>> reporter: romney currently holds a big lead over gingrich in nevada. one poll shows him ahead by as much as 20 points. cbs news, washington. >> ron paul and rick santorum will also try to rally some support in rally today. both of them are very far behind in the polls at this point. washington could soon become the seventh state in the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. state senators approved a bill last night which would legalize same-sex marriages. the bill heads to the statehouse witnesses' expected to be easy -- head where it's expected to be easily approved. montgomery county executive ike leggett says there's just not enough money to build a new police station slated for montgomery village. >> he's removed it from the budget. as gary nurenberg reports, some worried residents say that's just not safe. >> reporter: remember this guy from christmas eve, made national news as the mummy man who robbed a cvs in montgomery

village and got away? >> we need a stronger police force. they've got to be on the street a whole lot more. >> reporter: he's the president of the montgomery village foundation in the parking lot of montgomery village center where in recent weeks this restaurant was robbed. a customer of this 7-eleven was assaulted in the parking lot. >> they are a response force. they're no longer policing the way they used to. >> reporter: the nearest police station is now on west watkins mill road on the other side of interstate 270 and busy route 355. >> traffic ties up at rush hour especially. they can't get into the community as fast as we think they should. >> reporter: and that $26,000 a month leased space is apparently where they'll stay now that a new closer police station, 21 million, has been removed from the county budget. >> the county executive decided to reduce our borrowing in the capital budget so we wouldn't have so much debt. the problem is we spend too

much borrowing money to build things, we have less money in the operating budget for the officers and the front line personnel. >> reporter: he says essentially it make no, sir difference where police are based -- it makes no difference where police are based, that they work from their cars when patrolling. but they want a temporary substation east of 270 so police can respond more quickly. but what they get from the county is "we're working on it, we're working on it ," a response they're tired of. a controversial abortion bill is one step closer to becoming a law in virginia. yesterday the state senate passed legislation which would force pregnant women to have an ultrasound image taken of their fetuses before they have an abortion. a woman would also be offered but not required to see the ultrasound and even listen to the fetus' heart beat. the bill now heads to the house of delegates. governor bob mcdonnell said he would sign it if it gets passed. we have an update on the

parting of ways between susan g. komen and planned parenthood. in the last day they have raised $400,000 from people who are reacting to the news that the nation's leading breast cancer charity komen has pulled its funding for breast exams. planned parenthood says komen has caved into antiabortion lobbyists to do it. komen says it's dismayed its actions are being mischaracterized. u.s. combat operations in afghanistan may end a full year than expected. leon panetta told reporters wednesday he hopes the u.s. and its allies will be able to make a transition from a combat role to training and advisory role by the end of next year. u.s. forces are due to remain in afghanistan through the year 2014. this comes as forces in the country are now being advised to watch their backs. afghans who are thought to have been friendly repeatedly turned on their american counterparts. lawmakers called military officials to capitol hill asking them to do more to

protect our troops. >> reporter: two american soldiers in can are a province were victims of what the military calls an insider attack, an afghani man hired to protect rudy acosta and donald mickler shot them dead. >> our troops there are to protect the afghan people and their government. to be turned on by the very people they're fighting with and for undermines the entire operation and places our troops in an awn acceptable -- in an unacceptable level of risk. >> reporter: the defense department says the number of these attacks on the u.s. and coalition forces is rising, more than 40 in the last five years killing 70 and wounding more than a hundred. military officials told the house armed services committee that the afghans often attack for personal reasons. >> one of them just simple insults. another one is combat stress that the individuals are under, cultural misunderstandings, religious and ideological frictions. >> reporter: in other cases they are insurgents who

infiltrate afghan security forces. defense officials say they're improving the screening process to reduce threats but admit there is no way to eliminate them. >> this is a thinking enemy that we're dealing with here, a cunning enemy who wants to hurt us. every now and then the enemy is going to have some success. >> reporter: the military is also stepping up cultural and language training for american troops to reduce friction that can lead to violence. manuel gallegus, cbs news. >> the nato-led coalition wants local forces to start stepping up and taking responsibility for their own security. 4:35. here's a look at some things making news now. at least 74 people died when fans in egypt rushed the field after the home team one in an unexpected vitry. 1,000 others -- victory. 1,000 others are reported

injury. fans threw sticks and stones. some men rescued a manager from the losing team as he was being beaten. witnesses say officers appeared overwhelmed. wikileaks founder is taking his extradition fight to britain's supreme court. his lawyers are arguing sweeten's public prosecutor does not have the legal authority to issue an arrest warrant. in the united states and britain, usually only judges can issue arrest warrants. they accuse him of sexually assaulting two women during a visit to scandinavia in 2010. he says the sex was consensual and insists the allegations are politically motivated and aimed at silencing him and his secret spilling website wikileaks. facebook files papers for its ipo stock in everyday investors. at 4:49, how often should elderly drivers be tested for competency behind the wheel?

one family says the current standard isn't enough. we're back in two minutes. stay with us.

we 4:39. we have some showers out there. our high for the day right around 59 degrees. i'll be back and show you the seven-day forecast. traffic is looking great heading northbound from the occoquan river to springfield and 395 to the 14th street bridge. all incident free in the main and hov lanes. we'll go over to maryland at 4:47. >> thank you, monika. it's time for the first your money segment of the

morning. >> jessica is here. i wonder what you will be talking about today. >> stocks, facebook, you know, no big deal. pretty good day. stocks surging on the heels of strong manufacturing data and encouraging reports about the greek debt crisis. the dow rose within a hundred points since the 2008 financial crisis. as for trading we saw asian stocks rallying as well. checking the numbers here at home, the dow standing this morning at 12,716. thank you, sir. adding 84 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq popped by 34 points at the gain of 1.22%. s&p 500 was up by about 11 points. after the bell, facebook filed papers that wall street was waiting for. the government is laying out its initial public offering. the company was started just eight years ago n. that time it's sell bammed more than 800 million subscribers. internet social network will likely make its stock market debut under the tickler symbol

fb in three to four months as one of the most valuable companies in the world. we all know the market has been a huge drag on the economy. president obama told struggling homeowners about his idea to help them refinance their mortgages. the president says the plan would save the average borrower roughly $3,000 a year. >> thank you. >> if you're ineligible for refinancing just because you're under water on your mortgage through no fault of your own, this plan changes that. you'll be able to refinance at a lower rate. you'll be able to save hundreds of dollars a month that you can put back in your pocket. >> the plan would allow all borrowers to refinance their mortgages, even those whose homes are worth less than their loans. the cost of the plan? up to $10 billion. the cost the president wants large banks to cover with new fees. that idea could face a really

tough fight in congress. so we don't even know if this is even possible at this point. >> banks might not work out deals with the homeowners in the first place. >> it will probably be a red flag for republicans when it goes before congress and it needs to pass in congress for this to actually happen. >> some people say the president realizes it may not pass and just might be an issue he can use in the campaign coming up. >> some people are saying this is came bookie -- kabookie theater. but it could be a really good plan for home own glers if you can save a few hundred dollars a month, why not. >> exactly. little to no sun in your life could risk you suffering a stroke. >> we'll have more on that story. plus, your weather first when we return in two minutes.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. 4:45. can we beat 72 degrees yesterday? incredible. are we going to pay for this in other ways, not-- >> we have so many things starting to bloom. the cherry trees have buds out, tulips. it's february 2. we have so much time for freezing weather to occur so those blooms, blossoms will be done. if they bloom early, they're not going to bloom later. there could be impacts down the road. >> you mentioned we could have bigger mosquitoes later on in the year, too. >> without a big killing freeze and cold winter, the bugs and ticks this year could be bad because the deer population didn't get thinned out as it

might have been in a colder winter. weather wise this morning grab the umbrellas. we have some showers out there. i want to get my graphics on the right bus stop forecast for you there. just got off the computer. we'll make it work somehow. a quick look at the seven-day forecast and you can see what's happening. i got it in the wrong one. let's move it forward at some point. oh, the weather computer, it's doing it to me today. your bus stop forecast now. there we go. got some showers out there. i know, i did it to myself. i'm my own worse enemy. temps running from the low 40s up north to low 50s down south. the scattered showers are more south than north. those showers will be around on and off for the next several hours with temperatures this morning in the upper 40s. by noon, though, low 50s. north winds at 6 so cooler air

moving in. we've got sunshine returning by midday and a sunny afternoon. high temps around 55. winds turn toward the northwest at 5 to 10 miles an hour. one batch of rain pushing through us now. a break. look at the heavier rains going on across east central west virginia. that will be coming through later this morning toward mid- morning. once that passes, we're going to be home free. here's a look at live doppler 9000hd. you go west into loudoun county and fauquier county, pretty much done with the rain there. i'll zoom in a little bit. upper parts of montgomery county, you're drying out now as well asthma fast sas, points -- asthma fast sas, points -- as manassas and points west. from davidsonville down toward shady side back to forestville and upper marlboro and southern calvert, down toward solomon's island, even there you're watching for those leftier showers moving across the bay over towards the eastern shore. our temperatures, well, we're 51 here. we dip into the low 40s in hagerstown.

mid-40s gaithersburg. mid-40s in easton and still 45 in winchester. outside good visibility in spite of the fact we've had a few showers around this morning and 51 degrees. winds are calm at the moment. i do expect them to turn out of the northwest. again, we're watching this feature right here coming into west virginia with low pressure in eastern kentucky. that's going to sweep through us. we'll get rid of the rain here as we head toward noon. southern maryland may be holding on and then clearing for the afternoon under partly to mostly sunny skies. so today temperatures in the mid-50s with the morning showers. tonight we're dipping into the 30s. low 50s on friday. saturday around 50 after being in the upper 20s to mid-30s for the start but some late clouds saturday. may feature a rain or snow shower. that's a slim chance there on sunday morning. sunday's highs in the upper 40s. then look. we're back in the 50s monday and 40s tuesday and wednesday. we'll find out in a couple of hours whether or not phil saw his shadow and will stop blinking his eyes.

if you're planning to head around town and you're just opening up your eyes and heading out the door, things look great. there are no big worries or concerns. we'll start off with the north side of town of the here's what it looks like out of frederick. you see all the green on i-70 and 270. that just means there are no delays and all lanes are open as you head all the way down to the point where the lanes divide. both loops incident free between 270 and i-95. here's what it looks like at university boulevard. again it's going to be the wet road conditions that you have to deal with this morning. if you're planning to head over to the southern side of maryland, we'll go there now. no problems on route 4, route 5, route 301 out of brandywine. we're fine near andrews air force base. a live look at the beltway, south side of town heading to the wilson bridge and all the way from alexandria and springfield, everything running incident free. we'll go into virginia at 4:55. it would save money but would it risk lives? the maryland motor vehicle

administration wants lawmakers to extend the time between license renewal. right now it's five years. they want to extend that to eight years when you have to get renewed but some older drivers, would they stay behind the wheel beyond when it's safe to do so? the family of nathan crass nobodier is -- nathan krasnopoler is pushing for new legislation. an 85-year-old driver hit nathan when he was biking in a bike lane and he died. >> this is not a unique incident. there are other examples of older drivers having poor competency and not really being safe on the roads. >> even after the accident, the woman who hit nathan was never ordered to undergo a driving competency test. she eventually gave up her license but only after nathan's family sued. drug maker pfizer is recalling roughly one million packets of the birth control

pill lo/ovral-28. some packets were distributed with the pills out of order which means a patient could have skip add dose and raised the risk of an accidental pregnancy. only about 30 packets were flawed they said. the pills were made and shipped last year. vitamin d may help prevent strokes. a new stroke finds people that had higher levels of vitamin d in their diet cut stroke by 50%. people who live in areas with less than average sunlight had a 60% higher risk of stroke. here's a good excuse to get a massage. a new study finds it can heal damaged muscles faster. researchers in canada say a massage activates molecules which lower inflammation in overworked muscles. studies have shown massage can also reduce chronic pain and improve range of motion. >> that's why those n.f.l. athletes get treatments right after the big game. well, a group of experts is saying now that sugar is just

as bad as alcohol and tobacco when it comes to our health and the adverse effects. they say it should be regulated the same way. >> we have more on a renewed effort to keep you healthy. >> reporter: we all know too many sweets pack on the pounds but they're often too hard to resist. >> i love sugar. >> reporter: a commentary in the latest issue of nature says sugar is responsible for the high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer and should be regulated. >> because of the way sugar is metabolized in the liver, the liver will turn sugar into fat causing insulin resistance and all of the diseases of metabolic syndrome. >> reporter: the authors say it's time to put restrictions on sugar similar to the ones on tobacco and alcohol. >> what if we had an age limit to purchase soda, for instance. carting kids for coke. i think it's a great idea. >> reporter: experts say the average american consumes 300 to 500 calories from add sugars a day. some of it is in foods you may not even realize like breads,

soups and salad dressings. nutritionists say limiting sugar is a good idea. >> i think regulation would be tough but i think there are small steps we can take. >> reporter: but people like pat dixon disagree. >> you don't have a car accident because you had too many popsicles. you don't wake up with the wrong people because you had chocolate cake for dessert. the government should stay out of the sugar business. >> reporter: the researchers know it will take time to change people's attitudes but with obesity levels where they are now, they say tackling sugar is the only way to solve the problem. terrell brown, cbs news, new york. >> experts say worldwide consumption of sugars that tripled during the past 50 years. researchers blame it in large part on the addiction of high fructose corn syrup which is tasty and cheap to produce. time for the question of the morning. this is fun. women tend to get a better deal when shopping for one of these than men do. maybe it's because women just shop more. is it a, a cell phone, b, they

get a better deal on a car, or c are they get a better deal on a computer. what do you think? log on to our facebook fan page, leave your response and we'll have the answer to today's question in the 6:00 hour. also during the 6:00 hour, we'll announce the fames of the two win -- names of the two winners of the kindle fires in our great tablet giveaway. >> reporter: on october 16, 1972, henry louis was the first african-american to conduct the metropolitan opera in new york. the performance wasn't his first accomplishment. at 16 he became the first black instrumentalist with a major u.s. okay strarks the first black to conduct a world class orchestra and the first to become music director at a major orchestra. log on to wusa9.com for black history moments and events happening throughout the month. ♪

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do you want to pay our college tuition, too? welcome back. 4:57. howard here. your weather first. we've got a wet start in spots this morning. some showers out there. that will be the case through mid-morning. later this morning, though, we're going to start to clear out. even by 11:00 could be some lingering showers. at 1:00 we turn mostly sunny and 53. we'll have a high today in the mid-50s. a lot cooler than yesterday but still pretty nice for this time of year. monika? traffic still moving well along the west side of town across the american legion bridge between 270 and 66. pretty much looks like this. with the wet road conditions, just be aware you may need to give yourself a little extra time. coming up in my next report, we'll go into virginia at 5:01. >> thank you, monika. peace, love and soul. the man who named that -- made

that phrase famous has died. don corn kneel just would -- cornelius would say that at the end of every show of. police say he shot himself yesterday. he created "soul train" long before mtv and any other music shows. it started as a local program in chicago and then aired nationally from 1971 through 2006. don cornelius was 75. >> i didn't realize the show had been on that long. >> he hosted it up till 2003. we're going to check in with a research physical scientist at nasa as goddard space flight center. i have to ask you. i keep telling my viewers the jet stream has been way too north for us but why is that. what is going on this winter? >> this winter we're actually receiving a la nina time frame

which means that, yes, the jet streams are quite variable and it is staying quite further north and it's also less precipitation in the u.s. because of that. so it's just one of those cycles we're in right now and we've seen snow unlike this before and we'll see snow again -- a lot more snow again eventually. >> year after year it seems to be a lot of vairmt. last year parts of the country got hammered. we got hammered two winters ago and this year hardly anything. why is there so much change year after year? >> not only is it the la nina we're seeing right now which is causing less snow in the southeast and northwest but there's -- back two years ago snowmageddon is what we call it, we had an ale nina -- an elnina year. we had a polar north atlantic oscillation, a persistent negative north oscillation which means there was a high pressure system over greenland which pushed the cold ai