i was as if natd by earhart as a child. >> we'll keep an eye on that. >> "the today show" is next here on nbc 4. >> amy robach joins us li now from new york. good morning, amy. >> good morning. coming up this morning on "the today show" a senate showdown over don't-ask, don't-tell. lawmakers are in sessiontoday and can vote on ending the policy of gays serving in the militar we'll have a live report from the white house. lso wh are these women? dozens of photographs belonging to a suspected grim sleeper cervical killer have been made public and authorities need your help to identify them. then the diana effct from the engagement ring to living in kensington palace. the influence she has on the future queen. and a popular music star that is wowing stars across the world.

ho is he? we'll introduce you. those stories and more coming up in just a few minutes right here on "the today show". now back to you. >> he makes that instrument look like it's alive. on fire. >> thank you, amy. i guess i could say that was a violin. itidn't matter. didn't seem to matter what was in his hands. >> 15 now before the top of the hour. chuck bell is here with us looki at some cold, cold, cold numbers. >> i don't know. i ran out of fingers after the first sen. plenty of cold weather around for today and for tomorrow and probably for the week ahead. all theetails s [ female announcer ] safeway talks the main course. mmm. you smell that? yea wait. what is that?

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i love eggnog, i love gingerbread, i love pumpkin pie. i love everything but those blinking lights. oh yeah, right in my eye. [ fale announcer ] if it tastes like the holidays, we've got it. safeway. ingredients for life. 6:48. 31 degrees outside. it's cold, cold, cold, cold out there. >> . that's here at the station. one of the warmer spots on our locales this morning. in the mid-20s down at national airport we're clearly one of the warm spots. ifou feel you need a little saturday morning warmth come up to the parking lot, enjoy the 31

degree temperatures we have in upper northwest. mostly cloudy sky. the weekend looks like it will be me clouds than sunshine with a risk of some passing snow showers. doesn't look like we need to worry too much about accumulations, might be enough to whitened the ground from time to time, especially down to 66 to southern maryland. at national airport the current temperature stands at 25 degrees. so it's cold outside. dew points are in thor teens and low 20s. just a few clouds out there for now. clouds are on their way in. here's a little piece of good news. don't have t worry much about a wind chill. the wi have gone calm and light winds all day today. even though it's plenty cold out there at least there's not a howling wind. it'sow up to 12 in manassas. 18 culpeper. 19 fredericksburg. 15 la plata. 20 in southern maryland. upper 20s across parts of northern maryland. here's a look at radar. even most of this is not reaching the ground there's a few snow showers and snow flurries reported across parts

of southern virginia and southwestern virginia. this is all moving in our rection so basicallyalong and to the south of 66 might see the chance of a passing snow shower or snow flurry but that's about it. real cold stuff up across the great lakes. advisories, only winter advisory out acss north central north carolina. reinforces my thinking that there's not much of a threat for accumulating snow today. area low pressure off the georgia coast for now headed up the eastern seaboard. the track is just enough now off the coastline where we don't have much of a threat. the cold air is in place. about this time tomorrow morning 6:00 tomorrow morning the coast still south of cape hatteraseras north carolina and there's the northern most fringe of the snow chances coming right u into southern maryland and lower parts of the delmarva. as that storm goes further up the coast it should take all the chances away from us. so not much of a snow threat

this weekend. for today cloudy, cold, passing snow flurries mainly south of town. highs today stuck in the 30 clouds and snow early in the morning an sunshine i think may start dome back especially west of town tomorrow afternoon. tomorrow's highs once again stuck in the 30s. here's your extended forect, a little chance of late snow late tonight or early tomorrow. alberta clipper coming our way on tuesday. that will have to be watched a little bit mor carefully, sort of the same size and scale of a storm as the one we had on thursday which left between one an three inches in most spots. that's abo the upper limits i think of what we could see on tuesday. then we have to watch out on christmas eve and christmas day, signs of a bigger storm starting to form. >> the kids will be happy. thank you chuck. till ahead, we'll tell you who the big name

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some of the redskins sound off on the benching of donovan mcnabb. >>lindsay czarniak has more on that plus a possible coaching

shakeup at one local college in this morning's sports. >> good morning, everybody, spouts on thisaturday morning begins with redskins news. the biggest irritation to fans to any teammates to critics of the redskins is the lack of spect shown to donovan mcnabb by benching him the rest of the season. mcnabb is a pro, but he's angered about the decision. meanwhile the redskins have decided they have to pan ahead so they will start rex grossman this week. with the playoffs out of the question, the redskins want points on the board. mike shanahan decide to bench donovan mcnabb. he made the decision last weekend. he told both quarterbacks thursday night went on to tell mcna he guarantee he'll be with this team next seas. teammates of donovan want to win and although they support mcnabb they seem indifferent about the benching. mike shanahan summed up his decision. >> i have to do what's in the best interest of this organization and that's to gate good feel of where we're at at the quarterback position.

i also told him i couldn't guarantee him he would be back next year. >> he wants to see if he's going to be same guy that he cou on for next year. so, i mean i think it's an opportunity that most guys would want and i hope that rex goes out there and do his thing. >> santana moss said mcnabb is a heck of a leader and players do not think this is a slap in the face. rex grossman will make his first start since november of 2008. grossman was thrilled abou the opportunity. said he had hints this weekhat he would get the nod but didn't know until he was officially told by mike shahan. grossman has been waiting for a chance like this to make the most of it. >> i'm human. how you could not be motivated to show everybody who is mocking this or talk on the radio or tv,

thinking they are smart. i'm totally motivated to go out and prove not only to them bu myself and my team mates that, you know, i'm a bona fide tarter in this league and can lead this team to a championship one day. those are the type of goals i have. >> to college football. reports are official that the university of maryland are planning on asking head coach ralph friedgen to retire or take a buy out forhe rest of his contact. that would be through next year. they plan to make this move next week. this nws comes the same day at james franklin was introduced as the new head coach at vanderbilt. new maryland kevin andersoning changed his mind about ralph friedgen when franklin took the vanderbilt job. reports are that maryland terms are interested in pursuing former texas tech coach mike leach for the position. tonight the wizards are back home at verizon center where

they will try to snap their six game losing streak against lebron james and the miami heat. miami riding a streak of their own that began on november 29th against the wizards in miami. last night the heat were in new york to take on stoudamire and the knicks super fans spike lee and lebron had some chat time during the game. second quarter miami leading by 11, lebron showing off his game. keeps his dribble. behind the back to mpier. 32 points, assists, 10 rebounds for lebron. the knicks go away. nix knicnixoknicks on the break. the heat held the knicks to 34 points. wade takes his time. steps up. he and chris bosh had 26. miami rolls to a 113-91 victory

over the knicks. the heat extend their winning streak they will put it on the lining tonight againsttwiz. that will do it for your sports this saturday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. imagine setting up your holiday light display only to have someone cut the co time and time again. >> after dealing with that problem for five years a guy in colorado finally has gtten to the bottom of what's been happening to the liday spirit in that area. barry miller set up a surveillance camera to catch the culprit. it was a rabbit. apparently the fellow -- this guy has been chomping his way through the kors at the exact same spot for the past five years. miller is not sure how he'll combat the pest. he might try red pepper or buy fox or coyote urine. >> stop leaving c