violence in north takhar province was rare but there have been several attacks over the past year. u.n. says this is the worst it's been since american-led forces toppled the taliban in 2001. despite the violence in afghanistan, some u.s. soldiers took time to celebrate christmas mass. participating in services like this one at bagram air base eases the pain of being away from loved ones. modern technology helped, too. >> media allows us to connect back to our families. i've been able to share last night and this evening and i will get to share with my family over the internet. >> reporter: nato troops in afghanistan also enjoyed a bit of christmas with a holiday feast. still, it is not like being home. >> it is difficult being out here in afghanistan, especially with all of the people who are doing such an amazing job out

here. >> reporter: for at least one part of one day, the men and women tried to push the war aside but celebrations couldn't and didn't last long. christmas may be about peace and joy but there's little of that in this part of the world. drew levinson, cbs news. an outside firm will be going through the test scores. the firm is going to check for irregularities in the scores. the extra supervision comes after more than 100 d.c. schools had unusually high rates of erasures on their exams between 2008 and 2010. the review is going to look at individual classroom results that show sig cant performance improvements and have a large number of answers changed from the incorrect to the correct answer. >> back in may, test results were invalidated for three classrooms for cheating. this weekend, campaigning was a family affair for republican presidential candidates. the wives of mitt romney, newt gingrich and rick perry were

all out. they'll be coming up in ads for their husbands, too. michele bachmann's husband was out to help win the g.o.p. nomination. the back and forth continues between mitt romney and newt gingrich. >> hi, how are you? >> reporter: today, mitt romney got a christmas gift from new hampshire. a new state poll has him leading by 22 points over rivals newt gingrich and ron paul. the poll shows him favored by 32% of the state's independent voters. although he trails newt gingrich nationally and in iowa, romney has historically pulled better with independents. a recent study in "usa today" shows that there are now 24 million registered independents and a poll from earlier this year says their numbers have increased 8% over the last decade to 37% of american voters. the most of any time on record. democrats and republicans still have them beat with more than

70 million registered members combined but their numbers have been slipping. and it is not just republicans that need to appeal to voters outside their party. president obama, his 2008 victory was due to a surge of independents, notes he's to do more to win back their support. jim kessler is a senior vice president of third way, an independent think tank. >> they're going to be the deciders, the ones that will pick the next president. they're very fickle voters. you don't know what they're going to do. >> reporter: as americans grow more disgusted with dysfunction in washington and are turned off by bitter party politics, candidates may want to start thinking purple instead of red or blue. whit johnson, cbs news, washington. a christmas day surprise for president obama. a baby put his hand in the president's -- the obamas were visiting military families in a dining hall at a marine corps base in hawaii. according to the white house, the president was holding 8-

month-old cooper wagner when he stuck his fingers inside the president's mouth. everyone in the room burst out laughing. very cute. their goal, they say is to steal $1 million and give it to charity. packers from a group called anonymous say they stole credit card data from a security think tank. now, they're posting some of the receipts online. one victim says $700 was taken from his account and given to the red cross, save the children. staffer said it suspended servers and e-mail and is investigating the breach. well, christmas is over so let the returns begin. this morning, shoppers will be rushing to the stores to get more deals and to bring back the things that kind of didn't sit right or are ugly. >> reporter: the day after christmas may not have the same hustle and bustle of christmas

eve or black friday but you can count on sandra gomez being in the mix. >> rest a little bit. my last day being on vacation so i have to go to work on tuesday. so, i think i will probably go and check the christmas savings, probably 50% off. shopping a little bit. >> reporter: if you plan to bring back any holiday gifts, remember most stores give you 90 days for returns but when it comes to electronics, the limits are different. target has a 45-day return policy. for walmart, it is 15 to 30 days from december 26th. and macy's has no cutoff date for most products. so, while many people will hit the stores for returns and also to take advantage of post- christmas sales, remember the folks who don't have a company holiday. >> back to work. >> someone in maryland is

holding $125 million powerball jackpot ticket. the store will get $5,000 for selling it and the winner will get about $52 million after taxes. so far, no one is coming forward to claim the prize. the lottery director says it is because they don't know or in shock or getting their legal representation together. montgomery county may be getting something the district has. bike share programs. at 4:39, we'll tell you what needs to happen to make that a reality. >> the number one worry on the minds of most americans. we'll explain.

good morning at 4:39. i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein this morning. we're off to a very cool start. temperatures around the region in the 40s. we have mostly cloudy skies in the city center. we'll see some sunshine later on this afternoon. forecast today is definitely going to feature a lot of sunshine but not too much warmth. only making it into the upper 40s to near 50 degrees for our highs by later on this afternoon. it is definitely going to be a chilly week. monika? >> we're going to take a look live in springfield on the northbound side of i-95. good indication of what it looks like all around town. there's nobody out there right now. very few people. if you have to go to work, the good news is you won't encounter much traffic i hope

this morning. a good indication of 395, the beltway right through virginia as well. if transportation officials in montgomery get their way, there could be a bike share program in maryland. capital bike share is already a reality in the district as well as arlington county. according to "washington post," the county transportation officials have applied for a $1 million grant. the money would be used to operate the program in southern montgomery county with 29 stations and locations including bethesda, chevy chase, silver spring, the medical center area, friendship heights, chevy chase and takoma park. they expect the state grants to be announced early next year. a $1.3 million grant the county got in june is intended to establish bike sharing in rockville and shady grove. >> every time i look at that, i think why didn't i think of that? >> such a great idea. >> fun music. felt like we were getting ready to dance. time for the first your money segment. jessica doyle will join us live in the next hour.

wall street closed today! because of the holiday. did gain some ground last week on some hopeful signs of the u.s. economy and the job market. dow climbed 124 points on friday. nasdaq picked up 19. this morning, asian markets are mixed in a holiday trading session. the nikkei is up just over 1%. markets are also closed in europe and in hong kong as they own the christmas holiday as well. well, when it comes to worrying, most people have the economy at the top of their list. 57% of those polled say the economy is most important issue the country is facing right now. 51% say unemployment is the country's biggest problem. >> little bit of good news. there are some signs the job market is slowly but steadily improving. the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits is at a 3.5 year low now. the jobless rate fell in three states last month. many economists say the unemployment rate will hover around 8.5% at least through

the next year. christmas was a day of mourning for several families across the country from deadly shootings to fires but there is one story of goodwill that helped a couple get home from the holidays and it all started on facebook. more on that next.

howard bernstein has the morning off. olga breese is kind enough to come in instead. a lot of people, even after a long weekend of food and opening gifts, they're headed to the stores this morning to try to get more bargains. what will they see as they peek outside? >> they need their coats. they probably want some gloves this morning, too, as well. although our temperatures are in the 30s and 40s, we have a wind chill working. mainly winds out of the north and northwest. we're now starting to see the wind gusts and that definitely means we'll hold our temperatures back for most of the day today.

we will feature a little more sunshine. hard to tell stepping out this morning. there is quite a bit of cloud cover. at least as we get into the midday and afternoon, we'll start to see more of the clearing, plenty of sunshine especially as we get toward the midday hours. about 12:00, 1:00, we'll see mostly sunny skies. definitely have the opportunity for temperatures to move into the middle range 40s. in town though, i think most of us are going to stay into the upper 40s to 50 degrees. across the southern zones, we could get a few degrees warmer than that. by late afternoon, things are still quite nice, even 4:00, 46, 47 degrees for most of the region. after sunset, temperatures will take a tumble quickly. we'll have clearing skies overnight tonight. and definitely temperatures moving back down into those 30s. even some 20s outside the beltway. here's how we look right now. about 36 degrees, well off to the north and toward the west. most of the region still socked in with this very, very cool air. we're not going to work in too much moisture into the afternoon. we'll keep it mainly cold and

mainly dry. our future cast forecast model takes us into the afternoon hours. you can see lots of sunshine. not a whole lot going on here. as we get in toward the evening, that's when the cloud cover starts to move on through. early on tuesday morning. we should have some dry conditions but rain is moving into the forecast as we go into tuesday afternoon and evening. we could see some rain totals regionwide of just under an inch for most of us. that will basically start after the morning drive on tuesday and continue in toward the afternoon hours. then as the moisture begins to move on through tuesday late in the day on tuesday and in toward wednesday, we start to dry things out toward the middle of the week and things look a little bit better as we get toward the weekend. highs today to shake us to about 47 for reagan national. we'll only see about 51 in fredericksburg. some cooler air is trying to work its way on through. it won't make too much progress over the next 24 hours. we'll definitely see a chilly night tonight. i mention the temperatures going down into the 30s. inside the city, we'll see the

20s outside. bundle up if you have the evening plans. highs tomorrow, not so bad. upper 40s to near 50 degrees. we'll see the opportunity for some more of that cooling as we move through the next few days. the one thing you do need to know about on tuesday, the rain is starting to move on through. then for thursday and friday, we're look pretty good as our temperatures get a little bit closer to 50 degrees. monika is this. >> well, overall, things are looking great. if you do have to work on the holiday monday, you'll be just fine. even give yourself a little bit of time inside the house before you head out. the road conditions are good. no volume to worry about. let's take a live look on the beltway north side of town at university boulevard. no construction this morning. things are great. few people out and about in silver spring. all lanes open and looking good north side of town. let's go back to the maps. this time, we'll go into southern maryland, route 5, route 4, route 301, everything is fine out of bondy wine to the wilson bridge. live look at route 50 in the new carrollton area as you head

north or south on the east side of town, the beltway, no worries at all at this point of the morning. coming up, another look at the big picture. at 4:55. back to you. a christmas tragedy in grapevine, texas. seven people were found shot to death inside an apartment. all of the victims appear to be related. now investigators are trying to piece together why this happened. selena hernandez has more. >> it is christmas. >> the merriment of the holiday was quickly overshadowed by a horrific crime scene that terrify those who live at the lincoln vineyard apartments. >> there hasn't been any crime in this complex that they know of. not even a break-in so to hear something like this, it is just shocking. >> reporter: grapevine police say the bodies of seven people were found shot to death inside this apartment unit. investigators say the victims include four women and three minute and range in age from 18

to early 60s. police believe they're related but can't elaborate on the extent of their ties. a 911 call led officers to the gruesome discovery. >> really couldn't hear anything going on in the background, you know, obviously in that situation, we have to investigate further, the reason why 911 was called. that's why officers made entry into the apartment. >> it appeared the family had just celebrated the holiday, unwrapped packages were found as were two handguns. it is still unclear what led to the deadly shooting but police do believe the gunman is dead. about nine hours later, investigators turned their attention to the vehicles parked outside the crime scene. >> they believe the vehicles are related to the victims that are inside the apartment so they're searching the vehicles to discover more details and give more information on what we think may have led to this. >> laura witnessed the

investigation unfold from her apartment window. >> just being terrified this could happen less than 25 feet from where you sleep. >> christmas tragedies that left investigators and residents here wondering what could lead anyone to commit such a heinous crime on such a special holiday. >> it makes it a lot harder knowing that you know, they're having to go through that, such a special day. christmas, to be about celebration and families and not having to deal with a tragedy like this. >> reporter: in grapevine, selena hernandez, cbs news. >> another awful christmas day story in stanford, connecticut where a house fire killed five people. stanford police say the house was engulfed in flames before 5:00 yesterday morning. the homeowners, 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins along with her parents all were killed. firefighters tried to reach the victims on the second floor of the home but the heat drove them back. the homeowner and another man were able to make it out of the home fine. well, most of us know

someone who had to travel for the holidays. one colorado couple had quite a journey getting home from africa. as jeff todd reports, it wouldn't have happened without an outpouring of support from their family and friends and the whole effort started on facebook. >> we want you guys home for christmas. when are we going to see you next? i said it is not going to happen this year. it is not in our plans. >> the reason it was impossible is because jen and her husband, sean, live almost 6,000 miles away in senegal with their missionary. >> we're working in a small kind of like a bible study sized church that's growing and we're developing lessons. >> one night, she posted on her facebook page that if people pitched in, they could get home to the holidays. >> a couple people mate say i'm in then we gotta worry about what are we going to do with $200 that somebody gives us and we can't come home still. >> he was wrong. >> within minutes people were saying i'm in.

i'll give $100. $3,000 was promised for our trip home. >> that only covered the cost of the flight to the u.s. not the hour-long taxi ride on the only paved road out of town. on to a ferry to get to the nearest airport then numerous flights home. >> i lost count. >> five flights. >> the villagers they work with who are known for helping each other out were excited that the same culture existed in america. >> we threw out this idea and all of these people jumped on board and gave us the money to come home. they were excited because that fit right within their culture. >> now that they're soaking up every minute of family time this christmas weekend and american traditions because they likely won't be back for 18 more months. >> just having them here and doing things with them is great. >> my highlight so far has been seeing the rocky mountains again for sure. snow. and not in this order. and spending an evening with my

family at a pizza restaurant, just hanging out talking, having an early christmas party. >> jen and sean say they're not taking the trip for granted. they haven't been home in a year and know they couldn't have made it without the help of so many others. >> there's no real way to say thank you other than simply to say thank you. it is a very generous act on everyone's behalf. >> in evans, jeff todd, cbs 4 news. now, that's a sweet story. ok. time now for the question of the morning this morning. according to a "usa today" poll, americans collectively eat 100 pounds of one of these things every second. is it a, chocolate. b, salt or c, cheese? add your answer to our facebook page. we'll read some of your comments throughout the next couple of hours and we'll reveal the answer at 6:00 a.m. we'll be right back.

good morning at 4:56, i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein on this chilly monday morning. we have mainly cloudy skies around reagan national airport. even out toward dulles. we'll see some clearing later on this afternoon. don't expect too much of a warm- up though. we have a wind chill in effect. winds mainly out of the north and northwest which means it is going to be quite chilly, even through the 9:00 and 10:00 hour, still in the very low 40s. we should make it close to the middle and upper 40s by late in the afternoon and then cool it down as we head overnight

tonight. monika? >> well, we're going to take a look at 66 on the inbound side. no problems to report coming in from gainesville. all the way through fairfax as you head for the beltway. inside to the roosevelt bridge. more on virginia roadways coming up in my next report. mike, back to you. singer etta james is back in the hospital. her long-time manager says the blues singer is terminally ill. she was taken to the hospital in southern california after having trouble breathing. she says james is in pretty bad shape. it isn't clear if she will make it out of the hospital. james is suffering from leukemia and dementia and that's affected her breathing. taylor swift beats her fans for a new movie hunger games. bigad shaban has your eye on entertainment. >> reporter: actor robert deniro and his wife grace hightower are the proud parents of a new baby. the 7 pound two ounce girl is

named helen grace hightower. and was born through a surrogate mother friday. she's the couple's second child but deniro's sixth. deniro is 68 years old. >> actor richard gere is being honored for his contributions to movies and his work as a humanitarian. he's slated to receive the 2012 george eastman award. the 62-year-old actor has appeared in more than 40 movies and founded the gere foundation that gives emergency relief in tibet. angelina jolie's directorial debut about the bosnian war is leaving war survivors stunned. they're packing movie theatres in sarajevo to see in the land of blood and honey. they say it is incredibly realistic, almost too much to watch. >> i thought it was a substantial and important contribution to understanding the war in bosnia. >> the film opened in the u.s. friday. it has been nominated for a golden globe for the best

foreign language film. the trailer for the hunger games is already out. and now there is a new song for the movie soundtrack entitled safe and sound. singer taylor swift released the ballad over the weekend. and that's your eye on entertainment. bigad shaban, cbs news, hollywood. well, good morning. welcome back to 9news now. what are you doing up so early? i'm mike hydeck. andrea roane is off today. like a lot of people. but monika is here with traffic. four people on the road, she'll talk about them. and olga breese is here in for howard bernstein who is also off this morning. when you look at the temperature, 46 degrees here in northwest, not incredibly cold for december however when the wind hits you, it is something else. >> our winds, about 10, 15 miles per hour on average throughout the day today. but our gusts right now, we're seeing 17, 18, 20-mile-per-hour wind gusts at this hour and yes, that is definitely adding to some wind chills for you. so, plan for