bob mcdonnell. he pushed for the increase during his campaign. >>> still to come, bracing for another terror attack officials tell us how likely is that al qaeda will strike again. and more problems for toyota after the company's huge recall. now the government is stepping in. and get ready to say goodbye. just a few hours left to see washington's favorite panda. and the snow is clearing away, but it is coming back. brian will have the details >> al qaeda is poised to strike the united states within months. this is the one of the nation's intelligence chief, who are testifying for a second day on capitol hill. they say they are getting useful and actionable information from the alleged christmas day bomber, but they warned it may be harder than ever to see the next attack coming. >> the greater threat is that al qaeda is adapting in methods, in wayshat oftentimes make it to go to detect. >> abc news has learned that the fbi is examining travel records to see if al qaeda operatives are following abdu

bob mcdonnell declared a state of emergency early, freeing up money and potential of funds to help out. they have been treating the roadways. tell us a little bit about what we can expect in the days to come. people should prepare 36 to 48 hours. does that mean people should try to stay home? >> once the storm hits, we encourage people to stay home unless it is critical they go out. we need the roadways to be clear so our plows can get out there. we need access for emergency vehicles. we need to get to the county. it would be helpful if people could be prepared to stay home for up to three to five days. >> jack brown, thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> a lot of people are going to get cabin fever. >> a lot of movies and games on hand. >>> a snow emergency goes into effect at 9:30 this morning. there is already a head start on clearing the roadways. mike conneen has more. >> they say it with the last few storms we have had, this has been good practice for ddot crews. there will have more than 750 workers including 60 contract plow workers who will be out starting at 8:00 a.m

the bill is likely to become law because bob mcdonnell proposed the increase. >> you have one more chance to say tai shan at the national zoo. this is the last day he will be on display before it gets shipped back to china to be part of a breeding program back fare. >> everybody will miss tai shan around here. >>> our storm watch coverage continues. pamela brown is live with what she's saying in bowie. >> we first arrived here before 4:00 this morning. the secondary roads were looking pretty bad. it looks like there were not treated at all. since then, several plow trucks were on the road. he is right over there. there are about three plow trucks in this shopping center parking lot. earlier, brian made fun of me for a desperatwe use this dollar bill to measure how much accumulation there is here. you can see there is just about 6 inches in this area. we have seen different accumulations depending on the fresh snow piled on top of what we had over the weekend. as you can see, this looks really good compared to what we saw earlier today. it is the back roads, the neighborhood roads that are

governor bob mcdonnell already declared a state of emergency pretty virginia national guard is placing soldiers on standby. presidents in arlington county are being told to be prepared to shelter in place for up to five days. and in maryland, prince george's county has now declared a snow emergency effective at 7:00 tonight. hardware stores and grocery stores have been packed. at area supermarkets yesterday, people waited in line for up to an hour. getting a shovel has been a big challenge. at cherrydale hardware, people clamored for shovels. >> people ask if they can reserve them or pay for them in advance, and we cannot. >> the last delivery of shovels was trucked in from pennsylvania, and they sold out in half an hour. >> and there was a fight over the last two. 6:38 is your time now rate is friday morning and we have 35 degrees outside. >> as we go to break, another chec( music playing ) if toyota gets credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to any

if we lose that will then ton being generated by the likes of bob mcdonnell and chris christie, new jersey? we won the new jersey for goodness sakes then you have the slingshot up at massachusetts. we honest. i don't even have to go back one year, i can go back one month and died that 90% of the people in this room would not have predicted tuesday's outcome. massachusetts a nice try. god bless him. [laughter] that you had a candidate that did not give up because he believes something he brought that to the table and shared it with the people of the massachusetts said what they are doing now is not good for you. to be accountable as a leader when i go to washington. number two, but i am going to washington and i am taking you with me. very different conversation that is our moment we are the parties are are not afraid to account any more prickly want to be held accountable and when we go lead we want you with us because you have our faith in the business and the people not the government. that is very powerful to make this into this question will allow us to achieve the goal to take control

governor bob mcdonnell proposed the change during his campaign so he is likely to sign it into law. >lready illegal to text while driving but there was a loophole that juan lawmaker wants to close. he wants to ban people from reading texts while driving in addition to sending the techs. violators would be guilty of a misdemeanor but the fines could be up to $500. >>> the end is almost here. today is the last day you can visit tai shan at the national zoo. the doors at the zoo open at 6:00 this morning. tai shan usually makes an appearance sometime between 7:00 and 730:67:89 the 4-year- old giant panda ibeing shipped tomorrow via fedex. more than 150 dreafd the temperatures on saturday and all that snow for his farewell party. >>> looking for a passing lane, scores! sports, the cap seventy a franchise record with their 11th straight win. they beat the boston bruins. >>> our big story is the snow this morning. sarah is right in the middle of it. >> reporter: you may want to follow bob's lead back here and get out here now and start shoveling. there is a lot of snow out here on the groun

i think it's a very diffused dpru group and if you look at bob mcdonnell and the new governor and senator from massachusetts. i cite this politico. they didn't necessarily pander to them, but they were smart about using the sort of resources with the money and the manpower that comes from these tea party folks to win statewide elections. i think they oofred the model, irng, andrea how to not get burned by this movement but to harness it. >> as you were pointing out if your piece today, mark kirk and his nomination in illinois really does tell you that the republican party is still the establishment party. despite all these divisions, they want to win more than they want to fight. >> you've covered politics for a long time. i don't think the gop has changed in the past year to the point where they're right wing is now dominating the party or more to the point running the party. if you look at massachusetts and virginia, the folks there ran the campaigns and the candidates were party regulars. certainly the example on tuesday, mark kirk no fairt of the tea party crowd easily wins that naul

approved a plan to raise the top speed limit in the state from 65 to 70 miles an hour and governor bob mcdonnell has promised to sign it into law. the increased speed limit would only affect interstates in the more rural parts of the commonwealth. >>> let's take a look at the roads and go to the 9news now traffic center. >> talk about going the speed limit, we're seeing a lot of that this afternoon. take a look here, 66 so far a smooth ride today going from to 123, not seeing any problems. on 270 as well no problems. montgomery village avenue you see very wide open lanes here. a lot of kids have the days off, maybe adults taking snow days as doll make these roads so good going up to clarkbsurg and on the capital beltway good driving time from people on springfield on the way to college park. on the inner loop traffic about 35 minutes. that is up to speed. guys, back to you. >>> coming up hundreds turn out to get one last look at the national zoo's favorite panda cub before he heads off to china. >>> first the nation's intelligence director is on the hot seat in capitol hill after giving a ar sen

governor bob mcdonnell supported the proposal during his campaign. >>> meanwhile, in maryland, the topic is fast money. slots are coming in, now some state lawmakers are talking about allowing table games to generate money. state delegate frank turner told the washington examiner he will file legislation to add poker, blackjack, craps and slots that are coming to maryland. governor martin o'malley says he's not interested in adding table games to the mix. >>> we're following a developing story in montgomery county right now. judith ann sternberg was last seen yesterday morning at her home on highland drive in silver spring. family members are worried because she may be in the early stages of dementia. mrs. sternberg may be driving a page 2009 toyota camry with maryland plates 2enz41. >>> it could take days before charges are filed in a tragic cash that killed two men in prince george's county. the victims were involved in a minor accident before 11:00 on monday night in adelphi. roy lacayio awhen another drive plowed into them. now both men's famils want that driver to pay for cutting tw

virginia, a larger group of republican-leaning independents moved dramatically toward bob mcdonnell.conomically hard-hit -- you saw voters in places like boston and plymouth county, those voters decided that we have had enough and we will take out our anger at the ballot box. i think scott brown spoke to them. host: a writer writes about the role of independents going for it and she quotes summoned from brookings. obama can improve the economy. people are worried about their jobs. prosperity we do a lot to reduce the populist anger. guest: i would agree. one thing that animates the independents right now is their economic prospects. i used to be older workers, middle age and beyond, the were looking at their prospects negatively. younger people feel the same way. looking at independents in general is tough because they are a diverse group of people. they lean democratic because of you can see they are soft democrats. this sometimes go there and is sometimes stay in between. there is a group that are leaning republican. these people are very animated. they make up a lot of libertarian

governor bob mcdonnell prposed the limit change during his campaign so it's likely to become law. >>> and 7:21 on this wednesday morning. a have the student goes missing after a metalica concert. we talked about that months ago. her remains recovered recently and more new details in the case and that's coming up next on fox 5. >>> and with the cold weather, you can't line up enough in door actives. today holly is taking us to the the american history museum. we'll be right back. it is 7:22.  >>> making headlines at 7:25 now. montgomery county police hope you can help them find this woman. this is 71-year-old judith sternberg. she was last seen at her home in silver spring yesterday morning. she may be driving a bathe 2009 toyota camera. no foul play is suspected but her family and investigators are worried about her mental state. >>> medical examiners have ruled the death of virginia tech student homicide. she disappeared from the university of virginia back in october and her remains were found last week on a county farm ten miles from where she was last seen. inv

governor bob mcdonnell supported the proposal during his campaign. >>> in maryland the topic is fastmoney. slots are coming and now some state lawmakers are talking about allowing table games to generate big money. state delegate frank turner told the washington examiner he will file legislation to add poker, blackjack and kraps to slot sites. governor o'malley already said he's not interested. >>> if you want to see tai shan before he leaves the zoo, you have only hours to do it. he's leaving for china tomorrow. today, however, is the last day to see him at the zoo. under an agreement with the chinese government tai shan was only on loan as part of a breeding program. tomorrow he will travel by fedex along with a 2-year-old female panda from the atlanta zoo. there are a lot of children who don't have to go to school. they may be begging mom and dad to bring them to the zoo. there are hills around the zoo. you can sled and see tai shan. >> a wetter snow than we had over the week end. we will continue to see improving conditions as temperatures get above freezeing. the snow has ended.

of republican leaning independence moved very dramatically toward governor robert mcdonald -- bob mcdonnelleally decided, look, we had enough and we will take out our anchor and take out our anger at the ballot box. i think to a certain extent scott brown, the republican, spoke to that. host: linda feldman writing and "christian science monitor" spoke about the role of independent going forward. she quotes darrell west of brookings -- would you agree with that? guest: completely. one of the things that animates independence most clearly is their economic prospects. and this is happening across the board. it used to be just older workers, middle age and beyond, that seemed to be looking at their prospects rather negatively. i think polls are showing young people actually feel the same way. by the way, looking at independence in general is tough because independents are a very big first group of people. there are some independence, gallup shows that lean democrats. you can say the eighth soft democrats. sometimes they go there and sometimes in between. a lot of them went for obama in 2008. th