a. the nasdaq shot up by nearly 55 points and the s&p 500 was better by 19. we will get a new report on home prices later today and

wall street doesn't really have the greatest expectations. the chief executive of real estate site still low.com -- zillow.com predicts prices will drop this year. we're also going to get the latest on consumer confidence. analysts are expecting higher gas prices undermining consumer spending and possibly triggering inflation. drivers in nine states already paying $4 or more for a gallon of regular. two places in our region, both d.c. and maryland are paying over $4. aaa says the average price for a gallon of regular in maryland is now $4 even. that's 7 cents more than a week ago and 10 cents shy of the record price of 4.10 set back in july 2008. the price in maryland still less than the district where it now averages 4.13 to fill up. virginia is still the cheapest

in our area, the afternoon price there $3.84 a gallon. >> more driving to virginia. >> come visit. >> thanks, jess. there's a study out that suggests bariatric surgery can improve or even reverse diabetes in overweight patients. >> we're back with that story and your weather first in two minutes.

welcome back to 9 news now. howard is here. chilly details in the forecast. >> you may have heard about the rockets testing the jet streams

and stuff. they might launch in the next 15 minutes. if they do, if lieu out to the east -- if you look out to the east, you may see lights in the sky. that is a rocket launch that's going o. it may not happen this morning. they may do it again tomorrow morning. they postponed it a dozen times already. they want to get this thing going. otherwise, let's talk about the cold this morning because had to put the heat on after having the ac o. my climate control system is going a little crazy at my house. it doesn't know what season it is, like most of us. we still have a freeze warning in effect till 9:00. north and west of town, more likely we're getting to the freezing temperatures but there's still time south and east also. everybody in the light blue. that includes just about everybody. could see freezing temperatures. this is why we were urging you yesterday to bring the plants inside and protect tender vegetation. the concern is for the growers, the orchards. some of the fruit trees are susceptible with the buds out there. they get the freeze, that could be a problem. at the bus stop, it's a chilly

one. we've got a little bit of a windchill as well. the actual air temperatures from the upper 20s to upper 30s. sunrise 7:00 on the nose. we will see clear skies this morning. in fact, another day with plenty of sunshine. north winds at 10 miles an hour. that will make you feel closer to 40 degrees with a 54-degree reading by 4:00 pl. lighter winds this afternoon and this evening as temperatures will top out mid, maybe even upper 50s which is a few degrees below the seasonal average. this morning we're close to 60. we're in the 20s in oakland. low 30s in the shenandoah valley to gaithersburg. 37 at reagan national. southern maryland that's why st. mary's isn't in it. you're still at 41 degrees. we have 29 in laytonsville, a freeze there. same with leesburg at 32. they're frozen. 33 andrews. you're close along with colombia and arlington right now 34 along with fairfax and reston. the next hour or two, we could still get the freezing

temperatures. that's idea freeze morning in effect for a few more hours. clear skies. good looking shot of the u.s. capitol dome. 37 degrees at national. remember yesterday morning i said the dew point was in the upper 40s. i said watch the numbers. this has dropped like a rock down to 11. the air has really, really dried out. winds north, north west at 15. so the windchill this morning feeling like 28 in town. as we look across the country, a lot of activity out west. the pacific northwest and the mountains winter is still going strong there as these storm systems continue to come off the pacific. seeing mt. hood and those areas, they're doing great, even into some of the mountains in california. but they're getting the rain. the rain extends into parts of the northern plains, the great lakes but around here, clear skies. that's allowing the cold care to move in. with high pressure just about overhead, just to our west, we've got the northerly wind. that will be just about overhead later today. then the winds will turn toward the south.

tonight won't be nearly as chilly. then the attention turns north and west. by tomorrow morning see this line here? that's a cold front from erie, pennsylvania to columbus, ohio in the morning. midday this thing is up to our north and west. it's going to come through with a couple of showers, maybe a thunderstorm or two tomorrow. but out ahead of it with the warmer winds, we're going to see temperatures tomorrow into the 70s as opposed to struggling to get into the upper 50s this afternoon. then we'll coming back down on thursday. 57 today after the cold start. tonight not as cold. tomorrow breezy, 75 with a shower or thunderstorm possible. then a breezy, cool thursday around 60. as we head toward the weekend friday looks okay at 64 but some showers are -- yeah, probably going to be around on saturday, mid-60s. sunday will be upper, upper 60s. a warm monday ahead of the next cold front. we'll be pushing 80 on monday. it's just going to be the construction on the beltway. otherwise things aren't looking too bad. i'll start off first with the

wb parkway and route 50. no problems through chefly into the northeast -- cheverly into the northeast area. let's first go to the north side of town. there's a stretch of construction i wanted to tell you about on the outer loop of the beltway between new hampshire avenue and university boulevard in the two right lanes. you can see once you're beyond university, you're going to be okay. we'll go back over to the maps this time to southern maryland. there are no problems on route 210, route 4, route 301. everything looks great to the the beltway. we'll take a live look at the beltway at route 4 pennsylvania avenue. very light into oxon hill across the wilson bridge into alexandria. in my next report, we'll go into virginia at 4:556789 but first the maryland state supreme court has agreed to decide to hear a lawsuit involving speed camera fees in montgomery county. for every $40 fine, a private contractor of the cameras gets $16. the people bringing the lawsuit say the fee is a violation of state law and encourages a

financial incentive to issue tickets. >> thank you, monika. new research shows bariatric surgery cannot only improve quality of life. it may also reverse type two diabetes in the overweight and obese. the findings are so promising that doctors say it could become more of a standard treatment than a last resort. >> reporter: for years tim had a hard time keeping off the pounds and keeping his type two diabetes in check. >> i would go on a diet and lose some weight and then it would slowly sneak back on. >> reporter: doctors at the cleveland clinic enrolled him in a clinical trial to see if weight loss surgery could help. >> right after surgery within about a week or so i no longer needed the medication for my diabetes at all. >> reporter: the study looked at 150 obese patients with poorly controlled diabetes. patients were given one of two types of weight loss surgery plus medication to treat the

disease. a third group just got the medicine. the surgery patients lost more weight and achieved normal blood sugar level better than the group just on medications. >> the patients at the end of one year were on an average of less than one medication for their diabetes and in fact about 40% of the patients were on no medications. their diabetes essentially went away. >> reporter: 26 million adults have diabetes in the u.s. about 30 to 50% of them don't have their diabetes under good control and researchers are saying that for some, surgery could make a big difference. but bariatric surgery comes with risks, including digestion problems and gall stones but tim says it was well worth it. >> i feel like a million bucks today. very more than enough energy to do everything i've got to do with two little kids running around the house. >> reporter: nearly four years after surgery, he's dropped 60 pounds and his diabetes is in remission. teresa garcia, cbs news, los

angeles. >> the cleveland clinic says it will continue to monitor the patients in the study for the next five years. sitting too long may increase your risk of dying. researchers in australia found 200,000 people ages 45 and older. they found those who sat at least 11 hours a day were 40% more likely to die within three years. the average person spends 90% of their leisure time sitting. so could stress be a contributor to alzheimer's disease? a study on mice found chronic stress can trigger the growth of protein in brain cells. the proteins have been linked to alzheimer's. the proteins were found in the part of the brain that collects memories. here's some good news for chocolate lovers. a study in the archives of internal medicine finds people who eat a lot of chocolate actually lose weight. or they weigh less. antiox distants in dark chocolate can be good for the heart. researchers say more study is

needed before chocolate can be considered a diet food. you can hear sandy our director applauding in the next room? 4:52. it's time for the question of the morning. >> 25% of all the clothing in a woman's closet has this in common. a, they've never been worn, b, they're from high school, or c, they don't fit? >> i'm not weighing in on a long shot on this one. log on to wusa9's facebook page. we'll have the answer in our 6:00 hour.

4:55 on this tuesday morning. we're looking at sunshine, a chilly one. we start in the 20s and 30s a. freeze warnings till 9:00. highs mid- to upper 50s. look at southeast over the next little while. the rockets are just about to be launched. over to you. if you're planning to head on the southbound tied of i-270 at route 221, no problems to where the lanes divide. very quiet this morning. in my next report, we'll take a look at virginia roads at 5:01. new cherry blossoms will sprout at the mandarin hotel. the trees were planted yesterday in the hotel's garden. the planting coincides with the cherry blossom festival in d.c. and the 100th anniversary of the gifts of those trees from tokyo. you might want to check out the exhibit of japanese paintings at the national art gallery. paintings from the 1700s go on

display friday. t. features birds and flowers and the artist created them more than 250 years ago. the works are rarely available for public view, even in japan. last night our colleague jc hayward chaired an event celebrating the performing arts here in d.c. the golden gala took place at arena stage. proceeds from the black tie event will support the arena stage's community engagement program. they help expose underserved students to the arts. bobby brown has yet another run-in with the law. lionel richie undergoes a music makeover of sorts. >> reporter: whitney houston's ex-husband singer bobby brown is awaiting his court date after being arrested yesterday in los angeles for driving under the influence. police say brown failed a field sobriety test. he spent about two hours in jail and was released on his

own recognizance. lionel richie is out with a new album named after his alabama hometown. richie remade his hit songs with country songs including shania twain. >> this is probably the most unusual circumstance because i'm reflecting and then each one of the artists that did one of the songs, they did a song they like. >> reporter: tim mcgraw, jennifer nettles also teach up with richie on the album. we're still six months away from the remys but we now -- from the emmys but we now know who is emceeing. it's a first for the 44-year- old comedian. the emmys aricept 23. take a look at the first full trailer for the twilight saga. "breaking dawn part 2."

the latest twilight installment opens in theaters november 16. that's your eye on entertainment. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. this tuesday morning. i'm andrea roane. he's back. it's good to be back. i'm glad i'm here. here's monika santami. she will have traffic and howard bernstein. how are you? >> i'm excited this morning. they have rocket launches going on right now. if you look outside to the southeast, you're going to see potentially the trails of the rockets there. >> the rockets forwhat? >> they're testing the jet stream winds using sounding rockets. this is happening out of wallop's island, virginia. i don't know if the second one is going off now as we speak. pretty cool stuff on a cold morning where temperatures are down in the 30s, even upper 20s. that's why freeze warnings are in effect till 9:00 this morning.