low 40s, main mid 40s this afternoon with highs in the low 50s. clear skies this evening at 5:00 and 49. clouds, some of them rolled in yesterday. midday, hung out for the afternoon. gave a cool sunset to many areas. this morning, we're nice and clear and chilly. temperatures running from 28 in orange and petersburg to 32 in frederick and tappahannock. 42 on the bay in annapolis. bundle up. we're going into the low 50s. how about the ride in, here's monika samtani. >> it is not looking bad at all. we'll first take a look at the bw parkway and route 50, no problems to report if you're coming in from baltimore or annapolis on both of the roadways. we'll take a live look first at 95 at route 200, the icc. no problems right now. if you're planning to head in from laurel to beltsville, here's what it looks like on 270, shady grove road is looking good as well. beltway at georgia road, normal volumes basically on the outer loop from 95 into the silver spring. no big delays.

we'll take a last live look at the 14th street bridge. no problems to report. the length from the beltway to the bridge span. coming up, we'll take a closer look into virginia. back to you, jessica and andrea? >> thank you, monika. she's been blamed for a string of crimes in virginia and maryland over the last couple of weeks. >> this morning, police have their suspect in custody. 9news now reporter surae chinn is in our satellite center with more on stephanie schwab's arrest. good morning, surae. >> police say it was the third attempted bank robbery that helped police nab their suspect. 26-year-old stephanie lynn schwab, sky 9 above as they arrest her yesterday afternoon. they handcuff her and haul her away to jail. that sky 9 footage from yesterday as they're putting her into the cruiser there. the 26-year-old former ms13 gang member was stopped on old georgetown road in bethesda after she led them on a chase, crashed her car and after a short foot chase, her one-week

crime spree ended yesterday afternoon. wanted for two bank robberies, a carjacking at tysons two and an attempted carjacking. police say she robbed banks and stole cars in fairfax and prince william county and baltimore county. >> this particular case, we were very serious about making an arrest and making an apprehension. we worked with other detectives across the region, not just here in fairfax and tried to spread information, share information as much as we could. >> that joint effort helped close that case. the fbi is also involved and that could mean federal charges could be placed against her. andrea, jessica? >> surae chinn reporting. consumer shoppers must feel a sigh of relief having her in custody and also in montgomery county where they have their suspect in custody over the last week in wheaton. henry levi sanders was targeting older male shoppers who were busy putting their

bags in their cars. they say sanders would approach his victims, force them into their cars with a sharp object and then drive them to atms to withdraw cash. all three attacks happened in the daytime. sanders now faces three counts of carjacking, kidnapping and robbery as well as first degree assault for the violent beating and stabbing of the most recent victim, a 77-year-old man. >> the army is now expanding its test area for ground water contamination near fort detrick, the frederick county board of commissioners has agreed to let the army drill wells and test groundwater on county-owned property near the bay. the army will conduct tests on 88 acres of land near montview lane and rosemont lane. that area is between the main part of fort detrick and area b. the army ran biological testing and dumped wastes from the 1940s to the 1970s. this saturday will mark two years since a potomac, maryland, man was arrested in cuba. alan gross is still being held

there. family members say gross entered cuba with government customs approval to bring cell phones and laptops. he had hoped to help make it easier for people in cuba's far-flung jewish communities to communicate with each other. the family can't keep working behind the scenes with no results. >> we've been respecting the cubans by being fairly quiet because we know that they didn't want us to make a lot of noise about the case. but like you said, it has been two years. we can't do that anymore. >> senator ben carden is joining other maryland lawmakers in hopes of putting pressure not only on cuba but also to the white house to publicly demand that havana let gross come home. >> it is 5:05. i'm watching your money. what a rally on wall street! so powerful, the major averages are back in the green for the year, thank you, federal reserve and other world central banks.

they agreed to come to the rescue of the financial system. overseas markets are happy today, too. nikkei up 5.6% today. checking the numbers here at home, the dow stands this morning at 12,045, had the best rally in over two years. surging 490 points. that's a gain of over 4%. thes nasdaq was up by 104 points and the s&p 500 gained 51. d.c.'s libraries are ready to be a little lenient when it comes to lost or overdue books. a posting on the public library web site says it will start offering amnesty on overdue lost and damaged books, cds and dvd fines early next year. the idea here is to encourage people who might be in bad standing to come back to the library. with the holiday shopping season well underway, ad week.com is out with a different kind of survey. which items are shoplifted the most often? razor blades, very expensive. number four, electronic

gadgets. video games, smart phones, laptops. number three, electric items including toothbrushes and do it yourself tools. number two, expensive bottles of alcohol. and the number one most shoplifted item in america, i think this is hilarious, expensive cut of meat. >> wow. >> you gotta figure at the supermarket, they don't have the shoplifting things in place that would stop people from shoplifting. >> i thought when you went through the doors things would go off. >> ok. >> but nice piece of fillet mignon fits right in the coat apparently. >> bizarre. >> i'm surprised about the razor blades because i've seen them behind locked glass and wonder why? >> how do you get them out of there? >> now we know. >> they've already walked from new york to washington. now, some occupy protestors will embark on an even longer journey today. details on that coming up. >> plus, the most important meeting of herman cain's campaign to date is expected to take place at his home with his

wife. we're less than 12 hours away from the national christmas tree lighting. the rockefeller center tree is now shining brightly!

chilly out there with temps down in the 30s. bundle up this morning. good day ahead for the start of december when you consider not snowing and it is not frigid. here is a look at the temps. by noon, we'll be in the upper 40s, sunshine northwesterly winds at 10. highs in the low 50s. by 5:00, mainly clear skies.

49 degrees. if you're going to the tree lighting on the ellipse, it will be chilly but not frigid. i'll be back. monika samtani over to you. >> if you're planning to head northbound on i-95, things are fine into springfield leaving dumfries. you can see a bit of volume forming in the springfield area. no problems to report heading to the 14th street bridge. in my next report, we'll take a look -- a closer look at virginia roads at 5:17. andrea, back to you. thank you, monika. at 5:so, making news now, herman cain said he's flying to atlanta tomorrow to meet with his wife. cain says he hasn't spoken face- to-face with her since ginger white alleged she had carried on a 13-year affair with the republican presidential candidate. cain lost his front-runner status after sexual harassment allegations surfaced last month. 637 miles sounds like a long drive. but that is how far a group from occupy d.c. plans to walk starting today. the group will leave from the m.l.k. memorial and head to his grave

site in downtown atlanta. the ortion of the march says the group is doing it to mark today's anniversary of rosa parks to give up her seat on a montgomery bus in 1955. it is a sure sipe the holiday season is in full swing. new york mayor michael bloomberg flipped a switch to light the rock be feller center christmas tree. there are 30,000 lights on the 74-foot tall norway spruce. >> we've got a big tree lighting of our own this afternoon. we'll head out live to the ellipse for a preview of today's national christmas tree lighting coming up at 5:39. >> at 5:22, former caps coach bruce boudreau went two days before being asked to lead another nhl team. >> howard has rain toward the end of the seven-day forecast. keep it here.

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it is the fourth best day of the week, according to jessica. saturday, sunday, friday, thursday. howard is here to give us the weather for the first day of the month. >> meteorological winter begins on a quiet note. that's good! we don't have any rain.

we don't have any snow or arctic air. we're cruising right along. let's get you going with your bus stop forecast. that looks decent. it is chilly. it is december with temperatures in the 30s to low 40s along the bay. sunrise about 7:07 and we're looking at sunshine today. don't expect the clouds to sneak in like they did yesterday. staying sunny. midday temperatures in the upper 40s. by this afternoon, 4:00, 50 degrees. highs today will be somewhere around 51, 52. northwesterly winds a little brisk this morning, 10 to 15. 5 to 10 this afternoon. it will get a little calmer. by 8:00, clear and 44. if you're going to the ellipse tonight for the tree lighting, bundle up. cold but not frigid. looking at the weather headlines, meteorological winter begins today. dry, seasonably cool. that's how it will be for the next few days. right through the weekend, we'll be dry and seasonably cool. still no arctic air in sight. yesterday, it looked like we might get some toward the middle of next week.

today, the signs are changing again. so, until i see a definite signature that the real cold is coming, we'll just sit and wait. 34 in gaithersburg this morning. it is 36 columbia and crofton. over to andrews, scott watches us every morning. 37 degrees with 38 from fort belvoir, 35 in fairfax and leesburg and haymarket this morning, sitting at 36. officially, 39 at national. clear skies but it feels like 32 because we still have a wind out of the north-northwest at 10 miles per hour. the air is pretty dry. dew point is 25. jet stream, the northern branch of the southern branch you can see coming across the country west to east. this is keeping the arctic air bottled up. storm systems in the southwest now. it will be unsettled through the rockies over the next few days. the northern plains and the storms are going to ride along the jet north of us. so, until things change with the pattern, the next several days look pretty quiet. it may be until tuesday before we get some real rain around

here. our future cast is all nice and quiet. clear today. sunny. storm system, you can see it here this evening cutting across the great lakes. a front bal boundary. this will bring us slightly cooler weather for saturday. any snow showers with it will be well to the north, new york, northern pennsylvania on friday afternoon. headed toward new england. front slips through. a little bit cooler saturday. saturday and sunday, still look nice going out toward chicago or madison here on saturday. main into detroit later on in the day. could be a few showers that way. but for around here, hey, no problem to speak of really in the short term. 52 today. tonight, we're back in the 20s and 30s. saturday, 52. as we head toward sunday, that looks real good as well. get outside this week and go for 59 on sunday. monday a few more clouds. main a late shower. 60. cooler and turning damp tuesday and wednesday. monika samtani stepping in here at 5:17 with your timesaver

traffic. >> if you're planning to head around town, it seems like this is the best time to do it. most of the overnight construction has been cleared up. there's really no delay to speak of including on the dulles toll road, route 7 out of leesburg. everything is fine there. 66 in from manassas looking good as well. heading out of the bethesda down into tysons corner, you'll be fine. all lanes are open for your ride there. 66 at nutley street, no problems to report from manassas all the way into fairfax, vienna and inside the beltway to the roosevelt bridge. last live look at 395 at duke street, again looking fine just a little bit of volume for the early risers but no problems to report heading up to the 14th street bridge and into the downtown area. coming up in my next report, we'll go into maryland at 5:24. andrea and jessica? >> thank you, monika. the maryland women face another undefeated team. we'll show you what still has an unblemished record coming up. >> bruce boudreau was the first of three nhl coaches fired this

week. now, he's replaced one of the other two. >> we'll take another look at the question of the day. 80% of moms do this when they're angry at their children. is it a, use the child's full name. b, leave the room or c, take away a child's video game. >> here is a look at a response you posted on the facebook.com/wusa9 page. ingrid wrote i confess a! their full name very slow and loud although i've done b and c as well. >> log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. ♪

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great day ahead! start of december. it is not too cold. it is cool but not too cold. this morning, we're chilly. down in the 30s, even a few upper 20s as we head through the morning hours. winds in the low 40s by 9:00. upper 40s, still mid-40s in the shenandoah valley. this afternoon, lots of sunshine. high temperatures low 50s, might tickle 55 in one or two

spots. hagerstown holding in the 40s for the afternoon. jessica and andrea, back to you. >> thank you, howard. >> washington may not have wanted them but brood boudreaux didn't wait along -- but bruce boudreau didn't wait long to find a new job. the ducks hired boudreau. he's expected to run the ducks practice today even before his formal introduction by the team. the caps fired boudreau monday after the team cooled off considerably following a red hot start to the season. now, here's kristin berset with the rest of your morning sports. >> good morning, everybody. neither army nor navy have had an ideal football season. the team from west point has three wins from annapolis to four. neither one of them are going to a bowl game but that part, they say is ok with them because they'll play their version of a bowl game december 10th. coaches and captains from both teams gathered at the army navy club yesterday to talk about the excitement leading up to the army navy showdown at fedex field. army is looking for their first

win in nine years. but in the grand scheme of things, they realize it is more than just a football game. >> it is not just about the players. the communities, the service men and women around the world that are going to watch this. so, you know, it is not just about us going out there and playing other games. >> be sure to tune in friday, december 9th right here on wusa for an hour-long prime time specialer, for those who serve, countdown to the gridiron battle. it is a look at the great stories surrounding this annual event. that's 9:00 p.m. on december 9th only on wusa. to the hardwood, lady terps hosting michigan. both teams undefeated coming into tonight. rene moseley on the fast break to melissa thomas for the lay- up who had 24 on the night. it terps up 7. thomas with the steal to eventually get it to hawkins for the easy bucket. thanks to a late surge, the terps won 74-65 to stay

undefeated. capitals host sidney crosby and the pittsburgh penguins tonight. we'll have live coverage from the verizon center. that will do it for your morning sports, i'm kristin berset, have a great day. >> she's been accused in a string of bank robberies and carjackings and now police say they've got their one woman crime spree in custody. that story is coming up. >> plus, a local national guard member who served in iraq gets a partial victory in his battle to keep a treehouse for his son. monika? >> we'll take a live look in bethesda at the beltway on bradley boulevard. there are no problems. traffic moving freely through this area. coming up, we'll take a look all around the area at 529.

welcome back to 9news now this thursday morning.

i'm andrea roane. >> friday eve, right? >> friday eve. >> second favorite day, this is jessica's second favorite day. >> fourth favorite day. >> mike is off today. monika will have traffic in a moment. we start with howard with weather first. >> saturday, sunday, friday, thursday. >> friday is first? >> my first is saturday. >> saturday, sunday, friday, thursday. >> that's one, two, three, four. >> it is all about the wakeup. >> i totally get that. >> let's get to weather first on this thursday morning. >> this thursday morning. it is chilly out there with temperatures running in the 30s. our day planner calling for sunshine today. 47 by noon. 49 for the drive home. highs in the low 50s. that's just about on the number for where we should be for the first of december. how did the clouds sneak in yesterday, midday. it gave us a nice sunset in spots. the clouds are gone. temperatures are down into the 20s in orange and petersburg

and oakland. 34 for hagerstown. 30 in tappahannock. 34 in catlett. wind chills this morning, wind chills in the upper 20s to mid- 30s. monika samtani, it is getting a little bit later. volume is building here. >> it is building. we have a couple of incidents to tell you about as well. first of all, on i-270 at route 85 in frederick, i just got word of an accident in the median with authorities on the scene. here's what it looks like on the south side. no problems on 295 or 395. you've got delays beginning at the prince william parkway as you head up toward the occoquan river. we'll take a live look into springfield, northbound i-95. a bit of volume here as well. let's go over to canal road at fox hall road if you're heading into georgetown or across the key bridge into rosslyn. you'll be ok. a quick look at 395 in shirlington. a bit of volume there as well. no big deals as you head up to

the 14th street bridge. coming up, we'll go into maryland at 5:38. an tray ya and jessica? >> police have a fugitive from mississippi in custody after a crash in prince george's county. >> the suspect is accused of stealing a tractor trailer cab in baltimore. officers caught up with the stolen cab but the driver didn't stop until he lost control on the bw parkway at powder mill road. traffic was stopped while police moved in to make the arrest. fortunately, no one was hurt. in addition to the traffic and stolen vehicle charges, he now faces in maryland, the suspect is wanted on other charges in mississippi. >> metro riders at two of the system's busiest stations can relax a little bit. the transit agency showed off three brand new escalators at foggy bottom and seven refurbished ones at union station. the work took 18 months to complete at union station, almost a year to complete at foggy bottom. the unveiling marks the first time in 15 years metro has installed new escalators into

an existing station. the manassas woman wanted for a string of crimes from northern virginia to baltimore is in custody this morning. police say stephanie schwab was trying to commit another bank robbery when officers caught up with her on wednesday. 9news now reporter surae chinn picks up the story in our satellite center. good morning, surae. >> good morning. she has been dubbed the blonde bandit. police say her widespread crime spree came to an end yesterday afternoon. 26-year-old stephanie lynn schwab was arrested around 1:00 yesterday afternoon. she's also a former ms13 gang member. police say she's responsible for a string of carjackings at knife point including one at tysons two and also bank robberies in fairfax and prince william county and baltimore county. it was the third attempted bank robbery that got her caught. police say she tried to rob the bb & c bank off old dominion

drive. she tried to get away. sky 9 aboved a police arrest her on old georgetown road and the beltway in bethesda. >> just heard an alarm going off and some lady was running out of the bank beside us. >> police say that she acted alone. we're waiting to hear some of the charges that she will be facing and also federal charges because now the fbi, of course, is involved because of the banks that were robbed and also across state lines into virginia and maryland. back to you, jessica. >> fascinating story. surae chinn. >> prosecutors say more than 30 years later, john hinckley is still on sissed with ronald reagan and his presidential assassinations. a hearing is underway to see whether the man who shot reagan in 1981 will be allowed more frequent and longer visits with his mother in williamsburg, virginia. prosecutors say in one of the recent visits, he spent time in a bookstore looking at selections on reagan and

presidential assassinations. the hearing is expected to last several days. today, montgomery county lawmakers will once again discuss a bill which would establish a countywide curfew for anyone under 18 years of age. committee members are then scheduled to vote on the proposal and send their recommendations to the full council next week. if approved by the full council, the proposal would establish an 11:00 p.m. curfew during the week and midnight on weekends. a falls church, virginia family gets a reprieve for their treehouse. fairfax county's board of zoning appeals has granted mark grapen a variance to allow him to keep the treehouse for five years until his two sons are older. grapen promised his sons he would build the house when he returned from national guard duty in iraq. after being told he didn't need a permit to build it, he found out county zoning laws ban treehouses in front yards. >> that's right by my house. amazing treehouse.

>> the time is 5:34. i'm watching your money. the dow had its best day since march of 2009. that's thanks to the european debt crisis, sort of. signs that the situation is starting to resolve itself at least. the u.s. federal reserve be and five other banks are working together to make it cheaper for banks around the world to borrow u.s. dollars. the move is aimed at easing the european debt crisis. many many worlds need dollars to run just like a car needs oil. the dollars have be drying up as the credit problems have been getting worse. now, the fed and the other central banks are stepping up to make sure that world banks have enough money from their daily operations without them, we could and others could have a credit crisis like the one three years ago following the collapse of lehman brothers. >> the government may be holding on to thousands of your dollars. the i.r.s. says it has $153 million in undelivered tax refund checks. looking for the right homes! it works out to be more than 99,000 taxpayer to whom the checks weren't delivered

because they had the wrong mailing address. the return checks are averaging more than $1500 apiece. you think they're yours? this is what you have to do. hoping to claim a refund, click on the check on your refund link at irs.gov. you can call 1-800-829-1954. yesterday, we told you about subway's new $2 six inch sub deal and today, a deal at mcdonald's. living social set to launch a daily deals. it will sell a booklet of individual vouchers for five big macs and five french fries. you pay $13, you get $26 worth of food. the deal will go to the first million who buy it. it is the largest national daily deal run with a fast food chain. >> appetizing. >> there you go. >> for those who want it. >> it is 5:36. the one in new york is now lit and the one at the u.s. capitol will be ready to shine early next week. >> but tonight in front of the white house, the national

christmas tree will be lit up. we'll have a live preview of the star-studded event coming up. ñó

5:39. we've got a breeze out this morning. temperatures down in the 30s in many areas. wind chills are a factor. here is a look at the day planner. it will be a decent start to the month of december. sunshine today. we start in the 30s. low 40s by 9:00. upper 40s by noon. we top out? the low 50s. winds will get a little bit lighter. should be a nicer evening than it is right here right now. inside in the warm studio is monika with timesaver traffic. >> we'll take a look at the map. an accident on the southbound side of 270 at route 85, on the right shoulder. watch your step as you come down from i-70. coming up, we'll take a closer look into maryland at 5:48.

jessica and andrea? >> thank you, monika. it is tree time. i got my tree yesterday. nothing like this. tonight, thousands will make their way to the ellipse for the lighting of the national christmas tree. >> the crowds will see a new tree this year after high winds last february took the old one down. joining us now from the ellipse is national park service spokesman bill to tell us more about this year's event. good morning, bill. >> good morning, andrea. how are you? >> i'm doing well. howard said we had 25-mile-per- hour wind gusts yesterday. did you have flash backs to february? >> we were looking at the new tree closely to say the least. yes. luckily, the winds were not as high as what we had last february. which toppled the previous tree but we were paying attention and will continue to pay attention and we're glad that howard's forecast is what it is for today. >> absolutely. well, bill, tell us a little bit about the new tree since this is the one that replaced the tree that fell down in

february. >> absolutely. this new tree is a colorado blue spruce. it is 26 and a half feet tall. it was transplanted here in march of this year from a tree farm in northwestern new jersey. the tree -- i watched it as it was being planted. the root ball is lower into the ground and, therefore, we believe the tree is better anchored. the tree is decorated and we'll see it come on this evening. it will look beautiful. but we're looking forward to having this tree grow and get bigger and just as the previous one did. >> exactly. >> bill, what can people bring to the event tonight and who can come? can you still walk up and get a seat? >> well, there are 17,000 tickets. 3,000 of which are seated. 14,000 of which are standing room. what's new this year that everybody should be aware of is unlike previous years when

people entered at 15th street, all ticket holders seated as well as standing room ticket holders are to enter at 17th and c streets northwest. and go through the magnetometers. in terms of what you should bring, bring stuff to keep yourself warm. don't bring everything and the kitchen sink but certainly a blanket, certainly if you're going to bring some hot chocolate, something to keep yourself warm. that would be a wise idea. what i would also tell everybody is please expect that you're going to go through magnetometers, the united states park police will want to look through your bags, purses. >> bill, have a great evening tonight. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> i love the hand warmers, too. >> toe warmers. >> one-time republican front- runner herman cain may be on the verge of dropping out of the presidential race. that story is coming up. >> plus a new survey may reveal why moms and dads have such different views of

multitasking. let's see who's celebrating a very happy birthday today. director woody allen is turning 76. golfing great lee trevino is 72. singer and actress bette midler is turning 66. >> carol alt is 51. jeremy northam is 50 and sara silverman turns 41 today. happy birthday if it is your day as well. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. good morning and welcome back to 9news now. 5:46. the temperature here in northwest, 30 degrees. big difference. 39? >> 39. >> not that big a difference then from yesterday morning but it feels colder. >> there is a breeze out there this morning. >> a windy drive in for me over the key bridge this morning. the car was doing this. >> the bridge is right over the

river. the winds can get funneled a little bit coming right down the gorge there. we've got the winds this morning. they'll relax as we head into the afternoon. the chill is with us. it is not arctic cold. it is december, afterall. happy december. the beginning of meteorological winter. we'll be ok for the next few days. i think a nice start to the month. let's get you going with a look at the bus stop forecast. as we've been talking about, it is chilly. temperatures in the 30s. few spots will be in the low 40s for the bus stop over toward annapolis and down in southern maryland by the bay. sunrise at 7:07. expecting sun to stay today. not disappear behind the midday clouds. 49 degrees by 1:00. you'll notice the wind speeds. 11, 10, 9, 8. they're getting a little bit lighter as we go through the afternoon. 50 degrees at 3:00 with highs into the low 50s today. 37 in college park. over in bade and prince george's county. 36 in springfield. also in great falls. 36 in rockville as well. out to the west into loudoun

county, 36. leesburg and lovettsville and manassas, one of our cool spots at centreville. they're checking in about 34 degrees. national on the water, 39 feeling like 32. the dew points are now running in the mid-20s. the air is kind of dry. you're feeling the dry skin or thirsty, that's one of the reasons why. we've got temperatures kind of chilly across much of the country. even miami is in the 50s this morning. one thing we're not seeing is the subzero air that is staying well up in canada now. the main jet, that's moving across the country. kind of west to east. you see the blue line here, the blue arrows bringing some snow. cold enough for some snows through parts of northern wisconsin, the u.p. of michigan. you've got the other branch coming across the southern part of the country, may get a couple of dips here and there and the storm systems, the fronts almost, organized storm systems will be marching more east than south. so, then for us, we're going to be seeing these systems bringing in showers to places

like new york state, main northern pennsylvania, weak front drops through here late friday. but the weather, the associated with them is going to stay well to our north for several days. looks like some time next week, perhaps tuesday our next best chance of seeing precip around here. >> see the front that will march north of us as we go through friday. right now, kind of what you see is what you get for the next three to four days. today, 52. we're back down in the 20s and 30s with light wind. tomorrow, 55. slightly cooler, saturday. sunday, second half of the weekend, look even better. upper 50s to near 60. 'skins and jets, weather should be fine for that. monday around 60. main a late shower but a better chance for rain tuesday into wednesday. i would like to turn it over to my friend, monika samtani here. going to let you know what's happening on the roads. >> howard. >> if you're planning to head around town, i'm happy to say that at this point, things are still looking good all around town and on the northside as

well between college park and silver spring, the beltway is good to go. let's take a live look around town. here's what it looks like in college park. theption are fine on the outer loop heading over to 95 and into silver spring, you'll be ok with all of the lanes open. no problems on 95 or the bw parkway. we'll go a little further south on the beltway in forestville. here's what it looks like on route 4. looking good down past andrews air force base and the wilson bridge, we're fine as well. on route 5 and route 301 out of brandywine. coming up, we'll go into virginia at 6:00. andrea and jessica? >> thank you, monika. in campaign 2012, could herman cain be exiting the race for the republican presidential nomination? cain plans to travel to atlanta tomorrow. >> there, he'll talk to his wife face-to-face about allegations of infidelity leveled by a woman claiming to be cain's long-time mistress. susan mcginnis reports. >> reporter: herman cain isn't ready to call it quits. >> it ain't over until it's

over and it ain't over yet. >> wednesday, he told new hampshire supporters he'll decide whether to continue his white house run after talking to his wife in person tomorrow. the republican hopeful hasn't seen gloria cain since allegations of infidelity first surfaced monday. >> since i've been campaigning all week, i haven't had an opportunity to sit down with her and walk through this with my wife and my family. >> the one-time g.o.p. front-runner has denied having a 13-year affair and while he admits his fund-raising contributions have taken a hit -- most supporters appear to be sticking with him for now. newt gingrich has gaped the most from cain's slip in the polls. now, at the head of the g.o.p. pack, the former house speaker is trying to win over tea party support taking aim at president obama. >> he stands for unemployment. and the values level, we stand for american exceptionalism, the declaration of independence. he stands for some weird

european internationalist elitist model that doesn't work. >> the president is hoping voters will give him more time to turn the nation around. >> if you are willing to work harder in this election than you did in the last election, change will come. >> core supporters appear convinced. last night alone, he raked in more than $2 million at three new york city fund-raisers. susan mcginnis for cbs news, washington. making news now at 5:52, a new report criticizes the selection process for coastal restoration projects after the bp oil spill. a coalition of environmental groups says the public has mostly been left out of the discussion on how to spend the first $1 billion in restoration funding from the oil company. virginia's james river is not doing so well. the james river association gives the health of the river a grade every two years and this year, that grade has slipped from c plus to c. the association says sediment is building up from agricultural

and urban runoff. >> multitasking is taking an emotional toll on many working moms. multitasking moms still stressed up and conflicted but the dads who multitask see it as a positive. now, why? researchers found multitasking dads take time for themselves while moms spend more time doing housework and taking care of the kids. >> that's because the dads can leave the housework to the moms. >> at 5:53, let's take another look at the question of the day. 80% of moms do this when they're angry at their children. is it a, use the child's full name. b, leave the room or c, take away a child's video game. >> here is a look at a response you posted on the facebook fan page. jessica spencer wrote d. call the father and say you deal with them! >> log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer in about an hour. >> a weekend-long fund-raiser will help improve literacy rates in the d.c. area.

find out how you can help coming up at 6:12. >> plus, a surprise leader after the grammy nominations revealed which artists will be vying for the top prize.

welcome back. just a few minutes before 6:00 a.m. on this thursday morning. the chilly thursday morning. i urge you to bundle up before you go out with temperatures in the 30s. even some upper 20s. that doesn't include the wind chill which is even colder than that. as we go through the morning, lots of sunshine. as we approach noon, 47 here in washington. perhaps some areas pushing 50 like cambridge. this afternoon, sunny. highs anywhere from the upper 40s in parts of the shenandoah valley to the lower 50s in town. we're still clear and in the 40s by 6:00 p.m. andrea? >> thank you, howard. students at one d.c. school will get to play a lot more music. there is a brand new $30,000

keyboard lab at neville thomas elementary school in northeast washington. it is thanks to a partnership that makes zine nutrition bars and vh-1 save the music foundation. this very donated musical instruments to schools around the country. tomorrow night, an annual music tradition returns to the national cathedral the orchestra and choir are practicing for messiah. messiah combines the power of the cathedral choir, a baroque period orchestra and the beautiful cathedral setting. tickets range from $25 to $85. there are three performances. tomorrow night, saturday afternoon and sunday afternoon and tickets are still available. the ladies have popular music but a guy scooped up the most grammy nominations. >> these are the nominations for song of the year.

>> all of the lights by kanye west. >> the nominations were unveiled in a one-hour special last night and kanye west leads the pack. seven nominations including song of the year for his hit all of the lights. the rest of his nominations are in the rap category. british singer adele tied bruno mars and the foo fighters with six nominations each. some surprise omissions from the top categories include taylor swift and tony bennett. the grammies will be held february 12th and you can find a link to a complete list of the nominees on our web site at web be web. just look for the story under the buzz at web web be at wusa9.com. >> that's it. >> we're happy to say thank you

for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> happy thursday. i'm jessica doyle. mike is off today. monika of course is here with timesaver traffic. >> we'll start with howard and weather first. >> a chilly one at first this morning. it is downright cool out there. we're not talking about an arctic chill. but december chill. december 1st. normal highs are in the low 50s. under sunshine, by noon, we'll be in the upper 40s. wind chill still in the low to mid-40s here midday. the good news on the winds, they're going to get lighter as we go into the afternoon. we do have clear skies overhead this morning. had some clouds sneak in yesterday afternoon and evening. they're gone but underneath the clear skies, temperatures have dropped into the 30s in most areas with a few spots down to 27 now in orange, virginia. oakland, 25. harrisonburg, stanton, 25. washington this morning, 38. we'll throw in the wind chills this morning to give you an idea of what you can step out the door.