extreme caution. the bomb squad called out early this morning to expose of a grenade. the surprising spot where it was found. and late-night vote. the house gives final approval to a fiscal cliff that will prevent major tax increases. a look at who will not benefit from the this. >> if congress refuses to give the united states government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic. >> and po no time to celebrate. a warning from prescribe about the next fight. should the debt ceiling be raised. >> good morning. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm keith russell.

and it's wednesday, january 2nd, 2013. a bomb squad is in vienna, trying to figure out who left explosive device at a tire shop and why. this led the police to shut down the entire block of maple avenue. tony is live from the scene with the latest, good morning, tony. >> reporter: good morning. when we get called to these scenes a lot of time it turns out it was a package somebody was taken to the post oftenst offers or a purse or piece of luggage but that wasn't the case this morning on an excited scene when we found out it was a grenade. look at the video. this was a grenade left in front of this merchant's tire store with an employee opening up the shop around 7:30 discovered the device right by the front step you're looking at right now. they called the vienna police and they called in the fairfax county bomb squad and the fairfax county bomb squad did say it was a threat and they

used the robot and they spent about five or ten minutes using the video come are on the robot to examine the device and about ten minutes later they picked it up and brought it back to where the bomb squad members were assembled and then took it around the building. we're told behind the building they dismantled the device and i was told by one of the fairfax county officers it was a grenade with the pin inside but it was missing the blasting cap so they deemed it as hazardous but didn't pose that much of a threat to the business. the atf and fbi were on scene and they are trying to determine where the grenade came from. such an odd thing to have one laying in the treat. we'll continue to follow the story. 123 has been re-opened as the fairfax police and vienna place still investigate. one person dead in a house fire in lower maryland, it broke around around 8:30 this morning

near route 198. the firefighters say once the blaze was out one person was dead inside the mobile home. so far no information on if it was a man or woman or the pepper's age and the cause is also under investigation. a deal to limit the damage caused by going over the fiscal cliff is now in the hands of president obama. the house passed the measure late last night that will keep taxes for going up for about 98% of americans. the president said he'll sign the bill into law. tracie potts breaks down what that will mean for you. >> the house stands adjourned until 10 o 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning-hour debate. >> reporter: lawmakers left capitol hill this morning after finally avoiding the fiscal cliff. >> at some point you strike a balance. >> reporter: 257 democrats and republicans voted for a bill that extends unemployment and middle-class tax breaks and keeps the alternative minimum tax from hitting working families and avoids a big cut in medicare payments and prevents

tax hikes for 98% of americans. tax rates will go up for couples making over $450,000. democrats gave many on that. the republicans won a investigate ribby raising the estate tax threshold to over $5 million but the 2% payroll tax cut is gone! expect to see that hit your paycheck starting this month. >> tax relief has been achieved. now is the time for the president to work with congress to address government overspending. >> reporter: and the debt ceiling, before leaving for hawaii early this morning president obama urmged congress to raise it. >> we can't not pay bills that we already incurred. if congress refuses to give the united states government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastroph catastrophic. >> reporter: no word when the president will sign the bill so in the end it was one day late but just in time for nervous veshz as markets re-opened this morning. tracie potts, nbc news,

washington. >> investors appear to be reacting positively to the deal. the dow is up 2%. nasdaq up 2.5%. markets in asia and europe were also up today. your taxes are still about to go up. a 2% payroll tax cut just expired. that means you'll be paying about $1,000 a year more in taxs if you make $50,000 a year. economists warn that could slow the country's economic growth but as much as .07% in the coming year. on the flip side the tax cut cost the government about $125 billion a year. >> this congressional term is not ending without controversy. >> but i am deeply disappointed, mr. speaker, and the people who have been damninged by sandy, including governor country christy, a republican, and governor cuomo, a democrat, should be deeply disappointed and, yes, angry that this congress would adjourn without addressing the pain of our

fellow citizens. >> that was maryland congress denny hoyer to end the term without voting on aid for victims of hurricane sandy. a house come drafted a measure to allocate $27 billion for recovery efforts. speaker john boehner says the house won't vote on it before this term ends at noon tomorrow. his spokesman said the congressman is still committed to passing the legislation this month. let's switch gears and talk about the weather. sunny skies but another cold morning. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us. this is the coldest day we've had since last winter and this morning we had quite a bit of cloudiness at dawn. since then the sky has thinned out. the atmosphere is thinning. we've had the cloud cover moving f to the east. but there's a few clouds north of us and well south but right over the metro area and much of northern virginia, maryland, the eastern shore, into the mountains, it is mostly sunny.

that's welcomed sunshine but it's not warming us up much. look at the regional temperatures. those areas in lavender, upper left of your screen, are still only in the upper teens to around 20 degrees. columbus, ohio, only 20 degrees. pittsburgh, 21. closer to washington, right around the beltway and inside the beltway, we're generally in the mid-to-upper 30s. near 40 in southern maryland and farther north and west it's only in the upper 20s from northern parts of frederick county to washington county and panhandle of west virginia. those areas still only in the 20s. we've got the winds coming from that direction. so it's going to be a cold day. how cold? we'll talk about that. how long will it last? the seven-day forecast coming up in a too minutes, keith? >> see you in a few. let's check on your mid day traffic. mike cremedas is in for danella seabrook and joins us with the latest. hey, make. things look good. no reports of serious delays on the inner or outer loop of the beltway and 66 looking better.

no problems hearding toward 495. a live lie at fairfax county parkway delay-free. about an 8-minute ride on 66 eastbound from the beltway to gleeb at 55 miles an hour. back to you. right now in manassas a judge is holding a hearing to determine in a death row inmate should be released. justin wolf is serving time for the 2001 murder-for-hire of his drug supplier in prince william county. in july a judge threw out his conviction saying prosecutes used false testimony from a key witness. the judge ordered a retrial within 120 days but it didn't happen and an appeals court upheld the decision. right now same-sex couples in montgomery county are holding some of the first public ceremonies in the state. gay marriage has been legal since midnight yesterday. both of the ceremonies have been private because the courts were closed for the holiday. this morning, the circuit court clerk began public ceremonies

starting at 9:00. four couples are ste scheduled to get married today. maryland is the ninth state to legalize same-sex marriage along with d.c. and a new session of the d.c. council is getting started. six members were sworn in during an inauguration ceremony about half an hour ago. the independent, david grosso was the only new face to be sworn in beat out michael brown. re-elected council members, are also beginning new four-year terms. the council is getting work done today as members will be assigned to committees today during an organizational meeting. no organization hotter than the redskins. ruj back alfred morris continues to receive high praise for his performance for the cowboys. named offensive player of the week he rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns sunday night. today the skins prepare for their first playoff game in five years. they've won seven in a row

buffetsing a team just as hot. the seahawks have won five straight and at 11-5 they finish better than the skins but because they're the wildcard team the game is being played at fedex field on sunday afternoon. the playoff run could cost the skins' offensive coordinator a head shot at a nfl coaching position. kyle shannihan is considered a potential candidate and the league has seven vacancies. his father does not want his assistance. interviewing for other jobs while the skins are alive in the playoffs. kyle is known as the mastermind of the great redskins' offense which has been impossible to stop with rg3 and alfred morris. if i'm kyle, i don't to go anywhere. >> this is the place to be and when your dad is the coach, that -- >> that could be a nice, long run. time 11:10. secretary of state hillary clinton, what doctors are saying

about her recovery. the death of a photographer and the

president hugh gan chavez' condition is tell kate three weeks after undergoing surgery for cancer. cuban television was told that despite setbacks, chavez has the

same strength as, quote, always. he's recovering in havana and has suffered several complications including a respiratory infection and it's unclear when he'll return to venezuela. secretary of state hillary clinton is expected to make a full recovery. this is her fourth day in the hospital as doctors use blood thinners to treat a blood clot in her head. nbc's anne thompson has more on clinton's condition. >> reporter: in her four years as secretary of state, hillary clinton never seemed to stop until now. she's been out of the public eye since this appearance in belfast, ireland, december 7th. >> it's a great pleasure to be here again. >> reporter: suffering a stomach virus, a concussion and then this past sunday, an mri revealed the blood clot. >> patients with a mild concussion, that risk is extremely low. it would be very rare to have

this type ofal allcomplication e concussion. >> reporter: this carries blood to the heart and lungs and the fear is that if it grows larger blood could back up in the brain causing a stroke. using blood thinners, doctors hope to slowly dissolve the clot. >> if we look at the prognosis for this type of problem, typically, if it's isolated to one small area the prognosis is very good. >> reporter: superlatives mark hillary clinton's career. the most admired woman in america for the 11st consecutive year in the gallup poll. logging almost 1 million miles and visiting 112 countries and one of the most controversial people of our time. before news of the clot, some speculated she was trying to avoid answering questions on capitol hill about the attack in libya killing four people including ambassador, christopher stephens. >> when you don't want to go to a meeting or conference or event you have a diplomatic illness. and this is a diplomatic illness

to beat the band. >> reporter: monday they said the lack of this was to protect her presidential ambition. yesterday, the often-critical "new york post" wished clinton well in an editorial writing her answers about ben ghazi, quote, can come later. a full recovery is what's important now. new york democrats insist the former senator will rebound. >> she's as tough as nails. she's strong and resilient. i know that we wish her a very speedy recovery. >> reporter: her husband, former president bill clinton, is believed to be at the hospital. her daughter, chelsea and nbc news special correspondent acknowledged well-wishers on twitter saying, thank you all for sending good thoughts my mom's way. grateful to all her doctors and that she'll make a full recovery. >> and this is not the first time secretary clinton has dealt with a blood clot. she had one in her leg in 1998. a taliban leader in

afghanistan is threatening prince harry, the terrorist described the prince as a jackal who wants to kill innocent afghans while drunk. harry is on his second tour or duty in afghanistan as a pilot. the taliban gave an exclusive interview. and he vowed to kill as many troops as possible before british troops leave afghanistan next year. and prince harry ice brother prince william called to the rescue. on duty on new year's eve when a call came in to save a man at sea. prince william is a rescue pilot. a man was off a fishing pier. he answer hid team flew in strong winds over choppy water to save the man. the team will continue their search today. turning to the weather, did i see the sun outside? >> yeah. >> i've been missing it. >> you won't feel it. it's pretty cold. in fact, we're now probably under way here, the coldest day since last winter. but between since last winter and through the fall, we had

some very warm months. in fact, take a look at the statistics for washington for 2012. we ended up 3.3 degrees above average for the year. that's the warmest year on record in washington. these are the final stats and we ended up, too, over seven inches below average with our precipitation. let's take a look at the last sunrise of 2012, i took this picture on monday morning. you can post your pix to weather at nbcwashington.com. this is one sent in by a viewer. she was trying out her new camera she got for christmas and got a photo of two bald eagles there at the lake in virginia. she posted this at weather @nbcwashington.com. so did david wallace of this awesome sky. clouds over fairfax a few days ago. near the fair oaks mall. post your pix at weather @nbcwashington.com there's a live picture of

capitol hill under a blue sky with just a few streak of high cloudiness. 37 at reagan national and we got that wind coming in out of the north at 15 miles an hour so it feels like it's in the 20s occasionally with the wind gusting to ah over 15 miles an hour. the sky over the last couple of hours we had a clear out over much of northern virginia, the district and maryland and there's some cloudiness down to our south and up into pennsylvania. but otherwise, we're going to have quite a bit of sunshine throughout much of the day and it's cold. still in the 30s. only going to warm up a couple more degrees for the high at reagan national where it's at 37. elsewhere we're a little above freezing. most of virginia and maryland and into the mountains and around west virginia and many locations, there are still below freezing this morning. and it's even colder than that. farther to the west and north, minneapolis, st. paul, only 14 degrees. chicago, only 19. this is the sore source of our winds coming in from the north and west so the cold will

continue. but it will be dry. future weather, our afternoon sky, quite sunny but as we get into the evening hours we might have some more clouds racing through from time to time but then sun coming back during the day tomorrow and mostly sunny on friday as the cold, dry, high pressure moves over the region and it will stay dry into the weekend. here's how we're looking for the rest of the day. for the afternoon, partly sunny and cold breezes with temperatures in the 30s to briefly near 40 downtown. and then overnight tonight, it's going to be cold unear a partly cloudy sky and by midnight, right back down to near 30 degrees. and then it will drop even more than that by down tomorrow. down into the low to mid 20s, much of the region and partly sunny to sunny as times on thursday. highs tomorrow only around 40 and then on friday morning back to the 20s and then afternoon into the mid 40s aptd sundayy. partly sunny on saturday and afternoon highs, mid 40s. here's your storm team 4 seven-day forecast, a bit milder

on sunday for the skins game and looks like good weather should be around 50 degrees during the early part of the afternoon but that's a late-afternoon game so by then, back into the 40s so it will be cold but it will be dry sunday afternoon and evening. and a dry and cold start to the first part of next week. is your car dirty? >> very dirty. >> yeah. >> all over it. >> good time to wash it. we won't have any precipitation the next seven days. >> run it through the wash. >> there you go. >> thanks, tom. let's check the mid day traffic. yes, we have mike cremedas here in for danella. he's got the latest. hey, angie things are looking good the beltway, inner loop and outer loop no delays. 270heading south, things look great. here's a live look at the 109 camera southbound traffic heading away from the screen. also looking good closer to the beltway at falls road. no problems on the metro. the mart training or the virginia railway express, keith?

angie? >> sounds good. it's 11:21. >> still ahead on "news4 midday." a huge hit in 2012 and why it could be gone for good in 2013. and how to make your resolution stick. whether it's to exercise more or something else, we have keys to keeping you on track. but first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] when your business is powered by verizon, you can do more business per second. and with more reliable internet, that's more per second. and with a dedicated line, it's more per second. and with an additional line, it's more... table for 15? [ male announcer ] ...per second. but most importantly, it's more... mmm! [ male announcer ] ...per second. get verizon high-speed internet and phone for just $84.99 a month when you sign up online with a two-year price guarantee. plus a $200 verizon visa pre-paid card and an additional line included. verizon.

gangnam style? >> the korean pop star says he's probably not performing his blockbuster hit agangnam style live in the u.s. again. he said his final performance was on new year's eve in sometimes square. he sky rocketed to the top of the charts in more than 30 countries since the debut in july. he said he's not done with music but it's time to come up with a new single. and other entertainment news, police say say a photographer hit by a car and killed after taking photos of justin bieber's car in l.a. detectives say the pop star was not inside the white ferrari at the time of the crash. the sports car was parked on the side of the road and police say the photographer was crossing the street when he was hit. no charmings are expected to be filed against the driver. and the time right now, 11:25. coming up in the next half hour

of "news4 midday." what local police agencies are doing differently after the school tragedy in connecticut. and good news for commuters in bethesda and today's important test. and after a few morning flurries, tom kierein is here with what we can expect in our weather for the rest of the week. stay with us.

right now on "news4 midday", a bomb squad ask investigating

the scores of a grenade found in vienna. a employee on the tire shop on route 123 discovered the device when opening the store. the police shut down the surrounding block and sent a robot to pick up the device. they said the pin was still in the grenade but the device did not have a blasting cap on it. the dow is up more than 200 points as investors react positively to the deal to limit the damage caused by going over the fiscal cliff. the house voted in favor of the plan late last night and will keep taxes going up for 98% of americans and president obama has said that he's going to sign the bill into law. and also new today, an explosion at an annapolis middle school has two employees in the hospital. the blast happened in the boiler room of baits middle school before 9:00 this morning. the police say the employees suffered burns and no word on the condition of the employees. the school has been evacuated while investigators assess the damage. today, the survivors of the school shooting in newtown,

connect without, attend an orientation at their new school. the classrooms at the chalk hill school in monroe were redone to look like the rooms at sandy hook loop. class start tomorrow. sandy hook elementary school became a crime scene on december 14th when adam lanza killed 27 people before killing himself. meanwhile, the connecticut lawyer who filed a $100 million lawsuit on behalf of surviving student has withdrawn that claim. the lawsuit claimed the state failed to adequately protect students. two more school systems in virginia are adding new security measures to help keep students safe. students and parents in spots vain yeah county and stafford county schools saw extra patrols this morning. melissa mollet reports. >> reporter: the district sides this is the time to up security, increase police presence after the sandy hook tragedy. >> good morning.

>> reporter: lots of excitement here in stafford as kids head back to school after a winter break but some changes, too. changes like more deputies patrolling the system's 31 schools. >> and we had a deputy parked over on the side. >> reporter: all of the high schools have a full time deputy on staff. the middle schools share two officers. now any school that does not have an armed deputy already assigned, will have one checking on the school throughout the day. >> they are going to meet with the building level administrators and check the interior and exterior of the building with, walking hallways and talking to staff and principal, meeting kids. >> sergeant nancy moore is in charge of the program. >> we want to make sure it doesn't happen here. we want to assure our children, the parents, our families and community that we're going to do everything that we can to keep everybody safe. >> these changes, like others, around the country, come after the tragedy in newtown, connecticut, 20 children and six staff members, now gone. for many parents if horror there

has changed their conversations here. >> i've kind of explained what to look for, specific activities and stuff like that. get descriptions of people's cars, report irrelevat to adult >> it's training and drills and making sure everyone does what they need to do. >> in spots vain yeah county, they sent this later to parents, they, too, upping the police presence at school. >> i don't know how much safer it makes me feel. >> reporter: bill kennedy with the sheriff's office knows how important this can be. he spent years as an elementary school principal in stafford. >> we thought it was a real good. >> it's important to keep our children engaged and they're focused on what they're here to do and that's learning. >> reporter: next up for stafford, the sheriff's department plans to institute a neighborhood watch program and train residents in nearby neighborhoods how to spot suspicious activity. in stafford, virginia, melissa mollet news4. pennsylvania governor tom

corbett awrapped up a news conference saying he's filing a lawsuit challenging the ncaa fifth sanction against penn state university. a four-year ban on bowl games, fined penn state $60 million. it wiped out wins from football alumni. the sanctions were handed down following the jerry sandusky child abuse sex scandal. >> these sanctions did not punish sandusky. nor did they punish the others who have been criminally charged. rather, they punish the past, the present and the future students, current and former student athletes. >> the complaint states that the ncaa forced the new penn state president so agree to the sanctions or face the so-called death penalty of the university's football program for four years. the governor said the ncaa has no authority to police the issue under their bi-laws. the parents of a maryland

first grader suspended for pointing his fingers like a gun at school, will meet with school leaders today. the incident happened a week after the shooting in connecticut. the boy is a student at rosco knicks in silver spring. he was playing with friends and not making threats, says sources. >> evidently he was pointsing his finger at someone and saying "pow." keep in mind that a 6-year-old is presumed not to be able to form the intent to commit a crime. >> reporter: the school system will not comment on individual disciplinary matters however, a spokesman tells news4, generally with younger students, this make sure that children and parents know about behavior that needs to change and understand the consequences if it does not. let's check in again with

storm team4 meterologist. it's a could, biting wind. this wind has long, sharp teeth. and it is coming in. occasionally gusting around 15 miles an hour. we got sunshine, it doesn't feel warm. there's the sky over capitol hill now, a live view from the news4 city camera. here's what's been going on for the last 12 hours. we've had quite a bit of cloudiness but in the last couple of hours we had cloud cover breaking up a bit but quite cloudy across much of virginia from fredericksburg south to northern virginia, the district, much of maryland and east and west virginia, nice and sunny and we'll have clouds coming and going into the afternoon. look at all the areas in dark blue and lavender, below freezing there north and west. that's where the wind is coming from bringing in the cold air even though it's above freezing around the metro area it's in the mid-to-upper 30s and it feels like 20s with the wind. temperatures locally around the beltway, generally in the low to mid 30s. montgomery, arlington, fairfax

and prince george's counties milder in the upper 30s and now near 40. southern maryland near the bay and for the rest of the afternoon we'll have sunshine in and out and cold. cold pattern continues tomorrow and into friday and saturday too and a witt milder on sunday but the dry pattern continues for the next seven days, no precipitation, that's the way it looks. back to you. >> we'll see you inside later in the show. >> i'm coming in now. >> get him some hot coffee. after being out of order for seven months the elevators at the bethesda metro station are set to open. before the elevators can open they have to pass an inspection today. the elevator upgrade project was expected to take four months. people we spoke to said they're thrilled the elevators will finally be back in service. >> i usually take my bike on the bus to the metro station so it's annoying because i have to carry it down the escalator and it's kind of illegal. >> i would rather have an elevator because it's that much easier. this is doable just a pain.

>> the next big project? the a full replacement of the station's three escalators. the details of the project are still being worked out. construction is scheduled to start early next year. and now, let's check on your mid day traffic with miked. joining us with the latest. hey, mike. >> angie things look great. no serious delays on the inner or outer loop of the beltway. 395, looking good in each direction. a live look heading north at duke street traffic heading away from the screen and no serious back just and looking great at 14th street bridge and a 12-minute ride from the beltway to the bridge at 54 miles an hour, keith? dles. an outporing of support for a prince william police officer killed in a crash. hundreds attended the vigil for chris youpg, dying monday while responding to a call, his department motorcycle collided with a mini van in bristoe. those that knew young say he was

known for his infectious smile and uplifting personality. >> when you met chris and got to know chris, the moment you met him, he just came into your life. and he was just a terrific public servant and dedicated to the citizens and the safety of prince william county. >> officer young is the third to die on the job in the history of prince william county police. the two people in the minivan involved in the crash were not hurt. the commonwealth's attorney will decide if charges will be filed in the case. and a chance flyover lands a stafford, virginia, man in jail. they always fly over their house on the way to the airport after a trip just to take a look at their property from the sky. this time they spotted something unusual. a man casing the house. >> going around to the windows. opening doors, or trying to open doors. looking in windows. and pretty well surveying the house. >> they watched as gary haynes hooked up their trailer to a

truck and then drove off. he followed haynes in the air for a few minutes until he knew the direction haynes was headed and that's when couples called police and officers arrested haynes about 40 minutes later. today investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire in prince george's county. witnesses sent us these pictures shows flames shooting from the roof of the home in the 8200 block of student drive in clinton. the fire began after 6:00 last night and it was so intense, firefighters were forced to fight the fire from outside, no one was hurt and the house was vacant. also in prince george's county, investigators will be back on the scene of a church fire. they're trying to figure out if the fire was an accident or hate crime. the fire broke out yesterday at the first wesleyan church. firefighters tell news4 that there was a power outage at the church affecting the entire neighborhood on new year's eve. they say there may have been some sort of power surge when the power was restored causing the fire. the fire caused more than

$100,000 in damage. a maryland man visiting atlantic city won nearly $4 million on a progressive slot machine. the man does not want his name released and we're told he was playing at the hotel casino and spa late sunday night when he hit it big. the $3,843,951 jackpot is one of the largest jackpots in the hotel's history. i wouldn't want to release my name either. >> but everybody at the casino heardist at the casino because they heard it all. >> the time, 11:40 on "news4 midday." still ahead, a look at what will cost more in 2013. and how the make that resolution stick. whether it is to exercise more or something else we have keys that keep you on track. stay with us.

congress is keeping your income taxes from rising but that doesn't mean you won't be paying more at the grocery store pharmacy or even for your child's education in the new year. news4 scott sirocca has more on how your wallet will take a hit. >> reporter: here's to hoping you make more money. here's the list of things that will cost you more. >> 54.59. >> we picked five and we'll start at the grocery store. dick rheinhart has been in the biz for 50 years and hadn't seen so many factors come together to drive up prices. >> this was the perfect storm. basically, the last three years.

>> reporter: this year, meat, poultry and dairy all going up. >> we had a drought. corn crop was down. wheat crop was down. bread is made out of wheat. we feed our animals corn. >> reporter: usda expects meat, dairy and poultry pricing to up 54%. and no rain less grain means at the very least, cereal and bakery goes up. usda says up close to 3%. >> first law of economics everything affects everything. >> running the center for economic research and says global factors are contributing. >> you're having a greater demand, more people wanting the same basic amount of resources that the world can provide but that's pushing the commodity prices up long-run. >> reporter: speaking the cost of college is going up. >> we're also seeing diminished public support of public education, of public institutions which is also forcing costs to go up. >> reporter: the college board advocacy and policy center says

in-state tuition will rise almost 5%. shipping costs will rise, ups and fedex will go up 4.5 to 5%. and health care premiums on the rise hiking up 6% by some estimations. and that was scott reporting about deal news also has a list of what could be cheaper in the new year which includes smartphones, big screen tv and gas prices, keith? only day two of 2013 and many of us have already broken our new year's resolutions. there are some steps you can take to get back on track. we're joined with keys to keeping your resolution. some of the most common resolutions and why people make them. what are they? >> the most common ones, eat less, exercise more, smoke less, maybe quit smoking, drink less, the common ones, what everybody would expect. >> and you put so much pressure on yourself. i mean, is there such a thing as overpressuring yourself? or should you just do what comes naturally?

>> i think, along the lines of maybe overpressuring yourself is that people try to bite off more than they can chew. they say, i'm going to lose weight, quit smoking and sustain from alcohol all year. >> 15 things once the that they never did up to this point all once the? >> right. >> that gets to one of the things you need to do if you make it stick. be realistic and be very specific about what that thing is that you want to change. so what i mean by that is, instead of saying -- i want to lose 20 pounds. that sounds pretty specific. but instead, better to have something more specific than that. instead say, i'm going to eat a salad every day for lunch. or every day when i get hungry in between meals i'm going to eat an happenle open or i'm going to take the stairs instead of the elevator. >> and i'm not going to eat fast food. >> something very specific and measurable. >> writing it down, does it really help you? i write it down. i like to look at them. does looking at them help you?

>> absolutely. it makes a big difference. if you want to lose weight with weight watchers you'll track things, how many calories you eat. when you write things down you're much more likely to pay attention to it and focus and track it over time and see where you're messing up or not. so that's the idea. writing it down helps you stick with it. >> what do you mean by surf the urge. >> what i mean by surf the urge is whenever you have an urge to do something, whether it's to drink, to smoke, to go eat something that's really tasty like an unhealthy desert, the urge really only lasts a few minutes. it peaks in about two to three minutes and then it starts to wane and for most urges, the really tend to be much more manageable after 20 minutes. so i say surf it. ride it up, ride it down. wait 20 minutes and if you're still really wanting to do whatever that was after 20 minutes then maybe do it. but give yourself that 20 minutes. it's surprising.

if you do that you'll help yourself in many cases. >> i can testify because i've had the urge to eat a double cheeseburger and as soon as i do that, i'm like, why did it do that? i don't feel good. >> i tell patients the simple diet. the 20-minute rule. eat a small portion, wait 20 minutes. it gets rid of the urge and gives the body the chance to get the signal to your brain that you're not hungry. it works. >> surf the urge. >> and consider your company. >> birds of a feather flock together. if you're trying to not drink or smoke or watch what you eat choose people engaging in those behaviors themselves. don't hang around with device at happy hour when you're trying to cut down on drinking. that's common sense. >> and finally, you speak of that term, use common sense. >> absolutely, right. >> this is just the idea, using weight loss as an example. if you want to lose weight, don't have twinkies in your drawer, right? if you want to drink less, don't have a bunch of beer in your fridge. >> don't have the bottle of

bourbon in the cabinet. >> it won't make it's easy for you to resist. you want to make it hard to do whatever it is that you don't want to do. >> why do you think, lastly, people are unable to stick with those resolutions? >> i think they don't give it enough time, first of all and habits take a long time to change so you really want to stick with it over a sustained period of time. some people have a hard time even getting out of the galt and i think it's because, obviously, these things are hard to do. if it were not hard to do we'd all be doing them and they wouldn't have to be new year's resolutions. >> we'd all be perfect. we can start by practice what can we preach in 2013. thank you, doctor. >> thanks, keith. big gains on wall street. we'll check in with cnbc courtney regan. she has more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. hi, courtney. >> reporter: good morning. stocks are soaring on this live there deal, markets reassured by the uncertainty that's no dissipating. the dow is up about 230 points and a percentage basis, tech-heavy nasdaq is leading the gains with the best inter day

gain in six months. the first trading day of the year does seem to be a bit of a charge for the bulls on wall street. the dow has not fallen on the first trading day of the year since 2008. however, some traders think this rally we're in right now could be short lived as the next battle in washington over araising the nation's borrowing limit is just weeks away. >> reporter: and just as the harvest season guessed under way in florida, they say more than half of florida's grape and orange crop have a bacteria disease that eventually kills the trees, si strus greening the fruit that falled is projected to be the highest in 40 years. usda is forecasting serious implications for the industry in boast lost revenue and potential related job losses. since the state supplies about 90% of the orange juice consumed in the u.s., consumers are likely to see prices further increase on store shelves of orange juice. the super bowl is just about

a month away and cbs has nearly sold out all the ads for the game and just two 30-second spots left and the ad reportedly selling for a record $3.8 million each. think of maybe better this year. this will be the first super bowl with three commercials longer than one minute. a few new entries. soda stream makes a home soda making machine and clothing company, gilden. a lot of us watch the game just for the ads. hopefully we're not disappointed this year. >> it sounds like they're doing the commercial into the mini movies now. >> exactly. whatever they can to be different, grab your attention for just a second longer. it can be millions of dollars to some of these companies. >> they have to make it worth their money. thank you, court any. >> and don't forget about the beyonce halftime show. >> she'll have fans up on the stage with her. it's gone to be awesome. >> that's why i'm watching the game. >> uh-huh. >> the time, 11:51. on "news4 midday", coming up, a look at what might cause you to

eat more than you should. >> and we'll be back with another check of the forecast.

you may was not to keep a few extra pounds to live longer. scientists reviewed medical records for nearly a million adults and those overweight had

a lower risk of death compared to those who had normal weight. researchers say the extra fat tissue may give you needed energy when you're sick. but people considered extremely obese had a nearly 20% increase risk of death. and for the first time the city shows a certain type of sugar can lead to overeating. scientists at yale university said mri testing showed fructose triggers chaining in the brain. patient who is had the sugar didn't recognize when they were full. fructose is the sugar often found in sodas and processed foods. when test patients drank glucose or simple sugar their brain recognized it the intake of calorie. scientists say this research is small and more research needs to be done. if you watched the tournament of roses parade you may have seen something much more beautiful than the flowers. a reunion for a military family. >> she's sneaking up on the mom. >> the family was reunited on live tv in the middle of the

parade route. one of the float sponsors flu sergeant first class eric paz back from ask for the big surprise. his wife and son were told they were won front row seats to the parade and the family said it was more memorable than he thought it would be. >> he looked up at me and said, daddy, is it march? are you already home? >> i was choking back tears the whole time. >> it was amazing and awesome. i feel really lucky. >> what a great surprise. sergeant first class paz has served four tours in iraq and afghanistan. during that time he's been awarded a purple heart. >> great to see them all together. here's a look at some stories we're following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us with a preview. coming up today on news4 at four, new and controversial fight where plastic water boting are banned. and a dramatic rescue caught on tape. firefighters rushed to save a dog that slipped through an icy

pond. the german shepherd did that surprised his rescuers. and tonight on news4 at 5:00, all the excitement over washington being in the playoff. the team's marching band is getting a lot of attention and we'll share with you a special behind-the-scenes performance go-go style. that's starting at 4:00. you can't help but bob your head when you hear that. >> go-go style. >> thanks. i want to hear more of it and that means they have to keep winning. >> that's the plan. so you survived? >> yes, i did. >> it is cold. that wind can just cutting right through you unless you have several layers on. you need your warmest winter year if you're about to head out the door. we cleared out and got into the sun. and as we look at the temperatures, off to the north and west the area in lavender is still only in the teens. much of indiana into ohio, that's the source region of the winds coming in out of the north and west and it will keep us

cold. right now reagan national 36. and 39 at college park and it's pretty much just a little bit above freezing much of the area and only going to warm up another degree or so by later this afternoon. the cold, dry pattern continue into the weekend and first part of next week. although milder, just in time for the skins game upon sunday. and for those looking for snow, there's still hope, right? >> we got a lot of winter to go through. there's plenty time later. that will do it for us at mid day. thanks for joining us and be sure to tune in to news4 at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 later. >> we'll b