john boehner didn't put superstorm sandy aid to a vote tuesday stirring up outrage, but boehner was reelected speaker. with the looming debt ceiling crisis lawmakers have to figure out where to cut spending which has proved not to be an easy task with partisan politics at play. >> we have to be able to take back common ground. we all agree we've got to deal with the national debt. we've got to deal with our deficits. >> the president needs to show up early this time. the american people will not tolerate the kind of last minute crisis that we've seen again and again over the last four years. >> reporter: in washington i'm sandra nedo. a familiar face returning to work to a round of applause today. senator mark kirk back for the first time since he suffered a debilitating stroke almost one year ago. vice president joe biden and senator joe manchin stood by the illinois republican as had he to use a four-pronged cane

to climb those 45 steps to the capitol. senator kirk had to learn to walk again after that stroke. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton is in her 11th term up on the hill and while she is facing the same legislative calendar as her colleagues, she's also focused on the inauguration and the estimated 800,000 folks expected to show up and expect to have a great time. she's here with me now to talk about the impact on our city and delegate norton, welcome. we do understand you worked out a bit of a better deal for the city when it comes to money from the feds this time around. >> we don't have to front this time. got up to $10 million up front and it will. we can go back to get reimbursed. >> i think cities expected a windfall but may not have expected the impact of all the security. >> well, from last time they ought to be because remember that was 2 million people. now we're talking something under a million, but i met yesterday with the whole task force. it's a dozen agencies to make

sure the district would remain as open as possible, that security and openness both would be the slogans of this inauguration and frankly, i was pleased. remember last inauguration there wasn't one arrest. that speaks to the sensitivity of the law. if somebody does what you tell them, don't put them in the clinker. >> today the speaker was reelected. a lot of folks were surprised. it was a little closer than they expected. what happened? >> i think this has probably never happened in the history of our country. if 16 of his members had voted no or for somebody else, he would not be speaker. 14 voted either largely for somebody else. they picked somebody else to vote for and i'm not sure what would have happened.

they would have had to regroup, but they probably would have had to come out with another speaker. >> are you surprised and why has boehner's hand been so weakened? is it the kind of personality he has or the nature of the politics of the day? >> it really isn't his personality. he's a tough guy to get along with. he also is quite sane, but he's been handed a group of members the likes of which we have never seen before. he can't handle them. he decided that the way not to handle them was to say we're going to let the housework its will. that was a mistake. he should have followed the lead of the speakers of the house and the speakers of the house have always been strong men or in the case of nancy pelosi, a strong woman. she never bludgeoned us, but she got us all together. >> she had some tools, though. speaker boehner doesn't have earmarks anymore. they don't have the money they used to have because so much money comes from outside. he doesn't have the tools to

herd the calves as it were. >> but there are people who have to vote their district unless you give them a good reason not to. an earmark maybe the reason, but it may simply be the per situation sieveness of this speaker. -- the persuasiveness of this speaker. >> every time we do this for a second term president, i always ask why are they doing the inauguration? why not swear him in and forego all the expensive parades especially when you consider where we are financially in the country right now? >> and especially when it's cold. it's as if it had never been done before. we're not going to see 2 million people. we're going to see a lot of people here and i can tell you just how important it is to people. very at the moment only a couple hundred tickets. i got 3,000 residents who want to go. now they know how cold it is here and how crowded it is here and i am here putting out an announcement for all of my

colleagues you're from the west coast. you're from the northwest. your people aren't coming. please give us your tickets so we can give them to the residents of the district of columbia. >> d.c. people want to see this happen. >> they want to go. it's in their hometown. >> eleanor holmes norton, thank you. let's move on to prince george's county where one company is getting the nod for a lot of the little details surrounding the inauguration. cargill will be the general contractor to create the floats for the parade and the decor and staging of the ball. we also learned more today about metro's plan for i mug racing. metro rail will be open 4 -- for inauguration. metro rail will be open 4 a.m. until 2 p.m. peak fares are in effect between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. the archives to hunt vernon square and smithsonian stations may be shut down. it's all about security i would imagine. another member of the president's cabinet apparently won't stick around much after the inauguration. bloomberg is supporting the

treasury secretary tim geithner will step down the end of this month regardless of whether or not there's an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. white house chief of staff jack lew is considered the front runner to take over geithner's job. there was plenty of sun today, but we'd like to replace some of that cold with warmth. any chance of that happening, top? >> not really, but at least it's not record setting cold. we're finally kind of where we should be this time of year. we're looking at temperatures on the average side. temps right now are falling like a stone, 33 downtown, 27 in frederick and manassas and 29 in andrews. that's before the wind chill. we'll come back and talk about the wind chill, but for tonight clear, breezy and cold, a two to three blanket night, low temperatures in the 20s. we'll come back, talk about how cold it's going to be tomorrow with the wind and look ahead to playoff sunday. in the 9 news update justin wolfe did not walk out of prison today even though his family was there and they were all hoping for him to get out. wolfe spent more than a decade behind bars convicted of hiring a man to kill a drug dealer in

northern virginia, but in 2011 the case was overturned after a key witness took back his story. just days ago a judge ordered that wolfe be released and today was supposed to be that day, but at the very last minute a federal appeals court intervened, blocked the release and for now wolfe remains behind bars and the attorney general's office indicates it's going to try to keep him there while prosecutors launch an effort to retry wolfe on those murder for hire charges. students from sandy hook elementary were back in class today, but they were at a different school. they were in another building 7 miles away in the town of monroe, connecticut. is it the first day of school for those -- it is the first day of school for those kids and teachers since the shooting that killed 20 of their classmates and six staff members in newtown and officials say they saw almost full attendance. did you hear about the new york newspaper that published names and addresses of gun permit holders in the weeks of that shooting? now it's turning into an open government standoff.

officials in putnam county are refusing to turn over the records to the journal news. they say they're concerned about the safety of permit molders, but the newspaper contend -- holders, but the newspaper contends the information is public record under new york law. so what do you think about that? are the newspaper's actions reckless as the county executive maintains or should information about gun permits be released the same way this newspaper is doing it? share your thoughts in an e- mail to mcginty's mailbag. that is mailbag@wusa9.com. plenty of folks on the roads all hours in our area, but coming up you might be surprised how many say they'll get behind the wheel when they probably ought to be thinking about going to bed. >> but first retracing the steps of a local man who went missing new year's day.

there is some new information tonight about a man from clarkbsurg who went missing. however, the news is not so good. police say the body found in the ventilation shaft of an adams morgan apartment building is that of michael steven poe.

the 22-year-old was last seen leaving a bar in the very same neighborhood new year's day. right now police do not suspect foul play. last year's 88 murders in d.c. was the smallest number of homicides here since 1961 and today police chief cathy lanier said the continuing decline can largely be attributed to the department's focus on seizing illegal guns and breaking up gangs and the increasing use of technology. >> we use every means of technology available to us, the list serves, facebook, twitter. >> but the news was not all good today out of mpd headquarters. according to chief lanier, overall violent crime was up 3% last year and assaults with a deadly weapon were up 6%. still ahead topper is back with an early check on your weekend forecast. >> plus a local fire department sounding the alarm when it comes to having enough firefighters to keep you safe. oh!

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a new study from the centers for disease control finds one in 24 american adults say they've recently fallen asleep behind the wheel. they think the real figure is a lot higher, but people are hesitant to admit it. the cdc asked 147,000 adults in 19 states and the district, the biggest culprit? men between the ages of 24 and 34, people who get less than six hours sleep and for some

reason texans. some prince george's county firefighters are sounding the alarm tonight saying there around enough of them to go around. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in college park where volunteer firefighters are complaining that some changes being made by the county fire department could leave some communities threatened. >> they just need more people and we can't take them from one just to put them somewhere else. >> reporter: according to the volunteers here, at the branchville volunteer fire company, they are among six firehouses where the county is considering pulling out its paid staffers to consolidate forces elsewhere. >> why jeopardize the citizens of prince george's county? >> reporter: county fire ems spokesman mark brady says the fire department is studying how to realign its staff, but no decisions have been made yet. >> when the baker administration first started out, we had 600 some approved firefighter positions. we're up to 810 now. there is a tremendous demand for career personnel throughout prince george's county based on the need from volunteer stations. >> reporter: of course, one

solution to all this is to recruit more volunteers, but in this day in age there are not a lot of people who want to do this kind of hard work for free. in college park scott broom, 9 news now. well, a lot of our country or parts of it anyway saw a lot of rain or snow over the holidays, but apparently all that precipitation only amounts to a drop in the bucket. according to a new report, that rain and snow barely put a dent in our drought crisis. the whole country is under a drought. in fact, 61% of the continental u.s. is suffering under drought conditions even as we speak down less than 1% from before the rain and the snow. >> we need snow is what you're saying? >> apparently other people do. i think this part of the country is doing okay. >> we're a little behind. >> but we're not in a drought. >> not technically in a drought. >> there you go. no snow needed. we're going from one extreme to another. i tweeted about this an hour and a half ago.

you can follow me at to wereweather, wish you would. this -- at topperweather, wish you would. this solar flare occurred on the 21st of december. >> how do they get these pictures? >> magic. it's nasa, our friends at nasa. joe sent this to me. if you followed me on twitter, you would have had this an hour and a half ago. oh, that's cool. let's talk about temps. they are falling very quickly, in fact, 33 downtown, a lot of folks in the 20s, dew point up a bit, 21, pressure down, 30.19 and winds still south, southwest at 7, but they will increase. in fact, see the colors here, yellows and oranges, those are winds over 15 miles per hour working their way eastward, frederick, winchester, about 15 miles per hour, wind in the mountains 20 to 25. we'll see breezy conditions develop late tonight. look at the temps, though, 32 in rockville, 27 in reston, 29

in sterling, 30 in fairfax, even 30 down in alexandria old town, 32 in college park, 29 in andrews and 31 down toward waldorf. so winds will pick up, clear out tonight, no worries there. breezy tonight and tomorrow and still sort of cold tomorrow, primarily because of those breezes and a chilly dry weekend, really a very nice weekend, about all we could hope for for early january for a double playoff game. clear, breezy cold tonight, two and three blanket night, temps in the 20s. the wind is increasing west, northwest 10 to 20. by morning unlike today plenty of sunshine, mostly sunny, breezy, cold. you'll need sunglasses, 20s and 30s, winds west, northwest 10 to 20, a few higher gusts. by afternoon still plenty of sunshine but breezy and cold, highs in the low 40s, wind chill in the 30s. probably better off dressing in the 30s and winds out of the west 10 to 20. we're looking really at kind of a very cold start. our 9 weather alerts are green

the next three days, 42 tomorrow, breezy, cold, chilly saturday, 44, a few clouds come in late, not a big deal and on sunday partly cloudy, chilly, temperatures in the mid-40s, perfect for a couple playoffs games in baltimore and fedex. i would dress for the 30s if you go to either game. next seven days it gets a little colder monday. temps go back into the low 40s and then look at this, derek. we have a january thaw which doesn't normally occur until the second or third week, but low 50s tuesday and wednesday. rain develops late wednesday or wednesday night, maybe a leftover shower thursday, mid- 50s on thursday, my friend. >> harbinger of the january to come? >> let's hope not. >> we'll be back. no, no. we won't be back till we do the weird news because somebody once said science is the art of creating for human beings what mother nature figured we didn't really need. actually i made that up, but wasn't it good? to japan where a clever fellow

in vented taillie. it is a strap on tail for human beings that actually wags when you get excited. hey, it works for man's best friend. no. you can't grab anything with it or hang from trees, but it really does wag when you see something or someone that gets you kind of worked up. it works with a belt that has sensors that pick up your pulse. when your heart rate kicks up, taillie wags even faster. the device will be on sale soon in britain, but i could see this thing being a big hit. perhaps this should be required on all first date. you say is that ice cream tasty or are you just glad to see me? >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mail to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back. ñ??

you might want to start off your new year right with a brand-new app for your favorite tablet. the 9 news app is a great way to stay updated on all the latest news and weather of it's free on itunes and compatible with other tablets, ipad, kindle fire, whole 9 yards. in the mailbag tonight the fiscal cliff averted, but questions remain like this one from a fellow calling himself big daddy in fair lakes, virginia. i'm confused. i thought passing the bill to avoid the fiscal cliff would prevent most americans from having a tax rate increase. now on your show you say our payroll tax is going up and quite a damn bit. what's the deal? smoke and mirrors? no smoke, no mirrors, big daddy. payroll tax has gone up to exactly what it was two years ago when the president and congress agreed to cut it by about 1/3 as a form of stimulus for the still weak economy. it wasn't supposed to last forever. country needs that money to pay for social security. so it's all done. then there was this reaction to new jersey governor chris christie's rant when he blasted his fellow republicans for not

moving faster to pass the $60 billion aid package for the victims of superstorm sandy. dean from triangle, virginia, says before christie runs his mouth maybe he should have read the parts of the bill senator harry reid sent to the house with billions of waste and pork spending for reid's programs. finally we got this profound observation following the intense reaction to the story we aired regarding a plan to fire some healthcare workers who had refused to get flu shots. robert from herndon says it's often not what you say, it's how you say it. if instead of personnel were fired for refusing flu shots the story had been presented as patients were routinely exposed to personnel who did not receive flu shots, i don't doubt that you would have received a stack of mail demanding not only their firing but probably that of hospital management as well. i wouldn't be surprised if the fear of such a story is what prompted the firings in the first place. you know what, robert? it's only thursday, but that's my pick for comment of the week, very nice, although

there's one more day to change my mind. drop us a line. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. that is our report. i'll be right back here at 11:00 along with anita and top. also tonight russ ptacek is back with your first food alert of the new year. don't forget log on any time to www.wusa9.com. have a great evening. we'll see you a bit later. bye bye.

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"dancing with the stars" julianne hough admits to being a victim of physical abuse. >> i think a lot of people got to know me through "dancing with the stars and don't really know about my past. >> who took advantage of julianne when she was a 10-year-old child. and the break down on the set of her new movie. >> a candid confession she kept secret until tonight. pregnant kim's police escort from the gym. new video today and will she pose nude. >> plus, what e.t. knows about the baby shower and the god parents. >> tell me you and kanye well pick a famous god parent for this baby. and j. lo's photo shoot posing on a palace and sexy on the beach.