conducts an investigation. a lawsuit filed last year against former defense secretary donald rumsfeld and robert gates has been dismissed. it excused the two men of fostering a culture which allows rapists to succeed in the military. the lawsuit was filed by 28 military members and veterans who say they were punished for filing complaints against their attackers. two of the accusers said they were raped while deployed and the attacks were videotaped and photographed. when reading his decision, judge o'grady said while the allegations are troubling, the judiciary cannot intervene in military discipline and an appeal is expect. later today, the senate is expected to approve a $662 billion military funding bill. the same bill was approved last night in the house. it provides money from the men and women of the military as well as the weapons systems and the millions of jobs they generate. the bill also ensures the president can prosecute terror suspects in the civilian justice system. >> the republican presidential candidate go ahead to head

tonight in their final debate together before the iowa caucuses in just three weeks. political analysts expect much of the attention will be on the g.o.p. front-runners, newt gingrich and mitt romney. susan mcginnis has more. >> reporter: final preparations are underway for tonight's debate in iowa. but the fireworks have already begun. >> he's a wealthy man. a very wealthy man. if you have a half a million dollar purchase from tiffany's, you're not a middle class american. >> mitt romney bashed newt gingrich calling him zany and questioning his dedication to the republican party. >> newt gingrich has been an unreliable leader in the conservative movement. >> gingrich was quick to fire back. >> i have a 90% american -- voting record for 20 years. i'm the only person in the lifetime to help balance the budget for four straight years. >> romney wasn't the only one on the attack. for nearly three minutes,

protestors drowned out gingrich during a speech in iowa calling him arrogant toward the poor. with fewer than three weeks to go before the iowa caucuses, it still appears to be anybody's race. gingrich currently holds the lead but polls show most voters in the state are still undecide or at least willing to change their minds. ron paul is hoping to do just that. support for the texas congressman is slowly growing. >> in political terms, it means we're probably peaking at the right time. >> as for the back of the g.o.p. pack, candidates including rick perry hope a little face time will give them a major breakthrough. perry kicked off a bus tour through western iowa wednesday. michele bachmann starts crisscrossing the state tomorrow. susan mcginnis for cbs news, washington. michele bachmann will set out on the bus tour which will take her to all 99 counties in iowa by the end of december. the suburban hospital maintenance worker who was accused of killing his boss in

a hospital boiler room has been found guilty. keith little was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of roosevelt washington jr. prosecutors say little stabbed his boss more than 70 times new year's day. they say little was upset about a schedule change and a poor performance review. police investigating a series of church robberies in northern virginia believe their suspect may also be targeting churches in maryland as well. parishioners at 10 churches from bethesda to leesburg have been robbed of their wallets, checkbooks and keys. all of the robberies have taken place while in the middle of services. police are look at surveillance video in hopes of finding a lead but so far, no arrests have been made. later today, the fairfax county school board is expected to approve the use of surveillance cameras in high schools. they would be installed in the common areas and in the cafeterias. principals at 27 of the county's high schools are in favor of the cameras. they made the request after a huge food fight. actually two of them last year where school administrators

were unable to identify the students who they were trying to figure out who was responsible for starting the fights. according to "the washington examiner," in an article there, 80% of high school ptas also support the move. a fight is brewing between arlington county lawmakers and residents. the arlington county board has unanimously agreed to purchase a building near the courthouse metro and turn it into a homeless shelter. but residents say the shelter will hurt property values and introduce safety concerns into the community. "the washington examiner" quotes board members as saying the shelter is needed to get the homeless off the streets and into permanent housing. police across the river in rockville, maryland will return to a homeless camp site to help the nearly dozen people who had been living there. the small community must find a new place for shelter after police raided the campsite earlier this week. for nearly seven years, the camp was under the radar of law enforcement until police came and arrested the man accused of beating his girlfriend. >> i don't feel it is correct

to have us suffer because one person did something wrong. >> the homeless village is located on the hill behind the u haul center and randolph road and park lawn drive. they plan to work with county social workers to find shelter for those who want it. after that, they'll condemn the property. here's a look at some of the things making news now this morning, a federal judge has agreed to recommend former illinois governor rod blagojevich for a drug rehab program. it isn't clear whether lawyers made the request to reduce his 14-year prison sentence for corruption. prisoners in federal drug programs generally are eligible for up to a year of reduced prison time. the investigation continues into a freak elevator accident in new york city. a 41-year-old woman was partially in the elevator when her leg or foot got caught. then the elevator suddenly shot straight up, dragging the woman into the shaft and crushing

her. two people who were on the elevator at the time of the accident were not hurt. they were sent to the hospital for psychological trauma. no word on what caused the deadly malfunction. "time" magazine has named the protestor as the person of the year this year. time says in 2011, protestors didn't just voice their complaints, they changed the world. they said they wanted to reflect the importance of the demonstrations from the arab spring to occupy wall street and even russian rallies. the runner-up was the commander of the u.s. raid which killed osama bin laden. the new "time" magazine hits newsstands tomorrow. >> bill marriott is no longer the ceo of marriott hotels. arnie sorenson, a loyal lieutenant for a decade now holds the title. marriott stepped down wednesday after years at the helm of the bethesda-based chain but he did promise to stay busy as chairman of the board. coming up on 4:37, at 4:41, for the fifth year in a row, this is the most requested gift

in america. stress early in life could lead to allergy problems as an adult. >> we're back with your weather first in two minutes. [ 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...

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4:39 on this thursday

morning. you know, we've got a mild start to the day. we're in the 40s right now. we're going to get into the 50s here pretty quickly. as we head into the afternoon, got a few showers here and there. it is not going to be raining all afternoon as temperatures approach the 60 degree mark with a breezy southwest wind. monika? >> we'll take a look at a map downtown where there is a water main break closing l street between pennsylvania avenue and new hampshire avenue. crews are on the scene working on it as we speak. coming up, i'll take a look into virginia at 4:47. andrea? >> thank you, monika. it is 4:40 and time for the first your money segment of the morning. jessica doyle is off. here are today's headlines. stocks fell for the third straight day as investors continue to worry about europe's troubles and its effect on the u.s. economy. the euro slid to its lowest level in about a year against the u.s. dollar. gold plunged about 5% to close below $1600 an ounce for the first time in two months. that could translate into lower

gold prices at the jewelry counter just in time for the holidays. on wall street, the dow lost more than 130 points. the nasdaq was down nearly 40 points, the s&p 500 was down almost 14 points. chief executives expect the u.s. economy to continue its slow, uneven recovery. 35% of ceos polled by the business roundtable expect to add jobs in the next six months. nearly 70% believe their sales will rise from now through the spring. retailers expect consumer spending to pick up again as we enter the final stretch before christmas. in fact, six of the top ten shopping days of the holiday period are still to come including this saturday. which is expected to be the biggest shopping day following black friday. it is the most requested holiday gift. a survey by the national retail federation shows spending on gift cards will reach $27.8 billion this holiday season. according to the nrf, shoppers

will spend more than $155 buying them, $10 more than last year. this makes five years in a row that gift cards have topped consumer's wish list. the insurance institute for highway safety is out with its new safety ratings list. subaru and toyota are the top automakers on the list. that story plus your weather first in less than two minutes.

good morning, welcome back to 9news now. it is 4:44 this thursday morning. almost to the weekend. i was amazed. i did not need to put my coat on this morning. >> heavy gloves and earmuffs at home. >> it was easy. >> it is an easy morning. nothing too heavy and probably not too many of them. >> good deal. >> a few showers this afternoon. we're looking at a chilly but dry weekend ahead. not that bad. let's get started with a look at the bus stop forecast. the kids will like this.

got a mild start. mostly cloudy skies. but dry this morning. and temps generally running in the 40s. that's pretty comfortable with winds, not too bad now. they're going to pick up at about 7:20 this morning. here is our day planner. 46 degrees at 9:00. south winds at 11. the breeze will definitely be up by noon. south winds at 14 with temps in the lower 50s. get into the upper 50s and low 60s south of town. a better chance for a few showers this afternoon and by this evening, temperatures will be back into the 40s for the overnight. this morning, showers missing us yesterday. had an isolated sprinkle across parts of the shenandoah valley yesterday during the afternoon. but the heavier rains this morning, northwestern pennsylvania, going down into ohio, this is all going to be moving east. it, like yesterday, will have a tough time crossing the mountains. temperatures in the 30s in cumberland. 45 here in washington with upper 40s, southern maryland. easton, bill in newland called in with 47.

to the north, cool but nothing terrible. hagerstown at 44 degrees. 45. feels like 40 though with the slight wind chill. south wind at 9. winds dropping at 30.22. storm system coming onshore in the northwest. northern california, rain and mountain snows. pretty quiet in the rockies and central part of the country. we get to the great lakes now, a big storm here dragging a cold front from texas all the way up toward new england. you can see the rains, a thin line here through texas and through little rock approaching memphis toward cleveland to columbus into new york state and new england where there is some snow in maine but around here, very mild. we're south and east of the front. so, we're on the warm side of the storm once again. this, i think, will be a pretty common pattern for the next few months unless this la nina pattern changes which it doesn't appear it is going to do. future cast, there is the rain

this morning. it moves east. i'm stopping the clock at noon. we're still generally dry. south and east of town. still pretty quiet. we'll get into the afternoon with a few showers. but the bulk of the rain looks like it is going to stay west of the continental divide here and then as we go into this evening, now we're here at 6:00 p.m. notice the showers west but not that much near us. here comes the front tonight. some brief showers will happen late tonight, early on friday. friday, we start sunny. the clouds roll in again in the afternoon. another little wave of low pressure will develop on this. that may bring areas south of washington down toward richmond, light rain or maybe even a little bit of wet snow during the overnight period friday night into saturday morning. this thing will scoot out of here on saturday and leave us with a chilly but sunny weekend. here is the forecast. today, well up into the 50s. few showers this afternoon. breezy, too. gusts over 20 at times. 50ish tomorrow with increasing clouds in the afternoon. again, might see a shower or

flurries south of washington. saturday, chilly. 45. as you look at the rest of the seven-day forecast, 44 on sunday. monday, 47. and then pushed everything back one day, tuesday into wednesday. next chance of rain. >> thank you so much, everybody. things are looking pretty good on the virginia side of the  beltway. here's what it looks like all around. we had some construction spots over in the tysons area and up in silver spring. everything should be cleared up now. we'll go over to the south side and the west side. no problems to report on 66. you can see it is going about 65 miles per hour. 63 at duke street. about 51 as you pass south capital street. no big deals inside the beltway. springfield on the northbound side of i-95 look good here. the normal volume as you can see, as you head up from the fairfax county parkway and up toward springfield, but everything is looking fine here. back over to the maps to the west side of town, no problems to report as you come in on the dulles toll road, i-66, no

problems on route 7 through tysons corner and if you're planning to head across the american legion bridge, let's take a live look there. looking good leaving bethesda down south toward tysons corner and 66 across the american legion bridge as well. coming up, we'll take a look into maryland at 4:55. mike and andrea? >> a new list of the safest vehicles is out now. it includes a record number of choices for drivers. >> everything from suvs to hybrids made the list. manuel gallegus breaks it down for us. >> reporter: the insurance institute for highway safety conducted dozens of crash tests to come up with its top 2012 safety picks. for the first time, the best selling toyota camry and honda accord are both among the 115 winners. >> the accord and the camry are vehicles that families choose that parents choose to take their families around in. and it shows that you can have good, safe vehicles for that

purpose. >> the award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting passengers in a variety of crashes from the front, side and rear and in rollovers. one of the biggest reasons there are so many models on the new list is because cars' roofs are getting stronger. companies are regin designing their vehicles to better withstand rollovers. drivers say safety is important. >> when you get in an accident, you have to think about safety then. you may as well think of it when you're buying the car. >> subaru is the only automaker that has a winner in every model it builds. toyota which includes its lexus and scion brands has 15 winners, general motors is next with 14. followed by volkswagen, audi with 13. ford, lincoln and honda acura have 12 awards each. several large pickup trucks are included but not one small pickup was considered safe enough to make the cut. manuel gallegus, cbs news, new

jersey. roughly 10,000 people die each year from rollovers. they account for 1/3 of all traffic fatalities. >> colorectal cancer on the rise among young people. university of texas researchers studied 600,000 cases of colorectal cancer and found rates are climbing for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. doctors say younger adults and their physicians need to keep an eye out for possible symptoms like abdominal pain, changes in bathroom habits and bleeding. dutch doctors say the hpv test is the best cervical screening option for women over 30. physicians studied nearly 45,000 women and found that hpv testing was significantly better at identifying precancerous cells. they believe a national hpv testing program for women over 30 could reduce cervical cancer deaths. >> babies exposed to stressful situations are more likely to develop allergies later on.

swedish researchers found that babies with lower concentrations of stress related hormones had fewer allergies. previous research shows babies can stress out when they're separated from their mothers, even for a short period of time. >> it is 4:52. it is time for a look at the question of the morning. >> this one, according to the food network. this is the cookie that is most likely to be left out for santa claus. is it a, oreos. b, sugar cookies or c, chocolate chip. >> put down the cookie and log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

welcome back. your weather first. it is a mild morning out there. mostly cloudy skies. we'll have a couple of showers around this afternoon. doesn't look like it is going to be a lot. anything too heavy but keep the rain gear handy. mild and breezy, too, with highs well up in the 50s, maybe even 60 down south. winds could gust over 20 miles per hour. let go to monika. >> all construction on the north side of town has been moved over. you can see the cones on the shoulder here on the inner loop of the beltway at university boulevard. a good ride between 95 and college park and 270 in bethesda. coming up, we'll take a closer look into maryland at 5:01. andrea? >> thank you, monika. a company hoping to set up shop in virginia is promoting a new space-aged funeral service.

the company, celestous is offering to make outer space your final resting place. celestis will place remains in a canister and shoot it into the earth's atmosphere. they already have a station in new mexico and have buried hundreds of bodies in our orbit since 1997. now, they want to open one in virginia and offer tax incentives if you sign on the dotted line. the national network for arab-american communities which is a network of 22 american nonprofit organizations says it will no longer accept donations from lowe's home improvement stores. the announcement comes after the home improvement chain pulled its advertising from a reality tv show about the muslim and arab community in dearborn, michigan. lowe's says the all-american muslim became a lightning rod for people to voice complaints. the company's decision followed an e-mail campaign by the conservative group florida family association which claims the show goes against american values. a collection of 4,000

historic photos, paintings and maps has a new home now. the kiplinger washington collection will now be located at the historical society of washington in the old carnegie library building in mt. vernon square. just across the street from the washington convention center. the collection is the largest private collection of these kinds of materials. it depicts the physical evolution of washington over the past two centuries. tomorrow, robert downey jr. and jude law return to the big screen for the latest installment of sherlock holmes! >> bigad shaban has a preview. >> hollywood's newest it girl is stepping into her next big role in the latest sherlock holmes movie, a game of shadows. >> this is for you. >> she captured the attention when she starred as elizabeth salander in the swedish version of the girl with the dragon tattoo. >> so many people expect me to be like this -- to come in and

be really aggressive and punky and just a very then they meet me. you're actually smiling. it is like yeah. i'm an actress. >> reporter: her latest big screen character is a gypsy named sim who gives detective holmes valuable clues. it is first english-speaking role for the actress. >> how long ago did you learn english? >> almost three years ago. i dreamt it english. it is like my brain kind of switched from swedish to english. >> robert downey jr. is back as sherlock holmes. jude law plays watson. >> i really like friendships that are born out of -- out of a task, out of a job. >> i love the way they work. they are very open. we worked close as a team. we had so much fun. >> they're banking on their chemistry to make the sherlock

holmes sequel into a holiday blockbuster. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. good morning and thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. lots of holiday movies coming out that that will be fun to see. >> i'm mike hydeck. that looks like a good one. >> i really liked it. >> here's monika. >> hey, howard. >> good morning. how are you doing? >> we're fine. >> it is a good-looking morning out there. it is mild. nothing too cold. >> nobody is scraping any windshields. kids will be ok at the bus stop. there is a slight wind chill. even the wind chills are up around 40. so, that's not too shabby at all to start this thursday. let's get going. day planner has clouds around. we'll have a couple of showers this afternoon. grab the rain gear. by noon, we're in the low 50s. this afternoon, upper 50s. might even get toward 60 south of town with a southwest wind at times rather will gust over 20 miles per hour. a breezy day ahead. rain this mog,