. >> i'm j.c. hayward. there was shocking news this morning because former penn state football coach jerry sandusky has decided against confronting his alleged victims at a preliminary hearing.

our bruce leshan is in the courtroom. he joins us now live from pennsylvania with more information. bruce, what can you tell us? >> j.c., what this meant -- what this was about depends on who you ask. the attorney for one of the alleged victims says it is really another case -- another act of cowardice to decide not to have this hearing. another affect cowardice by a serial child sex abuser. but jerry sandusky's lawyer says it was simply a tactical decision to avoid a hearing that put the defense at a tactical disadvantage. jerry sandusky had been slated to be in court all day, confronted for the first time by the public testimony of at least five of the young men he allegedly abused. but within minutes, he was back out of the courthouse.

his lawyers saw no advantage in airing more of the sorted details of decades of alleged child sexual abuse. >> we're ready to defend, we've always been ready to defend. today's waiver has nothing to do with conceding anything, there will be no plea negotiations, there will be no plea negotiations. this is a fight to the death. this is the fight of jerry sandusky's life. >> lawyers for some of the alleged victims are furious. accusing the former football coach of icing the kicker. calling it a time-out, even as the alleged victims are just about to testify about some of the most horrible events of their lives. >> i believe that putting these kids through this and pulling it at the last minute is just a total disregard for them and is further abuse. >> sandusky stands charged with 50 counts of abusing boys as young as 10-year-old who he met through his charity.

monday night, they learned sandusky would waive the hearing. >> based on our readiness, the strength of the case, i'm not that surprised. >> when the case does go to trial, look for sandusky's lawyers to launch an all-out attack on the credibility of mike mcqueary, the assistant coach whose story of seeing sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in a locker room shower has shifted somewhat. look for defense attorneys to also question the alleged victim's motives. >> what greater motivation can there be than money. i've seen money break up families. i've seen siblings become enemies after fighting over their parent's assets after their parents pass away. >> reporter: many of the alleged victims have already hired lawyers. he accuse them of plotting to go after sandusky's assets, to go after second mile's assets, to go after penn state's deep pockets, first, the next

hearing is scheduled for early next year. j.c.? >> thank you very much, bruce leshan reporting live from bellefonte, pennsylvania. we want to let you know that bruce is the only local television reporter with a seat inside the courtroom. so, he will have live updates for us throughout the day. of course, beginning at 5:00 p.m. you can also follow the developments by going to our web site at wusa9.com. montgomery county rescue crews are on the scene of a trench rescue. authorities say that a ride on bus hit a construction barrel and knocked a worker into a 16- foot ditch. this happened a short while ago, a mid county highway and washington grove lane in redland, maryland. authorities say the man suffered serious but nonlife- threatening injuries. the virginia woman carjacked at gunpoint by ross ashley, the day before

thursday's deadly shooting at virginia tech is now speaking out. joyce bennett rented an apartment to ross ashley. she said that he was never a problem until he walked into her office last wednesday, armed with a gun and demanded her car keys. >> he comes up to my desk right here and he says he wants my keys and i said you gotta be kidding me and then he pulls this gun out and held it in my face. >> a car is nothing compared to what could have happened in this office. we could have been both killed because he didn't have gloves on. he didn't have a mask on. >> bennett's car was found on a road near virginia tech's campus on thursday, she was on her way to pick up the car when she got a call from investigators asking her to come to the campus to take a look at a post-mortem picture of the gunman. officer deriek crouse was buried during a funeral service

yesterday. an internal affairs investigation is underway after d.c. police shot and killed a man last night in northeast washington. so far, police are saying that the man refused to obey their orders to drop his weapon. our 9news now reporter surae chinn has more. >> reporter: detectives return to the scene, searching for evidence. witnesses calling 911 last night said a man high on drugs was shooting at homes in the 5300 block of clay terrace near division avenue northeast. police say they opened fire on the man when he refused to put down his gun. >> he was given commands to drop the weapon. he does not. the suspect was struck. the officers who engaged in fire with the suspect immediately went over to him and began to perform cpr. >> some of the witnesses we talked with who were here last night don't agree with how the police handled the situation. >> when they shot the boy twice, they did not have to

keep on shooting him and shooting him and shooting him. >> police are going through surveillance from a camera that happened to be set up near where the shooting happened. residents say the victim in his 20s is well-liked in the neighborhood. >> he's a nice guy. real respectable. >> he's a cool person. cleveland person. football person. >> the situation, this event, it don't have his name on it. it is not his character. >> some folks in the neighborhood have described the relationship with police as a delicate one. the latest incident has only increased the tension. >> because they don't care nothing about nobody in this neighborhood. we're in a messed up neighborhood. they don't care nothing about us. >> reporter: in northeast, surae chinn, 9news now. police have just identified the man as michael esp. >> fairfax county police have released the identity of the county's ninth homicide victim of the year. they say 34-year-old colvin morris died from gunshot wounds

to the head. police found him yesterday on cameron drive in reston. medics rushed the man to the hospital where he later died. investigators have three men in custody. both congress and the white house want to find a way to extend the payroll tax cuts. it is set to expire at the end of the month. the house is close to voting on a republican version of the bill. but tara mergener reports that measure is likely to hit a dead end in the senate. >> reporter: the house is headed toward a vote today on extending the payroll tax cuts. the measure will also extend unemployment benefits but not as much as democrats want. and it is clear the battle is far from over. >> it is and does represent a middle ground and we ask the president to join us in finally putting himself behind this bill to help the middle class. >> reporter: the biggest

sticking point is that the house plan is linked to approval of a controversial oil pipeline. the administration wants to delay that pipeline while it studies the potential impact on the environment. lawmakers are under extra deadline pressure to figure this out. congress is scheduled to take its holiday recess friday. but it looks like they'll have to stay in session over the weekend. a big stumbling block in the senate is how to pay for the tax cuts which will cost roughly $180 billion. republicans would finance it by extending the pay freeze on federal workers and forcing them to contribute more to their retirement plans. democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthiest americans and say they've got plenty of support. >> majority of people who make more than a million dollars a year say they would gladly contribute more to improve the economy. >> reporter: without an agreement, the tax cuts will expire on january 1st. cutting into paychecks of 160 million workers. but president obama has already

said any measure that includes that oil pipeline is headed for a veto. tara mergener for cbs news, capitol hill. president obama has already said that he is willing to skip his christmas vacation to hawaii until congress comes up with an acceptable agreement. coming up on 9news now, police arrest three students after another hazing incident involving florida a&m band members.

good news for people looking too job. more employers say they'll be hiring in the new year. the hiring firm manpower, says 9% of employers will bring on new employees in the first quarter of 2012. that's the highest rate in three years. the survey also shows which fields would do the most hiring. mining is number one on the list followed by hospitality, professional and business services followed by retail. a d.c. initiative to get more residents back to work is in its second phase. d.c. mayor vincent gray launched the one higher campaign back in september. the program encourages local businesses in the d.c. metropolitan area to hire qualified, unemployed d.c.

residents. mayor gray says the one hire campaign is showing great promise. >> which is designed to begin to chip away at unemployment here in the district of columbia. we have had a -- an unemployment rate of about 11% overall. i think when we get the next data, i think we'll see some coming down of that which is good news. >> reporter: the program is open to d.c. residents only. you can register at any d.c. public library. coming up next, howard and the forecast. >> j.c., a little chilly out here. not a bad day considering it is december, temps in the 40s, even around 50. we'll take a look at the temperatures. springfield, 50. along with college park. great falls, 42. got some rain in our future. we'll look at that and looking ahead toward the upcoming weekend when 9news now at noon returns. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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member so severely during hazing rituals, that they broke her leg! tallahassee police say that the three men broke brea hunter's thigh during hazing in october. investigators say that the student was rushed to the hospital days later where doctors told her about her injuries. hunter's several beatings came three weeks before famu drum mager robert champion died after an alleged hazing incident during a trip to orlando. christmas came early for two baby elephants in a zoo north of london. zookeepers say that donna and george got giant boxes stuffed with holiday treats! oh, did they have fun. after eating the fruit and tossing the hay around, the babies seemed to enjoy just running around the enclosure,

kick the cardboard boxes. until they were totally destroyed. >> kind of reminds me of my dog. just a little bigger. got a lot bigger at some point. >> how are you doing? the sun is so bright and pretty today. >> it is a pretty day out there. it is a little bit on the chilly side. overall, hey, we're doing fine. next chance of rain is going to be thursday. and right now, the weekend, that looks pretty good, too. it will be back in the 40s. here is a look at this afternoon for you. our day planner, sunny skies now. a couple of high clouds moving in late. we'll have a fine sunset. temperatures top out around 50 if not the low 50s in a few spots. the breeze will come down. it has been a little up there especially where it is open like at national. winds up to 15 miles per hour. temperatures will be dropping by 9:00 p.m., we'll be down to the 40 degree mark. going into the 30s tonight, not nearly as cold. some upper 20s but this morning was really cold. thanks in part to the fact that we had clear skies, light winds and dry air. still with mostly sunny skies

here but out to the west, you see some of the clouds starting to stream into west virginia and western pennsylvania up around pittsburgh, could see some of that toward the middle and latter parts of the afternoon. 30 was the low in town. look at some of the cold temps in martinsburg and frederick in the teens along with cumberland this morning. so, quite frosty out there. lower 20s in culpepper. mid-20s for la plata. even on the eastern shore, we had temps in the upper 20s. by the way, pax river, you guys got down to 28 in southern maryland as well. right now, we've warmed up nicely. 48 degrees at reagan national to 52 in fredericksburg. it is on the chilly side for sure up to our north cumberland is at 37. hagerstown is at 40. frederick not reporting at the moment but they're likely in the low to mid-40s there with 48 from andrews and also across the bay. in washington at this hour, we've got 48 officially at reagan national. mostly sunny skies. a little bit of a breeze out of the north-northwest at 15. if you're right over there, wind chills are running in the low 40s right now. the barometer has been fairly

steady all day sitting at 30.45. high pressure is in control here. in contrast to the southwest and central part of the country, quite a dip in the jet stream. you can see the spin around san diego, rain, mountain snows here. jet stream coming across texas and mexico. this storm is producing rain in arizona, new mexico and colorado and utah. rain for the central part of the country. extending in toward the ohio and tennessee valley. looks like this stuff is making a beeline toward us. the conditions aren't favorable for this to continue to move in our direction. west of us in the shenandoah valley and western maryland, not out of the question that a little of this will sneak toward you. here we are tomorrow morning during the morning hours tomorrow. so, that's an outside chance, better chance in pennsylvania and far western maryland than -- we'll actually have a much better chance for this moisture to make it here during the day on thursday and behind it, we'll cool down for the weekend. looking ahead, today, about 50, maybe even the lower 50s.

we'll peak out in the next couple of hours. northwest winds at 10 or so. lighter winds in the 30s. partly to mostly cloudy skies. 52 tomorrow. thursday, mid to upper 50s with some showers developing. midday for the afternoon. friday, may see a raindrop or even a snowflake, late friday night. chance of that is pretty low. cool and dry for the weekend. stick around! brian is in the studio cooking next when 9news now at noon returns. ♪

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if you can't fit into those jeans come january 1. he's working me out. go to jchayward.com this afternoon and find out the latest exercise that will keep you trim after the holidays! today, i'm one on one with vol tageio. they're brothers. you might know the name because they were on top chef. and chef brian came in second place to his brother. >> i did. >> have you gotten over that yet? >> i tried to bring it home for washington but he took the cake. he went out to l.a. he's in l.a. now. >> but we have you and he has a fabulous book. it is called volt inc. it is a great coffee table book. beautiful pictures, lots of information. you may want to pick that up. but i want to tell you that he has a restaurant in frederick

and it is called volt. you have several that will be opening, is that correct? >> we recently opened lunchbox which is a fast, casual sandwich shop located in frederick. so, that's one restaurant. we're also working on a diner concept open on east street, hopefully in the early part of the spring. >> remember the name, volt and the book, volt, inc. today, what are you making? >> i want to do one of the desserts. it is holiday season. so, i was thinking it should be snowing but i guess apparent it is not. >> don't say that. it's ok! >> we'll make coconut lavender vanilla. when you go shopping, i find myself in the mall looking for perfumes for my wife because i should be a good husband. >> that's right. >> you are a good husband. and he cooks. it doesn't get much better than that. >> yeah, definitely. what came out of that was i always kept finding all of these great aromas, how can i translate that into a dish. >> what did you just do?

>> i put coconut pudding inside liquid nitrogen, i'm instantly freezing it. >> i'm not going to tell people not to do this at home. >> the dish is in the book. it is in our new book. there is a recipe there. but you don't have to do that preparation. you can get some great coconut sorbet and make the lavender powder. this is a lavender oil that we make. it turns into this powder form. >> ok. >> so you can eat. >> this is -- was this hot or cold? it is steaming. >> negative 300 degrees. >> it started steaming. look at that. >> that's coconut lavender vanilla. >> that is -- can i try it? >> absolutely. take a spoon and crack the dome. it is like a snowball, right? >> ok, all right. ok. let me just see. do you want some? >> yeah, i'm going to taste it, too. >> let's see. >> mmm! >> it is interesting, right?

>> mm-hmm. oh, i like it. it is very good. thank you, chef. remember, volt in frederick. frederick, maryland. come back and visit us at 5:00. this is tasty. i want another one. very good. >> thank you.