bright-abu first assaulted in 2010. he continued to prey upon students for yet another seven months. >> do we think there was a cover up there? >> i can't say definitively, but we do know these young ladies are probably not the only ones. >> reporter: bright-abu was sentenced to 120 days behind bars back in july. he is now on supervised probation for the next two years. howard university released a statement this afternoon, saying they have a strict sexual harassment policy, and as soon as they learned of the charges, they placed bright-abu on administrative leave. they fired him as soon as he was convicted. in northwest washington, 9 news now. that young woman accused of bank robberies and carjackings has apparently confessed to two of those crimes. court documents say stephanie

schwab admitted to one bank robbery. she was arrested for one bank robbery in bethesda. she is accused of another carjacking up in baltimore. tonight, senators debate on how they would extend that pay tax rate. democratics want to pay with the extension with a tax on millionaires. republicans want to freeze federal salaries and cut 200,000 government jobs to cover the cost. both plans are expected to fail test votes in the senate. >> america's middle class has been hurting for a long time. they're the people who are struggling. they're the ones who need help, not these multimillionaires. >> this is the kind of balanced plan americans are looking for. it's focused on helping middle class americans without asking them to fund benefits for the wealthiest among us.

>> it gives the average family about $1,500 a year. congress has until december 31 to get a plan passed and sent to the president. the gaithersburg resident was interviewed for the first time since spending 4 months in an aruban prison. he was on "good morning america" this morning. here's how he explained that insurance policy he took out on gardner. >> i have a house and a large payment. if i go traveling and i disappear, i want them to be covered, so i maxed out on everything. >> he refused to say anything at all about the moments leading up to gardner's disappearance. stein vowed to extradite giordano back to aruba if they can find more evidence and charge him with a crime.

no youth curfew. the panel said the idea is based on fear, not on facts. the full county council is expected to vote on the bill next week, but the council is expected to follow the committee recommendation. committee chair, and district member, phil andrews was one of those members who voted against the curfew today. he's here to talk about the decision. >> nice to see you. >> just a few days ago, we had another flash rob situation at that 7-eleven on silver spring. that's the kind of crime the curfew would stop. haven't you let those folks down? >> i agree that's a disturbing situation. the fact is, these are isolated incidents. the event that prompted the county executive to propose the curfew was a gang fight that

hasn't recurred. in the meantime and the past few years, youth crime has been going down, and gang crime has been going down, that's good news. >> your own police chief makes it clear, he wants the curfew, shouldn't you give him what he needs? >> the chief is a great chief and is doing a great job representing the viewpoint. if he had a different viewpoint, we wouldn't know it. but the police force is against it. the general public. the county executive has not been able to sell this idea. >> what about the loitering law id, that's something you favor correct? >> i think it's a better approach. it's targeted to people who are doing something in the judgment of a police officer is threatening in an imminent

way. >> what's the difference between a loitering law, or a curfew law? >> a curfew law applies to all people under 18, whether they're doing anything wrong or not. it's a blanket prohibition. a loitering law targets specific people. do you focus on people who are actually doing something that's a threat to other people? >> what happens to other people? is the curfew effectively dead? >> i hope the council will do that, or say, we're not going to pass it, because it's not needed in montgomery county. >> thank you for having me. a gun company is defending its ad that warning of impending gun control. they posted this add on monday, it shows president obama

alongside of some infamous characters, including adolf hitler, joseph stalin, and former dictators from all over the place. the company's director of operation told cbs washington, obama and his various czars are infringing on the rights of americans to own guns, he's anti-gun. the sales have actually gone through the roof since they sent out that ad. so far, the white house has not commented on the ad. we did see lots of sunshine today. not as breezy now, compared to earlier today. but as we're kicking off december, we're right around seasonal for this time of year. 52degrees. the record high on this date, 75 in 2006. temperatures in the mid-40s downtown. you go into the suburbs.

down to 36 in gaithersburg. 36 also in winchester. fredericksburg down to 41 degrees. pax river, 44 at this hour. tonight, clear and cold. a two blanket night, we're calling it. lows down into the upper 20s around the suburbs, down to the upper 30s under light winds. we'll talk about how long this stretch of sunny days will last before the next storm system comes this way a little bit later, back to you. coming up, messages from beyond the grave? why a local woman is receiving emails from her dead mom's account. first, a plan to deploy more license plate readers has privacy advocates crying foul. what the cops have to say to those critics. that's up next. çñ

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. text save to 7-8836.

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the license plate reader program is expanding.

the department of homeland security is given a $1 million grant for the program to local law enforcement. this program uses 250 cameras to photograph and store license plate numbers of all cars that pass by. police can then use the information to track down the crooks. critics of the program worry about all of that tracking and storing of information, especially of innocent citizens. metropolitan police chief defended it on the program today. >> it's the same thing that law enforcement did with pen and paper for years. there's no restrictional, my jotting down a tag number in a crime scene to try to determine witnesses and associates of a crime. it's the same principle, it's automated now. >> the program leads to at least one arrest every day in the d.c. area. the million dollar grant will help maintain existing cameras, the database and at 3 new cameras to the system.

what do you think of this? is it an invasion of your privacy when a camera takes down your license plate and stores it. would you want that photographed? or is this just a high-tech way for police to do their jobs a little bit better? email me. mailbag@wusa9.com. time now to unpack all the coats and sweaters for good? or perhaps could we see a little warm up on the weekend? annie has got some answers coming up for you on the forecast. first, a local gets emails from her mom, years after her mom passed away. her fight to stop the hacker, flooding her inbox with this unwanted traffic.

they can't make it stop. a stafford county family still grieving over the death of their mom, is getting hammered on a barrage of emails from her account. >> i'm free now, nice opportunity, this has been how to start your new life. >> kind of shocking. he showed me the email. i looked down at it, and saw that it was an email from my mom. >> the email started almost two

years to the day, after cassie woods' mom died of an untreatable autoimmune disorder. >> my mom was my best friend. >> the emails just keep coming, every other day to everyone r 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 email from my mom that's not even here. >> cassie's husband, an iraq vet sent an email with the hacker, pleading for him to stop. this email address belongs to my wife's mother who passed away two years ago, please stop before we go to the police. >> you would think they would just shut it down so it would stop. >> they called yahoo, and ask the company to close the account. >> that was one of those endless nightmares of push this number, push this number, push

this number. >> finally someone from yahoo told them, they needed paula chase's death certificate, which they're still trying to get. and still the emails keep coming, some of them obscene, and graphic. from a woman who never smoke, drank, or cussed. >> to see them, kind of devastating. >> a yahoo spokesperson tells us, the company is trying to help the family close that account. but cassie woods says that help consists of calling a fax number where they can send the death certificate. the famous bobby fuller song says, i fought the law, and the law won. some restaurants in san francisco are proving that's not how it always turns out. last year, that city passed a law, banning free toys in high calorie meals. burger king and mcdonald's restaurants have found a way to skirt the law. they just charge for the toys. both will now charge 10 cents

extra for anybody who wants a toy in their kid's meal. mcdonald's plans to use the proceeds to build a new ronald mcdonald house. burger king has not decided what they're going to do with the money from the toy sales. just about two hours ago, president barack obama and his family flipped the switch and lit up the national christmas tree. this year, it's a brand new tree. a 26-foot tall colorado spruce. the old one broke during a strong wind storm in february. president calvin cooley started this tradition, did he that back in 1923. that would be even before topper's time. >> a little bit before his time. >> good to have you with us, talk about this warming trend coming up. it's not going to be too warm, but the in the next couple of days, which still have a little sun. we're a little more seasonal for now. i think the weekend looking a little warmer, so just hang in there. we see milder conditions coming

this way. here's a look right now at our current conditions. temperatures are falling quickly. college park, 37 degrees. morale 42. sterling, at 37. gaithersburg, also 37 degrees. clear skies out there, temperatures falling quickly. nice and sunny though, for your friday. that will trend, last through the weekend. you'll need your jacket and the shades for the weekend. around the d.c. metro area, we're going to stay sunny, and nice conditions, dry, thanks to a ridge of high pressure. it's to the north in parts of northern new york, and also vermont getting some snow through tomorrow, and into saturday. what's happening out to the far west though, these atlanta showers coming this way for next week. tonight, what can you expect? clear and cold, a two blanket night. lows down to the upper 20s, on the suburbs to the upper 30s

here around town, under light winds. how cold for where you live? around downtown, we're going with 37 degrees. college park, 34. andrews air force base, 32. out to gaithersburg, you'll cool down to 28 degrees. sterling, 29. leesburg, also a cold 28 degrees. bundle up the kids if they're headed out tomorrow for the bus stop. friday morning, mostly sunny and cold, everyone will pretty much want a jacket. temperatures in the 20s, and 30s. under light winds. the afternoon looking really nice as well. partly cloudy, pleasant. a little bit milder compared to today. you'll need sunglasses. highs near 55. northwest winds will be picking up around 10 to 15 miles per hour. but nothing really too wild as far as the winds are concerned. your highs for friday afternoon, armed 54 in downtown. so a couple degrees warmer compared to today. 53 in fairfax. gaithersburg, 50. buoy 54. annapolis in the upper 50s.

here's your next three days. friday dame planner, a cold start in the morning. 48 to 53 degrees. still lots of sunshine. by 5:00, as your headed home tomorrow, 49 to 54, under partly cloudy conditions. your next three days, here you go. a little milder tomorrow. saturday, then a little cooler. but still sunny and dry. then on sunday even milder yet, 60 degrees, under partly cloudy conditions. i think for that redskins game, it's going to be just nice. here's your seven day outlook. a nice weekend in store. monday should also be mild. 60degrees, and increasing clouds. ahead of that storm on tuesday. right now, tracking to be wet on tuesday. a little cooler, but not too bad for december. upper 50s. then wednesday morning, maybe a lingering shower, as that front passes through. then we drop into the upper 40s on wednesday. thursday, 54 and sunny.

december, off to a pretty good start. >> keep it going, only three more months till spring.

in the mail bag tonight, horse meat. or the reaction to a new law that shows you and i could eat

some if we could stomach it. i just say nay. the whole idea is distasteful. the horse is a magnificent animal, and deserves better than to be slapped down on a plate for dinner. it means to prevent abuse and neglect, we're going to eat them? that makes sense. horses are certainly lovely creatures david, but what is the real difference between a horse and a cow? one we can eat every day, but the other is sacred? it all seems subjective. once you're willing to eat animals, isn't everything, literally on the table? then this debate on the wusa facebook page, where many of you had something to say on the iphone service known as siri. apparently, it's got a blind spot when it comes to finding abortion services. if it can't, i want to

specifically be made aware. i certainly wouldn't want tube part of a systemic movement preventing me from getting info i would consider valuable. many thought the story was just plain dumb. you can ask siri a million questions. i say buzz off to these people. siri is still in beta development for crying out loud, this a nonissue. the address mail bag@wusa9.com. that's our broadcast, i will see you later, stay warm, we'll see you then.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. new photos of jennifer lopez with her much younger man. hugging, kissing, playing with her kids. why is she taking her romance public now? then, why kim kardashian's soon to be ex is reportedly claiming their entire marriage was a fraud. prime-time tv's midseason replacements. we'll tell you which new shows are worth tuning in to. >> then -- >> see, it's supposed to be eric. >> selina gomez, demi lovato, miley cyrus.

>> hi, i'm miley cyrus and i'm 11 years old. >> see the audition tapes that made them disney superstars. the fake plastic surgery epidemic. "e.t.'s" special investigation. >> i could have died. >> the latest victim can be her deformed face be saved? >> you can get that done for $300, you have to be very worried. ashton and lea michele, a pregnant jessica biel. candid moments with the stars of "new year's eve." plus, robert downey jr. and jude law. what cameras caught on the set of the new "sherlock holmes." >> everything's fine. now, in depth on the biggest entertainment stories from around the world. hello and welcome to "entertainment tonight." i'm mark steines. nancy o'dell is on assignment. jennifer lopez, kissing and cuddling with her much younger man. the pictures are surprising, but not just because of their age difference. just why is j.lo parading her new romance in front of the cameras so soon after her split? and what