from developers. now, we have followed all of the twists and turns in this case from the beginning. >> this morning the former prince george's county executive is about to get sentenced at the federal courthouse in greenbelt. that's where fox 5's stacey cohan is standing by with more details. good morning, stacey. reporter: good morning. it's been over a year since that recording first made headlines around the country, even some international headlines because of the sensational nature of a politician's wife stuffing cash in her undergarments. now that politician, jack johnson will be heading to federal prison. he hears his sentence today from federal judge peter maseti. he could be sent to prison right away or they could set a future date at which he is to surrender to authorities. it is unclear at this point what is going to happen. of course he was accused of and pled guilty to accepting bribes. there are videotapes of him accepting stacks of cash from developers and it is to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars reportedly, the long- term gain from this corruption

scheme. one of the audiotapes caught jack johnson talking about possible prosecution. >> got a lot of political enemies emies reporter: according to sentencing sentencing guidelines, he could get up to 14 years in prison. it is up to the judge to make that final decision. his wife leslie pled guilty to tampering with evidence that carries a much shorter sentence. she will be sentenced later on this week. live stacey cohan and i'll see you before the hour is out with some updates from inside the courtroom. back to you. >> we look forward to that, stacey. thank you. d.c. council chairman

kwame brown is planning to meet privately with embattled councilmember harry thomas. 12 of the 13 members at a closed-door meeting yesterday without thomas to discuss options just days after the fbi raided his home. he's accused of fuming $300,000 from the city for his own personal use. the scandal was one reason why the council's 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. >> councilmember david katannia has called on thomas to resign, but jack evans says there's not much the council can do to punish thomas. the department of transportation is trying to decide how to handle the weekend arrest of faa administrator randy babbit for allegedly driving drunk. babit was placed on a leave of absence monday after fairfax city police spotted him driving

on the wrong side of the street saturday night. authorities are now reviewing his employment. he is about halfway through a five-year term. some other top stories we're following now. an update on a traffic alert. all lanes on route 3 between buoy and austin are now open. now, they had been closed after a multi-vehicle accident near route 450 last night. it involved a car, a box truck and a gasoline tanker carrying 9,000 gallons of gas. the tanker overturned, spilled about 100 gallons. only the driver of the tanker suffered minor injuries. a five-day demonstration by the group our d.c. is under way on the national mall and the movement is part of take back the capitol protest. they want congress to start representing the 99% of the people, not just the richest 1%. protestors plan to march to the capitol later this hour and then on to k street tomorrow to deliver the message to

lobbyists. on monday singer jackson browne performed for protestors at freedom plaza. browne says he wanted to sing to the demonstrators to thank them for standing up for the principles he believes in. the peaceful demonstration was quite a contrast to sunday when police arrested 31 protestors at mcpherson square. they put up a wooden structure and park police ordered them to take it down, saying it posed a danger. when protestors refused, police moved in. in the meantime, president obama makes a campaign-style appearance in kansas today. he'll be pushing for a renewal of part of his stimulus plan. it's the payroll tax cut that affects nearly all working americans. fox' doug luzader has more now from capitol hill. 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. 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 a debt on our children or grandchildren and bury them under a mountain of debt. reporter: the tax cut would also mean that the social security program itself would take a big hit. but the president may have a potent political argument here, turning the tables on

republicans over something that has long been their strong suit, 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. we have an update now on the financial crisis overseas. the s & p rating agency is putting 15 european countries on notice that it could downgrade their credit rating, including powerhouse germany. the threat is adding more pressure to european leaders to resolve their debt crisis. french president nicholas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel are calling for a rewrite of europe's fundamental rules. they will present their plan to all of europe's leaders at a summit planned for friday.

u.s. treasury secretary tim geithner just arrived in europe this morning, urging top officials there to take action. we have a health alert to pass along to you this morning. it involves new information about arsenic in what we eat and drink. >> this time it's not juice that's the concern, but a food staple in many diets. fox 5's sarah simmons is in studio with us to share details of a new study. hey, sarah. reporter: hey, guys. we have talked about inorganic arsenic before, found in several kinds of apple juice and even some grape juice, but now a new study is raising concern about arsenic in rice. the research followed 229 pregnant women in new hampshire, a state where 40% of people get their water from wells. well water often has 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. scientists showed that those women who ate half cup of cooked rice were getting just as much arsenic as if they drank a cup of tap water at the epa's maximum level. it's been linked to miscarriage and lower birth rate. inorganic arsenic is the toxic form of the chemical and the one that tv's dr. oz has raised awareness about concerning apple juice that you have probably heard about, tony and allison. so a concerning study that's coming out about this. something we'll have to look into. first apple juice and now we're talking about rice. >> and rice is a staple in many cultures. >> something people have turned to more frequently in recent times. thank you very much. an elderly woman's claim that she was strip searched at the airport is making national headlines and now more women are coming forward. details still ahead here on fox 5 morning news. also coming up next after the break, the battle is heating up inside the republican presidential field. newt gingrich is trying to

build on his frontrunner's momentum and the race for endorsements is on. we're going to check in with the political expert when we come back. we'll find out what donald trump is in the mix for. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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welcome back. donald trump says the current gop presidential field is lacking and that he may get into the race himself as an independent. he also plans to host a republican presidential debate. elsewhere conservative activist phyllis shall havely has formally thrown her support to candidate balk michele bachmann balk and newt gingrich is also praising donald trump and sparring with former house speaker nancy pelosi. that's why we're turning to john gizy, political editor of human events newspaper for insight into all of this. man, things are heating up. it's been a busy couple of weeks. >> it certainly has. >> cain is out, gingrich seems to be benefiting from that more than any other candidate. let's talk about gingrich first of all, and this comeback that he's making, you know, a month and a half ago, you wouldn't

have predicted that he'd be the frontrunner in some cases, but indeed now he is. >> well, part of it, tony, is that the format this year of a debate a week which numbs some people, but also very much excites the grassroots who talk about the debates with their morning coffee has worked to mr. gingrich's advantage. he's a historian, a trained debater, he knows the art of the sound bite and i dare say if we did not have the debate a week format, he wouldn't be in the strong position he is now. so the times and the situation have worked to his benefit. >> the debate-a-week format to me also seems to create someone who's the new flavor of the month and then it's someone else and then it's someone else. so might we see this happen to him? he has some personal issues of his own that people have talked about before, but i would think it would come to the floor again. >> yes. but unlike herman cain, he has made no secret about anything and he has been veryfortcoming

about it -- very forthcoming about it and discussed it at length. i don't think it will be an effect. all his skeletons are out of the closet and he may have as many in there as the museum of natural history. >> speaking of skeletons or alleged skeletons, what do you make of this almost strange statement that nancy pelosi made about she knows some stuff about gingrich because she was on the committee that was involved in investigating him years ago and that she'll let that information out when the time is right, what do you make of that? >> well, to use an expression of former virginia governor dog wilder, that dog won't fetch anymore. the fact is that anything about newt gingrich has been aired, there was a full ethics investigation. he accepted the penalties at the time. i covered that as a reporter on capitol hill, and i would be surprised if anything new comes out. >> gingrich actually makes a point at which i think is a very good point that she can't be disclosing any information

anyway from those types of hearings. >> it's a very good point. again, i think nancy pelosi was engaging in a little bit of jousting with her old sparring partner gingrich and doing a little bit to rial him up at the time. that's all. >> we saw gingrich teamed up with donald trump i guess yesterday it was. what's going on there? >> well, again, all of the candidates have gone to see donald trump. you'll recall, tony, that sarah palin when she considered the race made the pilgrimage to the trump towers and sat down with him. it's hard to believe, but only a few months ago he was considered the potential anti- romney de jour and the fact is he decided not to run so candidates naturally want to court him, just as they would, say, governor christie or governor barber of mississippi and the no-goes. >> candidates want to court him, but in the view of the general public, does he have any particular political weight that people care about? >> well, remember something,

donald trump, whatever you think of him is a political outsider and a take-charge kind of guy and a businessman, and we always hear that people would like someone with business experience to be president, even though the art of politics and the art of business have a big gap between them. but that was the appeal of ross perot to a degree, it's the appeal of mitt romney, so donald trump does have an appeal to some people. >> phyllis shall havely has come out now in support of michele bachmann. does that help bachmann in any particular way? >> phyllis shaffley is as pat buchanan once called her, the first lady of conservatism. she's been there from the beginning on the right, so it can only help michele bachmann in a nomination situation. on the other hand, 10 phyllis shaffleys at this point are what would be needed to help her campaign because in minnesota, i know republicans who admire her are saying congresswoman, please tell us, are you going to run for your

seat again, the time is ticking on the nomination process. she's going to have to make a decision, all the presidential race or less running for reelection to the house. >> quick answer here, despite all this that's going on, do we still think romney will end up being the nominee? >> you know something, it's been said before and yogi beara said never make predictions, especially about the future, you never know in politics. you said earlier, tony, who would have thought that gingrich would have been the anti-romney or the candidate of the month. who knows at this point. i'd say one thing, his momentum looks pretty strong and he hasn't made any slipups yet. >> very good. john gizzie. i wish i had your access of and knowledge to quotes. very much off the top of your head. >> thanks, tony. merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you too. evidence in the gulf oil spill destroyed? that is the claim from bp.

details coming up next on fox 5 morning news. plus annie yu is live from the national museum of history today. annie. reporter: hi, allison. we have a new exhibit to feature. take a look. this is the jefferson bible and it recently underwent meticulous conservation and on display for a short time, we're talking less than six months. you definitely want to come down and check it out. we'll talk with a curator in just a bit. first here is today's trivia question. babycenter.com is out with the top baby names of 2011. which of the following is not on the list of top 10 girls' names? abigail, lilly, sophia or logan? the answer is coming up later. but if you want to take a guess now, do it. head to our facebook page. fox 5 morning news is back after the break.  plus cookies plus memories

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making headlines now, a three-day manhunt for an escaped prisoner in new england. state police in maine say that david hopson is armed and dangerous. the 33-year-old escaped from a jail in neighboring new hampshire thursday night by climbing a razor wire fence. he was awaiting trial for burglary. police say hopson is likely out for revenge for two people responsible for his arrest. they are now in hiding. police arrested his father for giving him supplies. hopson is thought to be hiding in nearby woods. former illinois governor rod blagojevich goes back for sentencing today. -day hearing will begin with the prosecution asking the judge to imprison blagojevich for 15 to 20 years. he was convicted six months ago on multicorruption kounlts, including an attempt to sell president obama's old senate seat. the judge's sentence is expected sometime tomorrow. potentially damning accusations in connection to

the nation's worst offshore oil spill. bp is accusing haliburton for intentionally destroying evidence about the cement poured into the well that blew out last year. more elderly passengers coming forward now with claims they were strip searched at the airport. details coming up next on fox 5 morning news. plus is there life out there? it's an age-old question and now scientists saying they are closer to an answer. the new discovery from nasa coming up on the other side of the break. >> hi, my name is colonel dave anderson. i'm currently serving at headquarters in kabul, afghanistan and i'd like to say happy holidays to my wife patty, my mother and dad and my brothers and their family who live in alexandria and centreville, virginia. i'd also like to wish my

brother a happy 50th birthday and my mother and dad a happy 58th anniversary. thanks very much. state farm. this is jessica.

hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying?

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back now with word that the tsunami which devastated parts of japan in march was actually a double wave. researchers at nasa and ohio state university think that ridges and underseen mountain chains merged into a massive wave that could travel a great distance. they say the study could leet to more accurate coastal tsunami hazard maps to protect communities and critical infrastructure. another major announcement from nasa, scientists have discovered a new planet and it has the conditions needed for

life as we know it. it's being called kepler 22b. the earth-like planet circles a star, likely has water and rock and has a comfortable surface temperature of 72 degrees. the planet was discovered by nasa's kepler telescope. it is 600 lightyears away and it would take a space shuttle -- not the telescope, the planet is 600 lightyears away. it would take a space shuttle about 22 million years to reach that planet. >> oh, my goodness. >> 22 million years. >> so we couldn't put a human on the space shuttle to go to it because the time it gets there, the person would just be dust. >> maybe not even dust. >> and the space shuttle program is over. >> no vacation planning there. >> no. >> what kind of life are we talking about? >> this is what they call -- i forget what the term is. but they classify these planets -- they find planets all the time now in different solar systems and they say it's in the zone where it could support life like we know it.

>> really? >> it could. it's a long way away. >> so keebler 22b -- >> it's kepler, not the elves making cookies. >> it could be the elves making cookies, could be life like us. >> could be. >> could be a whole parallel thing. >> it could be a parallel earth because it's so far away we could never get there, they could never get here unless they're super, super smart. >> if it's taking us 22 million years to get there, it's going to take them 22 million to get here so they would be dust too. >> unless they have some other portal to get through. it's all very scientific. >> keeping in the line of science, it's time for some meetology, right? >> yeah, we've got clouds and rain right here on planet earth and pushing its way across into the course of today. so keep your umbrella handy, unless you're from another planet and the rain doesn't

affect you and you won't get wet. we will guarantee you'll get wet out in this weather today. it's going to be widespread as we move into the later part of today and tonight and even intensifying as well. a lot of this is coming up from the south. it's all associated with a frontal system. take a look at temperatures, 57 degrees right now here in d.c., but elsewhere behind that front we've got single-digit temperatures, even a minus two, look at this, at bismarck. temperatures in the teens as well. that's a pretty good indication of the colder air that's pushing in behind that frontal system. we will see some of that colder air a little bit later in the week. today another mild day, 60s is where we're headed to, the low 60s. the frontal system will push its way across the area. we're looking at rain throughout the course of the day. and on the back side of it with all that colder air i showed you, that moisture could be turning into a snow/rain mix or primarily some snow it looks like for areas to our north and west, but we'll have to keep an eye on it and see how it all develops. it is definitely feeling more like winter with a drop in our temperatures, but the rain may end as snow on wednesday night

and just enough cold air to do that. so we could even see a little bit here in the city regions, it's very possible. we'll have to watch it. it could impact the thursday morning commute if that does become the case and accumulation potential, as i mentioned, to the north and to the west. for today, though, we are talking a rainy day, mild again, 60 degrees, a light southerly wind flow. your -- woops, i'm sorry. tonight, i forgot what i had here, rain and light winds at 50 degrees. now that five-day forecast, wet weather sticking around, runs through until wednesday night when we could see that rain/snow mix or even a little bit of snow. thursday we're back to some clouds, but it starts to dry out quite nicely and plenty of sunshine friday and saturday, just in time for the weekend. but look at the temperature difference, dropping down to the 40s. tony and allison. >> thanks, gwen. some video just into our newsroom now. former prince george's county executive jack johnson arriving for sentencing at the federal courthouse in greenbelt.

he is facing up to 14 years after pleading guilty to corruption charges in may. our stacey cohan is there. we'll check in with her before the end of this hour. 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. >> lenore zimmerman said she asked for a patdown instead of a body scanner because of the defibrillator she has for her heart condition. but she says a female tsa agent pulled her underwear down and strip searched her. the tsa tsa did offer an apology but is denying those claims. in the meantime, more women are now coming forward with similar complaints about tsa screeners at new york airports. 88-year-old ruth sherman of florida says almost the exact same thing happened to her on her way back from thanksgiving vacation when she came through jfk. she says screeners asked her to pull down her pants, exposing her colostomy bag. >> i came out.

i cried. i felt like i was nobody. i felt like they stripped me of my whole existence. i won't let anybody do this to me, never. >> a third woman, linda callish who is diabetic says she was forced to strip to reveal an insulin pump close to her thigh. the agency claims no improper strip searches were conducted. now to a story we're following out of great britain. >> a shocker on the parliamentary hearing on the british excesses of tabloids. ainsly earhart has the story. reporter: it's a mark only the tabloids can love. a businessman compared to papers to a concentration camp. it happened over the value of privacy laws. >> the only way businesses can stay afloat is engaging in immoral or unethical behavior,

that business should change its model or go out of business. reporter: goldsmith's private life became the subject of tabloid scrutiny during the breakup of his marriage back in 2010. actor hugh grant says some paparazzi are criminals. he claimed politicians have turned a blind eye to them. >> there are two kinds of paparazzi in this country, there are the star photographers who have just a shred of decency and some standards, not much, they wouldn't leave my baby alone when i asked them to, but they pretended to have some. and then there's the freelance paparazzi from the agencies who are truly terrifying, and according to police i've spoken to are often recruited from the criminal classes, people with criminal records and they're the ones who tried to run over the 61-year-old grandmother of my child. >> it's their personal property, deeply precious to them and to sacrifice that in order to keep a newspaper going cannot be right. reporter: the government panelists considering whether to slap more government regulations on the news media. in new york, ainsly earhart,

fox news. the countdown to christmas is on and an annual holiday tradition is taking place in the nation's capitol tonight. more on that after the break. the u.s. postal service making some major cutbacks, what sort of changes should we all expect? first here's another look at today's trivia question, babycenter.com is out with the top baby names of 2011, which of the following is not on the list of top 10 girls' names? abigail, lilly, sophia or logan. the answer is coming up later. but if you want to take a guess now, head to our facebook page. fox 5 morning news is back right after the break. ♪

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only at safeway. ingredients for life. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. our car up a pole again? to sign up for that new auto insurance company [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue.

[ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy. in 15 minutes, [ female announcer ] you call that bread? you can serve some warmth with your bread. and some flavor with your bread. and some layers with your bread. if you're serving bread honey, then serve it. grands! dinner ideas made easy. you probably know this, the post office is almost bankrupt and cutting first-class mail next year. it's already announced a one cent increase in first-class stamps to 45 cents starting in

january. now the agency is slowing delivery so we can no longer expect next day delivery to nearby communities. executives say the cost cutting is necessary as more people are turning to the internet for e- mail and to pay bills. the postal service is facing imminent default this month. tonight in the district, an annual tradition dating back to the 1960s, the lighting of the u.s. capitol christmas tree. there it is, tony. 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 state will help flip the switch along with speaker of the house john boehner. the ceremony is open to the public and it gets under way tonight at 5:00. and we continue to decorate the fox 5 christmas tree. of course it's not as majestic as the capitol tree, doesn't really look like the white house tree. >> beautiful in its own way. >> that's right. and you can help us make it even more beautiful by sending in your ornaments to the address on your screen. of course we are fox 5, our

address is 5151 wisconsin avenue northwest, washington d.c., 20016. once the tree is all decked out, we're going to donate the whole thing, kit and kaboodle, ornaments and all to a worthy group in the d.c. region. as you decorate your home for christmas this year, there are some important safety tips to keep in mind. we've got an expert in house to make sure your holidays are bright and safe. more on that after the break. then priceless pieces of american history, we're going to the smithsonian to check out some new exhibits with annie yu. can you really think about it? thomas jefferson's bible. >> amazing. >> we'll be right back. 

wewe need a sofa. something i can stretch out on! ooh... that will go with those lamps my mother gave us. or we could get some new lamps. or we could get no sofa. negotiating, eh? you got it! how about a nice home for our tv? how about doors to hide that drive-in theater? how about a cowhide rug? yee-haw! and the snacks? get their own place. let the marathon begin! for a limited time buy select seating and get 15% back, at ikea, the life improvement store.

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to go this winter to get away from the cold weather. >> and to learn stuff too maybe. annie, over to you. >> that's the motto, you can learn stuff here. >> and get out of the cold weather. what's going on, annie? reporter: hey, allison and tony. it's no secret allison loves history and you would love it here, allison. we have an incredible history lesson this morning and we've been exhibit hopping all morning long. but finally we are here at the thomas jefferson bible exhibit. and take a look around. it is beautiful in here. i also have my guest here, harry rubenstein the curator of the exhibit. thanks for coming out. >> welcome to the museum and thank you for coming. reporter: thank you, harry. harry, this is pretty remarkable stuff. it's been in the smithsonian collection since 1895 but recently underwent a me particular loss conservation, right? >> the bible itself, the pages had become very brittle and the binding is very tight so we could no longer open the book to show people the project that jefferson had worked on.

so we literally took the pages out, repaired all of the tears and then put it all back together, and for the first time people can again see this book that jefferson created at the end of his life. reporter: and right here is the title page, but i wanted to show everyone that because it's really rivetting to see that handwriting and the actual photo of it. and over here is the actual display which is what people will see when they come out here, right? >> right. i mean, here is the book and it's open in a way that people haven't been able to see probably for the last 20, 30 years because we had to put the book away. it was just becoming -- every time we opened it up to this degree, you would actually break the pages. reporter: what does this book tell us about our third president of the united states? >> quite a bit. you think of jefferson as the revolutionary, founder of the university of virginia, but i personally never really thought of him as this moral philosopher, really coming to

grips with what should be the moral basis of the new nation. and so this is a project he did for much of his life, where he worked and study, various philosophies and he put together this book from passages from the new testament. reporter: speaking of that, in the next exhibit when people come out here, you can actually see how carefully he cut out, i mean, this is precise cutting here, right, on these pages? >> right. i find these volumes just as interesting as the finished work. i mean, what jefferson does is he orders a number of copies of the new testament in four different languages, english, french, greek and latin. and he literally -- and these are the books that he used, these are the two english source books that jefferson used and he literally cut out those passages. he puts -- across the four gospels, he puts them in chronological order so you get a single narrative of jesus' philosophy and life and that is

what jefferson is trying to do. so you can see what he does. i mean, it's a scrapbook in a sense. reporter: of course you've given me a personal history lesson, but harry rubenstein is not here everyday for everyone, right? over here is where we have the interactive station where people can come out and actually kind of play with this teu torial or what do you call this here? it's a history lesson. >> there's two different video clips. one looks at the conservation project and one that gives a general history of what jefferson was trying to achieve which is a history of the bible. these are clips from the larger show being put together that was put together by the smithsonian channel and we're going to be airing that -- reporter: on the smithsonian channel. >> exactly. reporter: here's a closeup of the pages you can also see. and this is a fas sim lee of the -- fas simly of the original bible you can purchase. it's being sold across the

country, amazon, so get your hands on that. thank you so much, harry, it's been wonderful spending a few minutes with you, we've had a lot of fun times here. definitely come out to the american history museum. log on to myfoxdc for the link and if you want to visit mary pickersgill. >> fascinating. annie, thank you so much. holiday lights, dry christmas trees, electronics, candles can all play havoc with home safety during the holiday season, of course. the nonprofit national fire protection association says that all of these items need to be treated with respect and supervision to avoid a costly and potentially dangerous home fire. greg kaid is the government affairs director at the national fire protection association. he's taken some time out of his schedule to join us with tips on how to make the holidays bright and more importantly safe. happy holidays to you, greg. >> happy holidays to you, allison. >> welcome to the show. so we're talking basically -- or let's start with christmas trees, those lights on there.

now, they are -- there are no longer the old-fashioned ones but can still be a hazard? >> they certainly can be a a hazard. the dlem is obviously people like using natural christmas trees in their house which is wonderful. but they forget that those trees soak up an awful lot of water, so a key is to make sure that you check the water level in those trees. the lights themselves when they put -- when you put them on the tree, some people are still using the old-fashioned kind of large light bulbs and you want to make sure you don't put more than 50 of them on the tree. if you're using the small lights normally about 150 or three strands. people forget how much heat those light bulbs put off, and if the tree is not properly -- you know, has enough water in it and dries out, those lights can certainly start a fire. >> greg, i have never heard that, just three strands, that's all you need. because i love to have a really well-lit christmas tree, but that could be the result right there. >> absolutely. >> limited, it's still beautiful, it still represents

the holidays. >> sure. a lot of people look at it and say, well, gosh, one of the things we want to make sure they don't ever use is use candles on them. some people think they really look pretty, but it's so dangerous to have a live tree and then candles on there. >> sure. you talked a little bit about those old heirloom christmas bulbs, a lot of people like the big ones. you don't have to get rid of them, just limit the usage. >> you need to limit the usage on them, you need to make sure the wiring is okay and the bulbs are tight. if they're not, they should be replaced. >> let's talk about other electronics, the model trains are nice this time of year and other bright shiny things. what are the hazards there potentially? they are the same potential hazards. one of the things you have to be very careful of is to make sure you check all of the connections, make sure the wiring is okay. a lot of times things when they're stored away for the year can get brittle, the lines can break and potentially have an electric short in them. and then the other thing is you want to make sure that you

don't put too many things that generate a lot of heat close to the christmas tree. it gets very dangerous. people love to decorate and my wife is certainly one of them, to have the house look nice with all the kinds of lights and the train sets for our grandchildren, but people need to make sure that the things are operating properly and just take kind of the basic care to make sure of that. >> unfortunately, greg, we're out of time, but i would urge everybody to go to the website. >> yes. >> is it nationalprotectionfire association.org and get all the tips we did not talk about. so important. we want a happy and safe holiday season. >> yes, we do. they also want to make sure they have a working smoke detector too. >> greg cade, national fire protection association. we will be right back. state farm. this is jessica.

hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster.

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update on today's big story, the sentencing of former prince george's county executive jack johnson. >> he arrived in federal court in greenbelt in the last half hour where fox 5's stacey cohan is now live. what's the latest, stacey? reporter: we have video of jack johnson arriving here at the federal courthouse. it was about 9:15, he came with his attorney billy martin and an enteurnlg of people. he is seen wearing glasses, using a cane, walking very slowly, looking as if the seriousness of this day has certainly weighed upon him as we've been reporting all day, he will be sentenced today for his role in a corruption scheme. he pled guilty to accepting bribes. he could face up to 14 years in federal prison. when he went inside, i was inside briefly, the courtroom was so full that they had to have an additional room in the lower end of the courthouse for an overflow room with a video feed. it is not only full of media and prosecutors and law enforcement, but there were quite a few jack johnson supporters there as well. there was a large group waiting for him outside the kroom.

he shook hands with people and then quickly went inside. it was a very somber johnson, if i may say so. back to you. >> stacey. want to let everybody know when that sentence comes down, we will break in with an update on what has happened there at the courthouse. stay tuned. we'll have that for you. gwen. let's see that five day one more time. >> one more time. well, for today plenty of rainfall and as we move into tomorrow rain as well. the one thing i want to tell you about is the fact that we've been talking the possibility of some snow wednesday night into maybe causing a little bit of a commute problem thursday morning. that's all still a bit of a question mark, but conditions will all be in place for it, lots of moisture moving in from the south. temperatures will drop just to the point where it could possibly be rain changing into snow or even just snow. so aclaixes right now look -- aclaixes right now look like they'll primarily be to the north and west, but we can't rule out possibly having something in the city.

we'll stay on top of that for you. temperatures improve on -- we're going from the 60s to the 40s moving through the week. that's the reality of this time of year, where we should be, we've been totally spoiled. plenty of sunshine friday and saturday. i i love to say conditions fantastic for your weekend. we know you want to be out doing holiday shopping. that all falls into place. sue and gary will have an update on the possibility of snow in the later shows. we want to keep you updated on that. >> thank you, gwen. we have time to shout out our facebook fan of the day one more time, ron matthews, sr. he and his mom are big fans of the show. they say they watch every morning. we sure do appreciate that. thank you both. now, if you want to be tomorrow's fan of the day, find us on facebook by searching for fox 5 morning news, no space between fox and the number 5 and post a comment under ron's photo. now the answer to today's trivia question, which of the following is not on the list of

top 10 girls' names for 2011, the answer is d, logan. here's a look at the top list or at the whole list. sophia takes top spot on the list, lilly comes in at number six, abigail is number 10, logan, however, does make the top 10 boy names of 2011. and there are the boy names. jackson, that's my nephew's name. >> that's nancy's youngest son's name. >> yes, it is. >> let's see what else is on the list. >> logan is on the boys' list. >>. very good, i like the name aiden. >> abigail is the one i thought would be on the list. well, we thank you for watching fox 5 morning news as always, and we remember -- we want you to remember, rather -- >> we remember it.

>> the news is always on at myfoxdc.com. we'll be back with news about jack johnson when that sentencing occurs. wendy williams is next. we have 15 minutes. >> 15 minutes we have? >> no, seconds. >> keep the umbrella handy today. >> you have anything else to say in eight seconds? >> about the planet. >> oh, yeah, keebler 22b. >> that's kepler. welcome to "the wendy williams show." today, bill and giuliana rancic. plus, the best gifts and which reality star just checked into rehab? "hot topics," "inside stoop" and all of your favorite stars. now, here's wendy! ♪