>> we've got a decent day. maybe some showers around but it's not going to be horribly cold or icy or snowy. shouldn't have any problems getting to or from work except for the normal hustle and bustle of the washington traffic scene. here is a look at our day planner. some showers around this morning. temperatures running in the 40s to even some low 50s today but they won't be moving very much with the cloud cover, a threat for light showers this morning through midday. this afternoon does look drier, although even this morning doesn't look terribly wet. much of the moisture looks like it will stay north of us. along i-80, you see the blue showing up? that is snow mixing in with the rain there. locally we've had some light showers into southern calvert, over towards parts of st. marys county. your temps this morning running mainly in the 40s. martinsburg 50 and annapolis 51. it is now 5:00 a.m. monika is walking in with a smile. does that mean good things for drivers? >> it really does.

it means good things for drivers. giemg to focus on virginia -- i'm going to focus on virginia this time around. here is the beltway. the triangles you see here were because of construction on the outer loop of the beltway in the i-66 area. that should be cleared up for you shortly on 95 everything is fiern coming up from the occoquan river into springfield. we're going to take a look live at route 644 here. no problems to report if you're heading toward the beltway and exiting there or heading up to 395 it looks fine as well. further north on 395 heading into the district, nice and light early this morning. no problems to report in the district as well on constitution avenue or any of the corridors. coming up at 5:09, another look around the area. back to you guys. >> thank you, monika. well, is your paycheck going to shrink or not? what's the deal? they can't seem to figure it out. the house of representatives is expected to vote on a bill to whether or not to extend the payroll tax cut. the republicans intend to reject the bill passed by the democrats in the senate. >> there are doubts whether a compromise can be reached

before the benefits run out at the end of the year. surae chinn is live on the hill. it passed by bipartisan support. >> reporter: it did over the weekend but now the options are few because the senate has gone home for the holidays. they did vote over the weekend and it had no problem dealing with the two-month extension, a bipartisanship measure and they thought the same would happen with the house. but that is just not happening. all indications is that the house will vote it down later on today unfortunately. they met behind closed doors to talk about the measure that would have extended this for 160 million americans and avoid having a thousand dollar tax increase for the upcoming year. house speaker john boehner seemed on board until he discussed it with fellow republicans. >> our members do not want to just punt and do a two-month

short-term fix where we have to come back and do this again. >> what we've seen now is stalling action on the -- [ inaudible ] >> reporter: the house is expected to vote on it later today, but again it's expected to be voted down. this measure. and taxes are expected to go up january 1. >> live from capitol hill this morning. d.c. police are investigating three shootings which happened within an hour of each other monday night. two adult men who were shot both died. the first shooting call came in around 6:00 p.m. from northwest at 11th and m streets. an investigation is under way into whether this may have been a suicide. 30 minutes later a man was shot and killed in the 1000 block of taylor street in northeast d.c. then around 7:00 in southeast washington, for boys were shot. this happened in the 3400 block of 22nd street. they are both expected to

recover. the accused white house shooter who is described as christ like will not be getting out of jail any time soon. a judge ordered oscar a mire row ortega-hernandez to be held until his trial calling him a particularly dangerous individual. the 21-year-old is accused of firing up to a dozen shots at the white house last month. he's charged with attempting to assassinate the president. the owe bam mass were out of town at the -- obamas were out of town at the time of the shootings. d.c. police are showing off weapons seized? a year-long undercover praiption. they set up a phony recording studio in northeast. they recorded unsuspecting clients making deals for heroin, crack, -shot guns, even a rocket launcher. officers have arrested 70 suspects.

time for the money report. >> a new report out this morning on the housing sector. stocks pulled back yesterday on the concerns of the continuing european debt crisis. here's the damage. dow standing this morning at 11,766. it dropped a hundred points in trading yesterday. nasdaq was off by 32 points and the s&p 500 was down by 14. the u.s. postal service is getting a reprieve from congress. over the weekend lawmakers passed a spending package that will give the postal service more time to pump $5.5 billion into a benefits fund for retired workers. but there's a catch. the bill also mandates that the postal service keep delivering mail six days a week. the postal service has been considering a cut to five days. and a new can from pepsi has start add firestorm. this photo was ten by an american service member in iraq before he left for home. he posted it on his facebook

page and he says he felt the image depicted a plane among the twin towers in new york. pepsi says the image was intended to show the growth of active cities in the middle east but the company is taking action to redesign that can. you can see why people could see a 9/11 in that can. >> there are definitely tall towers and looks like a plane doing something. haven't they learned, don't mess with design. >> exactly. what do you have for us in the next half-hour? >> holiday tipping. it's that time of year but everybody always says how much do i give, who do i give to, it's a rough economy. we're going to sort it all ought for you coming up. well, it wasn't a fight or a serious injury that halted monday night football last night. >> but an apparent transformer explosion left tens of thousands of fans cheering in the stadium gone dark.

that story is coming up. while we face a little rain, snow is pounding other parts of the country this morning. we will tell you where. keep it here.

it is 8 after 5:00 on this tuesday morning. comfortable out there. although you may one into an isolated sprinkle in spots. we have a threat of lighter showers here and there this morning through midday. temperatures even a milder than the 45 i think at 9:00. maybe upper 40s here. winds northeast to easterly at

5 to 8 miles an hour. better chance we'll get into some rain on wednesday with some milder temperatures. that full seven-day in about five minutes. let's go to monika. we're getting word of an accident on the beltway in silver spring inner loop of the beltway after georgia avenue but before colesville road. the two left lanes are blocked. that's going to be the right side of your screen heading eastbound on 495. stay to the right to get by. i'll have more on this accident coming up in my next report. back to you. >> thanks, moen came. making news at -- monika. making news at 5:09, the body of kim jung il is on display. the son was seen paying its respects. the country is in a state of mourning. large parts of kansas are under a pliz discard warning till lunch time. snowfall totals could reach a foot. the snow isn't the only problem drivers and authorities are

encountering from this storm. the high winds are blowing the snow around and greatly reducing visibility. this apparently had nothing to do with the weather. two power outages interrupted monday night football in san francisco last night. the first delayed the start of the game about 20 minutes. then a second stopped play in the the 2nd quart foreabout 15 minutes. -- for about 15 minutes. eventually the 49ers beat the steelers. >> the steelers had a power outage as well in that game. the redskins, though, are enjoying a little power surge of their own. coach shanahan talked about the team's improvement coming up at 5:23. at 5:49 a group is honored that helps women in a crisis.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it is 5:13. thank you for waking up with us. howard has a flake in his forecast. >> but it's not until monday. it's maybe a snow shower or flurry on the back side of wet weather we'll probably see

christmas day. >> in the mountains? >> maybe in the mountains but way up there. this could be finally some better news for the skiers but for us, if you're hoping for some snow around here, keep hoping. it's going to be a while. this la nina pattern is not conducive for snowy winters and this has been no exception. let's talk about today. the bus stop forecast. just a few showers out there possible. actually through midday. temperatures running in the 40s, even to around 50 or so with sunrise at 7:22. but most of us are just seeing the cloudy and cool conditions. that day planner, we'll have clouds all day. there might be a peek of sun this afternoon. we'll call for clouds. temperatures up around the upper 40s to even 50 degrees. winds north this morning, turn to the east this afternoon. 5, 6, 7 miles an hour but not too much in the way of wind that threat for some showers as i said better through midday than narch and -- than this afternoon and a better chance

will be north than south. you'll notice in pennsylvania and ohio, you see the blues mixing in? that is know along and north of i-80 on the northern edge of the precip. locally i've doomed in -- zoomed in toward calvert county, the eastern shore. some lighter showers coming out of st. leonard to reduce by across the bay -- lusby across the bay here. that's about it. otherwise a fairly quiet morning and seasonably mild. our normal highs are about 45, 46. that's with the temperatures right now in college park. it's 50 in gaithersburg. 50 in crofton and lovettsville. manassas 43. fairfax is 48 and andrews this morning also 48 degrees. the same reagan national with the clouds. feels like 48. the winds have gone calm at the moment. they'll be north to east again 5 to 8 miles an hour and our dew points in the low 30s. there's cold across the country, especially out to the

west. snow on the ground behind this tremendous storm. we talked about that briefly earlier. we were talking about the blizzard that's been going across parts of new mexico and kansas. snow drifts 1 to 3 feet in kansas and some of the snow totals will approach a foot, maybe foot and a half. then the rains this morning moving north of us. i do think some of that may be around here, especially north of town through midday. so not too much to tell you about today but tomorrow we'll see this moisture from the west. that storm as the main storm goes up to the great lakes, the moisture will head this way during the day on wednesday. so tomorrow a wetter day and a milder day. temperatures are going to shoot up well into the 50s tomorrow. today upper 40s to around 50. a few showers possible this morning and especially north of town. milder tomorrow. in fact tonight will be in the 40s, even upper 30s. tomorrow near 60 with rain developing. by thursday we start dry. maybe showers by thursday night. then another system by christmas day.

cool and wet, 42. some snow showers possible monday. there's your flake, 39. >> i can't believe how warm it is. we'll take it. if you're traveling outside though, there is a bit of an issue. first of all on the inner loop of the beltway as you head eastbound on 495. there's an accident right here after georgia avenue. we'll take a live look from our cameras. just after this on the eastbound side of 495, the accident sits there in the two left lanes. you want to stay to the right to get around it and be aware of that as you head out the door. the outer loop is not affected by the accident other than people looking over to see what's going on. so just be aware of that north side of town right now and i'll keep you posted on that situation. back over to the maps, this time we'll take you over to 270. coming down from frederick down to the point where the lanes divide everything is moving well right now. we'll take a live look at route 21 and clarks burke. no problems to -- clarksburg. no problems to report. coming up in my next report, i'll update you on the

situation in silver spring. >> thank you, monika. we want to tell but something that happened in prince george's county when a young girl went to a church service monday to pray for the troops. >> those prayers included some for her father deployed in afghanistan. that's where she thought he was [ inaudible ] >> her father surprised her and her brother kevin by walking on to the stage. he was able to make a surprise trip home for the holidays and hug his kids. >> we love seeing those stories and glad he made it home safely. they won't finish with a winning record but the redskins are celebrating some better play late in the season. plus, the wizards resign one of their big contributors

from last season just in time for the start of this year's season. here's another look at our question of the day. it is according to forbes.com, this is the best christmas movie of all time. is it a, "the nightmare before christmas, b, "diehard ," or c, "a christmas story." >> i can't believe "diehard" is on the list. one viewer wrote, none of the above. it should be "it's a wonderful life." >> log on to the wusa9 facebook page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer in our 6:00 hour. i would like to wish my wife, christina, my daughters kateland and megan and my two sons nicholas and zachary a merry christmas and a happy new

year. [ 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...

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good tuesday morning. grab a jacket, nothing too heavy because we have temps in the 40s. by 9:00 we could be seeing some showers, especially north of d.c. low to mid-40s there. mid, maybe upper 40s leftover. as we head toward noon, notice the showers lifting to the north. we'll be near 50 degrees.

we're going to pretty much stay there for highs today north and northeast wind at about 5 miles an hour. by 3:00 48. for the drive home 46. again just a stray sprinkle. that's all we'll see today. more rain likely on wednesday. >> thank you, howard. the wizards resign one of their key players just days before the lockout shortened the nba season begins. >> we have the morning sports. good morning. the washington redskins celebrated a victory. they talked about wanting to finish the season strong despite the fact they had already guaranteed themselves a losing season. we heard that talk from the redskins this season quite a bit only to see them fall short again and again and beating the giants on the road accepted like a formid -- seemed like a formidable task but they rolled over the giants sweeping them for the first time since '99.

coach shanahan addressed the win yesterday. >> you talk about you're getting better, you're getting worse. you always hope your team is improving even though you don't have anything to play for except pride. you always want your best players to step up and play to a certain level. >> nick young was resigned for a one-year deal. he tried the free agent market but couldn't get any of the big time deals he wanted. he's coming off a career year with the wizards averaging 17.4 points per game, more than double he produced the season before. to college games in action yesterday. virginia tech hosting north florida. in the second half, eric green for the dunk. robert brown to green who slams it home. hokies win. have a great day. are you ready for a smaller paycheck?

it could happen. today republicans on the hill are poised to reject an extension of the payroll tax cut. more on that story next. in the next your money segment, jessica has some advice on tipping from the experts. we're going to take a live look at the beltway on the north side of town near colesville road on the inner loop of the beltway an accident blocks the two left lanes. authorities are on the scene. stay to the right to get by. i'll have more details on the accident coming up in my next report. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. we're glad you're here. it's tuesday. good morning, monika samtani and howard has your weather

first. >> 48, it's mild. >> in december? >> yes. normal highs are only 45, 46. keep that in mind. temperatures are going to stay about where they are. i don't expect much movement. cloudy skies, maybe a few showers, especially north of d.c. through midday. a slightly cooler air mass trying to drift on down today. 48 now. we'll be in the upper 40s by noon and low 50s in spots. again with the spotty shower or two. mostly cloudy skies through the day with a 5:00 p.m. temperature of 46 degrees. we are watching some rain this morning in pennsylvania and ohio and off to the south and east we've seen a few light sprinkles in calvert, st. marys county, the eastern shore. that's about it. maybe a sprinkle towards lucketts and lovettsville this morning. relatively quiet. temps still at 50 in leesburg and gaithersburg. 51 annapolis. 43 manassas. here in town 4. don't expect too much movement on those temperatures.

hopefully a lot more movement on the roadways. here's monika samtani. >> not if you're heading into silver spring. there's an accident. luckily it's against the rush hour flow but it's enough to attract your attention on the outer loop of the beltway as well. the location is the inner loop after georgia avenue. it's in the two left lanes. two cars are involved and authorities have arrived on the scene. we'll take a live look at the beltway in college park. this is running well as you head on the outer loop through silver spring. the lanes are open here. if you're traveling on the south side of town we'll take you here. no problems to report at route 4 heading through oxon hill down to the wilson bridge. in my 234ebgs report -- in my next report we'll talk more about the accident at 5:39. this morning police near baltimore are investigating a murder outside an upscale department store. >> police found a man's body lying outside the north strom. the man -- nordstrom. the man had been shot to death. customers and one store manager said they hadn't heard anything about a shooting. police don't have a description

of the suspect and are asking for the public's help in identifying the killer. virginia governor bob mcdonnell's proposed budget trims more than $400 million from state health services. and it takes away a large chunk of funding from school support programs. much of that money will be reassigned to virginia's underfunded public pension plan, higher education, and economic development. to the-year state government spending blueprint prescribes no tax increases. the senate approved a two- month extension for the payroll tax cuts last week and it appeared the house would follow suit until republican leaders held a closed door meeting yesterday. now it appears the house will reject the bill later today. 9news now reporter surae chinn is live on capitol hill with more on the story. >> reporter: good morning. now the house republicans are calling for the senate to return to washington but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. even senator chuck schumer from new york saying he's not returning back to washington

because he says there's no negotiating with house republicans because they won't budge. senators left town. they raced home after they voted over the weekend on this bipartisan measure, a for-month -- a two-month extension. they thought the house would do the same. the house instead emerged saying they don't want this temporary stopgap measure but they want a one-year long-term plan. unfortunately this is pitting house pebs against each -- against each other. turmoil in congress and a standoff from the house and the senate. >> and we outright reject the attempt by the senate to kick the can down for 60 days. it's an unworkable solution. >> two months? really? come on. that is really do nothing. >> what they sent over was an insult to the american people. it was an insult.

>> it's 160 million americans who will lose their tax cuts because of the tea party republicans who want to hold it up. >> reporter: the senate is not expected to return for their legislative session until january 23. taxes go up january 1. back to you. >> surae chinn reporting live on capitol hill. we'll see what happens later today. thank you. today a prince george's county liquor store owner will learn his punishment for getting involved in the county corruption scandal. he pleaded guilty in june admitting he paid a county police officer to help secretly transport and buy untaxed alcohol for at least three of his tick tock lick or store -- licker stores. he has agreed to forfeit nearly a million dollars in illegal profits. he also admitted to giving money to jack and leslie johnson in hopes of winning their support for legislation

to his benefit. the johnsons were both sentenced earlier this month. do you find it hard to find a cab in d.c. not only because you can't get one but what color they are and how to find one? today d.c. city council is going to take up a proposal for mayor vincent gray to make significant changes to independent taxicabs. it would require cab drivers to accept credit cards and install gps devices in the vehicle. customers would pay for that with a new surcharge. also under this proposal if it passes the cabs would be a uniform color. the idea comes only a week after city officials approved a fare hike which is expected to take effect in february. 5:34. time for another your money report. >> jessica is here with what you need to know about holiday tipping which goes very well with cabs. >> we're paying more to change the color of the cab but more on that later. we're talking about the folks who keep us good looking all year long. maybe they take care of your kids or our pets.

every year we often scratch our heads trying to remember who gets what size tip. the etiquette experts are weighing in. >> reporter: it's the season of giving but giving to everyone gets expensive. alexander company vac is a graduate of the protocol school of washington and etiquette coach and recommends managing your list by keeping it to those you deal with directly. >> your baby-sitter, your child's teacher, your hairdresser, your doorman, people who are taking care of you on a daily basis that make a difference to your day throughout the year. >> reporter: so guidelines for good tips from the emily post institute. your hair salon, the cost of one visit divided among those who take care of you. your baby-sitter, one evening's pay plus a small gift from the kids. your newspaper carrier, $10 to $0 in cash or a gift. house keepers up to one week's pay and/or a gift. cash is perceived as a tip for a service and as such isn't appropriate for a child's teacher. you can, however, give them a

gift card and to avoid getting caught empty handed when someone has a gift for you, keep some small wrapped items in your office and home. >> always good to have a couple of bottles of wine with a bow on it at the house in case someone shows up with something. you can spend an evening bakes cookies and can can cover a lot of material for you and be very good on the budget. >> reporter: no matter what you're giving, she says to include a handwritten note with your gift. it's a nice added gesture that won't cost you a thing. >> times may be tough but we are still tipping. a recent bank rate survey found about 70% of americans say they have not changed their tipping habits despite the current economy. but 16% did say they plan to tip a little bit less this year because money is pretty tight. people understand that. >> i think for those of us who grew up starting their jobs in the service sector, bartending, waiting, you appreciate it and you remember being on the other side. >> absolutely. some of us were horrible waitresses so our tips were

small. >> she fessed up. another big holiday tradition is happening this afternoon in front of the white house. that story is coming up. plus, an area store adopts a european custom to help customers and neighbors count down to christmas.

good tuesday morning. look, ma, no glofers. eight kind -- no gloves. it's kind of mild out here. your day planner, we're going to see a few spotty showers here and there through midday, especially north of town. more so than south of town. north winds, easterly winds will try to keep us a little bit cooler as temperatures again pretty steady. upper 40s to around 50. better chance of rain tomorrow. more on that in the next five.

monika is in. how is the traffic looking? not too good in silver spring. let's take a live look at the delay. that's the right side of your screen trying to get past an accident after georgia avenue in the two left lanes. crews are on the scene. you'll need to stay to the right and expect the delay as you head out the door. coming up in my next report, another update on this at 5:48. mike, back to you. thanks, monika. this afternoon a special lighting ceremony is planned for the national chanukah menorah at the white house. it starts at sundown tonight. take a look at some file video. it dates back to 1979 during jimmy carter's presidency. it's scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with just a few days left till christmas, a popular european holiday tradition is on display in alexandria, virginia. the christmas attic store has turned the windows of its five- story brick building into a

giant advent calendar. the artwork has largely been created by students and some artists have donated their talents as well. the store will auction off the art early next month and donate the proceeds to the make-a-wish foundation. two republican hopefuls for the presidency are in a dead heat now at the start of the primary season. more details on that coming up. >> leaders changing again and in today's heroes central report, we salute an organization that helps women recover and thrive after escaping abusive situations. birthday time. let's see who's tell greating today. who's celebrating today. a very special happy birthday to my buddy check 9 producer amy. have a great day if it's your

birthday, too.

welcome back. if you're a skier and you're missing flakes, we have one right here now. howard bernstein. >> takes more than one flake to make a good ski run. >> howard is a skier. we like to tease him. it's very mild. temperatures are running in the 40s to around 50 degrees right now. that's where the temperature is pretty much going to stay all day with north and easterly winds. we'll see highs upper 40s to low 50s. sunrise 7:22. there have been a few showers mainly south of town this morning. we'll check out doppler in just a moment. as far as the day planner, mid up toker 40s here -- mid- to

upper 40s here. northeast wind at about 7 miles an hour. then this afternoon mid-40s by 5:00 with an easterly wind at 6 miles an hour. tonight we won't drop off that much. low 40s, maybe a few upper 30s. overnight you'll notice the showers to our south and east. more rain and even snow in ohio and pennsylvania. that snow along and north of interstate 80 but locally down in charles county over toward mechanicsville and st. leonard and calvert county, this little strip of light rain showers. this extends over toward the cambridge area on the eastern shore. that's it. it's quiet. 43 in easton. 46 down in fredricksburg and winchester this morning. here in washington we're sitting at 48 degrees. the winds have been calm. they've been fairly light out of the northwest at 5 miles an hour with cloudy skies and our dew point running at 33 degrees. so the air pretty dry. humidity only 56%. a lot of rain middle of the

country. that's still dealing with the blizzard conditions in parts of western kansas this morning. some of the snow drifts 2, 3 feet. whiteout conditions there. look at the heavy showers and storms across the mississippi valley down near memphis this morning. some of that rain with snow on the northern edge that we're just looking at closer to home. looks like the rain showers will be with us here as we go through the middle of the day, especially northern sections. got a better chance of showers in southern areas. we'll go through tonight. here we are at 7:00 p.m. this evening is quiet. overnight tonight a few more showers return during the overnight period. but much of that goes up to pennsylvania. tomorrow morning any showers more likely north and south. then during the day waves of showers will push through at times. here we are at noon. then again in the afternoon. some showers around here and there. might even get a rumble of thunder if we get warm enough, especially south where temperatures will be pushing the 60-degree mark in spots south of town tomorrow. so a very mild wednesday ahead. today upper 40s to near 50. spotty showers mainly this

morning through midday. drier this afternoon. tomorrow rain develops, upper 50s to near 60. thursday starts dry, 58. could be some late showers or maybe even hold off till thursday night into the first part of friday. friday 52, still mild. but saturday christmas eve skins game, looks okay. mostly cloudy, 49. we've had to move that system back a day but looks wet on christmas day, 42. maybe some flurries and snow showers monday with highs near 40. monika, it is now 5:48. volume is building. everything is building. >> everything is building. that's typical for a tuesday morning at 5:48 unfortunately. on the inner loop of the beltway the only good news i have for you is that the accident we've been telling you about after georgia avenue was moved to the shoulder. in fact, let's take a live look and you can see traffic moving right now on the inner loop. a lot better than before. it looks very heavy but trust me, it was worse before heading on the inner loop past georgia avenue your lanes are open. the activity is now on the right shoulder. back over to the maps 270 is

absolutely fine. no problems to report as you head in from frederick down to the point where the lanes divide. there are no big delays to worry about. in virginia on the northbound side of 495, this is fine coming up from 6446789 heading up to -- 6446789 heading up for -- 644. heading up for gaunt company there is a -- quantico, there is a disabled vehicle causing delays on 610. from landmark no delays to speak of yet. coming up in my next report, another look around the area at 6:00. back to you. >> thank you, monika. making news now at 5:49, authorities are trying to reopen an interstate shut down by that massive snowstorm in the center of the country. parts of two interstates i-40 and i-25 were closed in new mexico stranding an unknown number of drivers in blizzard conditions. at least two deaths are blamed on the storm so far. syria's government says it has agreed to an arab league

proposal to allow -- [ inaudible ] the united nations believes more than 5,000 people have died since anti-government protests started last march. in campaign 2012 news, the latest "washington post"-obc news poll -- abc news poll finds mitt romney and newt gingrich dead even. the iowa caucuses are two weeks from today. victims of domestic violence often feel isolated and just don't know where to turn. >> but there is a safe haven for women and children in northern virginia to escape the abuse n. this report, -- abuse. in this report, -- [indiscernible] >> reporter: every 12 days a child dies from abuse. every three hours a family enters a domestic violence shelter. >> i had stitches in my head,

stitches in my eye. my fingers were broken. my ankles had been sprained. my ribs were broken. i was internally, i had a lot of internal damage i didn't know about. >> reporter: we'll call her jane. after repeated beatings they came here, received support and started rebuilding her life. >> i felt safe. i realized that there are people out there that there was nothing wrong with me. they actually understood why i stayed. they helped me understand why i stayed. they helped me find all the services that i was going to need to get my life back. >> reporter: bethany house of northern virginia provides emergency shelter and support services to victims of domestic violence. >> we very much want to work with our families to break the cycle of violence now. we don't want to be arrested and allow them to go back. we want to encourage them and work with them to meet their goal so they can break that

cycle now for themselves and for their children. >> reporter: bethany house of northern virginia celebrating more than 30 years, they truly believe that domestic violence is a crime and it has devastating effects on children. they believe that victims should be supportive and treated with compassion, courtesy and respect. >> do everything we can to let them know that they're amazing, beautiful, wonderful human beings. the abuse that happened was not their fault. it's not a normal healthy situation. we don't want that for the families. we don't want that for their children. >> reporter: during the holidays, food, clothing and personal care items are distributed. the program's vision is to heal, restore, and empower families. >> items that are especially needed include cleaning supplies, toilet paper, diapers and basic hygiene toiletries. if you'd like more information,

go to jchayward.com. house republicans appear to officially ready to kill the payroll tax cut today. we'll have a live report next. can they withstands the pressure -- can they withstand the pressure? if you need a last-minute toy to stick under the tree, one retailer is staying open for 112 hours straight to accommodate your needs. i'll tell you who it is coming up 569:07. -- up at 6:07. you are watching 9news now.

welcome back. we're looking at a threat of some showers north of town here by 9:00 with temperatures in the low to mid-40s across the region. won't see too much movement of the temps today. upper 40s, maybe 50 down south by noon. showers, though, should be moving more to the north but a spotty shower left over this afternoon. mostly cloudy skies. 48 by 3:00. even at 6:00 mostly cloudy and 46. better chance for showers on wednesday. so keep the umbrellas handy.

sometimes a woman just doesn't find her mate all that attractive. it happens. and that can cause mar friction -- more friction when she with holds her affection but in this case we're talking about an adorable couple that all of washington really wants to see hook up and be happy. >> love is a many splendorred think but if they can't make nice, they could get swapped out for a couple that's more likely to do it. >> reporter: dr. smith, a georgetown psycho therapist who specializes in couples counseling call it is a common problem. one member after relationship, usually the male, being more interested in sex than the female. >> usually women need to feel emotionally connected. >> reporter: with humans, dr. smith says, there are certain things you can do to try to solve the problem. >> people can get very creative in the way that they relate to

one another. >> reporter: but with pandas, she's not so sure. >> if she's just not into him, i'm not sure what's going to change that. >> reporter: and neither are the animal behavior experts at the national zoo who are once again trying to naturally mate the zoo's to pandas for the very first time. >> they only demonstrate heat once per year. >> reporter: one of the biggest problems? the female does the not seem to be attracted to the male. >> some pandas mate easily. others do not. she is unfortunately is one of those that does not. >> reporter: in an effort to help the pandas consummate their relationship, the zoo is taking several steps, including putting the male panda on a vigorous exercise program in the hopes of increasing his stamina and making him more assertive. visitors at the zoo had a few other suggestions tonight. >> something of the equivalent after diamond necklace or something in the panda world. >> music to set the mood.

>> reporter: what type of music do you think would work? >> some pendergrass if you want to get serious about it. >> reporter: more news at the zoo yesterday. the announcement of a gift of $4.5 million to fund all kinds of panda programs at the zoo, including research into their breeding habits. >> maybe a little cologne, in caviar, caviar covered bamboo. i don't have the same issues that she has. i don't have to worry about that that. >> you never know with andrea roane. i thought she was going to quietly tiptoe away from that. weather wise we'll just get right to