we'll take a live look on the inbound side here at bladensburg road. you can see the traffic slowing down trying to get past bladensburg road to west virginia montana. be aware of that in northeast early on this morning. now, let's go to the west side of town. on the southbound side of the beltway here at 123, there had been overnight construction. we'll take a live look at 395 on the northbound side still looking good at duke street to the 14th street bridge. we'll go into maryland at 4:55. mike? >> thanks, monika. washington monument is going to get some much-needed repairs thanks to a very generous history buff. this morning, the national parks service will announce that washington fill an throppist david rubenstein will donate the final $7.5 million needed to fix the landmark. it cracked following last summer's earthquake. rubenstein says wants it reopen to the public as soon as possible. >>> so far, the white house is happy with the way states have implemented president obama's healthcare reform plan. the law calls for setting up a national health

this is at bladensburg road. this is where the slowdown begins trying to get to west virginia montana on the inbound side of the avenue. definitely you're not used to this at 5:00 in the morning. be aware of that as we head out the door. let's take you back over to the maps. this time, to the other side of town. 270 is looking great. live look. no problems to report as you head down from father hurley boulevard to the point where the lanes divide and to the beltway and american legion bridge. back over to new york avenue coming up in my next report. back to you guys. >> thank you, monika. >> washington monument has been closed since the august 23rd earthquake. that tremor led to cracks and water problems inside the structure. >> but later this morning, federal officials will announce a major donation for the repairs and the restoration. 9news now reporter delia gonsalves is live on the national mall. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning. the national mall and the monument is closed but is looks awfully

downtown, new york and bladensburg road, a lot of pavement, some cars. east-west highway, connecticut avenue, same situation. moving well. traffic is light. back to you, joe and eun. >> thanks very much, carol. >>> 6:43 now. one day to go until the iowa caucuses, and the field is still wide open. republican presidential hopefuls are campaigning hard today, trying to sway those undecided voters. news 4's angie goff joins us live in our news room with what voters are saying, along with new poll numbers revealing a religious conservative surging ahead. >> good morning, eun. >>> on this eve of the iowa caucuses, rick santorum is in the spotlight. the latest polls from the "des moines register" show mitt romney as the front-runner. ron paul is right behind. but if you count the last two days of the four-day poll, santorum is tied with mitt romney. while romney is considered for electable, santorum beats romney by a wide margin who asked who relates better to ordinary iowans. in fact, santorum's momentum could help win over the 40% of caucusgoers who say they

olivet road near bladensburg road. let's go live over to new york avenue.'s what it looks like. nice and quiet through the northeast corridor. coming up, we'll go into virginia at 4:39. >> as monika told us, today is expected to be an extra heavy commute, especially in northern virginia. >> students return to most of the area schools and most people took time off for the holiday and now they are heading back to the office. >> now, the good news is congress doesn't head back into session until the 17th of the month. >> but in virginia, all 6400 people moving into the new mark center building off i-395 are slated to report to work today. >> after months of rallies and town hall meetings, the republican presidential nominating process officially begins today in iowa. >> g.o.p. contenders plan to make one final pitch before the caucus- goers do their nominating tonight. susan mcginnis has more. >> at a packed rally in iowa, mitt romney urged supporters to turn out in full fort. >> with your help, we'll do whatever it takes. let's get the nomination and become t

nurse continuing inbound along new york avenue, lanes are open from bladensburg road head out towards 50 here at 202 landover road. you are down to about 29 miles per hour headed in towards the new york-kenilworth avenue split. the outer loop, you will find delies leaving 95 headed around towards jim moran avenue. average speed down to about 38 miles per hour. that's a check of your fox 5 on-timetraffic. ic. >>> the tailgaters won. jiffy lube live has lifted the tail gate ban it enacted last year. the officials say the move was made after receiving widespread complaints from customers. grills will now be allowed but tents and can opies will still be forbidden out there. new rules include an aggressive enforcement on open alcohol contains are in the parking lot. >>> for the first time since 2004, u.s. album seams are up. neilsen sound scan data which includes digital and physical sales show that, in 2011, more than 400 million albums sold. a large part thanks to the popular singer adele. she came out on top with nearly six million copies of the album 21 sold. michael buble and lady gag

here is the traffic until at bladensburg road. lanes are open out towards the tunnel. your fox 5 on- time traffic. >>> time to talk a little bit of sports. the wizards remain winless on the roads and the caps lose the great 8 for three games. joining us now are the sports junkies for 106.7 the fan. >> good morning. >> the wizards still getting beat down on a regular basis. last night, they got stomped. how much longer are we going to see flip saunders on the sidelines? >> i'm right there with you. i'm convinced that ted is just going to ride this out. at this ., they are 2 and 15. what are you waiting for? cakes and i are real wizards fans. we can hardly tolerate it. it is not like a new coach is going to come in and change things right away but you have to show the fans that you care and you expect more. >> if i am a die hard fan, which i am, and i'm turning the game off in the middle of the third quarter because they're down 27 or 28. they are showing no sign of life. they've gotten blown out as we like to say by the sixers three times in the last two weeks. by an ave

that is why it is unusually slow coming from bladensburg road headed in the direction of the circle. only the left lane is able to get by. they are treating the road for icy conditions. no problems to report on the top stretch of the beltway as you work your way from college park headed over towards 270. still an easy drive for you here. you will find lanes are open if you are traveling southbound along 270 coming in out of germantown and leaving manassas eastbound on 66, lanes are open headed into centreville. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >> thank you. >>> making heads line this morning, a bethesda mother is accused of leaving her young daughter alone in her apartment off rock forest drive. montgomery county police say the 6-year-old girl was trying to cook something in the toaster oven when it began smoking and an alarm went off. a neighbor called 911 and found the girl wandering in the hallway. mother is charged with leaving a child unattended and she could face more charges. >>> the fire set at a federal judge's house last month in mclean, virginia has been ruled

still appear easy trip leaving northeast to northwest working your way past bladensburg road. >>> therld is rising up at theaters this weekend. up next, the star of the new movie underworld awaken is sat down with kevin mccarthy. >> she explains why this is not your typical vampire flick, coming up. stay with us. women evererywhere are joining the revolution against scrubbing on their hands and knees. they're using resolve easy clean to deep clean their carpets. its upright brush with activating trigger removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone. it's just three easy steps for beautifully clean carpets. resolve easy clean. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. and try resolve triple oxi to remove stains the first time. >>> the new action movie underworld awakening opens today and we have a trailer from that movie. >> we can pretty much guarantee you won't be seeing this trailer anywhere else. take a look. ook. >> what is your name? >> what are you talking about? it's your boy kevin. let's go! >> what is going on right now? oh, my god. a little help back here. i am flipping o

inbound new york avenue leaving northeast to northwest, this happens to be the camera at bladensburg roadat's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >>> a presidential election season is heating up. americans will be bombarded with polls but what exactly goes into these polls. >> and how are they conducted? that is another question. fox's jennifer davis takes a behind the scenes look at poll making. >> we're conducting a survey about some important issues. >> reporter: this is a poll in the making. employees at this northern virginia polling center will be here for hours on this night calling folks nationwide to see what they think about gop presidential candidates and the economy. scott is the director of sursukanya roy sur-- of research at the pew center. as the calendar rolls over into this presidential year, you will hear, see and read the results of calls like this in dozens if not hundreds of polls. it turns out americans have a series of questions themselves. one commonly asked question? how come i've never been called. the pollstersters say the fact is we live in a very big countr

olivet road at bladensburg road. in my next report, another look at area roadways at 5:17. andrea? >> thank you, monika. making news now at 5:10, the search for suspected killer of a park ranger in washington state is over. the body of benjamin barnes was spotted in chest deep snow in mt. rainier. barnes shot and killed park ranger margaret anderson sunday morning. authorities believe barnes was on the run after wounding four people in a new year's eve shooting. >>> police in los angeles now have a suspect in custody after a string of weekend arsons. an attorney who works as a part- time sheriff's deputy spotteda a mini van connected to the intentionally-set fires and made the stop. more than 50 fires were set causing nearly $3 million in damages. >>> tonight, voters will cast their ballots in the iowa caucuses. the republican presidential hopefuls have been hard at work across the state trying to snatch up the undecide voter and there are plenty of them. after tonight, it is off to new for next week's primary. >>> have you cleared away your holiday decorations yet? coming up at 5:

this happens to be the camera shot at bladensburg road and traffic flowing freely headed out towardseck of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >>> the battle for the republican presidential nomination begins today when voters gather in their precincts for the iowa caucuses. >> recent polls show this has come down to a three-man race. fox's kelly wright with the latest on the first presidential nominating contest of the year. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. this is. it this is what everyone has been waiting for. the first salvo to find out who will win among the republican hopefuls. it stands to be anybody's gain tonight because of the extreme number of those who are unpredicted in -- undecided i should say. that make it very unpredictable in who will win even though mitt romney, ron paul and rick santorum are right now the frontrunners. but this has been up and down. don't discount the ron paul effect and the people that support ron paul. they are the kind of people who have been very hard in their ground game. they have all the support. they are manning the telephones even a

traveling in the district, new york avenue slow from "the washington times" plant as you approach bladensburg road accidents, just volume at this time. back to you. >> thank you. >>> and again pulls up, let it fly. knocks in a three pointer. >> it started off well for the hokies as they look for a first win against unc. virginia tech went into the locker room with a five-point lead on the eighth-ranked team. the tar heels went on a 19-0 run in the second half to run away with the win 82-68. virginia tech is 0-4 in acc play. >> when you play the tar heels, don't ever feel comfortable. >> never ever. >> giving them a taste of their own medicine. the unusual rejection letter one university received if a would-be student. >>> check your stamps before you put anything in the mail. when the latest rate hike takes effect. we know everyone's looking for ways to save. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. >>> you might want to stock occupy postage stamps as the cost of mailing a letter is going up o

bladensburg. no accidents in the road for you. back to you. >> thank you. >>> 6:42.day" show is coming up next at 7:00. let's check in with matt lauer to see what they're working on this morning. good morning to you. >>> good morning to you. nice to see you. and coming up on a wednesday here on "today," we're following breaking news. u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s. pull off a daring raid to rescue two aid workers held hostage in somalia since october. one an american. we're live at the pentagon with details. >>> also ahead, president obama pushes key re-election themes in his state of the union address, including his plan to rebuild the economy. we'll get reaction from vice president joe biden and republican hopeful newt gingrich when they join us. >>> plus, demi moore in the hospital after an emergency call was placed from her los angeles home. we'll tell you how she's doing. >>> those stories, plus oscar nominee glenn close will stop by to tell us about her new movie. when we get started on a wednesday morning here on "today." back to you. >> see you soon. thank you, matt. >>

as you see, when you look down the road here, there's still a major backup from when they did have just one lane getting by. one lane from bladensburgards montana. but now all the lanes are open, so traffic can move freely. they have the road packed with lots of salt after this water main break that caused some slippery conditions this morning. again, as you mentioned, the water has been stopped. repair crews are pretty much done repairing this for now. it may be a little slow as you enter because they just decided to open up all the lanes here. it's just a bit of a backup. you should be okay making your way up new york avenue. tracee wilkins, back to you in the studio. >> thank you very much. >>> republican presidential hopefuls will face off one final time tonight in south carolina before voters head to the polls on sunday. the candidates are still taking aim at front-runner mitt romney over his wealth and taxes, but they also are addressing one of the nation's most continue versverse controversial issues, abortion. tracie potts has more. >> reporter: taxes and abortion on the campaign trail in south carolina. let's start with tax

this is bladensburg with the volume building here and a fire at 14th and park road northwest. watch out for fire activity there. coming up in my next report, more on area roadways at 6:18. andrea and mike? >> this might not come as a surprise. the white house is happy newt gingrich won the south carolina primary. cbs news reports the white house is also pretty happy to see governor mitt romney struggling. >> the president is going to use tomorrow's state of the union address to appeal to middle class americans. >> president obama is still working on tuesday's state of the union address. of it will sound a lot like speeches he's been making, particularly one he made last month in kansas, a call for economic fair play which his opponents saw as a call to class warfare. this is how mr. obama previewed the speech in a web cast. >> that's rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off. and responsibility is rewarded. and in america where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules. >> there are likely to be some new propos

road. continue as you connect to new york avenue. once you pass bladensburg, the lanes open up.but a little bit on the chilly side in new york city. we are preparing for the storm of the century. >> no, no, no. >> i'm kidding. we'll get a little dusting of snow tonight. >> 2 to 4 inches tops. >> a little more north and west of us. >> just a little bit. >> and apparently more on natalie morales. >> i'm matt lauer. >> a camera shot over there. getting creative. >> i'm matt lauer with al roker and tamron hall. ann had to take off a little early. time is running out for rescue crews that are trying to find possible survivors on the cruise ship we've been watching so much off the coast of italy over the last seven or eight days. the operation was delayed yet again. we'll get the latest in a live report from italy coming up. >>> also ahead gop presidential candidate newt gingrich is denying his ex-wife's claim that he asked her to agree to an open marriage when he admitted to having a six-year affair with his now wife calista. what effect will this have on his campaign? we'll get the