while south korea put its military on high alert. president obama called south korea's president overnight and reaffirmed the commitment to the overall stability of the region u kim's death comes just days after officials discussed possibly resuming food aid to the country. the united states was set it's announce a deal this week. i think that deal will go forward. it will probably be slowed down somewhat. they are very unlikely, is what i would say, to give up their nuclear program. but they may freeze it for awhile. >> reporter: before any decision is made north korea has a funeral december 28th. for the first time in nearly nine years, there are no u.s. combat troops in iraq. the last of the fighting forces left sunday morning and crossed

into kuwait. the iraq war took both a human and financial toll. nearly 4500 american troops and 100,000 iraqi soldiers died. some estimates put the number as high as 650,000. more than 30,000 u.s. service members were wounded. in all the war cost $800 billion. some 900 soldiers returned home to fredericksburg yesterday after serving in iraq. the virginia national guard task force 183 returned after having encountered 22 enemy attacks but with no loss of life. a prince georges county police officer is on administrative duty after

shooting and killing a 35-year-old man in land over. his family has a different take on what happened. armando has the story. >> we heard five to seven shots outside. >> some of those shots struck and killed 35-year-old rodney edward. >> like he was just laying back, taking a rest. across there i see a police officer with a gun. >> neighbors tried to piece together what they could. >> why would you shoot a 95-pound guy sitting on the curb with no weapon? >> police say one of their officers was driving by and saw edwards lying on the street. he stopped and approached edwards to see if he needed help. >> he was in full uniform,

identified himself as a police officer. unfortunately this suspect chose to point a gun at the officer, and the officer had to discharge his service weapon at the suspect. >> you know five times is excessive. we need answers. >> reporter: edwards' family said the father of three had lost the use of one hand and one foot decades ago after a vehicle accident. >> a prince george's county police headquarters 9news now. police are asking for your help trying to identify a man who was struck and killed in rockville this weekend. he is hispanic between 35 and 50, walking around beard's mill road when he was hit by a car. he stumbled into a second area and was hit again. the driver of the car stopped and waited for police to

arrive. no charges have been filed on the driver of the car. however the police are still looking for the driver of the suv. if you witness a crash that can help identify the victim. please call the police in rockville? the coast guard has suspended its search for a 25-year-old man who was a passenger aboard a sailboat which capsized in the chesapeake bay. a 25-year-old woman was also rescued. authorities called off the search for a third passenger after combing the water saturday evening and all day sunday. a major snowstorm is expected to hammer the great plains today. blizzard conditions could stretch from new mexico to kansas, some places getting more than four inches of snow. if only the redskins could play the giants every week,

maybe they would be undefeated. >> rex grossman did struggle in the first quarter with two picks, but he eventually settled down threw a touchdown to santana moss. the skins defense picked up eli manning three times, sacked him three times and with the loss the giants are a game behind dallas in the nfc east. baltimore ravens there were san diego last night. first game out for ray lewis after sitting out basically a month. chargers quarterback phillip rivers seems to be coming into his own again. brian matthews scored two touchdowns. and the chargers defense harassed joe flacco all night long. even with the loss.

they are still in the the hunt. federal officials are warning shoppers about a gift card scam that could cost knew a heads up for drivers in northern virginia. stay with us. this is captain diane christie. i would like to say hi to all my friends and family in dc. jim and grace, my brother james, sister-in-law elizabeth and awesome nephew jimmy, happy holidays, everyone.

kind of prosecute at this and cold. we are going to climb into the mid-40s by noon. little breezy too. winds south southwest. >> reporter: maybe 15 miles per hour. we have wet weather on the way. right now here's monica with -- monika with timesaver traffic,. >> reporter: along 95 and 35 all lanes are open. in my next report we'll look into virginia. back to you guys. time for the first your money segment of the morning. i have my christmas shopping all done. got some sleep. >> you know we are all countling the days until christmas. especially wall street. but we are going to get a fresh

batch of economic reports to go over. reports this week on new and existing home sales. also, expect the latest on inflation, income and spending as well as economic growth for the third quarter. and as for trading so far today, asian markets did react with pull backs on the death of north korean leader kim jong il. the dow 11866. finished friday down. meantime though the nasdaq was up by 14. >> we are getting a little holiday present at the gas pumps. the average price nationwide for a gallon of gasoline has dropped 5 cents. the survey puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.24. locally $3.25 today. that is down 13 cents in the past week. a warn has been issued

about a gift card which could make those cards worthless. retailers say thieves are tracking the gift card numbers from large retail displays. once activated the thieves go shopping and use up the balance before the cardholder has a chance to use a gift card. experts say you, you at home, should use gift buying cards only if you buy them from the sales clerk at the counter or the company's secure online website. avoid buying gift cards from retail rack displays or online auction sites and inspect the card carefully to make sure no pin number on this card is expose and keep your receipt in case you have a problem. the tough economy has prompted more parents to write

to santa. the u.s. postal services has thousands of letters each year. this year postal workers have seen a spike in letters from parents and grandparents asking for assistance in buying gifts. the most al service says it is on track to process a record number of operation santa letters. sign of the times but it is nice that program exists. going back to the gift cards you say don't buy it from the rack? because i did that this week. and the thieves are already recording the number on the card, so when i activate it, they get the jump on me. and exactly. >> that is what the experts are saying. >> boy if they could put that energy to something good. doctors are experimenting with a new procedure which could increase the number of lung transplants here in the united states. we are back with that story and your weather first in less

than two minutes merry christmas from the hughes family in ramstein, germany. i've steve, i'm scarlet, i'm britney and melanie. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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good morning, welcome back to 9news now. i think yesterday was the first day i really felt the need for a coat, it was cold yesterday. >> 44 degrees. >> we still had some sun. see any of the flurries over the weekend? >> no. >> saturday evening i had some up north. a couple of spots east of us actually had a little dusting. somebody in leesburg wrote on the window on a photo, blizzard of 2011. if there is whiteout it is due to the frost. there is a lot of it. 20s and low 30s right now. over the next few hours, sunrise 7:22. first we are going to dip a couple more degrees. day planner, sunshine giving way to a few more includes. midday temperatures in the

mid-40s with a breeze out of the south. a little bit of a wind chill at times. 49 degrees at 4:00 p.m. by 8:00 mostly cloudy skies. sunrise at 4:49 this afternoon. sunny and a bit milder. again low 50s with a few showers tomorrow. wednesday wet and mild. temperatures near 60 in spots with winter officially beginning thursday morning at 12:30. right now clear, cold, 31 in washington with fredericksburg 27, 26 at the naval air station. culpepper 27. officially reagan national, 31 degrees but it feels like 25 thanks to the wind at 6 miles per hour. dew points and upper 20s right

now. it is relatetively quiet here on the east coast. it is southwest major storm develop now, you can see the circulation out of arizona into new mexico. there are blizzard warnings through eastern new mexico and interest western cans caps. this storm is going to rage but also track off to our west. other than october 29th. hardly any snow at all to speak of. as this next system is going to be a rain maker around here. today is all quiet, as we get into tonight, stop the clock at 6:00. tonight we may see a couple of hours develop overnight. tomorrow some showers at times. here we are at midday.

temperatures only in the 40s. as we head toward wednesday. that is when the rain chances relevantly pick up. wednesday morning not so bad but look at the rain starting to move in here by wednesday morning. wednesday's highs again could be near 60. the next three days, 51 today, a few more clouds late. a few showers only in the upper 40s by wednesday 5 degrees off to our south. mild still in the 50s. morning rain 52. if you are planning to head around town, things are looking fine. we are going to first look at

the west side of town. no problems from gainsville into fairfax here. let's look at the dulles toll road coming in from leesburg, no problems all the lanes are open through the beltway. back to the maps this time it is going to be on the south side of town looking at 95 coming in from fredericksburg all the way up to springfield it is all green right now. we'll look inside the beltway at duke street on the northbound side of i-395 running at speeds all the way up to the 14th street bridge. no issues to report right now. coming up, into maryland at 4:55. northern virginia commuters plan to spend some extra time on the road. if you use i 66 to get to the beltway traffic pattern changes at both exits from 66 east onto the beltway closed. three lanes on northbound i-4 5 also close today prepare for traffic shift to the new 66

eastbound fly over ramp. crews rebuilding the entire 66/45 interchange as part of the beltway hot lanes project. dc leaders are calling it a major milestone for the 11th street bridge project. completion of the two new freeway bridges. the bridges will provide a seamless connection for residents and commuters. in health news this morning, the lungs are the most difficult organs to transplant. only 20% of donor lungs are deemed usable. scientists are experimenting with a new procedure this could that could make more lungs available. >> reporter: patricia kings bury has been waiting six months for a lung transplant. >> aid number of calls that were viable. >> reporter: running out of

options the former smoker turned to an experimental procedure at new york presbyterian hospital. the human lung profusion system allows doctors to figure out if donor lungs will work before they are transplanted into a patient. >> we have concerns and we would otherwise turn down at the time of assessment at the procurement site. >> reporter: a special fluid that is a blood substitute is circulated in the lungs providing nutrients. sensors tell doctors if the organs will work. >> how the lungs are ventilating, what are the pressures in the airways. >> reporter: kings bury is one of about 90 patients taking part in the study. >> i can't believe that these lungs are in me, and that i can breathe like a normal person. for years i haven't. >> reporter: fewer than 2000

lung transplants are performed in the entire u.s. each year. trials are also being done on this new procedure at the university of maryland school of medicine too. more than half of all middle aged women suffer from knee pain. 56% of women over 50 report either persistent or intermittent pain. doctors perform hundreds of thousands of total knee replacements each year. there is a new study looking at the long-term consequences of obesity. boys and girls obese at the age of four are more likely to develop asthma and allergies by the time they are eight. but if their weight is average around the four year mark the risk of the health problems is

much less. lit's check on the question of the morning. a number of us will gain nearly 8 pounds during the holiday season. taste testing while cooking, stressing out, or drinking more alcohol? and just to make sure, i'm bringing in cheesecake on thursday. we are back with your weather first in about two minutes.

welcome back. howard here with your weather first. 4:55, almost 4:56. frosty early. little breezy. temperatures shoot into the mid-40s by lunch time. increasing clouds late in the day. we'll talk about some rain chances going up by tomorrow. right now here's monika with timesaver traffic. a look at the beltway and route 4, pennsylvania avenue. no issues to report coming up on southern maryland route 4, route 5, route 301. no issues on the ww parkway or route 50. more in my next report. back to you guys. the pressure is on if you haven't already mailed those christmas packages, time is running out. both the u.s. postal service and the federal express say today will be their busiest shipping

day. tomorrow is the last day to mail priority mail packages and first class letters and cards to ensure arrival by christmas. you can mail domestic express mail and fed ex express until december 22nd in order for your packages to arrive by christmas. a game of shadow was the top draw at the box office. the film reunite be robert downey jr. and jude law sold $40 million worth of tickets. the chipmonks pulled in $130 million. i saw mission impossible, it made $13 million over the weekend. it opens tuesday. does it live up to the commercial? because the commercial is sensational. >> oh, yes it does.

steven spielberg talks about his new movie. fans of the beach boys can look forward to getting good vibrations. the group announced it is getting back together with brian wilson for a tour and album. the tour kicks off in april at jazz fest in new orleans. the adventures of tin tin opens later this week. the animated film is the latest from director steven spielberg. he first heard of tin tin while promoting raiders of the lost ark. spielberg's the drama war horse

opens on christmas. >> you could totally tell you didn't want to go. >> they are your friends. >> reporter: new on dvd this week, midnight in paris. woody allen directed starring rachael mcadams and owen wilson. dolphin tale is also coming out on dvd based on the true story of winter the dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap. good morning, thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck. less than a week until christmas. oh my goodness. how are you my friend? >> good. saturday morning i was coming back 270 and from 70 to 85 a