j.c.? >>> thank you, howard. by the way our coverage of national media day at congressional country club will continue. we'll have more on 9news at 5:00. and we are going to have a live interview with tiger woods. all coming up on 9news now at 5:00 p.m. still to come, we salute an organization that is helping men become better fathers, better husbands, better members of the community, i'll have a hero central. [ male announcer ] here's a friendly reminder. it's your last chance to get verizon's reliable high speed internet and phone for small business for only $84.99 a month. call 1.866.solutions now or visit verizon.com/solutions. only $84.99 for high-speed internet and phone. plus your choice of either no annual contract or a two year price guarantee. call 1.866.solutions or visit verizon.com/solutions today. hurry -- this offer won't last long. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. >>> i'm one-on-one with former prosecutor debby heinz, the founder of legal speaks.com

as you may know, j.c. hayward was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, it is personal and private but j.c. is sharing her journey with her family of viewers. today we are back together again on this buddy check 9 day. we are buddies and you want to be buddies to other women out there who may be going down the same road with you. you told us about the diagnosis on friday. today was your meeting with your breast surgeon. tell us about that. >> reporter: as you know, andrea, breast cancer has four stages, and mine is either stage i or i i, also she told me it was estrogen positive. i can take certain drugs to fight the cancer, easier than if it wasn't. it would be more difficult. she also told me she did not think that this is dr. magnum from the sullivan breast center, she also told me she did not believe that i would have to have chemotherapy. so that is good. but probably radiation four to six weeks, only one minute a day. so i won't miss a newscast so that is good news. >> your viewers are thrilled abou

go to j.c. hayward.com and you are going to crack up. >>> hey it is a beautiful day to be by the pool. we have temperatures toward the 90-degree mark and humidity levels are in a decent spot right now. here's a look at the day planner. temperatures will be climbing into the upper 80s, even pubbing 90 before the afternoon is out. winds will turn to the south at 5 to 10 miles per hour. boy it is going to be a nice one. 86 at 7:00 p.m. and by 9:00, we are down to 82. you may want to have dinner on the deck or your porch. got a hundred -- couple of high clouds. parts of western kentucky, so lots of sunshine, up to 84 in town, still upper 70s to near 80s in the cumberland valley. it was certainly very lovely with la plata at 85. as you look outside at our michael and son camera, just a few fair weather puffy clouds. at this hour, officially reagan national 84. a light south southeast wind at 3 miles per hour. we had a great afternoon yesterday. we are taking that one more day today. a nice monday on

one of them was j.c. penney.ulling their ads from the show. 15 years later, ellen is now the face of j.c. penney. >> cheerio my fair lady. >> reporter: and tonight, an ad featuring two women, wendi and maggie, a real-life same-sex couple. now out in an ad in j.c. penney's may catalog. quietly, largely and without pro test advertising is starting to reflect new attitudes. >> why is that so funny? >> our cultures change and i think the broader consumer and the spending power in the country has become more progressive. >> reporter: there are gay couples on prime time television shows. >> it might be a little awkward at first. but i think after some time -- >> reporter: and now gay couples are coming out of madison avenue's closet. and more interracial couples, >> here we are because of an online dating site. >> reporter: -- reflecting the rising number of mixed race marriages in the u.s. now 7%. and in this commercial, a grandmother is the caregiver for a young child. >> thanks, grandma. >> reporter: what message ar

>>> hello, i'm j.c. hayward. thanks for joining us. spring is on hold today, while a storm is bringing snow, wind and rain to parts of the northeast. howard is here, he can tell us what we can expect. >> reporter: j.c., it has been somewhat of a miserable day around here weatherwise, after being in the 80s on saturday. temperatures are not going to move much more, maybe a few more degrees before the day is out. the main storm from yesterday, the rain which brought in some cases over three inches is way up in new england and canada. we have an upper level storm sitting right over us, producing lots of clouds and west of 95, showers and in the mountains, all this blue you see there, that is snow. some of the snow has been on the hefty side. locally on live doppler hd, light showers for the most part, some areas of drizzle moving slowly off toward the east. you can see as we zoom in toward the metro, howard counties through prince william, we have light showers here, scattered more about the region. not as widespread east of i-95. but it

i'm j.c. hayward. the epic storm aftermath tops the news this afternoon. we have live team coverage. but we want to give you the latest information on power outages around the region. pepco was telling us they have hundreds of thousands of residents without power. nearly 150,000 in montgomery county, about 56,000 in prince george's county and more than 4 2,000 residents in the district of columbia. let's turn our attention now to virginia. dominion power is reporting more than 170,000 residents without electricity. no virginia tech is faring better with more than 3000 customers waiting for their power to be restored. in maryland, bge, has 28,000 customers without power. most of them, at least 25,000 residents live in prince george's county. and more than 4800 customers are also waiting for their power to be restored. most of the outages are in charles county. well, it is the number one question on a lot of people's minds. when will the power be restored? christian fisher is tracking what's happening in kensington, maryland. kristen? >> reporter: j.c., it h

>>> thank you for joining us, i'm j.c. hayward. tropical storm isaac is topping our newscast this afternoon and we have live team coverage. so let's begin with howard in the weather center. howard? >> reporter: we are watching isaac a strong tropical storm likely to become a hurricane later today, maybe by this evening. there he is, gaining some strength. now it hasn't really shown a pressure decrease since this morning, and we look for the pressure to fall as a sign of a strengthening storm. it does have a more impressive appearance here on the satellite than it has had, getting a little bit more symmetrical around the center of circulation. still a little bit of dry air coming in. the weaker it stays the better for everything on the northern gulf coast, especially in southeast louisiana and mississippi. i want to show you the radar view over the past six hours, you can certainly see a center of circulation down there. the other thing i want to point out, look at the rains coming in eastern florida. tampa not that bad, just a few

j.c.? >> all right, kristin fisher reporting live from the mall. thank you very much. >>> well, if you were out early this morning, you had to deal with some icy roads maybe. but right now, we are dealing with dense fog in the metropolitan area. let's get right to howard. he has our forecast. hello, howard. >> welcome back. >> thank you very much. we do have fog in spots. we still have a little bit of freezing potential until 1:00 now, freezing rain advisory still going on for loudoun, washington, frederick and carroll counties, no longer in effect here in the metro. and temperatures as you can see are above freezing. not by a lot but we don't need a lot. however in leesburg, frederick, hagerstown, still under the advisory. their temperatures are at or slightly above freezing. luray is 42. as the warmth moves over us, it is bringing in some rain with the pockets of a little bit of freezing rain. this isn't heavy but it doesn't take much to cause slick areas. the roads are treated. maybe the

>> thanks for shopping at j.c. penney. >> reporter: now, today j.c.enney's ceo says he does expect sales to increase by the one year mark which is february of this next year. as customers are retrained on how to think about a deal, keep in mind, this is the same man behind target's cheap chic makeover and the wildly successful apple store both ideas highly criticized and both took some time to catch on. >> thank you. >>> well, the weather may feel a little bit like spring, but there's snow in san rafael. the city's annual downtown holiday celebration kicked off today with shopping, rides and santa claus. but the biggest attraction for kids is the snow hill set up for sledding on one block of a street. >> you don't have to drove to tahoe. it's right here in your front door or your backyard as the case may be. >> when are you going down? >> i go down after dark. [ laughter ] >> when no one's watching. >> he is joking of course. sledding is only for the little ones. if you missed snow today, sledding continues tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. >> the best part

as part of the relaunch, j.c. penney says it plans to get rid of sales altogether and slashing prices permanently up to 40%. >> their pricing strategy has always been dependent on discount. >> reporter: a consumer psychologist isn't so sure that discount strategy will work without sales. >> only one out of 500 products sold at penney's are sold at full price. that tells you that the customers are really accustomed to waiting until there is a discount. >> reporter: while the new strategy promises year-round discounts, yarrow says when it comes to consumer psychology, that may not work. >> consumers look at discounts as an opportunity. and they buy because they're afraid that opportunity won't be there tomorrow. >> reporter: she expects the new pricing strategy will work for the first few months but doesn't think it will keep customers coming back. what might, the store's new look and layout. >> you tend not to associate j.c. penney with style or something that's maybe on the cutting edge. >> reporter: but that may

and the sport of politics, with j.c. watts former football star turning republican congressman. the first african-american to win a statewide office in oklahoma and rose through the ranks in congress under speaker newt gingrich in the 1990s eventually becoming chair of the republican congress. he has left capitol hill but weighed into the gop nomination endorsing speaker newt gingrich for president. i want to talk football with you. >> "press pass," does this get me into the super bowl? >> we can work on that. we can work on that. i want to talk football in a bit but i want to talk about politics. as we hit here after florida and in the contest beyond that. tell me in your mind as a support supporter of newt gingrich what's the path at this point and how does he press forward to get this nomination? >> when you look at south carolina, speaker gingrich had 35% more republican voters show up at the poll because newt tapped into the base of the party which creates the foot soldiers creating the turnout. romney gets the nomination and we lose 12%. it's 12% fewer voters that show up

i'm j.c. hayward. the supreme court is taking up president obama's healthcare law today, two years after the president actually signed it into law. some say that this is the biggest case to go before the nation's highest court in decades. nine justices are listening to three days of arguments, concerning whether the healthcare law is constitutional. 26 states are challenging the law, which aims to extend health insurance to more than 30 million americans. >> the question is, how much the federal government can force states to comply with its will. >> reporter: today's issue is, should the court postpone a decision, because the law doesn't actually go into effect until 2014. >>> outside the courthouse, scores of people waited in line throughout the weekend just for the opportunity to get inside the court to hear those arguments. kristen fisher joins us now from the supreme court with more information. kristen? >> oral arguments lasted about two hours, they wrapped up about 15 minutes ago. i tell you wha

>> j.c., the talks could be taking place right now. before the day is out, prosecutors want be the councilman's signature on a plea agreement and sources say they want harry thomas jr. standing before a judge possibly as early as tomorrow. sources say much of the deal was already in place. councilman harry thomas has agreed to resign from the seat once held by his father, representing the residents of the heavy democratic voting ward five. he has agreed to admit to tax fraud but prosecutors want much more. the one harry thomas to admit he stole all or part of $300,000 that had been meant for youth baseball programs. you'll recall the fbi and i.r.s. raided the councilman's home in northeast d.c. late last year. they hauled off some of the items they say he purchased with stolen funds. but they were also alleged vacations, golf outings and other personal expenses. prosecutors want jail time for harry thomas jr. the councilman has told associates he's look at two to three years in prison. several sources tell us they feel a deal could com

when i see you at 8:00, j.c. penney ceo talks about how he won't vow to pressure and fire ellen degeneres. we'll sit down with dwayne "the rock" johnson. >>> the tsa is ready to let more americans go express through airport security. look at a tough decision for every family. when is the right time for seniors it give up the car keys. >>> we begin with today's eye-opener. your world in 90 seconds. i am dumbfounded that in the year 2012, we still are fighting about birth control. >> this is not a women's rights issue. this is a religious liberty issue. >> the battle of a contraception escalates on capitol hill. >> this attack on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. >> millions of homeowners facing foreclosure could soon get much-needed relief. >> big banks set to announce a deal with the government reducing loans in exchange for legal protection. >> lenders will pay to avoid being sued for abuse of foreclosure practices. >> frequent flyers will soon be able too zip through security t

>>> thank you for joining us, i'm j.c. hayward. another guilty plea today stemming from the corruption scandal that brought down former d.c. councilmember harry thomas, jr. the 55-year-old james garvin admitted his role in helping to funnel more than $300,000 in city funds to the ward 5 democrat. garvin is a golf pro at langeston golf course. he's the third person charged in the corruption scheme. garvin faces up to three years in prison and he will be sentenced at a later date. >>> the special election to fill the ward 5 seat is going to be held may 15th. the district's board of elections met yesterday to certify the vacancy and to set the date. it will be an open election to candidates of any party. the winner will serve out the remainder of the term which goes to 2014. >>> well, people looking for information from online encyclopedia wikipedia are out of luck today because one of the internet's most visited sites has gone dark for 24 hours to protest proposed anti- piracy legislation before congress. the stop online piracy act i

i'm j.c. hayward. the justices upheld the individual mandate which requires most americans to by health insurance or pay a fine. parents also cannot be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions. and children can stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26 years old. however, the justices struck down the provision to expand medicaid to cover more of the nation's poor. our bruce leshan and delia have been following the case. delia is at the supreme court with more on today's ruling. delia? >> reporter: j.c., i spoke to a lot of folks who work in the courthouse. they say in my time here i have never seen this many media, this much camera attention and this many protesters. there was a huge, massive crowd that was organized outside of the supreme court here. i have to tell you, when this decision came down, the crowd erupted. we heard cheers from one side, years from the -- crowds were chanting i love obamacare and opponents were saying this is an illegal tax and that the president and congr

so yeah. >> reporter: j.c. penney says they are all about low prices every day not just black friday. have you noticed that shopping there? >> yes, i have actually. but i feel like it's a little hard looking for clothes, yeah, since there are so many low prices and yeah. >> reporter: well, stay warm in the car there. i want to point out that j.c. penney posted a $123 million loss last quarter with a 26% drop in sales and just from what we're seeing here, no long lines out the door. people of course waiting in their cars here but most people shopping at the other stores. so we will wait to see what happens this black friday if they post any profits. we'll be waiting on those numbers. elissa harrington, cbs 5. >>> we have less than 24 hours left on black friday and now more people are looking forward to cyber monday. for tips on how to save online, just go to our cbssf.com/cybermonday. are you a die-hard shopper? >> no. i wait until the 24th. you know. probably around noon. >> there are lots of lines on the 24th,

>> reporter: j.c., good afternoon. you know, it is pretty amazing, despite the several crews we have covering each of the three doors here at federal court, harry thomas jr. still managed to slip through without being noticed. he is inside. he has been inside for about 45 minutes by now. he is just moments away from receiving his judgment. we know that harry thomas jr. is charged with taking more than $350,000 in government funds, using it to allegedly buy fancy suv and a motorcycle. he's also charged with filing false tax returns for three years in a row. apparently wasting very little time after his 2006 election to office, only getting more bold by not reporting more than $270,000 in 2008. thomas is accused of using that much from his youth baseball league, like i said for lavish vacations and fancy cars. however, he still has his supporters, some of them, actually came out today and spoke to us and said you know, we should look at his body of work. yet and still, he has admitted the wrong-doings, releasing a statem

as doctors aim to reduce j.c.'risk for a recurrence, they are also trying to avoid damage to other parts of her body. >> i'm ready. >> what we are going to do today is outline your treatment area, what we are doing in simulation. >> reporter: face up is the way most breast cancer patients receive whole breast radiation. but where j.c. hayward had her lumpectomy in april she is being flipped over on to her stomach. the idea is to limit as much as possible the radiation exposure to j.c.'s heart and lungs. >> instead of the normal positioning of the breasts lying across the chest wall, this brings all the breast tissue together into a way that can be treated much more uniformly without cutting through the lungs. >>> radiologist oncologists say this gravity is especially beneficial in women with generous sized breasts whose cancer is on the right side and has not spread to the him nodes -- to the lymph nodes. >> j.c.'s radiation is every day for six weeks. even before her sessions began, she had to be measured and tatt

they are trying to say to j.c.ease don't do that. >> >> bill: don't shop there. >> i guarantee you they won't. there are millions of them who won't. >> bill: j.c. penney's decision. >> yeah, it is. >> bill: keep her or not keep her. but you are dodging. >> why shouldn't -- >> bill: you are dodging the essential question. the essential question is that a group, a conservative group in this country is asking a private company to fire an american citizen based upon her lifestyle. and i don't think that's correct. i don't have any problem with you, sandy, or any of the million moms not shopping at j.c. penny. you don't want to shop there because you don't believe the message that they are sending by hiring ellen is a good message. more power to you. that is your decision and your right as an american. to come out and demand the woman be fired far left loons commanding i be fired because i stick up for traditional values. >> they do that bill. >> bill: they are wrong to do it. >> they have a right to say to fox fire bil

j.c.st company to come under fire to show commercials for a same-sex customers karen. public relations specialists helps them change their public image >> i'm told it's not the first time the national advertisers has used the same sex male couple with children in a mainstream this tree ad. this was one of several ads featuring days. >> this time last year we had just a few doubt the shares eupepsia well the thankless of advertising. this is not which you might expect after christie conservatives that tax j.c. penney's for having bell and the generous as their spokesperson. they noted that she was an active hand out lesbian. >> american apparel is using transgendered gender models. then there is the gap with urban outfitters. as it did johnson and walgreen's pit >> j.c. penney's needs to go back to use sally men sought said t-shirts. >> to about 2003 we started to see saddam companies represent gay families in as >> as parents pit >> advertises did not see as much of a risk today as they di

i'm j.c. hayward. we have just learned that minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann is ending her bid to win the republican presidential nomination. that's according to one of her campaign advisers. bachmann came in last in the iowa caucuses. we have also just learned that texas governor rick perry is continuing his bid for president. he said in a tweet here we come, south carolina! randall pink ston has more how on how this affects the field of candidates. >> reporter: michele bachmann is dropping out of the presidential race. >> the people of iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so i have decided to stand aside. >> reporter: the minnesota congresswoman came in sixth in the iowa caucus getting just under 5% of the vote. texas governor rick perry announced he's going back to texas to figure out his next step after finishing fifth last night. >> on to new hampshire, let ate get the job done. an upbeat mitt romney is looking forward to new hampshire, happy with his razor- thin victory in iowa. >> to c

. >>> i'm j.c. hayward. the liquor store owner at the center of a 9news now investigation is connected to selling alcohol to underage customers. richard kim of town square market in northwest, was arrested, cuffed and led away by police this weekend. it happened after a car, full of young people, pulled up to the store on macarthur boulevard. a 17-year-old attempted to buy alcohol. he reportedly provided a false id. it is a move that at least one dc council member said should be easy to spot. >> these are 15-year-olds who look like 15-year-olds. it has been very carefully set up in a way where it would be unmistakable. >> the district's alcohol control board will now investigate this case and coordinate with montgomery county. montgomery county officials say they are involved because they have been watching minors go to the store to obtain alcohol. >>> our entire series on teen drink asking on our website. visit wusa9.com. look on the lower right side. and click on the box called wasted, young and use snog i

i'm j.c. hayward. after a weekend of computer glitches that shut down train service, there were more problems this morning for metro. hundreds of commuters were evacuated from trains at dupont circle around 8:30 this morning. metro says a train broke down and that caused a massive back-up at the station, which is only operating with one entrance due to escalator repairs. everyone got out safely, but passengers were left frustrated and late for work. >> it smelled kind of like burnt rubber and smoke. in the station there is not a lot of ventilation coming through and it was so packed. it took another ten minutes to get us all out of there. >> it was like a wall of people and luckily no one panicked, no one pushed. but you had that sense of you are in a packed station, the smoke, and it was scary. >> it is unclear why the train broke down and there is no word from metro about saturday's computer glitchs. >>> today the montgomery planning board will hear a proposal on a light rail service for chevy chase

j.c. penney and groupon's ceo on herb greenberg's list of worst ceo. he'll be along to tell us why he's being so mean to these ceos. and coming up, home depot founder ken langone will join me coming up and will join me for the entire hour next hour on the "closing bell." [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal that made our world a smaller place. we supported the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, so you can get cash when you want it. it's been our privilege to back ideas like these, and the leaders behind them. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping people and their ideas move from ambition to achieve

elissa harrington is at the j.c.ney store in daly city, first we go to cbs 5 reporter and i'm so happy i still remember how to pronounce your name, cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran. >> reporter: a lot of the shoppers have got a head start outlets here opened at 10:00 last night and people have been here ever since. i'm actually now joined here live with the assistant general manager of the paragon outlets dave ackerman. good morning and belated happy thanksgiving to you. >> good morning. happy thanksgiving to you. happy black friday. >> i know. that's the story today. we were talking about this earlier. >> it was jam-packed. we are anticipating lots of people rolling in as the sun comes up. >> what deals can people expect if they come here today? >> you know, obviously we have the best collection of iconic brands just about anywhere. and everyone is offering something for black friday. there are great deals before ten a.m. but even other specials running all through the day. so it's a great day to shop and save even more

j.c. penney stores starting in february. it's a juniors collection called l'amour nanette lepore. it will include dresses, tees, and denim, with most items priced between $30 and $60. lepore says her daughter violet is her muse. >> it's going to have my sort of fun, playfulness, mixed-up approach to the way we want to dress, but really made toward the junior market. >> reporter: partnering with j.c. penney will help lepore broaden the appeal of her brand. and it could also help the struggling chain spruce up its dowdy image. j.c. penney is in the process of transforming itself from a traditional department store into a group of stores within a store. so lepore's boutique, along with others from levis, liz claiborne, and arizona jeans, could help lure away business from internet retailers. >> the only way to do it is to make the stores visually different, where you know what? you enjoy the experience so much, you found what you wanted, you don't need to go to an amazon. you don't need to go

j.c. penney says thanksgiving is forgiving thanks not standing in line. cbs 5 reporter elissa harrington reports. j.c. penney just opened but that's hours after some other stores. >> reporter: that's right. it opened at 5 a.m. many others opened at 6 a.m. so much later than what we have been seeing with many of their competitors. some even opened yesterday thanksgiving day to offer shoppers some deals. the reason is j.c. penney said it didn't want to overlap into thanksgiving and that customers should not have as to stay up late or wake up super early to get a good deal. the company's ceo ron johnson has changed the business model getting read of sales and coupons and instead offering the lowest possible prices every day. they had a $123 million loss last quarter. but they are sticking to their guns. they are having a black friday friday sale the only sale of the year. i spoke with some shoppers who went inside and got some gifts. >> i think people were going for electronics and stuff. it

j.c. hayward. the clean up continues after saturday's storms swept through our region. more than 200 dominion electric customers are still without power. christian fisher has the latest from falls church. >> reporter: we worked saturday and sunday. the sound of chainsaws echoed across this falls church neighborhood. not the most welcome sound on a monday morning, unless you are one of the unlucky homeowners who took a direct hit during saturday's storms. >> there is a tree behind the house and the top got sheared off. >> reporter: a big branch is still dangling on the edge of charlie moore's roof. storm took out about ten trees on his street, including one still covering the tennis courts. but this is a big improvement from two days ago. >> i couldn't drive in. all the power lines were down on the sidewalk, blocking the street. looks like a little microburst came through here. >> reporter: for three crews like aaa tree service they are on day three of near continuous clean up. >> sometimes

j.c. penney is part of that rally for the year. j.c. penney stocks down 40%, that is ugly.nother abercrombie and fitch executive to transform j.c. penney more. so far they have achieved supply officer and chief technology officer coming from member probably. there will be a nice experience. liz: my baby sitter said i'm going to j.c. penney and i thought she said i am over teach amax and going to j.c. penney. target is too cool. how is this for christmas present? bank of america's merrill lynch brokerage unit looking to save money by cutting broker compensation? you heard that before but not if brian moynihan has his way. charlie gasparino on the c e o who is saving bonuses. charlie: it is unusual to cut broker compensation. there's a lot of competition from brokers. recently inside merrill lynch's brokerage department run by john field disease to be the biggest brokerage department in the world. morgan stanley has surpassed it given the smith barney acquisition but merrill lynch is still considered the premier brokerage department on wall street. recently in an effort to sa

why j.c. penney was forced to bring back the sales. >> and caught on camera. what happens when a man decides to tackle a would-be robber. ,,,, every time someone chooses finish over cascade, it sparks a movement. because people can't keep it to themselves. look ! no ugly spots ! awesome! incredible shine. i'm switching for good. love, love, love finish! over a million people have switched to finish. visit us on facebook. >>> welcome back. the freeze is here. temperatures falling below freezing in parts of the north bay and the east bay. how much will we warm up by this afternoon? that plus a look at your seven- day forecast coming up. >>> and our bay area bridges looking pretty good this morning. no delays to report on the golden gate bridge, san mateo bridge or the bay bridge. details on our trouble spots for highway 9. that's coming up in a few minutes. >>> and check out this surveillance video of a masked armed robber demanding money from a convenience store clerk in spokane, washington the robber starts to make a break for it. a man at the store tackles th

j.c. penny losing some ground. they might be losing some business to target, which had fantastic february numbers. see you tomorrow. right now, it's scott wapner and the "fast money halftime report." >> thanks so much. four hours now to go until the close and here's where we stand on the street. take a look. green across the board. the dow industrials good for almost 50 points. s&p, two-thirds of one percent gain for the nasdaq. the best rally in 14 years is in the books. welcome to march. oil and gold, both higher. the top stories we're trading today. retail belowout from gap to nordstrom. strong sales show the american consumer is alive and well. more blackberry blues. rim sliding again. a rebirth for micro soft and the pc. dan niles speaks out. forget apple 550. and gold in qe free world. what do now? let's get right to it and start with the consumer roaring back. stephany, welcome to the program. you manage jim cramer's chartable trust. what great retail numbers today. >> i think a lot

j.c. hayward was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. the news is personal and private, but j.c. announced friday that she is deciding to share her breast cancer journey with her family of viewers to help other women who may be going down this same road. during our noon newscast, j.c. talked with andrea roane about her first visit with her surgeon this morning. >> today was your first meeting with your breast surgeon, tell us how that went? >> as you know, andrea, breast cancer has four stages and my breast cancer apparently is stage one or two, so that was very good. also she told me that it was estrogen receptive and that is positive. i can take certain drugs to fight the cancer. easier than if it wasn't. it would be more difficult. she told me she did not think that i would have to have chemotherapy. so that's good, but probably radiation, 4 to 6 weeks. only one minute a day. i won't miss a newscast. >> the viewers are thrilled about that part of it. >> she talked about treatment. she

>>> hello and thank you for joining us, i'm j.c. hayward. well, we are just hours away from going over the so call fiscal cliff. and the two sides are not close on a deal. if republicans and democrats cannot come to an agreement, before the midnight deadline, taxes will go up on all americans beginning tomorrow. and economists believe that we will plunge into another recession. danielle nottingham has more from the white house. >> reporter: members of congress arrived at the capital to work on new year's eve to try to avoid massive tax increases and spending cuts from taking effect in just hours. >> there are a number of issues on which the two sides are still apart. but negotiations are continuing as i speak. >> reporter: sources say both sides are starting to pro mize on which families will keep bush era tax cuts. the president wand families making more than $250,000 to start paying more. democrats are reportedly negotiating to raise that limit. >> let's get this thing done. tonight when the ball drops, let's make sure we haven't also drop

j.c. penney hired ellen edegeneres.the talk show host. with us now j.c. penney ceo ron johnson. this is his first interview since the controversy began. welcome. >> good morning. >> we're going to talk more with your plans for j.c. penney but let's first move to the controversy. tell me how you approached the controversy and how you set about to make the decision you did and whether you have put the controversy behind you. >> we don't really look at it as a controversy. one of the great things about america is people can speak their mind. and, you know, the organization that believes one thing has spoken and it was great to see ellen, you know, share her views yesterday. and we stand squarely behind ellen as our spokesperson. and that's a great thing, because she shares the same values that we do. our company was founded 110 years ago on the golden rule about treating people fair and square. we think ellen represents the values of our company and the values that we share. >> did you ever have -- ron johnson, did you eve

. >>> thank you for joining us, i'm j.c. hayward. >>> at this hour montgomery county police are looking for two armed bandits after an early morning home invasion. the siege happened on barden road near cedar lane, and that's where we'll kind our dealia gonzalez with more information. reporter: police say it was around 7:00 this morning, the housekeeper inside heard a knock at the door. when she went to answer the door, two masked gunmen forced their way in. >> how can it be possible in this area? we just never have any kind of issues like this. reporter: neighbors are simply stunned, an armed home invasion in their quiet bethesda community. >> they tied up three people inside the house, rummaged through the house, took various property. we're not sure what was taken at this point. reporter: the 9200 block of barden as families were getting ready for work and school, members of this family were praying for their lives. what did they use to tie those folks up, do you know? >> items around the house, i'd rather not go into it

>> thanks for shopping at j.c. penney. >> reporter: now, today j.c. penney's ceo says he does expect sales to increase by the one year mark which is february of this next year. as customers are retrained on how to think about a deal, keep in mind, this is the same man behind target's cheap chic makeover and the wildly successful apple store both ideas highly criticized and both took some time to catch on. >> yeah. but julie, there are those who says $430 million in losses for j.c. penney this year alone. he had to do something. >> reporter: well, you know, even analysts say they do think it will take some time for had to catch on. a lot of changes inside the store are similar to those he made at both target and apple. but it is going to take people to come inside and see them for themselves before they really see an impact. >> it's a matter of survival. julie watts, thanks. >>> walnut creek is known for its upscale shops but this holiday season merchants who can't afford the price he rents are getting a chance to show off their wares. don knapp report

j.c.y's announces big changes. >> while it may mean fewer discounts, it does not mean higher prices. what we can expect, a heading consumer alerts. >> a broad restructuring of the fighting force is aimed at cutting costs, but at what cost? >> more rain moving into maryland tonight, maybe even some thunder with temperatures toward 60. right now, it is 48 at the airport, a 50 downtown. >> coming of the 6:00, lawmakers laid out their priorities for the general assembly. and the man accused of trying to bomb military recruitment center was back in federal court today. the plea entered by antonio martinez and the present time he is now facing. we will >> the u.s. army is about to be downsized. it is one way the pentagon plans to cut costs. several states are nervous over which bases might be cut. >> if all goes according to what president obama is the pence -- obama's defense department is proposing, there will be 100,000 fewer troops in uniform 10 years from now. the army will shrink by 80,000