morning. the day planner today, not too bad though. although we're going to stick to the lower 40s at least until about the 10:00 hour. we'll see some significant sunshine. midday, late afternoon looks pretty good but as temperatures move on up into the middle range and upper 40s near 50 degrees in the afternoon, it is still not going to feel quite that warm with the wind chill as the winds are staying out of the north and the northwest. right now, we're sitting at about 43 degrees across arlington and 45 in college park. again, with those wind gusts coming on through, it is not feeling quite that warm. in fact, bundle up if you're stepping out today. we're also going to be in for a pretty good stretch of cool weather for the remainder of the week. monika? >> overall, as mike said, we probably have a few people out on the roads. nothing much to worry about if you do have to head out early this morning. i think you will be absolutely fine. here's what it looks like on the west side of town across the american legion bridge. all green down the gw parkway down to the 14th street

bridge. we'll take a look live into town. first of all, if you're planning to head across the american legion bridge, very light. both loops of the beltway basically between tysons, bethesda, silver spring looks like this. back over to the maps, this time, we'll take a look, a little further south as you're planning to head into the district using 395 all the way into the downtown area, you will be fine. we'll take a live look at the 14th street bridge across the river and into downtown. very light. this is a good indication of what all potomac and anacostia crossings look like this morning. coming up, more of the same at 5:09. back to you. >> well, die hard shoppers, you're apparently at it again. stores are opening early for after christmas bargain hunters. jessica doyle decided she would watch your money live near the cash registers. >> good morning, mike. we're here in chevy chase in front of the bloomingdale's. that's right, they're opening up early. the stores will open up here at 8:00 a.m.

all the way until 9:00 p.m. tonight. these extend the hours are for what is called megamonday. that's what the retailers are calling this year. of course, the big day after christmas sales are expected to be the third biggest shopping day of the year. also, it is the number one day for returns and exchanges as people bring back those things just didn't sit right, maybe the wrong color. we caught up with d.c. resident sandra gomez. she plans some r & r today and that means shopping. >> a little bit. it is 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%, 75% off. >> i will not go whenever my body feels like waking up, i will wake up. >> i'm with sandra gomez. i will not go early but the stores are going -- they're really bending over backwards to give you extra incentive to

wake up early. now, this store, for example, this bloomingdale's from 8:00 to 12:00 is going to give you some extra incentives. they'll give you some ideas here. an extra 25% off women's boots. also, $50 off men's coats. only from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. across the street, lowman's is doing some similar four hour deals. $20 off coupon, 50% off certain items. those are the kind of things you'll see early, early this morning to try to get you up early and get you out the door. with that, mike, i'm going to send it back to you in the studio. >> that is if you have any money left. thanks, jess. many people around the washington area spent their christmas sharing the spirit with others this holiday season. santa delivered presents to children at the change community center in columbia. a thousand volunteers from the jewish community center donated their time to other charity organizations so their christian staffers could enjoy the holiday with their families. a few restaurants opened their

doors and gave meals to those who needed them this year. >> a toddler at the center of an amber alert in virginia is indeed safe this morning. authorities issued an alert for 2-year-old kaden burnside saturday. the boy was with a couple who was killed in richmond. 60-year-old edward balmer jr. and 56-year-old cheryl class. the gunman fled in the couple's suv and was apparently unaware that little kaden was in the backseat. he was later found unharmed in the abandoned vehicle. police have now identified 27- year-old jamal clemens as their suspect in the murders and in kaden's kidnapping. police are still looking for them. if you have any information, please give them a call. >> virginia voters have to write in newt gingrich's name because when all of the signatures were counted, the former house speaker did not have 10,000 names he needed to qualify for virginia's primary ballot. he's not the only big name candidate who didn't qualify. perry didn't either.

gingrich says virginia has a failed system. gingrich also says there is no clear republican front-runner. >> the central goal for the next couple of months on my part is to have a direct conversation with the american people. there's no point in worrying about trying to be negative about your opponents because none of them are big enough to matter. there you have it. gingrich's campaign says they'll pursue an aggressive write-in campaign in hopes of getting on the march 6th. ballot. >> we have a couple more your money stories. while jessica is doing her shopping, they like to think of themselves as modern day robin hoods but computer hackers got thousands of credit card information from individuals on a client list of texas-based think tank and they charged the moneys to charitable donations. one victim said $700 was taken from his account and given to the red cross and other charities. they have lined up enough

targets to continue hacking into the accounts for the rest of this week. one woman near atlanta is trying to spread the christmas spirit and land a job at the same time. liz hickok used christmas lights to post a resume on the side of her home. it includes her contact information on the site linkedin. >> the lights were an attempt to show my fun and creative side to problem solving. i've had people stop when i'm out and telling me about positions that they know of their company or some other company. i've had a lot of linkedin messages and a lot of linkedin views. >> hickok says she has heard from people as far away as italy but she's hoping to find her perfect job in the atlanta area where she lives. an american achieves a worldwide feat of endurance before he graduates from high school. >> queen elizabeth's husband will likely spend the rest of 2011 in the hospital after a successful heart surgery.

>> the nba season is officially underway! the wizards get ready for their first game coming up tonight at verizon. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] help i need a holiday party idea. mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy.

i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein. we're definitely seeing the temperatures on the chilly side mainly because of our wind chill. forecast today is going to feature a lot of sunshine. we're starting out with some cloud cover. things will clear up through midday and late day. by afternoon, most of us make it to the upper range 40s, just under 50 degrees. it will feel much cooler all day long. we're looking at a wet forecast for your tuesday and then a bit of a warm-up at the middle of

the week. more details on that in a few minutes. monika? >> taking a look live into the northeast corridor, new york avenue at 9th street. this is what it looks like if you're planning to take route 50, the b-w parkway, rhode island avenue, 295, everything is nice and light into the district. more on area roadways coming up in my next report. mike, back to you. thank you, monika. here's what's making news. terror attacks across nigeria end with 39 people dead and dozens more wounded. a radical muslim sect is claiming responsibility for this. most of the victims were killed outside a catholic church just after christmas mass had ended. the white house is condemning the attack. a texas community is in mourning after it appears someone snapped at a family christmas gathering. police found the bodies of seven relatives, four women and three men inside the apartment, all shot to death. investigators believe one of the dead is the gunman. prince phillip is spending the holidays at a london

hospital. he missed the celebration after doctors performed surgery to remove a blockage from his artery. royal family including prince william and prince harry visited prince phillip yesterday. well, he was a fixture on all three redskins super bowl teams and now long-time assistant coach has been given the honor usually reserved for the greatest washington player. that story ahead at 5:50. at 5:36, president obama got more than he bargained for when he greets a military baby. you don't want to miss this. at 5:14, we're ending 2011 on a mild note in the seven-day forecast. olga is in for howard. she'll explain. keep it here.

olga breese in for howard bernstein. weather is not frightful however, it is windy. >> i'm glad it is dry. as cold as we are out there though, we need some sunshine moving in later on today. i think you're going to like your monday forecast although you'll need the jacket going outside because of our wind chill at the current hour. right now, skies are mostly cloudy. we will get there with some more sunshine later on this afternoon. the day planner actually features mostly sunny skies. we'll keep it in the 40s

through 9:00, 10:00. we'll slowly inch toward 45 degrees by the noontime hour. that's when we should start to see most of the clearing taking place. even through midday and late afternoon with our winds out of the north and the northwest. anywhere between 10 and 15 miles per hour. it is never going to feel like 45 degrees at noontime. it will always feel about 5 degrees cooler than that. later on in the evening, we'll start to back down the winds a little bit, especially by that 7:00 hour. that 5:00 hour, down to 7-mile- per-hour winds. partial clearing overnight tonight. here's what you can expect over the next 24 to 48 hours. a very cold and brisk start this morning so don't be surprised if you step outside the door. will you feel that wind chill. we'll get a lot of sunshine through midday and late day and then yes, i am tracking the opportunity for some rain to move into the forecast but for right now, we're dealing with a breezy and chilly forecast for today. tomorrow features a little bit more of that rain moving on through. so, here's how we look outside

right now. significant wind gusts to tell you about. last hour alone, we've seen 32- mile-per-hour winds through leesburg. about 29-mile-per-hour wind gusts moving through the manassas area. we'll have to contend with through much of the midday and into the late afternoon before the winds begin to relax. in all, today will be pretty good. although we won't budge too much from the 46 degrees, we'll drop a little bit prior to sunrise and inch back up. we'll start to feel the cold temperatures through midday and late afternoon. in fact, right now, we're looking at wind chills anywhere from the upper 30s to the lower 30s off toward the north and the west. the winds are not going to let up any time soon. with our future cast forecast model, we take a look at how things should play out over the next 24 to 48 hours. sunshine for today. the clouds begin to move in but not until overnight tonight and into tomorrow morning. i think if you're going back to work tomorrow morning, roadways are dry. beginning to start out for that

morning commute. 10:00 to 12:00 is when most of the moisture will move on through. this is a very fast-moving system with the front. it will get out of here pretty quickly. rain totals should be an inch or less for most of the region. things are looking pretty good. the rain potential about an inch or less for most of our region. let's get to the seven-day forecast. show you how things reason looking over the next short stretch. 49 degrees for tomorrow. it won't be too bad though. although tomorrow's forecast will feature mostly cloudy skies. we're definitely looking at temperatures feeling warmer because we won't have the wind chill tomorrow. so, 49 degrees will feel like 49 degrees. then we hold off on the sunshine until we get to wednesday and thursday. a dry forecast and only a slight chance of rain for friday. monika? >> overall, things are looking good. we actually have an accident. i'm very surprised about that. i'll get to that in just a minute. the beltway looks great. here's what it looks like if

you're coming out of frederick. no problems on i-70, mt. airy area, 270 from frederick down toward germantown. we'll go over to a live look right now on 270 here at route 28. no problems as you can see, all lanes are open heading down to the point where the lanes divide. back over to the maps, this time, we'll go over to 95 and the bw parkway from baltimore. we're looking great. let's take a live look at route 29 as you head around the white oak area near randolph road. there is an accident at cherry hill road. authorities are just arriving on the scene there. mike, back to you. thanks, monika. an american teenager is on top of the world for the seventh time. this week, 15-year-old jordan romero became the youngest climber to reach the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. the teenager reached a summit of the highest mountain in antarctica which has an

elevation of 16,067. last year, he climbed mt. ev res, an accomplishment he said sent a message. >> the message is that if you set your mind to anything that you set out to do, set a goal, it can be possible. >> there you have it. romero broke the record previously held by 16-year-old british climber george adkins who finished climbing all seven summits last may. >> well, the wizards start their strike shortened season tonight. the nba started christmas day overall with a rematch from last year's finals. we have highlights coming up in sports. before we head to break, let's take another look at the question of the day. americans collectively eat 100 pounds of what every second? is it... our facebook friend tina writes it has to be cheese.

pizza, mac and cheese, cheese with eggs, cheesecake. so, my answer is c, cheese. what do you think? post your comments on our facebook fan page. we'll reveal the answer in the 6:00 hour. we'll be right back.

we're looking at a very chilly start to your monday

morning. some folks are getting out and about to hit the sales this morning. we're seeing temperatures although in the 40s that the hour, feeling like the 30s with the wind chill even by 9:00, still right around 40 degrees as we take the dip prior to sunrise. we slowly inch back up. we clear out some of the cloud cover into the afternoon and late day, we're going to look pretty good. 47, 48 degrees across most locations. again, even the 47 at 3:00 is going to feel a couple of degrees cooler. nighttime temperatures will be cool again, back down into the 30s and even 20s outside the beltway. big story today are the breezy conditions. wind gusts already into the 20s, 30-mile-per-hour ranges across much of the region. the next three days will feature a cool day today. still good with some sunshine. plenty of showers for tomorrow as a slow-moving system moves on through. drops about an inch or so of rain on the region. then we keep our temperatures chilly but with more sunshine on wednesday. mike? >> the green bay packers won't lose two games in a row this season and the wizards tip off

their nba season tonight. kristin berset has a preview in this morning's sports. >> good morning, everybody. here is your first look at sports. while much of the nba spent the holiday on the court, the wizards had one extra day to prepare for tonight's season opener. they host the new jersey nets to kick off the shortened season. the last three seasons the wizards have missed the playoffs and finished at the bottom of the division. but with the season full of back to back and some to back games, the wizards feel their youth gives them an advantage. >> the people with young players, if you had a lot of them, you'll say they have young legs, they can recuperate pretty quick and bounce back. >> i think it can help us. we're a young team. playing five games in one day. it can be tough at times but i think it should help us as a younger team with younger legs. >> to yesterday's nba action. heat at mavericks in dallas. this one all miami.

payback time? dirk back to the other way. lebron to wade for the flush. heat won by 11 but it didn't even look nearly that close. >> bulls at lakers, kobe nursing a wrist injury wasn't going to miss this one. derek rose shakes fisher for the crossover to the lane and the floater. nice. bulls up one. you know they're going to kobe. drives baseline. but gets rejected. bulls win 88-87. bears fighting for their playoff lives last night in green bay taking on the packers. it was the aaron rogers show. off the play action, rogers with time. airs it out to a wide open jordedy nelson. makes it 21-10 packers. 8:00 left, rogers, 6 yards scored. second for jones on the day. 5 total for rogers as the packers roll 35-21. that's your morning sports. remember, wizards season opener

tonight. we'll have full coverage. i'm kristin berset. have a great monday. >> a maryland lottery player can spend the rest of the year counting cash. >> plus, president obama gets a surprise by one of his youngest fans. as he is greeting u.s. troops. this is adorable. monika, over to you. if you're planning to head on to route 29 out of briggs cheney road, there is an accident in calverton. more on area roadways coming up in my next report at 5:30. you're watching 9news now. stay with us. ♪

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welcome back. happy monday. good morning. we're glad you're here. andrea is off this week. i'm mike hydeck. monika samtani will have traffic momentarily. olga is in for howard. i can't buy anything this morning. i'm out of dough. it doesn't matter, right?

>> it is a little enticing, the sales. >> although there's nothing left in the wallet. >> as you head toward your car, you will be greeted with wind. >> well, for the gas, too, maybe. this morning, yeah, definitely. >> a little brisk. >> a cool start. it is the breeze that's blowing that's really adding to that -- i don't want to call it misery but the wind chill this morning, so, yes, it is definitely feeling a lot colder than our thermometer temperature outside. we do have some clorve. a few clouds started to move on in early this morning. we're going to get some sunshine later on today but it is going to take us awhile to get there at least through early -- i should say late morning, early afternoon. we'll start to see some significant sunshine. the breeze is going to continue out of the north and northwest. winds at regular winds at 10 to 15 miles per hour. the wind gusts higher than 20, 25 miles per hour at times. here's what we have to contend with for today.

9:00, temperatures in the very low 40s. we'll get to about 45, 47 degrees late in the afternoon. 3:00, 4:00. it is always going to feel a lot colder than that. we'll start to see the opportunity for a little bit of a warm-up into the late day hours. most of the region should make it into the upper 40s. you might even see a few of the lower 50s across southern portions of virginia and maryland. monika? >> overall, things are looking great as expected. no problems to report around the beltway. it is nice and light whether you're traveling north, south, east or west. west side of town, live look at the american legion bridge. on the west side, crossing the river. no problems to report here. it is very light out of bethesda heading south and heading north out of tysons corner. let's head back over to the maps. this time a little further west on to the dulles toll road coming in from leesburg. no problems on 66 in from gainesville. live look on 66 and prove it to you. i think it will be this way all morning long. if you do have to go to work,

will you get there on time. we'll take a look into springfield on the northbound side of i-95. very, very light. right up the line from the occoquan river up to springfield. the wind is shake the camera a bit. the weather may be a tiny bit of a factor to get your coats on. otherwise, no problems on the road. coming up in my next report, we'll take another look around the area at 5:39. >> thanks, monika. white house is offering condolences and assistant after several terrorist attacks in nigeria on christmas day. most of the 39 victims died when a bomb exploded outside a catholic church. [ sirens ] >> reporter: charred and smoldering vehicles filled the street outside a roman catholic church in nigeria where a bomb exploded on christmas day. the explosion targeted worshippers who had just celebrated christmas mass. a radical muslim sect claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks in the country. terrorist bombs, three churches and a government security

building but this attack near the nation's capital was the deadliest. almost three dozen were killed and more than 50 injured. >> you can see so many families gone. a whole household gone. >> reporter: nigerian authorities carried some of the dead away in body bags. officials announced they had difficulty getting help to the victims. the white house has issued a statement calling the attacks senseless and tragic. it also says u.s. officials have contacted nigerian authorities to off every assistance in keaching the killers. the extremists claimed responsibility for the bombing. they want islamic law implemented across the country. local christian residents express their outrage. the death toll could have been higher. authorities caught at least one man who they say was armed with a bomb that never went off. cbs news, washington. a maryland family is rejoicing this holiday season.

their gifts are not from any store. in fact, it is actually a gift of life. marilyn got out of the hospital after giving her daughter, sasha a kidney. sasha was placed on a waiting list of 100,000 people also in need of a transplant. shortly after she started dialysis treatments, doctors discovered her mom was a match. we're told sasha will be out of the hospital very soon. this morning, someone who bought a lottery ticket in maryland can buy anything and everything they did not get for christmas. that's because the sole winning ticket for saturday night's $125 million powerball jackpot was sold in maryland! the ticket was sold at wesley's restaurant and lounge. all six winning numbers were on it. 14, 16, 30, 51, 52, powerball 19. the winner has not come forward yet. boy, what a holiday season that is! time for another "your money" report this morning.

and for that, we head out to the mall or at least close to it. jessica doyle is live in chevy chase with the start of the after christmas sales. a good way to spend a couple hundred million or so, jess. >> absolutely, if you've got them, go ahead and spend them. the deals are spectacular. you'll get a lot for your money. they're calling today megamonday in the retail industry. really hoping to turn a lot of sales today. today is actually the biggest day of the year for returns and exchanges. that probably doesn't surprise you but the retailers actually like that. the reason why is they convert a lot of the returns into new sales. 70% of us if we return something actually pick something up at the mall while we're there. and believe it or not, 10% of total holiday sales happen after christmas, after we have opened up all of those gifts and figured out what we want and what we didn't. we caught up with d.c. resident sandra gomez. she says she can't be bothered with returns. doesn't like to do them but she

does today, plan to do some shopping. >> i don't like. if they don't fit me, oh, well. no. i don't like to go back and return. i don't like that. >> but you will buy something. >> yes. i will. >> now, the stores are bending over backwards to give you an extra incentive to get into the stores early today. they're extending the hours yet again. bloomingdale's we're standing right in front of this bloomingdale's here in chevy chase. the store is going to open up at 8:00 a.m. from 8:00 a.m. until noon today. there are going to be some extra specials. additional discounts you can take off of everything that's already discounted. kohl's opened up at 5:00 a.m. today. they'll be doing deals, special deals all the way to 1:00 p.m. target opened up early -- is opening up early at 7:00 today we're hearing for some stores. other stores like lowman's offering special deals from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00. check the fliers in your

newspaper this morning or check your e-mail to see if any additional sales can be had if you're in the mood to maybe do some shopping this morning. and with that, mike, i'm going to send it back to you in the studio. >> retailers hope you're in the mood to do some shopping this weekend. >> we usually associate santa with snow but a sand artist in india used his talents to incorporate this humongous santa into an elaborate sculpture. he directed 15 people, worked 12 hours a day for three days to create this massive santa. they used 18 tons of sand and some spray paint and the sculpture is 35 feet long. huge! and in hawaii, santa ditched his team of reindeer for a canoe and whitecaps as he paddled into waikiki beach. santa came ashore and greeted the children waiting for him in the sand. president obama is on vacation at his home state of hawaii but the commander in chief spent part of christmas

day greeting u.s. troops and their families. as he posed with one couple for a photo, their baby was really interested in him. 8-month-old cooper wagner reached up and stuck his fingers right in the president's mouth. the president then joked the boy was reaching for his big nose. very cute. military unit that tracks santa had its busiest christmas eve ever. christmas day is also marking the anniversary of a major military victory in american history. we'll be right back.

good morning, everyone. welcome back. it is breezy out here and we're definitely feeling a bit of that wind chill. if you're stepping out this morning, take the hat, take the gloves, take the coat. you might even want that scarf. although our temperatures are in the 40s, it is feeling like the 30s that the hour. right now at reagan national airport, temperatures continuing to drop. we're now down to 46 degrees.

over the next three days, it is going to be a cool forecast. rain arrives tomorrow. and then we start to dry things out and not warming up too much even to the middle of the week. monika? >> it is cold and windy. the road conditions are great. take a look at 395 at duke street. no problems here leaving the beltway through landmark up to the 14th street bridge and into the downtown area. coming up in my next report, we'll take another look around the area at 5:48. now, we have an update on a story we told you about last week. the north american aerospace command annual tracking, norad took 102,000 phone calls from people checking on santa's progress around the globe. that shatters a previous record of 80,000 calls. the agency's facebook page logged nearly one million lights. norad started tracking santa in 1955. if you get bogged down crossing the potomac or anacostia rivers on your commute, at least you don't have to do it the really

old-fashioned way. hundreds of people turned out to watch a reenactment of george washington's crossing of the delaware river on christmas day, 1776, that's 235 years ago, general washington crossed the river to launch a surprise attack on british mercenaries in trenton, new jersey. 2400 soldiers, 200 horses and 18 cannons were all ferried across the river. mike? >> the man who helped engineer three super bowl wins takes his place in the redskins ring of fame. and was it an especially large meteor that thousands of people saw streak across the sky or was it is an ta? or was it is an ta? >> er let's see who's celebrating a birthday. john walsh is 66. actor jarrett lito is 40. chris daughtry is 32 and a very special happy birthday to 9news

now consumer producer stephanie wilson. we'll be right back.

welcome back. 5:45. olga breese is in for howard this week. we call this big weather, olga. what do you have for us? >> we have big winds today. we're already dealing with about 10, 15-mile-per-hour winds. what's getting us though, the wind gusts. we're actually seeing them in the 20s and even a few of the 30s. bundle up as you step on out this morning. we'll have a forecast that will feature a lot of sunshine. day planner will kick us off with partly cloudy skies at this hour of the morning. by the time we get toward 9:00, things are looking much better. sunshine will filter on through. we'll see some significant sunshine. getting our temperatures out of the middle 40s by noon and into the upper 40s by 4:00. 3:00. but with the winds out of the northwest all day long, it will

never quite feel like 46 and 47 degrees because of that wind chill factor. in fact, later on tonight when we keep our skies mainly clear to partly cloudy, temperatures take a significant tumble after sunset and even overnight tonight we'll see temperatures down into the 30s. so, yes, we are in this cool december stretch. very appropriate for this time of the year. our weather headlines though, nothing out of the ordinary. a cold and brisk start this morning. with that sunshine starting to move on through through midday and late afternoon, just a few passing clouds as we get in toward the afternoon. the breezy and chilly conditions will stick with us all day long. then for tomorrow, i'm tracking the potential for some rain to come on into our region. this is a fairly quick-moving system. not going to dump a lot of rain but it definitely will make some wet roadways through much of the day for tomorrow. here's how it breaks down with our future cast forecast model. satellite and radar looks pretty good right now. if i put this forward, you can see the clouds that just now started to come in during the late, early morning hours. then we'll get a bit of a break

in toward the afternoon. the forecast for most of us today, on the chilly side. because although we're sitting in the 40s in and around the metropolitan region, it is feeling like the 30s when you factor in the northwest winds at about 15 miles per hour. here is that future cast forecast model. sunny skies. i'll advance it all the way into monday afternoon. overnight monday, clouds start to move on through. by monday morning, i think your commute is going to start out dry. you should have no problems heading back to work on tuesday. through midday, around about the lunch time hour, 11:00 to 12:00, moisture starts to move in from the west. could see some heavy rain at times. again, the front is moving quickly. it will be out of here by about 9:00, 10:00 tuesday night. we're looking at a pretty good forecast as we head into wednesday as temperatures get a little bit warmer. the rain potential is not very significant for us. we should only see about .8 of an inch by the early morning hours. midday hours for tomorrow.

but even into the afternoon and evening, i'm not expecting anything above an inch for much of the region. the next couple of days is going to look pretty good. fairly nice forecast for today. we're calling it pleasant although it will be breezy with the temperatures into the 40s then the lows tonight back down into the 30s and with some clearing skies, it is going to feel much, much cooler early tomorrow morning. even on your forecast for tuesday, not so bad. with the rain coming through. at least we're shifting our winds to the south and southwest. that means a bit of a warm-up as you head toward the middle of the week. next three days, we're off to a cool start for today. we'll warm it up for tomorrow. we'll keep it cool on wednesday. we bring back the sunshine. the week stays dry until friday with a slight chance for a raindrop. monika? >> since early this morning, i've been telling you it was going to be light this morning. it certainly is. all around town, a few people have to go to work and i think this is a good morning to do it. because there are no big

problems to report and volumes are very light. 95, the bw parkway, a good example out of baltimore. we're looking good to the beltway. through college park, a live look at the beltway on the north side of town where there are no problems to report as you leave new hampshire avenue and headed for silver spring. here's what it looks like on 95 near route 100 looking fine all the way down to the beltway whether you're heading to the east side, toward new carrollton and oxon hill or the west side toward silver spring. we'll take another look at the map. this time, go over to the northside of the beltway. no problems to report right through silver spring and this time, we'll take a live look here near new hampshire avenue and georgia avenue through silver spring, rarely at 5:49 does it look like this. >> another look at the roads at 6:00. back to you, mike. >> here's what's making news at 5:49, a suicide bomber killed at least four people in baghdad, iraq and another 17 wounded when a driver detonated his car full of explosives outside the interior ministry

building. this follows last thursday's series of explosions which killed 72 people. a delegation of south korean dignitaries crossed into north korea to pay their respects to kim jong il. the group is headed by the widow of former south korean president kim jong. the funeral is this wednesday. people in europe are talking about what they saw in the skies on christmas eve. many have posted videos of a bright object streaking across the sky which sort of appears to be a meteor. some thought it sort of had a red tinge of color. >> his redskins defense has helped to win three super bowls. richie pettibone joins some of the players he coached at fedex field. s. >> richie, you see all of the great players and coaches in

the ring of fame and now will be joining them. a lot of these players you coached to have your name put up there with theirs. what does that mean to you? >> it means a lot. it is really a thrill. like you said, a lot of great coaches, a lot of great football players. to be included is really an honor. >> did you think with your defenses in the three super bowls, you might have been up there a little bit sooner? >> you know what? i honestly never gave it a thought. i think it is really quite unusual for an assistant coach to be placed up there. but maybe i'll start a trend. >> reporter: can you talk a little bit about your fondest memories, obviously the three super bowls. is there something else that perhaps stands out or is that the crowning achievement? >> the super bowl definitely for the big -- but one of the most satisfying victories we ever had was when we beat philadelphia in the playoffs. i think it was the first playoff game. they had beaten us on a monday night. later known as the body bag game because they were carrying so many of our guys off.

to go up there in philadelphia and beat them was really a satisfying win. that was greg reporting there. congratulations to coach. now, let's take another look at the question of the day. collectively, americans eat 100 pounds of one of these things every second. is it a, chocolate. b, salt or c, cheese. one of our facebook friends writes i say salt because any way you look at it, it is in everything. anything you eat has a nutrition fact, something listed is sodium which is commonly referred to as salt. post your comments on our facebook page. we'll reveal the answer in about an hour from now. it has been so warm, many spring plants already look like they're about to put out some blossoms. for more on how that will change coming up. >> tom cruise scores at the top of the movie theatres with his mission impossible film. supposed to be pretty good. we'll be right back.

we're off to a very cool start. temperatures continuing to dip down. 45 degrees at reagan national airport under partly cloudy skies. we'll get some clearing in here through midday and late day. that will help us warm things up. wind gusts right now are a big story. we're seeing wind gusts as high as 25 miles per hour. gusts in some regions this morning and that's adding to a wind chill that's making it feel like the 30s as you step out and about. our forecast for the next couple of days, it will be on the cool side. we'll bring in some rain on tuesday and then dry things out on wednesday. mike? >> thank you, olga. well, it is a 15-year-old movie franchise but apparently it is still a big hit with movie audiences. the fourth mission impossible movie called ghost protocol soared to the top of the box office this weekend. its first weekend in theatres nationwide. it opened in limited release initially. the movie starring tom cruise as super high ethan hawke brought in $26 million.

another sequel game of shadows, sherlock holmes slipped to second. alvin and the chipmunks were third. the girl with the dragon tattoo and the adventures of tin tin rounded out the top five. >> a couple of movies made christmas debuts. war-horse is set against sweeping canvas of rural england in europe during first world war. it begins with a remarkable friendship between a horse named joey and a young man named albert who trains him. the horse is recruited for the war where it changes and inspires the lives of those who encounter him. >> the darkest hour follows five young people who find themselves stranded in moscow fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. the 3d action flick highlights the classic beauty of moscow along with mind-blowing special effects. well, many people are thankful we didn't have a white christmas this year. it has been so mild this december that even the plants are getting fooled.

so, we're not just seeing green from poinsettia leaves and christmas trees but as peggy fox tell us, some spring plants are already putting up shoots. >> usually we're not seeing spring bulbs pushing through the ground, daffodils threatening to burst their yellow blossoms too early and cherry tree buds looking close to releasing their pinks before the new year. >> the concern that with the on and off, with the weather like this, that you know, the trees are going to get nipped and then we may have -- not have good spring blooming. >> serving going to be fine. >> merrifield horticulturist says don't worry. >> the bulbs, a lot of your early spring bleerms will send their leaves up even in the late winter our during the fall and then spring, the flowers will bloom just as you would expect. >> the bulbs and cherry trees can't bloom they get a certain amount of cold weather. >> inside of here is an

embryonic flower. this little flower is not going to rise up out of here and bloom until it has met the minimum chilling requirements. >> the blossoms will come when they're supposed to. because the ground is still soft, there's plenty of time to plant more bulbs for bigger color this spring. peggy fox, 9news now. are you watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. we're glad you're with us. i'm mike hydeck. andrea is off this week. monika samtani decided to come in and join us and talk about traffic and the lovely olga breeze is in for howard who is also off this week. we're glad you're here with the team this morning. and if you were heading out for the after christmas bargains which monika said i may be out of money but i'm still going but you know what, brace for a little bit of wind because we have a bit of it. >> still dealing with some of the wind gusts. not quite as bad as they were the last hour. so, a little bit of an improvement there. we are seeing cold temperatures though. we're still dropping prior to sunrise. in and around the region, very