iowa and look newt looks at virginia. and the guy who found $10,000 in las vegas and returned it. we will get him on the phone. we begin with a mystery. a mysterious disappearance gaining attention from maryland to north carolina. >> it starts with a blind man stepping on to a train. mitchell smith was last seen by people in our area getting on a train at union station. that is where jackie bensen is to pick up the story tonight. >> reporter: he was last seen on december 16th. >> he will call and say i'm so and so and i need help. i have had nothing. >> reporter: madeline is worried about her grandson, mitchell. he had come to the d.c. area to visit relatives in december but managed to disappear on the train ride ohm to alabama. the 33-year-old legally blind from injuries resulting from a

shooting was last seen at the train station in charlotte, north carolina where there may have been some type of mix up. >> there have been a lot of confusion. the charlotte police called us this morning and said that they understood that he'd got off the train in charlotte. however they say that someone at amtrak told him they put him on a train to come back to washington. >> reporter: charlotte police have found no trace of mitchell smith. his grandmother grows more worried by the day. >> even if he lands somewhere he doesn't know where he is his way is to pick up a phone or find a phone and he will call me. he knows my number by heart. >> reporter: amtrak says the incident is under investigation. >> jackie bensen, thank you. a lot of people spent this day sitting in traffic and fighting crowds trying to return gifts among other things. they call this mega monday

because there is a name for everything now. and it led to an awful lot of frustration. shomari stone at the intersection of traffic and shopping at tyson's corner. >> reporter: traffic was a mess. there were people stuck in it. it was moving at a snail's pace. people were dreaming of returning back home but they were stuck in a traffic nightmare. >> it's just outrageous. it's just terrible. >> reporter: denise picked the wrong day to go to the movies. >> going the see "mission impossible" i could barely find a parking space. >> reporter: it was almost a mission impossible driving to the mall. bumper to bumper for miles. coupled with one of the busiest travel days. >> i came to return a few things i had no idea it would take me forever. >> reporter: it is not just the roadways, the malls were also

packed. look at all these people. some people said i want to return some gifts. >> i didn't get what areally want. >> this is not what you really wanted? >> i don't mind keeping it. >> reporter: the shoppers packed retail stores and spent more money. most retailers expect a strong economic recovery from 2008. this guy will leave happy but might be frustrated in traffic on his way home. denise is eating popcorn to ease the stress. >> i always getmy refill. >> reporter: enjoy that popcorn, denise. some people plan on returning gifts tomorrow. what happened to keeping christmas gifts? after all, they are gifts right? i have a box at home that are stuffed with gifts that i don't want but they're gifts. back to you, gentlemen. >> your mom taught you well. thank you. >> thank you.

outside tonight it is cold and clouding up. big changes rolling in over night. chuck is in the storm center for doug. chuck? >> there are more six or eight hours before the rain drops. you have a couple of dry hours left. here is the live storm 4 doppler. no rain around the immediate area just yet. but you don't have to go far into southwestern virginia before you run into the rain drops. here's the planner tomorrow. cloudy to get you started and rain almost as soon as you get to work tomorrow. and the heaviest from lunchtime to dinner time tomorrow. we'll talk about that with the details on the timing and the rest of the seven-day forecast on into 2012. that's in a few minutes. back to you. the iowa caucuses are just over a week away now. and one of the republican candidates, rick perry isoping that america's self proclaimed

toughe toughe toughe toughe toughe toughe toughe toughe toughest sheriff can help his campaign. newt gingrich is trying to rebound from a drop in the polls. >> he has a wave theory of politics that he is the man for the time. he was the man for a few weeks ago but that is not big enough to carry him forward. >> gingrich wants to be a write in candidate on the virginia primary ballot after he didn't get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. but doing that would be difficult because it would require a change in law. and he doesn't see the legislature doing that for the benefit of one candidate. an american security firm with clients like apple and the

u.s. military putting anti-hacking measures in place in the wake of a security breach at stratfor. a group says they stole credit card numbers and used them to make donations to charities. anonymous said it will wreak plenty more hovg -- havoc throughout week. friends and family rallied for the release of a man who has been detained in cuba since 2009. alan gross was not among hundreds pardoned by the government. that news is devastating to his family. >> he is very depressed and getting very, very hopeless. alan is a strong, gregarious man to. see him like this, nobody could

believe it. >> gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison for what the government calls covert activities. his family insists he was there on a humanitarian mission. a man accused of killing a woman and her toddler is locked up tonight. jerry lewis turned himself in in laurel. they say he admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend and her two-year-old son in new york last week. lewis took the victim's car and drove to his mother's house. the police in dallas, fort worth in texas said the man who killed his family was dressed as santa claus. the shooter showed up in costume while the family was opening presents and just opened fire.

the victims ranged in age from 15 to 60. police are trying to piece together a family history there. four dozen people facing charges after the rites that broke out at penn state when the school fired joe paterno. thousands of students took to the street. the police have charged 45 people and may file additional charges on others. five facing felony charges for tipping over that tv news van. university police charged two people accusing them of stealing a parking meter. first responders up in new york city who claim that toxic air at ground zero made them sick have less than a week now to decide whether they'll continue pursuing a lawsuit. if they drop their lawsuit they can apply to be a part of a federal compensation fund. but if their lawsuits are still pending next monday they will be barred for life from receiving any of those funds. a u.s. congressman in the

hospital with respiratory problems should be discharged tomorrow. north carolina represent howard coble was put in the hospital here in washington back on december 13th. he was later moved to a hospital in north carolina where he has been receiving physical therapy. no word on when the congressman might return to work. officials here in the district not rushing the earthquake repairs on the washington monument. they say the focus must be on safety not speed. the park service detailed worse damage than initially thought. while it has been closed four months the city is not seeing a drop in tourism. >> we are the nation's capital. while it has been a disappointment that the earthquake hurt and closed the monument there are all the other beautiful things in our city to see. >> the inspectors who scaled the

monument recommended a long list of repairs. is it unclear when the structure will reopen. the nba is back and businesses in chinatown could not be happier. wizards games brought a lot of customers that the caps are on town. a lot of concern when it looked like there might be a season at all but tonight the place was packed before the season opener asthy will afterwards. we'll have more on the return of the nba and how the wizards did later in the sportscast. you go to an airport and look down and find $10,000 in cash at the airport. that's what happened to a guy leaving las vegas rently. his name is mitch gilbert. he found two unmarked envelopes in the airport in las vegas. each contained $5,000 in cash. in an attempt to find the person who lost that money, gilbert

called the airport every day for two weeks after he got home to colorado. finally somebody agreed to give him the name of a man in el paso, texas who reported losing two envelopes. gilbert knew immediately that was his guy. he gave the money back said he wanted to set a good example for his kids. we did the story at 6:00 and i said that mitch gilbert sounds like the kind of guy i would like to have a drink with. he grew up in the washington area. some of his friends and family members were watching at that time and guess who is on the phone now. mr. gilbert, are you there? >> yes, i am. how are you doing? >> i'm doing fine. it is a privilege to talk to you. i got know. you say you wanted to make a good example for your kids. was that it? that is extraordinary. $10,000 in cash in your hand and you decide to give it back.

what were you thinking? >> well there were a couple of things to be honest with you. i kept thinking to myself what it would be like if i lost that money. and you know, it really -- it was making me sick to my stomach. i couldn't stand the fact to think a if i lost that it would never be returned. that was one driving factor. and the other was my children. i wanted to set a good example and just do the right thing. it's holiday season. and you know that's what it came down to. you know i'm going to take you up on that drink by the way. >> that was my next comment. first i hope your kids realize what a wonderful example they have in their father. here's the deal whenever you in d.c. please look me up and give me a call. dinner's on me, mr. gilbert, all right? >> i have a question for you. do you remember i went to bcc do you remember you came and visited our school when i was a

child. i don't want to age myself. it was in the '70s some time. >> you're aging me. i was there for the audio-visual class or something like that on one occasion. >> that's exactly right and i want to let you know back in the '70s i had a bigger afro than you. >> i knew you were the kind of guy i wanted to have a drink with. we appreciate it and god bless you. that was a generous move. thank you, sir. >> a cool guy. >> indeed. a $125 million gift but this was not found under a tree. best place to find a job in the new year. where it is and why you might need to head sheri

the midwest may be the best place to find a job in the new year. a survey asked employers all over the country how they expected job numbers to change next year. the survey found that the country should gain jobs in 2012 and the midwest is expected to see a 10% increase. you try what you are about to see and the secret service will take you do so fast your head would spin. this is cooper wagner who stuck his fingers into the president of the united states' mouth. it happened as the president greeted service members from

hawaii. the president clearly is a father. that is not a father who doesn't know what is it like to have a hand stuck in your mouth like that and those nails as they gre grate on the bottom of your tongue. >> it will take the president's lower lip right off there. >> how about this weather? it's cold. >> if we can keep it around the rest of the winter a lot of people would be happy. a mild day today. 50 degrees again here in december. that is six degrees warmer than average. the really mild stuff will go away for a couple days. but the mild air will be back in time for new year's eve. but we have high clouds moving back into the area. this will lead to rainfall early in the day tomorrow. 40 degrees at reagan national airport with a light breeze out of the south averaging 5 miles per hour. already down at or below freezing in the panhandle of

west virginia. and you will be just below the freezing mark might have a few frozen ice pellets out here in parts of the shenandoah valley but that will change over to rain. the ground is really warm and i-81 should not be adversely impacted. but look at the rain in the deep south. that is racing in our direction. the first rain drops as close as eight hours away. that would will 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 in the morning especially toward the blue ridge. in the metro it might be 8:00 or 9:00 before the clouds lead to rain drops. cloudy skies in place. the rain rolls in between daybreak and 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. then the peak of the rain between lunchtime and sunset tomorrow. so tomorrow afternoon commute home could be very severely impacted by the heavy rain.

that blows on through and we have a wind-whipped wednesday afternoon but we have the sunshine back. starting at 6:30 tomorrow morning rain drops on the beltway between 6:00 and 9:00. the heaviest of the rain showers at lunchtime and heavy rain between the 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 hour. clouds increasing after midnight with temperatures near freezing out to the west. near 40 bayside. and tomorrow, clouds, rain heavy at times. couldn't rule out an isolated rumble of thunder but a quick 3/4 inch to inch of rain with this system tomorrow. so that could cause ponding on the roadways. and that tuesday afternoon commute could be disastrous with heavy rain. rain tomorrow, windy wednesday, sunshine is back thursday. that is chilly sunshine for thursday. but check it out.

friday, 51 degrees again. saturday is new year's eve. sunday is new year's day. clouds around but no major rain or snow systems for new year's weekend. that is welcome news for the new year's eve revelers. >> that is mild weather so far. we'll take it. we got sports coming up. wiz back on the court again tonight. i wonder if we

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i didn't see the game but i hear the wizards played pretty well much of the night.

>> the first two quarters but things fell apart in the third. the wizards had all the energy you expect from a young team. the head coach can't say his team didn't have life tonight. they played with a 21-point lead in the first half. but in the second half you need two things down the stretch, depth and experience. and tonight against the new jersey nets the wiz calm in short on both ends. early on in the first quarter, wiz already up 10. deron williams drives but get out of here. crawford starts it the other way. he goes high off the glass and in. crawford with 15 points in the opener. the wizards pushing it up court. wall driving past williams. he gets a tough shot the go and one. he had 13 points.

was just 3 of 13 from the field. nick young in on the action. he came off the bench and getting the defender on his heels and pulls up a jumper. young led the team with 16. wiz up 8 at the break. but in the third quarter there was no answer for deron williams. that is three of his game-high 23 right there. that gives the nets their first lead of the game. nick young gets the rebound and goes the other way but blach goes the other way. the good news is he did return. 25 seconds to go, wiz down 3. the pass is tipped. kris humphries comes down with it and new jersey comes back to win. here's coach saunders after the game. >> usually when you get up big like that in our league the

teams are going to make a run. and i thought we responded in a very selfish way. everyone trying to say i'm going to do it myself. we got up 20 playing team basketball and doing it the right way. still a season ahead. still 65 games to go. let's go to the nhl. capitals' head coach dale hunter has two goalies and can ride the hot one. tonight against buffalo, former starter vokoun hasn't played since december 13th. but how quickly things can change in the national hockey league. seven minutes and three buffalo goals in the first quarter, hunter facing off against the longest tenured coach in the nhl. it was a rough start for the caps less than a minute into the game. sabres on the power play.

take another look. nice passing from buffalo. the sabres up 1-0. the beginning of a long, yet short night. a back skate into open ice and blasts one into the top left corner. buffalo takes a 3-0 lead. three goals on six shots. this after he played well in the previous four starts. but a tough night. he would be pulled in favor of vokoun. still in the fist. on the power play. mcnabb putting at past vokoun. it is too much to overcome. the caps fall to the sabres 4-2. they have lost three of their last four. so overall a bit of a tough night in d.c. night in[ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot

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. some might call it a holiday miracle of sorts. someone bought a power ball ticket in maryland. turns out that ticket was the one winner nationwide. $125 million. if the winner chooses a lump sum that will become 52 million after taxes which ain't chump change. that individual is not cashing in yet. the guy called in over the weekend said he bought the ticket and would come forward after the immediaty frenzy dies down. >> it won't die down.

the president and first lady sending warm wishes to those celebrating kwanza. it started today. each day followers focus on one of seven principles including the spirit of unity. kwanza started in 1966 and means first fruits in swahili. and that is our broadcast for now. the tonight show is coming up next. >> thanks for watching. we'll see you here tomorrow night. ♪

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