>> we just got our new house, so we need to spend. >> reporter: shopping or dropping? >> shopping. buying or dropping. >> buying. >> we are hoping to get a good deal. get an extra sale today. >> reporter: there were a handful coming to drop t. >> reporter: some who would like to drop their christmas gifts are keeping it. >> reporter: what did you get from grandma? >> shoe laces that say i love you on them. >> reporter: you don't have the heart to exchange them? >> no i do not. they are red and say i love you all over them. >> reporter: your grandma might be disappointed you are not wearing those shoe laces. >> i have flash underwear my best friend gave me. it is an inside joke.

>> reporter: but you are keeping it? >> of course. >> reporter: when it comes to gift cards we have found a lot of people using them. get this the national retail fed creation says $41 billion of gift cards have gone unused since 2005. but today definitely people were taking advantage and using those gift cards for things they didn't get on their wish list. anita, mike? surae chinn, thank you. let's breakdown what you were justify talking about. again don't let your gift card become a statistic and go unused. according to the national retail federation, $41 billion worth have not been redeemed since 2005. when people do use their gift cards, they often spend more than the value of the card itself. mike? >> reporter: new at 6:00. tonight the search is over if a man suspected of killing two

people and kidnapping a two-year-old boy over the weekend. richmond police, the fbi and a s.w.a.t. team arrested 27-year-old jamaal mall clemens about an hour and a half ago. police believe he shot and then stole an suv to escape. they don't think clemens knew a two-year-old, cade den bernstein, was inside that vehicle. >> he knew those individuals there. it wasn't a random act. >> neither bowman or clap were related. he was reunited with his family in time for christmas. tonight clemens is facing a variety of charges. however police are not saying at this point why he is not facing murder charges. police george's county police are asking for help solving this crime here an armed robbery of a burger king. three weeks ago, one man serves as a lookout, while two others jump over the counter to raid

the register. police say this trio recently robbed a wendy's. if you recognize any of these men, please call prince george's county police. we are over a week away from the nation's first presidential primary. tonight newt gingrich is taking aim at virginia as well as iowa. both gingrich and texas governor rick perry failed to get the required 10,000 signatures to have their names listed. they planned to launch an aggressive write in campaign. the only republican candidates on the virginia balance for march are mitt romney and ron paul. a recent usa today says 2.9 million americans have switched their political parties. they have taken a big hit. >> reporter: in a recent usa

poll says 2.5 million americans are switching political parties. we hit the streets to find out why. on a gusty winter day outside the white house,. >> i think people have lost a lot of trust from pretty much anyone. >> reporter: a recent usa today poll says the winds are shifting too. >> a lot of people are suffering out of work, et cetera. they don't care about democrat or republican. they just want some answers. the history of america the incumbent's party has lost support. >> but the numbers may be surprising. 1.7 million people have left the democrat party since 2008, the same year ohio congressman ran an unsuccessful bid for the white house. >> when i first came to congress i came there with the intention of trying to make this country a better place. still want to do that. if you are happy and you

know it send a tweet. what? a new study of twitter shows your tweets gauge whether you are feeling down and out or feeling the happiest and best. however 9news now jonathan cost intells us some of you aren't buying the tweet theory. according to a team of mathematicians from the university of vermont, many of us are feeling a little down. the research analyzed nearly 5 billion worldwide twitter messages for 33 months and they found a gradual downward slope during the past year and a half. the twitter research shows people usually feel good on holidays like christmas. but here's the downside of that information. it also indicates that people usually feel blue on mondays. no wonder i feel like i could use a hug right now. >> what do i think about the research? days after christmas when you are with your family of course i'm going to be happy and when i'm on vacation i'm visiting

everybody. it is an exciting time. i'm happiest on friday because the week is look over. >> the twitter research picked up on key words like laughter and terrorist ranked way down. but some monday shoppers aren't buying the research. >> it is a myth. especially after the holidays. you are with your families and everything is beautiful. the weather is fantastic. there is for hold you down. if i do not meet goals, then you know, i would be unhappy. >> reporter: savannah de-- delucas is happy. in downtown bethesda

maryland, 9news now. that is an awesome attitude. be happy. >> coming up tonight at 7:00. honoring through helping. a local high school senior diagnosed with autism uses his disorder to motivate and advocate. that is coming up at 7:00. still to come in this half hour. the wizards are getting ready to finally get back on the court and the business around verizon center could not be happier to see their fans. changes in the weather, you'll say this may be happy weather coming our way. you'll need your bells. right now temperatures falling. 34 in downtown, 37 in gaithersburg. including new year's coming up. up next the vice president and his wife suit up for a special visit. how they spent their christmas, coming up next.

vice president joe biden and his wife, jill, spent part of their christmas day visiting wounded service members at walter reed medical center in bethesda. the actual visits were off limits to the news media. this photo shows the bidens being helped into sterile gowns prior to their visit snooze an update tonight on a woman who received the ultimate holiday gift from her own mom. sasha webster of land over is out of the hospital after getting a new kidney. her mother, marilyn low back, was released yesterday. wester's own kidneys were

failing after a fight with type two diabetes. virginia and 11 other states allow breastfeeding mothers to be automatically excused from jury duty and michigan may soon be joining that list. the state house of representatives there signed off on the proposal and now the bill goes above the michigan senate. as it stands now in michigan only a judge can decide whether or not breastfeeding moms can be exempt from jury service. the stockings have gone up and come down. now it is time to start thinking about that tree. some advice before you take it down. coming up. first a preview of tonight's cbs evening news,

sending best wishes and happy christmas and kwanzaa and all that good stuff to my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law, siblings, love you guys, see you soon,. today marks the first of seven days of kwanzaa. the celebration started 45 years ago in california state university. kwanzaa means first fruits in swahili. it recalls the customs and values of a african-american harvest. celebrations tonight for some of the businesses near verizon center. us that because the nba season is back, officially starting tonight for the wizards and after months of a lockout, nearby owners are hoping the season changes their bottom line. they are bracing for big crowds. >> we are still about an hour away from game time. right now is the time that many of the bars and restaurants have been waiting for.

the time before the game when fans eat dinner and drink before watching the wizards on their home court. we have missed the washington wizards. >> reporter: back playing ball and back to bringing the fans to their home newport chinatown after the nba lockout. >> when you hear the word lockout, we definitely get scared. we are hoping they would resolve this as quickly as possible. >> scott turley is the general manager of the district chop house and brewery located one block away from the wizards's home court. the five month long npa lockout, especially collide's gallery place which is literally next door. >> we are looking forward to any event. >> reporter: the wizards average roughly 16,000 fans per game at the verizon center last year. that is still almost 700,000 people a season, parking, eat and go drinking at these bars

and restaurants. the only thing worse than an npa lockout, would have been an nhl lockout. every bar and restaurant admits their biggest source of business is the washington caps. all the christmas festivities are winding down tonight. for many that means it is time to start getting rid of that treat. -- tree. but before you put it on the curb, make sure you remove all the ornaments and the tenths sell from your tree first. most counties won't even pick it up if it is still decorated. if you went the fake tree route, consider giving it away instead of throwing it away. most trees are not recyclable and will release carcinogenic fumes. just like on where you live.

it is healthy enough to make it right? >> i hope so. little dry, i don't keep it lit while i'm gone, just to make sure. we are talking about nice weather today. blustery, but it got up to 50. above average. we are seeing some changes come this way we are talking about cloudy conditions and rain. here's the national picture. this is impacting parts of the deep south right now. this is slowly moving up north and east for the mid-atlantic and to the northeast by tomorrow afternoon. temperatures right now, thanks to higher pressure, we saw a pretty nice day today. breezy day with breezes up to 35 miles per hour. right now it is quiet and we are not expecting any rain overnight. tomorrow morning's commute should be dry. temperatures in arlington 43.

40 in bethesda. great falls 3, sterling. down into the 30s overnight. we are looking at the rain and should be fairly quiet. for tonight cold with some clouds moving in. locate your umbrella for tomorrow. definitely needed. wintry mix just possible, only a slight chance far north and west of town. for wednesday it would be dry. but cold and breezy. here's a look at your futurecast. look at this in the afternoon. by 3:00 we pause it. rain will be heavy at times as this goes through. tomorrow evening's commute as this pulls away we'll probably see definitely wet roads out there that pulls away quickly as temperatures drop and this is moisture sticks around a little longer. we could potentially see a wintry mix far north and west

of town. tomorrow morning, partly to cloudy and cold. the afternoon the rain will be developing heavy at times. highs will be 46 to 51 degrees. weapons is dry but breezy and chilly temperatures dropping down to 42 degrees. the rest of the week weatherwise quiet. thanks to the high pressure. new year's eve we are talking a dry new year's eve. we are going to finish the year on a dry note and continue into the new year on a dry note.

we have a look at the wizards season opener. >> reporter: fans are starting to pile in here. the wizards kickoff against the new jersey nets. we have a preview from some of the players, coming up in sports.

all right. i'm kristen live at the verizon center. the wizards get ready to tipoff and open their season this year against the new jersey nets. it's been a rough couple of years for the wizards as we all know, missing the playoffs. but the wizards are still a very young team. coach flip saunders says he is ready to finally see what his young guys can do. >> i tell most those guys do what got you here. there is a reason you are in this league. you did certain things in order to get here. do those things don't try to do something you are not capable of doing at this point. >> leave the young guys as the most tenured player on the scene. black and john wall have that responsibility. it has been a physically tough shortened preseason for them. they are all finally ready to play some ball.

>> i'm very excited. it has been a long summer. i feel good you know, energy is there. trying to get back out there. we'll be happy to be back. the wizards top draft pick likely out for tonight's game. he is recovering from a hip injury that kept him out of practice yesterday. the fans are starting to come in every fan is getting one of these shirts. if you can see it, it says big things are coming. we spoke to a lot of fans outside before the game and some of them shared that same sentiment. i'm hoping for a winning season. >> i'm real excited. we are here for the first time, to see john wall and it is going to be a good season. >> they are young and going to take their lumps early. all right now elsewhere in the league jarrett jacket out for the hornets tonight serving a one game suspension.

vasquez will get the start. now that the holiday break is over the caps are back on the ice too. they are up in buffalo trying to rebound from friday's loss to new jersey and get back in the win column. they have the p.a. going, fans are starting to come in. i think i'm standing in a couple of their seats, i'm going to get out of the way so they can enjoy the game. we'll send it back to you guys in the studio. new uniforms, new attitude. >> so before we head out for the evening, let's check on the weather, 7-day forecast people heading out to the game. bundle up or they should be okay? >> reporter: bundle up. no need for the umbrellas tonight. it will be mild 50 degrees, then rain will be heavy at times. watch out for the potential flash flooding possibility. wednesday dry, breezy but much cooler, 93 degrees the rest of the week mike, look at that. we are going to end the year

dry. it is going to be really nice mild on friday back in the low 50s. even saturday after four days partly cloudy. new year's eve it is going to be very seasonable, which means dry and probably cold overnight. but for the new year's eve celebrations to be pretty nice weather, and new year's day, look at that mild in the low 50s, partly cloudy and dry. we are going to finish off the year on a quiet note too. >> i know you are a fashion plate. stockings and high heels on new year's eve. is that doable? >> definitely. >> when is it not doable? >> maybe a scarf to keep you warm. that is all for 9news now at 6:00. coming up anita with our local newscast, i will be back starting tomorrow morning at 425:67:89 make sure you join us.

as always wusa 9.com is on. have a great day, everybody.