good morning, everybody. i'm angie goff. >> and i'm chris gordon. welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday, january 22nd. this morning, newt gingrich is celebrating a victory in "decision 2012." he won the south carolina republican primary, and this gives the former house speaker great momentum heading into the next contest, which is in florida january 31st. gingrich finished with about 40% of the votes in south carolina yesterday. mitt romney was a distant second with 28%.

rick santorum finished third with 17% with ron paul last at 13%. well, despite the second-place finish, mitt romney vowed to stay in the gop race through "every vote in every state," acknowledging that he has no plans to bow out. santorum and paul also vowed to continue their campaigns. newt gingrich says his win in south carolina came with the support of people who don't believe they're represented by the elites in washington and new york. >> the biggest thing i take from the campaign in south carolina is that it is very humbling and very sobering to have so many people who so deeply want their country to get back on the right track. [ cheers and applause ] >> exit polls showed gingrich led among voters who said their top priority was picking a

candidate who could beat president obama. newt gingrich won almost every delegate in south carolina, but he's still behind in the total delegate count. mitt romney is ahead with 33 delegates. gingrich has 25 after picking up 23 in south carolina alone. rick santorum has 14. it will take 1,144 delegates to win the gop nomination. the last primary is in june. the gop national convention is in august. >> newt gingrich will discuss his victory this morning right here on nbc 4. he'll sit down with david gregory on "meet the press." david will also have an exclusive interview with new jersey governor and mitt romney supporter chris christie. it all starts at 10:30 this morning. david will also join us live in our studio later this hour to break down what the south carolina primary means to the race for the republican presidential nomination. and florida will hold the next

primary, as we mentioned. the candidates will debate tomorrow night in tampa during a special edition of "rock center." that's when it's going to happen. brian williams will moderate. and you can watch it at 9:00 p.m. right here on nbc 4. well, if winter wasn't here before, it certainly is here now, as we got our first major snow of the season this weekend. residents spent yesterday shoveling and scraping their ways out of layers of snow and ice that blanketed our area overnight. but come saturday night, it was business as usual in downtown alexandria. people were enjoying date night, bundled up against the cold, saying it was more chilly than they expected. but some braved the elements, saying it wasn't too bad outside. >> and coming in this morning, i did see a couple of flurries in northwest. >> yep, a couple snowflakes this morning. don't panic, these are not going to add up to anything. you're not going to be making any snowmen or snowwomen or

snowdogs or snow anything out of the flakes this morning. just simply will not be enough of them. awfully cold, though. temperatures are going to struggle to get above freezing this afternoon. association right now, it's a full deck of overcast outside here in washington with just a few lonely snowflakes flying around. that's about it. temperatures have pretty much stabilized, in the upper 20s to near 30 degrees. it's 30 at national airport, 32 in annapolis, but 28 in waldorf and la plaina, 27 gaithersburg. 27 degrees also in frederick, maryland. hagerstown all the way down to 24. out across the old dominion this morning, temperatures in the mid-to-upper 20s across most of fairfax and loudoun countys, heading towards faulkier county and the blue ridge, temperatures upper 20s to near 30 degrees. the snow flurries we have out there are so light, they are barely even showing up on the radar. a couple more snowflakes right over central parts of the chesapeake bay. they're drifting westbound, so southern anne arundel, northern

calvert county, southern prince george's county, may get a hint of more snowflakes over the next hour, but on the broader view, you can see whatever this is this morning is not going to add up to much. here's your "sunday planner." pretty much all clouds all the time today, temperatures a slow climb into the very mid-30s at best today. flurries around this morning. mainly just cloudy this afternoon. then starting late tonight, after sunset or so, a chance of a little glazing of some freezing rain or freezing drizzle. again, amounts are going to be really light. into the overnight hours tonight. could make for a few slippery spots for your monday morning commute. not looking for a big impact, but sometimes even a little impact is all it takes on a monday. >> even now, there are streets that are dry and other streets, you could be surprised. >> that's right. if it looks wet, it's probably ice this morning. be extra careful. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. we're following some breaking news out of prince george's county, where a police officer has fired a weapon at a suspect. it happened overnight on keating street near 28th avenue in temple hills.

police are saying very little about the incident at this point. here's what we know at this point, though. police say an officer did fire at a suspect. investigators are not saying why the officer opened fire or what the suspect was wanted for. we can also tell you that the suspect is still on the loose and we're working to bring you more details about this story. we'll keep you up to speed throughout the morning. a bit of confusion and concern surrounding the health of joe paterno, as the family's spokesman says the former penn state head football coach is still alive but in serious condition. last night, there were reports that the 85-year-old paterno had passed away, but the family spokesman quickly refuted those reports. paterno has been in the hospital for ten days after experiencing complications from his battle with lung cancer. he was fired last november amidst the jerry sandusky sexual abuse scandal. as news of paterno's condition

spread, people began gathering at his statue on the penn state campus to honor the former football coach. people lit candles and placed signs at the base of the statue, showing their support for paterno. they also discussed his legacy, saying they hope his success both on and off the field were not overshadowed by the sandusky scandal. d.c. council member and former mayor marion barry is recovering from surgery this morning. his chief of staff said that a our nary tract procedure at sibling hospital yesterday went well. the 75-year-old had prostate cancer in 1995 and a kidney transplant three years ago. barry is currently running for a third consecutive term as council member for ward 8. a controversial plan to redevelop old town alexandria's waterfront is moving forward. the city council approved the so-called waterfront small area plan yesterday. it puts limits on future development and creates a

citizen group to review proposed plans. critics worry new, tall, modern buildings will disrupt the city's character. supporters say new parks, hotels and shops will bring more money to alexandria. and we will be back right after this break with a check on your weather with meteorologist chuck bell. stay with us.

a busy day o college hoops. hakeem dermish has highlights in this morning's "sports in a minute." >> good morning, everyone. your "sports minute" starts with georgetown. yesterday, the hoyas hosting rutgers. just over a minute to go, hoyas down two, otto porter comes up clutch. the freshman hits the jumper. game tied at 50. then, georgetown up by two.

scarlet knights have a chance to tie or win. eli carter's shot no good, and the hoyas hang on, winning 52-50. otto porter scored the hoyas' final six points. tenth-ranked georgetown improves to 6-2 in the big east. maryland on the road at temple. terps trailing in the second half. terrell stowman knocks down this jumper. maryland down just one, but temple goes on a 16-4 run to end the game and the owls beat the terps 73-60. in fairfax, george mason against towson. sherrod wright scored a team-high and they improve to 7-1 in the caa. meanwhile, towson has lost 39 in a row. in foggy bottom, george washington taking on charlotte and migich finished with a season-high 19 points, helping the colonials defeat the 49ers 60-52. gw wins its third straight conference game. at bender arena, america hosting army. troy brewer scored 19 of his

game-high 22 points in the second half, helping au defeat army 67-55. the eagles remain perfect at home with a 9-0 record. that's your "sports minute." i'm hakeem dermish. have a great day. >> go, george mason! go, george mason, yes. >> absolutely. >> they're having a great season. georgetown was having a pretty good season. they've hit a couple stumbling blocks, but that's the beautiful thing about college basketball, you just have to make it into the ncaa tournament, and then everything is right in front of you. >> yep. >> that's what we love about college basketball. but in any event, we digress. >> let's talk about the weather. yes! you know, yesterday, an awfully cold and cloudy day. we got a few breaks of sunshine toward the end of the day, but clouds moved back in overnight, and a lot of you may see a few snowflakes first thing this morning. i drove through the flakes around dark, 4:15 or so on my way into the office. so, be on the lookout for a couple passing snowflakes. this is not going to be any kind of accumulating snow. just conversational passing

flakes, that's about it. outside right now, it is cloudy and it's cold on a sunday morning. bundle up, extra layer of socks and mittens on your way out the door this morning. be ready for it. temperatures upper 20s to right around the 30-degree mark really this morning, as you look live over at downtown washington. there is the 14th street bridge complex there near the airport. current temperature at reagan national airport, 30 degrees right now. a light wind out of the north at 9 miles per hour. so, there's a hint of a windchill. windchills now are mostly in the mid-20s, so not that much lower than the actual air temperatures. 27 degrees the actual air temperature in gaithersburg this morning, 27 rockville, out into fairfax county, falls church, vienna, burk all around 28 degrees, same for dulles and manassas. beautiful southern maryland this morning, that's where the relatively mildest areas, the naval air station is at an even 32 degrees. temperatures are going nowhere today. we'll be lucky to make it up to 34, 35 degrees today with full

overcast, passing snow flurries, not really adding up to much. there it is on radar, one or two lonesome flakes around the anne arundel county line, drifting ever so slowly. again, this is not anything you'll need to sweep or shovel or plow. you can see there's hardly any moisture too close to us. we're waiting on high pressure moving off the eastern seaboard, allowing a little hint of a southeasterly flow. that's important. moisture coming into the very cold air mass. this area of pink here indicates the possibility of some freezing drizzle by late this afternoon into the evening and overnight time frame tonight. that's when we're going to be watching out carefully between midnight and sunrise tomorrow morning. freezing drizzle, maybe a little light freezing rain. gradually, the cold air or completely scoured out and we will be all rain by about 10:00 monday morning and then after that, those rain showers are going to wash out the rest of the drops. so, not much of an accumulating threat for us. there's our microcast model by 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 this afternoon,

just a hint of freezing drizzle. that's about it. so, for today, cloudy and cold with a passing flurry. temperatures today stuck in the 30s. overnight's the time frame we're going to watch out for most carefully for a little bit of light freezing rain. so, be on the lookout for that. after sunrise tomorrow, it all just becomes a cold rain with temperatures headed up close to 50 degrees tomorrow. so, whatever little bit of ice and snow you have out there today will be a thing of the past by the time the sun goes down on monday. then breezy sunshine back for tuesday and wednesday and another chance for what looks to be rain and not snow thursday, friday, saturday time frame. >> all right. thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. well, up next, "reporter's notebook," a look at stories affecting our community. >> and we will be back in about 15 minutes with the morning's top stories, and of course, your sunday forecast, more chuck. but for now -- >> more chuck? >> more chuck! for now, here's pat lawson muse. >> good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. we begin in maryland this morning with a split decision on

same-sex marriage and college tuition. a gonzalez research poll says maryland voters are split pretty much right down the middle on same-sex marriage and instate college tuition rates for illegal immigrants. according to this poll, 49% support same-sex marriage, 47% oppose it, 48% favor instate tuition rates for illegal immigrants, 49% oppose that. the general assembly will take up the same-sex marriage issue during the legislative session this year. voters will decide on the tuition issue in november. your comments. >> well, i think we -- the governor has staked out his reputation, as it were, on these issues, wants to push them through. he came close last year but failed. african-american legislators and also religious leaders are against the same-sex ruling, and that prevailed. the word is that they're not as strong this year, but we'll see how that turns out. you have labor, you have some

very tough organizing groups coming out for same-sex unions now. we'll see if that clout translate into votes. >> it's interesting. you mentioned the gubernatorial race. and on the national level, it appears that social issues are taking a back seat in this cycle. but here locally, you see in maryland, these are very much still front and center, and i find that's one of the more interesting aspects of following this story. the fact that one is at referendum and the other is going through the legislative process is quite interesting to me as well. we'll just have to see how that plays out, but i think even at referendum, this will be a nail-biter and a squeaker right down to the end. >> the same-sex marriage, they've played politics inside the chambers with it. because remember last year it went before the judiciary committee. this year, in an attempt to try to get it through, they've taken it through two committees so that the rules are, if one

committee rejects it, you can't get enough votes, another committee might be able to pull it out, therefore, get it to the floor. >> the same bill, basically? >> the same bill. >> exact same bill? >> the exact same bill. so, it's a strategy that the leadership in maryland's assembly are using to really get this through. so, clearly, the leadership is in support of it. now, in terms of instate tuition for immigrants, illegal immigrants, i think the big kahuna there will be the labor unions and the democratic party, because they see that as an opportunity to get an entirely new constituency on their side. >> also in maryland, the governor has proposed as part of his budget raising taxes on residents who make more than $100,000 a year. now, the house minority leader has said this is a budget that

targets not just millionaires, but thousandaires. how much of an increase would this mean for them? >> well, it seems to me that that range of earning in that market is middle class. and it surprises me in this election cycle that someone would be going after a tax hike on the middle class. >> mm-hmm. >> as many have talked about, well, the upper end of income earners should shoulder more of the weight and help us pull ourselves out of these recessionary times, but i find this quite curious and an odd political exercise in an election year. >> yeah, we're talking about social issues here as being captivating, at least the legislature. these other issues, these tax-and-spend issues, raising taxes on the so-called higher earners, things of that nature, but above all, i think getting jobs and boosting the economy, getting more employment. when i talk to people, they say,

well, why isn't the legislature doing more about that? why are they worried about these other issues? and you know, raising taxes on the "wealthy," has gone really nowhere on the hill. democrats try to use it in various venues. it's really never passed. and so, here we are down to, as you say, the thousandaires. a lot of people in this particular income bracket, in my reporting, tell me, you know, we don't think we're making that much. my wife makes a certain amount, we make $150,000, that's wonderful. we're just getting by in the washington area. it's really a middle class wage. >> so, joe, under this proposal, the $2,500 personal exemption would be cut in half for individuals making between $100,000 and $125,000, and families between $150,000 and $175,000. >> and it's a cap, if i'm not mistaken, on personal deductions. >> at 90%. >> that's right. so, what he's trying to do is make it appear less painful. now, keep in mind, it's only 20%

of the population. so, can that 20% be vocal enough to really prevent this from happening? look, increasing taxes at this point in time in any economy, with any party, is very unpopular. but again, remember, this is a governor that is running for re-election. >> let me quickly say, are the 20%'s revenues enough to fill the gaps? >> no, no. >> you know, for governor o'malley. >> and remember now, the teachers pension, they're splitting it between the state and the counties, and the counties are going to be upset. so, this is an interesting strategy. >> let's move to virginia, where there's been a step forward in closing the state's primaries. a senate subcommittee last week passed a bill that would allow political party registration. right now, virginians can vote

in any primary without disclosing party affiliation. that could change. the bill was introduced by franklin county senator, republican senator bill stanley. he says the bill would ensure that primary election results don't get rigged. democrats, on the other hand, say you know, this is going to shut out voters from the process. what do you guys say? >> well, democrats very much want the status quo because that's how people can come in as democrats and vote in the republican primary. and the republicans say change the issue. the republicans really want to change it. they haven't liked this for years. they think this is their best shot with the 20-20 breakout of the house and senate. whether they have enough votes to do it and whether they can prevail is another question. >> most research indicate that no election has been hijacked by way of some other party being unduly influencing the outcome of a primary election. i think in maryland, if you're an independent, you can vote in the primary, but there is a provision for that. now, one of the proposals says

that everybody's an independent, and then it's your option to declare party affiliation or not. i don't know that this thing has legs. it is a political exercise, and it surfaces from time to time. i remember this happening before, back some years. i really don't think that the republicans have a leg to stand on here. >> well, i think they do. and the reason this surfaced, remember, is because just a week or two ago, they had this loyalty pledge. >> loyalty pledge. >> remember? >> yeah, yeah. >> and the governor and most republicans said, look, that's crazy. it didn't make sense. so, they said, the best thing to do was to focus on voter registration. and that's why this has come up. in d.c., i don't know like the other states you mentioned, virginia, but if you're an independent in d.c., you can't vote in the primaries. >> that's true. >> you can't vote in primaries. so it depends how they do it, but this came up because of that

vote, that loyalty pledge. >> the party says they're going to scrap that pledge. >> they have to! it was nuts to begin with. >> we've got to take a break. we'll be right back. stay with us.

is it time for occupy d.c. protesters to move on? a house subcommittee that oversees d.c. will hold a hearing tuesday on that topic, on the subject of moving the protesters out of mcpherson square. the committee wants to know why the national park service has allowed them to stay there, despite a ban on camping on park property. what has the park service said about this? >> well, basically, in this case, free expression and demonstrating and positioning your government, all those wonderful things we talk about in civics, trump the actual constrictions of the park, the camping rules.

congressman idarryell issa is n so sure about that. he's also concerned about whether or not the white house has been prompting the national park service to keep them in the park because the white house favors the occupy wall street movement. white house denies there's any mingling here, and the park service has given the argument you've just given, but issa is not satisfied and he means to move ahead. >> it does impact the federal enclave, per se, but apparently, d.c. mayor vincent gray has weighed in as well on this issue. >> he wants them to move? >> he wants them to move. >> to freedom plaza. >> and i think there's a citation of health concerns. so it's pretty hard to argue with that. the issue, though, they're using very careful language to protect the rights of free assembly and free speech. so, i think they see this as potentially a political hot potato, but i'm not so sure that the oversight committee has the same sensitivity to d.c. matters, per se.

>> i would disagree that the white house is behind this, since we just had a report of the demonstrators were at the white house and a smoke bomb was thrown at the white house. they've been protesting against positions that the white house has taken, too. i would be sensitive about their free speech. this city has a history. we had the bonus riots after world war i with the veterans, we've had the resurrection city. >> sure. >> and all of these were under -- well, many of them were under the park patrol. i don't think it's a bad idea, however, to move them to freedom plaza. but let's be honest what's pushing this. it's the businesses. it's the businesses around mcpherson square, a downtown enclave of businesses, restaurants. it's unsightful, so they'd rather put it in front of the wilson building. i hope that they succeed in

making it through the winter, because clearly, they've changed the discourse of our politics this year. >> well, just one caveat here as we close. darrell issa may get the votes on committee to do something to shut down, by some congressional edict, this demonstration, or he may not. but even if he does, he's got to get the whole house, he's got to get the whole senate, and i just don't see the movement on the hill. they're preoccupied with lots of other stuff, payroll tax cuts, presidential politics, you name it, the economy. this is going to be an interesting shooting match, but whether it gets anywhere legislatively -- >> you know what's going to happen, they're going to demonstrate and they may get moved and he may not have the votes. those young people will go to jail. they'll stack the jails. >> got to move on to metro bus driver safety. metro is consideri installing shields to protect drivers, to keep them from passengers who are threatening them. does that sound like a good idea? >> i would take -- here's the position i would take, and i

thought about this before we came on. i would do what the airlines are doing. i would have people, like they have marshals on airplanes. you don't know who they are, you don't know where they're sitting. i would put those on the buses, particularly in the areas, because it's not all bus routes. >> twhaev now. there is a squad, but i don't know how many there are -- >> two of them. there should be more. >> there are not enough of them. >> and i say around the clock. because you want a bus driver to have personal contact. >> the interesting thing is, a few years ago, the drivers were against this at the 70% level. i think the sentiments may have changed because there have been some assaults. no murder of any driver, per se, heaven forbid, but there is a concern. and the public is kind of split on this. some say that we don't want to be separated from the driver. it makes us feel less safe if they have to be encapsulated. but some people feel, if the driver's safe, then we have a better chance of our safe sojourn -- >> final comment.

>> there have been threats on drivers' lives, people don't want to pay fares. now drivers have been shot, but a passenger was shot -- >> in the face. >> so, there's a threat there and action is really called for. >> all right, guys, got to wrap it up. that's it for "reporter's notebook." thanks for staying with us. stay with us now, "news 4 today" continues. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm chris gordon. >> and i'm angie goff. it's sunday, january 22nd. and although the snow has moved out, we still need everyone to take it a little easy on the roads today because of the possible refreeze. >> absolutely right. anything that looks wet is probably ice early this morning, as nearly every neighborhood has dropped below freezing during the overnight hours. and of course, the ground is cold, so be very, very careful this morning on your way out the

door. sidewalks are a little on the slippery side this morning as well as some of the side streets. the big roads are just fine, but anywhere where the road comes right up alongside like a wooded embankment or anything, where sometimes the water trickles out of the woods and on to the roadway, that's where you need to be careful. places like river road or along some of the beautiful scenic parkways around here. be on the lookout. where the woods touch the road, often there could be moisture. so, outside we go this morning. cloudy skies over washington. 30 degrees right now at national airport, 27 in frederick, maryland, 24 in hagerstown, 23 way out west in cumberland. panhandle of west virginia, to martinsburg, all in the mid-20s. 27 winchester and front royal, 30 degrees in culpeper. i saw a few snowflakes early this morning and the radar still picking up a couple of very lonely snowflakes around the anne arundel/calvert county boarder. they're going westbound, so in central prince george's county, upper marlboro and brandywine, be on the lookout for a couple snowflakes.

that's it you can see on the bigger view, that's literally just about all we need to worry about today. clouds around, a passing flurry can't be ruled out, but no accumulations, no travel troubles of any kind. temperatures today struggling to get back up just a couple of ticks above the freezing mark. might have a little freezing drizzle or freezing rain to concern ourselves with late tonight going into monday morning. we'll talk more about that coming up in a little bit. >> you had mentioned that people ought to wear maybe a hat or extra pair of gloves. if you take your dog out, think about that, or else it might be a shorter walk. >> depends on the dog. my dog came with a fur coat, but for some dogs, it doesn't insulate. >> my dog goes out the back, right back in the front door. >> smart dog. hasn't had to work a day in his life. moving on to the news, winter left its mark across the northeast. new york got more than a few inches of snow. heavy snow fell saturday until noon, then it was all flurries. kids took advantage of the winter weather. many are thankful this season

looks nothing like last winter. you may remember, new york had to bring in special machines to try to melt away the 31 inches of snow. >> the same system left about 8 inches of snow in chicago and surrounding areas, and that was a bit much for some airlines. the snow caused more than 700 flight cancellations at chicago o'hare and midway airports. and it may be a while before it all melts. right now, temperatures in the chicago area are down in the low 20s. winter weather is pounding the west coast. washington state can't seem to catch a break. first snow, then an ice storm, and now high winds are causing problems in seattle. gusts up to 50 miles per hour blew through this weekend, knocking down trees and causing power outages. at one point, nearly 600 people did not have electricity this weekend, and now another storm is on the way. well, the military's

confirming that a senior al qaeda official has been killed in an air strike in somalia. three missiles fired from an unmanned drone struck balil al bajuali's car on the outskirts of mogadishu. he fought in somalia before leaving in 2006. he's at least the fourth senior al qaeda linked al shabaab commander killed in as many years. firefighters in reno say they've gotten most of the massive wildfire under control. rain yesterday helped crews contain the fire, which destroyed 29 homes, forced thousands of residents to evacuate, and at one point, grew to more than six square miles. fire officials say a man admitted to accidentally starting the fire by improperly discarding fireplace ashes outside of his home. investigators say he is extremely remorseful but could

be asked to pay for the cost of fighting the fire, which is nearly $700,000. in new york, three people are dead from a fire that tore through a home in poughkeepsie. two students at marist college and a man were killed in the fire. the school postponed two basketball games out of respect for the students killed. fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze but believe it started near the rear of the first floor. divers suspended the search for victims in the wreckage of that cruise ship off the coast of italy. monitoring equipment showed rough waters shifted the "costa concordia," putting divers in danger. yesterday, crews found the body of a woman on the ship but can't tell yet if she was a passenger or crew member. 20 people are still missing. 12 others are confirmed dead. the ship hit a reef more than a week ago and partially submerged. authorities say the captain  deliberately steered the luxury liner into shallow waters to entertain tourists and then

abandoned the ship early during evacuations. tonight kicks off events for the annual right to life march here in d.c. thousands are expected to take part in the mass at the basilica in northwest d.c. it's billed as the longest and largest running peaceful human rights demonstration for the unborn. the march, which is tomorrow, coincides with the anniversary of the 1973 supreme court decision roe verse wade, which legalized abortion. more than 500 students from catholic university are expected to participate in the march. well, president obama is preparing for his election year state of the union address. he plans to push for what he calls a more prosperous and equitable society. the president will once again call for changes to the tax code so that the wealthy may more. it's an idea that republicans oppose, despite overwhelming public support. president obama's third state of the union is set for tuesday

night, 8:00, and you can catch it here on nbc 4, your place for politics. well, as expected, all roads near the capitol will be closed for tuesday's state of the union. parts of constitution avenue, independence avenue, pennsylvania avenue and east capitol street will close down at 7:00 on tuesday night. police expect the roads to be opened shortly after the state of the union address. the time right now, 6:38. they'll be bringing more than just their homework with them to school. what some fairfax county students will be doing next year to help kids nationwide get in better shape. and newt gingrich is back in the race for the gop nomination after yesterday's big win in south carolina. can he keep the momentum going into florida? david gregory, moderator of "meet the press," will join us live right here on set to break down the race when we come back. it's your social network.

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well, the race for the republican presidential nomination is wide open once again. >> former house speaker newt gingrich proved to be the comeback kid this weekend, winning yesterday's south carolina primary. suddenly, mitt romney doesn't seem like the clear front-runner anymore. here to break down the race is moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. david, i guess the big question is, romney was the overwhelming front-runner. does last night change that? because we know romney's still leading in the polls in florida. >> well, i like the headline out of south carolina, "the south carolina scramble." that's really what it is. we haven't had this. three different contests, three different winners. the era for mitt romney has been pierced, whether decidedly so, we'll see. he's up in the polls in florida, but you've got to believe in political climate change after last night. and there's something deeper.

i think there's a connection problem romney has with conservative voters, but i also think you've got the tea party rearing its head. i've been waiting for the tea party sentiment to really show up in this race, and i think you've got it now. i think that newt gingrich's win in south carolina was really an expression of the politics of grievance, of the hard-core anti-obama sentiment within the republican party rearing its head, saying not so fast, mitt romney, not so fast to the establishment, all these governors and senators locally who have endorsed romney, saying slow down, we want to take a broader look here. >> i'm wondering -- you mentioned local virginia, you know, in the primary. gingrich is not on the ballot, romney is. so, it looked like virginia wasn't going to play a part. now will that possibly be important? >> well, i don't think there's any question that this thing has a prospect of going on for a while now. that's why you heard mitt romney say i'm going to fight for every vote and go to every state and do it. he's got resources, he's got the

organization to make this a national campaign, primary ca campaign and a war of attrition, rather than a quick knockout. i think he'll try to impress that upon the party faithful in some of the big states coming up, florida just the start. but you know, he's got, as i said, a connection problem that he's got to close the sale. somewhere, he's got to pass a big test with the rock rib conservatives of the party and he's not yet done that and south carolina was the case. >> coming up on the show, we'll hear from gingrich again. >> yeah, he's on and he'll talk about the march forward now, how he sees the contrast. another big debate coming up on nbc on monday night from florida that brian williams is going to moderate. also this morning, chris christie, on behalf of the romney campaign. so, we'll get a sense of how they're going to respond to all this. >> and what about "press pass"? >> well, we're talking about the u.s. conference of mayors. we've got mayor gray on here locally, also mayor nutter, who's going to talk about what cities need from the federal

government in this economy as we move forward. very interesting discussion on "press pass." >> all right, we'll be looking forward to it, david. thank you for stopping by. >> sure. >> we know you're business. >> we appreciate it. former maryland governor robert you are lick can soon add newspaper columnist to his resume. he plans to write a weekly op ed for the "baltimore sun." the newspaper reports that the former republican governor will focus on national politics. ehrlich is a law firm partner and state chairman for mitt romney's national campaign. his column debuts in "the baltimore sun" next sunday, january 29th. okay, chuck bell, so, what we have to deal with today is cold temperatures? >> yeah, mostly just cold today. plenty of clouds around and maybe just a snowflake or two to lift your spirits, but certainly nothing to shovel off the walkway. we'll talk about today's forecast and what may be a socky back-to-work monday. don't go away. have i got a surprise for you!

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starting next year, fairfax county students will have to be sure to grab their pencils, notebooks and padometers. according to "the washington examiner," they will be required to wear them as part of the living fit in fairfax project. it's part of a $2 million federal grant to track the nutrition and physical activity of students over three years. school officials say it's an easy and possibly fun way for students to learn about healthy habits. now let's go to the weather and get a fill-in on that. >> and the best way you can stay warm today is to just keep moving, you know? >> yes! >> there's no doubt about that. >> don't need a padometer. >> don't need a padometer for that and some people don't like

running in the wintertime, including yours truly. so either go to the treadmill or jog in place in your living room, but get nice and warm. get the first bead of sweat on your brow and then go out and go running. >> that's smart. >> that way you're already nice and warm on your way out the door. >> or snuggle up with a nice, warm blanket, have hot cocoa and watch a movie. >> exactly. warm blanket, snuggling, also a fine way to stay warm on your sunday, no doubt about it. cloudy skies to get your sunday started and these clouds are going a whole lot of nowhere. very little in the way of sunshine for your sunday, so don't get your hopes hung on seeing any sunshine today. outside we look. the washington monument bathed in darkness this morning under a cloudy sky. there are a few conversational snowflakes a flying out there. they're not going to add up to anything today, so you don't need to worry about them too much. but nonetheless, don't be shocked if you see one here or there. 30 degrees right now at national airport, a light wind out of the north. gradually, those winds are going to become more of an east to

southeasterly wind as you go through the rest of the day. everybody below freezing this morning except for annapolis, who is right at the freezing mark. temperatures courtesy of the cloud cover and a east to northeasterly breeze. temperatures are not going to budge much today, only sneaking up into the low and mid-30s for high temperatures. here you can see on doppler that one little plume of snowflakes now drifting its way westbound over the eastern shore, headed for the southern parts of anne arundel county, northern calvert county. near shady side and diehl, a couple snowflakes for you. other than that, not much happening around the east coast. high pressure is headed off the eastern seaboard, turning our winds more and more to the east and southeast. some slippery spots around first thing this morning. as we go through later on this afternoon and tonight, a little chance for some freezing drizzle or some light freezing rain, especially after the sun goes down tonight and before the sun comes up tomorrow morning. could make for some slippery spots on a monday morning. gradually, though, the warm air will scour out all the cold air,

and tomorrow it's going to be all rain tomorrow with temperatures surging into the upper 40s to near 50 degrees. once the weather front goes on by, colder, drier air starts to move back in for tuesday, when the sunshine will return. so, here it is on our microcast model today. the clouds continuing to thicken through about 1:00 this afternoon. then after the sun goes down, this area of pink shading here, a chance for some freezing drizzle, mainly during the overnight hours. again, not looking for an accumulation, but sometimes, just that little glaze on the hand rail that you need to get up and down the stairs, that can cause you some trouble. so, more today. cloudy, cold, passing flurries. little, if anything, in the way of accumulation, just barely enough to get the top of a leaf white. that's it. then overnight tonight, cloudy and cold, light freezing drizzle, maybe a little light freezing rain a possibility. so, be real careful to get your monday started. 99% of the precip we're going to get tomorrow will be in the form of rain showers. then breezy sunshine back for tuesday. wednesday looks good. thursday, friday, saturday, an

unsettled time period once again. but for snow lovers, alas, that looks like it will also be mostly, if not entirely, rain. >> well, at least the temperatures, though, will be nicer. >> little snowstorm. santa promised me one! >> sorry. take what you can get. >> i know. >> thanks, chuck. now let's get a preview of what's in this week's "kids post." here's eun yang. >> this morning on "kids post" on tv, why the winter on the beach can be whorthwhile, celebrating new year's dragon style and recipes that may sound quite vial. joining us is tracy grant of "washington post's" "kids post." great to be with you. >> great to be here. >> first, folks spending winter on the beach, not a vacation, though. >> this is not a vacation. as cold as it is this weekend, the notion of being at rehoboth beach probably doesn't sound very fun. >> no. >> but we have a story in sunday's "kids post" about the restoration of the beach. 200 tons of sand are being

sucked up -- >> wow! >> -- from the, you know, two miles offshore, brought to the beach. this is called a crab machine. surveyors use this to get into the water and see where the sand should be placed, because where the sand is placed determines whether it erodes. it has to be the right kind of sand or the marine turtles won't like it. this is the sand being pushed, like through a huge tunnel -- >> wow. >> -- through a huge tube on to the beach, and then bulldozers spread it around. >> interesting. >> so, this is all being done in january. >> smart. >> so that we can enjoy the beach in june, july and august. but it's a really entertaining and educational story. i learned a whole lot from it in today's "kids post." >> and we love rehoboth, so we'll test it out in summertime. >> you tell me if they did a good job restoring the beach. up next, new books to celebrate the lunar new year, which is coming up. >> that's right.

monday begins the year of the dragon. and so, in today's "kids post," we have three really fun books that focus on family and tradition and celebrating the year of the dragon. "crouching tiger" and "a new year's reunion" are picture books that can be enjoyed by the whole family. "dumpling days" is for kids ages 8 to 12, a really nice chapter book. >> excellent. love it. i'm eating some special food for myself. >> absolutely. >> and finally, recipes you probably won't find in restaurants. >> in wednesday's "kids post," we take advantage of the fact that kids love food and winter's a great time to try out recipes. and kids also like weird stuff. >> uh-oh. >> and so, here's a recipe for peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich. >> ew, gross. >> that was my reaction, but we think that the recipe tester says that the crunch and the creaminess is really interesting. >> really? >> and kids will love it. >> okay, i take your word for it.

>> we have this, which is chocolate sauerkraut cake. >> oh, stop it! >> i know. >> gross! okay, sorry. >> but here's the trick -- it's called don't ask cake, because people who test it, taste it, don't actually know what the secret ingredient is. >> hmm. >> it's probably best not to tell people. >> exactly. that's kind of the way you should go any time you don't know what is -- i'll try it first, then tell me. >> right, absolutely. so, some fun recipes for kids and parents to try in wednesday's "kids post." >> kids will definitely love that. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much, tracy. for some fun family activities, visit nbcwashington.com or washingtonpost.com/kidssports. we have a story about happy reunion in prince george's county between a man and his four-legged best friend. >> this is cody, a schnauzer mix that disappeared a month ago. his owners left him in a truck that was stolen and used as a getaway car. the truck was found a few hours

later, but cody was nowhere to be found. well, the family put up fliers, and on friday, someone called the owners, saying they think they found the missing schnauzer. >> the lady that had him was just a very nice lady, looks like took very good care of him, and we're just happy to have him back. >> i think we all cried. everybody was just so excited to see him. and as soon as we called his name, he came running over. so, he knew. >> cody's owners say they never plan to leave him in the car again. >> that's a good plan. >> yes. >> what a cute dog. >> glad to see the reunion. well, there is still more news for today right after the break. >> also, news 4's "viewpoint." stay with us.

good morning. i'm chris gordon. >> and i'm angie goff. welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday, january 22nd. checking on our top stories this morning. newt gingrich is celebrating his win in south carolina's republican primary. the former house speaker finished with about 40% compared to 28% for mitt romney. rick santorum was third, followed by ron paul. the next primary will be in florida on january 31st. a spokesman for joe paterno says the former penn state head football coach is in serious

condition. the 85-year-old has been in the hospital for ten days since experiencing complications from lung cancer treatments. people gathered at paterno's statue at penn state late last night to honor him and pray for a speedy recovery. alexandria is moving forward with a controversial plan to redevelop the waterfront area. the city council approved the so-called waterfront small area plan yesterday. it calls for the creation of a citizen group to review future proposals and requirements on development in old town alexandria. and if you're walking around old town or bethesda, virginia, maryland, the district, it's cold. >> it's a bundle-up factor for today, no doubt about that. temperatures hovering just below the freezing mark in nearly every neighborhood this morning, so be real careful. if you're looking at the road as you're driving along and you see something that looks wet, it's probably ice. be real careful about that this morning. a lot of frozen staircases and frozen sidewalks as well, so be

super careful on your sunday morning. it's cloudy outside. even a few snowflakes a flying out there. they're not going to add up to anything, but nonetheless, conversational flakes to be found. temperatures are in the upper 20s to near 30 degrees in nearly every neighborhood. just a hint milder right alongside of the chesapeake bay, where, yes, indeed, a couple of westbound snowflakes can be found just to the south of deale and just to the north of sunderland there in calvert county. they're drifting to the west. folks near andrews air force base may pick up a passing flurry, but as you can see on the broader view, literally, that's the only game in town. cloudy skies today, temperatures inching into the low and mid-30s at best for today. temperatures will stay cold today. tomorrow, zooming to near 50 degrees, but it's going to be a rainy monday. so, rainy and wet tomorrow. might get a little coating of freezing drizzle or freezing rain late tonight into the predawn hours of monday, so we'll be watching that very, credit carefully. nonetheless, everything tomorrow after about sunrise will be rain. >> all right. thank you, chuck. >> okay. and next is nbc 4's

"viewpoint." >> and we'll be back in a few minutes with a news update. good morning, and welcome to "viewpoint." i'm jim handly. today we're focusing on affordable housing in our region, foreclosures, where to find help and the state of housing today. our guests this morning are lisa mcdougal, executive director of seed incorporated, frank prinsipi with the prince william county board of supervisors and marian siegel with housing counseling services. thank you for coming in. great to see you. >> thank you, jim. >> let's start for our viewers, if we can give them a big picture on where things stand on foreclosures in our region. are we still at that crisis level, or has the situation improved? where do we stand? >> jim, here in prince william county, where i represent, we've had about 12,000 foreclosures since 2008. we're seeing those foreclosure numbers go down as we're seeing the numbers go down in the region. i would say that we're past the crisis point, but we certainly

have a lot of families who still need affordable housing and help in staying in their homes. >> you mentioned prince william and you also have prince george's, a lot of the eastern parts in our region. those are the hardest hit still. >> yes, among the top ten in the nation. and the high point was in 2009 and '10, and we're seeing those numbers go down, thankfully. >> a lot of people still, though, need help, and there is help out there for them. when someone senses that they may be falling behind, about to fall behind, maybe they've just lost a job, there are resources out there. >> yes. there's actually plenty of resources in the region. and what's most important is that individuals take advantage of that, don't hide their heads in the sand and take the first step. that's the most important thing, being realistic to themselves, being realistic to others and going to see a hud-certified counseling agency. because as well as the counselors are out there, there are a lot of predators. >> yeah, you use that word, and that still is an issue out

there. what do you have to watch for? you mentioned the word certified. >> right. there is a list of hud-certified counseling agencies. you go to hud.gov and get the list. you contact those individuals. pretty much anybody who asks for money ahead of time to help you in the process, you should be cautious of. anybody who offers you a promise of a modification or a promise of saving your home, it's impossible for anybody to make that promise. if it's too good to be true, it's always too good to be true. >> we're going to be putting up phone numbers and web addresses, too, for people to get some help online and over the phone. talk a little bit, if you would, about numbers in general. you say about 12,000 now, and the situation has improved. but your kind of way out, prince william is -- it's not so much anymore -- it's a very growing area and has been for several years. but you talk about market-driven housing prices, subsidized housing prices. >> right.

>> what do you mean by that? >> well, there's two types of affordable housing, basically. one is, you drive into, you can afford the housing price. clearly, the further out you go, the lower the housing prices per family. then there's government-subsidized housing, which we used to refer to as section 8. and now it's choice program. >> a voucher in a sense. >> voucher, that's right, exactly right. and i know in prince william county, as in other jurisdictions in this region, there is quite a long waiting list to be able to get that subsidized housing for your family. >> let's talk about that waiting list. it's extremely long. and how does one go about qualifying for assistance? >> well, generally, you go to your public housing authority, wherever you are, whatever county you're in, whatever city you're in. you should have a public housing authority. and apply. but the application period in some areas is closed and only opened at specific times, so you have to pay attention to when those times are. check with your housing

authority. and even if it's always open, the waiting list could be years long. so, it's not something that you look at as immediate resolution to a housing problem. for instance, we hold a weekly housing search workshop, and in that housing search workshop, yes, we go through the subsidized housing opportunities, but we are also, again, focused on how to make you be more realistic about your options, look at all your options and make a realistic decision about what's out there for you. >> what's the bar for people to qualify? >> i can't tell you the income, but it's per family, per income, and each housing authority would be able to give you that income. the income for public housing and housing choice vouchers is low-income. there's virtually no moderate income for those type of units. there are additional subsidies out there or additional units that are now focused on workforce housing, and that's hitting those that are working, that are working in decent professions, yet they still --

we live in an extremely expensive area for housing, so even those with two-family, two individuals working in a household find it difficult in this market. and there is housing also focused on that. >> we do have a very diverse area here in terms of housing itself, very expensive parts of our area, and certainly, cheaper places to live and move. how do we rate compared to other parts of the country when it comes to housing right now? and affordable housing? >> generally speaking, i think we have a pretty good mix of housing, from multifamily to single-family homes. in prince william county, we could probably use some lower income apartments, for example. generally speaking, affordable housing is for those that have 80% of the median income in the area. so, if you're at 80% or below, you're probably going to qualify for affordable housing, if it's available. generally speaking, you know, an individual's going to need to make about $25 an hour at a

full-time job in order to afford a two-bedroom at $1,500 a month, something like that. and i think the rule of thumb is somewhere between 30% and 40% of your income should be spent on housing and utilities. so, if you're out of whack -- >> right. >> -- you need to see a hud-certified counselor to help you get into shape. >> and another large barrier that families face is credit. >> sure. >> so, you might meet income, yet you might have had some credit challenges in your past, and that in itself will cause a difficulty in finding anything that you can afford that is in decent shape. >> and certainly, in recent years, a lot more people have found dings on their credit reports. >> right. and then the third barrier are security deposits. you know, if a landlord requires one or two months security deposit, that's a hefty chunk of change that folks will have to come up with. >> sure, for a lot of people.

we're going to take a break, and as we go to break, we'll put up web addresses and phone numbers, too. if you're looking for help or know someone who is, this is the housing counseling services and also the capital area foreclosure network. phone numbers and web addresses on your screen. we'll be right back on "viewpoint," so stay with us. [ dog barking ] mom! breakfast? in this house? in the morning i can use all the help i can get. that's why i love nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast and even whole-wheat waffles. it's a quick and easy way to give my family a breakfast they'll want to eat. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. they love the taste and i feel good that they're ready to tackle the day.

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welcome back to "viewpoint." again, we're talking about housing in our area today. we touched on foreclosures and ways people can get help if they are in trouble or find themselves about to become in trouble. there is a word, caffeine. tell us about this, frank. this is a foreclosure network. >> that's right, jim. if you're in a foreclosure crisis, if you acknowledge that you're in a crisis, first thing to do is get c.a.f.n. that's the capital area foreclosure network.

there is a hotline and texting ability to get connected to an immediately hud-certified, trained counselor who can help you in your particular situation. >> that's great. you know, we were talking about people in foreclosure, behind on their mortgages. that's what we're seeing still, and people are seeing not only loss of jobs, but sometimes just income, wages being cut. and so, they fall behind. it's not hard to do. >> yes, it certainly is. and so, it's not just the number of foreclosures that we need to be watching for in our region, it's the number of individuals behind in their mortgage. so, if you're 30 days, 60 days, 90 days behind, you might not be showing up in the statistics for foreclosures, yet you're at high risk, and a great number of people are in that position in our region, and that's the reason that we need to focus on getting people to immediate help. don't wait until you get that foreclosure notice. when you're 30 days behind, when you think you're going to be 30 days behind, that's when to seek assistance.

>> we've seen population and demographic shifts all over our area. and one of the issues is displacement. and that's a big issue. >> well, while we can look at home ownership, we can look at preserving home ownership, but what's a big crisis in our region as well is preserving good tenancy, in this area, in d.c. in popular. the number of tenants that have been displaced due to sales of a building that results in the gentrification of the good development we've all seen has resulted in the displacement of thousands of tenants between neighborhoods, between city and the different states surrounding us, as well as the process of stopping to provide good conditions for tenants and living in poor conditions, living with lead-based, lead hazards, living without hot water, living without heat. we see that every day in our office. so, if you're a tenant and facing any of those things,

don't just say you're used to it this is how you've lived. seek assistance. again, that's where a hud counselor comes in. >> we talked earlier about the mix of housing in our area and the housing market in general, a little bit better off, or maybe, in some cases, a lot better off than other parts of the country. and we find that way with jobs, too. we're little more resilient in the greater washington area. and you've got a plan. everybody in housing here for the future employment picture here, we see an influx of workers coming in over the next 10, 20 years. how do you get enough housing for all of those people? >> well, you do it through planning and through the council of governments, among other organizations in the region. we anticipate -- recent studies indicate that we will need about 700,000 new homes between now and 2030 to accommodate the job growth that we expect here in the international capital region.

and of course, we've got to plan for that. each individual jurisdiction as well as the region, to be able to accommodate that sort of growth. i mean, since the last census in 2000, prince william county alone has grown by 43%. >> wow. >> we are now the only northern virginia majority-minority community. so, 51% of our population is from elsewhere, other countries. so, not only are we growing by leaps and bounds, not only are we changing demographically, we're also getting older. and we hope those folks retire in place here in the region. so, we're going to have to accommodate the continued growth in the job market here. i mean in prince william county, we are the largest, or the fastest growing job market in the state of virginia. >> wow. >> and we are the ninth in the country. and if we're going to continue that kind of job growth, and that's what we all want, we've got to provide them a place to live. >> that's an impressive ranking. >> yeah. >> that's great. you know, we have always talked

good and we grew up thinking owning the house is the american dream. but for some people, renting might be the better option. and the only option. and sometimes, that is the better option, though, especially today. do you find that you're telling people that more today? >> well, people come in and say, is this a good time to buy? should i buy now? should i not buy now? as a counselor, what a counselor would answer is, the time to buy is the time where you're prepared to buy and that you're ready to buy and that you want to buy. you're not buying as an investment. unfortunately, that's what's been happening over the last, you know, the previous five years, during the boom. you're buying a home, you're buying a home when you're ready to buy a home, you're buying a home when you have stable income, stable credit. all of those things that we all knew ten years ago and forgot during the boom. but there's a situation now where buying could be a good time at this moment if you're prepared, because in some neighborhoods, in some areas of the region, it's cheaper to own

than to rent at this moment. >> we have seen that in some places. >> so, this is something to look at. this is not something to say, oh, no, the markets crashed. if you're ready, if you're counseled, if you know what you're doing, it could be a good time to buy. >> and the interest rate still very low. >> still low. >> we'll go to break and put up some web addresses and phone numbers for you, if you'd like assistance or know someone who is in need of counseling. there's the housing counseling services number and the capital area foreclosure network, their web address. we'll be right back on

good saturday morning, everyone. i'm angie goff, taking a look at some of this morning's top stories. newt gingrich is celebrating his win in south carolina's republican primary. the former house speaker finished with about 40%, compared to 28% for mitt romney. rick santorum was third, followed by ron paul. a spokesman for joe paterno says the former penn state head

coach is in serious condition. the 85-year-old has been in the hospital for ten days since experiencing complications with lung cancer treatments. people gathered at paterno's statue at penn state late last night to honor him and pray for a speedy recovery. alexandria is moving forward with a controversial plan to redevelop the waterfront area. the city council approved the so-called waterfront small area plan yesterday. it calls for the creation of a citizen group to review future proposals and requirements on development. we'll be back in 15 minutes with more news. and welcome back to "viewpoint." again, we're talking about the housing crisis in our area or what was a crisis and may be improving in some parts of our region. lisa butler-mcdougal, executive director of seed incorporated joins us now. lisa, tell us about seed and the work that you've done for literally thousands of residents in prince george's county over the years. >> seed is a faith-based community non-profit, the

independent affiliate of refreshing spring of church of god in christ in riverdale in prince george's county. in addition to being a hud-approved counseling agency, we have a range of services that serves the entire family, from child care to emergency food and clothes, as well as summer programs. so, we really look -- and we're seeing that even a lot of people who come to us for foreclosure actually really need a lot more services, whether it's emergency food. we find that for a period of time, some of the parents in our child development center as well as in our summer program were facing difficulty. and when you get to the root of the problem, you find there's a little bit of a problem that is happening with the mortgage as a result of foreclosure. so, we pride ourselves on kind of being a one-stop shop, where an individual can get all of the services that they need in order to move from dependency to self-sufficiency. >> and with respect to being dependent and living in a home or an apartment and housing, are you seeing more people come to you for services as we see

unemployment go up or wages go down? >> absolutely. just one day before christmas, where we normally serve about, maybe 300 families in a month, we served 93 families in one day, which resulted in well over almost 400 people being served. and that was just for emergency food alone. we are seeing an increase in individuals who are coming in for foreclosure, and some of them are individuals who have already received a modification and who, because of unemployment or reduction in wages, are finding themselves in financial difficulty again. >> marian, how are the stories that you're hearing changing, in say the past year or two, from what we saw five, six years ago? >> well, the stories, what we often see is that, take foreclosure for instance, when a family comes in for services, we might find they've been to several other institutions to seek assistance for foreclosure and are not necessarily hearing the answer they want to hear in terms of their opportunities. and in situations where they might have accepted or negotiated a modification that

they thought they could keep to, the reality was that it wasn't based in a firm and clear picture of their economic standing. so, it's important, again, that people are realistic. of course, what we're seeing is people circling around, just as was mentioned previously, and it's better to take a good analysis of your situation with the help of somebody and try and come to a solution that works the first time around. >> we were talking about population growth, certainly in prince william county, and the numbers still high for foreclosures. foreclosure is not the end of the world, though. what do you tell people in terms of getting back on their feet? and will they be able to ever try to own a home again? and is renting a good stop gap place for them? >> surely. but i think it's unique to each individual family, right? and obviously, the first thing we tell them is to get cafn, capital area foreclosure network, and get the help and assistance they need to work

through this transition period in their lives. and if renting is the option for them, so be it. perhaps, they'll find a better job or a higher paying job or a job with more benefits as the economy improves, and their family will perhaps go back to that american dream you talk about. >> what do you tell people that you see, lisa, in terms of giving them hope for housing? and the resources are out there, seed being a big one. >> foreclosure is stressful, and a lot of families that we see really need to come to terms with the realization that we're not going to be able to save every home and that there is a financial -- an option that will help them move out of the stressful situation that they're in. and so, once a family comes to realize that they will be able to own a home again within a period of time, that renting might be something that will help them restore their credit. we even offer financial literacy options for families so that they'll be able to look at where they are, plan toward, based on realistic income that marian

mentioned before, to make sure that they're in a very solid housing that fits their family's needs and not responding so much to a lot of the hoopla which got people in trouble in the first place. >> and you do the workshops in english and spanish? >> we do the workshops in english and in spanish. >> all right. we've got to take a quick break. we'll be right back on "viewpoint," so stick around. okay, people, let's get started.

pete, did you forget yours? me pete, me use pen! (laughter) sorry i'm late, i was in the 16th century looking for pete's pen. (laughter) guys, guys. take it easy, ok? pete's mom is videochatting me, and she wants her pen back! ok, alright, well. i just got one. so... yeah, you've got a little... yep, i can feel the wet patch. don't look at it. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay.

welcome back. again, we're talking about housing, finding affordable housing, foreclosures, too. and unfortunately, we have to talk about this word scam and predator, because it's still out there. you're seeing this, lisa. >> we are seeing it. if someone tells a family or an individual that for just $1,500, i can save your mortgage or get you a loan modification -- we even get packages in the mail that look official. they look like they come from hud. they look like they may come from a state or local agency. please, please, look to a

hud-approved housing council lag agency. you should not be charged for your services. and if you have $1,500 to spare, save it and give it to your mortgage company to bring your mortgage up to current. so, we warn people against scams because they really do look official, and people will seem to be well-meaning, but they're predators. you have to be careful. >> we hear this phrase a lot, rent to own. but not every time you hear it, it's associated with someone who is trying take advantage of you. >> right. well, a lot of way to pick out a scammer also is to start looking at the lamp posts. if you see it posted on every lamp post, there's something not good about it. >> yeah. >> and what we're noticing a lot of is the rent-to-own lamp posts and web mail and other pushers to encourage people to rent to own. not necessarily a bad thing in itself, and i'm certainly not calling every agents working in that area as predators, but it's something to be very cautious of. if you can't afford a home today, there is nothing to assume you can afford it 12 months from now and nothing to assume you're going to price a

home to purchase today that you're not going to purchase for a year or two. >> state and local, federal government, there is plenty out there for people to turn to. >> there is quite a lot of resources available to the family on the local, state and federal level. both on the advice and information side as well as the scam side. you know, our attorney general in virginia has chased some of these scam artists and taken them to court so they don't repeat the crimes that they've done with other families. but on the housing side, you know, our house -- every jurisdiction in this region's got a housing department who have trained hud-certified counselors who can help families get through this transition period. >> quickly, we've got a little bit of time, but there is this section 8 -- it's a voucher program now, and you work with that. a lot of people have found help with that. >> it's the housing choice voucher program that is offered by hud, which through different

jurisdictions. in prince george's county, we work with first-time home buyers who can work that voucher into a home ownership voucher. it's a complicated program and has lots of restrictions, but it's really good and really being able to see people move from rentership and dependency into being homeowners. so it's a great program. >> and the other way, there is a phrase you raised during the break, graceful exit. >> yes. >> and sometimes, that's what it requires. >> yes, the graceful exit is -- there's many options you need to look at if you're having trouble meeting mortgage payments, modifications, the government programs, but also short sale, selling your house at a price lower than your loan amount, there is deed in lieu of foreclosure, basically deeding the property back to the lender. what we tell people is look at all the options. a graceful exit is always better for you emotionally, oftentimes economically, and almost always on your credit as well. the graceful exit means getting out from under the burden that you've been feeling and moving on with your life.

>> thank you all. i think that you gave hope to a lot of people out there today, and we appreciate your advice and your expertise. thanks for coming in on "viewpoint" this morning. we're going to do a graceful exit now because we're out of time on "viewpoint" for this sunday. thank you for joining us. now back to "news 4 10d." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm angie goff. >> and i'm chris gordon. this morning, the fight is on for first place in the republican presidential race. >> voters in south carolina gave newt gingrich his first primary win with 40% over mitt romney's 28%. rick santorum finished third with 17% with ron paul last at 13%. >> and now the candidates are looking ahead to their next contest. and as steve handelsman reports,

florida is once again a battleground state in the race for president. >> usa! usa! [ chanting ] >> reporter: newt gingrich heads to florida with surprising momentum. >> we want to run an american campaign. >> reporter: he took saturday's south carolina primary by a wide margin, 12 points, with a few votes left to be counted. >> it's not that i am a good debater, it is that i articulate the deepest felt values of the american people. >> reporter: but gingrich broke through in two debates here, sounding tough and confident. >> i think grandiose thoughts. this is a grandiose country. >> reporter: mitt romney had stumbled, admitting he paid a tax rate of just 15%, not releasing his returns. he got slammed by his rivals and tonight fired back. >> when my opponents attack success and free enterprise, they're not only attacking me, they're attacking every person who dreams of a better future. he's attacking you. >> reporter: rick santorum ran third but vowed to continue.

ron paul, too, but not in florida. that's where romney is better financed and organized but where gingrich now goes full fight. >> if you want your children to have a life of independency and paychecks, you have a candidate that's newt gingrich, and i'll bet you we have votes everywhere! >> reporter: the tie gets broken in ten days. florida will be an expensive battle, heavy with advertising and shaping up as negative and nasty. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, columbia, south carolina. >> the win for newt gingrich heads a new tone heading into florida. earlier this morning, "meet the press" moderator david gregory called it a political climate change. >> i think there's a connection problem that romney has with conservative voters, but i also think you've got the tea party rearing its head. i've been waiting for the tea party sentiment to really show up in this race, and i think you've got it now. i think that newt gingrich's win in south carolina was really an

expression of the politics of grievance, of the hard-core anti-obama sentiment within the republican party rearing its head, saying, not so fast. >> newt gingrich will give his reaction to his big win on "meet the press" right here on nbc 4 at 10:30 this morning. and as south carolina wraps up its primary, the next contest has already started. all 67 counties in florida have opened early voting polling sites. the state's early voting runs through next saturday. nearly 500,000 absentee ballots have been requested statewide. the florida republican party says voter counts from early voting sites should be available tomorrow. the candidates will hold their first florida debate tomorrow in tampa bay during a special edition of nbc's "rock center." brian williams will be the moderator. you can watch it tomorrow night at 9:00 right here on nbc 4. well, winter is officially here, as our area got its first

major snow of the season this weekend. residents spent yesterday shoveling and scraping their way out of layers of snow and ice that blanketed our area. but come saturday night, it was business as usual in downtown alexandria. people were enjoying date night, bundled up against the cold, saying it was more chilly than they expected. but some braved the elements, saying, it wasn't too bad outside. >> this is the first time we've been out for a while, date night, so glad to take advantage of it and not letting the weather stop us. >> this is colder than i thought it would be. it's chilly. >> a little bit. >> it is. we've been spoiled. >> you don't seem like you're dressed with heavy clothes on, no hat, no nothing. >> i was actually born out in utah, so i'm kind of used to the cold weather. >> okay, all right. so, this is no big deal? >> no, not at all. >> to make sure drivers today are safe, vdot told news 4 that they kept their salt trucks out all night to make sure roads

weren't too slick. and driving out of northern virginia early this morning, vdot had the big signs up that said "icy roads, be careful," so they were warning drivers to take it easy this morning. >> you definitely need to do that anything that looks wet is probably frozen this morning, so be real careful for that, and even a couple conversational snowflakes to be found out there. don't be caught off guard by the cold temperatures this morning, either. it's a chilly one, indeed. there's a live picture over washington this morning. the sun is already up, but you'd never know it by looking at that picture. you cannot see it at all, thanks to all the cloud cover that's out there. 28 degrees in waldorf and la plata, 32 in stafford and fredericksburg, 30 for culpeper. towards innesville, temperatures in the upper 20s. martinsburg, west virginia, 26 degrees. so, it's a cold one. here you can see it on live digital doppler, a couple lonesome snowflakes out there, central and northern montgomery county, southern parts of prince george's county, down into southern prince william county in virginia, along the northern neck, and a few more snow showers now drifting across the eastern shore, coming over the

bay, over at tillman island, headed out towards waldorf and charlotte hall. be on the lookout for passing snowflakes. it's not going to add up. here you can see on the wide view, not a whole lot of precipitation coming down within about a 500-mile radius of d.c. but nonetheless, passing snowflakes today. temperatures will struggle to get only into the mid-30s for high temperatures this afternoon. the real concern i'm focusing on for the forecast will be late tonight, starting from sundown tonight until sunrise tomorrow. might be a little coating of freezing drizzle or very light coating of freezing rain. we'll be watching that very, very carefully. don't take much to make a mess, but it won't last that long, either. >> and the morning rush hour is in question, so -- >> a little. may want to back the alarm up 15 minutes now, just have a little extra time on your monday morning. >> tom kierein will be sitting in that seat giving everybody advice. >> absolutely right. >> all right, thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. speaking of winter, it left its mark across the northeast. new york got a little more than 4 inches of snow. heavy snow fell saturday until about noon.

then it was all flurries. kids young and old took advantage of the winter weather. many are thankful this season looks nothing like last winter. you may remember, new york had to bring in special machines to try to melt away the 31 inches of snow. well, the same system left about 8 inches of snow in chicago and surrounding areas, and that was a bit much for some airlines. the snow caused more than 700 flight cancellations in chicago o'hare and midway airports. and it may be a while before it all melts. right now, the temperatures in the chicago area are down to the low 20s. winter weather is pounding the west coast. washington state can't seem to catch a break. first snow, then an ice storm, and now high winds are causing problems in seattle. gusts up to 50 miles per hour blew through this weekend, knocking down trees and causing power outages. at one point, nearly 600 people did not have electricity this weekend.

and now another storm is on the way. joe paterno is currently in serious condition in the hospital, despite reports that the former penn state head coach had died. last night, there were reports that the 85-year-old paterno had passed away, but the family spokesman quickly refuted the reports. paterno has been in the hospital for ten days after experiencing complications from his battle with lung cancer. he was fired last november amidst the jerry sandusky sexual abuse scandal. now, as news of paterno's condition spread, people began gathering at his statue on the penn state campus to honor the former football coach. people lit candles and placed signs at the base of his statue, showing their support for paterno. they also discussed his legacy, saying they hoped his successes both on and off the field were not overshadowed by the sandusky scandal. well, this morning, d.c. council member and former mayor marion barry is recovering from surgery. his chief of staff said he had a

urinary tract procedure at sibley hospital yesterday. the 75-year-old had prostate cancer in 1995 and a kidney transplant three years ago. barry is currently running for a third consecutive term as the council member for ward 8. a vote in alexandria this weekend sets the framework for future development. the city council approved what's known as the waterfront small area plan yesterday. it puts limits on future development and creates a citizen group to review proposed plans. critics worry new, tall, modern buildings will disrupt the city's character. supporters say new parks, hotels and shops will bring more money to alexandria. well, it is 7:40 right now. still ahead at this hour, a new gig for robert ehrlich. the job that will have the former maryland governor working for one of his harshest critics. and home again? how this dog that was stolen

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welcome back, everybody. the "today" show is next on nbc 4. it starts at 8:00. >> let's get a preview now. lester holt joins us live from new york. hi, lester. >> hi, angie and chris. coming up on "today," we're going to analyze the gingrich surge. as you know, he makes an extraordinary political comeback, winning the big primary in south carolina. this, of course, sets the stage for a contentious battle in florida. we'll look at what's at stake there, what we may see in terms

of strategy changes. former penn state football coach joe paterno's health has taken a turn for the worse, as hundreds of students hold a vigil on campus for the legendary coach. we'll get the latest on his condition. where is casey anthony? six months ago, she was acquitted in the death of her daughter and she's been trying to keep her location a secret, but several people in one florida suburb say they've seen her in a place that you might not expect. and a girls basketball team outside chicago has been undefeated for, get this, four seasons. they have a record of 146 wins and 0 losses. we'll meet the team and find out its secret for success. those stories and more when we see you later on "today," but right now, back to you in washington. >> we'll be watching. thank you, lester. >> okay. well, the military is confirming that a senior al qaeda official has been killed in an air strike in somalia. three missiles fired from an unmanned drone struck bilal al

barjawi's car in the south outskirts of mogadishu. he helped train fighters for al shabaab, which is battling somalia's u.n.-backed government. he is at least the fourth senior al qaeda-linked al shabaab commander killed in as many years. firefighters in reno say after battling a massive wildfire for three days, they say they've contained most of the fire. rain yesterday helped crews contain the fire, which destroyed 29 homes, forced thousands of residents to evacuate, and at one point, grew to more than six square miles. fire officials say an elderly man admitted to accidentally starting the fire by improperly discarding fireplace ashes outside his home. investigators say he is extremely remorseful but could be asked to pay the $700,000 bill for fighting the blaze. in new york, three people are dead from a fire that tore through a home in poughkeepsie. two students of marist school

and a man were killed in the fire. the school postponed two basketball games out of respect for the students killed. fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze but believe it started near the rear of the first floor. well, "the baltimore sun" will soon include contributions from former maryland governor robert ehrlich. he plans to write a weekly op ed for the newspaper. "the sun" reports that the former republican governor of maryland will focus on national politics. ehrlich is a law firm partner and state chairman for mitt romney's presidential campaign. his column debuts in "the baltimore sun" next sunday, january 29th. snow lovers, hope you enjoyed what we got yesterday. might be some time before we see something like that again. >> yeah. i'm a snow lover and i don't like having to be happy with an inch of snow. >> i know. >> you know, i was hoping for a little bit more. we might get a little more frozen precip in the near future, but isn't enough to shovel or concern yourselves

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welcome back. divers suspended the search for victims in the wreckage of a cruise ship off the coast of italy. monitoring equipment showed rough waters shifted the "costa concordia," putting divers in danger. yesterday, crews found the body of a woman on the ship but can't tell yet if she was a passenger or a crew member. 20 people are still missing. 12 others are confirmed dead. the ship hit a reef more than a week ago and partially submerged. authorities say the captain deliberately steered the luxury liner into shallow waters to entertain tourists, then abandoned the ship early during evacuations. well, tonight kicks off events for the annual right to life march here in d.c.

thousands are expected to take part in the vigil mass at the basilica in northeast d.c. it's billed as the largest and longest running peaceful human rights demonstration for the unborn. the march, which is tomorrow, coincides with the anniversary of the 1973 u.s. supreme court decision roe v. wade, which legalized abortion. more than 500 students from catholic university are expected to participate in the march. president obama is preparing for his election year state of the union address on tuesday and plans to push for what he calls a more prosperous and equitable society. the president will once again call for changes to the tax code so the wealthy pay more. it's an idea that republicans oppose, despite overwhelming public support. president obama's third state of the union is set for tuesday night at 8:00, and you can catch it right here on nbc 4, your place for politics. and as expected, all roads near

the capitol will be closed for tuesday's state of the union. parts of constitution avenue, independence avenue, pennsylvania avenue and all nearby streets will close down at 7:00 on tuesday night. police expect the roads to be opened shortly after the state of the union address. life in prison without parole, that's the sentence prosecutors are calling for in the lululemon murder case. britney norwood is scheduled to be sentenced in montgomery county this coming friday. in november, she was convicted of first-degree murder in the brutal death of jana murray last year in the bethesda yoga shop. prosecutors told "the washington post" norwood's week-long cover-up and lack of remorse speak to the danger she poses if ever released on parole, but defense attorneys say parole would increase norwood's chances of getting treatment for her mental illness. demonstrators in switzerland are building a, get this, occupy igloo. it's a camp ahead of the world

economic forum next week. protesters say they're making the igloo in solidarity with the occupy movement. nearly 40 heads of state and 18 of the world's central bank's countries around the world are scheduled to attend the forum. treasury secretary timothy geithner and imf managing editor christine lagarde are scheduled to be there as well. it will be the largest gathering in four decades at the swiss alpine resort. that's pretty cool. >> check that snow -- >> you've got envy, envy! >> man, i am so snow envious of that picture, that video from switzerland. >> there's no way. >> alas, that's switzerland, you know? they're totally cheating. they're buried up in the mountains like that they get snow all winter long, and man, we just can't buy a snowflake hardly in washington this year. we are saving a ton on our heating bills, and even i can appreciate the savings on energy, but nonetheless, i still would like to see a little bit in the way of snow around here. all my faith in snow this winter is now starting to be called february.

so, we're better -- >> i called that. i called that a while ago. >> i know it. unfortunately, or fortunate, depending how you look at it, january continues to disappoint in the snowfall department. only a little more than an inch of snow yesterday, and we do have some snowflakes flying early this morning, but alas, they will not add up to anything today. just a couple of snowflakes to get your spirits briefly brightened out there. cloudy skies right now over washington. and underneath the cloudy skies, we have seen a few light snowflakes. i'll show you those on radar in a second. just enough snow yesterday to make the grassy surfaces along ohio drive, next to the potomac river, just a little bit on the white side. 30 degrees in washington right now with a northeasterly wind at 9 miles per hour. that north to easterly breeze today is going to keep pushing the moisture from the atlantic ocean back into the area. that's the reason for the cloud cover this morning. temperatures all below freezing in the immediate metropolitan area to right at the freezing mark alongside the chesapeake bay. and up into northern and western maryland, panhandle of west virginia, shenandoah valley, all

in the mid-to-upper 20s this morning. so, here it is on live doppler. not a whole lot of snow out there, but a couple of little streamers coming off of the atlantic ocean. so, we'll zoom in as close as we can to show you the flakes that we do have to show you, right along the interstate 270 here, central montgomery county, also southern fairfax county, south of i-66, down towards merrett field and springfield, mixing bowl area, quantico, dale city, fredericksburg, seeing a few flakes and a little more light snow across parts of the eastern shore, but really, that's about it. that's all part of a weak onshore flow. the high pressure is moving onshore with an east to northeasterly breeze as the moisture comes back into the cold air, wringing out the snowflakes this morning. so there might be a couple slippery spots. most of the slipperiness is just left over from yesterday's snow, which is refrozen on some of the roadways. be extra careful on your way out the door today. the real concern is, overnight tonight as that moisture continues to push in, the cold air remains trapped, so we might

have a little issue with freezing drizzle or light freezing rain from sundown tonight to sunrise on monday morning before the warmer air pushes it all out of here and turns it all back into rain. here we are on our future weather. clouds continue to build. by 4:00 this afternoon, maybe a little hint of some freezing drizzle from washington southbound. that will intensify a little bit during the overnight hours, but again, we're still not looking for a whole lot of it. but sometimes, just that little glaze sometimes is all it takes to make things a little slippery, but it will change to all rain tomorrow as soon as the sun comes up. so, cloudy and cold, passing flurries today, little, if anything, in the way of accumulation. the real concern will be for the freezing drizzle late tonight into early tomorrow. be careful. set your alarms a little early for your monday morning commute just to get your day started a little early, just in case you run into a delay. breezy sunshine returns for tuesday and wednesday and relatively mild weather sticks around through the end of the week with highs trending warmer than average as we head into the end of the week and next weekend. >> thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. good weather to watch football. the baltimore ravens take on the

new england patriots today for a chance to play in the super bowl. now, many skins fans look down upon baltimore and its sports teams, but there are some traitors among us. there are redskins fans turning in their burgundy and gold for ravens purple. news 4's pat collins has more from laurel, maryland. >> not a ravens fan. >> did you use to be a redskins fan? >> once upon a time. >> are you a ravens fan? >> absolutely. >> did you used to be a redskin fan? >> once upon a time. >> reporter: welcome to the city of laurel. you might think of it as middletown. you see, it's 20.8 miles from downtown washington. it's 20.6 miles from downtown baltimore. but when it comes to football fan loyalty these days, it seems less than 50-50. in our unscientific survey along route 1, "honk for the ravens," "honk for the redskins."

we got three times as many honks and beeps for the ravens than we did for our poor old skins. >> it's all about the ravens, get it right. >> reporter: but it doesn't stop there. a number of redskin fans here are crossing that purple ravens line, and they're doing it with gusto! are you a front-runner? >> yeah. >> are you a front-runner? >> you'd better believe it, all the way! >> reporter: at dunkin', team pride donuts. the sprinkles, they're not burgundy and gold, they're baltimore ravens purple! and they're selling, why, they're selling like hotcakes! "full disclosure." you know who else crossed the purple line? this man. this man's my son. ever since he was a little boy, he's been a redskin fan. he knows about sunny and billy, john riggins and theismann. but you know what he did last

sunday? you know where he was? he was in baltimore! rooting for the ravens. why? >> to watch my ravens win. >> reporter: what about the redskins? >> got sick of wasting my time and money on the redskins organization. >> reporter: i should have been a better father. here, have a purple donut. >> mm-mmm, so good. >> reporter: i'm pat collins, news 4, laurel. >> pat and patrick, two separate teams. >> yes. only pat collins can bust out the cardboard and spray-paint for a story. >> and bust his own son. that is still true blue, burgundy and gold for the skins. a few weeks ago, we brought you the story of amman who had his truck and dog stolen while at work. >> well, we can now report a

happy reunion of the two. this is cody, a schnauzer mix that disappeared a month ago. his owners left him in a truck that was stolen and used as a getaway car. the truck was found a few hours later but cody was nowhere to be found. the family put up flyers, and on friday, someone called the owner saying they think they found the missing schnauzer. >> a lady that had him was just a very nice lady. looks like took very good care of him. and we're just happy to have him back. >> i think we all cried. everybody was just so excited to see him. and as soon as we called his name, he came running over. so, he knew. >> cody's owners say they never plan to leave him in the car again. >> go, cody.