you don't get used to it, but it makes it difficult every year. not really knowing what's going to happen in january or what the buzzer is or do we go to work tomorrow or the next week. >> reporter: the deal must be done before midnight on friday or the government will be shutting it down and the non- essential federal workers will stay home. >> just take it one day at a time. we'll see what happens on friday night. >> reporter: just roll with the punches. most we talked to are not worried.

>> it makes us a little nervous, but you know, i think as usual, at the last moment they will work it out. >> reporter: lawmakers do say that the agreement on the $1 trillion plus deal is in the works to avert the government shutdown this weekend. peggy fox, 9news now. >> thank you, peggy. we'll hope that that will happen. in the meantime, congress did get some work done today. and they approved a $662 billion defense bill to pay for the military personnel, weapons, a lot more. and that now goes to president obama to be signed into law. well today, they unveiled a new media campaign, and they are hoping to be solving the chilling crimes that will be going all the way back to 1991. and there are eight confirmed attacks by the so-called potomac river rapist, but the case went cold nearly 13 years ago. scott broom with the latest on the new push to track him down.

the 29-year-old intern that was stalked and raped and beaten. now 13 years later, the fbi and the local police are putting up billboards like this in 17 states, wondering, could someone who looks like this be the man they have come to know as the potomac river rapist? >> through dna, we have been able to link her rape and murder to eight other sexual assaults that took place in montgomery county maryland. >> we have all these cases linked together. we believe we have a chance right now. when the people are home for the holidays, something is going to trigger. somebody is sitting with their families. they might remember something. >> and today, investigators have launched a media blitz on aaron and online. >> reporter: before the murder at georgetown, they struck up this area all over montgomery county between 1991 and 1997. his methods terrified them, ambushing the victims inside the homes. >> in another one of those

cases, they hid the blanket over them, making themselves like a chair. and they went by there. you know, they jumped up. and these are not, you know, typical characteristics that you run into every single day. these cases, they just need somebody, somebody courageous to step forward with a critical piece of information that could crack that case wide open. >> scott broom, 9news now. >> reporter: the similar media blitz helped the investigators catch the man that is believed to be the east coast rapist. you can find a link to the fbi and the incredible detail websites on the potomac river rapist that includes the times, maps, evidence, photos and links on our website on wusa9.com. an update for you now on the worker who went missing in the tridelta reservoir. they confirmed that the body found in that water this afternoon is that of charles ducett. who disappeared on december 2nd while on the managed deer hunt at the water shed. his boat was found, but there was no sign of the 35-year-old man, that is until now.

the cause of death has not been released. he had been the washington suburban sanitary commission employee for 12 years. they leave behind a wife and three children. the vast majority of the unlicensed sellers in virginia are willing to sell guns to people they know that they likely could not pass the background check. that's according to the first ever nationwide investigation into the illegal online gun sales. they found that 63% of the unlicensed internet sellers in virginia were willing to sell guns. >> they could not pass the background check anyway. >> that right there, a lot of people do have that problem. i mean, just between you and me, there are a lot of people that buy guns that way. they probably could not walk into the gun store and do it. but private sales, you just sell it there. >> reporter: they have reported the findings to the u.s.

attorney's office. so far no charges have been filed in that investigation. >> reporter: they said that they will make sure that the irs lean against him for the unpaid taxes is resolved. the irs filed that lean in the southeast back on september. that it is on schedule with the irs. more legal troubles for tiffany austin. the grand jury indicted her today for theft and misconduct in office. and he is accused of adding the employee from the law firm to the maryland payroll. the paperwork was performed at the firm. this is their second indictment in the last three months. back in september, she was indicted on five counts after being accused of using the campaign money to pay for her wedding expenses. well, it has been a rainy dreary afternoon for you and topper, i'm hoping if you go outside, it will not mess up my

hair. what's the deal? >> you are safe, my friend. the the high temperatures, 63. yeah, the clouds and showers. 63 is a pretty good deal for mid-december. here are the satellite pictures, radar combined. a couple showers north of town. for the most part, a lot of us have seen the lack of showers tonight as the skies will clear. at least the partial clearing anyway. still 62 downtown. 61 in good faithers buffer. still 68 out in oakland. so for tonight, showers are ending early, then partial clearing, breezy, mild. lows holding in the 40s tonight. and we'll come back and talk about another system for you, derek, that will be approaching us by tomorrow night. and yet another system will be on sunday. we'll tell you what that means for your weekend forecast. >> thank you, topper. a new plan to get the special needs students in d.c. to and from schools. they will be criticizing about one of their parents. and a big concern for the kids safety. we'll have the details on that one. but first, the final debate before the presidential primary season is just a few hours away. what one person says they plan to say a bit later tonight.

that's coming up next. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. in less than two hours, the republican presidential hopefuls will be taking the stage in iowa. it is yet another debate and it is the final chance for those candidates to be swaying voters before the primary season kicks off on january 3. now, that's when the voters and the hawkeye

state will be making it their choice for the republican nomination. and the race there has taken a bit of a negative turn in recent days. both mitt romney and rick perry have released ads. however, newt gingrich is taking a different approach. >> i'm not going to spend my time with that. i'll look at that in a positive way because we're in trouble. perhaps newt himself is is in trouble. they are showing the recent momentum that may stall. it shows that his support in iowa has fell from 32% to 20% in just the last month, which has moved them from the front runner to a close 2nd behind mitt romney. the nationwide position organization is asking the charlottesville commonwealth attorney to investigate the university of virginia for animal cruelty.

they practiced the breathing tubes down the patient's throat. they say that causes harm to the cats, ranging from broken teeth to bruising, bleeding, scarring in their throats. >> it is both cruel to the animals, and substandards in the education system. >> reporter: now, they claim that all the cuts are monitored and treated for any pain and none have ever died or suffered permanent injuries. and it also claims that practicing on the catch will present damage to the babies and inexperienced doctors. so far, the commonwealth attorney has not said if they will investigate. well, the rain is on their way out and they are bringing colder temperatures as they go. and they tell you when the mercury will dip. that is coming up in a minute. but first, the d.c. bus system with special needs kids are under fire once again. this time from some parents. why they are concerned about the safety. that story is coming up next.

the d.c. school bus system is again under scrutiny. and in a story you'll see only on 9, they tell us this time that it is a parent worried for his child's safety. >> and they are still not adequate, even though they have the minivans. >> reporter: he is no stranger to questioning the school systems now. the parent is raising new concerns about why all these buses are parked in lots and not taking up special needs kids like his own. and instead, he saw this minivan outside his house one morning. >> and that is still good for them, which is in violation of the judge's order. they will be late every single day. still an issue with most people across the city. >> reporter: parents are on edge, sending their parents out in vehicles oftentimes not knowing when they had come back home. >> reporter: well, it's a reliable fleet that will solve a lot of those problems. so now when we have the vehicles that could run the routes elias abuelazamfectively and reliable -- routes

effectively and reliable, then we would help them. >> and you can see the state's superintendent. >> we own 95% of our own fleets. so the vehicles in the repair shops, we own them. right now they are going through the sweep disposal offices. they are using the lights and they are not worth repairing. >> reporter: so the system is moving to multi-purpose vehicles, equipped with wheelchair lifts. in some cases, those minivans, they have been transporting an average of five kids. and we're told that as long as the passenger numbers stay low, that they are legally allowed to use the vans here instead of buses. but after that area, he said that the stop sign on the buses, they will make them a safer way for the children like his own to get to school every day. in fact, tucker, he has now demanded his son to be on out there, currently on the roads here in d.c. but the department insists that the new vans and

the drivers, they are safe. in northeast, 9news now. >> and right now, the fairfax county school board is voting on whether or not to install the surveillance cameras in schools. now, if they approve the plan, the cameras would be placed in the cafeteria and other busy areas. the school fights happened last spring and they prompted this idea. and they were frustrated because they could not identify the students who started the fights, which injured several students and teachers. we'll have the results for you tonight at 11:00. well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. if that's the case, apparently there are a lot of people in d.c. looking through the mirror. according to living social, washington, d.c. ranked as the 8th say nows city in the could be -- veinous city in the area. and d.c. ranked first in that category. do you think women here are beautiful? miami is the most vein city. so there you go. all right, so now, does it make

us a vein town? if we are so beautiful, then we are just good looking. don't hate. i wouldn't hate hearing your thoughts on this. elias abuelazam e-mail them to mail bag -- e-mail them to wusa9.com mailbag@wusa9.com. >> not bad. all right, man, 63 degrees today? >> yeah, great. is that what is to come? >> well, no, not really, but you know, we cannot get blocked in the winter patterns. they will warm back up. and that is your are trend. >> you're exactly right. >> all right, we'll start with the radar pictures. the cold front is still to the west. the rain showers are over with for this system and there is yet another system that will be passing on through to us tomorrow night and early on saturday. now, we're going to see clouds with this system tomorrow afternoon. no doubt about that. i think the rain showers and the rain will be staying south of us. but you can see the front. it is just entering that side, about to enter in western maryland. you'll also see all the rain and showers, even a few embedded thunderstorms. that's the second area of the energy that we'll watch. and that will be rolling to the

south of us tomorrow night and early saturday. now, we have leftover clouds, but again with the front that is still to our west and the winds will be going to the southwest. it is mild outside. 62 still in bethesda. 62 in arlington. look at this, 62 in beltsville. 63 at college park. this is just crazy, really. 63 here for them in reston and sterling and 61 out towards leesburg. 63 in manassas. now here is the deal. we are going to be cooling down. breezy and mild tonight. you'll need your sunglasses for tomorrow morning. cooler on friday. but not a bad day. another chill hi weekend -- another chilly weekend. here is the future cast. late tonight, everything is pretty much gone. but you'll notice by tomorrow morning, we have a little bit of the cloud cover. but you'll need your sunglasses on the way to work and the clouds really begin to roll on in here by lunchtime. that's 1:15. but you'll notice the green blobs here. and then by about this time tomorrow night, some showers

are possible. fredericksburg, they might be clipping southern maryland and over to the bay here. l i think that it -- i think it might be a little far north, but it's getting close to it as you get to it tomorrow night. then it quickly goes out to sea. we'll clear out nicely on saturday and returning to mostly sunny skies. all right for tonight, showers are ending early. partial clearing, breezy, mild. lows only in the 40s tonight. and i think what will happen in the midnight temperatures tonight will be the high for tomorrow. partly cloudy breezy. temperatures in the 40s. winds are northwest at 10 to 20. then by the afternoon, increasing cloudiness, pleasant. a little cooler. you'll still need that there and the high temperatures are around 50. winds are not as strong in the afternoon and at about 10. all right, next seven days. early clouds on saturday, then partly cloudy on saturday. chilly, 46. colder on sunday. maybe some flurries. that's all we've got for you snow lovers. after that, temperatures will be warming back up again. low 50s as we get into monday and tuesday we're looking at temperatures in the low 50s

with the showers, rain and showers on wednesday. and then next thursday, sunshine again with temperatures in the lower 50s. >> yeah, i know you're liking that. >> yeah, that will be. >> okay. now in our weird news files tonight, the activity that is so boring that it has literally become boring. and so now they are about to hold that there. and that will be the championship, all about endurance and focus and the ability to tolerate the ridiculous boredom. if you want to compete, well, the contestants have to send in a picture of themselves, watching paint dry and then that will be the longest time they ever managed to do it. once the contest gets started, there will be a final stare down all over the world just sitting there, watching the paint dry. >> and you need to go way back

there, half an hour. >> you might be watching the paint dry. >> yeah, waiting half an hour. >> there you go.

friday morning on 9news now, if you celebrate with a little too much holiday cheer this way, but that will get your home without the house. >> making a documentary is helping them learn a new language. we'll see you friday morning starting at 4:25. in the mail bag tonight, the ntsb says nobody should drive while doing anything with their mobile phones. bernard says what is wrong with talking on your blue tooth? it is the same as if one was conversing with any passenger in their vehicle. if they are going to stop people, then they may as well make it against the law to converse with the passengers in had one's vehicle. well first of all, keep in mind that the federal government could not ban you from talking on your cell phone in the the car. that's up to the state. but let's be real. the research has consistently shown that talking on the phone while driving is distracting, whether or not you have an ear

piece or not. and therefore the real question is is that a risk we're prepared to live for or in some cases die with? and then there is this on the dollar coin. the government is putting that on out there on the presidential dollar coins that so far no one is using. he says he tried to get them, but he could not locate a bank in the german town area that had them. how are we suppose to use them? and you know what, hall, the problem is that there are no demands for these coins and it won't be as long as you're making the paper dollars. dump that there are and it rules they will save us billions. finally this on the war on christmas stories from yesterday. clay loved the story from dale city. this is their birthday. where do the lines form for jesus? the idea to celebrate the birthday starts 2,000 plus years ago with the birth of christ and the gift to us. 1-0. and also this country was founded with the trust in god. well, clay, the problem is not with anything you say, but it is with what you left out, which is that the country has

been founding it on the principle of no state religion. what we're arguing about is the right to celebrate christmas in the government places, which belonged to everyone, including those who don't believe in the region for the season. mailbag@wusa9.com is our e-mail address. that is our report, i'll be right back here tonight at 11:00. don't forget, you can log on any time you like to wusa9.com. have a great evening. we'll talk to you later. bye. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone.

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