>> didn't have to brave it too much. >> not too bad. >> early in the morning, super cold, and after that got better and was a mild day friday. wish they showed different video, because the baskets were full. >> that was very early. >> very early in the day. today will be a decent day. that was a nice live shot we saw there outside of this morning's sunrise, which officially occurred in under 10 minutes. there you go, beautiful. we have the deck of clouds out there. man, the sun really making a very nice impact there. it's going to be a decent day today. but a lot of clouds today. got to admit that. 43is your current temperature at reagan national. relative humidity at 93%. winds out of the west at 3 miles per hour. barometric pressure is steady. satellite radar composite, plenty of clouds. picking up moisture from the fog off to the east, where we have patchy dense fog in parts of maryland, across the chesapeake bay, places like that. nothing in the way of rainfall this morning.

that will hold off until late tonight. because of that fog, we have a dense fog advisory in effect until 9:00 this morning, in the counties you see, eastern maryland, southern maryland, saint mary's county, portions of virginia under a dense fog advisory until 9:00. the rest of us, today cloudy skies, but mild temperatures. highs from the upper 50s to the low 60s today. we'll look for a high of about 61 degrees in arlington. that's a look at the weather. now let's get the traffic with julie wright. just enough fog to keep skyfox on the ground. in downtown silver spring, hardly any fog at all. i can see for a couple of miles. on the roads, the lanes are open coming south along 270. no problems to report, just delays, out of germantown. this is northbound i-95 headed

up to what was the accident accident before lorton. you'll find if you are traveling 395 headed to the inbound 14th street bridge, authorities checking for a crash. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. thank you. occupy protestors refusing to take down a building they put up in mcpherson square saturday night. u.s. park police brought in an armored vehicle, giant air bag and cherry picker. let's go to our stacey cohan who is live there this morning. what's going on now? >> reporter: that does seem like an unusual collection of elements to bring into a conflict. i'll tell you why they needed all of those over the weekend. what happened is the occupy d.c. protestors decided to erect a building, a wooden structure of sorts, that they were going to use as a house, as an example of affordable

housing, as a place to keep warm. unfortunately, the u.s. park police said no permits, not safe, you can't stay there and it must be dismantled by sunday morning. it was not, so there was an all day standoff between police and protestors, during which some of the protestors climbed to the top of the building. now, when police moved in to remove those protestors, they brought in an armored vehicle and a large air bag for protestors who chose to jump and they also brought in a cherry picker to help get those folks off the roof. >> i think this is part of our message. our message is people need housing. our people need to be taken care of. we came out with a declaration last week, that truly states what we are here about, and i think that if that gets coverage along with this, it's what we're looking for. >> reporter: they also brought in a bulldozer and smashed the house flat. it is here no longer. 31protestors were arrested.

however, all is quiet on the camp this morning. they have retreated back into their tents, which are as numerous as it appears they always were, and they'll have to find another way to make their point about affordable housing and perhaps stave off the cold. i'm stacey cohan, back to you. >> thank you. steve? d.c. council will hold a closed door meeting today to talk about their colleague harry thomas. federal agents raided his home friday, he is accused of funneling $300,000 in city money to a charity he runs to use the money himself. he says he's innocent, but has offered to repay the $300,000. republican candidates for empty start this week fighting for herman cain supporters. but he could play a big role in the process. >> reporter: cain's fortunes may have been falling in recent weeks, but his former rivals realize he has a deep well of

supporters. cain, gone but not forgotten. >> i am spending my presidential campaign. >> reporter: the dust barely settled on his announced withdrawal from the republican primary, and already other candidates were courting his supporters. >> our office had call after call of people who wanted to switch over and come and support me, because people realize that i'm the true tea party candidate in the race. >> reporter: for now, newt gingrich seems to be the most likely beneficiary of cain's departure. his rise in the polls led many to believe cain supporters were already defecting to gingrich, with more to come. yesterday, one leading republican in congress made his distaste for gingrich surprisingly clear. >> i just found his leadership lacking and i'm not going into greater detail on that. i will have difficulty supporting him as president of the united states. >> reporter: still, polls show gingrich is poised to do well in iowa. with cain supporters now in

play, less than a month before the caucuses, the race could quickly change. >> i think that newt gingrich probably the likely beneficiary and we're seeing that, we've been seeing it for at least a week now, maybe a little more. but i would not be surprised to see a sanatorium boomlet as well. >> reporter: announcement today could further shake things up. a television station in atlanta reports cain today will endorse newt gingrich. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. time for a look at some of the top stories today. search set to resume at 7:30 this morning for a sanitation worker who disappeared friday. charles duckett went out to retrieve a dead deer when his boat returned, the deer was inside, but duckett was nowhere to be found. a second victim has died after a thanksgiving day tragedy in a hyattsville parking lot. the man passed away this

weekend. a driver swerved out of control, ran into the crowd near the home depot after having a medical emergency. the 41-year-old died that day. three others were hurt. the woman accused of going on a crime spree in our area will make an appearance in federal court today. she is expected to enter a plea. the 26-year-old is suspected in two bank robberies and two carjackings since november 19th. she was arrested wednesday after a third bank robbery attempt in mcclain. schwab has confessed to two of these crimes. the man at the center of the penn state abuse scandal says he never sexually abused children. lawyers for his accusers are saying his account not convincing and hurts the children. the former penn state defensive coordinator tells the "new york times" he sees himself as a father-like figure as children

in his life. he has been charged with 40 counts of molesting eight boys. football fans recovering this morning. oklahoma state fans stormed the field after beating oklahoma to clinch the big 12 championship. more than a dozen people were injured. the most serious has been upgraded from stable to guarded condition. eight other fans sent to the hospital, two of them with broken ankles. some fans were injured at the skins' game as well. prince george's county fire officials say an escalator at gate 8 suddenly stopped working as the crowd was leaving the game. it isn't yet know why it stopped working. two people were taken to the hospital to be checked out for minor injuries. we're going to talk more about the game itself when we come back. dave ross is in the studio to play monday morning quarterback. plus we are going to talk about the super bowl.

not who is playing on the field, though. >> we don't know yet. >> we pretty much -- okay. but who is providing the half time entertainment. >> do you know? >> no, i don't know, but i think i know who won't be there. >> that makes sense, then. we know who will be there at half time and we'll talk about that coming up. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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it is 7:13 now. a monday morning. let's look at the stories making headlines. global conference to discuss afghanistan's future beyond 2014 underway in germany. about 100 countries and international organizations are at the gathering and that includes secretary of state hillary clinton. pakistan boycotted the conference in protest to a nato air assault last month. free tickets to see president obama tomorrow in

kansas. he is headed there to give a speech about how he considers this a make or break moment for the american middle class. he speaks in the same town that president roosevelt gave a speech in in 1910. town of just 4,000 people. it's confirmed now, boys, madonna will perform in a half time extravaganza, no doubt it will be, at the super bowl in february. the material girl, and that's so long ago, can we call her something else now? >> no. >> let's call her madge. >> no. >> she'll collaborate with the team from cirque du soleil. it's the most watched musical event of the year. do you think that's easy to do? >> i agree, i don't know any football fan that hasn't been waiting for madonna and cirque du soleil in the middle of a football game. >> true. >> i won't accept that.

>> it's about bringing a different audience. >> i agree. >> please, everyone loves madonna. >> really? it's funny sarah said the same thing earlier. >> i like madonna. >> she's an american icon at this point. >> new don't, then it's a good half hour break to restock. >> i dare you to move from the tv that day. >> insane. i hate that half time during the regular season is 12 minutes, which i don't think is long enough for the teams. and during the super bowl, it's a half hour. teams could run home and have a sandwich and come back. it's crazy. we've gone up a little bit. right now it's 45 degrees here in washington. not bad at all. 45 here. 47 in annapolis. baltimore at 39 degrees. quantico is at 40. camera is so far away. hard to see. dulles, 41 degrees. let's pull this out and you can

see most of the region -- now it's pulling further away. >> it's mocking you. >> yes, it is. 50 in pittsburgh. today and tomorrow, mild with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. then we have changes coming in the form of a cold front. we'll cool out for the latter part of the weekend. forecast today, some patchy fog this morning. chance of rain tomorrow, and wednesday. friday more sunshine, but we cool off. 46degrees, below normal. that's the latest on the weather. let's check with julie wright. been a little slow for a monday. >> absolutely. and now we have problems involving a suspicious package, heading into downtown. this is lower 14th street, now blocked off between pennsylvania avenue and constitution avenue at this

point. thanks to our friends at ddot giving us word it's report of a suspicious package. traffic coming off the bridge is being diverted now at pennsylvania avenue. you can go no further than pennsylvania avenue. it is blocked off in each direction. not sure if this is the only closure or not. that has not been confirmed. we do know lower 14th street bridge is closed off between pennsylvania avenue and constitutional avenue. on the other side of town, northbound i-95 definitely a slow roll leaving dale city. overturned vehicle reported and want to stay to the left to get by. this is on the westbound side of 121, accident activity here. coming off that ramp from southbound 270 to exit to 121, swing wide to get by. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. thank you. time to talk a little football. dave ross in to join us. i'm far enough away from

allison, to say i'm not really excited about that half time. >> i'm picking up what you're putting down. cirque du soleil and madonna, is she like 90? >> on their own, i'm sure their wonderful. >> i want to give a shout out to big tigger and free, we've been talking stuff a truck. we were out there friday. and all four of us, we agreed the redskins would beat the jets. >> all wrong. >> all wrong. free said the reason was simple, defense, man! and the defense let them down late in the fourth quarter. they didn't play a particularly good game. we had a couple of positives to talk about. one, helu, right? >> he was the only runningback to get the ball. >> he was. really, this is who they're down to. he has played well. >> playing well. >> first carry of the game.

rookie, a game breaker in nebraska, still that first drive. doesn't want to get tackled. down inside the 5. had 100 yards even on 23 carries. >> if hightower is healthy, who do you play? >> i think have a nice 1-2 -- >> you'll have to face that possibility. >> i would probably start hightower. >> i'm just saying, if we're playing to see what we have in line -- >> i think you could have that battering ram of hightower and change of pace guy with helu. you have to distribute the carries equally next season. >> that works. >> best rookie runningback since reggie brooks. >> i would not have known that. >> how about davis was very good yesterday. >> always a good option, when he's available to play. >> that's the key, steve. we'll talk about that in a second. 99yards. the first drive, big play. >> can they script an entire

game? >> if you can script the first 15 -- >> the last two weeks, first drive has been fantastic. >> fred, again, as you mentioned, he was their number one option. cromartie and reeveis, that's the reason they had to go to the tight end. expected to miss the rest of this season due to a pending substance abuse policy violation. >> they'll be back for the playoffs, right? >> yeah, really. it's a situation we'll find out more today. unfortunately, not victory monday. we'll have to talk to those guys and we'll get official word hopefully today from either the redskins or the league. don't expect those guys to play this year. season already lost. that's a big loss to two of their better players on offense. >> what do you think about the quarterback play yesterday? >> i thought rex -- >> threw the ball a lot? >> i think his worst game by far this year.

qb rating 47.5. not pretty. no touchdowns. one interception. but here is the game changing play here. fourth quarter, holmes, jets go up by 4. last week they were down in seattle and came back. so you thought -- >> why not doing it again? >> you're saying there's a chance. ensuing possession, held on to the ball too long, probably because of the corners, revis and cromartie. can't see that outside guy, fumble and leads to green. green has been m.i.a., i know because i had him on my fantasy league football team, and he comes up big with three touchdowns, this on the design sneak. >> welcome to my world. >> don't you love fantasy football? on an aside, quickly, we are both big college football fans. >> we are. >> i am beside myself that alabama is going to play for the national -- >> you are reading my mind.

are you with me? >> i'm with you. >> how can they play against lsu? lsu beat alabama at tuscaloosa. what happens now? alabama wins they play a third time, flip a coin. >> that's the way the bcs is set up. >> i'm more upset there are no games on new year's day. >> yeah. >> the whole contract thing. >> do you know somebody? can we put pressure on the bcs to get this thing right? >> while you're talking about pie in the sky dream, like yesterday, where drew brees was playing at night, can he play a few series -- >> off the soap box for now, but i'd rather watch madonna

and cirque du soleil do their selection. >> sad. i'll be watching, madge. it's being called the priciest pileups on record. more than 10 luxury sports cars involved in this one. a holiday tradition at riverdale baptist church, and we are live with a look at the 25th annual living christmas tree. our annie is out there. will she be in the tree this year? stay with us. we'll find out. ♪ yeah, i'm married. does it matter?

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sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ [ coughing continues ]

[ female announcer ] more pollution from power plants means more childhood asthma attacks. [ labored breathing ] there's technology that makes the air cleaner, but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards to protect our kids. [ baby coughing ] a reminder for maryland drivers, totals for the icc start today. it's been a free ride since the 18.8-mile road known as maryland 200 opened more than a week ago. it connects i-270 in maryland to i-95 at laurel in prince

george's county. it will cost 25 cents a mile at peak times, 20 cents a time offpeak times and ten cents a mile overnight. if you have filled up recently, you may have noticed gas prices inched down. aaa says the current average for regular in the district is $3.46 now. in maryland, it's $3.26. average in virginia is $3.17 a gallon. super cars end up in a crash. happened on a highway in western japan. there is the car carnage. 14 cars, many super cars, including eight ferraris, lamborghini slammed into each other. total damage, more than $4 million. ten people suffered minor injuries. witnesses say the cars were traveling a bit over the speed limit that was posted. the highway was shut down more than six hours after that

pileup. the cars -- drivers, rather, were part of a club out for an outing. >> like a chain reaction? >> one ran into the barricade and the rest banged into each other. that's a shame. >> sure is. stay tuned, because up next, we'll take a look at the top stories. big story from the weekend, one-time presidential gop front runner herman cains suspends his campaign, and his one time competitors are scrambling for his supporters. who might benefit the most, when fox 5 returns. 7:28.    

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time now is 7:30 on this monday morning. as we check top stories, the search continues for a sanitation worker who disappeared friday. charles duckett apparently went out to retrieve a dead deer. the boat returned with the deer inside, but he was nowhere to d.c. council likely will hold a closed door meeting today to talk about their embattled colleague, ward five councilman harry thomas junior. federal agents raided his home friday. he's accused of funneling $300,000 in city money from a charity he runs so he could use

that money for himself. he says he is not guilty of this, but he has offered to repay the $300,000. u.s. park police arresting 31 occupy protestors in mcpherson square yesterday after they refused to take down a wooden structure that was put up overnight saturday. by sunday morning police had to remove it because they didn't have a permit. some resisted, were taken into custody. police used an armored car, giant air bag, cherry picker to remove the building and the protestors. all right. it's 7:32 now. how is it looking out there, tony? >> not too bad. we have cloudy skies, but the skies have brightened now with the sun coming up. it's okay. it's not going to be the prettiest day we've had in the last several days. but we're going to have comfortable temperatures for today. that part is good. let's take a look at your weather headlines for today. i guess the main headline this morning, aside from the clouds, the fact we have patchy fog off

to our east. in fact, there's a dense fog advisory that's in effect. i'll show that to you in just a couple of moments. the other things you want to know about, cloudy today, but mild. temperatures above normal again today. then, unsettled weather, not so much today. we're setting the stage today for the cloud cover. but wednesday and thursday. sunshine returns late in the week, but cooler when it returns as well. now, temperatures 45 degrees at reagan national. 41dulles in sterling, virginia. bwi marshall at 39 degrees at this time. all right, satellite radar, lots of clouds across the area. couple of blips showing up, catching some of that moisture in the air, primarily earlier this morning in the way of the fog. this doesn't do a good job of capturing that. to the north and west, rain

showers. they take their time to get here. i don't think we see any of that rain until overnight tonight, as that cold front begins to sink through our area. meanwhile, with the fog that i've been telling you about, we have a dense fog advisory in effect until 9:00 this morning for these counties to the east. new to this list are portions of baltimore county and anne arundel county. visibilities for a quarter mile or less. forecast today, lots of clouds around. patchy fog. 61degrees for your high later on today. that's 11 degrees above normal. five-day forecast, still mild, but periods of rain during the day tomorrow and tomorrow night probably. and in fact, for your drive into work tomorrow morning you might have shower activity. then the temperatures begin to drop. overnight lows in the 40s tuesday into wednesday. wednesday cool, 53 degrees. only in the 40s thursday and

friday. overnight lows dropping into the 30s. that's what's happening with the weather. now let's go to julie wright for traffic. police tell me they were investigating a suspicious package downtown, and as a result, that's why they had this portion of lower 14th street blocked off between constitution avenue and pennsylvania avenue. we saw earlier we moved our camera around. a lot of activity in front of the reagan building. saw a lot of police activity. again, the roadway is blocked off. 395 slow leaving the beltway, but delays before shurlington coming across the bridge, and diverted off here at constitution avenue. 14th remains blocked off between constitution avenue and pennsylvania avenue. they are diverting traffic. lanes are open traveling south on 270 out of germantown. westbound on west 21, had the incident blocking the right lane. very little delay. lanes are open, 395 coming

across the 14th street bridge, earlier accident has cleared. again, very much a slow go coming across the potomac. no problems route one out of woodbridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the big political news over the weekend was herman contain dropping out of the race. his one-time competitors are scrambling for his supports. good to see you. >> good morning. >> herman cain spending his campaign. smart move? only move? >> it's been a difficult time for herman cain with the allegations he's faced. the calculation he had to make is what's my political career after running for president? and in order to salvage some of the credibility he had built up as a conservative in the race, it was probably the smartest thing to do to get out of it.

>> where was he as far as his supporters go? did he still have support? i know he had fallen in the polls and women in particular were turning away. was he a strong candidate? >> no, he had plummeted in the polls. his support had already eroded. a lot of the supporters went to gingrich. this is what we've seen the entire primary, looking for the alternate conservative to romney. they have shifted to gingrich. he is in the lead and we'll see if he can hold on. >> how good are michele bachmann's chances? >> she's reaching out to women voters. typically the republican party does a ligament worse with women voters in the general election. it's an interesting thing to see. but it hasn't paid very much for her, because her support is

low. >> sanatorium making an appearance on at least one talk show this weekend. where does he fit in all this? >> he's just never caught on. he's got an interesting background in congress as a senator. strong social conservative, but hasn't been able to galvanize supporters this time around. >> interesting. less than a month now before the iowa caucuses. tell us what you expect to come out of that. do you expect romney to do well there? >> one of the most interesting things that's happening is typically the iowa caucus is thought of as a chance to show your organizational skill as a campaign. what we're seeing this time around, almost none of the campaigns have a robust organization there. so it's going to be chaotic and unpredictable in a way it hasn't been in years past. so gingrich has the lead right now, but whether he can bring his voters to the polls at the caucus, that remains to be seen. >> gingrich is a familiar name, of course, not just around here, but everywhere as former

house speaker of course. when does it start, if it's going to get ugly, if we're going to get old skeletons out, when does that start? >> probably this week. the romney campaign has been prepping an attack on him. i think they were caught off guard when he rose to the top, because nobody expected it. there are a lot of things to look at in newt's past, and we'll be getting a personal look at that. >> interesting, just an aside here, on "saturday night live," they have their finger on the pulse of what they think is going on, at least in all the debate sketches it starts with gingrich, you really don't want to be here, do you, and he walks off? "saturday night live" could be wrong on that one. lawmakers trying to scramble to get something done with this payroll tax. what is likely to get done? this is, i think most people are watching this. this affects all of us. >> it does. everybody will see that money in their paycheck every couple of weeks. there are so many moving pieces

that it's a complicated debate. basically everybody pretty much concedes the payroll taxes going to be extended, because republicans are terrified of the political fallout if they allow that to expire. democrats would, you know, would use that as an attack, how can you let taxes increase, because you didn't want millionaires to pay an extra tax. what we're seeing this week, there's going to be a compromise, kind of introduced today and we'll see how republicans react to that, to see if it's something they can get behind. >> nancy pelosi, a funny quote i heard from her, this is paraphrasing, let's work together like we did when bush was in office. maybe that's a little wink wink to get it done. thank you so much, jonathan strong with roll call. appreciate you being here today. big changes coming to a post office near you. up next, a look at the plan to save some $3 billion. as we go to break, a special holiday greeting. hi, i'm beth manning, this

is my husband colonel ed manning and our daughter emily and son john. we want to send out a merry christmas and holiday greetings to my brother willie and his family. see you in the summer.    

big changes coming to a post office near you, thanks to a weak u.s. economy. >> peter doocy explains. >> reporter: the postal service has an unofficial motto, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. but that motto doesn't say you'll still get your mail swiftly in a bad economy. you can say goodbye to guaranteed next day delivery of first class mail for the first time in 40 years. the postal service will announce their plan for saving

$3 billion monday. it means they won't receive mail the day after it was sent, if it was sent in an overnight standard area, for example, d.c. mail to northern virginia could take an additional day. for people outside the d.c. area, here's the map. it will take an extra day to go across the river. one congressman says if this is a sign of things to come, maybe it's time to privatize the postal service. >> we don't appropriate money to them. they have to sell stamps to generate revenue. we want to continue that. you don't cut service, limit the days of service, slow down that service if you want to sell more stamps, and they also want to raise rates. that's not a way to rise volume. >> reporter: these cuts kick in in the spring time. the post office is also looking to close hundreds of processing centers and fire tens of thousands of workers. in washington, peter doocy, fox

news. all right. there it is. we're not surprised, right? >> not at all. >> post office has been hurting. hello. hello there. we had a very nice weekend, right? >> we did. >> i just stepped outside. it's cool out. but the skies are pretty. lot of clouds. got the sun breaking through. thin clouds out there. not a bad start to the day. our temperatures will be great today, too. not bad at all. take a look, yesterday's high temperatures into the 50s at reagan international airport, up to 55 degrees. also 55 at dulles. bwi, 57 the high yesterday. currently, temps in the 30s and 40s. 45 in the district.

46 annapolis. manassas 34. not a bad start to the day. fog primarily east of washington and south and east in portions of maryland across the chesapeake bay. forecast today, dry during the day. and by that, i mean no rain. morning fog will burn off around 9:00, 10:00, something like that. highs today in the upper 50s and low 60s. 58 hagerstown. 61 warrenton. 61 arlington for your high today. more details on the forecast coming up in a little bit. you were right. pretty nice looking. >> yeah. not too bad. >> thank you. check in with julie wright. >> hey, guys. traveling downtown, lanes open in each direction along lower 14th street, between constitution avenue and pennsylvania avenue. this fender-bender in place here, westbound 121, west of 270. follow police direction to get by there. obviously very little delay.

66eastbound still tied up in manassas with delays. slow traffic approaching fair oaks and beltway. westbound 66 authorities checking for a crash. no incidents to report now traveling the top stretch of the beltway, between college park and bethesda. around georgia avenue, leaving route one, about 25 minutes. that's a check of your fox on- time traffic. thanks. time to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day. denise brown. i met her at holiday slender on friday. denise, it was my pleasure to meet you. hope our pictures came out okay. have a great week. what, steve? >> you are so excited. >> if you would like to be tomorrow's fan of the day, find us on facebook by searching for fox5 morning news, no space between fox and the number 5 and post a comment under denise's photo. can we look at her arms for a second? >> you'll be down on yourself.

you know your photos were fantastic. >> trying to squeeze my arms into this jacket. >> so not true. you probably look fabulous together. >> i hope so. as i told sarah, i was sucking it in. no need for that, my friend. coming up, a holiday tradition at riverdale baptist church. this you might need to suck in a little bit to get in that tiny space. >> we of course talking about the living christmas tree and this year our annie lu is checking it out. annie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, allison and steve. that's right, it's a tradition that's been going on for 25 years. we are live at the riverdale baptist church, where they're gearing up for their annual living christmas tree show. we'll tell you how you can be a part of this coming up in just a bit. ♪ so we need a little christmas right this very minute ♪  

we would love for you to be a part of our fox 5 holiday tradition helping us decorate our fox 5 christmas tree. we decorate it every year with ornaments you send in and we donate the tree and ornaments to a worthy group in the d.c. region. we can't return the ornaments, but we will love if you would be willing to donate one. send them to the address on your screen. our tree is not nearly as big as the one at riverdale riverdale baptist church. 25 years they've been going strong. >> fox 5's annie lu is there to preview the holiday show. i don't think it would be the same if i tried to put my girls in the tree. >> reporter: no, and that's a

lot of standing. they have to stay in that tree two hours. >> no. we'll just look at you instead. >> reporter: hopefully i'll get in there. we're having a lot of fun here at the riverdale baptist church. they're gearing up for their 25th show. it is something that brings the entire community together. but also they do a lot of giving back. we'll find out more about that. joining me is the pastor. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: how are you? >> wonderful, thank you. >> reporter: happy holidays. >> merry christmas, happy holidays to you. >> reporter: thank you. this is a very popular event that keeps growing bigger and better each year. >> it is. >> reporter: how long have you been here to experience all this? >> this is my 18th living christmas tree, and it is our 25th anniversary year, yeah. >> reporter: has it gotten bigger and grown over the years? >> it has. at first it just started with, you know, our choir and the tree and orchestra and then we started doing different dramas and then we did adaptations of christmas carol and a wonderful

life with george bailey. every year the drama is different and it keeps growing and there are different nuances and it's a lot of fun. >> reporter: it's a great group of people. >> they really are. >> reporter: so let's talk about the tree a little bit. how long does it take to get this in here and what is it made out of? >> actually it takes several weeks to construct the tree, the stage, all the sets. it's just something that our church pulls together to do. it is a lot of fun for us to pull that together. >> reporter: in addition the show, i know there's a way you're giving back to the community. can you talk about that? >> absolutely. one thing we do, a project we love around here, is christmas for an orphan. we distribute boxes. it's a great project through one of our partners, world help. we literally receive hundreds of these boxes. we do this through our school as well. it's a way our kids can give back, a way we can be generous and teach our kids to be

generous. we send the boxes to world help, and i've been privileged to take some of these gifts to orphans in guatemala, in places like russia, india, even iraq. it's been a great way for our church family to give back internationally. >> reporter: absolutely. that's great stuff. speaking of great stuff, we're going to hear a little snippet. >> wonderful. >> reporter: from the choir here. are you guys ready? ♪ singing out the songs that we all love to hear ♪ ♪ singing to the sound of the seasons ♪ singing out the songs that we all love to hear ♪ >> reporter: if you would like to come out and enjoy the show,

myfoxdc.com is our web site. we have a link to the living tree. remember, tickets are just ten dollars for adults and children. that includes parking, hot chocolate and cookies and a spectacular show. back to you in the studio. >> annie, thank you. >> sound great every year, don't they? >> never disappoint. >> getting you in the holiday spirit. coming up, next hour, it is the time of year certainly that it is very easy to blow right through your budget. coming up, five ways to make the holiday season fiscally brighter. today the d.c. council is expected to meet to discuss their embattled colleague. coming up, the sponsor of the ethics reform bill will join us in studio. 3minutes before the hour now. [ male announcer ] for andy, tracking his spending with citibank

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structure built without a permit. today the d.c. council expected to meet to discuss harry thomas junior. ahead at this hour, sponsor of the ethics reform bill will join us. it is the time of year it's easy to blow your budget. coming up, we're going to talk about ways your season can be fiscally brighter. the top five coming up this hour. i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm alison seymour. i am a habitual budget blower this time of year. >> they love you're spending your money. >> but i don't do it with credit. >> good. one of the best things to do. >> you save and save throughout the year, it's okay. >> and you have a budget, that's the first step. >> you're ruining my segment by giving all the advice now. >> okay, let's don't do that.

we're going to start with current conditions at reagan international airport, where now it is 45 degrees. relative humidity, 90%. no winds to speak of. our barometric pressure is on the rise this hour. temperatures across the region -- just dropped off on this map, at least. 44 now here in washington. 47 in annapolis. baltimore at 39 degrees. manassas is cool, or cold, i'll say it, 36 degrees. dulles airport, 42. you can see all across the mid- atlantic, into the northeast we've got cool temperatures. rather mild in some locations. pittsburgh 50 degrees. 50 in raleigh, north carolina. there is cold air out to the north and west in chicago, where it's 36. fog advisory in effect. dense fog advisory until 9:00 this morning. the counties you see shaded in are under that advisory due to visibility being reduced to a quarter mile or less.

that does include southern baltimore county anne arundel county. after the morning fog burns off, mostly cloudy skies. some rays of sun, but a mild day. high of 61 degrees downtown. that is 11 degrees above normal. not bad at all. enjoy the day. thank you, tony. >> let's check with julie wright. hi, julie. this is something that's a little abnormal, if you will. this is westbound 66. to find an accident at this hour, not what we're used to. rush hour flow is usually eastbound in the morning. unlikely you'll find this delay. but approaching 28, it's where we have this crash on the left and right side. traveling outbound this morning, you'll find delays leaving fair oaks towards centreville. accident activity on both sides of the highway. eastbound on 66, slow in manassas, delays headed towards

vienna. all lanes open. lanes here with open with no incidents to report. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. thanks. more than two dozen occupy protestors arrested in d.c. yesterday because they would not take down a wooden structure they built late saturday night. stacey cohan is live in the square this morning with the latest on our top story. >> reporter: good morning, steve. the occupy d.c. movement is somewhat different than the movements across the country, in that they have had relatively few clashes with law enforcement. that ended yesterday. apparently the occupy protestors built about a 15- foot wooden structure that resembled a shed. they were going to use it as shelter. however, u.s. park police said don't think so. that is a permanent structure and requires a permit, which the occupy protestors did not have. they were supposed to take it down sunday morning. when they did not, a standoff ensued and eventually law enforcement came in in large numbers and brought in an air

mattress to grab folks that jump -- or climbed up to the top of the roof. they brought in an armored vehicle. when about half dozen refused to get down from the top of the structure, they nabbed them with a cherry picker. >> a lot of people who are very cold. it was going to have this be a green technology way of keeping people warm. and also going to be used for our general assembly we have every day. >> reporter: the structure was destroyed by law enforcement. about 31 people in all were arrested. yesterday's clash did not seem to have impact on the em campment. they are here and the tent city which has been allowed to remain is still intact. reporting live, i'm stacey cohan. back to you. the d.c. council expected to meet today to talk about their embattled colleague, ward 4 councilman harry thomas, jr.. he is accused of funneling

$300,000 in city money from a charity that he runs so he could use the money for himself. the councilman says he is not guilty, but has offered to repay the $300,000. joining us now, ward 4 council member merrill bowser. good morning. thanks for being here with us. >> thanks for having me. >> on friday, his home raided by the fbi. your thoughts on this with regards to your place on the council. >> certainly we're very sad for the thomas family and the people, really our city. it's a very significant action to happen and puts a negative light on all of washington. so we're anxious the investigation takes its course, gets over where so we can turn to the important business of the city. >> what happens in the meantime with councilman thomas? >> well, he continues to be a member of the council, of

course. he's already relinquished his chairmanship on the committee of economic development. we expect to meet with all the members of the council today, i am hopeful of, to talk about any further action the council might take. >> action was swift. friday a meeting was called. >> yes. >> to say we will take this issue up. >> sure. >> what happened in that meeting friday? >> chairman brown thought it was important all members of the council could attend, and with short notice everybody couldn't get there. i think it's important when we take actions against members in the past, all members have been able to be there to speak about what the concerns are. it's important to note, though, the tools council does have in these actions might not be what people expect. certainly, we can speak in one voice as a council, we could issue a reprimand. our rules around censure are cumbersome. i think what is important is we speak with one voice and we make sure that our body as an

institution as a legislature is protected and make sure the people of ward five are being adequately represented and i know everybody wants the same thing. >> this feit's almost like just the poster child case for what you've been dealing with now, people want to see action on this. >> yes. >> it's very powerful to see the fbi raiding someone's home. >> sure. >> taking out items, a car was also taken. this is exactly the kind of thing you're trying to basically fight against? >> sure. actually our bill, we were here -- >> yes. >> -- a hearing about 10 bills. i promised to come back and talk about the consolidated bill. we established an ethics sheriff, which we have been lacking in the district of columbia. one entity focused on the ethics rules. we put a tough code of conduct in place and put more public officials, including the council and mayor, subject to this new code of conduct, as well as more and tougher public disclosure forms so the people

know who their representatives are working for. so with that, a number of reforms in place, we think we have a tougher regime. >> what's the action now on this bill? >> this morning my committee will meet at 10:30 and mark up the bill. that's the first vote out of committee. tomorrow we expect to present that bill for first vote. and another vote in a couple of weeks. >> last month, november 30th or so, some critics said it didn't go far enough. what do you say? >> i say when you have 10 bills and you have a lot of different opinions, that our job is to put the best bill on the table that's going to fix the problem. we had some, you know, suggestions about things that really didn't address the behavior that we have here, term limits for example, doesn't address the problems that we have before. there are some people that want to limit due process, for

example, in the case that we're in now, there are some people that want to eliminate the ability of corporations to give. none of those really impact the problems we're seeing currently, or close the loopholes that will prevent this type of behavior in the future. >> will you come back and talk when it's all -- >> absolutely. >> -- fit in a tidy box with a bow on top? >> absolutely. >> steve, over to you. ten minutes past the hour. this time of year, easy to blow your budget. coming up, five ways to make the holiday season fiscally brighter. and dave ross is back to play monday morning quarterback. we'll try to find some good that came out of yesterday's game. stay with us.      

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ingredients for life. as we check headlines this morning -- >> the search resumed at 7:30 this morning for a sanitation worker who disappeared friday. charles duckett went out to retrieve a dead deer. his boat returned, the deer was inside, but duckett nowhere to be found. a second victim has died

after a thanksgiving day tragedy in a hyattsville parking lot. he passed away this weekend. a driver swerved out of control, ran into a crowd near the home depot. police believe the driver suffered a medical emergency. the 41-year-old from hyattsville died that day. three others were hurt. the woman accused of going on a crime spree in virginia and maryland will make an appearance today in federal court. stephanie schwab is expected to enter a plea today. she was arrested wednesday after a third bank robbery attempt in mcclain. she confessed to two of the crimes. 8:14 now on a monday morning. >> time to check in with tony for a little pick meup. >> yeah. >> yes, indeed. we start with the my first 5 photo of the day. check him out. this is casey. >> oh, no, what happened? >> fear not, fear not.

this is casey after his big brother poured baby powder all over him. >> that's what brothers will do. >> thanks, big brother. do you know what is so funny? >> what? >> he's still cute. >> yeah. >> baby powder all over his face could not stand in the way of his cuteness. >> he'll get him back at some point. >> yes, he will. >> revenge is sweet, kacey. >> that is a funny picture. i bet he smells so good, though. >> what does he have in his hand? >> i can't really see it. >> i think it's -- i don't know what it is. thank you for sending the photo in. if you want to send in your child's photo, go to myfoxdc.com, and click on mornings. all right, take a look at the temperatures around the region. we are at 44 degrees. dropped off a little bit. 44 in d.c. 46 in annapolis. baltimore, 39. frederick, maryland, 37 degrees. dulles airport at 42. quantico, 42 and fredericksburg, 43. a lot of cloud cover.

couple of breaks here and there. certainly our skies will be mostly cloudy today. also dealing with fog this morning, particularly in maryland off to the east of the district and in southern maryland as well and across the chesapeake bay. here's your surface map for today. high pressure continues to dominate as that frontal boundary out to the west begins to move in here. will gradually push that high pressure out and bring with it the chance of rain showers. first chance of that really i think is overnight tonight and chances of showers during the day tomorrow with the passage of the front. the cool air behind that front doesn't really work its way in here until starts tomorrow night, and we'll feel it on wednesday. five-day forecast, high today about 61, under mostly cloudy skies. some rain could develop overnight, into tomorrow. rain showers tomorrow, 60. wednesday, few rain showers, 53. thursday, chance of showers. 47degrees. sunny for friday, but cool. high only about 46 degrees. that's a look at the weather.

coming up, gwen will bring the next weather forecast. here's julie wright with an update on traffic. i wanted to invite you to a celebrity gift wrapping that i'm doing this evening in gaithersburg. >> oh, this evening. i mean, it's a week night. i can't. i get up so early. >> it's at 4:30 in the afternoon. but that's not the point. i'll be there. >> okay. >> we're asking for a minimum donation to support girls on the run. >> you're inviting me to have my gifts wrapped? i would not be one of the celebrities wrapping gifts? >> can you wrap? i have a feeling i'll be here till the morning with paper cuts. >> sounds like fun. good. >> girls on the run, love this program. preparing young girls for a healthy lifestyle. a good cause. if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. on the roads now, wrapping up the commute, 95 interchange past university boulevard towards georgia avenue, 20-

minute ride. lanes are open, 95 is slowing traveling to the beltway. remains of this accident on the westbound side of 66 here at 28, all of the activity confined to the shoulder. expect delays coming in from 50 fair oaks. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. thank you very much. don't have to be a scrooge to get through the holiday season with finances intact. you can enjoy it. our next guest says a little planning is what it takes. kelly campbell joining us, president of campbell wealth management. good to see you again. >> great to see you. >> we don't want to be scrooges, we want to spend, but not get ourselves in trouble either. >> that's true. >> what do we do? >> the problem with the holidays is so many people are going to spend more than they thought about spending because they didn't plan. i think planning is the key. if you can say, okay, first of all, i would start out with

don't stop anything you're currently doing. if you're investing in your 401(k), mutual fund, don't stop that. if you stop it, you probably won't start it again. >> good idea. let's run through the things we have on the screen. that's number one, don't stop saving or investing. >> absolutely. >> set a gift budget. when is a good time to start that? >> as soon as possible. set the amount of money to spend and don't defer from that. if i say i'm spending $50 or $500, doesn't matter. pick the number that's safe for you and stick with that number. >> doing this early in the year, right? as soon as the holidays are done, we can start to put this in place for next year, right? >> absolutely. if you think about it, a lot of people buy gifts, strange to hear, some people buy in january for next december. >> or at least start saving the money, right? >> absolutely. >> be prepared for unexpected expenses. >> without a doubt. most people aren't really, they're not looking what the expenses are. if you can put that into a list and say, here are the things

that will happen throughout the year, and here are the things that, you know, maybe aren't the monthly expenses. people forget about that. those are the ones that get to you. you weren't prepared to write that check for property tax or car insurance. >> getting back to the gifts, keep it practical, right? >> it's funny, when you think about practicality in choosing the right gift, people will, they'll love that gift that has some kind of meaning towards them. if you can make it beneficial to them, say kindle as an example or ipad, you can give your kid an ipad, but say, okay, if i give you this ipad, i'll pay for the monthly bill as well, but you have to read one book a read, a month. whatever. choose what is right for you and your child. >> a skype camera, things like that, where you can be in touch with the kids or grandparents, and you can get more of a usage out of it. >> if you buy a camera, you can see the grandparents more often. grandparents can see the kids.

and maybe that keeps you from having to do that trip that's spur of the moment to grandma's house or something like that, where you spend more money. >> last thing is pay off your holiday debt and give yourself a timetable to pay that off and stick to it. >> absolutely. you could say, i'm going to spend x and go into debt and i know it will happen. that's okay, as long as you say, i'm going to pay off that debt in the first quarter of the year. 30 days, 90 days, whatever. make it a goal and stick to it. you'll be prepared much better. >> i'm lobbying for a vacation period toward the end of january when we get the bills. get the credit card bills, that's when you need to take a couple of days off, take a break from the bills. speaking of, you're talking about being more prepared for 2012. what should we do to get ready for next year? >> i think looking at your financial plan. in other words, putting together a financial plan that looks at everything, from your insurance, retirement planning, to college funding for your kids, to your budget. how much are you bringing in and spending? that's the thing at the end of the day that will make sure

you're in the right position, whether it be a year down the road or 10 years down the road. >> keep your records from this year, see how it will compare to next year. put a little extra aside for the expenses that may come up. and five major goals for 2012, things like that. don't make it too difficult, we overthink things a lot. >> exactly. if you can set -- say, i'm going to set five goals and that's it. by the end of the year i'll hit the goals, easier to plan for the five. then you can say, okay, or maybe even november say, i only hit four. now you can look at that fifth one and say i'm going to do that fifth one by the month of december. >> start making that savings account for next year's holidays now? >> exactly. >> happy holidays, kelly. >> same to you. it's a monday morning. it's being called one of the priciest pileups on record. more than 10 luxury sports cars involved in this. we'll show you the video when we come back. hard to watch, though. it's a holiday tradition at

riverdale baptist church. we are live with a look at the 25th annual living christmas tree. 8:22. stay with us. ♪ halleluiah ♪ halleluiah ♪  just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. to spending your lives together, is to see things through.

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tolls for the intercounty connector start today. it's been a free ride since the 18.8-mile road known as the maryland 200, opened more than a week ago. it connects i-270 in maryland to i-95 to laurel in prince george's county. twenty-five cents a mile at peak times, 20 cents a mile offpeak times and 15 cents a mile overnight. aaa is saying drivers in the district are paying on average $3.46 a gallon. maryland, average cost is $3.23. in virginia, it's $3.17. gas prices have been coming down since spiking before thanksgiving. if you had a fender-bender recently, maybe this will make you feel better. it may be the most expensive

pileup ever in japan. there's the carnage, get it, allison? >> yeah. >> eight ferraris ruined. a lamborghini, two mercedes and two other vehicles said to be toyotas. doesn't quite measure up. no offense. i'm just saying. it's the way they've been putting the story out there. they smashed together during this outing in japan. and officials think it's when one of the drivers tried to change lanes and spun out, hit the pairier, and everybody -- barrier and everybody started crashing into each other. fortunately, nobody seriously hurt. though i did see one report that said the driver who started it could face up to three months in prison. >> is that right? >> yeah. >> for what? speeding? >> perhaps. >> $4 million estimated damage there. >> oh, boy. 8:27 now. one of the japanese cops said

it was a meeting of the narcissistic society. >> it does not pay. >> not true, entirely. football is a dangerous sport, not just the players, but fans, too. more on the injuries at the oklahoma state game, and injuries at the redskins game. not just on the field either. >> dave ross will join us instudio to talk about all of that. stay with us.

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earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. 8:30 now. a global conference to discuss afghanistan's future is underway in germany. about 100 nations and international organizations are at the gathering. that includes secretary of state hillary clinton. pakistan boycotted the conference. hundreds of people waiting in line in a small town in kansas, waiting to get tickets to see president obama speak tomorrow. the tiny town only has about 4,000 residents.

many say it's a once in a lifetime chance to see the president in person. it is the same town where president roosevelt visited back in 1910. there is a special delivery making its way to arlington cemetery. 100,000 wreaths are headed there. it's all thanks to the founder of wreaths across america. it is his way of saying thank you to veterans. this year arlington national cemetery will see the biggest number of wreaths yet. gwen talbart is in with a look at the forecast. >> we had a fantastic weekend. it was great. >> lots of sunshine. >> lots of sunshine. more clouds today, but not all bad. a mild day, too, ahead. weather headlines, and show you what's in store. things will change a little bit as we get through into the extended period. before that happens, we are talking about patchy fog in the east this morning that is starting to move a little bit

closer towards the west. watching that chesley. that's prompted a dense fog advisory this morning. cloudy, but mild today as well. unsettled weather ahead in my forecast. you'll see that. and sunshine returning late week. a little bit cooler as well. we get a little bit of a significant drop in temperatures. overall, not too bad. now it's 42 degrees at dulles. 45 gaithersburg. 41baltimore. 46 annapolis. to the south, 42 fredericksburg, and 39 at martinsberg. dress appropriately. clouds are rolling in and will dominate the skies later today. what we're keeping a close eye on is the wet weather to the west of us, associated with a frontal system. jet stream, you can see we'll be in the upper 50s and low 60s, mild today with mainly

cloudy skies. daytime high into the low 60s. not all bad. wet weather moves in late tonight. tuesday is a wet day. little bit of shower activity wednesday and thursday. sunshine though by friday. allison? thank you. college football fans still recovering this morning following a dangerous victory celebration. oklahoma state fans stormed the field after beating oklahoma to clinch the big 12 championship. more than a dozen people were hurt. the most serious has been upgraded from stable to guarded condition. eight other fans were sent to the hospital. two of them with broken ankles. the osu president says this was no way for security to keep that many people off the field. redskins' fans recovering. prince george's county fire officials say an escalator suddenly stopped working as the crowd was leaving the game. two people were taken to the

hospital with minor injuries. it's still being investigated why the machine stopped working. >> dave ross said the machine stopped working about 15 minutes after the offense stopped working. >> hey ho! >> you're part of it and think it's a wonderful opportunity and all of a sudden, you have 50,000 people in a confined space. >> you lose the people you're with. >> goal posts are heavy coming down. >> i lost my hat. i only lost my hat. but the redskins lost the game again yesterday. >> that was about as tough. >> they had a fourth quarter lead. there was a key moment in that fourth quarter, where the defense give up the go ahead touchdown. we've talked about it all year, they're on the field too long, because the offense couldn't do a lot.

pump and go from sanchez to santonio holmes. i kind of like the celebration. >> i wasn't impressed with the jets. this was a winnable football game. just didn't take advantage of it. >> they didn't. here it is again, talked about the corners, cromartie and reevis. initial protection i thought was okay. green was the money man this day, 3 touchdowns. >> ever been a time when they -- >> not going to throw it. >> you would think, wouldn't you? >> kind of one of those forgettable. local guy coming back and had a big sac and big plays for the jets. picked him up from buffalo. making a difference there. you wonder now where this team goes at 4-8 the rest of the year. yes, they are clearly playing out the string here. we have talked about seeing what they can develop.

>> sure. >> we've seen helu at this point -- >> done a nice job. >> i don't know what else you can look at. hankerson is on the ir. maybe we could see paul, the other rookies. >> this is my biggest fear, because of what you're saying now, looking at helu, if the season ended now, and you're going into training camp with the same questions you had the beginning of this season, which didn't get sorted out. >> not at all. and the number one question, which is quarterback. do they go via the draft or pick up another free agent if they're not believing in rex? i don't know. i think rex could be on this ball club in a backup capacity. let's have fun for the fans today and bash on the cowboys. >> please. >> ending of this cowboys game -- >> worst coaching decision of the year. >> really was. they ice their own kicker, the

rookie. made this kick from 49 yards. but before the snap, calls a timeout -- >> he says he was doing it because there was movement and wanted to give bailey time to kick the ball. he missed it. >> plenty of time. from-- >> university of pittsburgh. >> everything is howling at the cowboys today. lost 19-13. giants coming in there. there's ryan, love the hair. couldn't get it done against a very average team at best. >> think how exciting that is. the game was a home game. would be like here, the end of the game yesterday, the jets, think they won the game. take the points off the board and you win. >> doesn't happen. tiger woods! >> thought you were going tebow on me. >> no. fist pump, he's back, baby! first win since you were 14 years old, i think. >> i think so. >> feels like it, doesn't it?

been a long time. i have played golf with steve chenevey, people, and i've seen that fist pump from you. well, not yet. i want to see him make a putt and do that. >> find a good parking spot before i got out there, highlight of the day before you beat me badly. >> good to see him back, because the game needs him. >> without a doubt. dave ross, thank you very much. the redskins -- >> you want to go out there? >> no, i don't. no, i don't. >> allison, do you want to go? >> no thank you. i want to go somewhere else with you. though. let's have lunch, dave. >> i'm down with that program. >> how many years have i been waiting for lunch with you, allison? >> thanks, guys. just in, with all seriousness now, police called to a local mall. more when we come back. a special holiday greeting as we take you to break.

>> hi, we're the griman family. >> i'd like to wish my brother in maryland, a happy holidays.  [ female announcer ]ñ at verizonfios.com,

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if you're looking for work, check out our job shop. our job of the day is with fuel pizza cafe. it is opening two new locations in the new year. looking for experienced pizza makers to work as customer service representatives. pay up to $11 an hour, plus tips. for more on this job and others, myfoxdc.com, and click on the job shop tab. montgomery county police have been called to the sears store at white oaks shopping center. skyfox live over the scene now. an alarm went off after 12:30 this morning. police believe somebody broke into the store. the suspect could possibly be inside. that they don't know. they're on the scene trying to figure it out. we'll keep an eye on the situation and bring new details as soon as they are available. right now, it's 8:43. it's a holiday tradition at riverdale baptist church and one we bring you here every year.

>> talking about the living christmas tree. this year our annie yu is checking it out. >> reporter: good morning to you. i am here live at the riverdale baptist church, where they're gearing up for their 25th annual living christmas tree. it is supposed to be bigger and better than last year. i'm going to be talking to these guys, walter and stanley, coming up in the next hour and find out why.  ñ

if this next piece doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, i don't know what will. annie yu out at the riverdale baptist church. >> that is where the 25th annual living christmas tree is performing this weekend. annie, you made me jealous with kermit and now stanley and walter. i get it. >> reporter: what is up with me and the muppets? >> i don't know. you're lucky. >> reporter: thank you. walter and stanley say hello. we are live at the riverdale baptist church. it's one of a kind unique experience. you have to come out and experience it firsthand.

there's a lot of work that goes into it. the director of operations is one of the master minds behind it all. good morning, kathy. >> good morning. >> reporter: thank you for coming out today. kathy, what exactly does it take to pull all this together? >> it takes a lot. we have over 300, 400 volunteers that come out. we start this in march, looking at dramas. our director looks at dramas and music. the cast starts practicing, rehearsing in august. it's a lot of effort. it's so much fun. we enjoy doing it. >> reporter: it's really one of a kind. i don't think there's anything like this in our area. if you start the planning in august, talk a little bit about the show, in addition to the music, there is drama involved, right? >> there is drama. every year it's unique and different. this year we're celebrating our 25th anniversary. so we have a lot of throwbacks. people that have been will enjoy that. people coming for the first time will also see a fabulous

show. wonderful music. a light show also synchronized to the music and a great drama. we have a live nativity outside. if you come early, you can do the live nativity. hot chocolate and cookies. it's a whole family night. >> reporter: there's so much when you come out here, just for ten dollars. talk about how you can get the ticket, what comes with that ten dollars. >> tickets are ten dollars a piece. great family value. family of five can come out for $50. the live nativity, everything i just mentioned. you can go to our web site livingtree2011.com. >> reporter: we'll link that information to our site. we have waller and stanley here, have you been coming out every year? >> i've been coming back 25 years. in fact, i used to sing in the tree. >> reporter: really, you sing? >> yeah. want to hear me sing? >> reporter: well, no not

really, but go ahead. >> only if you sing tenor walter. >> tenor? >> ten or 20 miles away. >> reporter: very funny! how about we leave the singing to the pros. i'm going to kick it to my friend over there, tony. take it away. ♪ don't give up ♪ ♪ don't give in ♪ ♪ when the going is tough, that's just when faith kicks in ♪ ♪ well, the lord will see you through, yes he's watching over you ♪ night and day he's telling you to keep the faith. >> reporter: if you want to come out here this weekend, the show kicks off friday, saturday and sunday. go to myfoxdc.com for all of the information. remember, tickets are just ten dollars. for a two-hour show, you get food, cookies, and drinks. come on out and have a good

time. back to you, allison and steve. >> thank you so much. let's stay on the holiday theme now. excuse me, falling on top of you. >> that's all right. >> we're going to feature different charities and foundations leading up to christmas. >> this morning, lindsay canon joins us. good morning. >> good morning. >> we have been happy to have you all in the studio on several occasions now for this event. we want you to tell the folks about it again. >> it's an organization which we raise money to fly wounded warriors and their families in and out of military hospitals as they recover from surgeries, as they go into operations. this is especially important during the holiday season. it's the campaign, no soldier spends christmas alone. we want to reunite every soldier with their family. we have set a goal, $25,000.

we've doubled that goal, surpassed it. now we're up to 100,000. >> i'm sure you have quite a few. luke's wings has grown over the years. hasn't been around that long. we know you continue to get more attention every year. how can folks help out? >> we're in our fourth year now. we've received a grant, so we've been able to added more staff, another person in texas. we'll shall launching a campaign after christmas, we're asking 50 local companies to donate $5,000 in 2012, to continue our mission without reservation we can say yes to every request. if there's any company that would like to donate $5,000, we'd love to speak with them. otherwise, any dollar, any change on your dresser, truly every dollar we get will help us fund our mission. >> got to be great. do follow up with the service members? >> we do. we send holiday cards. more than that, we send videos

out to the families, so we get testimonials back. we had a surprise reunion last night in an airport, so we were able to film that. we follow up throughout the year, birthdays, holidays. we get thank you cards all the time. >> very sweet. >> our families are our families. >> what did you bring? >> kind of made a home made ornament. these are families we've flown this year and families that have requested to fly home for the holidays again. we hope your viewers will help us with our mission. this is our no soldier spends christmas alone campaign. you can find it on our web site and. >> very creative. lindsay is the executive director of business development. >> that's right. >> for luke's wings. welcome to the show. hope to see you again. >> lukeswings.com or go to our web site, myfoxdc.com, and you can learn about great other

organizations helping out this holiday season. >> thank you. >> thanks for having us. we want to thank everyone who turned out to help us stuff a truck. your donations will help feed families in the d.c. region. we would like to thank our sponsors, including giant foods, and this is for the capitol area food bank. thank you if you were among the many who donated. we really appreciate you. >> thank you so much. if you're wondering, yes, we did fill up all the bins and trucks. maybe you're struggling to column up with gift ideas. next hour, stick around. we'll tell you why as much as you may want to -- >> i know. >> -- and as great as it might sound, you should never give pets as gifts. >> also we'll check out adorable puppies. we're showing you and saying, don't give it. but that's okay. >> do it ahead of time, the adoption, just do it right. >> beautiful terrier puppies. >> you're going to love that, aren't you? >> they're up for adoption. stay with us. another big thanks to luke's wings.

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coming up on the 9:00 hour. want to say special good morning to our facebook fan of the day and thank you as well. this is denise brown. she met allison at a charity event this weekend. denise says of allison, she's even more beautiful in person. as we all agree. if you'd like to be tomorrow's fan of the day, find us on facebook by searching for fox5, no space between fox and the number 5 and post a comment under denise's photo. madonna got the coveted half time super bowl show. she has new music coming out next year. the material girl will collaborate from a team with

cirque du soleil for an artsy perhaps show. it is the most watched musical event of the year. that does it for this hour of fox 5. one more hour to go. we'll turn things over to the more beautiful in person alison seymour. tony, wish i could say that for you, but it's all about allison now. >> thank you, steve. madonna looks like a super hero. >> she is seriously cut up. good morning, everyone. welcome back to fox 5 news in the 9:00 hour. i'm alison seymour. >> i'm tony perkins. now at 9:00, chaos in the nation's capital leads to dozens of arrests. occupy d.c. protestors clash with police over the weekend. we have a live report on what caused the tension. you're seeing some of it there. and how things are looking at their makeshift camp today. an early shakeup in the race for virginia's next governor. voters don't head to the polls for another two years, but already controversy over who will be on the ballot. this, after the state's attorney general threw his name in the hat last week.

a closer look at what this means in about 15 minutes. boy, we've said this, what, eight times this year. another disappointing loss. the redskins looked good in their first drive. but it was pretty much downhill from there. a little later, dave ross joins us with a recap and reaction. >> is this the reaction? oh, man! >> again? yeah, pretty much. gwen talbart is in the weather center. tucker is off today. good morning to our friend, gwen. >> good morning. we had such a great weekend weather-wise, that we had something to smile about. but the clouds are rolling in. we'll show you exactly what is going on beginning with our satellite radar composite. clouds are rolling in across the area. you can see the wet weather well to the west of us. that's what we're keeping an eye on. it's all associated with a frontal system