hello. we're beginning with breaking news this afternoon. we are hearing reports that the washington wizards head coach flip sanders has been fired. now it has been a rough season for the wizards with just two wins, 15 losses.

pete with 106.7 the fan is joining us on the phone with more information. pete, you heard of this firing. where did you hear senate. >> reporter: yeah, within the last half hour, flip sanders as several nba sources has confirm san diego out as the head coach of the bid hards. and after a record of 51-120. and seemingly at no point did he ever bond with his players and as a result of that, the guy that usually gets the door first is the head coach. and after the team's poor performance last night, they were down 30 points at half- time, not surprised that he is finally out as coach of the wizards. >> have you heard any talk about who might replace him? >> reporter: some of the published reports right now talking about randy whitman, one of the assistant coaches. he has head coaching experience. and also took over for flip when he was ejected earlier in the season up in boston. so at least randy has nba

coaching experience on the bench. and would likely with the guy if they go on-staff from an interim perspective at this point. >> pete, with the record that sanders had, why today is he being fired? do you know? what was the final straw? >> reporter: well, if you watch the team and again, a team 2-15 on the season, if they are showing steps of progress, then i think a general manager and owner as we have seen, he has been extremely patient, both with the capitals at one point and now with the wizards already. but with the team not showing any signs of progress, despite having six first round picks over the last two seasons as part of their core, at this point, they feel the best way to at least try to get something going differently from a philosophy standpoint is to get rid of flip first. and after a good performance, in fact played better here of late, but to be down 30 at half-

time last night where they showed not much energy, at this pope, they feel the coach not able to get the players ready and us this, he is the first casualty of the team's 2-15 start. >> pete of 106.7 the fan, thank you so much for calling in. we will be following the story throughout the day. >> my pleasure. president barack obama gets the chance to talk directly to tens of millions of americans during tonight's state of the union address. and the middle of a fight for a second term, the president is expected to focus on economic issues. now a preview. >> reporter: president barack obama is putting the finishing touches on a the speech he hopes will convince americans he should keep his job. his third state of the union address is expected to center on the idea of economic fairness. his top aides say tonight's speech includes a proposal to help the middle class.

>> common sense ideas, investing in american manufacturerring, making sure that we are seizing the new era of american energy, working on the skills and education for worker. >> reporter: the president is going to offer new plans aimed at shoring up the nation's sagging housing market. republican leaders in congress say those proposals are just more of the same. john boehner called them pathetic. republican congressman paul ryan expects tonight's speech will be about politic, not policy. >> a politically devicive speech, or what we are seeing come before us as a politically devicive agenda that does not grow the economy or jobs. >> reporter: unemployment is at 8.5%. and the latest cbs news poll shows 60% of americans don't think he's done a good job handling the economy. cbs news, washington, d.c. every year the state of the union means that roads gets closed for hours around capitol

hill. those closed roads affect pedestrians. let's take a welcome at a map of the closings. pretty much every street two to three blocks from the capitol. and the closures will begin tonight at 7:00 p.m. the streets will stay closed until a few hours after the president's speech. pedestrians will not be allowed in the capitol square starting at 6:00 p.m. metro buses and circular buses will be routed around those closures. now we have a list of all the streets which are going to be closed. go to our website, wusa9.com and look on the morning news page. by the way, you can watch tonight's state of the union address live right here on channel 9. our coverage will begin at 9:00 p.m. and we will bring you the republican response from indiana governor mitch daniels. and get reaction from local

reaction tonight on 9 news now at 11:00. mitt romney made more than $40 million over the past two years. that's according to his tax returns. in 2010, about 14% of his earnings went to taxes. his tax rate is lower than what many high-income earners pay because most of his money comes from investments. his earnings was a big issue during last night's debate in florida. at this very hour, congress is deciding if it should continue to allow occupy washington, d.c. protesters to camp out. we have the very latest now from capitol hill. >> reporter: what is the definition of camping? >> the hearing started with a pointed question at the center of the debate, the national park service bans camping at all national parks, but for the past three months, they have called the occupation an on-

going 24-hour vigil. that is until today. >> for a 24-hour vigil is that they are awake at all times, providing information or signs or whatever associated with their first amendment activities. camping is defined as sleeping or preparing to sleep at the site. is there sleeping going on? >> yes, sir, we do believe there is. >> reporter: the park service stated they are protecting the first amendment rights supported by one congressman who even compared the occupiers to the civil rights activists. but the republican chair of the committee on oversight and government reform is not buying it. he says the free stay should be over. >> they have a clear ability and requirement to prohibit overnight camping and they are not doing it. and i am deeply disappointed. >> reporter: on capitol hill, 9

news now. since january 19th, washington, d.c. police have arrested 16 occupiers. but officials admit that most of the common administrations have been peaceful. more on the story tonight coming up on 9 news now beginning at 5:00 p.m. today is the first of several public ceremonies honoring former penn state football coach joe paterno. there will be a public viewing that begins at 1:00 this afternoon. and then the private funeral will be held tomorrow with a memorial service in the university's basketball arena on thursday. 85-year-old paterno died sunday morning, less than three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer and after being fired for not adequately reporting allegations of abuse against children. mourners have left dozens of candles and cards at a statue of paterno on campus. still to come when we

continue, see how the escalating violence threatens to break up iraq's fragile coalition government. stole the show with 11 oscar nominations. see who else is nominated coming up.

more than a dozen people are killed in a string of car bombings in iraq. it appears insurgent attacks have escalated since u.s. troops withdrew last month from the country. >> reporter: the iraqi soldiers guarded the scene following a deadly car bomb blast in baghdad. two explosions rocked the neighborhood in the capital, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens more. what do these innocent iraqis do to be killed the shop owner asked? what do the bombers want to achieve? insurgents planted more car bombs near another area of baghdad. this blast hit close to two schools, killing two people and wounding several children. attacks like these have been on the rise across iraq since u.s.

troops pulled out last month. suspected insurgents hope the assaults will make iraqi security forces look weak and destroy the civility of the country now that american forces are gone. cbs news. more than 170 people have been killed in attacks this year. and many of them were shiites attending religious gatherings. not bad at all right now. a mix of clouds and sun and temperatures actually comfortable with light winds. we'll take you to break with up ther 40s and even 50 degrees right now. radar is quiet. you will see andrews air force base. but rain coming in the next couple of days. we'll have that forecast when we return.

there is a push in congress to turn the dc world war i memorial into a national site. local leaders including the dc delegate are pushing back. the memorial on the mall was paid for by dc residents. it remembers the 26,000 people from washington who fought in world war i. >> this bill seeks to literally come -- take a memorial paid for by the veteran and its war

dead from that war. >> the memorial was built in 1931 and it is located on the southwest section of the mall. well the national air and space museum is preparing to welcome the space shuttle discovery into its collection. the shuttle will be flown to washington dulles international airport on the back of a boeing 747 in april. a fly-over is planned above the nation's capitol before discovery make its final home at the massive hanger in northern virginia. shuttle "endeavour" will travel to the california science center in los angeles in the second half of the year. well it is oscar time. the academy of motion pictures announced this year's nominations. we have the report on who is in the running. >> little man.

>> reporter: hugo leads the oscar pack, the adventure of an orphan in paris picked up 11 nominations including best picture and best director. it came out just ahead of the artist with ten nominations. and also nominated in the category, war horse, the tree in life, midnight in paris, the help, extremely loud and incrediblely close and money ball. money ball is the baseball drama about the oakland as 2002 season that put brad pitt on the best actor along with george clooney. this year's contenders run the gam hot from baseball to a story of one of the most fascinating lit leaders in britain. she is nominated for her starring role in the iron lady. it's her 17th nomination.

he is up against glenn close michelle williams. >> for best achievement in directing. >> reporter: woody allen is in the running for best director for midnight in paris setting up a show down between two of hollywood's heaviest hitters. cbs news, hollywood. the oscar ceremony will be on february 26th with the return of billy crystal as the host. and now it's time for the weather. and we are having, i think, beautiful weather. it was foggy this morning. but the sun has come out. the temperatures have gone up. >> going to the 50s this afternoon. >> i love it. >> winds are light and it's going to be comfortable. and that's a good thing because later in the week, starting tomorrow night, going to get chances for rain thursday and friday. and then colder by sunday and monday. a look for the rest of the afternoon. as we've got temperatures right now still in up ther 40s here in washington. but some areas down to 50.

about 50 next hour. and then into the 50s as we head into the afternoon low. maybe mid-50s. it depends on the sunshine. a few clouds now, but when you consider the average high is 44, we'll take it. by 7:00, west wind 5 miles per hour, 47. and by 9:00, down to 44 and going into the 20s and 30s tonight. and with clear skies and that solar system, maybe you heard about that, the big space storm, we might be a little luck see the northern lights make it down here. the better chance the farther north you go, and i mean new york state and canada. little batch of clouds on midday. this is going to scoot away. i expect partly to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. this morning we dipped into the 30s and 20s. this is where it was coldest, but only mid-40s to the south and east. these are what the highs should be. and right now, look at the difference, up to 55, gorgeous.

it's 52 in cambridge and on the eastern shore. and up north, the upper 40s. and leesburg at 46 degrees. look outside, you're seeing mostly sunny skies, good visibility as we look at the jefferson memorial. and traffic flowing nicely here in washington with a temperature of 47 at reagan national. partly sunny. feels like 44, south wind at 7 miles per hour. and the dew point 42. humidity 83%. we're looking good right now. but there are storms out west that will affect us later in the week. one through the rockies. notice the wintery mix through the plains. and then this one on the west coast, this one just like a fire hose, moisture coming in toward the pacific northwest. that's going to be the one that gives us the chances for rain friday morning. right now, get rid of the clouds and front. and bring in warmer temperatures this afternoon. generally clear and chilly tonight. here we're at 6:00 p.m., notice overnight how we stay in the

clear zone. tomorrow we start sunny, but the clouds increase late on the afternoon. and watch the moisture tomorrow night into thursday morning. some rain showers here by thursday, 5:00 a.m. may mix with snow or sleet early, but too warm and we will see more rain showers thursday. and especially friday morning. today, 55, maybe 53. but still going to be nice either way with wins fairly light out of the west. clear and cold tonight. tomorrow, 50 with increasing clouds late. tomorrow night late into thursday, a few showers, cooler weather. only in up ther 40s. still going to be mild around 52 as we finish dry air. saturday, cool and 45. and sunday and monday. that's your weather. we'll return in just a moment.

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i'm one on one today with a very, very important man. yesterday it was beginning of the chinese new year. the lunar new year, the year of the dragon. and i have with me a man who was a vie yet please boat refugee and has become one of the most successful in washington. welcome. and he is the owner of chu restaurants. one is in downtown washington, d.c. and the other one is up in

chase. and it's just a delight to have you here on the show. and i need to ask you, before we talk about the food you brought, how were you able to rise above those daunting odds that were against you when you came to this country 30 years ago? >> work hard. work hard. work hard. >> work hard. >> and this the best thing this country, you work hard, you achieve a lot of thing that you really aim for. >> and you are very famous, you get invited to all the important parties. you have been to the white house several times. congratulations to you. >> thank you. >> but let's talk about the year of the dragon. and you have a beautiful tie. i love that year. >> dragon year, yeah. >> tell me about what you have to show us. >> the chinese new year, start with some of the food that helps good luck to bring the whole year. like they call the baked orange

to bring luck to that. and then the noodles, long noodle. and then those dumpings, the shape of the gold that look like piece of gold. >> a piece of gold. all right. >> and then in chinese, we have one salty one and sweat one. it's to represent the, to wish people, if you working, wish you to get promotion. >> good. i like that. >> and if you student, get good grade. and in business, you get better business every year. that's the symbol. and this is the lucky bag we give out. they call the lucky envelope to have money in there. but that is just to give to the people that you want to bless in the new year. and get this lucky bag for

children to spend there. >> and a lot of celebrations in downtown washington, d.c. and they'll go on for how long? >> in china, a week before and after. two week celebration. >> okay. so nice having you. thank you for being with us. thank you for being with us. come back and visit us at 5:00 and have a wonderful day.