a live look at times square, where anticipation is building. good evening, everyone. i'm angie goff in for aaron gilchrest. 2012 is less than an hour away. and tonight we have live team coverage of all sorts of new year's eve celebrations. wendy gillette is in times square for the big party. we begin with darcie spencer, live in alexandria, where they're holding a different kind of ball drop tonight, hi, darcie. >> reporter: everyone is having a great time. i decided to get into the act, i got this nbc peacock, i've never had this done before, it was a fun experience and i like it. in new york, they are doing the ball drop. here in alexandria, they're dropping thousands of these ping-pong balls. here's an idea of what it's going to look like. at the ma sonic temple people danced to live music. it's first night alexandria, the

family oriented evint that draws thousands every year fp. >> we're having a good time. it's the holiday season, and we're just starting off right here in alexandria. >> reporter: this was the first first night for the martinez family. everyone got their faces painted. >> tell us about the face painting. >> i love it. i was surprised with mine. >> i decided to get my face painted. take a look. the nbc peacock. maggie, thank you so much, you did a great job. >> there were 18 different entertainment venues for the whole family, especially the kids. >> i got a snake, and it opens when i open my mouth. >> kind of scary? >> i know. >> what did you want to say? >> do you know the chicken, he pooped out an egg. >> the outdoor stage is set for the laser show that will light up the temple at midnight.

we got a preview of the cannon blast that will send 6,000 ping-pong balls into the crowd at the stroke of midnight. >> it's cool, it's a good idea. i like it. >> i'm looking forward to midnight. it's a big end of the year, we're looking for new beginnings this new year. >> any resolutions this new year? >> more vacation time. >> that guy certainly has a great idea. more vacation time in the new year, you're looking at a live picture of the dance stage here outside the masonic temple. the stage is loaded with people who are obviously dancing, taking in music and waiting for the big event at the zroek of midnight. there's going to be a laser light show, those ping-pong balls will be dropping, 6,000 of them. everything will fake one of these ping-pong balls home, it has the first night alexandria and the date on it. it will be a cool memento for

the end of the year. darcie spencer news 4. back to you. >> celebrations are going on all over our area. here's a live look at downtown d.c. china touchb is bustling with excitement, as people get ready to ring in 2012. here's a live look at times square in new york city. hundreds of thousands have gathered to bring in the new year, wendy gillette joins us live from there, and things -- i guess they're somewhat heating up, it's a little warmer in times square than usual around this time. >> andy, it's hard to hear what you're saying here, it's so loud. what a party is going on here, we're right in front of the main stage, right here, lady gaga is going to be performing mere within minutes, not sure what that crew is doing. they seem to be screwing down the floorboards there, getting ready for lady gaga, i guess she's going to be doing serious dancing. take a look at the ground.

this is a record crowd. more than a million people here in times square, they're absolutely going crazy, with less than an hour to go before the ball drops. they all have their balloons, they are ready. and this is a record crowd here in times square. it's incredibly mild. it's been 50 degrees or upper 40s all day long, so i don't need gloves or a hat. all you need to do is bring your party spirit. live in times square, back to you. >> maybe some earplugs, it's really loud out there, wendy. thank you. a reminder, we'll go back to times square right after this newscast. tune in to nbc's new year's eve with carson daly to watch the ball drop. a local nonprofit wants to make sure you get home safe tonight. the washington regional alcohol program is sponsoring the seie ride program again this year. the free fares are good for up to $30. you are responsible for the

difference of any ride more than 30 bucks. just call 1-800-200-taxi for your ride. d.c. police have arrested a man accused of smashing several cars with a u-haul truck. officers say at least five cars were hit this afternoon, in the 800 block of l street. nobody was injured. police are calling a hit and run, they're still looking for a motive. two prince georges county police officers are recovering after their cruiser flipped this morning. police sete officers were on patrol near missouri avenue and crane highway when they somehow lost control of the cruiser. the officers went to the hospital as a precaution. police say the injuries were minor. tonight authorities in california are offering a $60,000 reward. they're trying to find an arsonist who set more than two dozen fires including a blaze at jim morrison's former home. the arsons began early friday morning in los angeles.

most of them started as car fires and it spread to carports and nearby buildings. >> we want to get them before they hurt somebody. we're fortunate that the response of the fire departments that we had last night resulted in minimal property damage. >> so far there has been one reported injury, a firefighter was hospitalized after a fall. an airport in texas is back to normal tonight after a man tried to take military grade explosives through security. it happened at the midland international airport. a city spokesperson says the explosives were found in the man's carryon bag at a security checkpoint. the fbi took him into custody, no word whether he was in military uniform. a southwest pilot turned his flight around after a bird strike damaged the plane's engine and wing. flight 3702 was leaving from portland enroute to oakland this afternoon. it hit a bird just after takeoff.

the pilot turned around as a precaution. 136 people were on board. no one was injured. still ahead, why virginia's attorney general is now calling for emergency legislation to help five presidential candidates. plus, get your wallet ready, we're going to tell you some of the extra charges you may face in 2012. we are ringing in this new year on a very mild note. 45 at midnight. but in 24 hours, all of that is going to change and we'll have all the details coming up. we're getting ready to ring in the new year. here's a look at the celebration in london.

it's an all too familiar scene, the hundreds and thousands of revellers out in times square, packing the streets, getting ready to see the massive ball drop at the strike of midnight. just a reminder, we're going to go back to times square right after our newscast. tune in to nbc's new year's eve with carson daly. you'll want to join us to watch the ball drop. the new year will usher in some added expenses. starting tomorrow, it's going to cost you an extra 25 cents to travel the dulles toll road. tolls on the main line will be 1.50. on and off ramp tolls will not change. the new revenue will be used to fund the dulles rail project. it will cost you more too bag

your groceries in montgomery county. the tax will apply to paper an and plastic bags. can you avoid the charge by shopping with reuseable bags. long term parking will cost more in silver spring, maryland. drivers will pay an extra ten cents an hour to feed meters that run for more than four hours. still ahead changes in the air, kims back to tell us why air, kim[ monica ]tell us why i'm away on a movie shoot

and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while.

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20123 12 kicked off in russia with a fabulous play. fireworks lit up the sky to start off the new year. welcome back. the push to get more republicans on the virginia primary ballot is heating up. the attorney general said today he plans to call for emergency legislation to help the five candidates who did not get enough signatures. meanwhile, the first big test for republicans is just three days away. nbc's steve handlesman has more on the fight for undecided voters in iowa. >> it's the final push to win over iowa republicans like jennifer buyer. >> we are getting constantly bombarded with candidate's phone calls, mailers, everything you request imagine. >> rick santorum's first ad joined the air war. >> a trusted conservative who gives us the best chance to take

back america. >> so-called independent groups have put up more than $12 million in ads here. >> ever notice how some people make a lot of mistakes? >> it's probably a mistake. i made a mistake. >> negative spots by a promitt romney group helped push newt gingrich from front-runner to fifth. >> we do need you to go tuesday night to the caucus. we need to you get all of your friends and neighbors to go. i think this is very much -- >> polls polling 45% of iowans are still undecided. >> i would like to hear who can beat barack obama. >> i would like to see a change in the white house. >> they once backed rick perry. he's still here. >> if you'll go to the caucuses tuesday, i'll have your back if you'll have my back for the next four years in washington, d.c..

>> i think it's time to have somebody who will get the job done. >> reporter: the campaign is soon done in iowa. >> four days from now, no one's going to know where iowa is. we're just going to be another i state in the middle. >> reporter: today in the race for the white house -- steve handlesman, nbc news, des moines. a poll released tonight by the des moines register has mitt romney and ron paul neck and neck for first place. rick santorum was third followed by newt gingrich and rick perry. taking a look at our weather right now it looks like we still are looking at a balmy new year's eve. >> yeah. >> cool temps on the way, things are going to change, right? >> please. >> seriously, we haven't had this type of cold air in a really long time. this will be the coldest of the season. >> i think people are not prepared. >> no. >> i feel like we've gotten -- >> especially on the heels of what we're going to have

tomorrow. another day of 50s and 60s across the area. within 24 hours, we're going to drop like a rock in the temperature department. all right, let's take a look outside, and i already forgot the location. if you can get back in here. the national portrait gallery. that's what it was. love when they can talk in my ear and tell me things. what a gorgeous night to be out. hope everyone's going to have a nice safe new year's eve, the weather's cooperating, it's pretty mild out there, and we don't expect any rain. let's take a look and see what we did today. 62 at national. 46 was your start. the average high is 44. that's what i'm forecasting to have around midnight tonight. average high temperatures, not too bad. we're at 49 right now, to the south, we have some 30s for culpepper, 48 in martinsburg, in annapolis, they're sitting pretty at 51 degrees right along the bay. storm 4 doppler shows we are dry, not worried about any rain. no problems there, you don't

need that heavy coat to see the fireworks. national harbor for example is going to have some at midnight. 45, partly cloudy. looking good with the west wind 5 to 10 miles an hour. tomorrow's highs going to happen just like today, probably earlier in the day. we're going to have a front blast through. the warm air we've had courtesy of the jet stream going north into canada is going to get suppressed south. starting tomorrow night and into monday, tuesday and wednesday of this coming week. the 44 feels good at midnight, and tomorrow morning feels grade, even around lunch. nen after that, here comes the front. we can squeeze out a few showers across our northern suburbs. tomorrow night the windses are going to pick up, and so is the really cold air. look at this by monday at 8:00 at night. 33, it will feel like 20. that's a far cry from the 45 we're calling for at midnight. ski resorts out to the west. winter storm watch in effect for six inches or more from late sunday through tuesday. windchills will be near zero. if you're going skiing out

there, i-68 and the 219 is probably going to become troublesome to travel if you think about going out on monday, i would go tomorrow if you want to ski this week. got it? mainly clear, not too cold tonight, 36 to 45, coming up tomorrow afternoon, we'll have temperatures once again flirting with 60. kiss it good-bye along with the old year and the new one coming in. back to 30s for the high. it's january after all. we'll have the 30s on tuesday and wednesday. as we think about next weekend, that's when i decided to squeeze in a pair of fives on saturday. big changes coming at us. >> we'll take them when we can get them. thank you, kim. coming up in sports for the second night in a

caps head coach has come out and said that ovechkin working hard to fight his stroke, and it's finally paying off? >> in the last three games he's finally starting to come along, which is good, heading into 2012. that's what we want to see as you get to the playoffs. that's what they're trying to be billed for this year. for the latter part of 2011. it's been the million dollar question, where's alex ovechkin. >> the caps star winger was ranked 72nd in points scored. in his first six years in the league, he consistently hovered in the top 10. last night he finally answered the question by scoring two goals against the sabers. he rang in the new year with an encore performance. he's hoping to keep that momentum going in columbus.

caps down 2-0, peppering steve mason. dennis wyman, puts the caps on the board. check it out again. a beautiful one timer from ovechkin, his 14th of the year. caps down just one, and here they come. less than two minutes later, four on four. this time sets up alex simmon who blasts one past mason, his tenth of the year, and just like that, we are tied at 2. 30 seconds later, more 4 on 4, caps racing up the ice, wideman takes it himself. winds up and scores his sixth of the season. and sthird point in three minutes. caps up 3-2. same score later in the period, caps on the power play. orlov to ovechkin, who fires the laser, back-to-back two goal games for ove. he's come along, caps come from behind to win 4-2, their third straight victory. what a difference one year can make in college football. last year when the ball dropped

on times square, the virginia cavaliers were coming off a 4-8 season failing to appear in a bowl game for the third consecutive year. auburn on the other hand was riding quarterback sensation cam newt ton a national championship. fast forward to 2011, and the two schools who were so different last year, find themselves in the exact same position this year, the chic-fil-a bowl. mike london looking to bring uva its first post season win in six years. in the first quarter, he's helping the cause. fakes the handoff, drops back, and finds chris byrd in the end zone, 27 yards for the score. cavs up 7-0. let's go to the second, we're tied at 7 on 3rd and goal. this looks it familiar, rocco de byrd again, uva up 14-7. but auburn would score on its next possession, and then this happens, they go to the onsidekick.

it's the kicker. cody park recovers it. five plays later, auburn cashes in. they run the statue of liberty play, kyle frazier scores. auburn up 21-7. they would lead 28-17 at the half. and the tigers fans prepping for a big new year's eve party. more from the tigers, they fake the handoff, give it to trey mason who goes up the middle. 22 yards for the touchdown, auburn goes on to defeat virginia. 23-44 uva finishes the season at 8-5. let's go to college hoops. georgetown how ya's rode a nine game win streak into providence. we're looking at what could be a top ten ranking come monday. but first, they have to stave off an unranked yet very pesky providence team. john thomson third and the hoyas looking to make it six straight.

hoyas up 8 at the break. henry simms misses, jason clark, though, with the tough offensive rebound laz it in for two. check it out again, clark tips it, saves the ball from going out of bounds and gets the hoop. clark had a game high 16 points. later under 6 to go, hoyas up 4. sims drives in the paint. misses the shot, but he stays with it, and gets the putback, sims just two of 13. he gets the big hustle play and crunch time. hoyas shoot 30%, but they hang on to win 49-40. georgetown improves to 12-1 and wins its tenth straight. >> the things that make you win isn't just putting the ball in the basket. it's the deflexions, the rebound. the communication on defense, it's the intensiveness when when he need to be attentive, i think we have done a decent job with that this year 37 as you get

into conference play, those are what -- that determines what wins and loses. >> going to the terps, mark turgin looking for their sixth win in a row. howard in transition, the no look pass to alex, who finishes with a slam. 13 points in his second game with the terps, big help for them. later in the half, maryland up 4, terrell stogland. nice ball handling moves. gets a tough hoop to go. he had 15 of his game high 24 points in the first. second half now, how about some d, michael parker, the hustle, the steal in, the safe, the terps headed the other way, howard to nick who steps up, dwranz the 3, and the freshman had 13 points. it's their sixth straight victory. 9-3 on the season. >> that's their largest margin of a win, right? the season. >> yes, they were dom naturing this whole game.

comfortable win for the terps. that's our news for tonight, folks. next we head back to times next we head back to times square. oh, i see. a throne for the tv... room for movies... your workout gear... non-stop football... it's a man cave!

the boys next door will never leave. who says we want them to?