time and, again, with a slight warming trend, it should be fairly comfortable for you later today. highs expected right where they should be, 53 in washington, 54 in fredricksburg, 49 in front royal. more details on the forecast. a really good one. we'll look at the weekend, allison, coming up in a couple of minutes. back upstairs to you. our big story this thursday morning, howard university facing a civil lawsuit, it's filed by a group of students. >> they claim they were sexually assaulted and harassed by a school employee and the university didn't do anything about it. fox 5's stacey cohang is live at the university in northwest washington with the details. stacey. reporter: the university does claim that they acted upon these complaints, but that has not stopd this group of students from suing howard university. here's what they say happened. some female students say they were part of a work/study program. that program was run by a man named george bright abo and these young women claim he used that program as an opportunity

to sexually harass and sexual assault them. they further claim that when they went to university officials, the university did nothing to investigate and to protect them. >> around april mr. bright abo called me into his office, told me he wanted to speak with me with some work. he then started touching me and saying inappropriate things to me. >> i felt a certain way about it when i went into the university and now upon coming out, it's a completely different light. reporter: the women took their complaints to the metropolitan police department and bright abu has been charged with misdemeanor sexual assault, placed on 60 days probation. meanwhile, howard university says that as soon as they were made aware of these allegations they took action. in fact, university officials claim they also went to the metropolitan police department and that bright-abu was fired. nonetheless, these students have filed a civil complaint yesterday against howard university. reporting live, i'm stacey

cohang, back to you. meanwhile meanwhile, the first lawsuit has been filed in connection to the penn state sex abuse scandal. a 29-year-old man claims former assistant football coach jerry sandusky sexually abused him more than 100 times over a period of about four years at the coach's home and in a penn state locker room. the man is not among the eight victims mention inside a grand jury report. now, last night penn state university students vented their concerns regarding the scandal during a town hall forum. >> a lot of us are worried right now about how that's going to reflect when we go out into the job market because, you know, our degree now comes tacked with this. >> i can assure you that universally we've been told that's not the case. they're not only not retreating from their interest in penn state students, many of them are reemphasizing it. >> sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight boys during a 15-year span. two administrators have been charged with lying to a grand

jury and failing to report a 2002 allegation to police. a fourth alleged victim has surfaced in the accusations against former assistant syracuse basketball coach bernie fine. a molestation victim's advocate says the man's family contacted him last week. that family is also reportedly talked with the district attorney's office and police. one of the accusers says the abuse began in 1984 and ended in 1990 when he talked to police in 2002 they told him it was too late to prosecute. in upbeat sports news, ps coach bruce budreaux has a new job. the anaheim ducks hired him as their new head coach late last night after firing their coach, randy carlisle. he was fired by the capitals on monday after the team got off to a slow start. the caps and ducks do not meet again this season unless they both reach the nhl finals. the woman want inside a series of bank robberies and

carjackings behind bars now. police caught stephanie schaub yesterday afternoon after they say she tried to rob a bb and t bank in mclean. she led police on a chase along the beltway into bethesda where she crashed on old georgetown road and took off running. sky fox was overhead as police cuffed her. schaub was already wanted for two carjackings, two bank robberies as well. this morning she is in federal custody. in the meantime, the man accused in a string of carjackings at a wheaton shopping plaza is expected to be in court today for a bond hearing. police say 50-year-old henry sanders carjacked three older men at knifepoint in the past week and made them take money out of an atm. a bank surveillance camera captured a fourth younger victim. sanders is facing charges in both montgomery and prince george's county. montgomery county is holding another hearing today on whether to impose a curfew for teenagers. the public safety commission is expected to vote on the proposed curfew at 9:30 this morning and then send it to the full county council which could

approve the curfew next week. the maryland man suspected in the disappearance of a local woman in aruba back on u.s. soil now. gary giordano flew from aruba to miami, then caught a second flight to new york. he was released from jail tuesday night after being held there since august. a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to continue to hold him and that the legal victory for giordano. another judge in aruba rejected the prosecution's appeal of his release. prosecutors say they still consider him a suspect in the disappearance of robyn gardner and will continue their investigation. new this morning, hillary clinton continues her historic visit to burma. clinton is the first united states secretary of state to visit the country in over 50 years. she met the president of bur dhp ma -- burma, also known at myanmar. she also set down with nobel peace prize winner who spent 15 years under house arrest there. the two are having a private dinner and will hold formal

meetings tomorrow. and in scenes reminiscent of the 1979 takeover of the u.s. embassy in iran, britain is kicking out all iranian diplomats and ordering iran to close its embassy in london. that's all because a mob stormed the british embassy tuesday. president obama said he was disturbed by the assault. norway also just closed its embassy in iran because of the attack and germany, france and the netherlands are all recalling their ambassadors to iran. to the race for the white house now, the next gop debate is more than a week away, but by then herman cain could be out of this race. as fox' doug luzader reports now, while cain continues to question his candidacy, the rest of the candidates may be passing him by. reporter: out on the campaign trail now, it's all about herman cain's fall and the rise of newt gingrich. >> you are making an accusation, quite frankly, that is not true. reporter: herman cain on the campaign trail and on the war

path at times with reporters. still dogged by a georgia woman's allegations of a long- term extra-marital affair, cain says he will see his wife in person tomorrow and decide whether to it stay in a race that is taking a heavy personal toll. >> a lot of the american people are starting to see through this whole character assassination on me, and so those are the things that i am reassessing and i will make the decision over the course of the next several days starting with the assessment with my family because that is absolutely my number one priority. reporter: but for cain the bigger problem may be growing irrelevance. in national polls he is slipping. before the latest allegation he was in third place. but cain is facing serious head winds in early states like new hampshire. the same day he was accused of having an affair, he had dropped into single digits there in a race that is increasingly a mitt romney/newt gingrich matchup. >> i would have thought originally it was going to be mitt and not mitt. i think it may turn out to be

newt and not newt and we're having to redesign our campaign strategy because we're at least 60 days ahead of where i thought we'd be. reporter: and all of that as the iowa caucuses are a month from this weekend. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. to local politics now, a senior republican official says virginia attorney general ken cuccincelli will run for governor in 2013. this news sets the stage for a showdown between cuccincelli and republican lieutenant governor bill bowling. cuccincelli made national headlines for filing a federal lawsuit challenging president obama's healthcare reform law. well, as we've mentioned earlier this morning, today is world aids day and the white house is among those promoting awareness. we'll have more on that coming up next after the break. then actor greg alan williams in studio with us to talk about a new special tv game show that he's hosting. it's taping right here in our area today and he's got some trivia for you, tony, i do believe. >> it's for all of us. >> oh, is it for all of us? i thought it was just you.

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today is world aids day, a day to show support for those living with the virus and remember those who have lost their lives to this disease. the white house hung a red ribbon over the north portico this morning. in the next hour president obama will give a major speech on aids and he'll be joined by president's george bush and bill clinton as well as alisha keyes and bono at the george washington university. tony. >> sounds great. students from 12 historically black colleges and universities from around the country will compete in a black history quiz today. the "jeopardy" style game show will be taped before a live audience and televise inside january and february. prizes include scholarships and ipads. joins us now with more information is the host of the

ford black college quiz is greg alan williams. thanks for coming in, man, good to see you. >> thank you, tony. >> this is something you've been hosting for quite some time now. >> six years. >> six years now. let me first ask you, one of my things has always been is i would love to do a game show. it seems like a fun thing to do. we know you i think very much for your acting, but is this something that's near and dear to your heart and you have fun doing it? >> it's great. this game show thing i'm pat sajack, where else would i get the opportunity? it's great fun, it's the closest thing to live television that you're going to get. it's lots of fun. >> it's fun you but also educational for anyone who's watching. >> it is. it really emphasizes the ongoing importance of higher education, and, further, the importance of these hbcus in america and the role they play. these young people who are competing in the ford black college quiz are some of the

best and brightest in the nation. >> from several schools and universities, historically black colleges and universities? >> alcorn state, tus keegee, cheney university, virginia state university, so from all of them. >> several things i want to get out. the taping is today. you're taping four half hour shows? >> four half hour shows, taping begins at 3:00, seating begins at 2:30, admission is free. >> and people can still come out. you can come in, but you want to be in your seats by 3:00. >> absolutely. >> because you're going to taping. the live show tapes at 3:00 today at howard university for free. it should be a lot of fun. tell me about the students who are competing. how many are competing and what are they competing for? >> there are 12 students competing and they're competing for scholarship money for their own educations as well as scholarship moneys for their schools. one of the students will also win an ipad, but i should mention that we're also giving away three ipads to audience members.

>> oh, that's very good. what am i doing at 3:00 today? that's great. that's really good. this is something that ford has obviously been very involved in. >> you know, ford is committed to higher education in america and specifically to supporting hbcus and the students who attend and we're not just talking about african-american students. hbcus have significant numbers of foreign students and american students in general. >> like any other colleges and universities, very diverse communities. >> very diverse communities. >> we've got a couple -- actually, i would assume these are not questions you're asking today, if they were, you might want to take them out of the show. we have two of the questions. we usually do trivia questions on this show, so we thought we would stick with the theme and do these today. and, folks, you can play along at home. we'll reveal the answers at the end. here's question number one, actually can i have you do it

in your game show voice? >> sure. only one african-american has held not one, but two cabinet positions in the same presidential administration. who is it? colin powell, carol mosley braun, condoleeza rice or lisa p. jackson. >> coalin powell. we'll have a second question as well. what is the stage name of the queen of entertainment born into the world as anna may bullock. queen la teef a, -- latifah tina turner or monique. you know the questions for both of these. >> yes. but i have to tell you for the first one i had to think a little bit. it's a little tricky. >> it is. >> it is great to have you here. happy to have you here. taping is today at howard university at 3:00. get there early, taping starts at 3:00 p.m. sharp, and support these young students who are doing such good things. thank you. good to have you here. we'll see you again.

>> you bet. >> if you can stick around, we'll reveal the answers. allison, back to you. >> thank you. we'll check some of the stories making headlines coming up next. including this one, it's being called one of the most sophisticated drug tunnels ever discovered. detail when is we come back. then our annie yu is helping to lighten things up from the national mall event. hello, annie. reporter: hey, allison, i'm having a ball out here, the sun is out, it's definitely warmer. i still have to keep bundled up because it's still cold for me. we'll talk with some organizers involved in this event. it's an amazing event. take a look at the tree, it's a magnificent sight, it hasn't been lit yet, but tonight at 5:00 it will be. things are just under way today, so stick around. l an ordinary breakfast pastry

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making headlines this morning. now, it has to do with an afghan woman who was jailed two years ago for adultery after she was raped. her attacker also jailed, but her daughter, her baby was born behind bars and now she is asking for a presidential pardon to get out of prison and her lawyers hope this case will set a legal precedence for women's rights for women in afghanistan. in new york, federal officials say they busted a sex trafficking operation allegedly sponsored by the mob. 20 people were arrested including members of the gambino and benano crime families. investigators say the women were being smuggled from russia and eastern europe to work at new york city strip clubs and the clubs owners had to pay the ring protection money. there are new details in the case of a serial killer on police now say that one killer indeed may be responsible for the 10 bodies buried on the south shore of a beach there. the victims were all connected

to the sex trade. police are expected to do another search for more bodies in the next couple of weeks. and drug agents in california say they found the most sophisticated drug tunnel ever coming from mexico into the u.s. the tunnel is nearly 2,000 feet along and it led the agents to the biggest pot bust ever found in a tunnel from mexico. the tunnel features a hydraulic lift, electric rail cars and a wooden staircase. they found 32 tons of marijuana with a street value of over $53 million. the grammy nominations are out and last night holiday honored british acts. we're going to hear from some of the a-listers coming up next on fox 5. plus we are trimming the fox 5 christmas tree. there it is. it's a bit naked. that will change shortly. we have a very special guest to help place the season's first ornaments. stay with us. we'll be back.

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back now with a look at some of this year's grammy nominations. they were announced last my. kanye west leads the pack with nominations for seven awards including some of the year for "all of the -- including song of the year for "all of the lights." the rest received six nominations. >> i think grenade is our trophy song. we've been fortunate enough to work with a lot of artists, but

i can speak for all of us and say the feel like we did something with that one. >> his whole album. now to the bassta awards, the best and brightest strolled the red carpet in beverly hills last my to honor britain's film and television. actors included warren beattie, ben stiller. they aren't british, are they? >> no. >> as well as many directors and animators. some of the actors shared their thoughts on england's influence on the big and small screen. >> the britts have always seemed to love to come to hollywood and people in hollywood have always loved to seem to go to england and make movies. it's a nice exchange. they love the sunshine and the glitz and people in london appreciate the appropriateness of the british. >> i think you just like our accent or you think because we sound like this that we're more

intelligent. so not true. it's an illusion, but, hey, you know, if you like it. >> what's with the head? >> she's speaking the truth there. >> it sounds better. that was my impression of her when she was in the hat, you know, "alice in wonderland." she was very good in that. it is true, isn't it? maybe it's not fair. >> she looking a little crazy? >> no. that's her style. >> i thought she looked a little crazy. >> her style is ek cent rick. >> people have more awards ceremonies than the folks in hollywood. >> i read about some award the other week that was ludicrous, it's crazy. >> ludicrous won an award? no, it was an award for something crazy. >> they celebrate themselves. >> very much. a little goes a long way. i i want to mention earlier we talkd about the black

history quiz which we'll get back to at the end of the show. the cramdon auditorium is where it will be. we failed to say that. >> can i do an impression that might help people if they're trying to figure out the answer to the last trivia question? >> anna may! >> that didn't help me at all. late get right to the weather and let me let you know that it's going to be cold outside if you're going to be taping this afternoon, grab your jacket. >> how is it going to be in nutbush city? >> don't give it all away. >> i'm just sayin'. >> you mean within the bush city limits? >> all right, allison, i don't know how to answer that one. 42 right now in washington, 41 in fredricksburg, it's off to a chilly start areawide here but these temperatures slowly rebounding, 37 now in winchester, 38 in hagerstown. winds yesterday were gusting up to about 20 miles per hour. they're still with us this morning, but they will slowly start to kind of die off here

during the late morning and early afternoon hours. so it should start to feel gradually more comfortable for you. with more sunshine and less wind this afternoon, high temperatures in the low 50s won't feel too bad. right now the winds are still out of the north and west gust to go about 20. these are sustained winds, 14 in washington, 12 dulles, so we still got some breezes with us this morning, but, again, we should lose the breezes here shortly. should be a great looking looking day, not only for our thursday, but get this, friday, saturday and sunday look fantastic as well with a lot of sunshine for the next couple of days. there's the sat/rad and we've got clear skies across the washington area, mid-atlantic looks fantastic today, less cloudiness than yesterday, and with high pressure building through from the west, we're going to be looking at a couple of very nice days around here. so lots of sunshine in the forecast right through the end of the weekend, dry conditions expected and kind of seasonal temperatures each afternoon and cold nights, back into the 30s again later tonight and 20s off to the north and west. here you go, lots of sunshine, seasonal temperatures. your daytime forecast high 53, that's about two degrees warmer

than yesterday. winds out of the west at about five to 10 miles per hour. it will be cold tonight, once again temperatures falling back into the mid-30s, in washington off to the north and west, temperatures will fall into the 20s. winds will be out of the north and west at five. clear skies and colder temperatures. lighter winds will help the temperatures to fall off to the north and west. tomorrow 56, overnight low 38, little cold front comes through here friday night into early saturday. that will cool us down on saturday but with sunshine. i'm not expecting rain with it. check out sunday, football game, redskins sunday afternoon, 57 with sunshine. so not bad. maybe some rain showers return for the day on monday, near 60. that's a look at weather. allison and tony, i'm going to toss it over to you guys. >> thank you so much. today kicks off our fox 5 friends segment, tony. >> yep. each week dhp day in december leading up to christmas we will feature different charities and foundations that support a good cause. >> this morning grant allen, the cofounder and chairman of

the occular melanoma foundation joins us. you are the very first person to come in and put an ornament on the tree and talk about your organization. >> i'm looking forward to it. it's a little bare at the moment. >> it is. tell us about your organization. >> well, first, it's important to know what the disease is and occular melanoma is the most common eye cancer in adults. it only affects about only 2000 adults in the u.s. per year. it's very rare and also lethal. there's no known cure for metastatic today. what we are trying to do is be that central piece for giving information to patients and also be there to bring doctors together through fundamental research through occular melanoma and scientific research. >> it goes without saying that the fact that it is rare a lot of research is needed to help deal with this disease. >> for sure. we are having a split strategy of both helping patients and being a lifeline to them on the web. we have a website at occular melanoma.org and we are also putting on programming for doctors to bring them together

but also fund that fundamental research that we hope one day will help find a cure for cancer. >> there any way the viewer can help or we can get involved helping your organization? >> we're always looking for volunteers. i think that's very important. again, go to the website and you can obviously give money. we're always open to that and we're also looking for volunteers. we have a patient meeting coming up this march, march 2-4 in d.c. and i think that will be a great chance for people to get involved, actually interact with the patients and give back. >> revel with a cause. that is the name -- >> that's our upcoming fundraiser. we have the patient meeting in march, but this saturday, actually, at 7:30 we are having a fantastic night of celebration and dancing. it's kind of like nutcracker meets some sort of back spanish fantastic festival. >> we want to get you to put that on the tree. how did you get involved this? the number is small and it's lethal, deadly. >> come to find out, you know,

it is affecting so many people, but my father was an op thalmologist, he was an eye surgeon and in 2000 he was diagnosed. so he and i in 2003 conceived this organization to, again, be that lifeline. he as a surgeon was still finding it very hard to find information. so what about the average person who cannot, so that's why we're there. >> i know he's proud of his son. >> thank you. >> happy holidays to you, and you'll be the very first one. >> it's appropriate. >> hopefully by putting some sunglasses on the tree we can remind people to be careful of their eyes, go talk to an opthalmologist and check them out. >> i love it. it's a very serious issue, but that kind of looks like christmas in florida. >> some people's eyes are very sensitive. i just had my appointment a couple of weeks ago, pain free and all that stuff. >> it is important to talk to your eye doctor.

>> absolutely is. thank you very much. we appreciate you coming in. we want to let people know that obviously we will link you to their website on our website, myfox, dc.com. also, you can send in orange ornaments as well, the address is on your screen. we will donate the tree and all the ornaments including the sunglasses to a worthy group in the d.c. region. >> actually, it's an ornament that you can use. >> yes. >> this is grant allen, cofounder and director of the ocular melanoma foundation. a check on business news coming up after the break. plus dozens of undelivered tax refund checks out there. are you owed any money? as we head to the break, we have two trivia questions. remember earlier we told you about the black college quiz, the ford black college quiz which tapes later today. here's one of the question, only one african-american has held not one, but two cabinet positions in the same presidential administration. who is it?

colin powell, carol mosley braun, condoleeza rice or lisa p. jackson, and the second question, what is the stage name of the queen of entertainment born into the world as annamae bullock? is it queen latifah, tina turner, monique or beyonce? the answers are coming up. stay with us. us. 

9:40 now. checking wall street, the stock market has been open for about 10 minutes now and the dow is down a little bit, about 40 points. now the dow skyrocketed over 490 points, its best day since 2009. that was yesterday. this morning investors are digesting the weekly jobless claims that came out about an hour ago. those numbers were not good, showing more people applying for unemployment benefits. let's hope we can turn this

around. lawmakers on capitol hill talking abo by members of congress this afternoon. a hearing by the senate homeland security committee is discussing a law that would ban congresspeople from making stock trades based on information that is not available to the general public. the bill is called the stock act which stands for stop trading on congressional knowledge. listen to this, you may be owed some cash. the irs says it has $153 million in undelivered tax refund checks. more than 99,000 taxpayers did not receive their refunds because the agency had the wrong mailing address for you. the checks average more than $1500 a piece. the irs wants to remind taxpayers that you can sign up for direct deposit if you think you are owed a refund, just head to the agency's website and click on check on your refund. we've posted a link at myfoxdc.com. hopefully you're one of those who is going to get some money. >> and you have all the

paperwork that it takes to get your check. >> yeah. >> that's a problem. >> although i think it if you're owed the refund, give them the address and they'll send it to you. >> have you done this before? >> no, but they have to know. >> but you still have to come up with -- i think i've been through this before. >> all right. let there be light. >> i don't have that money. the unofficial kickoff to christmas under way in new york city now. >> four, three, two, one. >> beautiful, mayor michael bloomberg helped light the christmas tree that sits in rockefeller center. tony bennett, justin beiber and cello green helped entertain the crowd. the 74-foot tall norway spruce will stay lit until january 7th. always a sight to see. >> you gotta go to new york at christmastime. >> we went on the bus last

year, we went on one of those buses, it was the best. now here in d.c. today, president obama and his family will light the national christmas tree. up next we'll take you live to the ellipse. annie yu has a preview. then we are talking -- or taking, i should say, springtime indoors and we're talking about it. our garden guru derek thomas is here with more on that and some holiday gift ideas. hey, derek. we'll be right back. u paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement. it's an amazing holiday deal. but don't wait. it's only available for a limited time. so go to verizon.com/superoffer to sign up. act now and we'll add a special bonus -- $300 back. fios delivers the best picture quality, plus america's fastest, most consistent most reliable internet. spend the holidays saving money. switch to fios and get our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement when you order online. save $840 in your first two years. and don't forget your special bonus -- $300 back. hurry, offer ends soon. go to verizon.com/superoffer. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/superoffer. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead.

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welcome back, everybody. forced bulbs can be a great way to -- to bring intringtime inside for the winter.

derek joins us this morning. good morning. >> how are you? >> doing well. happy post-thanksgiving and all that good stuff. >> and happy kickoff to the holiday season. >> happy holidays. >> we're talking gifts and what else are we talking? >> we're talking about forced bulbs, the great thing about forced bulbs is that forced bulbs is actually when you're tricking the bulb into blooming at a time when it normally wouldn't. and so there are kits that have come out like amar illegalice kits, this one is a neat idea. this one has actually start today grow before it was even potted up. you can just add a bow to that. think about one of those holiday parties that you could give this as a hostess gift. now also they do have kits where you can get everything comes complete, it has soil, it has the bulb, it has the vessel and it's all done for you. now, paper whites, paper whites are a type of narcissis and the

great thing about paper whites is is they will actually bloom out without any cold forcing and in water. so what i want today show you, you could create, if you want to be a little more crafty, you could create a wonderful gift for someone on your holiday list by doing that and then what i want us to do, allison is just add some of these -- i got some of these really neat glass beads because i thought that would be great. >> pretty. >> you can do it up like that. and then, you know, you can arrive with this like this. you don't have to put the water in until you get to the function that you're going to, and within two to three weeks you're going to have blooms. >> really. >> now forcing bulbs, if you wanted to -- bulbs right now are on discount. you can get actual ips up to -- tulips up to 70% off right now. you want to use sand and the reason for the sand is because in the middle of january or february when the ground is frozen, you want to make sure that you can get the bulb out and get it in the house.

take the tulip and i want you to help me with this. >> put them in there? >> yeah, just put them in there and try to put them all with the flat side facing the same way. the reason is the flat sight of the tulip bulb has the big leave and that is when these flower out they'll all have the big leaf in the same area. we're going to add the soil there. >> that's an interesting tip, the placement of the bulb. >> tulips are the one bulb that's that way, the flat side, the big leaf, the belly has the smaller leaf. we're going to put this in there, and then we're going to put it to sleep and what we're going to do is add some leaf -- these are just leaves and mother nature has given us a lot lately. we're going to cover this over because what that's going to do is help maintain the moisture. now, you want to give it about a four to six-week cold period outdoors. >> now, can we cover this, derek? >> don't cover it because what you want, it has to get water, it's just as like the bulb was

planted. after four to six weeks, so in the middle of january when you need some color the most, you go out there, you plop this up, you clean everything off and you will have beautiful tulips, daffodils, whatever the bulb may be, hycinths in the middle of february. >> i think that's a beautiful thing. once in our lifetime we have a little bit of time. what are some other tips when the colder months, it's really starting to get colder now? >> it's starting to get colder now. the one thing you want to make sure is any of your perennials that have finished flowering, you want to cut all -- herbaceous perennials mean the top leaves have been killed by frost. we had a killing frost overnight. make sure you clean all that up, get that cleaned up and get a layer of mulch under those tender shoots because what that's going to make sure -- even if you don't have mulch, you can do a leaf mulch around

your perennials, that's going to make sure there's no heaving in the middle of winter because that can actually damage your roots. >> derek with all the answers. you can find derek now on facebook and also if you want to see this again and our past garden guru, myfoxdc.com. thank you so much. now we're going to head down to the ellipse. our annie yu is in northwest, of course, waiting for the lighting of the national christmas tree. annie, what's going on? reporter: hey, allison. there's a lot going on. we'll get to that in just a moment. this is a really exciting time for the nation's capital and exciting for those of us who live here, but also across the country because this is the nation's tree, and, of course, president obama and his family will get to flip the switch later tonight at 5:00 and sue will be down here for that. make sure you tune in. joining us now is our good friend bill from the national park service and bill has all the details you need to know for tonight. bill, how are you, happy holidays. >> happy holidays, glad to see you and good morning, annie. reporter: you've been a very busy man. i've seen you running around all morning. what is going on today?

>> preparations, rehearsals for this evening's show, last minute tweaking that's going on. but what i want to tell you is some practical information for people who are going to come down here would need to know. difference this year as in previous years, all ticket holders, meaning for seated tickets as well as standing- room ticket holders need to go to the 17th street site. that's brand new this year. you'll go through the magnetot tommeters, police will check you out, purses, whatever. yes, you should dress appropriately for the event, but don't bring bring everything with you, bring what is minimal to keep you warm and comfortable because what we're going to expect is that everything you bring with you that you take it back home with you. reporter: so what you're saying is leave the sleeping bags at home. >> absolutely. bring a blanket if you want to drape it across your leag legs that, sort of stuff. we'll have hot chocolate after the show is over after 6:00. reporter: great.

let's talk a little bit about the ticketing. you went with the online system again which is a very good system. what about those who don't have a ticket? where do they go or what can they do? >> obviously those people who do have tickets standing room and seated are going to be accommodated first. if you are one of the interesting onlookers who do not have a ticket, we welcome you to come down certainly. it depends upon how much room is left over, how much of that standing room area is occupied. certainly once the show is over, once the president has left the area, the entire area will be here will be open to the public and we welcome everybody. this kicks off christmas pageant of peace and as you know on future nights after tonight there will be boy scout groups, choirs, church choirs, singing musical holiday music virtually every night up and through christmas. reporter: let's talk a little bit about that because we also have santa's workshop for the

little ones, and what is the purpose behind that? what are the hours? >> sure. santa's workshop is 9:00 to 5:00. it's really going to be active on weekends when parents can bring children down here. it's an area where children obviously can meet santa claus. underwriters laboratory is the one who's underwriting that santa's workshop and their whole purpose is during the holidays is to promote safety in homes. too many christmas trees actually can catch on fire, real christmas trees can catch on fire. they want to educate parents as well as children, but especially parents to how to avoid that from happening. reporter: and it's really cute, kermit the frog did a cute psa. i saw it. santa's workshop is free for the little ones, or for everybody. just another reminder, if you come on down today, you want to check out our website, myfoxdc.com for all the information. you can actually watch the ceremony online this year and we will link that site and our very own sue paco will be down here live at 5:00. >> annie, thank you.

>> always a fun time. >> yes, it is. we have a final check on weather, that's coming up next. as we head to break, a reminder, do you have a question you would like answered? send it to me, head to myfoxdc.com, click on the link to ask allison. if you're just seeing this for the first time, what's she talking about, are you saying that? we talk about a variety of topics. you can talk about anything, we love the family issues, the relationship ones, those our favorite to answer, we do answer your questions every friday morning during our 9:00 hour. so write in. we'll be right back. . you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green giant fantastic! pro-gresso ] they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso

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there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered. nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. a beautiful start to the day. you can see the blue skies and it should be a nice afternoon with highs in the low 50s. a little less breezy than yesterday, so if you're headed down to the christmas tree lighting tonight, it's going to be cool, no doubt about it.

temperatures will quickly fall into the 40s, but not the bone- chilling stuff we've had the last couple of years. that's good news. you still want to bring a coat. as soon as the sun goes down, it'll be cold. >> how fortunate is it we live in the nation's capital? you see the white house. >> absolutely great. take it for granted some g here, he's hosting the sixth annual ford black college quiz that is going to be taping today at howard university, cramdon auditorium, students from historically black colleges and universities will be competing. sounds like a lot of fun and we've got two trivia questions that we put on. you want to do the honors once again and take us through the questions? >> here we go. only one african-american has held not one, but two cabinet positions in the same presidential administration, name this very important person. i originally thought it was colin powell but thought, no, you're talking about the same president, condoleeza rice is the correct answer. >> under george w. bush. >> of course, secretary of

state and national security adviser. very good. now to the second question, name -- what is the name of the queen of entertainment born into the world as anna maeae bullock. >> there you go, tina turner. love her voice. have fun. it's free if you want to go out there and watch and you might win an ipad while you're there. thank you, sir. glad to have you here once again. >> thank you. thanks for watching the show today. we do appreciate you. >> see you tomorrow. it's the wendy williams show. today the hilarious sandra bernhard. t.i. a tiny with the family hustle. wendy has the latest hot topics and inside scoop. it