temperature around 57 with the spotty showers possible. you can see the rain that i'm talking about. it is pretty impressive out to the west. some of the yellows and oranges headed up through pennsylvania, new york state. it looks as if once it crosses the mountain, it will lose some of its punch. we'll end up with spotty showers. we're in the 40s here. look at all of the mild weather. 50s and 650 0s in the -- 60s in the mississippi valley. colder air will be moving in for tonight, tomorrow and the weekend. monika samtani, how is it looking there at 6:00 a.m.? >> if you're a driver in anne arundel county, not so great. we'll take a live look from sky 9. this is route 2 at polling house road well south of central avenue. on route 2, a pole and wires came down. the situation has been on-going for a little over half an hour and again, route 2 is blocked off at the scene. we'll keep you posted on that. in the meantime, what i want to

do is show you a map and tell you what you can do to get around it. this is the location right here. route 2 at polling house road. use route 422 and sam's road combination to get around it. i think it will be there for awhile. let's take a look at the beltway. close by at route 4, pennsylvania avenue. no problems to report here on the beltway itself. we're fine as we head south toward andrews air force base and oxon hill to the wilson bridge. no problems on the east side of town here. we'll go over to the other side of town on the inbound side of 66, no delays inside the beltway. glebe road, north of i-66, one lane will get you by. water main break in both direction. coming up, i'll update you on the situation in harwood at 6:12. andrea? >> at 6:01, we get to a story happening right now. the official end to the war in iraq. just a few minutes ago. american troops retired the flag of u.s. forces in baghdad.

defense secretary leon panetta was on hand to lead the ceremony. right now, about 4,000 american troops remain in iraq and they'll be gone by the end of the year. the war began in march 2003, 4,483 american troops were killed in that war. president obama said earlier this week it will be up to history to decide whether the american mission was worth it. >> stop us if you've heard this one before. the government is close to shutting down. >> yes, both the house and senate will have to approve the latest stop gap funding measure by tomorrow and house republicans already have a plan in place. >> their $1 trillion spending package curbs some government agency budgets and limits president boasm's plan to allow travel to cuba. speaker boehner says the house has done its part. now it is time for the senate to act. >> i don't think it is appropriate to be speculating on what could happen several days from now. the house has done its work. it is time for the senate to do theirs. we've got an agreement and a

bipartisan on the appropriations process to fund our government. >> the spending measure had been held up by senate democrats. they wanted leverage in talks about extending the payroll tax cuts. that tax cut will expire at the end of the year if nothing is done. >> here is a shocking statistic. nearly one in two americans is living in poverty or qualify as low income. the threshold for a family of four to qualify as low income is $45,000 a year and many are falling below that line because of layoffs and cutbacks. the hardest-hit areas in the country are in the south and in the west. just before christmas, the city of rockville, maryland is clearing out a homeless village. it has been tucked in the woods for seven years along randolph road near parklawn drive. police raided the camp site after one of the residents was accused of beating his girlfriend. police went to arrest him and forced everyone to leave. >> i don't feel it is correct to have us suffer because one

person did something wrong. >> representatives from montgomery county homeless outreach program will be at the site later today. they'll work with everyone to find shelter. after that, they'll condemn the property. >> today, the fbi is going to announce a new initiative as they try to solve a cold case. the bureau will team up with police in d.c. and maryland. their hopes of finding a serial rapist. the he attacked women between 1991 and 1998. he's been dubbed the potomac river rapist. police will offer a $25,000 reward for his capture. the fbi was inspired to reopen this case after the recent arrest of the so-called east coast rapist who was caught in connecticut. he will go on trial next year in virginia. police in prince george's county say three people were hurt when a school bus slammed into a trailer and they say the driver of the bus crashed into it on purpose! this all happened yesterday at the school bus lot in accokeek. the school bus driver teresa

douglas had tried to get a protection order against a coworker because of an on-going dispute. a judge rejected that. so, police say yesterday, she saw her own revenge by ramming the bus into the office trailer. douglas is now facing charges of assault and destruction of property. at 6:05, the list of the safest cars on the road is out. 115 models get the thumbs up from the insurance institute of highway safety. it is a story that's new this morning. surae chinn is live in arlington to explain why the list keeps growing. good morning, surae. >> reporter: good morning, andrea. the whole point of being crash worthiness is to protect the people inside the car. what they call the box. and so the institute for highway safety conducted dozens and dozens of these crash worthy tests. and so they came up with honda being -- giving them the credit for the most improvements. that's mainly because of the rollover crash tests. they made a lot of improvements on the roof of their cars.

i want to show you some other automakers that made the top list in 2012 by the institute. and they are toyota which includes lexus, scion, they received 15 awards. general motors, they received 14. volkswagen and audi, 13 of the models made the list. ford, lincoln, they had 12 and so did honda and acura. >> vehicles should be designed so the occupant compartment where the people sit stays intact even in serious crashes. packaging 101. if the box doesn't collapse, then the cargo that's inside is better protected. >> if you get in an accident, safety, you have to think about safety then. you might as well think about it when you're buying the car. >> honda upgraded the roofs on ten models and for the first time, the toyota camry makes the list for head and feet restraint ratings improvement and subaru really made the top grade here because they had a winner in every single one of its models it builds. did i this in the last half

hour. i want to mention some of the models that made the list as well. and they are from small to fard pickups, honda fit, the audi a4, the lincoln mkz. we've got the volvo s60 and the f-150, the ford. not one single small pickup truck was safe enough to make the cut. back to you, andrea. >> surae chinn reporting live from arlington, virginia. and we want to tell you, too, there are 150 cars, trucks and suvs on the list. just go to wusa9.com to see if your vehicle is there. the story is on our front page. mike? >> thanks, andrea. we are watching your money! jessica doyle is off this week. we'll continue to do it. the holiday shopping forecast is looking up. in fact, it is so good, the forecast is being upgraded. the d.c.-based national retail federation expects holiday sales for november and december to hit a record $469 billion which is up nearly 4%.

a jump of only 2.8% is what was expected. experts credit a little more certainty about the economy being the reason. plans for the first whole foods in prince george's county are being delayed now. lawmakers in riverdale park, college park and university park are trying to come up with a better agreement on the design and the traffic impact. the whole foods is planned as part of a bigger project along route one, just south of queens chapel road. developers are hoping to open the store by 2014. when it comes to hiring, the most people in our area, it is all about the golden arches. "the washington post" reports mcdonald's has the most local workers. more than 21,000 in the region. medstar health and eye nova health. >> in five minutes, hear from two good samaritans. they rescued a woman from a would-be attacker on a busy d.c. street. >> we're going to hit the upper 50s today according to howard bernstein. it does come up with a little bit of rain.

how much and when? he'll detail it in your forecast next. keep it here on 9news now.

it is 11 after 6:00. very balmy this morning. temperatures in the 40s. mostly cloudy skies. giving way to even a few showers this afternoon. breezy, too. the winds could gust over 20 miles per hour as temperatures get into the upper 50s, low 60s south of town. monika? >> we've been telling you about an accident involving wires and a pole down on route 2 at polling house road it remains blocked there. now an accident in brandywine, route 301 at dyson road. more on both of those incidents coming up in my next report. >> thanks, monika. iran says it has captured one of our drone spy planes but a former pentagon official says that plane is a fake. >> that's one of the stories making news now at 6:12. >> a former official tells "usa today" the plane is the wrong color and the joints don't look right. the official requested to remain anonymous. they said they shot down the

plane last week and president obama has asked for it back. >> the final report on the deep water horizon spill blames both the industry and the equipment. 11 workers died in the explosion 18 months ago in the gulf of mexico. oil spewed into the gulf for weeks. the final report says industry safety standards are weak. and the equipment on the oil wells failed. >> starting tomorrow, your pilot may be using an ipad instead of paper. american airlines received approval to use the tablet computers to navigate instead of the old paper charts. united and alaska airlines already used what is dubbed paperless flying. thousand to a story about people doing the right thing. two men see a woman being attacked on a busy street and they rush in to save that 26- year-old woman. she says she might have been killed had it not been for them. >> in a story you'll see only right here on channel 9, bruce johnson talks with both the victim and the men who rescued her. >> all of a sudden, someone comes up behind me and covers

my mouth and my eyes. >> the brazen attack occurred at 4:30 at the entrance to this public parking garage at 2501m street northwest. >> i heard the screams. i saw a few people running to the parking entrance right here. >> this is an upscale area. everybody including security guards are left stunned by the boldness of the attacker. >> i saw a big guy dragging her up here. i jumped out and i told him stop, stop! >> i was struggling, i tried to kick him and fell to the ground. that's when he got behind me and grabbed my hair and just started dragging me down the ramp into the parking garage. >> 26-year-old victim agreed to talk with us if we protected her identity. >> i was running an errand in georgetown. >> she's convinced robbery was not the motive. her assailant, a neatly dressed young male never went for the purse. >> you watch all of the shows and you know what to do when it happens, i wish i did more. all you can do is scream for help. >> people heard the screams and

from the parking attendant to the people passing by, to the attorney across the street -- >> she is screaming like -- with all of her energy. >> they all came running to the rescue of the young woman. >> by that time, there is a good number of people out here on the sidewalks and he had let her go. >> her attacker fled deep near the parking garage where he was cornered then held for police. >> i grabbed his hands. i kicked him in the head a little bit to try to knock him down. another man grabbed his hand and pulled it behind his back. >> the people who came to your rescue, didn't you know them? >> no. i didn't know any of them. >> i think they're amazing and how often can you say someone literally saved your life. >> reporter: bruce johnson, 9news now. >> d.c. police say the suspect is in custody. juan carlos lopez jimenez, 20- year-old is charged with kidnapping. he was caught and the woman was saved all thanks to those good samaritans. >> it is 6:15.

howard is here and that was a great story and you even have a good weather forecast for us, too. >> mild this morning. temps running in the 40s. no scraping windshields this morning. we're in for a pretty good day. we'll have a couple of sprinkles and showers around during the afternoon and evening hours. and the weekend looks good, too. just chilly. bus stop forecast this morning, temperatures are running in the 40s with mostly cloudy skies. there are some breaks out there. it is a little bit on the breezy side. we will see temperatures today climbing into the 50s. pretty quickly here. later this morning into the afternoon. in fact well into the 50s with south-southwest winds. 10 to 20 miles per hour. at times gusting 20, 25, 30. those winds will put temperatures maybe even into the lower 60s south of town with a spotty light shower as we head into the afternoon hours. 54 by 8:00. 43 in reston this morning. in sterling and great falls. in college park, 46. lots of mid-40s, alexandria

down to fort belvoir. 47 in baden. 45 crofton. and laurel, one of our cold spots right now at an even 40 degrees this morning. reagan national is at 45 with mostly cloudy skies. but some breaks south- southwesterly winds at 8 giving us a slight wind chill of 41. we've got the dew points which are holding now at 34 degrees. the air has become a little more moist. the real dampness in the air is with the warmth from detroit back down toward houston. 50s, 60s, even 70 in houston. look at all of the 20s and low 30s. this rain is coming up from texas through income kentucky up toward new england where it turns into snow in maine. it is just not a lot of cold air to work with. as has been the case the last several weeks, the storms continue to bring us chance for rain and that will be the case around here for the afternoon. front pushes through late tonight, early tomorrow. we'll cool down tomorrow. then another little wave comes friday night, saturday.

maybe a little rain or even wet snow possible well south of d.c. 58 today. in town, some areas south of the low 60s. breezy. tonight we're dropping into the 40s. only recovering to about 50 tomorrow. friday night, chance of showers or even wet snow south of town. saturday though, it won't be much. saturday morning. saturday and sunday, chilly. partly to mostly sunny. temperatures then in the 40s. another chance of rain late tuesday into wednesday. i turn it over to monika samtani. she's got a list of incidents to report to you. >> definitely. especially on the southern maryland side and in anne arundel county. an accident on route 2 at polling house road. that one has been there for awhile. and you might want to use route 422 or sands road as your alternate. down here in brandywine, an accident. route 301 at dyson road. be aware of that as well. if you're combing out of the brandywine area. route 5 is fine. take a look at 66 inside the

beltway. no problems to report. we'll start with 395. no problems to report here at duke street. just a bit of volume slowing down through the landmark area. 95 slows in newington and now we'll go over to 66. inbound 66 inside the beltway, no problems to report at glebe road. glebe road near 66, watch out for a water main break. one lane gets by in each direction. the beltway at route 4, pennsylvania avenue, no problems to report here as you head down toward oxon hill and the wilson bridge, the lanes are open. coming up, another look at area incidents at 6:25. back to you guys. time to check the morning lights! all month long, we're showing off your holiday displays. >> we go to dale city, virginia. this video sent in by barbara and jerry eller. nice display there. even a reindeer. lit up. right -- right there. got it. great job, guys. >> there is still plenty of

time to get your holiday lights on the air. ex mail us a picture or video. the address is lights at wusa9.com. you can post it to our facebook page. be sure to include your name and where you live. >> the capitals head to the great white north and you can learn what $27 billion gets you in the nfl these days. >> right now, it is time for another check on our question of the morning. which of these cookies is a kid most likely to leave out for santa claus? is it oreos, sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies? >> kim says otherios, no way. homemade sugar cookies only. it is practically a rule. my granddaughter insists the reindeer like oatmeal so she leaves oatmeal for the hard working reindeer. >> we'll reveal the answer at 6:53.

at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible.

welcome back. a mild thursday morning. light jacket. not the heavy stuff. don't need the heavy gloves. don't need the earmuffs or the ice scraper with temperatures mostly in the 40s. you might need an umbrella because the day planner has that threat for showers this afternoon. we'll see some spotty showers here. but very mild for this time of year. low 50s by noon. highs upper 50s to low 60s. little breezy also. andrea? >> thank you, howard. in sports, the capitals will try to jump back into second place in their division. >> they take on second place team tonight, the winnipeg jets. the puck drops at 8:30 tonight. >> in college basketball, maryland hosted florida international last night. the terps weren't taking their opponent seriously in the first half. jeremy allen hit a three- pointer for fyu with 90 seconds left. that put the terps behind by 11. maryland was able to stage a second half rally. fyu went cold late in the game. terps win a close one, 65-61.

maryland hosts radford next friday. so, just what does $27 billion buy you in the world of sports these days? >> it gets. >> nine-year television contract with the nfl. the league announced a deal with cbs, fox and nbc, each one will pay a billion dollars to extend their deals with the nfl through 2022. that's a $27 billion total deal. still see most asc games right here on channel 9 as well as a few super bowls. the deal could include more thursday night games, too. our time is 6:25. still ahead, marion barry and the i.r.s. the new developments in the d.c. councilman's on-going tax troubles. santa owns his team but you can rent reindeer! coming up, how much these babies will cost you. >> right now, monika has a quick check on traffic. >> thank you so much, andrea. live look from sky 9 right now.

in the southern maryland area, route 301 and route 5 as you head for the beltway. an accident on route 301. more on area roadways coming up in my next report. you're watching 9news now. stay with us.

this is always the place to get your weather first. here is a live look at the national archives. 45 degrees there right now. look at the flag uplifted with a bit of a breeze underneath. today is the 220th anniversary of the bill of rights housed there at the archives. and what a special day this will be, a group of 20 people from 18 different countries will be sworn in at the national archives today. as new american citizens! >> always exciting. thanks for starting your day with us. i'm mike hydeck. >> i'm andrea roane. meteorologist howard bernstein is live on the weather terrace this morning with our forecast and nice, mild start to the day. >> for december, temperatures in the 40s. this is what our normal high should be. we're going to have a warm day, relative for the time of year. it is a little chilly with the breeze. some of the wind chills are down in the 30s. very light gloves on this morning. our day planner, we've got some breaks in the cloud cover this morning. we're seeing the moon pretty

well. by noon, i think we'll be mostly cloudy to cloudy. spotty showers this afternoon. not going to rain everywhere. it won't be an all day rain or all afternoon rain with highs upper 50s to low 60s south of washington. there is all of the rain out to the west. it is going to lose a little as it crosses the mountains and comes out toward us. we're looking at the showers. quick look at temperatures before we go inside. look at the readings, mid 40s in town. look at the warm weather like st. louis. that's here for today. colder weather on the way. tell you more about that in a few. here's monika, timesaver traffic. >> good morning, everybody. we've got an accident now in the greenbelt area. southbound bw parkway, just inside the beltway. it has just been moved to the shoulder but it caused heavy traffic trying to get inside the beltway. slow traffic as well on route 50. that's just normal for this time of the morning trying to get through the beltway and in through the cheverly area.

let's go on the other side of town on the american legion bridge, things are fine here. i just got word if you are heading into virginia in the reston area, there is a truck fire on north shore drive. that's just south of barren cameron avenue. authorities are on the scene. we'll go over to 270 on the southbound side and montrose road. overall delays, they pretty much extend to route 121 before the pace improves through rockville and the point where the lanes divide. coming up, another look around the area at 6:45. back to you guys. >> after nearly nine years, the iraq war is officially over. >> it was the second longest war in u.s. history. >> this was the scene at a small ceremony today in baghdad. it happened about an hour ago. nearly 4500 americans have been killed in the war. and over 32,000 injured. defense secretary leon panetta says iraq has a democratically elected government and is now directly responsible for its

own security. your dream of an independent and sovereign iraq is now a reality. >> reporter: the remaining 4,000 or so troops will be home by the end of the year. yesterday, president obama thanked soldiers during his visit to fort bragg. former prisoner of war jessica lynch wraps up her student teaching today as she prepares to graduate from college tomorrow. she was taken prisoner in iraq during an ambush in 2003. u.s. special forces rescued her several days later. lynch joined the army at age 18 to earn money for college and become a teacher. tomorrow, the 28-year-old mom graduates from west virginia university with a degree in education. so, are you in the market for a new car? local safety group is out with its list of the safest models to protect you and your family. surae chinn is living in arlington, virginia, with this year's top picks. boy, there sure are quite a few of them. good morning, surae. >> reporter: good morning. there are a lot on the list. i want to name a few of them.

the kia optima, volkswagen jetta, we've got the ford explorer. hyundai santa fe and you know, there were two, the most popular midsize cars didn't make it last year but they made it this time around and it seems that all automakers really stepped up their game when it comes to safety protection. >> the institute launched the top safety pick award for crash test performance back in 2005. only 11 models made the initial cut. now, consumers have more than 100 models to choose from and the requirements to win the top pick are much tougher than they were back in 2005. >> now, the institute went on to pick the top safety picks of 2012. they are the toyota which includes the lexus and scion which they received 15 awards. general motors, 14. volkswagen and audi had 13 awarded to them. ford and lincoln had 12. and so did honda and acura. the insurance institute for highway safety conducted dozens

of these crashes. crash tests to make up the 115 winners. the reward recognizing vehicles that do the very job in safety protection. they are crash tests from the front, rear, side and especially the rollover. you can imagine crashing all of those cars, that should have been a lot of fun. 115 made the list this year. back to you, mike. >> thank you, surae live in arlington. you can see the entire list to see if your car is on it on wusa9.com. more tax troubles for marion barry. this morning's "washington post" reports the i.r.s. filed a lien against a home owned by barry. it is the one on orange street in southeast. d.c. councilman reportedly owes $3200 in unpaid income taxes for 2010. his attorney says barry's estranged wife lived in the home and he does not. right now, the former mayor is repaying federal and district government taxes dating back to 1999. should principals be allowed to install surveillance cameras inside their high

schools? fairfax county school board's expected to take up the issue later today. some principals say cameras could help curb fights and drug dealing. many campuses already have exterior surveillance. a formal vote on the issue could happen in just a few weeks. high school students can get a college scholarship just for tweeting. the contest called free to tweet opens today to students between the ages of 14 and 22. there are $5,000 scholarships being given out to students who tweet about their right to free speech. to enter, make sure your tweet includes the hash tag free to tweet. learn more about it on the front page at wusa9.com. >> that's a neat story. >> it is. in 140 characters. >> you can do it i guess. >> santa has eight reindeer pulling his sleigh. nine if you count rudolph. >> chances are you have zero. as heather kovar explains, you can always rent one. >> these reindeer aren't from

the north pole. they live on a farm two hours north of london. this holiday season, they're sought off guests at posh a- list parties. the deer seem to make spirits bright. >> with reindeer, they love the animals. i think that really brings in the magic. >> angie flint and her husband, martin run a reindeer rental business. ing they hoof to whatever location the party demands. >> a lot of the reindeer bookings are coming from here in central london, even the prime minister brought a few to 10 downing street. >> they entertain children at a charity event. >> the flint dressed as elves volunteered their time. david cameron's little helpers attended another party he hosted a few nights ago. the baubles on the christmas tree mesmerized one reindeer. >> s sales this year are up 25%. what has been a difficult

trading year. >> the price tag for a reindeer visit starts at around $1,000. heather kovar for cbs news, london. time now, 6:38 on the nose. coming up in nine minutes, the top consumer stories of 2011 and a lot of them have to do with us powering ourselves. >> you may need an umbrella by tonight. highs will be in the upper 50s. a look ahead to the weekend when 9news now returns. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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experts at cornell university say we have a 10% chance of an inch of snow or more on the ground by december 25th. and that's facing a 50-year average. a 12% chance in baltimore. 34% in pittsburgh and if you want snow, this is the place to go. 68% chance up in syracuse, new york. we'll see some snow in the mountains. we already have some. >> in december of '09, we had seven inches. we had such a snowy start to that year. before then, i don't think we had any snow until 2002. so if you're a gambler, that -- that 10% doesn't mean this year. that is statistically averaging it out. this year, the chance of a white christmas is 2% or less. the pattern is not conducive.

2% might be optimistic the way it is going, snow lovers, sorry about that. here's your bus stop forecast. temperatures this morning, they're on the mild side. some wind chills are down in the 30s. we've got partly to mostly cloudy skies. it is a dry morning out there. our day planner calling for a little sun early but otherwise, really a mostly cloudy day with a few showers. you'll see temperatures there getting into the 50s. jeff, let's get the camera back here if we can. winds south to southwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour. as we go through the afternoon with some gusts going up toward 30. here with the weather headlines. we've got a dry morning commute today. we've got readings which will really reach toward the 50s if not low 60s this afternoon. we've got a few showers as well as we get into the afternoon. police ant but cooler -- pleasant but cooler tomorrow. temperatures tomorrow will be around 50. dry tomorrow night into

saturday morning. could be rain or snow south of town. light. generally, it is chilly and dry. weekend ahead. as we look at temperatures this morning, you'll notice the readings into the mid to upper 40s. this is what our highs should be for this time of year. we've got some 30s in cumberland right now. that's about it. it is a relatively quiet morning out there. set temps in the 40s. 45 at reagan national. a little bit of a breeze. south-southwest winds at 8 giving us a wind chill of 41. later this morning into the afternoon, winds could gust over 20 miles per hour. that will be one of the negatives in what will be a pretty decent day. a lot of rain from kentucky into ohio. this is going to be coming through during the afternoon. some spotty showers as well. and then chillier and dry for your weekend. here is a look at the forecast. today, 58 degrees. spotty shower this afternoon. lower 60s down south of washington. tomorrow, 50. breezy. tomorrow night, more clouds though. we'll see increasing clouds in the afternoon. maybe a shower south of town.

saturday, 45. sunday, 44. next week, another chance of rain as we head monday into tuesday. monika, over to you. >> we'll take a live look from sky 9 right now. this is the dulles toll road. near reston and hunter mill road. just your normal slow traffic off and on for you as you leave leesburg in toward reston and in toward the beltway. we'll take a live look at 66. overall delays on 66, you'll find them in manassas as you head toward centreville. let's also take a live look at i-95 on the northbound side. you've got delays normal again as you head from dale city, it will be off and on as you head toward lorton and then again here in springfield. 395 is slow from the beltway most of the way to edsall road. coming up, let's also take a look at a graphic. marc, penn line delays, number 404 is running 30 minutes late. another look around the area at 6:58. mike, back to you.

just about 6:47. thank you, monika. jessica is off this week. however, we're still watching your money. what do you think are the biggest stories that affected your wallet this year? joining us to talk about it is mike from kiplinger.com. in fact, he was able to narrow it down to the top eight. there were quite a few stories. let's start with the one that's a hot topic right now, the payroll tax break which helps lots of americans. it may go away. was that a big impact on people's budgets? >> was in 2011. if you were a family making $50,000 a year, you kept an extra $1,000 thanks to the payroll tax holiday. it was able to go to bills or fund tuition. it was able to fund retirement accounts. it had a big impact on your wallet. >> we've had reports that more and more people keep paying down debt. maybe it went toward that. one of the other things we talked about, as we were leading up to it, the wonderful bank fees. >> yes. >> that it really caused quite a stir. that was one of the big issues as far as affecting consumer's wallets as well, right?

>> a bunch of the big banks came out and they said we're going to charge you $5 a month for the privilege of having a debit card. consumers said no. and you know, it is not much but it is $60 a year you're not paying because of the backlash against the banks. >> people deciding we don't want to do that. >> that was interesting, i thought. >> among the others we talked about. the stock market swings made a big impact. >> if you were in the stock market, you know that. the s&p 500 index very widely followed more than 60 times this year, it swung plus or minus 2%. that usually happens maybe a handful of times during a normal year. it gives you an idea. the irony is the s&p, the dow are probably the about the same place they were when we started the year. >> isn't that amazing considering the highs and lows we've had. 12,000 mark. remember breaking the 10,000 mark was a big sigh of relief for a lot of investors. now we're flirting with the 12,000 mark. among the other things you talk about in the top eight, tuition was a big one.

>> tuition costs are up yet again for the 2011-2012 academic year. we're talking about another 6% increase for public colleges. right now, student loan debt in total is over a trillion dollars. >> a trillion dollars. >> yep. >> now the president was talking about trying to help students refinance that over time. you still end up paying it back. >> you try to take some off your balance sheet in the interim. >> the white house is trying to work up different proposals to help students who are very much in debt. >> well, there are, as they were able to narrow it down, mike from kiplinger.com, eight of the top things that affected your wallet. we'll have them on kiplinger.com and on wusa9.com. thanks for joining us, mike. >> glad to be here. >> the news before you go is coming up next.

it is 6:52. mild out there. we're at 45 right now. we're going into the 50s by

noon with mostly cloudy to cloudy skies. this afternoon, some spotty showers. highs upper 50s in town. some low 60s southern suburbs. we'll have some cooler weather moving in by the weekend. andrea? >> thank you, howard. today is thursday, december 15th. here is a check on the news before you go. occupy protestors will march this morning from mcpherson square to the capital. they'll be joined by religious leaders who support their push for changes on wall street. the march begins at 10:00 a.m. d.c. councilman harry thomas has settled a lawsuit over student loans. he will repay his debt. it dates back to the 1980s. early this month, federal agents raided thomas' home after he admitted to funneling $300,000 of public funds for kids into some groups he headed. the town of ed monson, maryland will be honor today for creating jobs and helping the environment. federal officials will be in the community of edmonston to celebrate the green street project. it cleaned the anacostia river and created 70 jobs.

news of a school closure in anne arun dull county, maryland. a crash on route 2 has knocked out power to southern high school so it will be closed today. >> and now, it is time to reveal the answer to our question of the morning. which of these cookies is a kid most likely to leave out for santa claus. is it oreos, sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies? >> the answer is oreos! what? no way! i would have bet sugar cookies by a mile. >> i bet it is the one with the mint filling. >> we have one more check on traffic and weather next here on 9news now.

one more thing before you go. definitely in recent memory, if not maybe in u.s. history, do you remember this many debates leading up to a primary? the republican primary is what we're talking about. >> not even the last time. we had two candidates. did we have this many debates going. people are watching. that's the main thing. >> donald trump weighing in on he wants to moderate a debate and possibly become a candidate. this is one of the strangest primary seasons i've ever seen in my short time covering politics over the last couple of decades. >> it is fun to watch and it is more fun than with a we see on "saturday night live" sometimes. the leaders have changed with every debate. >> who's the front-runner of the week sort of thing. the interesting thing our producer dan told us about is the governor of iowa is concerned it is sort of watering down the impact his state has. i think that's an interesting side note. >> the focus will be put back on iowa with tonight's debate and three weeks left of their

caucuses. >> breaks out there. a neat sunrise in spots. we'll have mostly cloudy to cloudy skies. even a few showers this afternoon. mild and breezy. upper 50s to low 60s, tomorrow, 50. by tomorrow night, overnight, maybe a little rain or snow well south of town, not a big deal and chilly this weekend. monika? >> our fantastic sky 9 pilot found this accident on the outer loop of the beltway right after the dulles toll road. a car, a van and a tractor trailer involved along the right side. this is southbound 495. we'll take a look at the american legion bridge. canal road at arizona avenue will be closed from 10:00 to 2:00 today for storm drain cleaning as well. quick look at 395, delays beltway to past duke street. >> "the early show" is next with more on the official end of the war in iraq. golden globe nominations are revealed. >> howard and i will be back in 25 minutes with a live update on traffic and weather. >> you can check out wusa9.com for the very latest. have a great day. we'll see you tomorrow