pennsylvania, ohio, back toward indiana and this actually goes down toward texas. it is all moving off toward the east. where temperatures are well in the 40s this morning. in fact, 49 on the bay in annapolis. 46 coming in from prince frederick with bowie checking in at 45 along with scott at andrews air force base. la plata, 46. some of the cooler temperatures here in the valleys, petersburg, cumberland in the 30s. oakland at 50 degrees this morning in garrett county. our highs later today, 50s north to some low 60s south. high in d.c. right around 58. monika, stepping in from the left side. i like it. >> you notice it is a little different. i usually like to enter from the other side. don't move me around so fast. if you're planning to head around the beltway, things are looking fine. there are no problems all around town. first of all, we'll take a live look into rockville at route 355 in the heart of rockville there. no problems to report. as with you come in from frederick down to the beltway

on route 355. let's see if we can take a look at the other side of town. 355 at route 28. the whole intersection is look fine. back over to the maps, no problems to report on the bw parkway or route 50 as you head through cheverly. bw parkway is fine from baltimore as is 95. we'll go back outside right now and take a look at the beltway here at university boulevard. we're looking good here on the topside of town between 95 and 270. all of the overnight construction was cleared up. no problems to report here. back over to the maps, if you take public transportation, you'll find all of the trains are on time. we'll go to virginia at 5:09. if you're in the market for a new car, there is a report out this morning that could influence your decision. >> which vehicle will protect your family best? an intensive round of crash tests helps to decide that. surae chinn joins us now with more on which trucks and suvs are getting high marks this year. good morning. >> good morning. you know, every major automaker has at least one winner.

the reason being is the insurance institute for highway safety put in place higher standards. one of the big winners is honda. they put in place better protection on the roof, higher standards for rollover protection. i want to also give you another list of the 2012 top picks by the institute and they are toyota which includes lexus and scion. they had 15 awards. general motors, 14 made the top grade. volkswagen and audi, 13. ford, lincoln had 12 and so does honda and accord. >> vehicles should be designed so that the occupant compartment where the people sit stays intact even in serious crashes. it is packaging 101. if the box doesn't collapse, the cargo that's inside is better protected. >> if you get in an accident, you're going to think about safety then. you might as well think about it when you're buying a car. >> honda upgraded the roof on

ten models. for the first time, the toyota camry makes the list for seat restraints improvement. coming up, we'll talk about which automaker actually was a huge standout in which every model makes the grade. back to you guys. >> thanks, surae chinn live with the crash tests this morning. i appreciate that. >> this morning, some prince george's county police officers are on leave after a deadly shooting. a man called for help saying he was armed and suicidal so police rushed to the 7600 block of valley park road in seat pleasant. when the s.w.a.t. team arrived, a man stepped out of his home and started waving his gun around in a threatening manner. several officers opened fire. the man was killed. investigators aren't sure whether the gunman fired his weapon. they don't know yet how many shots police fired in the situation. the verdict is in for a hospital maintenance worker accused of killing his boss. jurors found keith little guilty of first-degree murder in the death of roosevelt

brockington jr. brockington was stabbed more than 70 times in a boiler room at suburban hospital last new year's day. prosecutors say little attacked out of anger over a schedule change and a poor performance review. >> a woman had some good samaritans to thank after she was attacked yesterday afternoon in northwest washington. that woman says a well-dressed man grabbed her and pulled her by the hair and then dragged her into a parking lot at 25th and m streets. as she screamed for help, several people came running to the rescue. not only did they stop the attack, but they held the suspect until police arrived. you think that you watch all of the shows and you know what to do. i wish i did more but all you can do is scream for help. >> i grabbed his hands. i guess i kicked him in the head a little bit to try to knock him down. another man, he grabbed his hand and pulled it behind his back. >> i think that they're amazing and how often do you get to say

someone saved your life. >> police arrested 20-year-old juan carlos jimenez and charged him with kidnapping. it is 5:05. jessica doyle has the day o we still have the headlines for you. this is shaping up to be a bad week for investors. most asian markets lost 1% on their trading day today. the signs are not promising for a rebound in europe as their exchanges are just starting to trade now, too. here at home, the dow posted another triple digit loss losing 131 and change. nasdaq dropped 40 points and the s&p 500 slipped about 14. bill marriott jr. stepped aside as ceo wednesday. he ran the hotel chain that bears his name for close to four decades. the marriotts weren't always in hotels. the family business started with the hot shops restaurant chain where bill jr. got his start as a soda jerk. >> that's all we had back then in 1951, '52, the restaurants

famous for old time washingtonians. i learned what it was like to be on the other side of the aisle and learned what it was like to work in the kitchen, how demanding it was. how much fun it was. i loved it. i loved every minute of it. >> of course, they eventually moved into the hotel business. in fact, marriott hotel chain has 660,000 hotel rooms worldwide. arnie sorenson will be taking over as ceo now. he's been a top executive for ten years. bill marriott says he will be staying on as executive chairman. >> discount grocery store aldie is expanding again. the new store opens today in cheverly, maryland at landover road. store managers are encouraging shoppers to donate canned goods during their first week of business. the company says it will match up to $5,000 worth of donated food and give it all to the capital aread for a bank. it is 5:06. coming up, a new survey has some startling revelations about violence against women in the u.s. >> plus, a judge's recommendation may lead to less

prison time for former governor of illinois rod blagojevich. >> still ahead, we'll talk about some of the problems you can encounter if there are lots of gift cards in your christmas stocking. we'll be back.

5:08 on this mild thursday morning. you won't need the heavy coat or heavy gloves. temperatures in the 40s. we'll get into the 50s, maybe low 60s south of town this afternoon. our day planner, we start out with mostly cloudy skies. clouds midday. even a threat for a couple of showers this afternoon. with highs again upper 50s. one thing you'll notice also, the breeze out of the southwest

at times over 20 miles per hour. we'll come back in about five minutes talking about the weekend forecast and colder air on the way. right now, monika has a look at timesaver traffic. >> thank you so much, howard. here we are at 395 at edsall road. no problems northbound to the 14th street bridge. glebe road north of i-66, watch out for water main repairs. i'll have more on that coming up. mike, back to you. thank you, monika. here's what's making news now at 5:09, d.c. rape crisis counselors aren't shocked by a new government survey which finds one in five american women will be the victim of a rape or an attempted rape in their lifetime. one in four will be abused by a partner. counselors say the negative effects from these attacks can last for the rest of the victim's lives. the investigation continues into a freak elevator accident in new york city. an advertising executive was crushed to death wednesday when she got caught in the elevator's doors as it shot up two floors. two other people on the

elevator were evaluated at the hospital after being traumatized by what they witnessed. the federal judge has agreed to recommend former illinois governor rod blagojevich for a drug rehab program. it isn't clear whether or not the defense team made the request to reduce the 14-year sentence. prisoners in a federal drug program often get a full year knocked off their sentence. >> are you dreading trying to work off that holiday weight gain at the beginning of 2012? well, now a company has come up with some iphone -- you guessed it, app, to make your exercise more entertaining. >> apps to curb your appetite. >> we'll preview tonight's the presidential debate in iowa. >> howard has a cooler weekend coming up in the seven-day forecast. he'll explain right after this.

5:13. we're talking about some movies that could come in the mail that could entertain you on a cold, toasty night except we don't have any cold toasty nights. >> for the weekend, it is going to get chilly again. >> we like this. this is nice and mild. you don't have to drag all of the heavy coats with you to work or school. >> that was great. >> i packed a middleweight

winter coat and a rain jacket also for later. temperatures shoot well into the 50s. there will be a few showers around. that will be a concern. the breeze, which at times will gust over 20 miles per hour and the afternoon showers which, again, a few of them here and there. let's get you started. bus stop forecast this morning. we're calling for mostly cloudy and mild conditions. temperatures running in the 40s, yes, the 40s which is a slight wind chill but very comfortable and it is dry out there this morning. sun is up. about 7:19. our day planner, cloudy skies. will give way to a few showers this afternoon. nothing terribly heavy. nothing too widespread either the way it is looking now. winds out of the south 14 miles per hour. they'll gust 20, 25, maybe 30 miles per hour in spots. with a 54 degree reading. tonight, we'll dip back into the 40s. a chilly weekend ahead. that's what we're going to start with. the weather headlines. we'll be dry for the morning commute as there is no rain nearby now. the afternoon commute, there will be some showers around.

so, a couple of folks will be needing the windshield wipers here later on. pleasant but cooler tomorrow. temperatures about 50ish tomorrow as opposed to upper 50s. low 60s south today. your weekend, well even chillier as highs on saturday and sunday look like they're going to be staying in the 40s. look at the readings. these will probably be indicative of the highs on saturday and sunday but they're the actual temperatures right now with 44 in vienna, 44 in rockville. 43 in columbia. to our south, we've got mid-40s from alexandria and fort belvoir along with manassas. love ethsville at 42. andrews is 45. bade and crofton and millersville this morning all stand at 46 degrees with reagan national, mid-40s as well. feeling like 39 thanks to a south wind at 11 miles per hour. barometer continues to drop. dew point at 36 degrees. the mild air, you see shooting up the mississippi valley toward the ohio valley. 50s and 60s. 63 at this hour.

very warm ahead of the storm system. behind it, the cold air sinking south through the rockies. 20s there. and the precip mainly in the form of rain now. there is some rain and snow on the west coast. look at all of the rain shooting up through the tennessee valley from little rock approaching memphis and nashville a little bit later. some snows in northeastern minnesota but boy, the cold air, locked up in canada for the most part and moving into the rockies. for us, we'll see some of this shower activity but even as we look at the computer modeling, it doesn't look like we're going to get a lot of rain. some showers midday. some trying to come through during the afternoon. few and far between with most of the showers staying west of the divide there. western pennsylvania. west virginia and western maryland. as we look at the next three days, today, upper 50s, a few showers this afternoon. tonight, 40s. low to mid-40s. tomorrow only around 50. friday night, a second wave of low pressure may bring some rain or snow showers south of d.c. but this looks very light and then saturday and sunday,

mid-40s and some rain returns late tuesday into wednesday. monika? happy thursday. >> hey, happy thursday. there are a couple of incidents to report right now including some late-clearing construction on the inner loop of the beltway. it is basically between i-66 and tysons corner and they should be clearing that up from the right side shortly. be aware it may still be there if you're just heading out the door. if you're planning to head over to the gw parkway, on the southbound side of the parkway, there is a disabled vehicle now between route 123 and the spout run parkway. that's in the right lane. be aware of that southbound side of the gw parkway. stay to the left to get around that. let's get a live look at 395. the interstate itself is fine past glebe road. on glebe road, north of i-66 at 13th street in boston, there is a water main break with crews on the scene. be aware of that if that's where you're headed right now. we'll take you back out through the west side of town. no problems to report on the dulles toll road from leesburg,

route 7, 123 is fine at tyson. let's take a live look in manassas. right now, still good at sudley road. 66 is incident-free. coming up in my next report, i'll update you on maryland roadways as well at 5:24. >> there are more defections for maryland's football team after its very disappointing season. >> the redskins have a chance to sweep a division foe sun. they'll have to put a stop to eli manning's hot streak to do it. >> let's take another look at the question of the day. according to the food network, this is the cookie kids are most likely to leave out for santa claus. is it oreos, sugar cookies or chocolate chip? >> katherine hernandez wrote b, sugar cookies. they're saving the oreos for themselves. >> i agree with that! log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 and leave your response and i love the double stuff. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. i only take the broken ones.

40s this morning. we'll go through the day with skies becoming mostly cloudy if not overcast by 9:00. 46 degrees in washington with upper 40s on the bay. low 40s in the northern shenandoah valley. noon hour, mostly cloudy skies. a few sprinkles here north and west of us. that will be the case through the afternoon. a few showers here and there. highs upper 50s, even some low 60s south. enjoy the mild weather. cooler weather is on the way. >> a top capitals player looks for a different solution to a lingering injury bug. >> the terps turn what should have been an easy w into a nail- biter instead. kristen berset has this morning's highlights. >> good morning, everybody. the terrapins hosted an nba legend at the comcast center. i don't know if they were distracted by his presence or not but they sure kept things interesting. mark turgeon and the terps looking for their third

straight against nba great isiah thomas and the panthers. maryland found themselves in an 11-point hole. taylor gets the lay-up. fyu led at the half but the terps did rally in the second. moseley gets it. gives the terps the lead by 1. terrell with two of his 20 to put the terps up by 4. maryland squeaks by fyu65-61. >> more turmoil for the football team. offensive coordinator gary crawton has decided to leave the program. they're expected to hire mike loxley to replace him. coxson and blue are saying good- bye. eight players have now left since the end of the season. 20 since randy edsall was hired in january. yikes! proving time and time again this season that he's good under pressure, eli manning is fourth in the league in passing yards. he and the g-men have orchestrated six fourth quarter comebacks this season. but he's not the most mobile of

quarter backs. the redskins look to use that to their advantage on sunday. >> mike green went to see a specialist for a lingering groin injury. gm george mcphee said they wanted to try something different since green had missed 15 games and whether it works or not, time will tell. green is expected to join his team in colorado this weekend. that's going to do it for your morning sports, i'm kristen berset, have a great day. well, they're the most requested gifts, the christmas present, as a gift card. but there can be some pit falls if you're not careful. >> plus, the institute that conducts the crash tests finds many more cars are meeting or exceeding their strict safety standards. monika, that's good news. what about the roadways? >> that is good news. glebe road at route 50 is fine. north of 66, only one lane is getting through. a water main break. coming up in my next report,

we'll take a look at roadways at 5:29. stay with us. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. what do you do for a living? >> traffic. >> that was a trick question. >> i had to think about that. >> i always say the same thing every morning. >> it is 5:28, i don't know. >> good morning, howard. i know what you do. >> exactly. nice morning out there. doesn't feel like december here with temps running in the 40s which is where they should be for highs. 46 or so is the normal high. that's about where we are right now. shh! you had your turn. let's get on the day planner and get away from michael noisy hide they can morning. 45 degrees in the morning here. few showers here and there this

afternoon. keep that in mind. i don't think it is going to be a steady or heavy rain all day but a few showers this afternoon. breezy, too. not just mild but breezy. winds out of the southwest 10 to 20. gusting at 30 at times. storm system out to the west. with rain in pennsylvania, ohio, back toward the tennessee valley down toward areas in northeast texas this morning. that will come through later today and tonight. that's going to bring cooler weather back toward us for the weekend. this morning, luray is up to 50 degrees. it is 46 in culpepper. and also in fredericksburg. even up north, hagerstown, 44. on the bay, annapolis, 49. look at the highs for this afternoon, we'll be in the upper 50s to near the 60 degree mark. not too bad is that, monika? >> it is not too bad at all. things are getting a tiny bit tricky outside as you're planning to head into virginia, especially a disabled vehicle on the southbound side of the gw parkway just south of route 123 in the right lane. it is causing a slowdown there.

also a water main break on glebe road, north of i-66. only one lane is going to get you through both directions north and south on glebe road there. let's take a look at route 123 inside the beltway. this is fine but on the westbound side of the georgetown pike at route 123, there is an accident in the right lane at mclean. last live look at the 14th street bridge on the northbound side of 395, this is incident free into downtown. a ceremony end which shut down the u.s. war in iraq. >> leeanne panetta flew to baghdad to attend it. the flag of the u.s. forces in iraq was officially retired or cased as it is called according to army tradition. in nearly nine years, the war in iraq caused 45 -- cost 4500 american lives, left 32,000 u.s. troops wound and cost $8 billion. as of this morning, about 4,000

american troops are still in iraq. >> that's about 800. >> late last night, the house of representatives approved a defense bill requiring the military to handle suspected militants linked to al-qaeda. the passage came after president obama dropped his threat to veto the legislation. it also imposes new sanctions against iran central bank and preemptively freezes some aid to pakistan. the senate is expected to pass the bill today or tomorrow. >> there is some pretty good news about the safety of new cars on the road. today, the insurance institute for highway safety is releasing its findings from its latest crash test and they show a lot more vehicles are up the standard if not better. 9news now reporter surae chinn is live in arlington with more on some of the numbers. good morning, surae. >> good morning. you know, a wide range of cars did make the safety crash test. i'll name a few of them right here. they are the hyundai sonata. we've got the cadillac sedan

models, kia sportage, the honda crv made the list. the honda odyssey, toyota sienna, the bmw x3 and buick lacrosse. the two most popular midsize cars that did make the list last year made it this time around. they are the honda accord and toyota camry. but it looks like all automakers really stepped up their game when it comes to safety protection. the institute launched the top safety pick award back in 2005. only 11 models made that initial cut. now, consumers have more than 100 models to choose from and the requirements to win the top safety pick are much tougher than they were back in 2005. >> reporter: so, the institute for highway safety's other 2012 top safety picks include the toyota which includes lexus and scion. they were awarded 15. general motors, 14. volkswagen and audi, 13.

ford and lincoln had 12 and honda and acura also had 12. the institute for highway safety conducted dozens of crash tests to come up with 115 winners. the award recognizes vehicles that do the very best job of protecting their passengers in a variety of crashes from the front side, rear and in rollovers and i promised you that i would tell you the real standout automaker and that is subaru. it is the only automaker that has, in each single model, that it builds, a winner. so, subaru owners can be very proud this morning. mike? >> thank you, surae chinn. we appreciate it checking out the numbers on the safest cars in america this year. the man accused of opening fire at the white house -- >> last month, has another court hearing tomorrow. i'll take it, mike. a judge heard testimony yesterday as he tried to determine whether oscar ramiro ortega hernandez is mentally fit to stand trial.

ortega is charged with attempting to assassinate the president by firing an assault rifle at the white house november 11th. president obama was out of town at the time. an update now on the woman police say has been issued -- has been using places of worship as a personal piggy bank. over the last few weeks, a woman has been stealing from churches in northern virginia. and now, they believe she's also responsible for robbing churches across the river in maryland as well. parishioners at ten churches from bethesda to leesburg have been robbed of their wallets, checkbooks and keys, all during services. police are looking at surveillance videotapes, hoping to find a lead but so far, no arrests have been made. >> d.c. council member harry thomas jr. has reached an agreement with a federal government to repay an outstanding student loan debt. the deal was announced yesterday although it did not reveal exactly how much the ward 5 councilman will pay. >> thomas took out two federally-guaranteed student loans of approximately $5,000 in the mid 1980s and incurred

thousands more in interest on those loans. thomas is still under investigation for allegedly diverting more than $300,000 in city funds for his personal use. >> today, the fairfax county school board is expected to approve the use of surveillance cameras in high schools. they would be installed in common areas and cafeterias. principals at 27 county high schools are in favor of the cameras. they made the request after several huge food fights last year. according to "the washington examiner" article, 80% of lie school ptas support this move. >> time for another "your money" report. jessica is off. we still have the headlines. as you scramble to find that last-minute present, it is pretty tempting to get a gift card. it is easy and convenient. there is a downside though. >> up to 19% of those cards are never redeemed. although new regulations limit some fees, you can still get burned. lesli foster tells us how to

pick the gift cards very carefully. >> reporter: sure, a gift card may seem like the perfect present. >> if it is a store i go to, yes. >> i waste them, i lose them. >> "consumer reports" money advisor says it is important to think twice before giving a gift card. >> gift cards are definitely better than they used to be. new regulations have a eliminated some fees so you can't be charged if you don't use it in the first year. and cards can't expire for five years. >> with new protections in place, there are still drawbacks. >> the new rules apply to merchant and bank-issued gift cards so if you have a reloadable card or one that's not marketed as a gift card, you're going to want to pay close attention to those terms. >> bank issued cards are convenient. they come with fees. that visa gift card from u.s. bank costs $3.95 from a branch. $6.95 if you buy it online. after 12 months, you're charged a $2.50 monthly inactivity fee if you don't use it.

charity gift cards come with fees, too. >> we found one that charged a $4.95 transaction fee and it charged another 3% to transfer the funds. >> if you still want to give a gift card, retail store cards have little or no fees. make sure the person you buy it for likes to shop there. >> you want to include the terms and the policies as well as the receipt which might be needed if the card is lost or stolen. >> even better, consider giving cash or a check. that way, the person can shop when and where they want with no strings attached. lesli foster, 9news now. if you do receive a gift card, check out the terms and whether you have to register it in case it is lost or stolen. keep it in your wall society that it is handy and -- keep it in your wallet. you don't want to be holding a gift card for a company that goes out of business. >> "time" magazine has chosen hundreds of thousands if not millions of people as its person of the year this year. we'll explain how that all adds

up coming up. >> still ahead, an app for almost everything else. so, how about some apps to liven up your time at the gym. we'll tell you about that when we return.

5:39. 45 degrees here in washington. it is cool out here this morning. it is not terribly cold. that will be the case today. actually rather mild this afternoon. some areas going to make a run toward 60. our day planner calling for clouds to increase. we'll have a threat for a few showers this afternoon. look at the temps. 57 by 3:00. highs upper 50s to low 60s south with the wind south 10 to 20. they'll gust 20 to 30. let's go inside to monika samtani. >> howard, in anne arundel county, a pole and wire down blocking route 2 at polling house road. use route 422 and sam's road as your alternate. i'll have more coming up in my next report. back to you, andrea.

>> thank you, monika. she had one of the most compelling stories out of the war in iraq. well, today, she starts a new chapter of her own. jessica lynch gained notoriety when she was kidnapped and seriously injured after her convoy was attacked in 2003. the former army supply clerk joined up at age 18 to earn money for college. today, she graduates from west virginia university with an education degree. she will be a teacher. >> good for her. >> "time" magazine's person of the year, that issue hits stands tomorrow. the honoree this time, the protestor. time says in 2011, protestors didn't just voice their complaints, they changed the world. they say they want it to reflect the importance of demonstrations from the arab spring to occupy wall street and even recent russianrallies. the runner-up, admiral william mcraven, the commander of the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden. the republican presidential hopefuls have a key debate tonight. that story is coming up. >> plus, we'll tell you which state just spent a big chunk of

its snow removal budget before winter officially begins. >> coming up on 5:42. let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. comedian tim conway is 78. >> former supremes member cindy birdsong is 72. and dave is 69. >> detroit tigers manager jim leyland is 67. don johnson and his white jacket, 62 years old. actor adam brodie turns 32 today. if it is your birthday, happy birthday.

welcome back to 9news now. 5:45. you will be surprised it is in the 40s in most areas. you will not need to drag a heavy coat with you today. >> or the ice scraper or any of

that. >> talking about rain yesterday. >> a little bit of rain this afternoon. some showers will push through. these look to be light and scattered around there. some of us may not see any of it as we get through the rest of the day. front comes through tonight and then we're look at some colder weather for the weekend. but generally, it is going to be dry around here. let's get you going. bus stop forecast this morning. for the little ones, even the big ones, not bad at all. a little bit of a breeze out of the south at about 10 now. that will pick up later. partly to mostly cloudy and dry. moonshining brightly here at the moment in northwest d.c. overhead with our sunrise coming up at about 7:20 this morning. our day planner, we're looking at partly to mostly cloudy skies. becoming overcast by noon. winds out of the south 12, 14, actually 10 to 20. gusts at times 25 or more. highs being pushed well up into the 50s. low 60s south of washington. a few showers will be possible later on into the afternoon and the early evening hours. the temperatures are way up

this morning. 52 in oakland. 51 in luray. we do have some 30s in cumberland. once the warm air scours out the cold air, you'll warm up quickly. upper 40s in southern maryland. salisbury, 48. tappahannock, 45. here in d.c., we're in the mid- 40s right now with wind chills at 39. not much of a wind chill but i just want to give you the idea upper 30s to low 40s on the wind chills. all right, national, air temperature, 45 degrees. cloudy skies. those winds out of the south at 11 miles per hour. our dew points have risen from the 20s into the 30s. for this time of year, pretty comfortable. one reason it is so mild, storm system, actual low pressure spinning up with a trailing cold front. warm side of the southeast, cold side on the northwest. we're on the warm side of the storm. some action also on the west coast. we're not going to worry about that right now. rain coming from texas through arkansas, all the way up through indiana and ohio into new england now. some snow into maine where it is cold enough to support the snow but for the rest of the

region, it is warm. it is wet and here comes more rain today, especially north and west of us. did you notice from now until we get toward the noon hour, how there is a lot less yellows and oranges. we'll get into the lighter showers scattered about for the afternoon. most of it staying well west of us. we'll stay in the southerly and southwesterly flow this evening but then tonight as the front pushes through, the winds will turn to the west and northwest tomorrow behind the front. a cooler day tomorrow. as clouds increase again in the afternoon. this system may bring a little bit of rain or light snow south of d.c. the way it is looking for friday night. those precip amounts look light and then clearing for the weekend. 58 today. >> couple of showers this afternoon. tonight, we'll be back in the 40s. recover to about 50 tomorrow. saturday, 45. sunday, also, risk of temperatures in the mid-40s. then monday, tuesday and wednesday, a slow warming trend but also better chance of rain by wednesday. monika's stepping in here this thursday morning. hey, monica. >> hey, howard. good morning, everybody.

the beltway is looking fine around town but we do have a situation in anne arundel county. route 2 blocked off at polling house road with wires and a pole down. an accident blocking route two. maybe use route 422 and sands road instead to get around the situation. i have a feeling it will take awhile with that cleanup. south of route 301 on route 2 at polling house road. let's take you outside right now. over in college park, on the inner and outer loops of the beltway, we're doing fine. no problems to report heading around the bend from 95 into college park on the outer loop, westbound 495, you will be ok. we'll take a live look at 270 at exactly this time yesterday, we had a very serious accident at father hurley boulevard down toward route 118. everything is fine. lanes are open on 270 down to the point where the lanes divide. more on anne arundel county at 6:00. back to you guys. >> thank you, monika. >> tonight could be the make-or- break debate for the republican

presidential hopefuls. they're facing off in sioux city, iowa. you that is the last debate before the iowa caucuses on january 3rd. front-runners newt gingrich and mitt romney will most likely be the center of attention. >> 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 bashes front- runner newt gingrich calling the house speaker zany and questioning his dedication to the republican party. >> newt gingrich has been an unreliable leader in the conservative movement. >> reporter: gingrich was quick to fire back. >> i have a 90% american conservative union voting record for 20 years. i'm the only person in your lifetime to help balance the budget for four straight years. >> romney wasn't the only one on the attack. >> reporter: 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 undecided 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 that 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. making news now at 5:51, an investigation is underway of a fraternity at the university of vermont. members of sigma phi epsilon are accused of circulating a

survey asking frat brothers who they would rape if they could. the questionnaire surfaced online this week. it is not known how many people were involved. >> the u.s. soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents to wikileaks will make his first court appearance tomorrow. former intelligence analyst bradley manning has been in custody since his arrest in june 2010. the military tribunal is taking place at fort meade, maryland. the commute was a tricky one for drivers in new mexico wednesday. snow and ice caused long back- ups around the city of santa fe. lots of schools around the state shut down. good news is the system has given way to fair skies today. >> time now to take another look at the question of the day. according to the food network, this is the cookie kids are most likely to leave out for santa claus. is it a, oreos, b, sugar cookies or c, chocolate chips. >> michelle fisher wrote on our page, sugar cookies, b. that has been santa's cookie for many years.

>> what do you think? we want to hear from you. log on to our facebook.com/wusa9 page and we'll give the response in about an hour. still ahead this morning, police clear out a local homeless camp after report of criminal activity there and everyone else now needs a new place to stay because of that. more on that story next. >> plus, if you're already dreading that new year's resolution to work out more, one such company is offering new apps to make those sweat sessions more appealing. we'll be back.

5:5 of on this very mild thursday morning. got some breakdown in the cloud cover. temps in the 40s to near 50 in a few spots. we'll see more clouds roll through this morning in the 40s. by noon, low 50s in town. mid-50s south. still near 50 degree readings up north. a couple of showers up toward hagerstown will be possible. this afternoon, spotty showers. with highs upper 50s to even

some low 60s south. we'll cool down some over the next few days. more on that coming up. now, here's mike and andrea. >> thanks, howard. it is really is just around the corner. 2012 is around the corner. it is time for the pesky new year's resolutions. for many, it means working out. oftentimes, the hardest part is getting started. >> it can be can be difficult to stay motivated and focused on a treadmill or exercise bike. we have a report on a new tech start-up company that's developing phone and tablet apps to make breaking a sweat more engaging. >> it looks like a standard car racing game. but when using fit gyms fit freeway app, the car's speed is powered by you pedaling and steered by leaning your body. >> when you pedal or use an elliptical or run on a treadmill, you create this unique vibration. we've written an algorithm which turns it into your exercise speed. we use a front facing camera on the device to capture your

motion so you can steer the game. >> alex and his cofounders have the ultimate goal of making exercise more interesting and more engaging. >> we don't want it to be a chore. we want people to have fun with it. >> they've also developed apps that let athletes feel like they're actually running or cycling through scenic locations. >> your speed in real life affects the speed of the video. >> it is my turn to give it a try. i'm going to test it out on the treadmill. >> i could do this again. >> it would probably make my workouts a little more interesting. travel the globe in 30 minutes. >> some serious athletes welcomed anything, even apps to take their minds off a boring cardioworkout. >> it has something you can achieve. >> if something like this enables me to be distracted and stay on a treadmill longer, then it sounds great. >> while technology can't replace the real world, it can at least make the real world

drudgery of exercise a bit more interesting. in san francisco, i'm kara dubois for cbs news. >> wow. both a fit-freeway and virtual active apps are available through itunes. android versions will be coming out next year. we were admiring her arms are fit. you're watching 9news now. >> we were anyways. the ladies were. >> i'm andrea roane. thank you for watching. >> she has arms? >> here's monika samtani with traffic momentarily. >> what are you guys talking about? >> howard is here. he's talking about weather. >> yes, a nice, mild start to this thursday. it will be a mild day. couple of showers. grab the rain gear. it is not going to be a deluge, not going to be an all day rain. spotty showers this afternoon. the way things are shaping up right now. your day planner, the temperatures are out of control for this time of year. but nobody is complaining. average highs around 45, 46. that's where we are right now. noontime temps in the lower 50s. this afternoon, upper 50s, even some low 60s south of town