it's not just the government town as it's been for many, many decades. we're going to remake ourselves as a manufacturing, as an innovative entrepreneurial region in this country to remain competitive. >> reporter: bottom line, it is not really a sigh of relief that the fiscal cliff was averted. it's more of a hold your breath till we find out what happens in the three big budget fights in the three months ahead. as the president said a few days ago and yoga bare a said a few decades ago, it's deja vu all over again. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner agreed to vote on a package for victims of supersandy. he originally chose not to vote on the bill because he was upset on how the fiscal cliffs were going. it caused a firestorm. critics on both sides of the oil said house republicans made sandy victims political pawns. among the most upset, republican new jersey governor

chris newkumetty. -- chris christie. >> disaster relief was something you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere, everything is the subject of unup mansship. everything is a possibility, a potential piece of bait for the political game. it's just -- it is why the american people hate congress. it's why they hate it. governor cuomo and i are as frustrated as two people can be. unlike people in congress, we have actual responsibilities. we have a responsibility to make things happen. there is no reason for me at the moment to believe anything they tell me. because they've been telling me stuff for weeks and they didn't deliver. >> the house is going to debate a second sandy relief bill. that is estimated to be worth $51 billion for a total of $60 billion. they're going to do that part of it later this month on january 15. in creas, the -- in contrast,

the senate passed the $60 billion relief package for sandy relief victims last week. what happens next, it will be the job of the new congress,s 113th congress will be sworn in today. it faces daunting challenges right away. one of the first tanks will be to -- tasks will be to vote on that relief bill for victims of superstorm sandy. then they'll have to tackle the leftovers from the fiscal cliff debate. the new congress will have to deal with the spending cuts that were tabled when the bill was voted on this week. congress will also have to authorize a bump in the debt ceiling or else the country will default on its loans for the first time in u.s. history. secretary of state hillary clinton has been released from the hospital. mrs. clinton spent a couple of days in a new york hospital after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. doctors have been treating the clot with blood thinners. they say the secretary is responding well to treatment. president clinton and their daughter chelsea were on hand to take the secretary home. no word on when she plans to return to the state department. the city which was once

known as the murder capital of america has recorded its new lowest murder rate in 51 years. last year washington, d.c. police investigated 88 murders which is the lowest total since 1961. during the crack cocaine street drug wars ever the 1980s and 1990's, d.c. recorded more than 400 murders for several years in a row. later today mayor vincent gray and police chief cathy lanier will hold a press conference to discuss the low number and how it was achieved. d.c. police are searching for answers now after finding the body of a man in adams morgan. the body was discovered around 10:40 last night between two buildings in the 1800 block of biltmore street. there's word the body may be of a man who fell from one of those buildings. no word yet on that person's identity. a virginia man who has spent 11 years on death row could be free by this afternoon.

justin wolfst de us -- justin wolfe was convicted of masterminding a murder. the trigger man and prosecution's star witness recanted his testimony and told the federal court wolfe had nothing to do with the murder. two years ago a federal judge threw out wolfe's conviction. yesterday a second judge recorded he be released. >> this is something we've been hoping for for a long time. >> you could see the smile on his face. he knows this is a huge victory. >> i didn't sleep last night so i doubt i'll sleep tonight. >> virginia's attorney general is asking a federal appeals court to block wolfe's release. he's set to be free by 5:00 this afternoon. coming up at 5:02, delia goncalves will have more reaction from wolfe's family. funeral plans have been set for prince william county police officer chris yung who died in the line of duty. a wake will be held today at the memorial chapel in woodbridge. the funeral will take place

there tomorrow. officer yung was on his police motorcycle responding to a traffic accident when he collided with a minivan in bristow on new year's day. students from sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut will go back to school today for the first time since the shooter killed 20 of their classmates and six of their teachers and administrators. classes are going to resume at chalk hill school which used to be a middle school. it's in the neighboring town of monroe. workers have spent the last couple of weeks getting the school ready for the students. police officers are going to be on hand to ensure the kids are safe and they feel safe. friday will be three weeks since those shootings. bates middle school in annapolis will reopen today after a boiler explosion yesterday. maintenance workers were firing up the boiler when it built up some pressure and triggered a small explosion. two employees were taken to the hospital as a precaution. no students were injured but they were sent home early.

one of the greatest players in the history of the national football league is retiring. one of the toughest by far. after 17 seasons baltimore ravens linebacker ray lewis says this is his last season. he's going to retire aft playoffs this year. he was mvp of super bowl 35 and says he wants to spend more time with his kids. he told his oldest son he would not miss any of his college games. ray lewis iii is going to be a freshman running back at the university of miami this fall. grab your hat, scarf and gloves. it is cold outside. howard is back in two minutes with today's forecast. you're going to have to wait a little longer before you submit your return this time. >> we've all seen zip cards in the d.c. area. the company has a new reason to celebrate. >> we'll tell you why in just a couple of minutes. anyone nine now returns right after this commercial break -- 9news now returns right after this commercial break.

4:39. on this thursday morning, chilly out there. we have temps in the 20s in most areas. low 30s by 9:00. we'll see more sunshine though as the afternoon wears on. a few clouds, extra clouds this morning. high temperatures only around the 40-degree mark. thankfully the winds will be generally on the light side. back in a few minutes with that seven-day forecast. highlighting your weekend. right now here's monika samtani with timesaver traffic. thank you so much, howard. in bethesda, an overnight water main break closes southbound wisconsin avenue between dorset avenue and wisconsin circle. use bradley boulevard, little falls parkway or even river road as your alternate routes. i'll have more information coming up in my next report at 4:47. andrea and mike? >> thanks, monika. it's time for your first money segment of the morning.

>> here's jessica doyle with today's headlines. what a day. >> if we could only have a fiscal cliffhanger and a deal every day. stocks surged interest the new year so to speak -- into the new year so to speak but the enthusiasm could be short lived. the budget deal doesn't tackle automatic spending cuts which are set to go into effect march 1. it doesn't address the debt ceiling and now moodies investment service is pressuring congress to deal with the deficit. the credit rating agency says ngress need as solid plan or could see the u.s.'s credit rating go down. back in september moody's warned it would cut the u.s. credit rating if the year end negotiations failed. it also issued a negative outlook on the government's debt which is seen of a warning of a possible downgrade. here's the good stuff. the dow sprinted ahead 308 points. that's the biggest one day gain in six months. nasdaq also really the star of the day, up 3% or 93 points. the s&p 500 surged by 36.

in the meantime new reports show the manufacturing sector expanded slowly last month after shrinking in november. builders spent less on construction projects back in november for the first time in eight months. so this modest gain in december suggests the economy entered the new year with a little bit of momentum. we're going to learn more on friday with the december jobs report. the internal revenue service will make a decision soon about when taxpayers can start filing their 2012 returns. the i.r.s. currently reviewing the tax legislation passed by congress. it will make information available soon about paycheck with holdings to reflect the new tax rates. the tax filing season is scheduled to start this month. it had been in question because of several provisions affecting the 2012 tax returns that hadn't yet been addressed. google is trying to make a push into north korea. the company's executive chairman will travel to the country next month. it could be the first time that a top executive from google has visited north korea. the north is considered to have

the most restrictive internet policies in the entire world. shares of zip car raised aide nearly 50% after avis agreed to by the company. zipcar has been a hit for drivers allowing them to rent cars for a few hours at a time but the company has struggled on wall street where shares dipped nearly 40%. this is somewhat of a local star because steve case, a local guy, has been running zipcar. he bought it a few years ago because he thought it was a good play for the future. it's had its fair share of problems. some cities it's been losing market share to companies like avis that have been getting business. so this is -- some are viewing this as a distressed asset of $500 million. >> boston it's going gang bust glers here it's been losing its parking spaces. that's one of the debates and in our own hometown where steve

case has his business. it's been interesting to watch. >> it's amazing you see more bikes sometimes. >> thanks, jess. we all know obesity is a big problem in the united states. truthfully around the world. >> but the findings of a new study may change the way you view and think about people who are considered to be overweight versus those who are thought to be healthy. >> 9news now will have more on the study in about ten minutes. we'll be back in two minutes with your weather first and timesaver traffic. stay with us.

good morning. welcome back to nine 9news now. sometimes we tease howard about wearing -- it is cold outside. you definitely want to layer. >> a couple of good things.

the winds are fairly light and that's g. the cold spots are not in the teens. you're in the 20s. you could be in new york right now where it's 17 below up in the lake placid area. lots of northern new england in the 10 to 20 below area right now. it could always be worse. got to look at it that way. here's a look at your bus stop forecast. it's definitely a chilly one. take andrea's advice. bundle up yourself and the little ones. we have temperatures ranging from the low 20s. there will be a few spots along the bay that could be 35 or so here. sunrise not until 7:27. we have mostly cloudy skies to start this thursday. we're going to see a mix of clouds and sun. more sunshine, especially this afternoon. 42. well, maybe. i think the highs closer to the 40-degree mark. that will happen mid afternoon. i want to show you the core of the cold. from albany north it's subzero. minus 10 to minus 20. even pittsburgh just got into the arctic air.

they're down to 10. indianapolis is 11. we're holding on to 20s and 30s across the region. you'll notice the 16 though in garrett county. oh, i heard from my buddies skiing at wisp. many areas getting so much better over the last week, week and a half thanks to the cold air and mother nature snow. fredricksburg is 33 this morning with 27 up in baltimore. 32 in tappahannock and these are the windchills now. we have mid-20s on the windchills. culpeper feeling like 28. actual air temperature in town, we've got 31. feeling like 25 under cloudy skies. on this side you'll be able to see everything better. winds out of the east, northeast at 6. the air really dry. when you see dew points in the teens, that's a sign we're just on the edge of the arctic air. a lot of times for us to get the arctic air, the dew points have to be down in the single digits. weather headlines, need the coat, the hat and the gloves and the sunglasses. we're going to see the clouds around, especially south of town through the morning hours with more sun this afternoon. cold and quiet and kind of breezy for your friday and even

the weekend right now looks just chilly as temperatures moderate more into the mid-40s and got a big important couple of games going on sunday in the n.f.l. locally. nationally, pretty quiet across much of the country. we've got a storm system coming through, a weak one, a little clipper coming through the great lakes with snow showers there. off to our south all sorts of rain coming out of the gulf of mexico through new orleans and over toward georgia and the carolinas. we had some of the cloud cover from that but the closest moisture, that's all the way down toward virginia beach, elizabeth city, raleigh-durham, those areas. so nothing coming from that. in fact, it looks really quiet around here for the next several days. there's our futurecast this morning. quiet. this afternoon notice more sunshine. tonight clear and cold. then it looks like next week we could get into some slightly warmer air for a few days. maybe that january thaw. friday 43 after being 40 today. wear down in the 20s and 30s again tonight. breezy tomorrow, though. the winds west 10 to 15.

saturday a little milder, a few clouds, especially saturday night where we could have a passing flurry or sprinkle. by sunday, though, we're in the mid-40s for both the ravens, the early game. the skins the later game. temperatures falling back into the 30s by the end of that game and the morning tailgaters it will be in the 30s. look at tuesday and wednesday. potentially in the 50s. might even get to 60 by next wednesday. so there's your january thaw. 4:49. here's comes monika samtani with timesaver traffic. the big story this morning is the water main break in chevy chase. it happened at about 9:00 last night on the southbound side of wisconsin avenue here inside the beltway. basically between dorset avenue and wisconsin circle. i'm going to step out and show you some video we have some overnight. it was an 8-inch water main break. i've been on the phone with wssc. they tell us although they cannot tell us how long it will take to reopen the road as it is going to affect the rush hour, they're hoping to let you through along the right side of the roadway on wisconsin avenue. but keep this in mind for your

travel plans. look at that. definitely going to affect your rush hour inside the beltway through bethesda and chevy chase. go ahead and choose your alternate routes. maybe bradley boulevard, little falls parkway or even river road as your alternate. i'll keep you posted on this situation. let's go back over to the maps, this time heading into virginia. you can see that everything looks good inside the beltway here. 66, 395, 295 even to the 11th street bridge. not a problem right now. heading up on 95, you're looking good into springfield as well. we'll take a last live look at 14th street bridge. no problems into the downtown area crossing the river here. i'll be back with more information on the water main break at 4:55. andrea and mike. >> thanks, monika. generic drugs are available for more than half the medications americans take every year. >> a new study finds many people are not taking them as prescribed. teresa garcia has more now from los angeles. >> reporter: 73-year-old mort allen takes medication for high blood pressure, cholesterol and

diabetes. managing all those prescriptions can be confusing at times. >> this one drug, it's either blue or it's white. it changes colors. so you don't really know. >> reporter: many of his pills are generic which can vary in color and shape from brand names. now a new study from brigham and women's hospital says when pills look different, patients are 50% more likely to stop taking them. >> if you're used to taking these guys and if we give you this, you'll obviously be confused. you'll say what is this white pill? mine is oblong. >> reporter: generic medications account for over 70% of prescriptions filled in the u.s. doctors say it's important that patients understand even though your drugs can look different, they're still the same. >> during consultation, we tell them there's a difference in shape and size, it's the same pill. it's still the same generic. everything is the same. it just looks different. in addition we'll put a little sticker on the bottle saying the same exact information. >> reporter: patients should also talk to their doctor and

pharmacist if they have any questions. allen keeps a line of communication open with his pharmacist but with so many medications to keep track of, he knows he has to pay close attention. >> tray things monday, tuesday -- you put one in each one. >> reporter: allen wants to make sure he's taking the right drug at the right time. teresa garcia, cbs news, los angeles. >> the study recommends the food and drug administration reconsider its current regulatory policy and require companies that make brand-name drugs in generic versions which look more alike. the story goes against everything that we have been told most of our lives, but it will make you feel good about that next bowl of ice cream. a team at the centers for disease control compiled some research of people around the world and they focused on bmi, body mass index. that's a person's weight to height ratio. we all know that being obese is definitely not a good thing to have a long, healthy life, but

researchers found that people who are considered to be overweight, at least just a little, tend to live longer. >> sometimes that surprises people, but they really should not be too surprised because in our categories of these 97 studies, 80% of them showed there was lower mortality in overweight than normal weight people. >> the findings were consistent across different ages and ethnic groups around the world. the hottest ticket in town if you can get one is the sunday's redskins playoff game. and scammers are already out to hook you. if you aren't careful, you could end up a victim. coming up at 5:57, we'll let you know how you can go to the game and avoid being scammed. it is 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> most women say this is the number one reason they do not exercise. a, they don't like to get sweaty, b, it takes too long to see results and c, they're worried about messing up their hair? >> oh, my.

log on to our facebook fan page. leave your response. we'll have the answer coming up in our 6:00 hour. stay with us. ñ??

welcome back. 4:56. your weather first. it is a cloudy, chilly start. lots of 20s out there. we'll see more sunshine, especially by this afternoon. look for clouds to be thinning. 36 by 11:00. winds not bad, west to southwest at 8 miles an hour with a high temperature around the 40-degree mark. let's check in with monika and find out about time timesaver traffic. good morning, monika. good morning, howard. southbound side of montrose road, southbound 355 in a bit after bind with a water main break.

southbound side is blocked between dorset avenue and wisconsin circle. you'll want to choose your alternate routes. i'll give you those in my next report. back to you. >> thank you, monika. the health of the chesapeake bay watershed has improved but it still has a long way to go. that's according to a new report on the health of the from the chess peek town -- chesapeake bay foundation. they are up four points since 2008. the report said bay grasses are struggling but crabs, oysters and water oxygen levels have all improved. the new film "zero dark thirty" is about the manhunt of osama bin laden. it's seen by some as being quite controversial but the movie is receiving loud buzz from oscar voters. >> bigad shaban has that story. >> reporter: military speak for 12:30 a.m. tells the story of the ten-year manhunt for osama bin laden and the daring raid that took out the al qaeda leader.

the c.i.a. agent refused to give up the search. >> there are two narratives about the location of osama bin laden. the second narrative says he's living in the city. >> reporter: this woman gave up everything for this mission. the charter she plays is based on a real person but she's never met her. >> she's real. she's completely real. she doesn't look like me. i couldn't be more different than her in that. i'm a very emotional girl and this is a girl who's trained to be unemotional. and trained to be analytically precise. >> reporter: the hurt locker team director katherine bigelow and mark bull made the movie based on firsthand accounts. >> hopefully through playing her it's banking her and giving her credit for what she did because she's one of the unnamed ones that can never

take credit because she's undercover. >> when was the last time you saw bin laden? >> reporter: it's an action packed tribute to everyone who helped bring osama bin laden to justice. bigad shaban, cbs news. >> definitely want to see that movie. good morning. thank you for seeing us here at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. happy thursday. we're glad you're with us. good morning, monika. >> good morning. >> how are you? >> good. >> how is traffic? >> well, in chevy chase, the water main break. >> howard bernstein. >> i'm sure there's ice on the roads but also treating it. the road is closed till they can open it. that will cause you lots of headaches. weather wise the big problem the chill this morning. we're not worried about any rain or snow in the foreseeable future. sorry, no lovers. but the good news it's cold enough for the ski areas to make it and skiing is not bad at all. weather wise this morning, it's a chilly one. you're looking at wisconsin avenue where it is