leave and fired him as soon as he was convicted. but lawyers say that's not enough. >> we cannot let this happen and sweep it under the rug. we have to stop this. >> a university spokesperson released a statement later this afternoon and tells me they have a strict sexual harassment policy and they take the safety of their students seriously. >> thank you. meantime the young woman accused of a bank robbery and carjacking crime spree has apparently confessed to two of the crimes. court documents say stephanie schwaab admitted to one carjacking and a bank robbery in springfield, virginia. 26-year-old former gang member was arrested yesterday after a car chase in bethesda. so far she is charged with one count of bank robbery as well. an overturned conviction won't translate to freedom for a virginia man earlier this month. a federal judge ruled justin wolf of prince william county

was wrongfully convicted in 2001 murder-for-hire death of daniel patrol. he was the marijuana supplier. the killer recanted his testimony and attorney for wolf asked he be released from prison while the state appeals this. but today that request was denied. unemployment benefits, a brand-new defense bill and the commuter tax benefit, just some of the measures on congress' plate before the end of this year. as daniel nottingham tells us tonight, we were standing by for a senate vote that could extend a popular tax break. >> the payroll tax holiday put $1,500 in the pocket of the average family this year. but it is set to expire at the end of the month. democrats want to pay for the extension with a new 3 1/2% tax on millionaires in but republicans want to freeze federal salaries and cut 200,000 government jobs to cover the cost. >> both of those plans are expected to fail test votes in the senate and that could clear

the way for a compromise. >> danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. forget campaign 2012. in virginia they are looking ahead to 2013. the associated press quoting a senior republican official as saying that attorney general does plan to run for governor. now that will set up a showdown with republican lieutenant governor. a change in management at a popular health club chain is leaving some kids out in the cold. a group of parents in greenbelt say they are upset because they spent money on a marshall arts program for their children and now it's gone with no notice. lindsay joins us live from green belt with the latest. >> reporter: well, you know the sign still says bally's total fitness but the people working inside work for l.a. fitness and there is a big change. no more martial arts programs. these kids are all part of that program. and when they found out we were

coming out here tonight, they came not only from greenbelt but from lansdowne, wheaton, bell crest and white marsh. they came from far away to show that they want this program to continue. unfortunately it was canceled and many parents are just finding this out tonight. one father came here tonight to let us know that he was able to cut his deployment from afghanistan a little short to come home to see his son take their belt tests and now that's not going to happen. >> it's not about the fighting. it's about discipline and how you treat other people around you. >> 11-year-old alexis diaz just became a black belt a few weeks ago. >> i felt excited. because i met a lot of great people. >> some families are just finding out tonight that the program has been canceled. >> a year and a half for nothing. decent courtesy should have sent out notice. >> the program has been canceled at all of the clubs l.a. fitness took over this week. >> we would love for l.a.

fitness to reassess their view. >> and now they are trying to save it by starting a movement online. there is a petition on change.org asking that l.a. fitness continue the program. and parents that come to the greenbelt location have started a movement on facebook. >> we have 700 plus right now. willing and able loyal customers that would love for them to extend the opportunities to come and train at their locations. >> l.a. fitness never responded to our questions and the manager of this club would only confirm that the program has been canceled. it may be too expensive to take kids to other martial arts programs. >> i want to teach people how to do a kick combination. >> the students and their parents are also upset for another reason. that's because the masters are the instructors of these programs are from korea. they are here on work visa. bawps the program is canceled they will have to go back.

now back to you. let's hope that petition and some cooler heads will prevail. let this continue. thank you for that. well, tonight metro is considering changing how it charges passengers on its rail lines. today's board of directors meeting everything from a two tiered flat rate system to eliminating the peak of a peak fair was discussed. agency needs to close a budget shortfall. so it is also talking about raising fares almost 6%. metro says it is changing the rules when the snow starts piling up on the tracks. historically the system has stopped running above ground once we get eight inches of snow. now the transit agency says it will wait to see ten inches of snow. and crews will also work to keep the yellow line bridge over the potomac river no matter how much snow falls. the office of personnel management is also making changes ahead of the winter. today opm director outlined new dismissal and closure

procedures for the fed. in the event that storm hits, a storm hits while people are at work, the federal employees have the option to leave immediately or they can shelter in place or they can decide to stagger and leave at different times. of course, no snow today, meteorological winter starts today. >> december 1 plays host to a great washington holiday tradition. >> indeed it does. chief meteorologisttopper there is for the lighting of the national christmas tree. >> tell you what, one -- knocked out of the park with their rendition of silent night. let's take you back. we are lighting the new tree. 27 foot colorado blue spruce and this is what it looked like earlier today. it was half an hour ago. very nice tree. it's new because the old tree blue down and they had to plant a new one in march.

this is the colorado blue spruce via new jersey. so it is lighted and the pathway of peace is lighted with 56 trees and it's open from dusk until about 11:00 every night through january 1. so a lot to see in the elips and it's a really the marking of the beginning of the holiday season. we will come back and talk about the weekend. the first weekend of december looks good. we have the forecast and the redskins game as well. gives you chills looking at. it gorgeous. coming up tonight at 7:00, the controversial license plate reader program is expanding here in the nation's capital. what a new federal grant is funding and why d.c. police chief says the cameras are no big deal. that's at 7:00. still ahead, in this half hour a message from beyond the grave again and again. local woman getting e-mails from her dead mother's accounts. >> why is this man trying to swim away from this boat?

we will tell you in two minutes.

review of 20 studies on the tea itself or supplements found they inhibit how much cholesterol gets absorbed in the gut. not a substitute for medication but a dietary bonus.

caught on tape tonight, a carjacking suspect takes desperate measures to try to avoid the law. police say emilio sanchez of alexandria jumped into the elizabeth river to elude officers and this was after he led them on a chase from chesapeake to norfolk a coast guard boat was waiting and escorted him to shore where he was promptly arrested. a foggy morning rush-hour led to a deadly commute near

nashville this morning. look at. this 174 vehicles involved in three separate crashes along the busy highway. 47 of them were damaged and one man was killed when his car ran into the back of a mail truck. 17 other people hurt in all this. local fire chief says between the fog and ice it looked like a race track accident with cars bouncing off one another. still ahead on 9 news now. >> 30 years old when my son -- we must make it back. >> a high profile tries to end the aids epdom frk right here in d.c. we will be back.

millions of people around the world taking part in world aids day commemoration. this is a huge red ribbon hanging outside the white house the universal symbol for aids awareness. the centers for disease control estimates more than 33 million people around the world are infected with hiv. about 50,000 americans contract the virus each year despite public awareness campaigns. and today president obama went to gw to make a promise about the future. >> today i'm announcing new commitments. we are committing an additional $15 million for ryan white program that supports care provided by hiv medical clinics across the country. we want to keep those doors

open so they can keep saving lives. we are committing an additional $35 million for state aids drug assistance programs. >> the president was joined by musicians and activists bono of u2 and alicia keys and former presidents also took part in the esteemed panel via satellite. a family still grieiving is now struggling in stafford county tonight to end the barrage of e-mails from their dead mother's account. they think yahoo! should do far more to help. >> my mom was my best friend. >> the e-mails started two months ago. almost two years to the day after cassie woods' mom died of an untreatable auto immune disorder and they keep coming every other day to everyone in her address book. a hacker has hijacked her dead mother's account. >> i don't think it's fair. that me and my sisters have to suffer seeing an e-mail from my

mom who is not even here. >> cassie's husband, an iraq vet sent an e-mail to the hacker pleading him to stop. >> this e-mail address belongs to my wife's mother who passed away two years ago -- >> they tried to shut down the account. >> you think they would shut it down so it would stop. >> a yahoo! spokesperson tells me the company is working with the familiar three try to close the account. but casey woods says that help consists of calling with a fax number where they can send a death certificate. a death certificate halloween though you can google paula chase's name and find her obituary or look at public records and see that this social security death index lists her as deceased. 9news now. new at 6:00, concerns your cell phone may be tracking your every move. a researcher in connecticut says that's exactly what an app on some smartphones is doing. he is gotten more than half a

million views. it shows how the carrier app can record your key strokes on android, and droid and nokia phone and demonstrates how to disable. it the company that created the app says it's designed to help cell phone companies trouble- shot problems but the app violates privacy. you watch the entire video at wusatv9.com. let's go back to topper on the elips and it's a little chilly i'm jealous. you have some great musical acts tonight. >> it's fantastic. and it's not over yet. this is the friable of judah choir. they have come back for another number and see another number. the 9th annual lighting of the christmas tree and it was a beautiful event. i will tell you what, this is a new tree. we have to get used to. it we were used to a 40 foot tree. it's a 27 foot tree. unfortunately the big tree blew down and a -- in a wind storm february 19 of this year and

they planted a new one. this is a live tree. they planted a new one march 19 of this year and this is a colorado blue spruce. it's from new jersey. the previous tree has been there since 1978 and that's from york, pennsylvania, also a colorado blue spruce. is that tradition that began in 1923 when calvin coolidge simply walked from the white house down to the elips and lit the tree and walked back and it has continued ever since. this is a great beginning holiday season and you can come down here and enjoy it. it's for everybody. is that park. this is great. come down and enjoy the parks because our parks are really unparallel in terms of what you can see and what you can do and how to get down here and it's free. in fact, the pathway of peace has 56 also live trees and they are decorated 50 states represented. the district of columbia and then the five u.s. territories all along the pathway of peace. let's go to the computer and talk about weather for a little

bit and here is the deal. live music here through january 1. weekdays 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on weekends 4:00 p.m. to 8:30. you do not need tickets 208- 1631 if you have questions. right now temps are falling like a stone in the burbs. 37 in gaitersburg but still 48 down here in d.c. we are look agent 40 in resten and 43 in college park. it's clear we are in great shape across the board. for tonight we are looking at temperatures upper 20s in the suburbs. upper 30s downtown. we will skip along to the 7 day. light winds as well with temperatures upper 20s in the burbs. a beautiful weekend coming our way a little milder tomorrow. 54. a little chillier on saturday. only about 50. we have a northeast flow but then look at sunday for the redskin game. partly cloudy near 60. 60 on monday with clouds coming in and then rain and showers on tuesday. a little cooler on wednesday and thursday. is that it from the elips. i think we can declare the

holiday season officially here. back to you guys. >> look, he even has a -- who is that? you have a make up artist out there. >> love that. >> yes, i do. what can i say. >> making sure you are always in make up. >> and a kiss. >> somebody special. >> hi, sue. all right. >> she says hi. >> hi, sue. all right. kristen is over at verizon center. she doesn't have a make up art ns tow but there is a little bit of excitement going on. talking about two home teams tonight. >> that's right. a lot going on here. caps taking on the benning within -- penguins. fans are piling in. can they finally get dale hunter his first win as head coach? plus some other people in the verizon center today. we will tell you what the nba players are doing here. that's all coming up next in sports.

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it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. welcome back. i'm live at the verizon center. a lot going on here today. first let's talk about the big matchup tonight between the capitals and the rival pittsburgh. it's the second game under new head coach dale hunter hoping to get him his first win. the last time the two teams met early in the season, the caps won in overtime on a dennis

wideman power-play goal and you can bet they know to expect another tough and exciting matchup. like we have special players and they have special players. we go head to head and it's a -- makes it exciting for the fan. >> as a player you enjoy the competition and intensity and enjoy building that is into the game as well. they are great games. >> reporter: but it's going to be a tough one against this guy tonight. sidney cross beesm his sixth game back since january. when he suffered a concussion. he has two goals and nine assists so far this season. bruce boudreau has a new gig. gabby has been hired by anaheim ducks after they fired randy carlyle. the ducks are off to a 7-13 start. the caps and penguins aren't the only ones in the verizon center today. a little bit earlier we got our first look at the nba players. some former wizards and some local guys hit the practice court. guys like roger mason, jr., and

andre black. now that the season looks like it's about to happen, black and gm ernie grunfeld talked about the expectations for this season. >> we want to see our young players get better. we want to see a fighting spirit on a nightly basis. and let the chips fall where they may. >> something we want to do. that's something that we will have on board with. >> also real quick in nfl news from bad in washington to worse in minnesota. donovan mcnabb is out. he was asked to be released. he was 1-5 as a starter. perfect timing. they turned off the lights at the verizon center. the red is starting to rock. capitals and penguins. i'm live from the verizon center. back to you guys. all right. hope they can pull it out tonight. would be great. >> that's it for us the "cbs

evening news" is next. derek is here at 7:00 with our area's only local news cast. wusatv9.com is always on. have a great night.

>> pelley: tonight, the beginning of the end. the u.s. returns iraq to its people. jim axelrod in baghdad reports at the close of nine years, the future is uncertain. >> we are now able to end this war. >> pelley: should congressmen profit from shady stock trades that would put anyone else in jail? nancy cordes reports they're taking action after a "60 minutes" expoas a. homes are crushed in los angeles. lee cowan tells us the worst santa ana winds in years hit with hurrica