were killed. emotions are running high as this community begins to lay them all to rest. throughout newton, there are memorials like this one for the victims and their families. this one is closest to the school. people from across the northeast are traveling here to pay their respects. she drove three hours to bring teddy bears. she no longer feels her children are safe. >> there's no way out. people ask us to not be paranoid, but how? >> reporter: there was no school today, so some parents brought their children to a local recreation center to have some fun. >> that's exactly what the kids need after such a terrible tragedy. >> reporter: crews are renovating an old school in a nearby town for students who survived the shooting. it's expected the building will be ready for classes later this week. sandy hook elementary remains a crime scene and it's not known if it will ever reopen.

newton, connecticut. >> 18 more children, 6 adults still to be eulogized. speaker of the house met with president obama to discuss the fiscal cliff. the two trying to close on a deal. agreeing to a higher tax rate on the wealthiest americans and an automatic extension of the federal debt limit. this is the third meeting in the past 8 days. the gop wants to see reform to entitlement programs like social security, medicare and immediate day cade. joining us to talk more is john delaney, who represents the state's new district 7 come january. congratulations. >> thank you, bruce. >> as an incoming freshman, how much clout will you have as you go into the room with the heavy weights. >> i think the country is interested in solutionses to the problems and looking for ideas and my sense is even as a freshman you can make a big difference. >> do you think they'll have a deal by the end of the year?

>> i tend to be an optimist, so i think we will have a deal. i think there's a lot ofmomentum. i think we've seen good progress in the last couple of days. i think people understand the stakes are high. what the deal actually is and the complexity and scale of it,and whether it's a partial deal or not, i'm reasonably confident we'll have something. >> we're calling these negotiations which implies there will be compromise on both sides. what would you be willing to give up, say you didn't want to give up prior to the election. is there anything? >> budgets are about choices. it's a really good question. i think we tend to think of budgets in absolute terms when they're choices, and choices what we care about, what our values are and the direction we're headed as a country. so i think we clearly need to have a balanced approach. i've been saying that from the beginning. i think we clearly need more revenues and i think we're headed that way. >> right. >> i think if you look the revenues of our economy right

now, it's the lowest it's been in a long time. i think we need to make spending adjustments and put entitlements on a trajectory that strengthens the program and provides long-term for them. >> do you think the legislators should go home if we don't have a deal? >> i think a deal is really important. i think that's in the best interest of the country. i think the schedule of them is not particular relevant but having a deal. >> you know they'll come back and say you're local, you don't have to go far. >> i would answer the same way no matter what. >> of course you would. i've got to shift gears and ask you about newton, connecticut. gun control. you represent a district where i would imagine you've got a number of gun owners, you've got people that hunt and have guns to protect their homes and businesses and people who want stricter controls. where do you stand on this? >> i've been in favor of smart,

sensible gun control for a long time from the beginning plaintiff campaign, which is the position i have now. obviously this unspeakable tragedy has made this issue become the focus that it really should be. and so i think we're going to have a good debate about this, and i think we should. >> are we going to have change? the president says we need to change. are you convinced there will be some change? >> i'm optimistic there will be change. i'm supportive of change and look forward to be part of that change. there's some clear things we need to do to make the country safer. i think it's deal with gun control but also a mental health question here we have to get to, even things like violent video games with children. i think there's multiple dimensions with this question. >> are you concerned we might go too far? >> no. i think we'll have a good debate on it. i think we'll end up with sensible gun laws that can prevent these kind of mass tragedies, because that's really what we're talking about here. we're not talking about limiting people's rights to

have guns legally, to hunt, to do the things they want. we're not talking about compromising the second amendment. i do not want to do that. but i think we can have accepts i believe, common sense -- sensible, common sense gun laws, so the right people can have guns, go through the right background checks and have guns that are not overwhelmingly powerful that can cause these kind of mass tragedies. >> thanks for coming in. good luck to you, too. >> thank you. all the talk about gun control certainly had an immediate impact and it's one that might take some of you by surprise. gun stores with all the business they can handle. >> i'm scott broom at a gun store in frederick county, maryland, where the result of the newton tragedy has been a run on guns. >> right now i've got channel 9 recording me, because everybody in the country is buying guns and i've got a store full of customers trying to buy the same type of firearm you are. if you know where one is exhibit go grab it. >> i -- one is, go grab it.

>> he's shopping for a handgun. the newton tragedy has had this effect. >> it hasn't changed my thinking. it's not about the gun. it's about why did this guy freak out? what underlying medical/mental issues combined with really a dumbing down of morals in the country, what has, you know, how did that contribute to what happened in connecticut and colorado and arizona. >> what you're saying today is the very fact that the american people fear that their government is going to prohibit them from doing what is currently lawful and legal. their response to that is to do what's lawful and legal and purchase what they can purchase. >> reporter: in frederick maryland, scott broom, 9 news now. on the streets of capitol hill today a far different response to the tragedy in newton. hundreds of people denouncing the single most powerful gun rights organization in this country, the national rifle association. >> i'm kristin fisher on

capitol hill where 200 people marched to the nra's headquarters with this message. >> let's stop all the assault weapons. >> i'm here because i'm tired of lighting candles and praying and crying for victims of violent crimes and i want to do something. >> shame on the nra. >> reporter: but mid-march they hear this, arm the teachers, arm the principal, the man is saying. three days after the second worst school shooting in american history, the debate over gun control rages on the sidewalk right outside the offices of the largest gun rights lobbying group in the country. >> perhaps the answer is to allow teachers and principals and other people to defend themselves. >> i can't believe that more guns for everyone is a solution. >> we'll be back. >> it's just unacceptable when you see these faces. shame on all of us in we're not doing something about it. >> reporter: in washington,

kristin fisher, 9 news. topper has the first look at forecast. >> we are looking at a dense fog advisory, expanded to include the entire metro area. temperatures are still pretty mild. we've been lucky so far. 53 downtown. 48 in gaithersburg, 52, manassas and andrews. 55, fredericksburg. the radar shows showers in the mountains. they're not the problem for us. they're popping up in morgan town and bedford, pennsylvania, those are thunderstorms. those should stay north of us. the winds will shift tonight, cloudy, becoming breezy with drizzle. fogs about midnight. winds become southwest at 10- 15. we are going to come back and track a stronger cold front for late in the week. we'll let you know if that's the stage for more of a winter weekend just before christmas. coming up next, a familiar face expected to replace

hillary clinton as secretary of state.

>> at this point, all of washington is going to be surprised if president barack obama doesn't nominate john kerry to replace hillary clinton as the next secretary of state. kerry, a massachusetts democrat and former presidential candidate has supports from both sides of the aisle. word of the possible selection comes days after u.n. ambassador susan rice withdrew her name from consideration. formal announcement could come later this week, we're told. the nation lost one of its longest-serving senators, daniel inouye. he died of respiratory problems this afternoon at walter reed medical center. his wife and side were at his side. he served in the senate since 1962. at the time of his death, he chaired the powerful senate appropriations committee.

take a look at this car accident. a mercedes flipped upside down. this is what tied up traffic for hours on wisconsin avenue and northwest today. the driver had to be pulled from the wreckage. he survived serious injuries, though. no word on why he crashed, but here's the good news. all lanes of wisconsin avenue now open again. marymount university had to deal with its own school violence. a man was stabbed. francis maguire cut the victim after the victim allegedly punched him, breaking his nose. francis maguire has been charged with malicious wounding. the injury is not life- threatening. if you haven't shipped your holiday presents, get a move on. today is the busiest postal day of the year. the u.s. postal service expects more than 655 million pieces of mail to be processed because of the holiday season. december 17th is the recommended date to send packages and the 20th is the

date to ship -- after that, the post office says use priority mail or express delivery for on or before christmas day. forecast, looking a little busy, too. topper is going to be here to tell you how active your seven- day forecast is looking. also, we speak with an expert from johns hopkins, center for gun policy and research, to answer all your questions regarding gun safety, coming up right after the break. >> the current payroll tax cut is set to expire on december 31st. in dollars and cents, this means that your payroll tax withholding is going from 4.2%

to 6.# 2%. why is this happening? many of the policies expiring at the end of the year like the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits were originally passed on a temporary basis. the thinking was that the economy would be in much better shape by now, and the policies could expire without causing a recession.

>> the tragedy in connecticut be the tipping point for change in gun control laws? consider this. there are 280 million guns in the hands of private citizens in this country. that's nearly one for every american. andrea mccarren solicited your questions via social media and turns to johns hopkins for answers. >> i do think that this connecticut shooting might

represent a real game change. >> one question you had. why is it so hard for the u.s. to enact policies like in the u.k. that have reduced mass shootings? what actions can be taken? >> of households that have both guns and young children in them, more than 50% of the respondents say that the gun is stored, not locked up. >> reporter: another question. how can we convince gun enthuse arizonas that controls -- enthuseiasts that controls don't end the right to own guns. >> one fear is that greater restrictions are a step down the slippier slope towards completely banning handguns, but that option has now been taken off the political table by the supreme court. so gun enthusiasts shouldn't have anything to fear from universal background checks. >> reporter: another question you had. how do we get more guns into the hands of responsible people

and more guns at school to prevent similar scenarios from happening? >> the argument goes criminals will be afraid of encountering an armed civilian. unfortunately the research doesn't bear that out. there isn't credible, responsible, persuasive evidence that arming civilians actually reduces rates of crime. >> andrea reports we're likely to see more discussion of universal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of high-risk people. also a policy move to restrict assault style weapons in the hands of civilians. residents in fiji are facing extreme weather conditions. cyclone evan brought its powerful winds, and the city sustained winds of up to 124 miles per hour as they ripped through the islands. thousands of people in fiji moved to evacuation centers.

>> i think it's evon. i'm just kidding. i don't know. >> we're not going to let it be an inside joke. you did some checking. it's evon. >> i do not know. >> that was good. >> thank you. when they cross international dateline then they become typhoons. same per ram tear as a -- perameter as a hurricane. it is foggy. high 53. we're still 53. look at that. dew point's in the 50s. winds out of the south at 6. the winds have been southeasterly at 5:00 and 6:00 so the winds have started to shift a little bit. that will take our fog problem away when they pick up a little bit. not bad downtown, six miles. a quarter mile visibility toward baltimore, half a mile

at gaithersburg and toward warrenton. take it easy and use your low beams. so the advisory has been expanded to include essentially the entire metro area for loudoun county down to tread distribution burg across to southern maryland, prince george's county. where it was posted earlier it was expanded at 5:00 this evening. doppler radar, showers and even a few thunderstorms out in the mountains. most of the activity in terms of the heavy showers will go to our north and to our west. don't think we'll see any showers in here until we get into the 10:00, 11:00 hour. that is until you're out in cumberland, leesburg, fairfax, wait until about 11:00 tonight. temperatures still great. 50 in rockville. the running average high for december is 55. it should be 47 degrees. i mean, it's been crazy, crazy warm so far this month. 51 in great falls. 50 in fairfax. 51 in burke.

50 in college park. 53 toward -- fog tonight, use your low beams. wet commute for some, especially with the drizzle. a wet morning commute for some north of town. good news though. still mild on tuesday. by 1:00, most of the showers are through. a few clouds linger in the mountains. for the most part we're setting the stage for a pretty nice tuesday. it will be breezy, so the breezes will make it feel cooler than it actually is. all in all, for december, not bad. okay, tonight. cloudy, becoming breezy and cool with showers, drizzle and fog. lows in the 40s. winds southwest at 10 to 15 and rather gusty. by morning, mostly cloudy, breezy, mild. some showers, 40s and 50s. by afternoon, really a pretty nice day. becoming partly sunny, breezy, still mild. highs 55 to 60.

winds west/northwest at 10-15. next three days our weather alerts are green, green and yellow. morning shower possible on tuesday. upper 50s on tuesday. upper 50s on wednesday. thursday clouds come in. rain and showers for the evening commute but still mid- 50s. next seven days, the front goes through late thursday night. we could see snow flurries 2:00, 3:00 in the morning on friday. the pattern will change a little bit, bruce. looks like we're going to go back to more of a winter pattern. upper 40s subpoenaed. dry for the -- 40s sunday. dry for the ravens game and mid- 40s on monday. a little bit of a change coming on friday. >> too early to talk about christmas? >> it is. actually i was working on a tweet the percentages of a white christmas. average, 11% here. probably about 5% this year. >> wow. >> not a good chance. >> thanks, topper. we want to hear what you

think. send your e-mails to mailbag@wusa9.com at mcginty'smailbag. 9 news now will be right back.

three young boys got the gift of a lifetime during the halftime show of the houston texans game. a mother took her sons down to the field where they received

team jerseys. then a big box was rolled out and their father, who serves in the army, popped out. he was returning from his tour in afghanistan. couldn't wait to see his family. >> i didn't know how long i was going to be there. it just couldn't open up quick enough to see the family. >> the wife was also in on the big surprise for the kids. she said the hardest part of all this was keeping the secret from the kids. and that's our report. derek will be back here tomorrow. anita is here at 11:00. thanks for joining us.

chilling new eyewitness accounts about what really took place during the sandy hook elementary school shooting. >> the popping kept going off. and i could see his -- his feet and his legs from the knees down. i just froze with fear. >> the dramatic stories. the parents in mourning. >> she was the type of person that could just light up the room. >> what we know about the killer now. >> and how hollywood is responding to the tragedy. from canceled premieres to heartbreaking tributes. dr. phil's advice for parents in this time of national mourning. how much should your kids know? >> it's okay for them to see you cry. plus, pastor joel osteen's prayers of healing for the families. >> in these tough times more than ever you need to turn to god. >> only "e.t." is with the spiritual leader tonight. kate middleton's first public appearance since leaving the hospital.