home court in chinatown. kristen fisher. 9news now. the tip for continue's game just after 7:00 p.m. you can probably get tickets as well. kristen is there with a preview coming up later in sports. the christmas holiday has now come and gone with no sign of a blind man who mysteriously disappeared while on an amtrak train from washington a week and a half ago. mitchell malik smith's family hoped he would contact them somehow over the holidays, but nobody called. scott broom is with that anxious family tonight. none of the callers have the information this family wants. >> he is completely blind. >> where is 33-year-old mitchell malik smith? a vulnerable adult who is 100% blind and hat not been seen by his family since leaving here december 16th? >> if he is okay, he will call. >> reporter: grandmother madeleine smith says mitchell

left washington's union station on an amtrak train. he was seen getting off that train during a stop in charlotte, north carolina. apparently confused about a connection to birmingham. blindness not helping at all. >> the confusion when they told him evidently he would have to wait and catch another train and go to birmingham, he said send me back to dc. amtrak said they put him on a train back to dc. >> reporter: smith, who carries a red and white cane, but no cell phone, has not been heard from. the family is terrified, especially since he was carrying cash. police are taking the lead in the investigation. family in two states in maryland and in alabama are also looking for him. so far there has been no sign. scott broom, 9news now.

his family really wants to find him. if you have information, you can find a links authority in north carolina on our website wusa 9.com. today family and friends of allen broach gathered outside the cuban complex in dc. the government contractor has been held in cuba for two years now, accused of trying to undermine the stability of that government. fire investigators are still trying to find out what started the flames at a home in an ford, connecticut that left five people dead. neighbors could hear the screams of a mother trying to save her three daughters who were stuck on the second floor of the home. >> reporter: crews tore down a connecticut home where three

children and their grandparents died christmas morning. the fire gutted the victorian style home that sits along the long island sound. a well-known advertising executive madonna badger, owns the home and escaped, along with a contractor who was helping with the renovation. but badger's three daughters and her parents could not get out. her father died in the fire after spending christmas eve working at santa claus in new york city at saks fifth avenue. >> you would hope everybody could have gotten out. >> reporter: monday neighbors dropped off flowers for the victims while investigators worked to figure out what sparked the deadly fire.

the iowa caucuses are just over a week away. presidential hopefuls are in full campaign mode. candidates are looking to grab the overwhelming number of undecided voters so far. mitt romney is already airing a new campaign ad. john huntsman is focusing all his efforts in new hampshire. it holds its primary on january 10th one week after the iowa caucus. 2.5 million americans have left their political parties.

these people could be game change enters have a big impact on the 2012 elections. >> reporter: it is going to make a big difference because a lot of the shifts affect key battleground states. us atoday conducted the survey. we talked to folks ourselves and got our own informal poll. we even talked to a formal presidential candidate who weighed in on the debate. >> reporter: on a gusty winter kay outside the white house. >> people are lost a lot of trust. >> reporter: the weather isn't the whole chill in the area. a recent poll suggests political winds are shifting too. >> a lot of people are suffering, out of work and they don't care about democrat or republican, they just want answers. in the history of america the incumbent's party has always lost a little support in the

middle election e. >> when i first came to congress i came there and i saw the system. the system is failing the american people. >> reporter: the eight swing states that have seen the digest democrat disappearing acts, colorado, florida, nevada, new hampshire, new mexico, north carolina and pennsylvania. >> i think the political state it is, everybody is scared. >> mostly i blame the republicans. they are willing to take down the entire country and the economy just to make sure obama doesn't get reelected. >> what you saw happen with the house last week was interesting. they were trying to get a year deal. somehow in the media it was turned around they were being

obstinate. democrats took the biggest hit, they still, according to the poll, dominate the political playing field with more than 42 million voters. compared to 30 million republicans and a huge number 24 million independents. there has been a big growth in independents. >> they could be the game changers in this election. >> reporter: deal will you, thank you, mike, back to you. a whirlwind weekend in one maryland town. where a winning powerball ticket was sold. now the $125 million question. who bought it? and over to you. a blustery day at reagan national. temperatures in the 40s, 46 in washington, d.c. 45 at arlington. we have changed coming this way. you will need your umbrella. details coming up. next when the going gets tough the tough rebuild.

four months after their home was destroyed by a hurricane a town in vermont is open

my name is amanda society meyer, i'm stationed in guam. i want to say hi to my family

in virginia, hi, i miss you and i'll see you soon. police are still searching for a suspect in the christmas eve murders that also led to an amber alert in the richmond area. investigators believe 27-year-old jamaal clemens shot two people inside a home saturday night. they stole their sufficient uwith a two-year-old boy in the back seat. the boy was reunited with his mother unharmed. clemens is facing murder, abduction and other charges. police outside fort worth, texas think a man shot six family members and himself christmas day was dressed as santa claus. officers found the bodies of four men and three men ages 18-60. investigators believe the family was opening gifts at the time of the rampage. it has been a relatively quiet winter so far. boy could we use it after the string of weather disasters.

>> in vermont just three months after irene caused the worst flooding in the state's history, they have built roads, bridges and even rivers. >> we are the engine in this local economy in the winner time. after irene left the next morning it was a beautiful, sunny day and we begin assessing our damage and immediately started putting our people to work to bring her back to get ready for this ski season. >> we literally had such extraordinary damage that we felt like we had grand canyons in many cases. you know, 90, to 200-foot drops created by small teeny brooks and rivers. we had over 500 miles of roads cut out. we had 200 bridges, 34 entirely shut down.

>> we are working 16, 17, 18 hour days, 7 days a week. the small little brooke was over 300 feet across at the height of irene. i have learned there is no challenge too big for vermonters. before we could reconstruct the road we needed to relocate the river. the rocks have been strategically place today create the habitat so we haven't harmed the environment at all. >> we had one road left. only a riverbed. we are making great progress there. >> the river flooded its banks, washed everything out when the water left there was a foot of mud left in the restaurant. all my restaurant equipment was totally ruined. >> in this particular case the water was a very, very serious threat. the water level was up to hear, all the way down through. at that time there were about 6

or 7000 pairs of shoes down here it took us eight weeks to get back to where we are fairly comfortable doing business. today we have a volunteer crew, mainly staff and friends and patrons of the pub that are coming in cleaning up this area here. hopefully we are going to be able to get everything cleaned up for thursday and lope to open thursday, friday, saturday. >> very, very important for us to get our business up for the holidays. if we don't get it up for the holidays, we could create a problem for the whole year. this year compared to last year for the same time period we are actually ahead of last year with pre booking for lodging stays, our season pass series are ahead as well. getting tough things done. people that work hard and work together to make things h. p. we built this stage faster than anybody thought possible. frankly we did it for 25 cents on the dollar. wow, now a lot of people

look at that snow video and think wouldn't it have been nice to have a white christmas. i thought it was pretty. >> we had mild conditions, once again today, getting to 50 degrees in town. could you feel the winds out there. i was outside walking my dog. it was definitely a gusty day, wind gusts peaking at 35, 36 miles per hour. earlier today we have some changes, talking about cloudy conditions, and also the rain. focused basically to the south of us. zoomed in here. you can see we have got this big storm system dropping lots of rain already in parts of the southeast. talking georgia, tennessee, this is actually heading our way. i think it will be here definitely by tomorrow evening's commute. right now we have high pressure still in control giving us clear skies right now. with a gorgeous day with the ridge of high pressure moving

offshore later tonight. temperatures right now 46 degrees. culpepper 43 degrees. winchester in the lower 40s. leesburg 43. temperatures down in the 30s. we are expecting the rain to arrive. tonight cold with clouds moving in. locate your umbrella for tomorrow. wintry mix possible far north and west of town. cold and breezy for wednesday. 33 manassas. winchester 33 degrees. a cold start for tomorrow morning, we'll see partly to mostly cloudy conditions. showers are possible far west

of town and will slowly come through the dc metro area. winds southeast at 5 to 10 miles per hour. the afternoon we are talking cloudy and mild conditions with the rain developing. it will be heavy at times. highs will be 46 to 51 degrees with southeast winds at 5 to 10. highs for your tuesday afternoon, it is going to be a mild but a wet one. 50 around downtown, 49 in bowie. springfield 50. fairfax and the upper 40s close to 50 degrees. here's how tuesday breaks down. a cold tart, rain will be chilly and milder by 5:00. the rain again getting heavy at times, especially late in the afternoon for that evening commute. the next three days, rain tomorrow, cooler on wednesday, breezy, thursday chilly, partly cloudy conditions. here's your 7-day outlook. we are finishing off the year really quiet. temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

a couple more mild days in there. new year's eve looking to be dry but little colder overnight. back in the 30s. then we start the new year 2012 with temperatures in the low 50s. we are talking about snow again not talking about it in the immediate dc metro area for tomorrow's system. far north and west of town. maybe sleet or a little bit of mix. accumulations knotted a concern. thank you annie. good to see you. break the law and then brag about it on facebook? four teenagers are accused of doing that and police have the pictures to prove it. up next, we are talking about medical help for ballet dancers. the hospitals that help these dancers get back on their feet. take a guess on what were the type five topics discussed on facebook this year. number five the death of steve jobs, 4, charlie sheen, 3, the casey anthony verdict, 2 the

packers winning the last super bowl and 1. the death of osama bin laden. when that news broke 10% of facebook posts that were in english were about bin laden's death. we'll be right back.

it is the time of year when families across the nation are attending performances of the nutcracker. for one dancer in a southern california production though, it is a milestone performance after an injury threatened to wipe out her career. sondra hughes has the story. >> reporter: damian diaz is dancing in the nutcracker this holiday season, something he thought he would never do again after breaking his foot in a fall. >> i heard a crack. everybody in the studio heard the crack. >> reporter: the 38-year-old was rushed to cedars sign nigh in los angeles of the one of the only hospitals in the nation with a dance medicine program. >> it brings together physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons and a professor of dance medicine. each of us look at injuries and

prevention from a different point of view. >> reporter: damian broke the long bone on the outside of his foot. dr. glenn testifier put a screw in his foot. >> the bones can rupture apart. >> reporter: but it was successful. then the program got damian back on his feet. >> three months later, i was dancing in los angeles. >> reporter: the specialized treatment not only helps ballet dancer gets back on point but injured hip hop, jazz and ballroom dancers can benefit. >> reporter: the program even taught him some new moves. stretches and exercises to avoid another injury and strengthen his injured footed. >> my right foot is stronger than my left. >> reporter: so strong he dances again with confidence. riverside, california. >> in fact, hundreds of dancers have been through the orthopedic program at cedars sign nigh

hospital. well, it was certainly a very merry christmas for one lucky person. a lottery ticket bought near the maryland delaware line worth $125 million. also this is adorable. in the form of a mouthful of figures. wait until you see this, coming up. another suicide bombing in iraq raises concerns about the country's future, now that u.s. troops are gone. details, coming up.

another suicide bombing is raising concerns about the future stability of iraq. now that u.s. troops have withdrawn from that country. today's attack killed seven people. it follows a series of deadly bombs from late last week. a car bomb exploded near the iraqi interior ministry. police say the suicide bomber struck during morning rush hour. five police officers stationed at a security checkpoint were among those killed. the injured filled hospitals as loved ones waited. no one has claimed responsibility but suicide bombings are a frequent tactic of the group al qaeda in iraq. the attack follows a series of coordinated attacks in baghdad last thursday that killed more than 60 people. the uptick in violence began just days after the full

withdrawal of u.s. troops from iraq a little more than a week ago. the white house has said it had no intention of sending troops back into the country. iraq is also in the middle of a political crisis. last week shiite prime minister al maliki ordered the arrest of the sunni vice president. they have denied the charges saying they are politically motivated. also today a roadside bomb hit a passing army patrol west of baghdad, killing two soldiers in that attack and injuring two others. the pope is condemning the bombing of a nigerian catholic church that killed 35 people on christmas day. pope benedict xvi said he was profoundly saddened by the attack. only respect and reconciliation

can bring peace. it is the second year in a row the group has staged attacks on christmas day. the u.s. says it contacted nigerian authorities to offer assistance. britain's prince phillip was absent from the royal family's boxing day shooting party. the 90-year-old husband of queen elizabeth spent a third night in the hospital after treatment for a blocked coronary artery. the palace says phillip went through a successful coronary stent procedure after he went to the hospital friday complaining of chest pains. british shoppers need to take advantage of the traditional boxing day sales are run into a snag. subway operators walked off the job today and riders are being warned of severe disruption to his service. the union is planning to stage three more strikes in january and february if the dispute isn't resolved. a would-be robber walks into

a gold store and out with a broken nose. we have the surveillance photo to prove it. he dropped to the floor when the clerk at we buy gold store in hendersonville, north carolina punched him in the nose. the clerk grabbed the suspect and called police. the desire for 15 minutes of fame may lead to a lot longer time behind bars for an 18-year-old pittsburgh man accused of robbing a store with three other teens and posting the pictures on facebook, showing them pose wkyc some of the loot. isaiah cutler, a 17-year-old and two 14-year-olds stole more than $18,000 of merchandise and checks from a business on december 12th. investigators say a relative of one of the teens called police when they saw the pictures online. >> she found that very concern and go knew of the burglary of the business she did her civic duty and gave us a call.

basically they post to what amounts to be a confession on the internet for everyone to assume. >> cutler was arrested friday. he is due in court wednesday and the younger suspects have been charged in juvenile court and they have been released to their parents. anita? >> mike, talk about a mega christmas present. a powerball ticket was sold at a liquor store in elkton. >> reporter: on telegraph road, wesley's has been selling liquor for decades, but never has the buzz been this strong. >> mind boggalling. >> reporter: john wesley can't believe his family run business just sold the $125 million winning powerball ticket. he proudably showed us a copy of the prize winning numbers, 14, 15, 30, 51, 52, a power play of 2. the ticket automatically earns

the store $25,000. after taxes the winner walks away with $160 million in cash. john knows many of his customers and says the powerball has already called the store to confirm his numbers. >> one of my employees talked to him and he said in about two days, we'll see you. >> reporter: this is only the second time a winning powerball jackpot ticket has been sold at a maryland store. >> we spend every christmas eve here. on our way out my husband bought a ticket. >> reporter: terry wilfong hoped she was the winner. not so. now she and the rest of elkton wait to see whose christmas wish is coming true. i hope it is somebody who needs the money. it is going to change their lives for the better, i hope. but a great christmas present. a really really great christmas present. >> so far the winning ticket

holder has not come forward. back in september a hartford county resident cashed in $108 million lottery ticket. lots of money. mike? >> reporter: coming up, politicians have been month known to put that their foot in their mouth. coming up, we'll show you how a new spin was put on that cliche. and don't forget, we are always on at wusa 9.com. we will be right back. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal.

is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

caught on tape a group of three cleaners come to the rescue of a high school student struck while riding her scooter. in eastern china surveillance video shows the truck running a red light at an intersection and hitting a teenage girl on her way to school. some street cleaners quickly gathered around the injured teen to protect her. officers in an ambulance soon arrived and rushed her to the hospital. she is in stable condition and expected to survive. it may have looked like a mysterious star or even santa

on his sleigh. experts say this fireball on christmas eve was most likely a meteor off piece of space junk. they were spotted over belgium, germany and the netherlands. a spokesman says whatever it was it must have been very large to burn for so long. president obama got a mouthful of tiny fingers while greeting military families. this was yesterday at the marine corps base in ohio. eight-month-old cooper tried to put his hand on the president's mouth. who can get away with this, other than a baby? >> of course he is a daddy. he is comfortable. >> totally comfortable. a 15-year-old movie franchise is still a huge hit with movie audiences. the fourth mission impossible movie protocol a first weekend in theaters nationwide. the movie starring tom cruise

as either than doesn't grossed more than $26 million. sherlock holmes a game of shadow was second. alvin and the chipmunk was third. in a little more than an hour the washington wizards will take the court for the first time this season. we are going live to kristen at the verizon center. >> it was a beautiful but blustery day. the winds are calming down. big changes coming this way. today's high 50 degrees. average high is 44. i'll let you know when you need your umbrella and for how long, coming the interpublic group it is almost time to pop the cork on the new year's celebrations. a look at why champagnes are seeing a rebirth in the dc area, we'll be right back.

i want to say to my family happy holidays. i miss y'all, be home soon the manufacturer of the widely used baby formula enfamil says sunday's testing shows the product is free of the bacteria blamed for the death of a missouri baby. two tests of samples of its enfamil formula found no signs of the germs. the missouri case prompted retail joint wal-mart to pull all cans of the same size and lot number from its shelves last week. another newborn was sickened in illinois. christmas is in the books, lots of thoughts now turning to sending 2011 out in style. while the economy is still struggling, people appeared to be willing to spend a little extra cash to make the magical

moments even more magical. jessica doyle raises a glass. >> reporter: looking for a little luxury, consumers are popping the cork on champagne again. sales are popping too. more and more americans are drinking wine. and more and more americans are drinking wines from quality regions and different places. >> reporter: the good news, it has gotten easier to find quality bubbly at the corner store. >> over the last ten years the food and wine community has grown. great restaurants, more wine stores and now the consumer in washington has lots more varieties. >> reporter: to be called champagne the wines have to be made with grapes from the champagne region of france. traditionally more expensive but this is a great time of year to find bargains on champagne. >> maybe the champagne might be

on special this year. >> reporter: so how does a champagne expert open a bottle? >> hold the cork, twist the bottle and you'll hear a nice, quiet pop of the arrow release and go you'll have a beautiful win to pour. this celebration can be about the wine and the moment together. >> an elway to celebrate the holidays or ring in the new year. turns out for one major champagne producer bottles were flying off the shelves at such a pace this year a shortage developed, particularly here in the u.s. so it held back bottles so there will be enough champagne to flow through the hol day season. jessica doyle, 9news now. it is worth mentioning, of course, if you have had too much to drink while you are out these do not get behind the wheel, call 1-800-200 taxi. the washington regional alcohol program sober ride service runs every night through january 1

and covers the cost of a cab ride of up to $30. so it is worth it. what is the weather like for new years's? >> looking to be dry. also maybe a little bit cold though. typical for december going into january. today we saw lots of sunshine. it was a beautiful day, wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour. it was a blustery day. look to the west and south of us. the system coming our way for tomorrow. tomorrow should be okay. temperatures now 44 at arlington, low 40s rs cisco 43. temperatures falling back down into the 30s overnight once again. high pressure moving offshore and the rain arriving after that. a quiet week. cold tonight with clouds moving

in. a wintry mix possible. for wednesday cold and breezy. no accumulations are expected. now for tonight, becoming partly cloudy and cold. a two blanket night. lows down in the 30s. 37 in downtown, 38 for annapolis. >> reporter: fredericksburg in the lower 30s. manassas same deal. definitely bundle up. if you are doing shopping tomorrow. temperatures will be in the 30s. now afternoon, yeah, you are going to be dealing with rain. cloudy and mild rain heavy at times, up to an inch in some locations. 46 to 51 degrees. here's a look at your forecast. we start out north and west of us. cumberland 48, winchester 49,

warrenton 53, culpepper near mid-50s. around the beltway we are talking temperatures in the low 50s and downtown, 49 in gaithersburg, 5 for annapolis, out toward the bay, we have a small craft advisory in effect for tomorrow. a cold start, dry for the morning commute. by noon and 5:00 we are talking about rain. 46 to 51 degrees. here's a look at your 7-day forecast. new year's eve it looks nice, kind of cold overnight for the late parties, but then new year's day, nice and quiet. >> take a wrap, ladies. you'll have a great time right? >> thanks annie. the nba season got off to a great start yesterday. >> tonight the wizards get their chance. live at verizon center.

fingers crossed tonight. >> fingers crossed the situation seemed dire a few months ago. they came to an agreement the season is underway. the wizards are ready to play some ball, show they can be contenders this season. saunders spoke to the media about his excitement getting this season going. >> they play within character of what they are trying to do. >> reporter: one guy shouldered with leading the team through the season. you have new tsunami forms. new look going on. the excitement of the season. with the season getting going, how excited are you just to get out there and play meaningful basketball? >> very excited. it has been a long summer. all the guys can't wait to get

the season going. do you see that as a disadvantage at all? >> we worked very hard. we had a lot of two a days. it is all about us take wag we did in practice. you are the longest tenured player on this team. obviously a rough company of seasons. how do you bring back that winning atmosphere to this team? >> you just have to want it. you have to come to a place where it bothers you so bad. that is something we have been going through the last couple of years. that is whether we had the most excitement in this arena and that is what i want to have again. >> reporter: you have talked a lot in the past couple of weeks about want to go play so well.

playoffs, are they a realistic goal for you guys? >> yes, it is. thanks so much for joining us. good luck tonight. tipoff tonight against the new jersey nets. coming up a little bit later in sports, we'll hear more from coach about tonight's game and this season. for now kristen at the verizon center back to you guys in the studio. >> just great to get things going. still ahead the search is over for a man who sparked an amber alert. we'll tell you how police caught up with jamaal clemens. >> reporter: new research in the case you may be feeling pap had i because it is the christmas season. on the other hand you may be feeling blue because it is monday. a look back at some of the best video of the year.

welcome back. we get to show you some pretty amazing visuals over the course of a year a time. tonight from a break dancing gorilla to you applying jet man, jim takes us through some of the best videos of 2011. >> a fiery crash in utah between a car and motorcycle turned a group of bystanders into heroes. they manage to lift the car and pull the bike tore safety. he escaped with broken bones

and road rash. this teen should star in a psa against drinking. believe it or not he only suffered a fractured elbow. a wal-mart shopner houston chased a trio of beer thieves as they left the store, even jumping on the hood of their car. she slid off as they drove away but tried the door handle before she fell to the ground. police later caught the suspects. >> in another death defying stun this tight rope walkner china lost his footing at high winds at 320 feet in the air. he eventually pulled himself back up. it is a bird, it is a plane, it is a jet man. soaring over the grand canyon. he got going as fast as 90 miles per hour. his extreme surfer caught a 90-foot wave. hang 10.

some unique animals went viral this year, like sola, the calgary zoo's break dancing gorilla. millions on youtube have caught his moves. and this lion in colorado seemed to find a zoo visitor pretty appetizing. there was a bird or is that a about the on a delta flight? >> and a cat stuck atop a 30-foot cactus in the arizona desert. it spent three days up there before it finally figured out how to get down on its own. or maybe the news chopper did the trick. workers tried to net this deer which somehow found its way into the seal tank. all the animals got through the ordeal unharmed if a bit shaken. this biker was more than shaken when a fidel castrosive antelope knocked him off his wheels. reporters became the story

in 2011. this sports reporter was nearly backed over no this anchor terrified his news team with a tranche la. and another big talker of 2011 was the weather. we are going to take a look back at that, tomorrow night. shoppers weaving through the aisles as if they were a slaw lodge course today. people used a federal holiday to exchange what they received or what they really wanted. live at tyson's corner center finding out if people went to shop or drop. sue rae? >> reporter: people definitely shopping right now. we did focus last hour on shopping or dropping it. on items such as clothes and shoes and those types of things. but what about electronics? well again, overwhelmingly, people are willing to spend and

are spending it even on high dollar electronics. >> our unsign civic poll reveals that 90% of people we talked with are spending. sound bar.