it's all about location. snow totals depend where you live. we sped up this video from the storm team 4 x 4 going from snow to no snow to snow joe. a video is out from al qaeda. and with training moving again along mess trohtro's yellow line what went wrong with a train filled with smoke killing one person. good morning. welcome to "midday," i'm brash

harrison.rb harrison. the snow sticking around and it is cold. our meteorologist begins with coverage from the weather center. good morning. >> plenty of cold air in place and the snowflakes as little as it was, sticking around for the rest of doetdthe day and through the overnigh hours. use caution if going out later on this afternoon. we had just enough snow to get a coating of white on the ground but didn't really add up to too terribly much. the heavier snow amounts down across southern maryland out on into the eastern shore. winter weather advisory remains for the highlighted counties until noon but most of this accumulating snow is over with the lone exception of one little patch in eastern charles county northern calbert and southern prince charles county. could pick up another coating, 1/10 or quarter inch of snow in those locations. temperatures well below fooezreezing across the area. where we'll stay. as we go lighter on into the

afternoon, temperatures not rising too much. only up to around freezing mark. how much snow did we get? take a look at that and your weekend coming up. >> all right. thank you, chuck. another winter storm affected commuters this morning. you sent us your photos of your snow-covered cars your lawns, all this at dawn. the storm team says southern maryland was the worst hit with some areas seeing two inches of sn. news 4 darcy spencer began her day in the district heights during rush hour braving the elements there. she's now near waldorf, maryland and joins us live from there. good morning. good to see you this early in the morning. >> reporter: well, good morning barbara. believe it or not, still a light wintry mix here in the wall dorsch area of charles count pip take a look at one of the side roads here. right off the 301, crane highway. you can see traffic getting by just fine. the road is wet. no indication of any slick spots or anything like that but then take a look here. this is where the problem is.

if you have to walk anywhere, the sidewalks are still snow-covered and very slick. if you go into a parking lot, down a side street many of them are still snow-covered and that's when it gets a litt don wallace sweeps the snow off this car before heading out for an appointment. he lives on a side street in charles county that doesn't appear to have been treated. >> didn't do anything when i went to bed last night. up this morning, this is what we're looking at. we're both retired. we put the garage door down at nighttime. whatever comes, comes. >> reporter: the main roads in the county like 301, mostly wet with some slush, but it's the back roads that are snow and ice-covered. that forced charles county schools to close today. mallny wegen says she agrees with the decision to keep kids home. >> it's no problem as far as you're concerned with closing schools today? >> no. the side streets, the roads, are kind of gross. so i don't want a bus accident.

that's fine. >> reporter: if you're going shopping or running errands, be careful in untreated parking lots. >> why are you driving today? you got to work? >> yeah. a heating and air conditioning man. out to keep people warm. >> reporter: you have to be on the roads. >> yeah there you go. >> reporter: how are the roads jnchtsds. pretty clear. everything looks pretty good. >> reporter: a wintry mix began falling in charles and prince george's county just before 4:00 a.m. but traffic was lighter be school delays and cancel aces. kansas cancellati crews spread salt in district heights and prince george's county and roads are wet and with cold temperatures highway officials are concerned they could freeze over. >> it looks like they put the salt down like two days ago and that made a bi. >> reporter: so breaking it down for you, the main roads look pretty good. crane highway, just fine. the side roads, residential

streets, where you want to take it easy. ahour allow yoursf extra time if heading out. darcy spencer, news 4. >> thanks. we're working for you watching for airport delays because this morning's blast of winter weather did slow down some movement out there at the airports. so far things have been moving pretty well all morning, though. reagan national is reporting 19 cancellations, but most are not because of the weather. dulles is reporting 14 delays and one cancellation. and bwi marshall reporting 13 cancellations. it you're leaving later this morning, it's a good idea to check with your airline and make sure your flight is actually leav despite crews treating the roads overnight, virginia state police troopers responded to approximately 85 traffic crashes state-wide. at 11:15, news 4 richard jordan continues our weather coverage in woodbridge checking on conditions rig.

if you know someone who left items on the plaza during monday's metro evacuation you'll be able to get them back today. transit police are cataloging those items. they'll be available at metro headquarters sometime later this afternoon. now that yellow line service is back to normal d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton is demanding answers calling for a congressional briefing with the ntsb after what she says was an unacceptable emergency response. passengers were trapped in the smoky train for almost an hour without any explanation of what was happening. the ntsb is still trying to fi out exactly what did happen but investigators say an electrical problem is to blame for this saul. all. right now two people still in the hospital because of that underground emergency. 61-year-old carol glover died. the government contractor was on her way home to alexandria. >> we are out here with my son and would see her coming home and, you know exchange pleasantries. hem oh. how are you?

very sweet, very nice lady. so -- it's horrible. tragic. >> reporter: glover's family says they're still making funeral argumentsn ral arrangements. and after last week's terror attacks, a busy morning for the house. add-on to say a funding bill democrats are calling a huge mistake. and a developing story from outer space. the problem that has astronauts evacuating part of the

new this morning, the french newspaper charlie hebdos first issue since the deadly attack that killed 12 staff members quickly sold out around paris. 3 million copies flew off store shelves. nbc news says the newspaper plans to print another 2 million more copies bringing this edition to 5 million. normally the newspaper only prints 60,000 copies. we're not showing the cover of the magazine which features a caricature of the prophet muhammad. it is nbc news policy not to so images that are offensive to our viewers. several updates on the paris terror attacks, and angie goff has the latest from the live desk. >> reporter: hi barbara. a lot of new information here at the live desk just learned france is planning to send in aircraft in the middle east to fight isis. finding this out as we get more

news they are making more arrests in france on people who are defending terror at least 54 people were arrested for defending the recent attack at the magazine charlie hebdo as well as uses racist or anti-semitic words and acts. also you're looking at new video that surfaced actually a new video surfaced online this morning showing the leader of the al qaeda branch in yemen claiming responsibility for that attack an attack in which 12 people died including the editor. barbara? >> thanks angie. the boston marathon bombing suspect filed a request for at least a month-long delay in his trial's jury selection. attorneys for tsarnaev fear prejudice because of the attacks last week in paris. srn tsarnaev's lawyers tried to delay the start of the trial and move its location. the judge so far rejected those requests. president obama wants you to have access to dependable

internet service. no more waiting and waiting and waiting prn the proposal he will unveil today, plus the winner of a special election in virginia. a sex scandal landed him in jail but voters didn't seem to mind. we still have winter weather advisories in effect for portions of southern maryland into the early and middle parts of this afternoon. after that looks like it's going to be chilly the rest of the week. all eyes already focusing on the weekend. how saturday and sunday

right now snow is moving away left a mess to clean up in virginia. with more han 8than 80 crashes in the area tweeting she had to bail off i-95 on her way to cover the general 'ablyassembly in richmond. and richard jordan is live in woodbridge to tell us what crews did there to make things a little bette >> reporter: hi barbara. state police say that there were no major crashes here in northern virginia during the morning rush. it looks like most of the problems were further south, and the main roads up here in prince william county, fair fashgs count i fax county clear because of the hundreds of plows out there. now the focus to the shift, subdivisions neighborhood side streets, some still

sn. tire tracks make zebra stripes on snow-covered roads and parking lots, but on the major routes most streets are clear and problem-fr. northern virginia roads were pre-treated an retreated. the plows laying down salt and brine, it's even safe to ride your bike. kent harris navigates the roads often and says the preparations paid off. >> they've done pretty good this time. pretty good. they were ready for it. >> reporter: today buses stayed off the roads. shawn isn't spending a snow day stuck inside. he enjoys being outside, even if just brushing the flakes off the family car. >> shovel and all that and fun do all that great stuff. >> reporter: the snow didn't amount to much. that left some parents wondering if closing schools was necessary, but all the

preparations were still appreciated. >> i'm from new york. i grew up in new york. so i know what snow is. this is kind of -- like why are the kids not in scho? but then again, you know last week there was a big situation out hee yeah there were accidents. i know people that had think kids on the buses and it didn't work ver. >> reporter: a lot of parents say it is better to be safe than sorry. so they don't want to be critical of the school district's decision in prince william and fairfax count toy close schools today. now, the planhe side streets is to use the plows to push off the snow if there is enough snow on the streets. if not, they'll lay down the salt and the brine. barbara, back to you. >> thanks richard. and we invite you to download the storm team 4 app to watch for weather anytime and stay up to date with breaking weather news on nbcwashington.com. in a few minutes, the virginia general assembly reconvenes. lawmakers beginning their 45-day

session at 11:45 this morning. they have a full plate of bills. more than 1,000 bills are up for discussion. one of the thoeft watched bills, forced colleges in virginia to quickly notify police about kappa sex . another law that could be discussed is a possible hike in the cigarette tax. alexandria dealt gets wanting the tax raised from 30 cents to $2 per pack saying the money could bring in about $500 million in revenue. that money would be used to help some of the state's cash-strapped school districts. right now virginia cigarette tax is among the lowest in the country. a virginia state delegate is in jail this morning, but just won an election. joe morrissey represents henrico county outside richmond. forced to resign and sentenced six months after having sex with a 17-year-old girl. morrissey decided to run as an independent in that special election to replace himself. he won, with a 9-point lead over

the candidate democrats picked to replace him. lawmakers in mart begin their legislative session in about a half hour at noon today. one of the state's largest freshmen classes in decades. almost half the delegates and a quarter of the senators are new. new faces paired with a new governor have some people wondering how the session's going to play out. governor-elect larry hogan won't join lawmakers until after his inauguration next week. as president obama prepares for the state of the union address, now less than a week away away he' discuss the internet again today. >> you know what it feels like when you don't have a good internet connection. everything is buff erg. that may mean money if you're trying to do a business deal or you may lose a custo they're not able to see you respond quickly. you're a student ando study for an exam and you're supposed to download information, and it doesn't come. that's a problem for you.

so -- >> the president is getting ready to leave for cedar falls iowa right now the same internet speeds as big international cities like paris and hong kong double what the downloads are here in the district and even in new york and l.a. the president wants to invest in faster speeds for all american cities and. this was angie goff keaching a close eye ing a keeping a live evo that vote that could play out big when can um comes to the immigration battle ongoing. the house voting on whether to fund the department of homeland security through the rest of the year. what we're looking at here it just passed one of the five republican amendments aimed at blocking the president's executive actions on immigration. they're voting on number two. even if these amendments pass the house, che likely will, they're goi to have a tough time in the senate.

if congress and the white house do not come to terms on the agreement, the agency that overseas u.s. borders and airports will run out of money next month. back to you. >> thank you. for more on today's vote we're joined by a political writer for nbc news. good morning. >> good morning. >> we understand john boehner backed up a five amendments. does that surprise you? >> what john boehner is trying to do show conserve divs in his party, upset about the president's actions on immigration. i hear you. he's allowing amendments to be included but as angie mentioned, once these get to the united states senate they're probably going to hit a wall. the reason even though republicans have a majority in the senate they didn't before this year they don't have 60 votes. without 60 votes legislation can get stuck. democrats won't be onboard that have to do with rolling back the president's decision on immigration. sets up a debate are we willing to hold up fund be over this issue?

we'll see it play out for a few more votes to come for sure. >> how democratic whip steny hoyer spoke this morning about what he thinks republican shos do. let's have a lis >> if republicanens want to debate immigration policy they can. they should bring, however a comprehensive immigration bill to the floor like the one that the senate passed in 2013. >> so what happens next with the immigration bill? >> i think what this does is puts republicans in a tough spop spot. last year a big budget fight. congress actually managed to pass funding for the federal government until later in the year except for the department of homeland security. they set this up as sort of a proxy fight over immigration. that department will run out of money on february 27th, if they don't find a way to fund it. >> yesterday we spoke about a third run for mitt romney. how are republicans reacting to that today? >> initially, last friday mitt

romney indicated to donors he was looking at another run. and the first spate of stories, former backers saying nice things about mitt romney. in the last 24 hours or so a lot of his former backers still saying nice things about mitt romney but also saying i'm not sure if it's time. i might have committed to somebody else. i'm not sure what the rationale is for a third run. you're seeing -- >> excuses? >> wynn theirth witht republican story, not sure what i think about this. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> see you tomorrow. for more from carrie and the rest of the nbc news political team check us out on nbc.com. huge crowds showing up to seep the pope in sri lanka. coming up why the next leg of his trip may not be as easy for the pontiff. and what the popular restaurant chao

pope francis traveled to the jungles of war-torn northern sri lanka today to show solidarity with the victims of the country's 25-year civil war. there he urged forgiveness and reconciliation for sri lanka. tomorrow he travels to the philippines. expected to be a very rainy trip, though. a tropic brewing in the pacic is heading towards the eastern part of that country. chipotle fans you may be

disappointed today. no pork available at nearly one-third of the chipotle locations. they say they had to suspend a pork producer that didn't meet their standards and were unable to find another supplier in time. chaipotle only buys pork where animals are raised outside or in deeply embedded pens and require animals be fed a vegetarian diet and no antibiotics. gluten-free parents and kids have your pizza party at pizza hut. they're going gluten-free. starting january 26th, you can order a 10-inch pizza with dough provided by a gluten-free baking company. special acalm dagss to preb the dough and the gluten-free pies also baked on parchment paper. right now astronauts evacuated one side of the international space station. navy just updated the situation, and we'll get the latest from the live desk shortly.

and after morning snow showers, it's cold and gray out there right now but storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell has good news about the weekend. and why some school systems are being forced to cancel recess. stay with us.

right now temperatures remain below fooezing in most places around here. in case you slept in this is what it looked like in prince william county virginia just

after 6:00 this morning as light snow was falling. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell joins us with what we can expect next. >> in it all morning and it didn't add up to much in most locations. i haven't seen single report of any more than 1.7 inches of snow. that was the big winner down in saint mary's county. most in the immediate metropolitan area didn't even get that much. snow totals so far today, still getting a little accumulation although i don't think it will add up to another tenth or 2/10 inch. an inch and a half in callaway maryland. half inch toward checksapeake and diehl. some numbers may grow even though we won't see a lot more accumulating snow. some numbers might go up a bit as numbers continue to come in. not much left.

the winter weather advisory remains for prince charles, saint march ip at parts under the eastern shore as well until 1:00 in prince georges, 3:00 in southern maryland and out on into the eastern shore. most of the snow is starting to come to an end. the treated roads are absolutely fine. some of the and side streets are a little slippery. be careful if you're going outside later this afternoon or early this oonk. overall, the real impact for this event is already done. nothing more than cold with flurries around the rest of the day. that won't be too much of an impact for the remainder of the day. made it up to 30 at national airport. winds oufrt north averaging 5 to 15 miles per hour. colder in northern maryland. 22 hagerstown 28 fred drishgs. a bundle up factor for sure. you can see the main impulse of snow an rain moving out to sea for now.

dwight que a bit of freezing rain in western virginia today. anne arundel county could get another 1/10 inch of snow or two in isolated spots's in around around the metro, that's it. a couple flurries in northern maryland as well. won't add up to much. the rest of the day, light snow through the next hour or two, then just cloud around cold. don't forget to have the storm team 4 app on the phone to stay out of the forecast at any time. for us the snow showers are coming to an end. it will be cold tonight. temperatures back into the 20s. that won't feel too good. tomorrow, chippy, a mix ichilly a mix of clouds and sunshine better weather friday. that will be friday. the nicest day of the week. today, cloudy flurries. 32. tomorrow partly mostly cloudy. 30s, near 40. sunshine's back friday on into the front half of the weekend but highs low to mid-40s. near 50 sunday. cloudy skies and at least a

chance of a few showers sunday ash. one more check of the radar before the show is over. barbara? >> thank you. see you in a little bit. learning more about a scary situation at the international space station. angie goff has more from the live desk. >> reporter: an update just in from the icess they don't believe any of the ammonia leak and the alarm was possibly set off by a computer glitch. right now u.s. crew members are safer and still in a russian part of the satellite after being forced to evacuate after that elarm went off earlier. now, we're told officials in houston are working now to try to figure out what to do next. that's the latest from live desk. back to you. >> thank you, angie. new today, crews begin recovering the main body of the airasia plane that crashed into the jauvava sea. showing part of the wing. you can see some of the words on the plane's main body.

investigators say this is a significant development. most of the passengers on that plane are thought to still be in the fuselage. flight 8501 crashed more than two weeks ago killing 162 people onboard. the search for bodies of two missing sisters has been extended. new evidence in the decades old cold case throwed a forensic dig on taylor mountain in southwest virginia this week. the search was supposed to wrap up yesterday but it will now continue until tomorrow. authorities haven't revealed what the new evidence is. 40 years ago, sheila and katherine lyon vanished from the wheaton plaza shopping center. d.c. lawmakers, challenging congress to block the new marijuana law. council chairman's phil mendelsohn sent the measure to capitol hill yesterday starting a 30-day review window. congress has a choice to doing in nothing, let the bill stand or stroet block the law. others say it will start a long legal battle that could wind up

in federal courts. congress stopped d.c. from spending money to enforce the new marijuana law with a provision in a $1 trillion spending bill passed last it's one of the few areas most parents and teachers seem to agree on. kids need recess bust a standardized testing taking on a more important role in evaluating students and teachers some schools are eliminating recess to teach common core. some parents are pushing back though. nbc's kerry sand >> reporter: kids often joke it's their favorite time of the school day. recess. but in orlando, recess is no joke. now, when the school bell rings -- at 23 elementary schools, it's off to another class. because principals have done away with recess. >> they have become machines that produce data as opposed to children. >> reporter: standardized tests known at common core exams often determine a teacher's pay. sometimes even their jobs.

so instead of 20 minutes on the playground teachers are using the extra time to teach to the test. >> because so much of the money is tied to the school's scores and their grades, everybody's pressured. >> there are usually two sides to every story. not so with recess. >> reporter: in orlando, at a standing-room-only school board meeting tuesday, parents as nationwide more and more school districts are eliminating or considering cutting recess. many experts believe recess actually enhances learning and losing the unstructured play time robs kids of the ability to learn important social skills. >> at the end of the day, who e straight as and you get a scholarship to har verdict if you're socially inept. >> reporter: school administrators are sympathetic but the clock is there enemy. >> we'll come to a place in florida and probably nationally we have to admit we really don't have enough minutes in the day

to get everything done we would like to see accomplished for o the husband of a woman who gained national attention when she planned her own death talks how he's doing now. we'll tell you about that. plus we help you dig out of debt after the big holiday spending season. stay with us. we

if you think amazon is the

cheapest online marketplace, you could save money by shopping around. it seems the secret behind their success is that they change millions of prices daily. a study found when amazon offers big discounts on products like a television they increase lesser items to make a profit. the company fools users into thinking their getting a good deal by tweaking price a number of times each hour. maryland state senator ron young says he will promote legislation that would give terminally ill marylanders freedom to end their own lives. dan diaz knows all too well as grieving husband how hard it is to watch a loved one suffer. he shares his final moments with his wife and her right to die. an advocate. brittany maynard, decided to end her life with a lethal dose of drugs after suffering through terminal brain cancer. >> we got back to the house and

she just knew that it was her time. so -- >> did you know in your heart? >> in an interview with meredith vieira he says chemo was available to his wife but he wanted to live her last few months to the fullest, not in a hospital bed. the treatment may or may not have prolonged her life and suffering. >> yes. chemotherapy and radiation were absolutely available to her. but would it have added to her life? we were being told well maybe you get another month. two moss three months. she decided she wanted to live those six months. >> you can see more of that interview including the details of marilyn's last day on the meredith vieira show today at 1:00 p.m. right here on nbc. reality tv and talk show making doctors famous but is the advice they give worth taking? we'll have the results of a new study. and an amazing sight for these whale watchers and just

howcreature got to that technology has improved our lives, in small ways. in big ways. but what about this? couldn't this be better too? at redfin we asked ourselves the

same question. which led us to create new ways to take you inside a home or instantly schedule a tour. but we paired that with our own agents who aren't paid on commission but on your happiness. and that's what makes it all work the world has changed and now real estate has too.

he's going to ram us. >> oh my god. >> this is so awesome. >> oh my god. what a close encounter. a group of whale watchers were in a tour boat in hawaii cheering as a huge whale

approaches but instead of ducking them the whale rammed their boat. luckily, no people and that whale -- nobody out there was hu. >> well every day millions of viewers tune in to get medical advice from "the dr. oz show" or "the doctors" but how reliable is the medical advice offered by the shows? we have results of a recent study in the british medical journey. welcome. >> thank. >> an interesting topic, because they are very popular shows. aren't they? >> yeah. a couple million viewers a day. >> people really trust the advice of these doctors on the show but should they? >> be skeptical. this study shed light on the quality of information that's provided on these shows. >> tell us a little about the study. >> the researcher did, a canadian research and and her team looked at 40 different shows from dr. oz and 40 from "the doctors" analyzed them throughout 2013 and from each of the 40 shows took 80 pieces of

medical advice. a total of 160 pieces of medical advice providing to viewers and looked searched the medical data in the litera to see is this information legit? it was scary. they found 50% of what was recommended on these shows actually had strong data or pretty good data to support it. in the medical literature. the other 50% either had no evidence, really to supp the mainstream medical evidence actually contradicted what was being offered as advice on these shows. >> so does it say what kinds of advice these doctors are giving? i don't watch the shows. so i don't know. what are they telling people to do, other maybe how to diet? >> those are the big topics. right? talking about diet. talking about exercise. but they are offering other pieces of medical information. when the study -- the study didn't actually break down exactly what the pieces of advice were. they were just looking at the recommendations and then researching them. i can't comment exactly on that. >> could any of this be dangerous for people who are

watching? >> i think it could be. potentially. i don't know exactly, everybody's different. so if you're offering some piece of advice recommending something without giving people the necessary information. so this is the key, right? when they're giving this advice it's not really informed consent. when i'm seeing somebody in my office giving advice to somebody you need to weigh the risks with the benefits. talk about the costs associated. the alternatives available. that just doesn't really happen on these shows. >> so what's going on here? i mean how can they get away with that? >> i don't know how they get away with it honhonestly. happening, a ton of pressure for these shows to crank out interesting hour-long shows day after day. and so i think there is pressure to be a little sloppy and a little lax in the information that you present to the consumers, the viewers. because you're pressed to have something that's interesting that's going to keep people tuning in. >> i guess if it's something that doesn't really put a person's life at risk if

they're entertained by it. what it's all about? right? being entertained. keeping people sitting there. if you're told to go out and buy something to ingest or something that might in some way make you more ill than to begin with could be a real danger. >> it could. ap some advice offered pertains to and that i think, you know the important piece for the viewers is that they have to recognize exactly what you said. this is largely, it's medical entertainment. i think you have to be a savvy consumer. you have -- can't just trust dr. oz or the doctors and say, you know what? if a they're saying it it 34u69ing true. you have to do research talk to your own doctor as well. >> can we trust you? >> i would say, yes, you can trust me. the reason is because there's differences between me and those shows. number one, i come here once a week and talk for 4 minutes. i don't have to come up with as many topics as they do. i'm not as pressured. number two, i'm a psychiatrist. i don't come on the show and talk about gi issues

dermatologist issues. i stick to my area of expertise. i do that because i want viewers to know the information i'm giving them is exactly the information that i give when i see people in my office. only presented information that is backed up by the medical literature. >> i see. -- if you had to expand to a full hour we'd have to worry? >> that's the thing. why i'm hesitant to do something like that. worry about that pressure. >> thank you so much doctor. our time now 11:50. coming up what you should do if the holidays left you financially overwhelms. plus chuck bell back with a look at the concern for icy roads tonight and tomorrow.

angie goff at the live desk. just now on capitol hill american muslims respond to the release of the new issue of "charlie hebdo" in france. the council on the american islamic relations otherwise known at c.a.r.e. condemns what is released today depicting a weeping prophet muhammad on its cover and hit stands a week after the terror attacks that killed 12 people including many who worked at the . >> unfortunately we find ourselves time and again years after years, in the same position without any that while we defend the right foe to speak their mind

to draw whatever they want we are not winning to respe the feelings of almost 2 billion people around the world. >> so once again, the director of care saying that just as the magazine has the right to public groups like theirs have the right to peacefully protest negative portrayals of their religious figures. >> thank you. and more on the terror attacks. french police arrested at least 54 people for defending last we attack on a paris newspaper. now a top leader of yemen's al qaeda branch is claiming responsibility. in an 11-minute video posted online this morning, the group says it was vengeance for the prophet muhammad. well house members voting to fund the department of homeland security have also passed five amendments to that bill. the fifth one passed just a few minutes ago. those amendments overturned president obama's executive actions on immigration. president obama has threatened to veto that legis

we are working for you to help you get off to a fresh start for your finances in 2015. the holidays are behind us but some of the credit card bills may stilling with you. consumer reporter erika gonzalez ways to climb out of holiday debt. >> reporter: the holidays are a time of spending and for some of us over spending. >> what did you overspend on? >> christmas gifts. for my family members. >> reporter: about how much did you over spend? >> a lot. about $200 $300 more than i usually over spend. >> reporter: really? >> yes. >> reporter: did you go into it thinking knowing you were going to overspend? >> no. creeped up on me. >> reporter: to help you get back on track for the new year we went to the experts at bank rate for the best ways to start chipping away at that lingering holiday debt. >> many people are focused on reducing their weight at the beginning of the year but they should really also be focused on reducing the weight of the debt they may have indeed accumulated over the holidays. >> reporter: first, if you have more than one card carrying a

balance. >> attack the one charging the highest rate. maybe not the one with the highest balance. look at the one charging 18%, 20%, 22% 25%. >> reporter: next prioritize the payments. maybe a plan which cards you'll pay off each month making more than the minimum payment whenever you can. >> i try to pay as much as i can. most of the times pretty good at paying the full amount. sometimes i have to split it up. >> reporter: consider transfers your balance sites like bankrate.com let you shop around for a new credit card to consolidate your balance and simplify payments all in one place. >> there may be a 3% transfer fee, but you can really save a lot of money going from let's say 15% or more on the rate you're paying now to 0%. a big savings. >> reporter: if this option sounds enticing read the fine print on the card first. the consumer financial protection bureau says sometimes 0% can grow into a real interest after a certainly promotional

period. >> my goal i'm in school withdraw from savings and hope it lasts longer than i planned. >> reporter: last don't let the cycle repeat itself. get rid of bad habits now so you don't wind up in this situation again next year. >> you may want to be more diligent try to spend less or be a better be more strategic about what you're buying. >> i have a plan. i'm budgeting more. cutting back on things i don't need. >> that was consumer reporter coming up on news 45:00 today, the consumer team showing you the only government approved way to get your annual credit record free of charge. time now for a final check of our weather this wednesday. >>alities freealso free. snow showers continuing from leesburg into parts of southern maryland. partly to mostly cloudy and cold too. sunshine back for friday and saturday. temperatures back at least to average or so. warmest day of the next seven will be sunday but that comes with a chance of showers.

>> all right. thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. that's news 4 "midday" today. thank you for being with us and stay tuned tonight at 4:00 5:00 six and tonight at 11:00 and waiting for you tomorrow. until then have a great day. see you in the mor.

>> rafe: well, it is so good to see you. and i just want to tell you how much it means to me that you

take the time and go visit gabi. >> marlena: oh, no, no, no. gabi's family. so are you. >> rafe: so, uh. you said there's something that she wants you to talk to me about? >> marlena: mm-hmm. >> rafe: something that she can't tell me herself. >> marlena: yeah. >> rafe: yeah, okay. >> marlena: she's scared, rafe. >> rafe: of what? >> marlena: she's afraid because you're no longer on the police force. she's afraid that you'll want to leave town. she's afraid that she won't see you anymore. >> aiden: do i really have to justify every move i make to you?