tree house. sooner or later the tree house has to come down. i wanted it to be a tree house to be a part of their childhood. >> he got support from as far away from inside after a friend started an online petition on change.org. >>> a new line of fuel- efficient cars. they kill go with the plug-and- go option and the car to help you find a parking spot. >>> and metro shows us new escalators. can they hold off? the agency tries to avoid repeating the same mistakes.  >> the news edge monitoring metro and some escalator problems could turn into a money problem, too. maintaining them could be costly. this is at a time metro is facing a financial squeeze. sherri ly has more. >> reporter: history doesn't bode well for metro. hey have been here of -- they have been here before. not too long ago, the agency launches a plan to fix the run down escalators to neglect the maintenance. that is how metro ended up here and the agency is trying to make sure that doesn't happen this time. the pileup at the plaza metro stay last year injured six people. when the brakes failed on

years behind bars but he will probably only serve two years of that sentence. >>> the fight over a tree house in falls church is branching into a zoning board better a war veteran gathered thousands of signatures and he is trying to preserve a tree as he built for his children and he is ready to face up with fairfax county. brianne carter has more. >>> good morning this father and veteran is trying to make a last-ditch effort to save this tree house he built for his children. he will go before the zoning board at 9:00 this morning. >> this is it. >> this is the tree house that he is fighting to say. he is an iraq or better in any built the structure to fulfill a promise he made to his kids prior to his deployment. county officials say there is a zoning issue with the tree house and the needs to be removed. >> it is heartbreaking. i shudder to think of the possibility of having to unscrew all these boards and take them apart. >> today he will go before the zoning board to make a last chance effort to save the tree house his boys had grown to love. he is expected give the board more than 1500 s

. >>> a fight over a tree house. officials told a war veteran that the tree house he built for his sons of violated city codes. >> we saw that community support here at the meeting today after a nearly 10-month battle. marc grapin's fight to save the tree house is now over. they unanimously voted they can approve a variants that would allow the tree house tuesday in the front yard even though it goes against the code. they can keep it up for five years or until they moved. also a part of the compromise, they planted some trees around the tree house and must maintain those as a part of this approval today. the father and a veteran says the decision brings relief. >> this is a father with two boys not looking for 50 minutes of fame. -- 15 minutes of fame. >> marc grapin built the structure back in march to fill a promise he made to his kids before he was deployed to iraq. he says he is very thankful for the community support. there was a online petition with more than 1600 signatures. they are planning celebrations ther

is linked to 17 attacks in several states, including virginia and maryland. >>> the fight over a tree house and falls church is printed out. a war veterans gathered thousands of signatures to save the tree house he built for his kids. brianne carter is live with a look ahead at this morning's meeting. >> that father and veteran will be here for a hearing that is scheduled at 9:00 this morning. he is expected to bring more than 1000 signatures for a petition that has support for the tree house in this fight that has reached new heights. >> this is it. >> this is the tree house he is fighting to save. he built the structure to fulfill a promise he made to his kids. county officials say there is a sony issue with the trios and it needs to be removed. >> it is heartbreaking. i shudder to think of the possibilities of having to un screw these boards. >> today he goes before the zoning board to make a last chance effort to save some sapce hipacce his boys love. now, he is hoping that he will be able to save that tree house in his yard. people in the community are hoping the structure will stay. t

. >>> we have new information about the family that has been battling fairfax county over a tree house. more than 1500 people worldwide signed an online petition to save the tree house. he unknowingly violated county code when he built his son's tree house after returning from iraq. today he learned the tree house could stay. >> it is so wonderful. i don't know. now i'm in the awkward position of figuring out, how do i thank everybody? >> i am super relieved the tree house got saved. >> now there are some stipulations. the tree house has to be removed in five years and the structure and trees around it must be maintained. >>> dc's libraries are ready to be a little lenient when it comes to lost or overdue books. a posting on the public library site says it will start offering amnesty on those overdue, lost, and damaged books and cd's and dvd fines. the idea is to get you to kind of come back to the library. anita. >> still ahead tonight, 9news now on the scene as a driver heads the wrong way down a busy street. we'll show you what happens. >>> salute all who serve at home and abroad th

. >>> the fight over a tree house in falls church has reached new heights tonight. >> a war veteran build the tree house for his kids. >> it is do or die for the tree house that you see behind me. it started as a $1,500 project from a father to his son. it is now costing him thousands in an effort to keep its legal and keep it in his yard. the days may be numbered for this falls church tree house. he will fight his latest battle in this david and goliath struggle with fairfax county over zoning laws. he built the house to fulfill a promise he made to this sound prior to being deployed to iraq. he was told incorrectly by a county employee daddy did not need a building permit. some -- that he did not need a building permit. a hearing wednesday it will tell him if he has to take down the place his boys have grown to love. >> it is heartbreaking. >> an on-line petition started by a fellow member of the military is helping to fuel his efforts. more than 1500 people have signed on in support. people posted messages like -- he is touched by the effort started by a stranger. >> i look forward to

faces the fairfax county zoning board over a tree house. he built the tree house for his sons. is heartbreaking. i shudder to think of the having to unscrew boards, take it apart. grapin built this tree house at his home in falls church. spent thousands of dollars on permits and materials. the zoning board says of the tree house violates the zoning rules. have some new insight on from thean expect iphone5. sony has started shipping tv to apple for its latest devices. the do bigger screen is expected thinner with a higher resolution. is not commenting. >>> it was a special night as washington's business community own.ed their achievement invested five leaders into their washington business hall of fame. the 2011 lottery is divided huge landscapethe business in our region. look do it is, leon harris. of emcee inonor tonight's ceremony. has a special place in his junior achievement. isn on his day off, that was doing. that is the kind of guy he is. >>> an interesting day. >> the warmest part in the morning, and then the rain. we had a pretty dry november. the rain was a little bit

what can i do to fulfill my promise to build a tree house. great trees. >> reporter: while the project seemed destined to become firewood, a fire was lit in the community and across the country. another military man on the west coast gathered thousands of petition signatures. a lawyer represented him pro bono. another neighbor lended landscaping to help it blend in better. >> the boys got 166 signatures. >> reporter: finally, a zoning appeals date arrived. this time, the members present agreed the treehouse could stay. the boys learned a few things about local government and the soldier stays true to his word to his sons. >> this was a promise to them. >> reporter: a man's home is his castle. apparently, a kids treehouse holds sanctity, too. derrick ward, news 4. >> they will have to take the treehouse down in five years. he's not upset about that, but he's learned a valuable and expensive lesson. the cost of the treehouse exceeded $1,000. he thinks it's a small price to pay for his son's happiness. >> tomorrow morning, officials meet to talk

a. tree house that was left there on the other side we're seeing tents being torn down and still definitely a huge presence if you just swing by over here real quick there's the tempi shut down. there are several police officers as you can see tearing down tents tearing down makeshift structures kind of putting everything into piles what was once occupied los angeles is now being torn apart by officers which are in protective suits in case they run into some sort of chemical agents or anything like that now all the demonstrators today that we saw were peaceful that we saw a huge response we have gotten access to aftermath you see right now a major cleanup going on and once the sun like comes up we will see that entire city hall will be barricaded in order. so that the demonstrators in support of occupy wall street the people who have made this an encampment will not return now just one last look after nearly two months of occupying los angeles city hall occupy l.a. and it has been shut down and what we're seeing here is a complete tear down of the encampment we shall see tomorrow and in the

an inspector told him tree houses didn't need a building perm permit. >> notice of violation. >> he needed special permission to keep the treehouse. after petitioning the house once, he denied, but not beaten. word got out about the dilemma. another military man on the west coast who he never met gathered somehows of petition signatures. another neighbor donated land caping to help it blend better. his sons were not to be left out of the learning session. >> the boys got 166 signatures. >> reporter: finally, the zoning appeals date arrived. this time, the board members agreed the treehouse could stay. a happy ending. the neighborhood is a little closer. the boys learned a few things about local government. the soldier stays true to his word to his son. >> this was a promise to them. >> we understand they will have to remove the treehouse in five years. that leaves plenty of time for the family to hang out and help build childhood memories. live in the news room, back to you. >> that's a cool looking treehouse. nice job. thank you. >>> a quick update from doug in the storm center. >>> right

house. >> it is not so often a county zoning board meeting gets this much attention and it's rare to see a tree house at the center of the debate at that meeting. that is exactly what unfolded today in fairfax county. we first told you about mike's tree house in october. he built it for his two sons, but the county wanted him to tear it down. today, you can score one for the little guy. >> they weighed in our favor. >> the tree house can stay for now. mark grapen promised to build it for his sons when he came home from his last deployment with the u.s. army. he says he unknowingly broke county code regulations by building it in the side yard and feared he would have to take it down. but today, he appeared again in front of the fairfax county zoning board and appealed. he won, but there are some stipulations. it has to come down in five years. >> obviously we have to keep the tree house in good order. the shrubbery and plants have to be maintained. >> o neighbor volunteered to plant these ever greens so it's less visible. >> they brought a crew out and planted these. he was able to tap the gener

as truck pulled up and they coming through the encampment picking up wood, and a couple of trees and took down a tree house and they have gone back behind where the tents are and they, a city truck with 12 hours and we did not know if that is the beginning but right new, garbage piled out here, and one of the concerns has been the hygiene situation and to the center of the square the truck pulled into the square ten minutes ago people were chanting "our park, our park," and as you can see people are not going to leave they don't care what the mayor proposes or what he offered. they are saying it is their park. >>shepard: and the news of petition being filed in federal court? >>reporter: these are the gives walking through and they had a press conference in los angeles saying they filed a petition asking the federal court to stop any kind of tearing down of the encampment and the court will probably not rule for a couple of days so the mayor could come through and kick everybody out as he said he was going to do before the court would make any kind of ruling. you can see they are pulling out the wood and we

after 10 months of debate and a 1600-signature petition from neighbors, officials approved of duran's that allows him to keep the tree house. >> this is a father tried to do the right thing for his two boys. not looking for 15 minutes of fame. >> the county ruled that he must maintain trees and plants but around the house. he gets to keep its. >> good for him. >>> today, not the best day. >> we started out with sunshine, and in some clouds came in. it is the end of november. tomorrow the meteorological winter. we will see if we get that lucky in december around here. let's get started with some temperatures. prince george's county, 45 degrees. the wins will state -- winds will stay up, and you will definitely feel the chill. 46 degrees in bethesda. at this hour, numbers north and west of the city are falling more rapidly. to the south, upper 40's, skies are clear. this is the way it looks as we head for the morning 34 by early tomorrow morning. it will be cold and crisps with a bit of a breeze. the high-pressure area causing all this stays with us right after the weekend. it will remain generally in the 50's for the next f

the zoning board says that the tree house violates rules and has to be torn down. more than 1500 people have signed ae the tree house. a lot of effort went into it. 4:50 now. 40 degrees. >>> good news for metro passengers who are frustrated with malfunctioning escalators. we have details on projects to rehabilitate. >>> we have a check on traffic >>> 4:53. adam caskey with the latest look at the forecast. today will be partly sunny and quite a bit cooler than yesterday morning. take a look at the numbers. gaithersburg new market, sterling all in the 30's right now. look at the rainfall totals on the right-hand side of the screen. inch in gaithersburg. so some impressive rainfall in spots yes. fairfax at 38. bowie at 39. near normal. here is our forecast. lower 50's for the high forecast in the early afternoon with a mixture of sunshine and clouds. you'll notice the wind kicked up to 15-20 miles per hour out of the west. tonight, dropping to near freezing. tomorrow, a lot of sunshine, highs in the lower 50's. the weekend and nothing but sunshine there. warming up by sunday, back into the upper 50's. a

a tree at a time. they dubbed it a christmas tree tax and blamed the white house, and then the white house stepped in. the look, the smell, the fun of picking a christmas tree drags generations of families to tree farms across the bay area. >> we cut down our tree in the mountains. those trees, they continue growing every year. >> reporter: but at the christmas tree farm here, fewer people are coming out, opting for artificial trees instead, which is why this grower joined with others like him across the nation in supporting a 15 cents per tree fee. where it started as an idea to create a $2 million fund for marketing and promotion, some people are now bashing the christmas tree tax. >> it's no tax on anybody, it's just something that we want to voluntarily do to promote our industry. >> reporter: growers, just the idea of the industry imposed fee on the growers to the u.s. department of agriculture in 2009, and in public comment earlier this year, growers supported the idea 3-1. >> the only reason why the government gets involved is to make sure that this board that's going to be raising this money i

some even built a tree house that looked right into the mayor's office window. about 1200 police officers, some in riot gear moved into the camp just after midnight. the raid was generally peaceful. >>> no question, nothing short of an emotional day in one bay area city as friends and neighbors say good-bye to a vallejo police officer killed in the light of duty. memorial services for jim capoot was a father of five and mentor to fellow officers as well as dozens of high school students. "today in the bay's" christie smith is live in vallejo with what's ahead for today's services. >> reporter: good morning, jon. the memorial gets under way at 11:00 this morning. they have everything ready out here, chairs and a stage as thousands of people are expected out here at corbis field. about 4,000 people all to pay their respects to fallen vallejo police officer jim capoot, who was shot while trying to pursue a bank robbery suspect on november 17th. governor jerry brown is expected to be here, members of the school board, city council and hundreds, if not thousands of f

trees."krieger's "festival of kkenedy --this is all a part offkennedy - these gingerbread houses will be on can come see them in person novembee 25th- 27th. coming up on good day baltimore... peta is going after a town named "turkey." what itts aaking the ttwn to change its name t... this thanksgiving. p

ingredients for life. >>> california's christmas tree arrived today at the state capital. getting a similar tree to your house transportation were donated. >> it's a big move. >>> mark ibanez join us now, some college basketball history made tonight. >> yeah, bound to happen sooner or later. when he's been around this long. you think of any college basketball teaching legend, bobly knight. as of tonight none of them with more division one games won than coach mike sheshesky. doing it against his buddy tom izzo. and boozer offering his support. duke does it with today's guyses down on the court, andre dockins. hot hands inside. it's miles plumley behind the back for ryan kelly. nicely done, put it done. there you have it 903 coaching wins to pass bobby knight who was on hand. the all time leader now. >>> cal played a school by the name of austin pie. and cal happy to show them some hospitality. getting it to richard solomo in and 14 for gutierrez and 14 points to go with it. a steal and a lay in, and the bears now 3-0. austin pie taking the last train back to clarksville. >>> stanford also had it going, give i

a winter wonderland. were you 600 decorated trees and a gingerbread houses. >> the grant stays well to the west. at least for the time "although it may not feel like christmas, it looks like it on 34 street. residents looked on it like for what is called the miracle on 34th street tonight. in baltimore tradition that draws clouds record -- crops from all over. the lights can be seen each night from now until new year's. residents of hamden are not the only ones getting into the holiday spirit. the festival of trees is being held this weekend at the maryland state fair grounds. there are more than 600 decorate it trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses and live entertainment. kids will love santa land where they can make crafts and games as well. the festival is the largest of its kind on the east coast. >> it is a fabulous way to get into the christmas spirit. them at the festival helps to benefit more than 16,000 people served by kennedy krieger each year. >> now, your 11 insta-weather forecast with chief meteorologist -- meteorologist john collins. >> we are around 70 for the high today. we hav

a bird's eye view. tell us about this beautiful tree. >> good morning, hala. if a tree is headed here to the white house vetted for beauty and all the other characteristics that make it the fur peperfect tree for t house. this one comes from wisconsin. a 19-foot tall balsam fir and it was harvested just last week. now, in order for a tree to get here, it has to go through a long process. first of all, a competition. there's a state and regional competition and there are different panels made up of tree growers, retailers, other experts. then, a white house team will formally make the selection. this time, the selection, the honors go to susan and tom shoeder of their farm there in wisconsin. this tree, by the way, was planted 18 years ago and now made the journey here to washington where it will be sort of the centerpiece of the holiday season, as all of that gets under way starting today, hala. >> for all those people perhaps in washington, d.c., on holiday, do the white house tours include the tree? >> of course. i mean, this is a tree that everyone really wants to see when they come here to washingto

. >>> iraq war veteran will make a plea to save a tree house built on his property in falls church. he'll appear before the fairfax county zoning board today to appeal the decision to remove the tree house. county officials say it's in violation of zoning laws. he promised to build the tree house so his sons would have something to look forward to when he returned home from iraq. he's expected to submit more than 1500 signatures from an online petition. >>> the d.c. council will take up a bill today, the proposal would establish an independent ethics panel with power to punish council members for violations and slash the amount of money they can raise and require them to disclose the source of all outside income. several council members have come under scrutiny this year for ethical lapses. >>> marion berry running for d.c. council again? the former four-term mayor filed his declaration of candidacy yesterday. he says he'll work towards improving the ward's employment outlook and bringing new development to the area. kickoff for his campaign will take place early next year. >>> in l

house christmas tree. this is an 18 1/2-foot tall balsam fur from wisconsin. wisconsin hasn't provided a white house tree in a while, since 2003. >> reporter: seven times they've been from wisconsin. you've brought up an interesting point that the farmers that farm this tree, and it was planted two decades ago i read, they have to pay to get it to washington, but it must be an honor. jon: i'm guessing they didn't carry it by horse-drawn wagon the entire way. it sure made its arrival in style. the national christmas tree growers pay for this. no taxpayer money involved. >> reporter: we'll go inside the white house, and we are happy for the holiday season, to say the least. jon: going into the blue room. speaking of colors, this is black friday. right now shoppers are out in full force all across the country, parking lots, stores, isles, packed with people in cars. the folks are outlook for great deals on holiday buys. outlet malls no exception offering great discounts to bring in as many people as possible. sandra smith live at the chicago premium outlets in aurora, illinois, how is the s

there was one protester living in a tree house up there. they had to shoot bean bags at that protester to get him out. he sustained minor abrasions according to the lapd. that was it. what happens now is going to be perhaps the most difficult part of the task. you can see in front of me they've set up a perimeter here fencing. what they want to do is make sure the occupiers don't come back in and occupy this park. they are expecting minor protests later today. some of the occupiers who were not arrested have gathered at a church near here. they're strategizing figuring out what they're going to do next. meantime, the process of cleaning up the mess is going on. as you can see, sanitation department trucks are here. they've started cleaning up what was left behind by these protesters. when the police went in here last night, they had to put on hazardous material suits. it was a giant pile of them here earlier this morning. the sanitation department has cleaned that up. the other thing that they are trying to do is some of the personal belong

if there say large obstruction like a neighbor's house or a large tree directly to the south, it gets a little more complicated trying to measure exactly what impact that will have on the area you're considering. you have to consider where your neighbor's house is relative to due south if it's not northeast or the northwest, then it's not really a big deal. if it's due south and it's significantly higher than the area you're considering, you're probably going to get pretty good shading throughout the year there is actually published data about expected sun hours in the different neighbors in san francisco, and actually for the whole state of california. there is also some tools that you can use that will directly measure the sunlight at any given time, i actually have one with me ride now. >> show me. >> this is a meter and on a clear sunny day, you can expect about 1,000 watts per meter squared. >> is that enough numbers for my alarm clock or is that enough numbers for my refrigerator, what exactly is the ratio of energy to my appliances? >> it depends on your usage. if a large comme

a lot like christmas around the white house. the first lady welcomed the official white house christmas tree this morning. a 19-football sam fir that came from wisconsin north of madison. it was selected in october. the tree will be displayed in the white house blue room. >>> jet man is making history again. his name is yeev rossi. he was the first person to fly with a jet propelled wing. he has flown over the english channel and the grand channel. and now he flew in formation with actual jets. this is video of him alongside two jets over the swiss alps. is that like the coolest thing? does that not look like big, big fun. i grew up and i wanted to be like yves. that's our broadcast for now. "the tonight show" is coming up next. [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com, you can choose your channel package. ♪ you can choose your own internet speeds. ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now you can choose to save $35 a month for fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month, plus get a $300 verizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement. but hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.

the first family will be accepting the official white house christmas tree. this is aalsam fir coming from a farm in wisconsin. it will sit in the blue room at the white house. >>> it's beginning to look a lot like christmas at the national harbor. it's holding its annual harbor lights festival. it includes the lighting of the national harbor christmas tree as well as fireworks. festivities kick off at 5:00. the radio king orchestra will take the stage at 7:00. they'll have nice weather for the outdoor festivities out there. >> let's find out more of the details of that. here's tom. >>> beautiful start this morning. if you are heading out early, no travel problems weather-wise. it's cold. it's down in the 30s through much of virginia, maryland, the eastern shore, and west virginia. closer to washington, montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's county, generally mid-30s. it's near 40 in washington and right by the bay. we've got a clear sky here now thanks to high pressure over the atlantic seaboard. no travel problems up and down the atlantic seaboard from here

you 600 decorated trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses to what is called a funky monkey tree. it is all on display at the maryland state fair grounds predictors to helping kids like sam livingston. >> thank you very much for helping me out. >> what he was a lot younger and interpret, his life was it that more difficult. sambas will recall high functioning of the autistic spectrum. kennedy krieger really saved us. >> kennedy krieger provides a wide range of services. each year they held more than 16,000 children. this morning michelle obama was presented with the white house christmas tree. it was selected in october and was harvested this month. the boston for is from the grand champions of the 2011 christmas tree association. the tree stands 19 feet tall and will be on display throughout the holiday season in the white house blue room. >> his christmas tree is far from the one that arrived at the white house today. not only because it is in berlin, it is a metal skeleton of a treatment and decorated with items that have been thrown away. he was to bring more a word as to recy

tree lighting ceremony is set for december 6th at 5:00. that's a few days after the national tree lighting on the e lips. house speaker john boehner and a child from california will do the honors. that is a wrap for us. we're always on over on myfoxdc.com. feldy coming into the studio now. sports next, just two minutes away.     [ male announcer ] does your cable company keep charging you more... and more... and more? stop paying so much for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online: just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. you save $600. go to verizon.com/greatprice to sign up now and get $300 back with a two-year contract. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers superior picture quality, more hd, plus america's fastest, most consistent and most reliable internet. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios at our best price... $89.99 a month with a two-year price guarantee. plus get $300 back with a two-year contract or choose no annual contract. ordering online is easy. you can even chat live with a fios agent.

a record prize. the pear shaped stone was discovered in south africa last year. it's bright yellow color comes #k >>> california's christmas tree arrived today at the state capital. getting a similar tree to your house would cost about $20,000. in this case the tree and transportation were donated. >> it's a big move. >>> mark ibanez join us now, some college basketball history made tonight. >> yeah, bound to happen sooner or later. when he's been around this long. you think of any college basketball teaching legend, bobly knight. as of tonight none of them with more division one games won than coach mike sheshesky. doing it against his buddy tom izzo. and boozer offering his support. duke does it with today's guyses down on the court, andre dockins. hot hands inside. it's miles plumley behind the back for ryan kelly. nicely done, put it done. there you have it 903 coaching wins to pass bobby knight who was on hand. the all time leader now. >>> cal played a school by the name of austin pie. and cal happy to show them some hospitality. getting it to richard solomo in and 14 for gutierrez and 14 points to go with it. a steal and a lay in, and the bears now 3-0. austin pie taking the last train back to

. >>> later this morning, michelle obama will be picking out the christmashite house tree. a farm inrom wisconsin and will be displayed the holiday season. >>> not everyone is in the holiday spirit. many are protesting the huge deals. we are live at bloomberg headquarters. >> good morning. i know you have heard about the occupied wall street protesters. they have the target on holiday shopping. telling the wall that canurnal consumption has gotten us into mess. protests are scheduled in ashington state and chicago low as new york. -- as well as new york. >>> tomorrow is small business saturday. according to american express, a say they planple to shop small to keep their local small businesses right thing. >>> there is a lower open this friday morning. moody's [unintelligible] yesterday, fitts downgraded portugal. close eye ong a gold prices. we expect gold to rise next week. traders are getting more metal. on the gold is at 19%. >>> expect deep discounts for the ipad. will tell you when feared that live at bloomberg headquarters. >>> that will be interesting. 42 degrees. >>

christmas tree growers want to pay for a new campaign with a self imposed fee. >> you can't put on a mustache with the tree. why did the white housetep in to put it on hold? how marketing campaign for one industry created a marketing headache for the obama administration. >> reporter: no matter what's on the christmas tree, for some people it's the tree underneath that makes the difference. at san jose, all eight trees are artificial. >> i feel like cutting the trees down is a waste. after christmas, they're gone. >> reporter: for many families, fresh, locally grown trees are the only way to go. >> we like the smell and the camaraderie of going out and cutting it down. >> we love the smell in the house. it doesn't feel like the holidays with a plastic tree. >> reporter: yet the sales of artificial trees are up, fresh tree sales are down. >> sales have grown probably about 680 some odd percent in the last ten years. our sales have fallen 6%. >> reporter: that's why growers like batallia wanted to create a christmas tree campaign, 50 cent per tree fee to pay for marketing and promotion. >> very similar to like "got milk," "the other

a look at last year's tree. this year's version is a 19-foot tall balsam fir. it came from a farm in wisconsin. it will sit in the blue room of the white house. >>> it's beginning to look a lot like christmas at national harbor. it's holding its annual harbor lights festival this evening. the event includes the lighting of the christmas tree. the events kick off at 5:00. a local coral group will begin performing an hour later. the radio king orchestra will take the stage at 7:00. >> good day to get out and about. very good day, right, tom? >> yes. for those who want to work off thanksgiving dinner too. it's great weather for exercise, and probably the c&o tow path will be as busy as the beltway today. >>> we'll have another bright and sunny day. right now at reagan national, just down river from the monuments to the right, 42 degrees. we've got a clear sky here now. a light southwesterly breeze and a chill in the air. right now temperatures around the region are near freezing in parts of northern virginia, west virginia, and maryland. closer to virginia in fairfax, montgomery, and prince george's county, mid-30s. near 40 in district of colum

it just lit up the whole sky and then, all of a sudden, the wind burst through and the trees fell into the house. >> in georgia, there was one fatality when a tree fell on a sports utility vehicle. thousands of homes are without power. >>> the federal debt has hit a staggering new high. ten years ago in 2001, the debt stood at $5.7 trillion. now, it has almost tripled to more than 15 trillion. a congressional super committee is charged with cutting future deficits by 1.2 trillion, but with the deadline set for next week, talks are stalled. >>> the house of representatives has passed a bill to loosen federal restrictions on concealed weapons. it would allow a person licensed to carry concealed firearms in one state to do so in any other state where it's legal. the republican-sponsored bill passed 272-151. it's not likely to become law because there is no similar bill in the senate. >>> an idaho man suspected of shooting at the white house will appear today in federal court in pittsburgh. according to several officials, he was obsessed with the president. susan mcginnis joins us now from washingto

then we'd cut the umbilical cord, wrap the placenta in dried grass and bury it under a tree in front of the housen-laws and husband have given her permission to go to the clinic for an examination. they have a two-hour walk ahead of them -- and sam could go into labor at any time. >> of course i'm scared that it will happen on the way. you never know exactly when or where. but i'll be here, and i know what to do. >> when they finally arrive in the village of coc se, there's an emergency. sum asks for her white coat. min has been brought in -- she had gone into labor while working in the field. nth h anananananancy, it was actually her ninth. sum has to translate for min and the nurses. language isn't the only barrier -- the villagers have a general mistrust of the vietnamese authorities. after four-and-a-half hours, min's husband arrives at the clinic. and then, the baby is born. >> the baby's doing well. he's crying and is very strong. it's a boy -- three kilos and healthy! less than 24 hours after min gave birth, her husband is back at the clinic. he's brought bamboo rods and a cloth to make a

. >> a tree fell on my house. and it went through the roof and went into the family room. >> if i was in the car two more seconds i would be dead. >> i was thinking it was a halloween trick that we had a winter storm but it's real. it's real and uncanny and scary. >> many towns postponed trick-or-treating. >>> i have a paraplegic that needs to come off. >> that is a plea from a jetblue pilot after his flight was stranded on a snow-covered tarmac for seven hours. passengers were forced to cope with no food, water or working toilets. the transportation department opened an investigation today into whether the airline violated the tarmac delay rule. jetblue could be fined $27,000 per passenger. american airlines is under investigation as well. >>> a cruise ship could be home to 200,000 students as early as tomorrow. mold in the dust storm tours at st. mary's college forced the students out. the college brought in a ship to give the kids a place to live. a coast guard inspection of the ship delayed the move. they hope

the couple who traveled from wisconsin with the tree they planted it two decades ago and tried four times before winning a ticket to the white housere a crew carried the tree inside, an inspection from the first dog, b.o. who gave it a quif sniff of approval, we're told. the rise of freedom now. in addition to taking more than 2700 lives, the attacks on the world trade center left the surrounding neighborhood desso lated. 20,000 people who live there had to move away. companies had to cut or relocate 65,000 jobs. but as shepard smith reports tonight, downtown new york is once again booming. >> like the speeding ball that starts out slowing and gets faster and fast err. >> young families moving in here. kind of the place of life and renewal. >> shepard: in lower manhattan there is one example of this renewal. the memorial is open. construction on the 16-acre world trade center site is easy to see. but the rise of lower manhattan is also found in little things. [children talking] >> my daughter's school is already full. it's only been in existence two years and already a waiting list. >> leann and her family moved into the financial

. >> many years ago there was a tree in front of their house on second street, back in a city of washington was determined to cut down. edman was so determined it not be cut down that he climbed the tree and wrapped his arms around it and said shoot if you must, this old gray head, but spare my favorite tree, he said. [laughter] >> he does not need an introduction. he is now conclude after three debt going to work the monument biographical studies of american literature, third volume is of course "colonel roosevelt" which covers a protracted and difficult and at times painful period in theodore roosevelt's life within miss the bully pulpit of the presidency, this being the center everybody's attention, of touring the world, from running into serious illness, suffered great personal losses. it's a dramatic story. nobody tells the story better than edmund morris. and it's my great pleasure to introduce my old friend. [applause] >> that's completely untrue about me climbing the tree.ñ i tried to and went skidding back down to ground level. after that incident which surprised even me, here am

house, arts and crafts. it should be a lot of fun. there's also this year, by the way, going to be a separate tree for gold star families. joying what will no doubt be some great decorations when it's all said and done. >> you mentioned we saw the first ladies, we you sat girls, i even thought i saw bo running around the tree. where is the president today? >> reporter: the president has snuck off today and he's actually playing a little bit of golf. that's because it's so beautiful today. a lot warmer than it was yesterday. it's in the 60s. the president is off playing golf with three other people, including reggie love, who is one of his very close assistants here at the white house. reggie love is going to be heading off to business school soon. so a chance to play golf with him i'm sure as much as he can before he leaves. >> i'm guessing there's a lot of folks doing that. other folks may be doing the black friday shopping. it's beautiful weather here on the east coast. it good to see you out there on the lawn and it's nice that it's a nice day for you. thanks so much. >> families in texas and oklahoma, though, having a