we'll see our temps top out in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees or so. it's 57 at dulles, 59 in leonardtown, fredricksburg is at 61 degrees. your day planner for today, plenty of clouds, shower activity off and on during the course of the day, a little bit breezy, and as i said, high right around 60 degrees. more details on the forecast coming up in just a little bit. right now let's go to the anchors. we'll go back to allison and steve. >> tony, thank you. we want to update before we get to julie wright a traffic alert, northbound lanes of route 3 between buoy and crawford are still closed because of a multi-vehicle accident that happened near route 450. this involved a car, a box truck and a gasoline tanker carrying some 9,000 gallons of gas. the tanker overturned last night spilling about 100 gallons. southbound lanes reopened more than an hour ago. northbound still closed, though. let's check in with julie with more on what's happening on the roads, julie. reporter: it's wet pavement in rush hour which means a slow go

for our friends headed just about anywhere around the capital belt at this point. this is eastbound along 66 as you approach 50 fair oaks, accident activity off the road to the shoulder. vdot now on the scene. looks like they're trying to set up flares here. multi-vehicle crash off to the shoulder. it is in the backup forming out of centreville at this point as you guys travel eastbound on 66 towards fair oaks. you'll also find delays northbound on i-95 leaving the occuquan. van dorn street to telegraph road. southbound 270 out of germantown, definitely a slow right here. more delays in the beltway and the beltway outer loop slow out to georgia avenue. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> julie, thank you. this morning's big story, jack johnson getting sentenced today. could be the former prince george's county executive's last day of freedom. >> he will learn his fate in court later this morning for a corruption scandal that rocked pblght. we get more now from fox 5's

stacey cohan from the courthouse. reporter: it really does rock prince george's county. if you think about it, this man has been at the top of the county level of government for 16 years. he spent eight years as a top prosecutor, eight years as county executive and now it looks like he's heading to federal prison. quite a turn of events. it appears that federal authorities have been investigating him nearly since he took office as county executive under suspicion of bribery. of course, he is videotaped and autopsied accepting bribes from developers, exchanging favors. some reports have it almost to a million dollars in bribes accepted by jack johnson. they claim that it was a pay-to- play procedure in his government that he ran and just 24 days before his term ended he was taped exchanging cash, accepting a bribe from a laurel developer. he could be seen flipping through the cash and talking later that day about possible

prosecution. >> he had a lot of political enemies and they called them various profiteers. profiteers always want to try to -- especially minorities, they like to try to put them in jail if one prosecutors able to bring somebody like me down, they brang their whole career. reporter: his wife leslie johnson was also pled guilty to evidence tampering when federal authorities moved into their home last year. she was caught flushing a $1,000 check down the toilet and stuffing cash into her undergarments. jack johnson's sentencing is set for 9:30 this morning. he could get up to 14 years in jail. his wife leslie will be sentenced later this week. reporting live from greenbelt, i'm stacey cohan, frox fossil fuel morning news. >> stacey, thank you.

former illinois governor blagojevich goes for sentencing. it begins with the prosecution asking to imprison blagojevich for 15 to 20 years. he was convicted six months ago on multiple corruption counts including an attempt to sell president barack obama's old senate seat. the sentence is expected sometime tomorrow. d.c. council chair kwame brown says he plans to meet privately with embattled councilmember harry thomas. all the members of council except thomas had a closed-door meeting last night to discuss the options in the wake of the fbi raid on thomas' house on friday. he's accused of funneling $300,000 from the city for his own personal use. david kitanning has called on thomas to resign. >> my opinion has not changed since the disclosure of the settlement last summer which in my mind is an acknowledgement of guilt, i don't care if the settlement says this isn't an acknowledgement of guilt, no one hands over $300,000 if they're innocent. >> the scandal is just one reason why the council's government operations committee

passed new ethics reform legislation yesterday. councilmember jack evans says there's not much the council can do, though, to punish thomas. jury deliberations resume in boston in the robo calls of bob erlick's aides. he has testified that an automated telephone call was meant to sper erlich supporters. le the call said o'malley already won the 2010 governor's race. taking a check of the other top stories this morning, the department of transportation trying to decide how to handle the weekend arrest of faa administrator randy babbity for allegedly driving drunk. he was placed on a leave of absence monday after fairfax city police spotted him driving on the wrong side of the street saturday night. he is about halfway through a five-year term. this was the scene of a house fire in mclean last night. about 100 firefighters battled this one in the 1800 block of

massachusetts avenue. now so far no word on a cause or if there are any injuries. developing overseas this morning, the body count continues to rise from a bombing in the afghanistan capital this morning. now 54 people dead. a suicide bomber in kabul overnight, the deadliest of two dead on the holy day today. dozens more wounded. it's the first major religious attack since the fall of the taliban a decade ago. in russia thousands are protesting against russian prime minister vladimir putin pute in the biggest opposition rally in moscow since the 1990s. protestors took to the street accusing putin's party of rigging sunday's election. observers agree, including secretary of state hillary clinton. >> russian voters deserve a full investigation of all credible reports of electoral fraud and manipulation. we're also concerned by reports that independent russian

election observers, including the nationwide golos network were harassed. >> hillary clinton also speaking out about the islamist winners of elections in egypt, ordering them to respect human and women's rights. thousands of people camped out on the the national mall for protests planning to march to the capitol today. this is the movement called our d.c. now, they're a part of the take back the capitol protests. they've been there for five days. demonstrators plan to push elected leaders to do something about unemployment. they also want to urge them to extend the unemployment insurance benefits for millions of americans who will loose them at the end of the year. the bottom line, they want congress to start representing 99% of the people, not the richest 1%. >> i'm just out here to support the 99% and those in need of jobs, you know, the unemployed. >> people still have belief and hope in themselves and one

another. you know, the number one race in the world is what, the human race. this is really about the human race making a decision that we're going to provide for ourselves. if our representatives are forgot -- have forgotten, we're going to remind them. >> protestors plan to march to k street tomorrow where they will deliver their message to lobbyists. president obama making a campaign-style appearance in kansas today. as doug luzader reports, he'll be pushing for a payroll tax cut that affects nearly all working americans. reporter: president obama is trying to put more pressure on congress to renew the payroll tax cut. the white house is going to great lengths to show that the clock is ticking. this is the latest white house prop in the ongoing tax battle. in less than a month at the end of the year if congress doesn't act, the social security tax cut that almost all of us now enjoy will end. >> there aren't many folks either in the middle class or those trying to get into the middle class who can afford to

give up $1,000, not right now. reporter: while there is a debate as to how much of that tax cut really finds its way back to stimulate the economy, the bigger issue for congress is paying for it. the democrats in congress are pushing back against the president's idea which pays for the one-year tax cut by permanently increasing taxes on the wealthy. instead they're proposing a 10- year program of other tax hikes, even targeting already beleaguered mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mak. >> i don't see it at all being fair to put this kind of debt on our children or grandchildren and beur them under a mountain of debt. reporter: the tax cut would also mean the social security program itself would take a big hit. but the president may have a political argument here, turning the tables on republicans over something that has long been their strong suits, tax cuts. >> how can you fight tooth and nail to protect high-end tax breaks for the wealthiest americans and yet barely lift a finger to prevent taxes going

up for 160 million americans who really need the help. it doesn't make sense. reporter: it's not just the payroll tax cut that expires at the end of the year. long-term unemployment benefits also come to an end at the end of the month. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. >> doug, thanks. 11 minutes past the hour now. good news if you drive on i-66 inside the beltway. more on that coming up. and finally some answers today a year after one of the deadliest mine blasts in u.s. history. next what families of victims say want to come out of this tragedy. also newt gingrich surging in the polls, but mitt romney could close the gap after a big endorsement today. details coming up after the break. break. and as we take you to break, a live look outside. we'll, of course, get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie. it's 7:11. we'll be right here when we come back. to make a commitment

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making headlines this morning, a big day for the families of the 29 men kill inside a coal mine blast last year in west virginia. in just a few hours federal prosecutors will announce what it calls significant developments in the criminal investigation. one victim's father said somebody should pay for what happened at the massey energy coal mine. a little later today the federal government will give the final report on the disaster. investigators have long blamed methane, coal dust and bad equipment for the blast. a potential coverup involving the nation's worst offshore oil spill. bp is accusing haliburton of destroying evidence about possible problems with its cement poured into the well that blew out in the gulf of mexico last year. now, an oil well must be cemented properly to avoid blowouts. the cleanup continues in southern california from one of the worst wind storms in years. power still out for thousands of people after days worth of winds up to 100 miles an hour ripped through the foothill

communities just east of los angeles. the strong gusts caused millions of dollars in damage. all things considered, we're pretty mild. >> yeah. temperature going up and down this morning. we were in the upper 50s, mid- 50s, back into the upper 50s, mild start to the day. another mild today with above normal temperatures. it'll feel nice. we will have a lot of clouds and rain showers around. >> i brought my umbrella because i lirched to you. >> that's good. you'll need it at some point today. let's start with your main weather headline for the next few days. first of all, looks wet for a few days, unsettled weather today, i think especially tomorrow, maybe early thursday, but i think it's outta here for most of us for the bulk of the day thursday. colder by the time we get to thursday, friday and sunday. temps right now at the area airports, it's 58 degrees now at reagan national. that's nice. dulles international is at 57. bwi marshall is at 60 degrees. here's a look at the satellite radar. you can see we've got plenty of clouds across the region.

got some rain showers moving through. they are mainly light. there's not much happening to our south or to our east, up to the north and to the west, that's where we have the rainfall. this rain is moving along a frontal boundary that is sinking through our area today and tonight. so as it sinks through from the north and west down to the south and east, these series of impulses will move along it and we'll continue to see more showers build in during the course of the day, tonight and tomorrow. your forecast for today, cloudy skies, periods of rain, some shower activity, a mild day. high about 60 degrees. that's a look at what's happening with the weather. more coming up in just a little bit. >> sounds good to me. let's check with julie and get a check of traffic. hi, july rhode julie. reporter: hey, you guys. a busy commutes you guys work your way inbound along 66 today. let's go to the crew in sky fox. as you work your way eastbound coming out of manassas, a good hour to hour five minute leaving business 24 through the capitol beltway and this crash before you reach 50 fair oaks,

a four-car pileup already moor f moved over the to -- moved over to the shoulder. with the combination of wet pavement and rush hour, it's definitely below speed as you travel east of business 234 heading in towards centreville, fair oaks. the inner loop of the beltway on the brakes. we'll update your ride elsewhere. if you are traveling 395 here at the 14th street bridge, lanes open, no trouble spots to report crossing over the potomac. heavy and steady flow right now. 270 on the brakes at germantown headed out towards the lane divide. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> julie, thank you. relief for drivers in northern virginia. a third lane is now open on westbound i-66 between fairfax drive and sycamore street.

that's a two-mile stretch inside the beltway. the expansion is causing controversy because of promises to arlington county when the highway was built that it would be only two lanes in each direction. but advocates of widening the highway say that circumstances have changed and that those new lanes are needed. vdot will present other ideas for improving traffic flow on 66 at a public meeting tonight. that meeting is at henderson middle school on route 7 in falls church. it starts at 6:00. the man who has made headlines at the top of the republican presidential list is trying to get an endorsement from a man who's been chasing headlines for decades. newt gingrich went calling on donald trump. fox' carl cameron shows us what happened. reporter: trying to build on his frontrunner's momentum, newt gingrich met with donald trump in new york city. he dearly would love the backing. >> of course i want his endorsement. not yet. he's got to do this debate. reporter: trump is planning to moderate a debate in iowa a week before the caucuses between christmas and new

year's. so far only gingrich has accepted. >> the debate is december 27th. i'm looking to endorse somebody after that debate. reporter: herman cain's support is up for grabs too since suspending his campaign. newt gingrich leads the des moines register poll. an nbc marrist poll has gingrich leading with romney second and paul third. gingrich directly challenged romney's efforts to run as a political outsider. >> i don't know if you ought to count running for the senate in 1994 running for governor, then running for president for six years and i don't know if that makes him a career politician or not. i'll let you decide. it's fair to say i have been a successful candidate a number of times. reporter: in washington, carl cameron, fox news. >> with the caucuses four weeks from today, gingrich has launched his first tv ad in iowa, making this the first time all the top-tier candidates are on air at once. ron paul has spent the most on tv commercials so far. he blasted gingrich for

accepting the invitation. he says having a reality tv host as a debate is beneath the office of the presidency. former house speaker newt gingrich may be leading in the polls right now, nationally and in critical early states too, but mitt romney is right on his heels and about to get a major endorsement himself. former vice president dan quayle plans to announce his support for the republican presidential candidate this afternoon at an event in arizona. a gop official says that quayle is backing romney because he views him as the most credible candidate in the race. 7:21 right now on this tuesday morning. next why expecting mothers may want to stay away from rice. >> that's interesting. plus health alert for birth control users, why the fda is taking a closer look at the dangers of some brands. a little later a trip back in time to the 1800s, annie yu standing by this morning at the natural museum of american history, with the star spankled

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there is another warning about arsenic in what we eat and drink. a new study shows that rice may be a significant source of arsenic in the diets of pregnant women. researchers surveyed 229 pregnant women in new hampshire, a state where 40% of people get their water from wells. they also often have higher levels of arsenic than municipal water systems. even after accounting for arsenic in drinking water, women who had recently eaten rice had higher levels of inorganic arsenic than those who had not eaten rice. federal regulators say they will take a closer look this week at the safety of birth control pills that have gained popularity in the last decade. many were heavily promoted as having fewer side effects and the ability to clear up acne. but research suggests they are more likely to cause blood clots than older drugs. now the fda is considering new warning labels for several branding including bayer's

popular pill yaz. the newest "twilight" movie may be giving some folks more than entertainment, it could give you seizures. according to the epilepsy foundation of america, the flashing white lights could trigger symptoms in those suffering from epilepsy. so far nine movie goers have reported having seizures during the film. theaters across the country are now letting ticket buyers know of this possibility. the movie, though, still number one at the box office for the third straight weekend. 7:26 right now on this tuesday morning. still ahead, a deep divide in congress has a number of bills on hold and one of them could hurt your wallet come next year. coming up next a closer look at the payroll tax. and it's time to check out today's my fox half off deal. it could come in handy for many of us who dress up for work, pay $10 to get $20 in dry cleaning services. this is through spotlessdryclean.com. they come to you. they pick up your clothes and bring them back clean and fresh, all pressed and starched, steve. to learn more about this deal go to our website, myfoxdc.com

and look for the half off deal on the right-hand side of the home page. it's 7:26. we'll be right back. ♪

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tonight in the district an annual tradition dating back to the 1960s, the lighting of the

u.s. christmas tree. is that right? the 1960s, okay. this year's tree came from a national forest in california. it's decorated with l.e.d. lights and 2500 ornaments donated by the people of california. a 7-year-old boy from that great state will help flip the switch along with the speaker of the house john boehner. it all gets under way at 5:00 tonight. how nice. >> very pretty. tall, skinny tree. >> it is tall. >> interesting. >> very cool. let's check in with tony right now. not really feeling very holiday- ish this morning. >> no. >> but it might change by the end of the week. >> yes. it will feel more december like at the end of the week. >> you are correct. >> you are correct, sir! we're going to see temperatures for 40s for your daytime highs and by the end of the week 30s. let's start with hd radar and show you what's happening out there, as we have a few rain showers here and there. hd radar will show you the light shower activity moving across our area, not so much right here in washington right now where skies are merely overcast, but off to the north

and west seeing some showers, nothing heavy, reston, leesburg, up towards fredrick, you're seeing some shower activity. but to the south there's not much going on at this point. that will change during the course of the day today. let's take a look at our temperatures, they are quite mild for early this morning. 58 degrees right now in the nation's capital, baltimore is at 60, quantico 57. fredricksburg 61 degrees. out at bulz airport it's 57 and 57 in in cambridge. not bad at all. we're talking about changes in the weather. it's going to feel more like winter towards the end of the week as allison was saying. yeah, rain is going to fall tomorrow and tomorrow night and could end as snow wednesday night, particularly to the north and west of washington. there'll be just enough cold air working its way in here that we could see that changeover, again, particularly in western maryland and the panhandle of west virginia. you could get some snow out there. this could impact your thursday morning commute in the

panhandle and in western maryland. you could see several inches of accumulation. but here in the washington area, not much -- in fact, i would say little, if anything in the way of accumulation, but to our north and west, some accumulation potential. that's wednesday night into early thursday morning. here's why we're saying this, take a look. you got the precipitation moving along that frontal boundary. this morning we have the shower activity. later on today some more scattered showers, not everybody getting it all at once. i think we'll have a better chance of heavier rain coming through tomorrow. that's wednesday morning, so this is showing heavy rain right in the washington area during the morning commute tomorrow. you'll want to be aware of that, allow for that possibility. then wednesday night a little wintery mix and some snow out across portions of maryland, western maryland, the panhandle of west virginia and central west virginia as well where you could see some snowfall. then it comes awfully close to the baltimore-washington area before moving out of here very quickly by very early thursday morning. forecast for us for today, cloudy, mild, light rain, highs

today near where we are now, about 60 degrees so no big changes in the forecast. tomorrow low 50s. i think more heavy rain tomorrow. it's all outta here by thursday, but, again, there could be a period of snow wednesday night and our temperatures drop off significantly beginning wednesday night, overnight lows in the 30s. that's a look at what's happening with the weather. here's julie wright with an update on traffic. julie. reporter: all right, tony. thank goodness the weather broke enough for sky fox to get up and about this morning. they've had a busy drive around town. checking out your drive along the bleej. no problems to report between montgomery county and fairfax. the beltway is moving smoothly in each direction with no problems reported. back outside and towards 66, accident number two of this morning's commute. this is going to be the inbound stretch of 66 approaching 28 in centreville, a lot of equipment, as you can clearly see on the scene of this wreck. only the right lane is able to get by. already traffic is stacking up as you guys travel inbound this morning, working your way from manassas, heading inbound towards centreville and back out towards the capitol

beltway. eastbound 66 over an hour drive at this point, at business 234, the average speed now down to 22 miles per hour. on the other side of town you're going to find lanes open, but southbound 270 is gridlocked out of germantown. all this slow traffic slowing you down for the exit for the beltway. the beltway outer loop slow speeds 95 towards georgia avenue. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> julie, thanks. as president obama struggles with lawmakers to extend the payroll tax. just the latest swipe in long- standing clashes between the white house and congress. joining us now to talk about some of the issues dividing democrats and republicans are staff writer at roll call. thanks for being here this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about the payroll tax first of all, how is this dividing congress right now, straining relationships between the white house and republicans? >> well, it's been very devicive, but ultimately it will happen, it will probably happen before the end of the year. it expires at the end of the year currently. people are paying 4.2% in

payroll tax and democrats have put an offer on the table, they want to cut that to 3.1% and they have to act before january 1st or it will go back to the 6% rate which is typical. and to pay for that they have offered -- they want to tax millionaires 1.9% on taxing millionaires. they scaled that back also. they did have a component for employers to pay -- to cut that in half or to pay for employers, but they've dropped that part and also the millionaire's tax was also scaled back. initially the entire proposal employers and employees was $265 billion, now it's $185 billion. the 1.9% tax on millionaires is also temporary. initially they wanted to make the 3.2% tax permanent. that now expires after 10 years and they are also throwing in another pay for which they

would charge lenders, mortgage lenders for the guarantee of freddie mak which would raise $38 billion. >> you deal with the senate a lot, how do you characterize the relationship right now, the working relationship, i guess, between both sides of the aisle? >> right now election year politics is coloring everything, so pretty much people are in there idealogical crouch. there hasn't been much legislating at all. it's been very difficult and i think individual senators are frustrated but they understand how politics works. >> and how about the relationship between republicans in congress and the white house and this is just another example here where somebody at some point has to blink to get something done. >> according to a lot of senators we've talked to, the white house outreach has been minimal, senator olympia snowee tells us she thinks this president's outreach is the worst compared with the

presidents she's served with. so it's been -- it's strained, but at the same time ultimately they know they have to come to a compromise in order to get any legislating done. >> let's talk about -- we'll go back to the senate, your area of expertise now, and when we talk about, you know, what it takes for some of the -- especially on the republican side of things here, who are they looking for? i know you did a profile piece on marco rubio from florida, do you see him as an up-and-comer with a bright future when it comes to the republican party? >> a lot of people do. senator rubio is very talented senator, very young and ambitious, perhaps possible vice presidential candidate. he is definitely somebody who is trying to bridge the divide, but at the same time understands that -- you know, his point is elections matter, so we have to complete the cycle in order to really be able to decide the big issues that have to be decided. >> what might be a downfall for him, though, the way that other

republicans look at his beliefs? >> it would all center on immigration. the reason why he would be interested in putting marco rubio on a national ticket would be to help win the latino vote. >> sure. >> he opposes the dream act which some immigration strategists believe is going to be the real bellwether about determining how latinos will vote. senator rubio doesn't think so. senator rubio thinks it's not one way to win the latino vote, you have to win it on several fronts. it'll be interesting how it comes about and how he'll be able to exercise his talent. >> we'll keep watching him, the relationship in congress and, of course, with the white house and the payroll tax coming up. they have the clock rolling in the white house right now. three weeks to go on that. humberto, thanks very much. >> steve, thank you. coming up next, we are decorating the fox 5 christmas tree and as we take you to

break, holiday wishes from a member of our military stationed overseas. >> hi, i'm bennett downs, i'm a teacher in korea and we want to send out a happy birthday to our grandson bennett in snowville, maryland. >> happy birthday. 

making headlines this morning, political leaders in new york are calling for an investigation after an elderly woman says that she was inappropriately searched by tsa agents at kennedy airport. lenor zimmerman says that she asked for a patdown instead of a body scanner because of the defibrillator she has for her heart condition. but she also says the female tsa agent pulled her underwear down and strip searched her. the transportation security administration did offer an apology, but it is denying that woman's claims. bizarre story here in

southern california. police say a naked 300-pound male body builder brutally beat a couple at their home. the 22-year-old man apparently was under the influence of steroids and other drugs. police say the couple confronted the suspect when they found him sitting on their front porch after returning from a party on saturday night. it took four police officers, two stun gun blasts and four sets of handcuffs to restrain him. still no word on a motive. some prisoners in louisiana giving back for the holidays by hand making toys for kids. they call themselves santa's elves. each year they donate about 5,000 toys and more than 300 refurbished bicycles. >> good to see them doing some good. >> that's awesome. >> yep. helping out the kids. 7:43 now on this tuesday morning. it doesn't feel like the middle of -- well, not middle of december yet, but first week of december. >> no, not yet. our temperatures are well above normal again. >> almost 60 degrees. >> that's right. and that would be 10 degrees above normal. our average high for this date

50 degrees. we'll enjoy it because it's not going to last. we're going to get changes in here for the end of the week. let's start by taking a look at our temperatures here and across the nation. right now here in washington believe it or not it's 58 degrees. >> wow! >> how about that? however, you can tell by looking at this it's not going to last long. just out to the west in cincinnati -- i know it's not just out to the west, but to the west in cincinnati, 40 degrees right now, 39 up in buffalo, chicago 32 degrees. now, you think that's cold? check it out farther out to the west. yeah, 17 degrees right now in wichita, lincoln, nebraska it's four degrees. these are actual air temperatures. these are not wind chills. 12 below in international falls and salt lake city 15 degrees right now. >> you need some more cities? >> no, that was fine. here's your satellite and radar. why? did you want to -- >> it seemed like you were searching. >> i was noticing what might be a little mistake on that map.

here's your satellite and radar. lots of cloud cover moving through the area and we are seeing some rain showers right here in washington and to the north. your five-day forecast, high today about 60 degrees, we'll have some more light rain coming through the area. tomorrow high only in the 50s and then we'll have rain -- i think we'll have periods of heavy rain tomorrow, actually, and probably messy for the morning rush hour tomorrow. thursday, friday, saturday much cooler, highs only in the 40s. there you go. that's the latest. >> those temperatures look more like what we're used to. >> yeah. it'll feel more normal then. >> thank you, tony. let's check with julie and get a look at traffic. reporter: normal to who? i guess we can't avoid it, it is winter almost. right now on the roads, unfortunately, you've got a lot of slow traffic to deal with right now. if you're traveling inbound along 66, it has been a tough ride all morning long. the latest crash we showed you just a few moments ago here at 28 has now been confined to the shoulder. so our lanes are open as you guys travel eastbound, but it is definitely slowing at

business 234 headed eastbound, pretty much all the way in towards the capitol beltway with average speeds down to 22 miles per hour. it's definitely a slow crawl eastbound on 66. there's also delays braddock road headed up to 66 and on the outer loop is slows from van dorn street headed over towards telegraph road. this is a live shot of traffic 270 leaving germantown. wall-to-wall traffic, heavy, slow and steady, that's how she rolls all the way out to the split. a good hour commute out of germantown headed south. the crash father hurly boulevard 270 has cleared. 95, 295 slowing in laurel. out of the beltway congested from before 95 headed around towards georgia avenue with the lanes open. no problems to report on the inner loop headed towards the wilson bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> julie, thanks. just trying to get you in a holiday spirit now. for more than a week we have been asking for help in decorating our fox 5 christmas tree and you have responded. you really stepped up this year. >> darlene martin delivered a box of ornaments for the tree

to tony, actually, at our stuff a truck event on friday. she gave them right to him and she said these decorations are the ones her mom used to use. she inherited them and thought we could use them for the tree. we thank you so much, darlene. >> that's very nice. i know it's a very personal gift and we'll make sure to pass it along and let everybody know that. if you'd like to help out as well, pass down a family heirloom, anything will do, it will be great as we decorate the tree. if you'd like to donate an ornament, you can do so to the address on your screen. thanks, everybody for donating so far. it's fantastic. >> they really are beautiful. >> very nice. this morning, speaking of very nice and very impressive, we are getting a history lesson today from our good friend annie yu. >> she is at the national museum of american history checking out some of the new exhibits this winter.

hi, annie. reporter: hi, allison. good morning, steve. i am live here at the american history museum. there's a lot going on. behind me we have mary pickersgill who's joining me in just a few minutes here at the museum. there's a new program here that's very hands on and interactive and educational for your kids and the best part it's all free. we'll find out how you can come out and be a part of all this in just a bit. . >> thanks, annie. time to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day. ron matthews, sr. , he and his mom are big fans of the show and they watch every morning. thank you, guys so much. we hope you're having a great tuesday morning. if you want to be tomorrow's fan of the day, find us on facebook by searching for fox 5 morning news. remember, no space between fox and the number 5 and post a comment under ron's photo. ♪

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the national museum of american history certainly has a lot going on this winter. >> it's just one of my favorite places. >> i love it. >> fox 5's annie yu is there today to find out about some of the interesting programs happening this month. annie, good morning. reporter: good morning, allison. i know you love history, so you would love it here this morning. we're learning a lot. there is a new program here where you can come out and bring your family, your kids and really interact and learn more about the woman who sewed the star spangled banner back in 1813. she joins me now. mary pickersgill. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: thank you so much for coming out. >> you put on a microphone and you didn't know what that was. >> you told me everybody would be able to hear me. reporter: what brings you to d.c. this morning? >> i'm here to share the star

spangled banner flag and let everybody know the enormous size of it. reporter: it is big. >> 42 feet by 32 feet. reporter: it is big. how were you able to do this? >> oh, my. you know in our very small home it has become very difficult to finish a flag this large, so we have to find enough room to have even just this large canton, this is only quarter of the size of the flag so we are taking all the pieces to a breery around the corner from our home where we will be able to lay them all out and connect them all together. reporter: who is helping you? you don't have a sewing machine. >> oh, no. reporter: this is all by hand. you're not doing this alone. >> i have four young ladies who are asissing me. we are hard at work until 11:00 or 12:00 most nights. reporter: one being your daughter. >> >> yes, my daughter caroline and two others. reporter: you're putting a lot of hard work into this. >> oh, yes. reporter: are you making anything? >> yes, of course. i am a flag maker by trade, so we are very blessed to have been given this commission for the 4th. reporter: can you share with

us how that works out and how much you might be making because that's quite interesting, i think. >> we're actually making two flags to the 4th. this large one, $400 and for the smaller fee of slightly over $160, but, of course, we must pay for our materials. reporter: that's right. so when people come out to visit you, mary, what can we expect to see when we come out? >> as you see here, we have our very large canton to the flag and visitors are able to help me all 15 stars upon the canton. everybody can get an idea of what the flag will look like. reporter: may i? >> perhaps you can place this one right here. reporter: i want to do this nicely. >> excellent. reporter: do you approve? >> oh, yes, very well done. reporter: one more down there, right? >> number 15. reporter: so all ages, anybody can come out and see you. >> yes. reporter: and they're able to feel the materials that we are using to make the flag. thank you very much. i gotta keep you on your toes, mary. you are able to feel the materials we are using to make

the flag. reporter: if you could just send a message out to our viewers, why do you think they should come out and visit snu. >> it's a wonderful piece of history, of course, to be able to see and touch the flag and i think they will be very inspired by the sight of the flag, it is very unusual for a flag to have lasted this long. reporter: and in addition to this interactive portion there's more because there's an exhibit that they can actually check out behind us, right? >> oh, yes. the flag is now on permanent display just behind us here. it's quite a wondrous sight to see. reporter: thank you very much. >> you're welcome. reporter: i want to go home with you. >> we could use some help with the flag, not a lot of time to finish it. reporter: i charge by the hour, so if you would like to come out and meet mary pickersgill and help her put together this huge flag, you can check myfoxdc.com for the website. we have linked all of the details. it is free and open to the public, but you have to check the schedule, and we have linked all that information to myfoxdc. back to you in the studio. >> annie, that's wonderful.

living history. thank you so much. we'll see you next hour. >> so much fun when you go down there. you love the fact, first of all, you can never see everything that's in the museum, so every time you go, you see something new. >> right. i love to see it crowded, but you can't ever really -- you know, it's like i have to go right after work one day. >> we'll check in with annie again next hour. also we'll tell you about a program that gives kids the tools to enjoy reading and explain how you can help make a difference. plus a health alert, is america really getting fatter? the united health foundation is out with state-by-state rankings on obesity rates. so how does maryland and virginia measure up? the answer coming up in about 15 minutes. also details about a new campaign to inspire americans to live healthier lives. 7:56. aaron, you're all set. great, thanks.

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jack johnson likely waking up a free man for the last time this morning, for a while, anyway. the former prince george's county executive set to be sentenced in about an hour and a half for his part in a widespread corruption scheme. the medical field makes great advances each and every year, right? so you would think americans would get healthier every year,

but that did not happen during the entire year of 2011. we are live with a look at why. hard to believe after the beautiful and warm weather that we've been having, but there is a chance of some snow in our forecast not so far away. right now we're dealing with some rain, though. tony is with us in a second. good morning, thanks for being with us early on this tuesday morning. i'm steve shannon. >> i'm allison seymour. we're happy you're here for the ride this morning. tony perkins joining us now. he's got the details. not too bad, not too shabby. >> not too shabby. some rainfall today. don't sweat the snow at this point. might be a little snow wednesday night off to the north and west, but not so much going on here. today mild temperatures, just a little bit of rain. >> excellent. >> an all day kind of rain? >> periods of rain and for today mainly showery. we won't get inundated with heavy rain where you're running from the car to the door and all that stuff. but it does look wet. we're in for some unsettled weather and then colder as we get towards the end of the week. here's a look at the current

temperatures around the region. right now we are at 57 degrees, that's your new temperature. >> i thought we had weather guy. i was excited. >> that's right. >> that's weather guy noise. >> gotta shelf that one until tomorrow morning at 6:45. 57 now in washington, 54 in annapolis. check it out, salisbury, where did it go? 63 degrees. and then in fredricksburg 63 degrees. cumberland, maryland, you're cool at 48. you're just cool in general. here's a look at the satellite and radar for our region, plenty of cloud cover out there. we do have some showers to our north. that's about it right now. middle eastmost of the rest of the area is shower free, some mist here and there, but definitely cloudy skies. your day planner, periods of rain, showers here and there during the course of the day, cloudy. and your high temperature today right around 60 degrees. no big change in our temperatures for today. we'll tell you more about the rest of the week coming up shortly. that's the latest. >> thanks, tony. let's check the roads once again with julie. it was busy early this morning. how's it look now? reporter: still busy

unfortunately with a lot of slow traffic. new problems if you are traveling southbound 355, coming out of the mixing bowl here. if you look closely, this is where we have the disabled vehicle that's tying up the commute, as you work your way around the curve here, southbound 355 after veeters mill road. expect delays from at least 370 at this point as you guys travel from gaitersburg headed back down into rockville, definitely a slow go for you, again, along 355 traveling through rockville, headed out towards the lane divide. this is a live shot of traffic coming inbound on 66. the remains of the accident off the road to the shoulder so our lanes are open. delays extend from manassas to the beltway with the wreck on the shoulder. the beltway inner loop slowing from 266, outer loop tied up from van dorn to telegraph road. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. we start with breaking news from overseas. the death toll continues to rise after two bombings in afghanistan targeting shiite holy day. at least 54 people have been killed, most of them kill whd a suicide bomberrer hit a mosque

in kabul. several others were killed when a bomb strap today a bike exploded. here at home jack johnson about to find out how long he'll spend in federal prison. the former prince george's county county executive is due in court this morning. >> he is getting sentenced for a corruption scheme that the feds say lasted for eight long years. his wife leslie johnson also getting sentenced later this week. these are their mugshots. we get more now on the johnson corruption sentencing from fox 5's stacey cohan live at the federal courthouse. reporter: it's incredible. this is a case that made national headlines when the sensational autopsy came out of -- audiotape executive jack johnson told his wife leslie to hide documents in her undergarments, checks being flushed down the toilet, a case of political corruption. despite it all, there are some here in prince george's county that have sympathy for the fallen politician. >> if i was in his shoes, i would be trying to spend as much time with my loved ones. that makes sense. reporter: ruby king not only lives right across the street

from the johnsons, their families have been close for 23 years. >> we spend a lot of time with jack and leslie and the children, they vacation with us. they've been there for us when we're in need. reporter: sadness and sympathy for jack and leslie johnson, he'll be sentenced today and faces up to 14 years for corruption and obstruction of justice. >> i have 24 days. >> the time flies by. reporter: 24 days before his term as prince george's county executive came to an end, the fbi secretly videotaped johnson and laurel developer who already pled guilty for his role in the corruption scheme. prosecutors say this is just one example that shows johnson taking a cash bribe. you can see him flip through the cash. in another instance on the same day johnson talks about possible prosecution. >> got a lot of political enemies enemies

>> my last thought is i hope his sentence is cut short, that's what i hope. reporter: for mr. johnson? >> for both of them. >> i feel sorry for the family. reporter: clarence payne is another neighbor of the johnsons. he hasn't seen them around for days. >> when you're in a position like that, sometimes it can be tempting, you know, the money. we're all human. reporter: the prosecution also released audiotapes. they want to convince the court to throw the book at jack and leslie johnson because they say his wife knew what was going on. here's a portion of the fbi wiretap on their phones the day agents showed up at their

house. >> what do you want me to do with this money? they are banging. >> put it in your panties and walk out of the house. reporter: jack johnson will be sentenced this morning. he could get 14 years in prison. of course his lawyers will ask for more lenient sentence. leslie will be sentenced at the end of the week. reporting live, i'm stacey cohan, back to you. >> stacey, thank you. d.c. council chairman kwame brown is expected to meet with embattled councilmember harry thomas junior. 12 of the 13 member hs a closed door meeting yesterday to discuss options just days after the fbi raid on thomas' home. he is accused of funnels $300,000 from the city for his own personal use. the scandal is one reason that the council and government operations committee passed new ethics reform legislation yesterday. >> the current ethics framework harms the public's trust, the business environment and the potential legitimacy of our government. >> we're going to do what's

necessary to make sure that we pass a comprehensive ethics reform bill this year. >> david katannia who you see there has called on thomas to resign, but jack evans says there's not much the council can do to punish their colleague. the head of the federal aviation administration randy babbit on a leave of absence after his arrest over the weekend. he was allegedly driving drunk. a fairfax city police officer pulled babbit over on saturday night when he saw him driving on the wrong side of the road. police say after babbit was pulled over, he took a field sobriety test and arrested for dwi. right now the deputy administerror will take charge of the agency. protestors will march to thget the message directly to legislators. this is our d.c. movement which is part of take back the capitol protest. they want elected leaders to do something about unemployment, urge them to extend the unemployment insurance benefits or millions of americans will lose them at the end of the

year and for congress to start representing 99% of the people, not just the 1% who are rich. >> we're sick and tired of the politicians that's supposed to represent us looking out for the interests of wall street bankers and people like that, and leaving us high and dry and unemployed. >> i'm just hoping that this matters, that the people matter to those people up in that building. >> protestors also plan to march to k street tomorrow to deliver their message to lobbyists. it's eight minutes past the hour now on this tuesday morning. as technology advances and medical research develops, you'd think we'd be healthier year after year. >> think again, unfortunately. coming up next, more on why the u.s. is actually in worse shape this year than it was last year. >> you mean like physical shape, right? >> physical shape. >> we'll get that news coming up. as we take a look outside right now, we could see some winter weather arriving, yeah, talking about snow in some

areas. tony is back with the forecast when fox 5 morning news continues. right now pushing 60 degrees at eight minutes past 8:00.  to make a commitment is to see e things through. confident that no matter what the obstacles we can build something better, together. with the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile, we're making a commitment, to create a stronger network for all our customers. we will invest an additional eight billion dollars and build out the next generation of mobile broadband to nearly everyone in america. that'll mean better coverage and call quality and faster downloads.

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11 minutes past the hour now, as we check headlines this morning, the search continues today for this man, charles duckett. the wssc worker disappeared friday at the philadelphia reservoir in brookville. he had reportedly gone out to retrieve a dead dear. when his boat was found, the dear was inside but duckett was gone. the duckett family released a statement last night saying in part there could be risk involved in searches of this nature and we are truly grateful for your efforts. that search will continue. it took about 100 firefighters to put out this house fire in mclean, virginia. it started just before 8:00 last night in the 1800 block of massachusetts avenue. now, so far no word on a cause or if there are any injuries. tonight's the annual capitol christmas tree lighting. the ceremony starts at 5:00. the 65-foot sierra white fir came from the stanislaus national forest in california. it will be lit from dusk until 11:00 p.m. each night until the new year.

house speaker john boehner will do the honor of lighting the christmas tree. an annual survey says americans didn't get healthier over the past year. it's the first time since the year 2000 that not even a small improvement was shown. most of the blame goes to higher rates of obesity and diabetes. according to the nonprofit united health foundation which is out with a new report today. joining us now from downtown production studio is dr. reid tuxon, a board member of united health foundation. good morning. thanks for joining us. >> great to be here and great to talk about the health of the district of colombia. >> we will get to that. but, doctor, let me ask you, the headline here pretty disappointing as far as how we did this year. >> well, you know, the country is focused so intensely, as it should, on the access to healthcare and the increasing costs of medical care. we are probably neglecting a significant amount the amount of preventible chronic illness that is pouring into this

increasingly unaffordable and unattainable medical care system. so what we did see, as you indicate inside your introduction, that we have made no progress in improving overall healthiness of the nation and the reason really is because of a dramatic increase now and a consistent increase in the number of americans who have obesity and who have diabetes. in fact, we now have 17 -- excuse me, 27.5% of the american people are obese. that's up from 26.9% and we now have 8.7% of the american people who are diabetic. that's up from 8.3%. the end result is not only are people going to have to buy bigger clothes, they're going to be a lot sicker. >> another startling statistic to pass along, i just want to make sure we all heard, no state had an obesity rate of under 20% for the first time again since 2000. that seems just so unbelievable to me. >> and the thing about it is that it's been so consistent and persistent year over year.

in fact, we now estimate that based upon our calculations that we've been tracking for the last several years that if things continue as they are, we will have 43% of the american people will be obese by the year 2018 and the economic consequences of that could well be over 340 -- $340 billion to our healthcare system and our economy. this is absolutely frightening and we are doing very little, unfortunately, as a nation to turn those statistics. >> so obesity, diabetes rates both trending higher. what else went into determining health, doctor? >> it's a measure of 23 different components that go into it that deal with everything from our personal behaviors which we have talked about to our environment in which we live and work, occupational fatalities, air pollution, violent crime, things that have to do with the things decided by elected and public officials, access to

prenatal care, immunization coverage and those sorts of things and lastly the quality of medical care, whether it is the preventible hospitalizations or access to prenatal care, and then finally we look at all those coming together in death statistics such as heart attack deaths, cancer deaths, infant mortality and diabetes. >> new england states fared very well. we want to know, though, how we did here, all things considered, they fared well. how did we do here in maryland and virginia? >> in maryland and virginia, it's actually a pretty mixed picture. maryland is the 22nd healthiest state in the nation, that slipped a spot last year from 21st. and virginia went from 22nd to 20th. so it moved up some and that's pretty good news. >> d.c. not included with the states, but you do have data on how d.c. came in. how did the district do? >> well, the district, i'm happy to report there are 2,000 fewer smokers in the district of colombia this year than last

year. i'm sad to report that there are 74,000 smokers still in the district of colombia. 74,000 people haven't gotten the message that they're killing themselves everyday. i'm happy to tell you -- unhappy to tell you, excuse me, that there are 14,000 more people who are obese in the district of colombia than last year. there are 114,000 people walking around who are obese and there are 18,000 more diabetics in the district of colombia, 55,000 of you out there. so we've got numbers that are moving in the wrong direction. d.c., we have got to move together. go to our website at americashealthrankings.org. that's all one word. and not only look at all of the measures, but look at what it is that you can do as a part of your own family as civic associations, fraternities, sororities, bridge clubs,

whatever whatever way we gather together as community organizations and let's make the fight for life a much bigger priority. >> you can also get information about a new challenge take action for change, all that is on the website. dr. reid tuxon a board nem of the united health foundation. we thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. it's 8:18 right now. >> bad statistics may i just say. makes me want to get on a treadmill right now. >> hopefully it'll spur a lot of people into action. the time is 8:18. time for a check on our weather and also a little, you know, a relief. >> kind of a refresher. >> exactly. >> it is time for the my first 5 photo of the day. we have a young one today. oh. >> hello, beautiful. >> smart one too. >> pretty smile. this is jenna. jenna is getting ready to celebrate her first christmas. isn't that always special? >> yes, it is. >> first christmas, oh, just wonderful. >> she is just a doll baby. >> looks like she's read ago

christmas-themed book. wonderful. well, jenna, merry christmas to you and we hope you have a wonderful, wonderful christmas. >> i sure do hope that family sent that out as a christmas card. >> that's a perfect christmas card. i bet they did. >> adorable. >> if you'd like to send us your photos, go to myfoxdc.com/mornings. we have a few showers out there, not a whole lot going on to be honest. some light shower activity off to our north. nothing here in the washington area, not much going on down towards the south, it's all off to the north, interstate 70 in particular you're seeing some showers. reagan national airport reporting a temperature of 57 degrees. relative humidity is at 93%. your winds are out of the south at nine miles per hour. here's a look at the surface map for today. we've got a frontal boundary that will be slowly making its way through the washington region and then getting hung up right across the mid-atlantic. so the net result of that is

today one more day in the 60s, some rain showers along that front, not just today, but tonight and tomorrow as well. then colder air works its way in, so tomorrow night you could see some snow points north and west of the city. and it could accumulate in the panhandle of west virginia and extreme western maryland. five-day forecast high today of about 60 degrees, some rain showers here and there. tomorrow more persistent and consistent rain with a couple areas of heavy rain. again, maybe that rain changes over to snow north and west of the city tomorrow night. then our temperatures drop. thursday, friday, saturday highs in the 40s, lows in the 30s. that's a look at what's happening with the weather. gwen is coming up in just a little bit with your next update on weather. right now here's julie with an update on traffic. reporter: the inner loop of the beltway now the focus of our commute as you travel the loop in prince george's county. accident activity reported here as you travel the inner loop working past route 4. heads up as you work your way southbound down towards the scene. average speed right now for those traveling on the inner

loop, approaching pennsylvania avenue now down to 23 miles per hour. meanwhile on the top side of the beltway, you're going to find lingering delays, leaving 95 towards georgia avenue. no incidents to report, just heavy volume southbound 95, 295 on the brakes coming out of laurel headed down towards the beltway. also slow traffic on southbound 270 leaving germantown to the lane divide. 395 tied up, wall-to-wall traffic headed out to king street, and crossing the 14th street bridge. delays on 66 out of manassas working your way past the accident here at centreville. delays continue fair oaks to the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> julie, thanks. yesterday we talked about that elderly woman in her 80s who claims that tsa agents strip searched her before a recent flight. some other stories have surfaced that are similar. we'll have more on that when we come back. a little bit later as the weather gets cooler, you may be trying to come up with some indoor fun. we are live with a look at what's new and improved at the american history museum. stay with us. fox 5 morning news will be

right back. ñ 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. you might hear some loud fighter planes sometime after midnight tonight streaking across the skies of d.c. don't worry, it is a norad exercise, exercise for national defense.

it's called falcon virgo 1203 if you want to be technical. you can tell people that. the exercise includes a series of training flights in coordination with the faa, civil air patrol, the coast guard and others, expected to start at midnight, will last until about 2:00 a.m. >> i knew it was going to be falcon virgo 1203. a story becoming all too familiar, unfortunately, elderly people claiming they were inappropriately searched by tsa agents. it's happened again. 84-year-old grandmother lenore zimmerman wanted a patdown not a screening due to a defibrillator for her heart. she said a female agent did the patdown but also pulled down her underwear, forcing her to undergo a strip search . the tsa issued a statement apologizing to the passenger, but one new york lawmaker says that's just not enough. >> what's disturbing to me is that the tsa immediately issues a blanket denial without conducting any kind of investigation into whpened. it's just as possible, in fact,

i would suggest it's more likely that their agents are the ones not telling the whole truth rather than two women in their 80s. >> political leaders in new york are investigating this situation. zimmerman says she may sue. and, again, zimmerman is not alone. there are a number of other elderly women that are coming forward, accusing the tsa at jfk airport of strip searching. one of those women is 88-year- old ruth sherman. now, mrs. sherman says the tsa screeners made her pull down her pants, showing off her colostomy bag. sherman's family urged her to come forward after hearing zimmerman's accusations. 8:26 on this tuesday morning. she is a famous american supermodel but not so good at accounting. find out who owes the irs half a million dollars. he may have ended his quest for the republican presidential nomination, but he hasn't given up on politics. the latest from herman cain when fox 5 morning news

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8:29 now. let's take a look at some of the stories making headlines this morning. state police in maine are on the lookout for an escaped prisoner this morning. david haasen the man you see here is said to be armed and dangerous. he broke out of a prison in new hampshire by cloudy skiing a razor wire fence last week. detectives think he could be out for revenge against two people responsible for his arrest. president obama travels to missouri today where he'll speak on the economy at a high school south of kansas city, about an hour outside of kansas city. hundreds of people lined up this weekend outside of the school to get tickets to watch the president's speech. that town just 4,000 people. well, supermodel and actress christee brinkley promises to pay back the $531,000 she owes in taxes by tomorrow. brinkley issued a statement saying she apologizes for not paying more attention to her accounting.

she says she are dealing with her parents who have serious health issues. >> you know you're making some mistakes in the bank when you're behind $500,000 in taxes. hi, gwent. >> we can bank this weather up because it's rainy out there, you need your umbrella. >> nice to take these temperatures for a couple of days, though. >> we've enjoyed it, it's all going downhill from here as far as the temperatures are concerned. but it is december, so we've been spoiled with very mild conditions. that is going to change. we're getting a reality check in terms of what it should be like for the month. here's a look at senti dl nel radar for you. we have some wet weather here primarily to the areas to the north and northeast across the region. throughout the course of the day we're going to see rain continuing to come in and not heavy, heavy steady rainfall so much until we move into the later hours tonight. lots of that, however, in the forecast for tomorrow. 57 degrees right now at national airport. humidity at 93%. we've got a really light wind flow at about nine miles an hour from the south. but take a look at the

temperatures, 57 here. but if you take a look out west, a different story. this is where a cold front is heading our way. behind it lots of cold air that's shuffling its way in. temperatures in single digits and teens in many areas. that cold air will start to filter its way across our area as we head a little bit into the forecast period of wednesday night and with all the moisture that's going to be moving up from the south, we expect to see a chance of some snow to areas of our west and north as a result of it. so we'll keep an eye on that. in the meantime for today, 60 degrees, the overnight low around 50 and the wet weather sticking around, not going anywhere. we're going to have to deal with that. thursday we dry out at 47 degrees. and as i said, temperatures really taking a dive, overnight lows into the 30s. it's going to get really chilly. saturday we're back to some sunshine with a high of 41. but saturday night, just a sneak peek for you, expect it to be into the 20s possibly. back to the anchor desk. another sign perhaps that newt gingrich is the frontrunner in the race for the

republican presidential nomination now. a new "washington post"/abc news poll of likely iowa caucus goers has the former speaker of the house at 33%. now, that's followed by mitt romney and ron paul in a tie at 18%, a distant second, followed by rick perry at 11% and michele bachmann at 8%. romney getting some new support, though. former vice president dan quayle expected to officially endorse romney at an event today in arizona. quayle was vice president under president george h.w. bush and also served in the u.s. senate and house of representatives. >> steve, thank you. herman cain may have ended his quest for the republican presidential nomination, but the former godfather's pizza ceo is making it clear he will not disappear from the public eye. fox news senior national correspondent john roberts explains. reporter: he may have ended his quest for the nomination, but herman cain hasn't given up on politics. headlining a fundraiser for the oklahoma gop and pushing ahead

with the cainsolutions.com. >> i am not going to be silenced and i am not going away! reporter: cain intends to keep shaking up the political scene in much the same way he did when he declared his candidacy back in may. >> is america ready for a real leader, not a reader? [ cheers ] >> you want a leader? [ cheers ] >> or you want a reader? reporter: as tainted as he is by the sex scandals, how much could cain's endorsement really mean? in a tight race, maybe a lot says uva's larry sabato. for better or worse. >> it's pretty obvious that most people have concluded that cain isn't telling the full truth about these women. of course for newt gingrich in particular, given his background with three marriages and adultery, i don't know that this will necessarily help him. reporter: and cain could pull votes from whomever he endorses. his name will appear on the primary ballot in new hampshire, south carolina and florida. >> herman cain. reporter: it was florida where

cain first looked like a contender, winning september's straw poll. he followed that up by taking the lead in iowa. it even looked like he might survive the sexual harassment scandal, but after ginger white allege add 13-year affair with cain last week, his numbers tanked, in the last day of a des moines register poll, it wasn't worth the pain to his family to stay in the race. much has been made of cain suspending rather than terminating his campaign. the fact is it really means nothing. the federal election commission won't allow a campaign committee to shut down until it has satisfied all of its debts and obligations and with contributions to cain's campaign falling off a cliff, that could take some time. in atlanta, john roberts, fox news. 8:35 on this tuesday morning. a warning to europe from standard and poors. what that means when we come back. we'll talk a little business. as we take you to break a special holiday greeting. >> hi, we would like to say

happy holidays to my family in takoma park, maryland, happy holidays uncle john, my cousin densel and his wife, karen. we miss you and we love you.  [ screaming ] [ zapping ] 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.

don't forget about our job shop if you're looking for work. it's open everyday all day long. we feature one job of the day everyday and today that job of the day is with cr england, the nation's largest refrigerated carrier company. they're looking for truck drivers. training is available. the pay between $35,000 and $70,000 a year. for more on this job and many others go to our job shop at myfoxdc.com, look for the job shop tab at the top of the home page. let's talk money. europe's debt crisis apparently not over yet and that could cause more problems here in the u.s. ainsly earhart has that story. reporter: an economic summit of european leaders friday will take on new meaning. standard and poors warns it may carry out an unprecedented downgraded euro zone country. the agency says the leaders must deliver a convincing agreement on how to solve the

region's debt crisis or else. standard and poor's has placed a negative credit watch on 15 members of the euro zone, citing systemic stresses in recent weeks. this comes on the same day christopher sums, the latest winner of the nobel prize in economics provided a grave assessment for the euro. >> i think it's under quite deep threat because i think what's happening is that people are realizing what they gave up in signing on to the euro in its original form. reporter: sims warns the present system must be modified so there's a lender of last resort that's not subject to default. >> unless a solution like that can be arranged, i think that countries are going to realize there's really not that much they're getting out of the euro and might decide to depart. reporter: markets have struggled with the euro zone's crisis for months. hope that european policymakers were entering the end game sent

the s&p 500 to its best week in almost three years last week with a rise of almost 7 1/2%. in new york, ainsly erhart, fox news. one little break. when it comes to your wallet. let's check out "my fox half off deal." it could come in handy for your work clothes or your party clothes or your clothes in general. pay $10 to get $20 in dry cleaning services. this is through spotless dryclean.com. they come to your home, they pick up your clothes and bring them back all clean and fresh and pressed and starched. to learn more about it go to our website, myfoxdc.com and look for the my fox half off deal on the right side of the home page. 8:41 on this tuesday morning. free is the best price out there. >> yep. it is also the cost of admission at the smithsonian museum. what a treat that is. the exhibits also always changing there. annie yu is checking out the national museum of american history and what they have.

annie, good morning. reporter: good morning, allison. allison, this dress right here is the dress that first lady michelle obama wore at the inaugural and how cool is this. we are here in the gallery and this is one of the most popular attractions at the museum and the museum continues to add to the exhibit, so we're going to get a behind-the-scenes pass to what's new coming up in just a bit. ! hey guys, what can i get f for you?

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a health alert this morning to pass along. the centers for disease control want to remind everyone it is not too late to vaccinate. it is national influenza vaccination week. you need about two weeks before the shot's protective antibodies kick in. health officials are urging people to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. flu season usually peaked in january or february. the fda is meeting this week to consider new safety measures for birth control pills. newer versions of the pill can clear up acne and help with other hormonal issues, but some are concerned that they're also more likely to cause blood clots. if regulators determine that is true, they could order new warning labels on several popular types of the pill. the smithsonian museum's

truly a washington treasure. we're lucky to have them in our own back yard. if you have not been to the national museum of american history lately, you definitely want to put it on your list. >> fox 5's annie yu joins us with some changes to the popular first ladies' exhibit. good morning. reporter: good morning, allison and steve. we're here at the first ladies' collection and it's one of the most popular attractions here at the museum and i can see why if you're a woman. allison, you would love it here. there's so much to see, sparkly things that i'm distracted by and they keep adding to the exhibit so that is great news. this one just opened recently on november 19th and it's a permit collection. joining us now with more information is lisa kathleen grade, curator here at the first ladies gallery. good morning, how are you? >> thank you. reporter: thank you so much for coming out. >> thank you so much for coming to see us. we're thrilled with the new exhibition. reporter: this is exciting. there's a lot to see so let's dive in. what are some of the new gowns

added to the collection? >> we have eight new gowns on exhibition now. some of my favorites include this incredible dress of carolyn harris with the amazing silver. reporter: beautiful. it's very beautiful and sparkly. this metallic dress worn by lou hoover, it's an incredible black and silver and gold metallic. reporter: are these mannequins the actual size of the first lady? >> pretty close. if we work on the assumption that the dress is the size of the flaid, then the mannequin, we assume the height for whatever shoe they would be wearing, make it just skim the floor. reporter: how many dresses have been added? >> there are eight new dresses, 26 dresses total in this collection, in this particular exhibition which includes the inaugural gowns, the classic inaugural gowns from the most recent first ladies and a lot of day and evening wear. reporter: there's a lot to see here. one that caught my eye down here, if you can just chat

briefly about this one. >> these are amazing flapper dresses worn by grace coolidge. reporter: so awesome. >> they have been on exhibit before and grace coolidge had a wonderful wardrobe and her husband, president calvin coolidge who was known for being a little tight with the dollar, one of the things he actually did spend his money freely on was his wife's clothing. he thought she was absolutely gorgeous. he didn't like her to wear the same thing twice. so he would come home with things for her that he would see in a store window and go in and purchase. reporter: that's a nice husband. >> that's a good husband to have, absolutely. reporter: are they required to donate the dress or how does that work? >> well, the older dresses we've gotten from descendants, but the most recent dresses, it's become a tradition to donate your inaugural gown, but it's not a requirement. so soon after the inauguration, we send a letter from the secretary of the smithsonian to the first lady asking her to contribute something to the collection to represent herself. we do remind her that the

public is very interested in the inaugural gown. reporter: this is a fabulous first lady collection here, but as we make our way down, this is broken up into four different parts for a reason, right? >> yes. reporter: is there one you would like to highlight? >> i think that everyone remembers and loves the inaugural gown, but a section that is brand new to this any version of the exhibition and i'd love for everybody to see is called changing times changing first ladies because we really want visitors to come away not just with an appreciation of the beauty of the things in the exhibit, but an idea of how each first lady changes the job to suit herself and the time and the needs of the country. so we look at four first ladies in here, dollly madison, mary lincoln, he'dth roosevelt and lady bird johnson and what they contributed to the job of first lady, the role of first lady. reporter: clearly they've contributed a lot. this obviously always changing, right? >> this was designed -- this is the first version and it was designed so that it can change, so we can change the women in these sections. reporter: a lot of to see, a lot to check out when you come

out here to the museum. myfoxdc.com is our website, we have a link to the american history museum so you can come out and check everything out. back to you. >> gorgeous. annie, you know i love it. thank you very much. let's move on now into the holiday spirit, time for our fox 5 friend segment where each weekday in december leading up to christmas, we feature different charities and foundations that support good causes. >> this morning allie kauffman for enjoy reading joins us in the studio. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> tell us a little bit your organization. >> we are a children's organization that works in d.c.'s performing schools. our vision is that students need to have more of a shared reading experience, so we work together with the schools and families to have them have that experience at home. >> that's wonderful. you've even done like a reading room at least at stanton elementary, right? >> yes. a lot of performing schools in the district don't have functioning libraries and librarians, so we place many

libraries or book rooms in each school and the students can come one day a week for 20 minutes and check out a book they want and bring it home. >> beautiful. >> when you say that you're new, you're really new, you just launched this. >> yes. we launched september 20th, so we're quite new. >> you're getting the chance to put the message out there. what would you like people to know not just about the organization itself but how others can get involved this? >> during this season of giving for your viewers to support us in our new book room is each book we have in the book room is from a student request. we've put them on our website and then each book is a flat fee of $15 which pays for the distribution, shipping and handling of getting the books ready. >> you're getting the books they actually want. >> exactly. >> not just putting books out there hoping they take advantage of them. >> not just books, but the right books. >> that's fantastic. >> reading in our lives just opens up whatever you can go back in the past, in the future and all of that. so if someone is watching, can they also just donate books? we keep our books in good condition.

>> unfortunately because we want the right books and not just any books, we prefer that people go on our website and all the books are ones that the students are requesting. we have kids that come every week and ask for specific titles. >> but the world they don't even know yet, maybe they would enjoy something i have in my library. we'll see. >> you'll have to check the list and see if you can match it up. what's the website? >> enjoyreading.org. >> we'll put a link to that on myfoxdc. allie, good luck with things. just getting started but hopefully you'll keep on rolling. >> thanks, allie. much more ahead on fox 5 morning news. in our next hour, a new concern about arsenic. this time it's not in apple juice, but a popular staple food in many diets. that's coming up after 9:00. we're back in a moment. ♪ [ female announcer ] during the holidays, there's a lot to get done. and safeway select appetizers help you rise to every occasion. ♪ from delectable to amazing.

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[ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. prove it. enough's enough. d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding, guaranteed. d-con. get out. we would like to say good morning to today's facebook fan of the day. today the honor goes to ron matthews, sr. hi, ron. he and his mom are both big

fans of the show. hi, mom as well. watch every morning. if you'd like to be tomorrow's fan of the day, find us on facebook by searching fox 5 morning news. no space between fox and the number 5. you'll find ron's photo there, place a comment under it and we'll choose one of you to be tomorrow's facebook fan of the day. some bethesda students are showing they can make the cut literally. each of them getting a foot of hair cut off in honor of a teacher who's been battling cancer. reporter: it's not just a day of styling for these girls at bella bethesda salon. >> are you guys scared? >> yeah. >> no. reporter: every brush, bundle and snip -- >> this is her hair. reporter: is making a difference. >> oh, my goodness. >> the whole time they were cutting my hair, i was thinking of ms. truax. reporter: she is the girl's

beloved litture teacher at our lady of the lordes catholic school in bethesda. >> she helps with homework and it's really, really nice. reporter: truabc has been in a brave battle against cancer. she has lost her hair but never lost her faith or fight. now 25 of her girls are cutting off at least 10 inches of their hair in support and donating it to locks of love in truax' honor. >> since she has no hair, i feel like cutting off my hair isn't going to do much to affect my life that much. it's going to be a change, but it's not going to be that bad. reporter: their hair will go to girls who are 18 and under who are in chemo, so for ms. truax, that was much more important to her that someone gets their beautiful hair and gets to use it. reporter: the boys at the school are also getting involved. earlier in the year 75 of them shaved off their hair in support of ms. truax. the girls, as you can see, doing things a little bit differently. >> well, i think i'm going to do like a pixie haircut. reporter: the staff at bella

bethesda salon donated their time and service for the cause. coowners stacey dabney who attended our lady of lordes says it just felt right to get involved. >> i didn't have to twist any arms, people were willing to do it for this cause and we're just so glad. >> we talk a lot, especially during advent about letting god's love and light shine through you, and, boy, if it's not shining in here, i don't know when it is. reporter: students showing how much they care through their locks given with love. in bethesda, maureen ume, fox 5 morning news. >> thanks, maureen. that'll do it for this hour. tony and allison will take us up to 10:00. >> steve, thank you. right now at 9:00, a local leader faces years behind bars. the former prince george's county executive brought down in a corruption scandal. we're live outside the courthouse as jack johnson prepares to learn his fate. and then alarming news following the reports about arsenic in apple juice. why some researchers are now raising concerns about the arsenic levels in rice.

details on a new study coming up. and we want to make sure that your holidays are happy and safe. there are some quick steps that you can take to decrease any risk of christmas tree-related fires. it might not be fun to think about, but it is important. we're going to talk with an expert for some life-saving advice. 9:00 now, and we want to turn our attention to the weather. there are a few rain showers out there. gwen is downstairs with the latest on that. >> today is the day you definitely have to keep your umbrella on hand. we're getting a second mild day, temperatures well above the seasonal average. we are really lucking out. guess what. luck runs out pretty soon. let's take a look at our maps. today is the day where it is definitely wet and it is definitely mild. so mild and wet, but then it's going to get colder and we've got a significant temperature drop that we're going to be dealing with as we take a look at the extended forecast a little bit later on for you. in the meantime, here's a look at satellite radar composite. you can see rain showers pushing their way in from the south, and throughout the course of the day we're going

to see this become a little more widespread and a little heavy to moderate in some areas as well. so be prepared. 57 degrees right now at national airport, southerly wind flow nine miles per hour and elsewhere we are talking about mainly cloudy skies and the showers once again. here's a look at your day planner. by midday around 60 degrees. by 4:00 around 59 degrees. behind that frontal system, however, prepare yourself because we're going to have a reality check that it is december as our temperatures dip right back to where they should be. and by the end of the week we'll be in the 40s with some pretty chilly overnight lows. i'll have details and a full look at your five-day forecast a little later on. back to you. what do you want me to do with this money? they are banging. >> put it in your panties and walk out of the house. >> shocking audiotape of jack johnson and his wife, leslie johnson made public in the wake of a corruption scandal. they were caught by an fbi