. >>> at the smithsonian museum in washington, the world's largest cut stone is now on display. the aqua marine gem is more than a foot tall and weighs almost five pounds. it's called the don pedro gemba. >>> we're going to find out how hard super storm sandy slammed the economy with the government's november jobs report. economists fear sandy battered hiring with estimates of 80 to 93,000 jobs added. that's compared to 171,000 in october. >>> well, good news though from yesterday's weekly jobless claims which held steady right around the pre-storm level. >>> elsewhere, apple says it will begin making one of its mac lines here in the u.s. next year. >>> growing criticism across the pond. starbucks is foregoing certain tax deductions that helped reduce its tax bill to zero in britain agreeing to pay $32 million it does not owe. >>> the securities and exchange commission says netflix chief reed hastings may have violated fair disclosure rules with a facebook post saying monthly streaming hours had past 1 billion. netflix stocks soared 6% that day. >>> ibm is revamping its retireme

it is now in the smithsonian museum in washington, but it inspired the national anthem, and, therefore, it is the most-famous american flag. >> that flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes, and if you look closely, the flag they are flying here at fort mchenry is the same -- just a lot smaller. what are the right ways to handle the flag? >> the proper way is to not let it touch the ground, to bring the flag down slowly and reverently, but to hoist it briskly and with enthusiasm, especially in carrying the flag, they carry it close to your heart with your hands crisscrossed, and just showing general proper respect to the flag. >> we'll hear more about that in a minute, but first, here's the right way to fold the flag into a right triangle. >> this was a tradition that originated around the start of world war i. there is no real reason why it happened -- it just kind of did. however, in the flag code, it states that it pays, essentially, homage to the founding fathers of our nation and their tri-cornered hats. so, i'm gonna grab this, and you're going to grab the bottom there. there you go. and

. >>> and at the smithsonian museum in washington, the world's largest cut stone is now on display.he aqua amarine gem is more than a foot tall and weighs over 5 pounds. it's called the dom pedro gem, named after brazil's first two emperors. >>> so, this morning we're going to find out how hard superstorm sandy slammed the economy with the government's november jobs report due out. economists fear sandy battered hiring with estimates of 80,000 to 93,000 jobs added, compared to 171,000 in october. but some good news, though, yesterday from yesterday's weekly jobless claims, which held steady right around the prestorm level. >>> elsewhere, apple says it will begin making one of its mac lines right here in the u.s. next year. that will be good. >>> bowing to growing criticism across the pond, starbucks is foregoing certain tax deductions that help to reduce its tax bill to zero in britain, and they've agreed to pay $32 million of money they do not owe. >>> the securities and exchange says netflix chief reed hastings may have violated fair disclosure rules with a facebook post back in j

$2 million for smithsonian museum leaking roofs in washington, d.c. museum officials admit they had a leak before the storm. $10 million to repair prisons, but one of them is in west virginia, which sandy barely touched. and $13 billion to protect against future storms. >> we don't want to rebuild a tunnel so that the same storm water can flood in. we want to build it better so there's more protection. >> reporter: while they argue, janet peters wonders who is going to help. david kerley, abc news, washington. >>> and for all of us watching television tonight, something is different. a new law took effect today, lowering the volume of those loudest commercials. let's show you. let's say a tv program is about the sound of this. it's the regular noise in a restaurant. but then, suddenly, a garbage disposal, 20 decibels louder. well, that's about the jarring spike in noise commercials have been delivering. some of them. but as of tonight, those ads are supposed to be about the same level as the show you are watching. so, check it out. >>> and still ahead

it was dope ate to the smithsonian's museum of natural history.haped stone was mined in brazil in the late 1980s and is named dom pedro after brazill's first two emperors. it stands 14 inches tall and weighs almost five pounds. experts say it is difficult to place a value on the gem. more than 10 years ago it was offered to the smithsonian for seven to ten million dollars. >> it looks like a miniature form of the national christmas tree. >> you're right. >> although this is probably worth a little bit more. >> i wonder how big it is. >> it is 14 inches tall. >> interesting. >> our weather pretty cool too. >> yes, it is. we've been going all over the place in term of temperatures over the past few days. what time of year is it in nobody seems to know. reality check today. we are back to where we should be temperature-wise. let's get a look and see where things are and put it in place for you. here is a look at the highs yesterday. we have gone from 70s as highs, 60s, down to the 40s. and that is exactly what happened yesterday. temperatures below t

is also packed with projects that have nothing to do with the storm, like a new roof for the smithsonian museumm sure there would like a new roof, but this is supposed to be for hurricane victims. millions for tree plantings and towns which sandy did not even pass, let alone damaged. my next guest says that is why they should have voted against it. american majority action spokesman, i just saw your tweet. you're talking about, what was it, $200 million for alaskan fisheries. you said, why alaska? >> i don't know. alaska is the only state in the union where you get a plate -- paid to live. they all have to pay taxes. they can afford fishery project. the bigger project is, why was this in the emergency bill for hurricanes in the? doesn't make any sense. 9 billion will be spent in 2013. 85 percent doesn't come until 2014 and beyond. that's not immediately. what this bill is fundamentally is a poor bill. what the senate could have done is passed the clean $9 billion loan through -- through the states. here is your relief and pass that. instead to my they came back to washington to get their fix. t

the dom pedro gem is now on display at the smithsonian's museum of natural history. the blue green crystal was mined in the 1980s. it was named after brazil's first two emperors. it stands 14 inches tall and weighs nearly nine pounds. that's 10,363 carats. holy moly. >> a good little pair for the hope diamond there. >> could you wear that on your neck as a necklace? >> if you don't mind dragging it on the floor. >> what do you do with a gem that big? >> we won't find out. time is coming up here at 6:11. time for a check of weather and traffic on the ones. >> storm team 4 meteorologist check bell is here. >> best thing to do is donate it to the smithsonian so we can all take a look at it. >>> current temperatures upper 30s to around 40 degrees in town. hometown forecast in fairfax, virginia, temperatures up in the low 40s about 10:30 this morning. peek or two of sunshine and maybe a little rain drop here and there. rainfall amounts are going to be really light. only a couple hundredths inches of rain. should be dry for the drive home and for any friday night activitie

the smithsonian museum of natural history showed off the world's largest aquamarine. it's called the dom pedro gem. it was collected in brazil in the late '80s. it was named after brazil's first two emperors. it weighs nearly five pounds, that's about 10,363 carats. it's more than a foot tall. >> museums are places where people are inspired. i want them to come and look at this and go, that is the most amazing thing i've ever seen. if they do that, they've had that moment. that's what we're about. we're inspiring awe in the natural word. >> the dom pedro gem will be part of the permanent collection at the natural history museum. >> it is pretty. >> spectacular. >>> still ahead, gifts you can give this holiday season that benefit more than the person you're buying for. >>> a warning about thieves targeting cars in arlington. they're not after purses or electronics. we'll tell you what they're taking off of some cars. >>> they're taking care of the final details and preparing for the grand opening of the national children's museum. we're going to give you a first look a

jack kingston says congress shouldn't have to pay $2 million to fission fix the roof at the smithsonian museummaybe those republicans don't want to fix the statue of liberty island either. we'll save money if we just kept it closed, right? crews pumped 270 million gallons of saltwater out of the transit tunnels. but we could have saved money there if we just didn't fix the commuter trains. governors christie, cuomo, and milloy have really heard and put together and joined forces to demand help from congress. in an op-ed in the "washington post" the governors wrote, "americans come together in times of crisis. our states have stood with your communities when they suffered and faced devastation. it's time for congress to stand with us. amen to that. tonight in our survey i asked, are congressional republicans out of touch with the rest of the country? 99% of you say yes. 1% of you say no. coming up, she was fired for responding to racist remarks on her company's facebook page. tv meteorologist rhonda lee will join me next. stay with us. it's a new day. if you're a man with low testosterone, you

plus, it's not a diamond but the world's largest aquamarine gem will be unveiled today at the smithsonian's museuml history. it's the new home of the pedro gem. it comes from brazil and named after the country's first two emperors. the 14-inch tall gem weighs 10,363 carats and a white of five pounds. >>> 5:40. outside on the weather terrace this morning in my heavy coat and gloves, i kind of do wish i had the ear must haves on. it's -- ear muffs on. it's brisk. passing clouds this afternoon. a lot colder than it has been. by 11:00 41. we'll top out about 46. for the drive home clear on partly cloudy and 43. right now monika has timesaver traffic. >>> the long-standing story this morning is the outer loop of the beltway at i-270. an overturned truck carrying pineapple is being offloaded right now. in the meantime 270 southbound itself is not affected except for the heavy traffic coming down from route 109. i'll be back with more details coming up at 5:49. jess? >>> i've been combing through the day's daily deals, e-mails and retailer websites to find you deep discounts. lots of favorites. a new cam

now on display at the smithsonian's museum in washington d.c. in an exhibition called "according to what," these are the works by the chinese artist away way. a prankster who can make a tea house literally out of tea leaves and represents the surveil-camera that watches him at his home in china is a marble sculpture. he's a visionary who helped design the bird's nest stadium for the application and whose use of social media is shifting the boundaries of art and activi and a dissident. he took a picture and tweeted it even as he was being arrested in 2009. and then spent 81 days in prison, was beaten and made the x-ray image of the damage he suffered into an art work. >> for me living in today's world, if you live in china, it's very hard to do a work whh is not... which does not reflect or suggest the other possibility and meanings. all the works i do which connect or reflect either to the art history or to the political situation. only in that context my work can have some meaning. >> brown: he liv in works in being a isot allowed by the govern

you know it as the grant structure that houses two smithsonian museums. the dolley madison house where jennings live with his mistress until he became free in 1847, that also is there today. paul jennings would have been on the cellar level. after the burning of the white house, the madison white house never lived in the white house again. the temporary white house became the octagon. the octagon is another of the buildings still in washington. it was there that james madison signed the treaty again that ended the war of 1812 and jennings writes that on that occasion everyone in the household was thrilled to hear that news had finally arrived. jennings said he played the president's march on the violin. 7s were instructed to pour wine literally including for themselves and jennings rights that the french steward was drunk for two days. never he said was there such an exciting time in washington. and then there is the white house and two years from now will be the 200th anniversary of the rescue of the portrait of george washington which i would submit has

dennis: the smithsonian museum, it was not damaged by hurricane sandy.spending bill. bring in avian a single year. most of that just on sandy. cheryl: really quick. of all the governors are would think that he would be the one screaming at the rooftops about this issue. >> reporter: have not heard no word yet about the port storm going on. cheryl: you know he will be honest. c'mon. dennis: dennis: what if we go over the cliff? cheryl: why he thinks the u.s. is headed for recession no matter what and washington. [ malennouncer ] it's tt me of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you realldon't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it findone, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all youeed is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving at citi.com/pricerewind. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what f

. >> a precious sight is set to go on display today at the smithsonian museum of natural history. world's largest cut will now be available for the public's viewing. it was mined in brazil during the 1980s and names for the country's first two emperors. >> what it's like inside the homes of congress in the middle of a bitter battle. two former congressman for a closer look at the fiscal cliff negotiations. >> i thought it was a review of the movie lincoln. first from kanye to the black keys. take a look at the frontrunners after last night's grammy nominations. >> here's a live look outside. the latest weather and traffic from gwen and julie coming up next. it's 7:25. we'll be right back . .  [ singing christmas carols in background ] aunt sally's singing again. it's a tradition, honey. [ singing christmas carols ] mmmm. [ female announcer ] make new traditions with pillsbury grands! cinnamon rolls. that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury

. $2 million for smithsonian museum leaking roofs in washington, d.c.officials admit they had a leak before the storm. $10 million to repair prisons. but one of them is in west virginia, which sandy barely touched. and $13 billion to protect against future storms. >> we don't want to rebuild a tunnel so that the same storm water can flood in. we want to build it better so there's more protection. >> reporter: while they argue, janet peters wonders who is going to help? david curly, abc news, washington. >> and new york senator chuck schumer made an interesting point yesterday. he said we members of the new york, new jersey delegation, democrats and republicans, have always been there when other parts of the nation were struck by disaster. new york tax dollars went to the gulf and forest fires out west and flooding in missouri and the mississippi valley. unfortunately, we've been struck and we hope and expect our colleagues to show the same courtesy to us. >> as was mentioned with katrina, that money was released within a couple weeks. >> ten days. >> $4

. >>> wednesday, december 26th, smithsonian community museum presents separate and unequal, black baseballe district of columbia, focusing on dc's most heralded teams like the homestead braves. doors open at 10:00 a.m. at fort place north. thursday, december 27th, the results of maryland's expanded gambling referendum take effect, as 24-hour gaming begins at casinos in maryland. in november, voters approved a measure to expand live table gaming and add a casino in prince george's county. on friday, december 28, the u.s. energy information agency will release a report on the supply of crude oil and gasoline on the national in-state level. the report will be released at the department of energy building on independence avenue northwest. and that's your capital rundown for the week of december 24th, 2012. find us on myfoxdc.com and on twitter, #capitalrundown. i'm tom fitzgerald. see you next week. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you th

the smithsonian's national museum of natural history revealed the dom pedro gem this morning. it was collected in brazil in the late '80s. the blue-green crystal weighs nearly five pounds. that's 10,363 carats. it's more than a foot tall. it will be on permanent display at our museum of natural history. >>> didn't you get something just short of that as a necklace tor your wife? two and a half pounds or something like that? >> my bank account would not have withstood that. talking hockey, at least for a night. the hershey bears taking over verizon center. play-off implications on the line as the redskins do battle with the ravens at fedex on ♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ the president said we've got to sing one more song. obviously the first family up there singing. they brought santa claus out, all the acts that came out tonig tonight, all out there right now with the president. neil patrick harris, the president now waving good-bye to everybody, thank you very much for coming. we appreciate it. and he's now getting ready to take off back to his motorcade, back across the

. >> reporter: this man heads the smithsonian's national museum of african-american history and culturet slavery at monticello. >> what's powerful is quite candidly we only know the first names. and there are some that we just have as unknown. >> reporter: lucy, lucy. it's almost any old name. >> that's exactly right. is is thomas jefferson's laptop desk. this is the desk upon which he wrote early drafts of the declaration of independence. >> reporter: the first of those drafts attacked britain's slave trade. jefferson writing that king george iii has waged cruel war against human nature itself. the continental congress took the phrase out. alongside the rejected passage, the financial reality. >> next to it is his farm book. here is where he would list the births and deaths of the slaves. he would list the work that they did. so in some ways it really gives us a full picture of the totality of jefferson. >> reporter: which at times contradicts the popular image of jefferson as a benevolent slave holder. >> occupied one half of this site. inside there were four forges. >> reporter: one

i'm sore troy say the solar panels are at the smithsonian, they are museum pieces.s say about our commitment, where we are today, in protecting the environment? >> well, it says that the protection of environment goes up and down in america. basically because of the attitude of the president. and when president reagan came in, he removed the solar panels and sent them to a college up in, i think, connecticut. now we have one of the solar panels at the carter center, the museum, and number one producer of solar panels in the world in china, also bought one of the solar panels. so they have brought a lot of money in for that small college. we need to have consistency in america and committing ourselves to preserving the environment, protecting us from global warming which is real and we need leadership coming from the white house every day saying we need to do something about global warming. that hasn't happened yet. my hope is in president obama's second term he'll be the leader of the world and not lagging behind the other nations in doing something about global war

however, the historian at the smithsonian aerospace museum did something i thought he would not do untilfter people were buying tickets and flying in space. he defined spaceshipone -- the prototype. there was only one. he defined that article as an important historical artifacts. and if i gave it to them, he would display it right alongside the spirit of st. louis added the first airplane to break the sound barrier and all those that went to the moon. you know, all of these milestone airplanes. he would put it there and it would sit there forever. now, paul allen thought about this in this way and said, hey, i did this program for legacy. go fly it again. i reminded him, he could get almost half his money back with two or three more flights. so, we did that. well, is it possible to have public flying in space? i think it is the odd for norse in competition -- entrepreneurs in competition. there has never been any competition. they are applying the same thing that they flew garagin in, essentially. naca never build an airliner. nasa has build a space ship, but they have no competition. th

>> guest: it's either in the smithsonian or some other museum here in washington. c-span: he was court martialed. >> guest: twice, actually. c-span: what were the reasons, and what happened to him? >> guest: well, the first was not terribly significant. it happened right at west point at the very right after his graduation. it was a very minor thing and did not set him back. but the serious court martial happened in 1867 on the kansas frontier. this is where custer, i think, making a very difficult transition from his success and achievement in the civil war to the vast plains of the frontier, which was a very marginal and unrewarding kind of duty, chasing indians who could never be caught, it seemed, so he had no opportunity to show his skills in battle. it seems to me he experienced a crisis which caused him to lose his head as a commander, to go awol, essentially, in order to get back to his wife. that was the pressing motive of his leaving his men, taking a long forced march to get to her... c-span: where was this? >> guest: ...no matter what. c-span: what were

however, the historian at the smithsonian aerospace museum did something i thought he would not do until after people were buying tickets and flying in space. he defined spaceshipone -- the prototype. there was only one. he defined that article as an important historical artifacts. and if i gave it to them, he would display it right alongside the spirit of st. louis added the first airplane to break the sound barrier and all those that went to the moon. you know, all of these milestone airplanes. he would put it there and it would sit there forever. now, paul allen thought about this in this way and said, hey, i did this program for legacy. go fly it again. i reminded him, he could get almost half his money back with two or three more flights. so, we did that. well, is it possible to have public flying in space? i think it is the odd for norse in competition -- entrepreneurs in competition. there has never been any competition. they are applying the same thing that they flew garagin in, essentially. naca never build an airliner. nasa has build a space ship, but they have no competition.

his balloon capsule is now on display at the air and space museum at the smithsonian in washington, righthe wright brothers' plane, lindberg's plane, the "spirit of saint louis," and the apollo 11 space capsule. bertrand hopes "solar impulse" will eventually have a home here as well, and he told us the inspiration for the airplane started with that balloon landing in the desert. >> piccard: when i landed there, there were 40 kilos, 80 pounds, of liquid propane out of the 3.7 tons from the take-off. it was almost a failure due to the dependency on fuel, and on that day, i made a promise-- i made a promise that, the next time i would fly around the world, it would be with no fuel at all. >> simon: earlier this year, they made their longest flights yet, from switzerland to spain, and then across the mediterranean to morocco and back. for the flight around the world, they will be in the air 20 days and 20 nights... >> bonjour, le maroc! ( cheers and applause ) >> simon: ...with several stops so the pilots can take turns. flying over the swiss alps is pleasant enough, but think about it-- i ca

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

however, the historian at the smithsonian aerospace museum did something i thought he would not do until after people were buying tickets and flying in space. he defined spaceshipone -- the prototype. there was only one. he defined that article as an important historical artifacts. and if i gave it to them, he would display it right alongside the spirit of st. louis added the first airplane to break the sound barrier and all those that went to the moon. you know, all of these milestone airplanes. he would put it there and it would sit there forever. now, paul allen thought about this in this way and said, hey, i did this program for legacy. go fly it again. i reminded him, he could get almost half his money back with two or three more flights. so, we did that. well, is it possible to have public flying in space? i think it is the odd for norse in competition -- entrepreneurs in competition. there has never been any competition. they are applying the same thing that they flew garagin in, essentially. naca never build an airliner. nasa has build a space ship, but they have no competition.

smithsonian. a donation ceremony was held today at the national museum of american history. costume will go on display in the museum's american stories exhibit. that's also where you'll find dorothy's ruby slippers and items from broadway's lion king and the king and i. >>> it was a record breaking weekend for the hobbit. the lord of the rings prequel finished first at the box office earning nearly $85 million. it makes it the largest opening for a december flick ever. it also took in more than the last lord of the rings film, the return of the king, which opened with $72.6 million. >>> bruce can't stop talking about it. that five-game winning streak now has the redskins sitting on top of the nfc east. we're going to show you how they got there and take you inside the locker room. >> but up next, how would you solve the fiscal cliff crisis? we hit the street to find out. >>> the clock is ticking for lawmakers to reach an agreement before the economy tumbles over the fiscal cliff. and with so much at stake, many of us are just scratching our heads wondering why the politician

. >>> the world largest cut aquamarine is now on display at the museum of natural history on the mall. the smithsonian unveiled the obelisk shape today. the blue green crystal was named for brazil's first two emporers, stands 14 inches tall and weighs nearly 5 pounds, pretty amazing. >>> today marked the grand reopening of the new fantasy land at walt disney world's magic kingdom and this doubles the size of the original fantasyland and features new attractions inspired by dumbo, beauty and the beast and the little mermaid. >>> i know you're hungry for some pizza, but pizza hut is breaking into the perfume business. there's now a pizza scented perfume in canada called eu de pizza hut and it's very exclusive. eu only 110 bottles made being shipped to select people who responded to a promotional campaign on facebook. a marketing exec says only time will tell whether eu de pizza hut will make it to department stores. what are you doing? >> is it eu de pizza hut? >> it's how i just said it, with feeling. >> i thought for a minute my flicker was locked in the cell lockup, but i got it out. >> you like that

a few hundred yards from this chamber is the smithsonian's magnificent national museum of the american indian. senator inouye introduced the legislation to create that museum and fought for the native american and native hawaiian and pacific islanders' recognition and rights and restitution as chairman of the senate committee on indian affairs. here in the senate, senator inouye treated all of his colleagues with respect and courtesy and always reached across the aisle to forge bipartisan solutions to our nation's biggest challenges. his friendship with former republican leader bob dole, who he met while the two of them were recuperating from grievous combat injuries, along, i might say, another wounded veteran who became a giant in the united states senate, senator phil hart of michigan, served as an example we should strive to emulate. he was a member of the so-called gang of 14, again reaching across the aisle at a time when partisan tempers were particularly high. mr. president, there are few, if any, americans who have been more heroic in battle, more accomplished as a public serv