assault prevention tips. one, don't put drugs in beam's drinks. two, when you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone. five, if you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, don't assault them. eight, don't forget you can't have sex with someone unless they are awake. congress is considering legislation that would take reporting of sexual assaults out of the chain of kphafpbd. >> commanding officers have a vested interest in discussing sexual assault reporting because it makes them look bad. >> the legislation would take commanding officers out of the equation. gary nurenberg, 9news now. rick perry is suing the commonwealth of virginia because he's not on the ballot for the republican primary in march in that state. the g.o.p. presidential candidate says some of virginia's election laws are unconstitutional. he says including getting 10,000 signatures from people who are intending to vote on

primary day. well, there are only five days until the iowa caucuses. it will be the first real contest in 2012 for the republican presidential race. as danielle nottingham reports, with no real front-runner, the candidates are under pressure to pressure voters to choose them. >> reporter: mitt romney returned to iowa tuesday evening with one mission. convince undecided voters to support his campaign. >> if you want a president who believes america can do better and americans deserve better, then i hope i can count on your support. >> reporter: politics has been the special of the day at the machine shed restaurant in urbandale, iowa for weeks. there is now less than a week to go before the caucuses and republican presidential candidates are canvassing the state to sway undecided voters like janet kelly. >> i'm 61. i've heard it all before. they all say the same thing. >> reporter: with no clear front-runner, though casting the vote in the 2012 presidential race are looking for someone to stand out.

>> every candidate has a great point, just haven't decide on one yet. >> chuck wilson has been unemployed for about a year. the person getting his vote must understand those who share his status. >> whoever convinces me they're going to help unemployment, get people back to work and cut government spending. >> mitt romney spent much of the day campaigning as if he were the nominee. aiming his comments at president obama, barely mentioning his g.o.p. rivals. >> you don't have to settle for washington and wall street insiders who supported the wall street bailout and the obama care individual mandate. >> reporter: rick perry is taking his case directly to his opponents and the voters in iowa. some of whom have just been seen it all. >> i personally have shaken every one of their hands except rick perry and will see him tomorrow morning. >> reporter: danielle nottingham, des moines, iowa. >> the president's approval ratings are up for the fist time since july.

gallup poll shows 47% of americans approve of the job he's doing. about 45% disapprove of his performance. the poll was taken over three days and the uptick is being attributed to getting the house g.o.p. to extend the payroll tax. funeral ceremonies for kim jong il continue today. his son and north korea's next leader, kim jong un is leading the procession. tens of thousands of mourners stood in the snow as the funeral procession passed. soldiers stood in line with their heads bowed. kim died of a heart attack december 17th. duarte geraldino has more on what's next for north korea. >> reporter: tens of thousands of north koreans line the streets to say a final good-bye to kim jong il. sobbing uncontrollably, they waited in the snow for a glimpse of their dear leader's casket. at one point, state tv showed mourners falling to their knees and soldiers pushing back crowds to keep the path clear kim who ruled the nation with an iron fist died earlier this month of a heart attack.

his youngest son, kim jong un led the elaborate funeral procession. as a joint military orchestra kicked in, the youngest kim saluted his father. it has only been days since kim's death and his son is being hailed as north korea's next ruler. with titles like supreme leader and great succession, washington is taking notes. some analysts believe the transition could mark a turning point with the rest of the world. >> it may well be a moment of opportunity for north korea. on the other hand, they're a nuclear power. they have tested this nuclear power. >> for now, north korea is focused on grieving the loss of its late leader. like much of kim's life, it had been shrouded in mystery. >> old fireplace embers started a fire that killed five people in stanford, connecticut, christmas eve. fire investigators say those

embers were discarded near a first floor mudroom and something in there is what caught fire. three kids and their grandparents were killed in the flames and smoke. it is still not clear if there were indeed working smoke detectors in the home. the homeowner and a friend were the only two people to be able to make it out alive. later this morning, u.s. park police sergeant michael bouman will be laid to rest. he collapsed while he was on duty assisting another person's medical emergency at the c & o canal. the funeral mass will be at the church of the nativity. there will be a processional going up i-395 in fairfax, virginia. which will, indeed affect traffic. monika samtani joins us now to help navigate around that area. >> if you're not aware of or familiar with the burke area, we do have a graphic set up for you. just to kind of show you where burke is and the main roadways around that braddock road,

route 644, kind of west of 95 and south of i-495 so expect the heaviest traffic to be around there. i do believe they'll be using the hov lanes on 395. you have the main line available for you. what we do have going for us of course is it is the holiday week. so, generally speaking, traffic has been lighter than normal but do expect those delays during that procession. >> if you've ever seen an officer's funeral whether it is local or state or national, there is a huge response of support. >> huge response. it is a rolling closure as well. >> thanks, monika. in the new year, montgomery county residents will have to pay more at the grocery store because a 5 cent bag tax goes into effect january 1st. many montgomery county residents say the tax is not only unwanted but unnecessary. montgomery county is considered one of the most expensive places to live in maryland and some say enough is enough. montgomery county leaders say the tax isn't much of a burden to county residents. others say it is just one more

way to make money. >> if you want to avoid it, simply bring a bag to the grocery store, wherever you shop. >> the county executive ike leggett who you just saw there said they're interested in protecting the environment by encouraging people to bring their own bags when they shop. according to leggett, the bag tax will only bring in $250,000 a year. there were a lot of people who didn't get their christmas gifts sunday thanks to a snafu with one of the shipping companies. but customers say they're not buying the company's excuse. we'll have details on that at 4:40. at 4:50, a real life home alone situation. what one little boy did to ward off burglars. first, olga breese will have the forecast right after the break.

good morning, everyone. it is off to a very cold start across the region and we're starting to crank up a little bit of our wind speeds. already seeing winds bat 15, 20 miles per hour. we'll keep a lot of sunshine through the 9:00 and 10:00 hours though. we'll keep our temperatures in the 40st and even get into the lower 40s later on this afternoon. it is going to be breezy throughout the day today and a very cold night tonight. monika? >> we'll take a look live at route 50 at rowe boulevard. watch out for the tractor trailer accident, stay to the left to get by. westbound looks fine out of annapolis. coming up, another look at area roadways at 4:47. mike? >> it is time for the first "your money" report this morning. jessica doyle is out reporting. u.p.s. spent yesterday trying to deliver about 50,000 packages that were delayed. the company says last week, a snowstorm slowed them down when

it came to delivering packages by christmas day. many customers say they're not buying the weather excuse though. one man says the u.p.s. driver was at his home and told him the majority of his packages were buried in the back of the truck and that he would be right back. the guy says the driver never came back. another customer told the driver that her delay was a union matter. all packages scheduled to be delivered yesterday but ended up on your porch. you could soon be paying more for your health insurance. a major retail is closing more stores. alison harmelin has those stories and more in this money headline. >> reporter: stocks were mostly flat on mixed economic news. consumer confidence jumped to an 8-month high. home prices remain down in 20 major cities across the u.s. the dow closed down more than 2 points. nasdaq is up 6. sears stocks slid more than 20% on news that the retailer will close 100 sears and kmart outlets across the country. and president obama has

announced two nominees for the board of the federal reserve. jeremy stein is a harvard economics professor and jerome powell is a former undersecretary of finance at the treasury department. the senate will have to confirm those men. and your health insurance bill is about to go up. the government adds a new fee to most health insurance plans. the money will go to research toward finding out which drug medical procedures and treatments work the best. the $1 per person fee begins in 2012 but won't end up in your bill until a year from now. insurance giant met life says it will sell its retail retail to g.e. capital as the company moves away from its banking operations. met life announced in july it would explore the sale to focus on its core business including insurance and employee benefits programs. that's your money watch for all of your business headlines, log on to cbsmoneywatch.com. in new york, i'm alison harmelin. >> this is the last week you'll be able to get bargains atfy lean's basement because the

discount clothing store is closing at the end of the week. we checked with the filene's in northern d.c., everything was just about gone there. the company that owned the chain filed bankruptcy citing tough competition and sluggish sales in the weak economy. 46 stores in all will close which means 2600 people will be out of work. two thieves get away with hundreds of dollars of clothes without using a knife or a gun. their weapon of choice that allowed them to make a break for it. plus, what not to do at a new year's eve party if you want to keep your job. we'll be right back.

that's a fun graphic. olga breese is in for howard. boy, olga, the rain was something yesterday. >> it was good. it was good. first it came down fairly light. late afternoon -- >> at our house, it was a deluge. >> it came down quickly. after about 3:00 to 4:00, very steady rain. some areas got close to an inch and that's pretty much what we were expecting for yesterday. the system has moved on out.

damp roadways and grassy areas, too. we're reporting just a touch of fog in certain isolated areas but most of us have clear skies right now and very, very cool temperatures. sitting in the 40s in and around the beltway right now. we're seeing some 30s, upper 30s outside the beltway particularly off toward the north and the west. what we get today is plenty of sunshine. midday and late afternoon, the temperatures won't have the opportunity to warm up because of our winds but at least we'll be staying into the lower range 40s in toward the later portions of the afternoon. now, the winds today are going to be the primary story for us. your biggest concern as we start to crank up some wind gusts a little bit later on this afternoon. later on this evening though, temperatures will plummet rapidly. clear skies tonight. makes it look to drop back into the 20s by tomorrow morning. the forecast for today will start out on the cold side. bundle up if you have to go outdoors or spend time waiting

for the train or the bus. you want a couple of layers to keep you warm. then into the afternoon while we have the sunshine to keep us company, we'll start to crank up our wind speeds about 15 to 25-mile-per-hour winds on average in the afternoon. those gusts will be much higher than that. that is definitely going to be a challenge for many of us out and around. after we get toward the afternoon and evening hours, we'll begin to see more of that clearing overnight tonight and in fact, we'll keep a lot of sunshine into our thursday and friday forecast. before we introduce a slight chance of rain on friday night. the good news is we're looking great for that holiday weekend. here are some of the wind gusts we've seen at least for the current hour. 24-mile-per-hour wind came through the leesburg area. we've seen a 20-mile-per-hour wind gust down at andrews air force base. this will continue as i mentioned throughout the afternoon and in toward the evening hours. right now, temperatures are in the 40s. when you factor in the winds, it is feeling much colder. really prepare yourself for what feels like the middle to upper 30s as you step on out.

at reagan national airport, we have mainly clear skies, just a few of the passing clouds. winds aren't bad just yet. 6-mile-per-hour winds. but as we go into the afternoon, we'll start to crank that up a little bit. future cast is quiet. we're in a fairly standard weather pattern for the remainder of today and into tomorrow. few passing clouds early on thursday morning. but lots of sunshine tomorrow. temperatures tomorrow will improve. we'll definitely get through a chilly night tonight. then we'll get back into the 40s and 50s toward the end of the week. here's what we look like for the next three days. sunshine today. mostly sunny for thursday as well. we'll start to ease out of the middle 40s and hit the lower 50s by friday. we'll even keep our forecast in the 50s through saturday and get fairly close on sunday for new year's day. monika? >> well, if you're traveling close into town, i think pretty much everything seems normal right now. if you're traveling out on route 50 on the eastbound side, there is a tractor trailer accident and now i'm getting word of flames in the area as well.

on the eastbound side of route 50, right here at route 2. it is near the perole area. keep that in mind for your travel plans out here on route 50. let's take a look at the route 50 area. ok at rowe boulevard out of annapolis on the westbound side of route 50. back over to the maps, this time, let's take a look at 270. no problems out of frederick. good on the beltway north of town through silver spring. live look at the beltway at the american legion bridge. no problem here on the west side of town traveling between tysons and bethesda. coming up in my next report, i'll update you on the situation on route 50 at 4:55. a party in upland, california, ends with a fight, a house fire and a wropl critically injured when firefighters got to the house, they say they found a woman stabbed while dozens of people were brawling in the front yard. the house was burning, all while this is going on. police are still trying to sort

out the events about what happened and when. two thieves get away with hundreds of dollars in clothes from a pennsylvania marshall's store and police say the men seen on surveillance video walked into the store, stuffed clothes into a bag and tried to walk out without paying. the security guard confronted the duo and one of the men tazed the man, pushed him into the door and they kept going. a young boy home alone in fullerton, california, was able to keep his cool when three burglars tried to break into his home. the 12-year-old says he was on his laptop when he heard two men and a woman knocking at the front door. when he didn't answer, they broke in through the back door. the boy immediately called 911. the suspects tried to get away, even leading police on a short chase before the driver slammed into a fire hydrant. only one of the three was captured. the other two are still on the run this morning. if you had planned to attend any company gatherings or hang out with some coworkers

for an end-of-the-year party, there are some things you should avoid. jonathan has some dos and don'ts for partying with your coworkers, that is, if you want to keep your job. >> reporter: have you ever been to one of these? a holiday company party where coworkers put down their guards to get their groove on? you may have seen -- >> people were totally lose their inhibitions and people mean men. and they would just act inappropriately. >> people making out. >> get drunk and dance on the table. [ laughter ] get drunk and dance on the table. that's about it. >> reporter: founder and president of a headhunter company called cmi. he's also seen his share of table dancers. he recalls one fella he placed at one of their former top clients. everyone was in suit and ties. >> by the end of the night, this gentleman had off his

coat, tie and shirt and everything from the waist up and was dancing on top of tables. we thought for sure he was going to get fired but luckily he did not. that's now an ordained minister. >> if your boss invites you to a company get together, you should go but if you're a party animal and you can't handle hanging out, we're told maybe you should consider staying home. boyd says you should know how much you can drink without becoming obnoxious. he recalls another employee who took off his sweater at a function where everyone was dressed professionally. the employee took off his sweater. underneath, he wore a t-shirt with homer simpson on it. >> by the time the ceo was finished talking, he walked up to introduce himself and said hey, it is the big cheese. can i call you cheesy for short? the gentleman was fired. >> boyd says don't expect any extra leeway from your boss and coworkers just because it is the holiday season. >> just behave. that's all. time to look at the question of the day this morning. according to a "usa today"

poll, half of women leave one of these places feeling frustrated. which is it? the dressing room? a restaurant or c, the hair salon. weigh in on our facebook page. we'll have the answer coming up in our 6:00 hour. we'll be right back. alright everybody, get your heads up.

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per hour throughout the metro area. that will continue into the afternoon. in fact, it will be cool today and even just as cold for tomorrow. monika? >> well, we've been telling you about a situation on the eastbound side of route 50 at route 2 in perole. the situation remains there involving a tractor trailer. westbound 50 seems to be ok coming out of annapolis toward perole. leaving route one over to 95. in my next report, another update on area roadways at 5:00. mike, back to you. cheetah the chimp has died. cheetah was the first chimpanzee from the 1930s tarzan movie. a florida animal sanctuary said cheetah died on christmas eve of kidney failure. he was 80 years old. he was a comic leaf in the tarzan series starring the american olympic gold medal swimmer, johnny weissmuller.

come on, joyce. so, who are on this year's most admired list. some are repeats from the "usa today" gallup poll. first man, president obama is at the top of the list. george b. w. bush is in second. graham has been on the poll since 1946. warren buffett comes in fifth. newt gingrich and donald trump are tied for sixth. secretary of state hillary clinton is top of the list for women. oprah winfrey number two. michelle obama is third and fourth is sarah palin. fifth is condoleezza rice. forget about keeping up with the kardashians. an irish pop star shocked her fans with a shorter marriage. bigad shaban has those stories and more in today's eye on entertainment. >> reporter: sinead o'connor's latest marriage ended faster than kim kardashian's.

♪ and i see all of you >> the irish singer announced she's splitting with her husband after just 16 days of marriage. o'connor tied the knot in las vegas earlier this month with a therapist she met online. on her web site, she called the wedding a mistake and said her husband was under intense pressure to end their relationship. ♪ as one marriage ends, another is set to begin. r & b star john legend is engaged. his publicity says he proposed to his girlfriend over the holidays in the maldeez. she's a model in last year's "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue. the couple has been dating for four years. no details yet on a wedding date. but we hear john legend is scheduled to perform in las vegas over new year's. ♪ one of england's hottest bands serenaded the county outside london's famous

harrod's department store. florence and the machine kicked off the start of harrod's winter sale. >> we arationous to announce the sale open. >> fans camped out to get a front row view of lawrence welch. that's your eye on entertainment. bigad shaban, cbs news, hollywood. well, good morning. we're halfway there. it is wednesday morning. glad you're joining us. welcome to 9news now at 5:00 a.m. andrea and howard are both off. monika is here with traffic. olga is in for howard. how are you doing? >> wednesday, we're getting ready to get up and get going. >> it will be a cold start. you might need the warm beverage to get you cranking this morning. the winds are starting to pick up already. we had a bit of a breeze yesterday when the showers and heavy rains came through. but now we're starting to see a little bit more. as we get into the late morning