the football. >> reporter: marley hall for cbs news, newtown, connecticut. >> newtown school officials will have grief counselors at the school to try to help the students deal with this tragedy. the shootings in newtown have led to a renewed push for tougher gun control laws. yesterday in washington, d.c., dozens of parents, teachers and veterans marched on the national rifle association's headquarters calling on the group to curtail its lobbying efforts. a new poll from cbs news shows 57% of americans are in favor of stricter gun laws. that's the highest percentage in a decade. a virginia congressman says the shooting was enough for him to rethink his position on guns. >> i absolutely believe that americans have a right to reasonable gun ownership. but i also know after this enormous tragedy coming not that long after the tragedy of virginia tech, when my daughters asked me friday night, dad, you're in the

senate, why can't we put reasonable restrictions on assault weapons or these rapid fire ammunition crepes, i didn't have -- clips, i didn't have a good enough answer for them. i as an nraa rated member believe enough is enough. >> senator mark warner says he hopes democrats and republicans can come together for a blunt discussion on gun control. he wants the discussion to preserve the rights guaranteed under the second amendment. police are searching for a man suspected of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in prince william county. just after 3:00 yesterday afternoon, a man matching this sketch knocked on a door of the victim's home in echo court. he claimed he was working for a cable mpany. he left when she told him the person he asked for didn't live there. moments later he returned and pull add knife on the victim. he forced the teen into a bedroom where police say he sexually assaulted her. a person is charged with

malicious wounding for stabbing another student. francis maguire stabbed the 18- year-old with a pocket knife after he was punched in the nose. the stabbing victim is expected to be ne. it's 4:32. we might be getting closer to a deal on the fiscal cliff. president obama and speaker of the house john boehner met at the white house yesterday to discuss the issue. the president presented a new plan which closely monitors -- closely rather mirrors speaker boehner's proposal. the new plan would increase tax rates on americans who earn more than $400,000 a year. it includes more than $200 billion in spending cuts on programs such as medicare. the speaker's latest plan calls for a tax hike on americans who earn $1 million a year or higher. 9news is tracking the discusseses on capitol hill concerning the fiscal cliff, and we've broken our newsroom into four groups. one to monitor the potential impact on the local economy. a second to prepare you for what could happen to you and

your family. a third will help you take action and the fourth will hold lawmakers accountable. you can get alerts about all our fiscal cliff notes by texting the cliff to 25543. virginia governor bob mcdonnell's revised budget includes modest spending increases for health care and teacher raises. it includes $59 million for a 2% teacher pay hike, $70 million to hold down state employee health insurance rates and $128 million to deposit into the state's rainy day fund. governor mcdonnell says he is tempering the state's projected revenue over the next year because of the economic shock which could come if our nation goes over the fiscal cliff. sad day on capitol hill. hawaii's senator daniel inouye died monday after he was hospitalized with respiratory complications. >> his colleagues in the senate honored the 88-year-old who they say was far more than just a politician. bigad shaban takes a look back

at his life. >> reporter: democrat daniel inouye was the second longest serving u.s. senator and third in line for the presidency. he was also the first japanese american to serve in congress and a world war ii hero. >> all of us in hawaii looked up to him and we are so sad to see him go. >> reporter: inouye was born in hawaii in 1924 and believed of being a surgeon but he heard the called to arms when japanese planes flew over his home to bomb pearl harbor. he served in italy and lost an arm to a german grenade leading a battle that won him the medal of honor. >> everything became a bit crazy, bullets flying all over the place. my arm through off. i looked for the grenade because i knew it was in my hand. there it was still clutched and i peeled it off and threw it at the enemy. >> reporter: inouye was elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 1959, the

same year hawaii became a state. he won a seat in the senate three years later where he served eight and a half terms. >> he was a man who as we all know rarely called attention to himself but who lived a remarkable american life filled with dignity and grace of the true hero that he was. >> reporter: he gained notoriety when he served on the senate committee looking into the watergate scandal. the probe ultimately led to president nixon's resignation. in a statement president obama said, quote, our country has lost a true american hero. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> inouye also served as the chair of the congressional panel during the iran-contra affair. he was responsible for investigating the allegations against the top members of the reagan administration who facilitated the sale of weapons to iran. the new senator from south carolina will also be the first african-american to represent a southern state in the senate since 1881. south carolina congressman tim

scott was chosen to fill the seat vacating jim demint president obama is expected to nominate john kerry to replace hillary rodham clinton as the next secretary of state. he has support from both sides of the aisle. words of the possible selection comes days after u.n. ambassador susan rice withdraw her name from consideration. a formal announcement could come later this week. 4:36. christmas is just a week away. seven days. howard is up next in a couple of minutes to tell us about some breezy days coming up. check your statements. quite a few credit cards are due to receive a refund. some could be getting a few hundred dollars. >> brother bernie madoff will go before a judge before his role in a ponzi scheme. >> 9news is back in two

minutes.

4:38. we have the breaks in the clouds now. we'll see a lot more breaks in that cloud cover. partly sunny today. maybe a 10% chance we'll see a stray sprinkle. highs midday in the upper 50s. we'll be driving home in the low 50s. it will be breezy as well. back in about five minutes. some cold headed this way. here's monika. the bay bridge is under a fog advisory right now on the northbound side of i-95 here in springfield, volumes are still light heading up to 395 and the 14th street bridge. no issues on the beltway through annandale and heading up towards tysons corner. we'll be back with more traffic at 4:47. back to you. >> thanks, monika. 4:39. time for your first money segment. millions of credit card customers should be on the lookout for refunds. american express, capital one, and discover all issuing checks. the companies hoe $435 -- owe

$435 million as a result of a government crackdown on what they call deceptive credit card practices. the refunds range from three bucks to $300. stocks rallied with hopes washington is indeed moving closer to solving the fiscal cliff crisis. no deal has been reached but if no deal has been reached, excuse me, in the next two weeks, billions in tax hikes and speck cuts could go into -- spending cuts could go into effect. the dow gained a hundred points. nasdaq picked up 39. s&p 500 was up just about 17. prosecutors say better nay madoff's brother -- madoff's brother serves ten years in prison for his role in the ponzi scheme that stole billions from investors. they say he should have done more to stop the scal. however, pee -- the scam. however, peter madoff says he's also a victim. he insists he was shocked to learn the business was a sham.

4:40. when you think of education in school, what comes to mind? >> most of us imagine maybe a classroom, four walls, a desk, chalkboard. >> that sounds good but some educators in annandale, virginia, they're knocking down those walls, getting rid of the desks and introducing life skills and volunteerism into the lives of young people in our region. >> we'll have that story coming up at 4:57. 9news is back in two minutes with your weather first. good morning.

welcome back to 9news now on this tuesday morning. 4:44. the outside was very gray yesterday so i'm interested in what color are you calling weather today. >> it's definitely a good day. a good day? >> much better day. a little breezy. it is a green. our weather alerts are going to be green today and tomorrow. but a much better day. only a touch of fog in one or two spots now. that will be gone in the next few hours. then we'll be dealing with some sunshine and windy conditions. get ready for that here's a look at your bus stop forecast. not seeing too much of the gusty winds just yet. we are seeing the clouds start to break up. i'm calling it partly sunny 42 to 52. sunrise not until 7:22. rather mild for this time of

year when you consider the average high is down to 46. in many areas we're above that. there is some fog from hagerstown to martinsburg out to cumberland, berkley springs, hancock, those areas. seeing some of that fog this morning. culpeper as well. but look over toward the bay. visibilities much better off to the east now so we don't have the problems like we did yesterday. so your travel should be impacted very little from this. here's a look at our day planner on this tuesday morning. by 8:00 we're going to drop a little bit down to about 50 degrees. we'll have temperatures by noon up to 57. this will be about the high for the day. by mid afternoon we're back in the low to mid-50s. some slightly cooler air moves in under those brisk northwesterly winds. 17 miles an hour. we're going to have gusts in the 25 range today. by 8:00 clear and 47. we'll be in the 30s in most areas by tomorrow morning. showers last night actually a little bit of thunder across the delaware bay through jersey and that whole line has actually moved toward long island and southern new england. out to the west we have an area

of showers here in kentucky and into west virginia. i think most of this will stay in the mountains. we could see a spray sprinkle or two from that. temps mild. mid-50s to fredricksburg and pax river naval air station. some of the colder air toward western maryland, cumberland now 43. 45 in winchester and 48 just to our north in gaithersburg. here's a look at our michael & son weather camera in tysons corner this morning. still some of the low clouds up there reflecting some of the city lights. temperature running at 53 officially at national airport with a west, southwest wind at 7 and the dew point 49. we're going to watch this number drop big time today as the drier air moves in and the winds turn to the west, northwest. the thing we haven't seen much of this year is cold. this tremendous cold in western canada. some of it is slipping in today into the northern rockies and northern plains. look at the 60s, 70s, even mid- 80s south texas and south florida. as we go to tomorrow, cold stays out west, especially west of the continental divide.

highs in the teens in many of the areas in western colorado and western wyoming. we'll be in the 50s once again on wednesday. in fact, a nice looking wednesday. then by thursday, notice the cold starts to shift east. only 20 in minneapolis. we'll see the cold shift in our direction for friday, saturday, sunday and monday right now. probably looking at highs in the low to mid-40s around here. so going to feel a lot more like it should for december. storm system in the east and one in the west. got several in the west. we have a little piece of energy coming here through the north north dakota, south dakota area. more cold on shore flow with mountain snows, coastal rains, one to two feet of snow in many of the mountain areas out west. heavy snow in maine. northern vermont, winter hasn't set in in the east. it will slowly get here. so the breeze is going to kick in. that will help with the upslope. rain and even some snow showers at the highest elevations as we head toward midday.

we'll see sunshine. again stray sprinkle can't be ruled out. most of us stay dry. clearing skies tonight and a nice wednesday with lighter wind as the storm system pulls away. so today got about 57, breezy, mix of sun and clouds. tonight we're down in the 30s to near 40 with lighter winds. tomorrow a nice day. even though it's going to be a little cooler with less wind and sunshine, it will be a good day on wednesday. thursday afternoon showers, mostly cloudy, 53. by friday and saturday, sunday and monday, there could be a sprinkle, even a flurry on friday, 44. low 40s this weekend. ravens are home. that's why their helmet is on our board. the skins are on the road up in philly. it will be upper 30s to around 40. let's check in with monika samtani at 4:48. she has timesaver traffic. i just made a phone call out at the bay bridge. yes, they are still under a fog advisory which means they're saying visibilities are reduced. i spoke to howard about it. he says it should be about ten miles of good visibility. if you are planning to head to

the bay bridge, i think you should be okay. they will be reassessing this situation shortly. coming in from the west, no issues to report from sterling to herndon all the way into tysons corner. 66 the same story as cow in from centreville. let's take a live look outside and show what you it looks like on the roadways here on the southbound side of i-270 coming in from route 109. you're absolutely fine. you may have heard about that accident overnight northbound side at route 80. that was cleared up. did cause some major delays there, though. this time to the other side of town, no issues to report here on the outer loop from college park into silver spring. a live look there at georgia avenue where you can see volumes are still light. i'll be back with more coming up at 4:55. back to you, andrea and mike. >> thank you, monika. after last week's school shooting in newtown, many of us are asking the question why, why does this keep happening. >> gary nurenberg talked with a man who believes it may be because americans, many of us have never learned how to avoid

violence. take a listen. >> reporter: violent video game made $500 million on its first day of release last month. going to be under a lot of christmas trees. how about sunday afternoons for tens of millions of americans. >> a violent game on national sports is a violent sport. >> reporter: how about the shoot them up on this tv station the night before connecticut's horror. violence as entertainment. does a culture that celebrates, that enjoys violence lead to sandy hook? why are we so violent? >> one reason is we are not taught alternatives to violence. so people go through all our schools and never hear there are other ways to solve conflicts without using guns, nukes. if you don't know how to do it, then you can't do it. >> reporter: kolman mccarthy has been teaching alternatives to violence for 30 years.

his students at bethesda chevy chase made this tribute video and posted it on youtube. he says you have to teach alternatives to violence early. >> if we took peace education early, every student through elementary school, middle school, high school, colleges would offer these courses as basic parts of our education system. >> reporter: like you start teaching math in the first grade. >> it's the same principle. if you taught peace education, maybe the boy would not be so interested in violent video games. >> reporter: or perhaps in expressing anger and frustration by murdering innocent children. gary nurenberg, 9news. it is 4:51. a new study finds radio waves may be an effective way to control high blood pressure. research published in the journal circulation looked at patients who weren't responding to medication. it found that directing radio

waves of the nerves around the kidneys lowered blood pressure for at least six months. more than 78 million americans battle high blood pressure which could be a major risk factor for heart attacks and stroke. people tend to overindulge around the holidays. we've heard that before. an article in the british medical journal measures the possible consequences analyzing population studies, the article says each day of smoking, indulging in a couple of drinks, eating red meat and watching television can take 30 minutes off your life expectancy. luckily each day of healthier habits can reverse the trend. the number of teenagers who undergo weight loss surgery has leveled off in the past decade. bariatric surgery jumped in popularity in the early 2,000s. researchers in washington say since 2003, the number of procedures has plateaued at about a thousand a year. minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures have become most popular. roughly one-third of all children in the u.s. are

overweight or obese. celebrating jewish culture through film. for ten days next month, our region is going to host a 23rd annual washington jewish film festival. this year's festival includes 55 films from 15 different countries. coming up at 5:30, we're going to talk with the festival's director about some of this year's most anticipated movies. 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> 15% of us do this during the holiday season. is it rewrap and regift? b, is it watch a holiday themed movie or c, go shopping on christmas eve? >> log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during our 6:00 hour.

your weather first. there's a touch of fog to the west in culpeper, martinsburg and cumberland. generally a much better day with a prtly to mostly -- partly to mostly sunny sky. slim chance we'll see a sprinkle. temperatures mild mid- to upper 50s but a breeze out of the northwest will gust at times over 20 miles an hour. monika? here at the american legion bridge on the west side of town, traffic is moving well between bethesda and tysons corner to annandale. southbound gw parkway before route 123, watch out for the broken down vehicle now on the shoulder. i'll be back with more traffic at 5:01. back you to guys. >> thank you, monika. 4:56 now. a hat, dress and broom from the broadway musical wicked are now part of the smithsonian. a donation ceremony was held monday at the national museum of american history and the costume will go on display in the museum's american stories exhibit. that's also where you'll find dorothy's ruby red slippers from the wizard of oz and items from "the lion king" and the king and i. one thing which remains

constant in this world besides change is that no two people are alike. that saying is especially true when it comes to how we educate children. >> the traditional classroom setting up many -- classroom setting that many of us grew up with doesn't work for every child. peggy fox shows us how some educators in annandale are redefining the classroom and what it looks like. >> one, two, three. >> reporter: this is much more than just a construction site where a new home is being built. it's a classroom. the workers are high school students with the building futures program at the alternative high school in annandale. >> who else does that. these are students who typically haven't done well in a traditional educational program. our students come and do academic work for half a day and switch to the job site the other half of the day. >> reporter: how has this made

learning exciting for you, patrick? >> i actually get to do the hands on stuff. instead of somebody talking to you all day talking about how to do it. >> these are students in a traditional public school setting have often been told what they can't do. i think the building futures program has shown them what they can do. >> reporter: the school owns the property and breaks even by selling the home. the students receive a stipend for their work but technically are not pay. if this were a professional construction site, the emphasis would be on getting it done fast, probably about six months. but it takes them two years to build one house because the emphasis is on learning, not profit. the students have built many of the homes here on holyoke drive. when you drive by it, what do you think? >> i built that. >> reporter: pretty cool. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: the building futures program has been

putting up houses for 14 years. robert jackson is the foreman. >> it makes them feel like they're on top of the world. i can do anything. i can build a house, stand a wall, pour concrete. there's nothing i can't do if i can do this. >> reporter: and that lesson is priceless. in annandale, peggy fox, 9news. good morning. thank you for watching 9news at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm a big fan of that program. i'm mike hydeck. thanks for joining us. good morning. how are you? >> i loved his positive energy. >> did you see the big smile on his face? >> i love that. >> good morning, howard. >> we had a metal shop but didn't go anywhere. >> that's really neat. weather wise, a much better day. still a touch of fog in areas to our north and west right now. but a much -- but much less fog. we'll see some sunshine. the bigger issue will be the breeze out of the