accident and see just how serious it was. this sent three people to the hospital, including two firefighters. you look there at the bumper of the fire truck, the vehicle's door is still stuck to it. as a member of fire trucks rushed to this fire in the 1700 block of rhode island avenue northwest this morning, one didn't make it. engine 1 from the west end firehouse collided with a vehicle at the intersection of 18th and l streets in northwest. the truck had its lights and siren on at the time, according to fire officials. the collision left three people injured. the driver of the vehicle was transported to the hospital in stable condition. there were four firefighters on the truck and two were taken to the hospital. evaluated for minor injuries. the crash happened just before 8:00 a.m. and impacted downtown rush hour and left the intersection closed throughout most of the morning. the cause of this accident and exactly who is at fault still under investigation. in northwest, i'm tracee

wilkins, news4. right now protesters are still occupying mcpherson square after dozens of demonstrators were arrested. occupy d.c. protesters built a 15-tall wood shelter saturday and u.s. park police ordered the group to dismantle the structure because it wasn't safe. protesters refused to do that. that's when police brought in a cherry picker to physically remove them. >> the national park service firmly support people's first amendment rights to assemble and seek reless from their government. the issue is a life safety issue and structural integrity of the building put up. >> in all, 31 protesters were arrested and 15 people were charged with crossing a police line and 16 people were charged with disobeying an official order. starting today, day laborers now have a better and more efficient way of finding work. news4's megan mcgrath is live at the labor resource center in centreville, virginia.

a lot of workers applied there today? >> reporter: barbara, this was the first day. so it was pretty slow. i think they are disappointed about the numbers and realize they have a lot of outreach they have to do today. and they are due -- do in the future. they had two dozen day laborers come and sign in. p big problem was employers. they had two folks who came in and hired people for the day but i have to tell you those people are affiliated in some way with the center. one on the board of corrector o- directors and one is a volunteer. they need to reach out to the contractors. the hope is this center will streamline the hiring of day laborers and cut down on some of the safety concerns as well as the traffic issues. lino would normally have to wait outside on the fringe of the parking lot when trying to find work. today he's inside the new labor resources center. a storefront operation at the center bills square shopping center.

cardona signed in, listed his skills, then waited to be matched with an employer. >> here it is a lot easier and it is -- lot better system. >> very difficult when there is a group of people running and you never know who will end up getting the work. yeah. very confusing time when had a happen. >> told system was chaotic. day laborers would gather on grassy strip. cars would drive up and immediately surrounded by men looking for work. >> what we see on the streets now is a car that comes up and many cars coming up behind it honking their horns because somebody is stopping in the middle of the street and causing a security concern. and then a number of guys desperate for work rushing to that car. this is a center that is going to get the negotiations that have been going on at the street corner off the street corn near the center. >> crazy, no organization, i mean, scaring people. running at you. they dent didn't know what to think. i think this is a lot better organized -- work out a lot better. >> reporter: the center is open

monday through saturday, 6:00 a.m. until noon. there's plenty of parking, a bathroom, and lots of seating. but on this opening day, things were slow. by 9:30, two dozen workers checked in but employers were hard to come by. there were two and both were affiliated with the center. ed dugan sits to board of directors. he hired two painers this morning. >> painting in my house. something i used to do but that was years ago when i had more hair and it wasn't gray. i them do landscaping yard work and -- work hard and appreciate what they get. >> and center employees and volunteers were out and about this morning handing out these fliers to folks trying to get out the word about the center but admit they have a lot of work still ahead of them. just to let people know where they are and how this whole system works. i should mention that this center is different from the other laborer -- day labor centers in herndon that closed in 2007.

that center used some public funding. this center here in centreville is completely run using private funds. barbara, back to you. >> is there any concern that perhaps many of those workers might be undocumented and then afraid to come in to apply? >> reporter: that's certainly one of the things they are -- believe may be happening here and they have a confidence issue. they have to get out in the community and need to explain, they say, to folks that that's not what they are looking to do here, figure out whether you are documented or not. and it is really the streamline of this process. if you have ever been in parking lot where there are a lot of laborers and trying to get work, it can be very chaotic, very, very dangerous. traffic comes to a screeching halt and you have all kinds of people rushing on the car. this system stinded to stop that. that's where their focus is. obviously there is a trust factor involved and informational and communication factor as well. they have a lot of work ahead of them. >> communication will be important to get the word out. thanks so much, megan mcgrath.

turning to the weather out there, gray and chilly right now. tom kierein joins us with the first forecast. hey, tom. >> hey, barbara. good morning. we had a little bit of shine this morning but since then it has been all cloudy. we had quite a bit of fog, too, around the chesapeake bay and as well as around the northern neck of the eastern shore. lot of that fog now is slowly dissipating. there is still some rather dense fog around the eastern shore and lower part of the bay. temperatures there in the low and mid 50s. closer to washington, right now under the clouds we are in the mid and upper 40s across parts of northern virginia. ing the district and the nearby suburbs in maryland. but farther to our south and west, it is near 50 degrees. there's very mild air out in the highlands of west virginia. into the low 60s there right now. and farther east and around the eastern shore, it is in the mid 50s. over the last 12 hours, we have had quite a bit of cloud cover moving in ahead of a cool front that's out of the midwest but there's breaks in the clouds over the mountains where they are getting sun and that southwesterly flow is warm -- warmed it into the 60s there. i don't think we will get that

warm. right now it is raining. western west virginia into ohio and indiana, kentucky, parts of tennessee. that's slowly advancing to the east. and for the rest of the afternoon, just cloudy and on the cool side. upper 50s to low 60s briefly. we will have a lie wind out of the south around 5 to 10 miles an hour. big changes on the way by the end of the week. some rain between now and then. all the latest in a few minutes. >> tom, thank you. we are going to check on the midday traffic. here is danella. >> if you are taking the beltway in virginia, looks really good now. i will give you travel speeds if you are taking the outer loop at 60 miles per hour. prince george's county, branch avenue, 63 miles per hour. beltway looks good if you are traveling outer loop and past route 1 and continuing to montgomery county. not seeing issues. i will give you a live look at route 1. we are clear in both directions. travel on the inner loop making your way towards greenbelt no

problems. outer loop clear. barbara, back to you. >> looking good. thanks a lot, danella. today d.c. council members are meeting to vote on a new ethics bill. we just learned from tom sherwood ward 5 representative harry thomas jr. was not present. federal and irs agents raided thomas' northeast d.c. home on friday and seized luxury vehicles, financial records, and other items. he's under federal investigation for stealing more than $300,000 from a youth charity to pay for vacations and cars. that's what he is accused of. sources told news4 if they showed up they would not have voted on the bill and was urged to not attend the meeting. d.c. council chairman brown is working to schedule meeting among the council members to discuss the thomas raid. there are reports brown may remove thomas from any committee to avoid possible conflicts during the investigation. jack johnson will learn his fate tomorrow for federal

prosecutors call one. notorious collection schemes in maryland state history. johnson, former prince george's county executive, is accused of taking bribes from developers and in exchange for favorable treatment. he pleaded guilty a and faces up to 14 years in prison. his wife, leslie, is a former county council member and pleaded guilty to destroying evidence and could receive up to 18 months in prison. her sentencing will be on friday. right now, search and rescue crews are looking for a sea worker who disappeared in the t tridelphia reservoir area. he was working for the wss sea's managed hunt department. he was on his way to recover a deer using a boat. the boat was found about 300 yards from where he launched it. authorities have been searching the woods around the reservoir. so far, though, they have seen no signs of duckett. duckett's family says they are not giving hope he will be found. >> we are not giving up.

please help us find him and keep him in your prayers until we do. >> police, dive teams and season -- sonar specialists will be out looking out all day. donald drum open the republican candidates for president. why he's not ruling out running himself. plus, slower mail service. the postal service just announced a new round of proposed cuts. stay with us.

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iran says its armed forces shut down a spy plane. the state news agency reports iran's armed forces brought down the super secret drone in eastern iran. we have video of one of the military's drones we want to show you. u.s. officials have not confirmed this report. nato says it may be a drone that operators lost contact with last week while it was flying over neighboring western afghanistan. it is the same stealth drone that was reportedly used to keep watch on bin laden. we didn't get to show you that film. this morning, remaining republican presidential candidates are trying to pick up herman cain's support eers he suspended his campaign over the weekend and the move comes amid allegations after 13-year affair and sexual harassment. cain said he would endorse a candidate in the coming days. several are trying to schedule meetings with cain to seek that

endorsement. weeks away into the iowa caucuses many voters are undecide. the nbc poll found newt gingrich in the lead with 26% followed by mitt romney and 18% and ron paul at 17%. gingrich surged 21 points since last -- just last october. the survey was done before herman cain's abrupt departure from the race. today newt gingrich will meet with donald trump. the former speaker of the house will try to woo drum top get his endorse many for the republican presidential nomination. trump says he hopes tone dors a candidate within the next three to four weeks. but he can also jump into the race. this morning, on the "today" show trump explained to matt lauer why he could enter as a third party candidate. >> well, as you know and, again, the equal time provisions don't allow me to run until may when i'm a free agent and you happen to like me because i have a very successful show on your network. i hope that's the reason you

like me. the fact is the wrong candidate is nominated to run, if i think it is a candidate not going to win ask not very good, that could happen, i guess, i mean, i'm seeing very good people and some talented people and if the economy continues to be bad and i think it will because i think we have incompetent leadership, i would certainly think about running. >> trump will also moderate a republican debate later this month. tom is here to talk about the weather. do you want to talk about anything else? >> no, we will talk weather. there is a lot to talk about with weather. we have very cold air around central rockies in yellowstone park this morning. it was 31 below zero. meanwhile, here along the atlantic seaboard some locations are in the 60s. we have like a 90-degree difference between here and the rockies. so quite a contrast going on. 49 degrees at reagan national, cloudy sky. light southerly breeze.

it is rather humid and humid chill in the air. this was photo i took sunday morning. this was just after dawn. there was fog. this was in morning montgomery county just after dawn yesterday morning. and if you have any interesting weather photos send them to weather@nbcwashington.com. that is what sandra did. this was the sunrise in clarksburg. if have you interesting weather or nature feet sound it to weather@nbcwashington.com. beautiful sunrise in clarksburg. that was about all the sun we saw between now and then, we have had -- had just a cloudy sky. right now around our region, it is -- in the 50s. beginning to climb into the 50s in a few locations. bit has hit the 60s out on the highlands of west virginia where there is sunshine right now. elsewhere to mostly cloudy and some rather dense fog still on the eastern shore. right around the bay and parts of the tidal potomac, too, northern neck. that fog is slowly diminishing

and slowly beginning to dissipate. over the last 12 hours we have seen this cloud cover coming and going. and you can see the breaks in the clouds to our west with sunshine there. it is generally cloudy from the blue ridge east of the subway and on the eastern shore. meanwhile, as we go forward now, over the next 48 hours, we will have quite bit of cloudiness throughout the day today. this area of green is zone of potential rain and could get rain in the mountains later tonight and drizzle and fog after midnight tonight and around dawn tomorrow. then rain moving in after that through the day on tuesday. into tuesday evening, lot of the rain may dissipate a bit. we still may have drizzle. fog coming in. into the far western maryland and west virginia where there could be some snow developing. for us here, we will have a cloudy afternoon and a light wind and temperatures may reach the upper 50s around the metro area. few locations where sun may break out to the west, it will hover in the low 60s the next few hours. we will have that light southerly breeze with us.

overnight tonight it will be cloudy and chilly and down into the low 50s by midnight with a light breeze coming in out of the southwest. and then in the morning tomorrow, near 50. maybe some fog and drizzle starting off tuesday morning. cloudy the rest of the day with occasional showers. highs, though, still not too chilly up around 60 degrees. then some of the colder air beginning to move in late tuesday night and on wednesday, chilly day, occasional showers and highs only around 50 degrees. and it may end as a period of wet snow out of the mountains on wednesday evening and in through midday thursday. then sun back thursday afternoon and turning colder. highs thursday only in the 40s to near 50. a cold, dry pattern after that. friday, saturday, sunday, sunny but cold. highs in the 40s. morning lows in the 20s saturday. it is december, after all. it is going to start feeling wintry by the weekend. >> i loved your pictures you brought. >> thank you. >> especially sunrise. wasn't that gorgeous. we had the same one here in washington. >> beautiful. >> thanks, tom. out to the roads we go with

danella. >> good morning. so far we are looking really good. i love seeing all this. traveling around the beltway not seeing issues where -- 66 inside the beltway, nice and clear. gw parkway, no issues. 270, this is your commute so far. this morning it looks good as well. we make our way starting in clarksburg and as we head all the way down towards germantown, 57 miles per hour. 270 southbound heading into rockville. no issues there. i will give you a live look here and west montgomery avenue. you are in the clear. as you travel south spords the spur as well as northbound, no issues at all to report. i love it. barbara, back to you. >> me, too. thanks a lot. it is now 11:20. still ahead on "news4 midday," hot trends for the holiday and how to give them from gifts to people. plus, how to add mexican flavor to your holiday. we are making tortilla casserole with salsa. boy, does it smell good. here is a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement. it's an amazing holiday deal. but don't wait. it's only available for a limited time. so go to verizon.com/superoffer to sign up. act now and we'll add a special bonus -- $300 back. fios delivers the best picture quality, plus america's fastest, most consistent most reliable internet. spend the holidays saving money. switch to fios and get our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement when you order online. save $840 in your first two years. and don't forget your special bonus -- $300 back. hurry, offer ends soon. go to verizon.com/superoffer. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/superoffer. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead.

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you may want to consider putting a mexican spin on the holidays this year. rosa mexican a chef stephen lucas joins us this morning to show us how to make a mexican holiday breakfast. good morning. >> good morning. >> i will tell you, if we had smell-o-vision, everybody would want to make this. you are turning the ham. while we are getting to show how to make it, let me tell everybody what goes in it. 1 1/2 pounds of tomatillas, the husks removed and very well

washed. four chilies serranos, three kupsz of water and three garlic cloves peeled and one-quarter cup of assistant flower oil, ten stale corn tow tias cut in eighth. >> it soaks up all the sauce. >> fo"news4 at 4:00four tablesp cream fraiche. >> we have our ham and we soak it in this unrefined brown sugar. >> that's just regular ham. >> it is just our ham and then make a little syrup with this -- unrefined sugar. you see how it caramel iizes really nice. we have a little bit of our sauce on the plate. >> okay. let me just show this. this is a sauce. what kind of sauce is that? >> that's a -- green tomatillo

sauce. basically our sauces take around six, seven hours to make. >> wow. >> we start with by roasting the tomatoes and roast them and we roast them in the oven, add onions, little bit of garlic. stew those. okay. and you have it in a pan. what we are doing is just really taking those flavors down and cooking it and cooking it and cooking it. >> you have to make that in advance. once that sauce is in there, i see you are putting -- >> we are going throw our chips in there. all right. and -- i like to toss them around. nice and gets crunchy. >> it does look good. and -- we have also scrambled a little bit of egg. we are going to add that egg into there. we will be serve thing dish christmas eve and christmas day

we are open. for both of those. >> i guess you have to plan in advance to make the sauce. and then -- this something you can make just before you serve it. >> just before you sit down. we are going to let this cook a little bit and we sort of have one of our things that we built rosa on our famous guacamole. i have the cilantro, onion, avocado in there. one of the things we do is use this mortar and pesto. >> oh, my zblgod. >> we make a paste with it. it is chunky. you fold it. finish by folding the ingreedsieingreed ingredients together. >> this looks fantastic. the usual ingredients for guacamole. >> well, ours -- we make a paste. onions, cilantro, tomato, avocado, salt.

>> fantastic. what do we do next? >> we added a little -- we hafre chilies in front of the table. >> is that a sauce you can buy? >> you can buy it at rosa. >> oh, okay. >> or, you know, we can come over. >> come over and make. >> it we can come over and make. >> it that's go in on top. >> we are going to continue to layer that in. >> okay. we need to get it on the plate now. we are going to sort of top our -- chips with that. that can be done family style. >> wow. >> we are going to finish it with a little cilantro. >> and the guacamole goes -- >> can -- >> on the side. >> dip it. >> fantastic. i hope everybody can see this. this is just beautiful. wow. and boy, does it smell good. this is for breakfast. >> this is a traditional breakfast or brunchite them holiday morning breakfast. fabulous. incan't wait to eat it. thanks so much.

>> thank you. it is 11:27. coming up in the next half hour, postal service announces $3 billion in cuts. we will break down what's going away and how it will impact you. a health update. cooler and rainy weather is headed our way. tom kierein let us know when it arrives. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple --

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looking for a wssc worker that disappeared in the tridelphia reservoir. duckett was last seen friday afternoon in sandy spring, maryland. day laborers in around centreville help help finding work. the center opened this morning in the centreville square shopping center and offers those looking for temporary jobs and organized system to find work as well as educational programs and shelter for inclement weather. breaking news from the supreme court right now. the high court announced it will hear an appeal from secret service agents regarding an arrest they made in 2006 in colorado. a man approached, now former vice president dick cheney, and told him he was opposed to the iraq war. he then touched cheney on the shoulder and later denied doing so. agents arrested him. the man said it is a violation of his free speech rights. snail mail is about to get slower. moments ago the u.s. postal service announced more than $2

billion in proposed cutbacks. for the first time in 40 years it plans to eliminate next-day delivery. first class mail system may also change. mail could take up to nine days to reach you instead of shipments within three days. the changes would have a trickledown effect on other industries such as magazine orders, dvd mail, rentals and mail order prescription drugs. usps says first class volume mail peaked in 2001 but other services such as the internet have taken away their business. >> we have to make this change because the volumes we have today in our system, but more importantly the volumes that we are projecting for the future, simply can't support the infrastructure can't support the revenue and contribution that this volume has used to pay for. >> the su sps is facing bankruptcy. it announce in september that it planned to consolidate and close 500 processing centers nationwide this spring.

investigators are trying to figure out why an escalator at fedexfield suddenly stopped and hurt five people. the malfunction happened near gate a as crowds were leaving the redskins/jets game yesterday. prince george's fire and ems said two people had to go to the hospital. we are told they were not seriously hurt, however. turnover once again doom the redskins. washington was attempting a comeback against the new york jets yesterday. late in the fourth quarter. grossman was sacked and fumbled the ball. jets scored on the very next possession and won the game over the skins, 34-19. >> this is frustrating. i don't have an answer for it. you know what i mean. watch the tape. it is cliche but seriously, right now, i don't know. i don't know why -- we got stuck there in the second half and weren't able to have the same production. >> the loss puts the skins at 4-8. tied for last in the nfc east. and things don't get any easier

for washington. they play the new england patriots next sunday. as if things weren't bad enough for washington, they will play the rest of the season without two of the top offensive players. offensive tackle tax revenue williams and tie end fred davis said "u.s. news & world repor report"ed ly have been suspended by the league for test position for recreational drugs. the positive tests came shortly after the lockout ended. williams ask davis are boat repeat offenders. new today, this beginning to look a lot like christmas at the vatican. crews run fwlaut a 100-foot tall pine tree from the ukraine. it will be decorated with 2,500 gold and silver ornaments and have white and yellow energy efficient ied lights. the christmas tree will be lit on december 16 in a special ceremony. pope john paul ii began the tradition in 1982. we are going to check again on our weather. here's tom kierein.

>> good morning. we had a lot of clouds and interest continues to be cloudy as we approach the noon hour. there is a live picture from the sky watcher camera overlooking northwest washington and temperatures under the clouds are generally in the low to mid 50s in most locations and bit chillier there at reagan national. they have a wind off the chilly waters of the potomac river. out where they are getting sun in west virginia some locations are around 60 degrees. over the last 12 hours, we have had a lot of clouds cruzzing in ahead of a cool front that's been triggering rain. we see the area in green, yellow and orange. that's rain that's falling now western pennsylvania and into ohio. kentucky, far western west virginia. and that's slowly advancing to the east and will probably be in here after midnight tonight. between now and then a lot of clouds and temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s this afternoon. and then after midnight may get drizzle and some fog developing and starting off damp on tuesday morning with drizzle and fog and occasional showers after that into tuesday evening.

and then some chillier rain moving in on wednesday. could end as a period of wet snow to our west wednesday late in the evening or perhaps on thursday morning and then we will get sunshine back thursday afternoon and much colder after that. friday, saturday, sunday. highs only in the 40s but should be sunny. and that's the way it looks. barbara? >> good. thanks, tom. let's see if it is looking good on the roads out there. here is danella sealock it is looking really nice on our roadways. not seeing a lot of problems as you are getting ready to head out on the beltway. new hampshire avenue, nice and clear on the outer loop. inner loop is clear as well. i will give you a travel speed if you are traveling on the inner loop making your way from i-95 to i-270. 59 miles per hour. that trip only taking ten minutes. taking the beltway, in virginia, robinson terminal no problems. inner loop speed 55 miles per hour. making your way from the interclang to the dulles toll road. that trip takes 14 minutes. and traveling i-95 at the occoquan no problems as you make your way to the beltway here at 63 miles per hour, barbara.

>> okay. thanks, danella. air travel today has never been safer. but would you know what to do had case of an emergency in the sky? nbc's tom costello has tips in case the unthinkable happens. >> reporter: crash and safety experts learn a lot by studying accidents. the miracle on the hudson revealed something amazing. many of the passengers that read the safety card minutes earlier admitted they could not remember what to dook do as the plane headed for a river land. >> when the captain said brace for impact, they did not know what that meant. >> we recommend you review all of the safety information. >> reporter: white the demonstration does not include showing the brace position, it is shown on the briefing card. >> read the briefing card. people need to really pay attention to it. >> reporter: in oklahoma city we asked veteran faa safety research herb mcthree demonstrate the brace position to us. >> when the flight attendant says brace, cross your arms on the eat back in front of and you push your head tightly against

your wrists. >> reporter: if you are in an exit row hundreds could depend on you. research shows don't bring the door into the plane, throw it out right. stay seated, reach out, grab it. >> reporter: if there is a crash getting out of the plane could involve moving through a dark, smoke-filled cabin. using the seat backs to find your way, follow the floor lighting to the nearest exit. if you have to make an emergency exit, the key is to move fast. experts say you have to jump, slide on your rear and don't lean back. then keep moving and get out of the way. from the exit door of a jumbo jet it can seem like a big drop but the slides are wide enough to yard to you safety. and whatever you do, don't the waste precious time grabbing a laptop or bag. faa researchers has shown panic can set in with passengers literally climbing over the

heads of other passengers to get out first. but the goal, say crash experts, is to get everyone out safely in two minutes. all the more reason to read that safety briefing card. >> chances are you will never need this information. but when you need it, you really need it. >> it is always good to be prepared. numbers are in your favor. more than 2 billion fly each year. the odds of dying in plane crash are 1 in 10 million. free ride is over on the intercounty connector are over. all electronic toll road in maryland started charging drivers today. the newest section opened two weeks ago and connects i-370 in gaithersburg to i-95 in laurel. did your peak hours lit cost four bucks for ez pass users traveling the full length of the road. tolls will drop to $3.20 on off hours and $1.50 at night. drivers without an ez pass will be charged a higher rate. starting today the d.c.

public library is giving you a chance to clear your name if you have any overdue or lost books. library is starting its check it in campaign. you can bring back your overdue items to any library branch and have your account cleared without paying a fine. that includes overdue or lost cds, dvds and other library materials. this amnesty runs through february. enews aingiuliana rancic sa she hopes to take the stigma away from mastectomy and help other women battling breast cancer. >> when they first told me mastectomy was an option i said absolutely not. absolutely not. i'm 37 years old. i don't want to do it because to me the word was very scary. it meant i would be disfigured. girls, women, stick together. we -- you know, we share our experience with each other beca me, i think,

more than anything. was to -- to get to the decision, was to see another woman similar age as me who had been through it. >> the surge i have set to take place next week. 11:40 is our time now. still ahead on "news4 midday," what we can expect on wall street after huge gains last week. plus how to get today's biggest trends as gifts. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement. it's an amazing holiday deal.

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two local organizations hit the jackpot thanks to three connecticut men who won the powerball. the businessmen picked up their $254 million jackpot last week soon after they gave five veteran service groups a million dollars to split. according to insidenova.com those organizations included the bob woodruff foundation based in bristow, operation first response out culpeper. the winners say they hope their charitable donations inspire future lottery winners to do the same. this year people ring apparently branching out to the internet for a holiday tradition instead of trekking to a tree lot. some people are pointing, clicking, and shipping their fresh holiday trees straight to their doorstep. some major retailers are offering live trees on their websites, including costco, sear's, target. according to "usa today" online

sal sales. that's a lot of trees. hoping for a second big week of gains. checking in with cnbc's brian shactman. he joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> hi, barbara. we gained 787 points on the dow last week. major indices up 7%. you think consolidation will pause, dow up 140 points today. some of that optimism had as to do with what's going on in europe. a lot of meet things week but the big -- one of the big ones happened today. eu leaders meeting at the end of the week friday. america el and s-- angela merke and sarkozy met. the countries that use the euro, one of the main things involved here is a penalty or sanctions that will kick in automatically of a country's debt gets too big. that's one thing france was a little apprehensive about but

looks like they are conceding to germany. germany is the largest economic power in europe. in terms of data in the u.s. little bit on the light side compared to the jobs week we had last week. unemployment rate dipped 8.6%. factory orders and services sector numbers were a little bit disappointing. again, not getting in the way this market rally now. just about everything to the upside. looking at the nasdaq. tech stocks are up 1.5%. that's it from cnbc hq. >> thanks, brian. the countdown is on. just 20 shopping days left in until christmas. need help finding the gift? we are joined today by linda jones. good morning. brought us some inexpensive ideas that you can find all over the country. certainly here in the washington zblaer yes. i wanted to bring things i think are fun and sort of obviously with the trend. i think you are always -- struggling to find something for the fashionista and fun to find cool things. everybody has a sweet tooth

during the holidays. you will be eating cookies and pies and cakes. i thought these are great for stocking stuffers. a great price point if you are not familiar with them. their package sing fun. i can buy a bunch of these and have these in my gift closet as a good go-to. >> you can even go to the grocery store and fill up on different kinds of candies. >> absolutely. i always think that's a great thing to have. inexpensive but love the packaging. also, as you see it has fun cole chores is the next trend we are seeing for spring. neon colors. bright, bright fuchsias, yellows, blues. if you wanted to for the girl you and your family who likes to get manicures and pedicures buy fun trend nail polish colors and pair it with a gift certificate for a manicure and ped care. >> while you can get them in neiman marcus they have them at the drugstore. >> these are the trend colors. you will see a lot of these shades. yes. these are available at neiman marcus. you know, grab -- get the trio. it is fun to have the rainbow spectrum and pair it with a gift

certificate. >> gift certificate to have your nails done. >> mani and pedi. it is nice to give pampering, get something for them they would not get for themselves. everybody now is buying ipads or some sort of technology. it is nice to be able to cover it in something so cool. it is a trend color. >> these are all things that are pretty reasonably price. >> yes. everything more or less is within $100. again, this is sort of a fun wallet. but you -- we also have something similar that's for ipod cases. you can find that as well in a variety of stores. this is for iphones. very chic. very fashionable. >> these are things people don't necessarily think of getting as christmas gifts or people are so happy to get them because they have iphones and have ipods and ipads. let's move on to what you have here. >> well the next big trend and -- again, animal print will always be in fashion. i like to buy fun things.

scarves. if you want to wear the trend you don't have to do it head to toe with animal printed. i love this. this is a little shrug. s in not just leopard print, zebra. >> we see them everywhere. >> yes. again, animal sprint a huge trend. if you want to pick -- find accessories. fun wallet for just about anybody. and then, of course, ipad cover. i thought that was so cool. it was a snake skin but loved it. >> this is an ipad? >> yes. you know what, if you wanted to, use this as a fun taupe. put that -- >> all that in there. >> this, i loved. fun rain boot. we are going to have rain. if you want something fun, this sboot really great. i love the vibrant color. they have linings you can remove and -- >> lot cheaper than leather boots they are. even in garden stores. >> absolutely. they are so comfortable. even if you get the boot somewhere else you can buy the hunter line which has a nice warm fleece. >> people do like to get watches

and give watches. >> no. >> that's -- >> no, it is not fancy one. what i wouldn't say these are 100% wood. for every watch purchased they plant a tree. if you have somebody who is looking for an eco-friendly gift reasonable, this is $100. they are made in italy. again, i think they are so chic. they are both the functionality and have eke own friendliness that i think is a great thing to give during the holidays. >> these i have seen on movie stars lately. >> yes. >> you know, mad men trend. we are seeing that friend these for male or female. i think they are so chic. >> they are. yes. >> these ones you love. made in the united states. they have the really cool linings. again, they transition well into sort of that colder weather. you can find them anywhere. a great thing for man. sometimes they don't necessarily know what will suit them. these are almost flattering to everything. >> up find those in a lot of stores. >> you do. >> inexpensive stores. i want to get over to these

fantastic big toy -- stuffed toy. >> aren't these fabulous? i think they are so fun. i have a lot of nieces and nephews. they get such a kick out of having them. what i was going to suggest is that, you know, national zoo has a program called sponsor species. you can buy the line and pay to sponsor a species and saming can be said for the bear. >> expensive toy. >> $100. >> these are $100. >> more or less. you can find them again and several toy stores. and i think the -- there's -- a whole zoo out there of stuffed animal world. >> i mind getting one of these. thank you for bringing us trends for this season. very nice to have you with us as always. it is now 11:51. coming up, finally good news for tiger woods. meteorologist tom kierein will be back with when rain moves into our area and stay with n news4 all afternoon. ell ellen's friend josh, you know

him, on the show, he will be answering questions about his wife fergie and all of the baby [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel.

pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy. we need a sofa. something i can stretch out on! ooh... that will go with those lamps my mother gave us. or we could get some new lamps. or we could get no sofa. negotiating, eh? you got it! how about a nice home for our tv? how about doors to hide that drive-in theater? how about a cowhide rug? yee-haw! and the snacks? get their own place. let the marathon begin! for a limited time buy select seating and get 15% back, at ikea, the life improvement store. [ zapping ] there goes dwayne's car. oh, man.

there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered. nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. the national championship game will be a rematch between lsu and alabama. the tigers and crimson tide played a month ago with lsu winning. virginia tech is happy with

their sweet bowl game. they will play the michigan wolverines in the sugar bowl january 3rd. virginia will square off against auburn in the chick-fil-a bowl. speaking of tigers, tiger woods is once again at the top of the leaderboard. the golfer won the chevron world challenge yesterday and his first win since a car crash led to reports of numerous extramarital affairs which eventually ended his marriage. woods takes home a cool $1.2 million for that win. it is official. the material girl will tackle football's biggest night. ♪ i made it through >> she is going to be performing. madonna will. next year's super bowl halftime show in indianapolis. the material girl says she's collaborating with the creative team from the cirque de soleil. you can watch it right here on nbc 4 on february 5.

president barack obama joined a large cast of guests who honored five entertainment icons that have influenced american culture through the arts. ♪ ♪ sweet caroline ♪ good times never felt so good ♪ ♪ so good ♪ so good ♪ so good >> hollywood stars were out in force last night at the kennedy center honors. this year's awards went to neil diamond, sunny rollins, yo-yo ma, and singer barbara cook. the five hon res met with president obama who personally congratulated them for their contributions to the arts. let's take a look at some of the stories we are following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us in the newsroom with a preview of things to come. >> good morning, barbara. coming up this afternoon on "news4 at 4:00," top items shoplifters are targeting this holiday season. plus, new twist in the case of a

missing florida woman. exclusive interview with the mother of another woman tied to the suspect who died a decade ago. coming up tonight on "news4 at 5:00," the common threats you are likely to face when shopping online this year. also going to tell you ways to protect yourself. liz crenshaw will have that report on holiday hackers. those stories and the day's the latest news on "news4 at 4:00" this afternoon. >> we will be watching. thank you. it is time for a final check on the forecast. here is tom. >> we have clouds over the nation's capital. it is a great monday. don't let that get you down. there's going to be rain tomorrow. >> something to look forward to. >> right. so -- enjoy the clouds while you can. right now into the 50s throughout most of the region. had sun in west virginia. into the 60s now. and there's rain farther west and that area of green and yellow. an area of rain advancing northeast and staying way west of us today. doesn't look like it.

it is coming tomorrow. rain moving in. here is another uplifting thought. it will be rainy and colder on wednesday. isn't that nice? >> putting a positive spin on things. may actually end with wet snow wednesday night. very early thursday morning. then sun back and cold but sunny weather coming in for friday, saturday, sunday. that's the way it looks. we will see you tomorrow morning. have a good afternoon. >> folks who didn't put up any christmas lights or whatever last few days, better do it today. thank you, tom. that's "news4 midday." thanks for joining us. we will be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with "news4 midday." hope you plan to join us for that. have a terrific day. we will see you in the morning.

>> here we go. >> stand by, two, billy and kit. stand by, camera one. we're live in five, four, three, two one. >> tiger woods for the first time in more than two years. >> wow. >> that's called getting the monkey off the back, you know what i mean? >> fist pump is that. >> fist pump is back. the red shirt and the black sweater vest. black and red on sunday. >> i like it. >> the