breaking news. the sentencing of jack johnson. it was standing room only where johnson learned his fate after pleading guilty to extortion and evidence tampering charges earlier this year. scott broom is standing by live. he is outside the courthouse with details. scott. >> reporter: jc, this is happening right now. the judge is addressing the courtroom. so we're expecting this final sentence at any moment. jack johnson came to court facing up to 14 years. he has just finished addressing the court asking for forgiveness and mercy telling the judge "if my wild est dreams i could not imagine being in a place like this. i worked so hard for the people of prince george's county and i achieved so much. but he went on the to say i am haunted by this. i beg your mercy and i am a very ill man. "now, as i said, he's facing 14 years coming in. there was a long hearing about jack johnson's health.

he is now claiming that he has parkinson's disease and that a long sentence, a 14-year sentence would be "a death sentence" according to johnson's defense attorneys. after some counseling with the judge, he decided to reduce the guidelines down to a period of between 7 and 9 years. not because of the health issues but because he recognized that johnson has been cooperative with authorities and is accepting responsibility for the bribes and the obstruction of evidence he was engaged in and he did admit to. so we are now awaiting the sentencing from the judge who has said he's going to go for a sentence between 7 and 9 years. just moments away we're expecting to hear from him making the final judgment of where in that range the sentence is going to fall. but as i said, jack johnson is begging former see and, in fact, submitted a petition today with more than 400 signatures, people

supporting him. as you reported, jc, the courtroom here was completely packed. in fact, the bailiffs had everyone move to an overflow courtroom. we'll let you know when the final report comes in. i'm scott broom awaiting the sentencing of jack johnson. >> scott, before you leave us, can you tell us what the mood was like inside that courtroom. >> reporter: well, as you can imagine, completely somber. and jack johnson appropriately contrite with his head down. he also arrived in court today with a cane. another suggestion as his doctors say, and they had opinions from five doctors that he has parkinson's like symptoms. the defense arguing he has parkinson's disease. the prosecution arguing that may not be the case. in fact, they blamed alcoholism on some of the tremors that he is showing. regardless, the judge in this case has ruled the medical part of this case is just not an

issue when it comes down to the sentence that he's been to render. >> all right. thank you very much, scott broom. again, standing by live outside the courtroom in prince george's county. as soon as that sentence is handed down, we will go back live to him and bring it to you. all right. let's get details on our weather. anny is sitting in today for howard. and everybody has their umbrella handy. >> yes. you're going to need it not only today, jc, but also tomorrow. and we're also talking about some snow. the models still kind of all over the place. but we want to let you know what we know about the snow coming to the dc metro area. first here is a look at live doppler 9000 hd where we have some light rain falling. this is the kind of the weaker of the two systems coming through. and you're going to see the light rain kind of throughout much of today. you may see some lulls in between. it won't be a complete washout but right now you can see inside the beltway we have light rain falling in most areas, vienna,

bethesda, rockville, even in gaithersburg you're seeing light rain. now, i want to talk about snow. let's get to it. we're talking about maybe the air will be turning colder for wednesday afternoon. tomorrow. then that rain then changing to snow late wednesday night. rain to snow possible, including here in the dc metro area. and basically along west of 95 we're talking about the chance of seeing some snow falling. the time frame will be midnight tomorrow until 7:00 a.m. thursday. i think a lot of folks hopefully will be sleeping wednesday night into thursday. but we are talking about the chance for some snow. we'll talk more about that, break down your forecast for you coming up a little bit later. jc, back to you. >> all right. she did say snow. we'll get back to her a little bit later. the verdict is guilty in the trial of a former top aid to maryland governor robert urlach. paul was convicted of trying to

suppress the black vote with calls in last year's election. the automated calls to voters in baltimore and prince george's county told them to "relax and imply that they could stay home on election day". the attorneys argued that he did not try to cover up his role in authorizing the calls and blamed the consultant for the actual content of the messages. a historic settlement stemming from one of the worst u.s. coal mining disasters in decades. an attorney close to the negotiation says the owner of the upper big branch coal mine in west virginia has agreed to pay nearly $210 million. 29 miners were killed during a blast in the mine in 2010. the mine's safety and health administration says poorly maintained machines caused the spark that triggered that explosion. the settlement reportedly includes $46 million for the

minor's families. the montgomery county parks department has approved a plan to control the deer population at spy go creek golf course. specially trained sharp shooters will begin lethally removing the deer starting in january of 2012. they will be taking aim at the animals over the next three months when the golf course is closed after 5:30 p.m. neighbors say the deer management program is necessary because all of the problems are causing problems for residents and animals. a recent survey shows deer density in the area is more than four times than what is recommended. discussions are under way on the job status of faa administrator joan babbet. he is taking a leave of absence after suspicion of dunk driving. he was driving on the wrong side

of the road. he was about halfway through his term at faa. the stakes are high in tomorrow's debate between the two front runners in virginia's 2012 senate race. they'll square off in a 90-minute debate in richmond. both are vying to replace senator jim webb. the democrat is leaving the senate after one term. well, president obama is heading the america -- is heading to america's heartland today. he is going to deliver an appeal that the white house is calling a make or break moment for the middle class. daniel noddingham has the latest now where lawmakers have four weeks to cut a deal to prevent taxes from going up. >> reporter: president obama headed for kanss to make a case for economic fairness for the middle class. the president speaks in the same small town where president theodore roosevelt made a

similar appeal more than a century ago. time is running out for congress to extend payroll tax cuts, and the president is pushing lawmakers to act before taxes go up for millions of americans. >> my message to congress is this, keep your word to the american people and don't raise taxes on them right now. now is not the time to slam on the brakes, now is the time to step on the gas. >> reporter: republicans and democrats are in favor of the extension and their leaders claim progress is being made on a package that would cost $180 billion over the next decade. but they won't have a deal until they can agree on how to pay for it. the president wants to raise taxes on americans making more than a million dollars a year. republicans say that will cripple the economy. >> it makes absolutely no sense at a moment when 14 million americans are looking for jobs to raise taxes on the very people we're counting on to

create them. >> reporter: the white house now has a count downclock. it will tick away until they find compromise or the payroll tax cut expires at the end of the year. danielle notingham, cbs news, washington. scott broom is outside of the courtroom where jack johnson is about to be sentenced. let's go to him live. >> reporter: well, he has been sentenced in the last few moments. the final sentence is 87 months, three years of supervised probation and a $100,000 fine. let's do the math. 87 months. that's seven years, 3 months behind bars. three months of probation after prison and a $100,000 fine. he'll surrender himself in january to begin this federal prison term, we understand. just moments ago as the judge was rendering the sentence, he said the following, judge peters

said mr. johnson you were elected to do good, not to line your pockets. he called the bribery and obstruction of justice scheme that johnson pled guilty to a severe crime. so, again, it's seven years and three months for jack johnson along with a $100,000 fine and three years of probation. he'll be going to jail sometime in january. we do expect to hear from johnson or his defense team and the prosecutors as well as courtroom observers and friends of johnson as they leave the courtroom. so we'll have that for you as soon as we get it. for now, reporting live at the greenbelt federal court house, scott broom, 9news now. >> scott, before you leave, do we know whether jack johnson will have to serve the full seven years and three months or can he get out earlier? under the federal system, you serve what you're given. they have already determined the probation as three years after he's released. >> okay. thank you very much.

scott broom reporting live from greenbelt. we're going to take a break and we'll be right back.

all right. we want to update the sentence that former county executive of prince george's county jack johnson got. he is being sentenced to federal prison. he will serve seven years and

three months. 87 months in federal prison. he also has -- will receive three years of probation and he will have to pay a $100,000 fine. our scott broom was outside the courthouse when the sentencing was delivered just moments ago. according to scott broom, jack johnson will have to serve the total time in a federal prison. we're following the story throughout the day and when we get more information, we will give it to you. it was very somber inside that courthouse in greenbelt. it was an overflow actual audience with the media and a lot of friends supporting jack johnson. we're looking at live pictures now at the courthouse in greenbelt. jack johnson came into the courtroom this morning around 9:00 carrying a cane, walking very, very slowly and wearing glasses. and according to his defense

attorneys, he is suffering from parkinson's disease. however, prosecutors say they're not so sure that's exactly true. his defense attorneys were asking for a lesser sentence. the judge reduced the range of the sentence. originally he could have served up to 14 years, but the judge did reduce that sentence range from 7-9 years. and as i just said, he received seven years, three months. again, we're following the story throughout the day. we'll have more information, of course, on our website at wusa9.com. and i think here we're going right now to billy martin who is the defense attorney for jack johnson. he may have something to say to the media as you can see the camera is moving around. so we will go to him. let's go to a break and then we might go back out to greenbelt momentarily. please stay with us.

merry christmas from germany. i'm steve. >> i'm scarlet. >> i'm brittany. >> and i'm melanie. hi, everybody. here is a look at your doppler radar where we are seeing some areas of light rain falling at this hour in the beltway. also around leesburg up towards

frederick and down south into fredericksburg. it's also mild out there where we do see the conditions topping out in the 50s to 60s for this afternoon. here is a broader look at doppler radar where we've got this system going through. not as wet compared to the next one coming through tomorrow where we'll see also some colder air mixing in. day planner temperatures around 60. by 3:00, 63 degrees expecting the scattered showers for the rest of the day, into tonight as well. it's going to be mild for today. we should be around low 50s for this time of year. here is a look at the satellite radar picture combined where you can see the showers going through. and then we'll probably see more rain tomorrow. i think wetter tomorrow compared to today. it feels like upper 50s around town. 60 andrews air force base. near 60 in annapolis. fredericksburg a nice warm 66 degrees at this hour. it is 58 right now with light rain. we have a south wind at around

nine miles per hour. so south winds bringing in the milder air. you need your umbrellas for today and definitely tomorrow. showers for today, still mild, cooler and wetter for your wednesday and then rain to snow before the systems end. here is how it all times out on your future cast. tonight evening commute can be wet for a lot of folks out there. and then we have another batch of moisture coming in. tomorrow morning's commute you see the yellow and oranges, that is a moderate to heavy rainfall. so we'll definitely see more rain tomorrow. afternoon as well. 1:00 we'll see more showers. look at this around wednesday evening. the commute tomorrow could really get harry. also this turning into a wintery mix and snow as well along west up 95 we can see some snow, including the dc area. highs for today 63 in downtown. 60 in leesburg. enjoy the mild weather but it is wet out there. here is a look at the forecast. mild today. we're dropping temperatures tomorrow afternoon with more so

you werz and -- showers and more rain likely and then maybe some snow.

today i'm one-on-one with chef thomaseleder from chef restaurant in tyson's corner and we're going to learn how to make an easy holiday treat. it has sugar in it, so you know i like it. welcome. good to see you. >> thank you, jc. i'm so happy to be here. >> it's so nice to have you. now, we're making candy. i see the finished product.

lollipops. >> this is the chef tom go pepper lollipops. >> oh, my goodness. >> we're using chili pepper here. it's the hottest pepper in the world. we want to add a little spice. it's kind of our take on a hot cinnamon candy. >> so this is an adult candy? >> this is definitely adult candy. and this is one of the items that we're going to be showing during our cooking class. >> uh-huh. >> on the 10th and the 17th. >> oh, really. >> at the restaurant. we partnered with the hilton. >> uh-huh. >> for an overnight package. >> uh-huh. >> it's $300 for the couple and includes a cooking class, a bottle of champagne in your room. >> that's right. push it. >> and what we're going to do is kind of show you how we do the candy. >> okay. so what are the ingredients? >> the ingredients are sugar, karo syrup and it's dark karo. and then we have the ghost chili

pepper and then we have a little bit of red food coloring because we like the holiday red covering to it. >> okay. this is starting to get thick. >> yes, it is. it's ready to dip and mold. >> okay. what do you do? >> what i want to do is have you smell the ghost pepper. it is hot. >> whoa. my nostrils. >> we grow this in our garden. >> okay. what is the other thing? >> just the red food coloring. >> yes. okay. >> that we put in there to make it nice and holiday red. >> and the recipe is on jc hayward.com. so you put it together. you heat it for how long. >> you heat it. >> you have to continue to stir it because if not you can run into trouble. >> you need a candy thermometer. you heat it to 300 degrees. you add your coloring and chili paste and then we go ahead and start dipping the lollipops. >> show me how to do it. >> it's really quite simple. and we take it and we twist it around and we lay it right on the marble. and it helps to cool it and

shape it. >> uh-huh. okay. >> so we cool it and shape it right on to the marble. >> and then you keep dipping it? >> i do a couple at a time. >> oh, i see. it gets hard as you let it sit out. >> it gets hard as you let it lit. >> uh-huh. >> and then once it's on the marble, you can press it into the shape you like. it's fantastic. >> uh-huh. okay. uh-huh. >> so we'll get a couple more going here. >> uh-huh. >> yes, we're going to be featuring these all through the holiday. >> okay. and that's at the hilton mclane tyson's corner. if you go by, be sure to ask for chef thomas elder and try one of his lollipops. thank you for coming in, chef. i want to let everyone know that we are continuing our coverage of former prince george's county executive jack johnson's sentencing that occurred this morning in greenbelt. jack johnson got seven years

three months in federal prison. we'll also have to pay a $100,000 fine and then he will serve three years of probation once he gets out of federal prison. please go to our website wusa9.com and be sure to join us at 5:00 p.m. where we'll have full details on this story. we thank you for being with us. thank you, chef. happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> come back and visit us at 5:00. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies.

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>> lily: (clears throat) >> cane: all right. so... (thunder rumbles) >> lily: mm-hmm. >> cane: are you, uh, are you gonna give me one of those cups? >> lily: well, sir, that depends, because i have something you want, and you have something i want. >> cane: so you want me to tell you where we're going on our date, and then you will, uh, give me one of those cups? is that what this is? >> lily: well... >> cane: nah. no, i think i'd rather keep you in the dark. >> lily: oh, come on.