illness are everywhere. >> reporter: we want to show you how easy it to for the germs to get around and we've got our hands on a little product called glow germ. here's how this thing worns. you put this on your hand. you smear it around. and when you're ready you go about your day touching things that you normally would in an office setting like this. the lotion serves as a simulated germ and when a uv light is held to it the spread of the would be bacteria is visible. so i went around our newsroom at wusa9 the way i normally would answering phones, touching buttons and grabbing door handles and stair railings and typing on a keyboard. more on that in a second. >> very easy for us to just pass it by by touching different items. >> reporter: the university of maryland microbiologist is talking about germs that make us sick. we hardly ever see them. back to the experiment now. remember all the things i put my hand on in look at them now

under the black light. again if they were real germs you can see how easy i spread them all over channel 9's newsroom. >> it's extremely easy to accidentally pass what you have from your own body to a surface that then is touched by someone else. >> reporter: and that's how this most recent flu attacking the country has managed to strike. you see most of these germs aren't airborne. they're passed along almost exclusively through touch. here's another kind of contact that you see everywhere here in washington. the ever so popular handshake. >> you can get 10,000 bacteria just across one finger. there could be millions of bacteria on any body surface. >> reporter: dr. lee says another thing he sees plenty of are dirty hands touching faces. >> you don't know you're doing it. >> reporter: people need to know some linger more than others. >> some could sustain themselves for others and others for weeks. >> reporter: the best advice is still what our mothers thought office, keep clean hands and wash them frequently. i'm ken molestina, 9news now. >> and ken has been ill too in the newsroom. what's the difference between a

rough cold and the beginning of full blown flu? the centers for disease criminal says colds usually come with a stuffy or runny nose, sore throat and sneezing. when you cough you may bring up the mucus but a fever, chills, body aches are not typical. these are all felt if you have thefully or some other -- flu or some other viral infection. if it's the flu it will be the real difference. they tend to really hurt. if you think you have either the flu or a cold be sure to get rest and plenty of fluids. and if you're trying to stay healthy, as you saw wash your hands as often as possible with warm soap and water. and in the interim i have some here. i keep my little bag of -- >> the sanitizer stuff right? >> the sanitizer stuff. i keep that with me and again you may have a hard time finding the flu vaccine but it's still available at laurel regional hospital. they have a free clinic next

tuesday, the 15th for people who live in the laurel community. go to the hospital between the hours of 2:00 and 7:00 in the afternoon on tuesday. the free flu shots are available only to people 18 and older. and we have continuing coverage of the flu on our website. go to wusa9.com and type in the word flu and you'll see a lot of information about keeping you and your family's protected here. >> thank you. yep. >> keep that close by. all right, vice president joe biden is going to deliver a new proposal with hopes of preventing gun violence. he's going to do that and bring the ideas to the president by tuesday. later today, he's going to discuss gun violence with producers of video games and movies. >> on thursday the vice president sat down with gun owners and the country's most powerful gun lobbying group the national require association. as danielle nottingham -- rifle association. as danielle nottingham tells us -- >> reporter: mary anna heads to the virginia gun shop to buy

her first firearm. she says the mass shootings in aurora, colorado and newtown, connecticut helped her make this decision. >> if i have the opportunity to save other people then i'm going to do it because i'm equipped. if i have the opportunity to save myself i'm going to do that as well. >> reporter: as the vice president sat down with gun rights groups thursday, he kept the focus on preventing gun violence. >> there's got to be some common ground here. >> reporter: but finding that common ground with the nra has been difficult. the national rifle association said its closed door meeting with biden had more to do with taking away gun rights than protecting children. the white house is looking to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. that's a hard sell to gun owners but there's another proposal that seems to be gaining some traction. >> there's a surprising, so far, a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks. >> reporter: currently about 40% of all u.s. gun sales don't

require a background check. stern and her friend support background checks for all gun purchases but sabanning weapons own -- say banning weapons won't stop violence. >> you can't legislate bad intentions out of people. >> reporter: the vice president's task force is looking to gun retailers to help bridge the divide. several including wal-mart took part in meetings thursday. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. >> in another shooting now police say a teenager who shot two students yesterday at a high school in at the, california apparently had been bullied repeatedly by the victims for a full year. investigators say the 15-year- old shot and critically injured one student and shot another before he was convinced to put the shotgun down. a colorado judge says there's enough evidence for james holmes to go to trial for the movie theater shooting last

july. he is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 more and his defense attorneys say they're not ready to enter a plea at this point and they're asking for the arraignment to be delayed. defense attorneys want a judge to review a plea deal to a former marine who's admitted to shooting at the pentagon and other buildings. under the deal 25-year-old jonathan melaku would spend the next 25 years behind bars. but the new defense attorneys say the deal was cut before he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. they want a judge to consider the new information and the plea deal. the federal communications commission is taking steps to prevent problems like you experienced during the derecho. remember that? verizon customers couldn't call 911 after the storm because the system failed. the fcc says its plans to put mandatory rules in place to avoid problems with emergency services and also said failures were to blame for the problem.

>> and what happened during the derecho and after the derecho. the lack of service, the lack of communication must never happen again. and i consider the ruling today a real validation. >> the metropolitan washington council of government issues a statement praising the fcc for its ruling and called on them to put new rules in action to support local emergency officials. it is 4:37. a warming we will go. today and tomorrow are expected to be the perfect days to go outside. howard is back in two minutes with the warm friday forecast. but there's a little bit of rain today. >> if you would have warned me i would have tried to harmonize. >> new rules intended to protect you from predatory lending practices take effect this year. >> and if you rely on ambien to get a good night's rest, federal officials -- health officials have some new rules which will impact your life. >> happy friday. keep it right here, wusa9

returns in two minutes.

welcome back. 4:40 on this friday morning. a quiet this morning, we've got 30s and some 40s to start. could see a shower by noon but a better chance the rain will be developing after the noon hour with the highs in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees. much warmer 267s for the weekend and -- temperatures for the weekend and i'll tell you all about it in the next five minutes. right now monika with timesaver traffic. a serious accident in carol county route 97 new washington road is shut down in both directions at route 26. liberty road. a medevac helicopter just left the scene and it will be closed

through the rush hour. in pennsylvania avenue at prince george's county traffic is moving well. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 4:47. andrea and mike? thanks monika. time for the first your money segment of this friday morning. >> speaking of money, here's the beautiful jessica doyle. >> why thank you i'm going to keep my distance a little bit because i'm a little -- ken molestina's report means a lot to me right now you know? i'm going to try to get through this with my voice. earnings season still going on on wall street. wells fargo will be the first to report later today. on wall street the stocks rose and the s&p 500 climbed to a five year high and checking the numbers for you -- in the meantime, american express will cut 5400 jobs to roughly 8.5% of its work force. these jobs are mainly in its travel business. am exalso said fourth quarter

profits fell about 47% because of costs including expenses tied to the planned job cuts. the job cuts will be partly offset by jobs that the company expects to add in other areas later this year. the company currently has 63,500 employees. yeah it's massive. new rules concerning mortgages designed to protect both lendors and borrowers will go into effect next year. vendors can no longer offer interest only loans and must also verify a borrower's financial records. banks generally won't allow a borrower to have loan payments that are more than 43% of the annual income which that's going to be a hard and fast rule. and large balloon payments at the end of the loan would also be eliminated in most cases. a lot of people are looking over these new rules trying to figure out how it's going to affect their particular markets and that's later in the show. >> when you think about the rules you wonder how did they ever let these -- loans these questionable loans happen in the first place and we talked about that a lot on mind over money and you were one of those

warning us. >> but also a lot of the loans were -- the balloon one those are for flippers. you pay a really low payment up front and you want to try to sell the house so you can pay off the loan and it's a gamble. >> one criticism that's been happening a lot because of the mortgage changes and they've been ongoing since 2008. not just delivered to the industry. it's been sort of a pendulum. was some of the changes have really been hurting people who go in trying to rehab houses and flip them. but some of those people are exactly the people that are going to pick up excess inventory rather than letter them go to foreclosure. there's -- letting them go to foreclosure. there's a give and take with the rules and i think it's going to take a while for them to work it out. >> if you want somebody to get the foreclosures off the market to rehab them you need to give them a little bit of capital to pull it off or they're going to be on foreclosure for a long time. >> exactly. every house that foreclosures everybody in the neighborhood -- >> absolutely. growing up, most of us were probably told at some point don't waste your food. >> the findings of a new study

suggest very few of us listened. coming up in nine minutes we're tell you how much of the world's food is wasted every year. and what the long-term effects could be. >> we're back with that story plus your weather first in two minutes.

good morning, welcome back to 9news now. 4:46 this friday morning. we're happy this is the weekend. and howard has this warming trend that you will not believe. coming toward the weekend. >> for january this is going to be a fantastic weekend. tennis, golf. outdoor work. >> i have people saying does he really say 70? >> on sunday. not out of the question. >> wow. >> not tomorrow. but sunday. there will be spots -- >> whatever. >> south and southwest -- yes, yes. i said 70 on sunday. all right, let's talk about today though because we need jacket this is morning. it is january. we have temperatures in the 30s and 40s. and it is going to be a cooler day and the sense that

yesterday the sun stayed out a lot longer than i expected. that pushed us to 57. it was beautiful. today. not quite the same. here's the bus stop forecast. we've got skies mostly cloudy. it is dry and will be dry this morning. temperatures in the 30s to low 40s. now, with that in mind, keep some rain gear with you because this afternoon some rain is going to develop. i don't think it's going to be too heavy but heavy enough to probably slow down the commute. maybe by lunchtime we'll see a shower but much better chance after the noon hour. we've got rain and 48 by 4:00 and 8:00 still around 50. tonight not going to be nearly as cool but it's also going to set the stage for the patchy dense fog in spots by tomorrow morning. 30 culpeper and 36 fredericksburg. there's the 30s and even gaithersburg at 34. new lynn said 33 there just a little while ago. while in town on our michael & son weather camera, got a good looking jefferson memorial this morning.

sunrise not until 7:26. it's 40 and feeling like 40 with no wind reported and the barometer still real strong at 30.36. let's talk temperatures because winter is not dead by any stretch. i know it's been mild so far and we've got some warm temperatures coming but there's a lot of cold air tracking down into the rockies today. great falls. the snow is flying in the mountains and we've got the 70s in atlanta. 60s all the way up into lexington, kentucky. we're going to get almost to 50 thanks to the rain moving in and a little front that pushed through yesterday. well watch this though by saturday, it starts moving to the northern plains but the warmth is lifting up to us. so tomorrow we get into the 60s. probably just low to mid-60s. and then on sunday, that's our warm day as the 60s to around 70 surge toward us. west southwestern pennsylvania. well look at the cold air in chicago at 29 this cold air mass is going to head our way by the second half of next week. big snows flying in the rockies for montana all the way down

even to arizona. seeing some snow there with the rains from the storm that hit texas a couple of days ago. that is now lifting into the midwest. still showers and storms in western florida and louisiana and this moisture at least a little bit of it is going to try to get here this afternoon. the travel forecast today. we've got the mooing in during the afternoon -- rain moving in during the afternoon and evening hours. but pittsburgh and detroit and chicago all looking at rain today. keep that in mind atlanta should be cloudy and 71 and even up in philly and new york, they're going to see some showers for the afternoon and evening as well with highs in the 40s to around 50 degrees. our forecast for you on this friday, be about 50. temperatures are still above average for this time of year with the afternoon showers. some showers into the evening then fog overnight into saturday morning. lows in the low to mid-40s. and tomorrow 62 with the afternoon sunshine. sunday mix of clouds and sun. a warm day. 65 to 70. monday and tuesday though looks like we turn wet and colder tuesday and then stay into the

40s wednesday and thursday. monika samtani's here, 4:49. she loves friday. i love friday and it is definitely friday morning light. sticking to its reputation. no problems to report on the beltway. we're looking great on the west side of town at the american legion bridge. heading from bethesda all the way southbound into tysons corner. and beyond towards springfield. let's take a live look at the american legion bridge here on the west side of town. as i said both loops look how light that is. this is the time to head out during the rush hour. no stress and no problems at all. let's go back over to the maps this time we're taking a look out west coming in on the dulles toll road from herndon. 6620 manassas. a tiny -- 66 to manassas. a tiny bit of slow traffic leftover in the vienna area because of overnight construction. to springfield on the northbound side of 95. same story from dale city. back with more traffic coming up at 4:55. thank you monika. in health news the makers of ambien and other sleeping pills

are being ordered to lower the dosage when the drugs are prescribed to women. the food can drug administration shows the drugs may cause morning drowsiness eight hours after taking it which increases the risk of car accidents. the fda wants drubbing makers to cut the dosage in half for women because women process the drug more slowly. the group is also recommending lowering the doses for men but that would not be mandatory. millions of americans take it to treat insomnia. as much as half of the world's food goes to waste including in the developed countries like the united states and britain. >> as rita nissan tells us it's also a problem in the home. >> reporter: the amount of food that's ending up in the landfill is staggering. a report from the institution of mechanical engineers claims up to 50% of the world produced around the world every year gets thrown out. >> it's very difficult sometimes to keep track of the fresh fruit and vegetables in

the fridge. >> reporter: in some areas poor agricultural practices are to blame. but even in the united states and britain, the study finds shoppers tossed up to 50% of the food they buy. >> you've got the cultural issue that it is good to overprovide for your guests, or overprovide for your family and have only the very, very best and to throw away the worst. >> reporter: the study found here in england, people threw away $16 billion worth of food from their homes last year. and much of it was still perfectly edible. researchers blamed stores that encourage consumers to buy more than they need because it's cheaper. another problem? use by and sell by labels which are just estimates. >> they're a very clumsy way of telling people when food is no longer edible. you have to guess as to when -- what date you put on that. >> would you ever eat something over the date? >> it depend on what the food is you know. if it looks okay i eat it you

know. >> reporter: consumers also have to be less fussy and choose fruits and vegetables based on quality not appearance. rita nissan for cbs news, london. >> the study's authors say changes need to be made now to ensure there's enough food resources to feed the growing global population. by 2075 they're expected to be 9.5 billion people in the world. a dire warning from defense secretary leon panetta. coming up at 5:32. find out why he says he's seriously worried about the nation's security. we're also going to tell you how this could affect you and your neighbors. right now at 4:53 it's time for the question of the morning -- two out of ten women. >> two out of ten.

log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. ♪

welcome back. your weather first here at 4:56 on this friday morning. we've got some clouds which will be building this morning. you'll need the jackets with temps in the 30s and lower 40s. dry this morning but this afternoon you'll also need something a little waterproof with some rain falling. especially north and west of town. but it looks like everybody is going to see it for the ride home with high temperatures upper 40s to around 50 degrees. monika? on the northbound side of i- 95, here's the fairfax county parkway in newingtown. things are still looking great up to springfield and on to

395. no issues on the beltways south side of town between alexandria, springfield and tysons corner. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 5:00. back to you guys. thanks monika. so who is going to get the new fbi headquarters? legislators in maryland and virginia are now competing trying to get the new facility there. the j. edgar hoover building in d.c. is no longer suitable home says the fbi. so political leaders in virginia and maryland are making their pitches to get the bureau to locate on their home turf. one of the spots being proposed now the old gsa warehouse if springfield, virginia. -- in springfield. virginia. congress is going to decide on the site requirements and then the gsa along with the fbi will decide on where the new site will be. 2013 oscar nominations are out and "lincoln" whoo talk about nominations. >> it's a great film as bigad shaban says though a series of oscar snubs has people talking today. >> reporter: february 24th

could be a monumental night for "lincoln." >> shall we start this bleeding? >> reporter: steven spielberg's civil war epic received a dozen nominations including best picture. daniel day-lewis is among the front runners for best actors, sally field and tommy lee jones got supporting nods. the ship wreck adventure received a rack of nominations 11 in all. the drama silver linings playbook is up for eight top prizes including best picture. ♪ same goes for "les miserables." the most picture academy is singing the praises of best actor nominee hugh jackman. ♪ and supporting actress nominee anne hathaway. >> i want to make something clear. >> reporter: the controversial man hunt thriller "zero dark thirty" is unless at running for -- also in the running for

best picture. a series of snubs, "zero dark thirty" director was not nominated and neither were "les mis'" tom cooper and "argo's" ben affleck. they all received directors' guild of america nominations which usually indicates an oscar nod is coming. two nominees are making history. 85-year-old emmanuel reva is the oldest actress ever nominated in that category. the 9-year-old wallace of "beast of the southern wild" is the youngest. bigad shaban, cbs news, hollywood. >> some good news last night though for ben affleck. he and the movie best director and best film won the critic's choice awards. >> for "argo." >> excellent. >> after being snubbed in the oscars. >> good morning and thank you for not snubbing us and watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> cheers and happy friday. did you know it