that is what authorities are saying is the only way forward for the gulf of mexico. t the oil is there. it is some of the most profitable in the world. they want to ensure that they can get it and hold onto it. bp is still the biggest producer in the gulf and they want to continue to do that. that is why these high amounts are being offered for these areas in the west of the gulf of mexico off of the coast of m texas. >> the second-largest american oil co., chevron, and transition, they could be fined $10 billion for a spell of of the coast of brazil. -- for a spill off of the coast of brazil. the company has party taken responsibility for leaking two billion barrels of oil into the sea. you have details. >> yes. the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar in almost a year. analysts are pointing the finger at growing uncertainty about how much effect the summit will really have on the eurozone crisis. angela merkel has told brolin that there are no quick fixes and the process will take years. -- has told berlin that there are no quick fixes and the process wi

government auctions offshore drilling rights in the gulf of mexico for the first time since last year's oil rig disaster. the euro falls sharply against the dollar over fears is already unraveling. simons for the victims of the deadly attack in liege, as more details emerge on the killer. >> it is 2:00 a.m. here in london, broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america and elsewhere around the world. this is "bbc world news." hello there. it is harder to end a war than to begin one. that is a message for future leaders delivered by one today. president obama marty and of the nine-year american commitment in iraq by welcoming home the troops. the commitment was bloody and controversial for the u.s. commander in chief, while he paid tribute to the professionalism and 33 of the soldiers in the field. our bbc reporter has this. >> the president of the united states. >> the president and the first lady came with lavish praise for the trips. he said they were incredible, their hearts touch. he said this was a war that ended not with a final battle but with a march towards home. >> it is time to s

warm air and energy, see convergence as we have a couple of streamers out of the gulf of mexico and thispull out of the atlantic. sources of warm moist air, that's going to feeds in to the storm. there will be strong thunderstorms and a slight risk of severe weather, southeast virginia. low pressure passes to the northwest and that keeps us on the warm side. the old air is there, it gets suppressed by the storm track for us. closer to home, all the cold air and snow across the parts of the ohio valley. for us we get in on the rain action, the rain spills in, through the afternoon and heavy now. rumbles of thunder. this cuts off overnight. we may get clearing before midnight and clouds roll in by day break. snow showers in to the mountains and little disturbances roll through new year's day. the forecast winds here, southerly push, really going to be this strong wind, we have a coastal flood advisory in the chesapeake. 30, 40 miles per hour winds, shifting to the west. 49 today. heavy rain by evening. 36 overnight. quick peek, temperatures above normal. wind tomorrow, back to near or abov

we are watching a little piece of energy in the jet stream that will dib down into the gulf of mexico and -- dive down into the gulf of mexico. that's important because as we follow this band of rain, it is starting to work itself out. most energy brought back into canada and there's a new wave of low pressure that will enhance the rain in the mountains and past the west and north. we get in on the cold air spilling in behind that and diving down with flurries near dallas this morning. although we will be watching a new storm trying to develop and that would ride up and catch up to the cold air just as it meets up here in the mid atlantic. that's a wednesday night and thursday issue. our future trend from the adoneis model highlighting rain today overnight and tomorrow and could get steadier and heavier. it starts as rain and snow catches in overnight and aftermidnight the tail end would be snow enough to accumulate and overtake the warm ground. but it's gone by sunrise and we will talk about snowfall potential in the next half- hour. today we are warm 62 up to 65. periods of rain and

. >>> today, for the first time since the gulf of mexico oil spill, the government is selling the rightsoffshore drilling. the government plans to auction about 20.6 million acres of the gulf of mexico for petroleum leases. it is the first gulf auction since last year's bp oil spill. environmental groups are trying to stop the sale. >>> southwest airlines is upgrading its fleet. the carrier has placed a huge order for a redesigned and more fuel-efficient version of boeing's most popular plane, the 737. southwest is buying 208 aircraft valued at nearly $19 billion. the new planes should help southwest bring down its soaring fuel costs. >>> and finally there are toilets and then there are thrones. check out this masterpiece from japan. this commode is covered with 72,000 pieces of crystal worth almost $150,000. but it's not actually for sale. it is being used to draw more tourists to a ritzy shopping area in tokyo. betty, hhmm! >> a lot of things will draw you to shopping but i don't know if a toilet is exactly number one on my list. >> i don't think so but it is pretty interesting. >> it'

rain out ahead of it and upper level energy dike into the gulf of mexico even a -- diving into the gulf of mexico even a tropical feed. there's some hint as we are projecting this storm it could actually overproduce itself. that is one caveat we have to keep in mind when we check out the snowfall projections. but we are watching a intrusion of the pacific moisture and across the ohio valley. warm air feeding out ahead of it and that's why temperatures above normal in the 60s and there will be showers with most of the rain west into the mountains. cold air on the backside and not a snow across missouri and flurries into texas. we are waiting for the southernend as this wave passes by for a new storm to form and that's the one that we have to pay attention to. this is the one that is likely going to form tomorrow. it's not even there yet but once it forms, it will race up in a hurry and looks like it may actually peak out as it passes by maryland just as the cold air catches up. now this particular computer model not showing a precip turnover to snow but shows the heavier bulk of rain thi

now let's talk about other travesties that have brushed up against the gulf of mexico. seen a lot in the past couple years. now a new problem, jackie, that they're talking about is a type of crustacean that are some are saying is really threatening, you know, other marine life and perhaps even industries. >> right. we've been dealing with the gulf oil disaster. we had major flooding along the mississippi river. all that dumps out into the gulf of mexico. it's been a rough couple of years for the shrimping industry. it's a $700 million a year business. >> now we're talking about the big threat. it's a type of giant shrimp. doesn't that look like a lobster? >> it does. >> you can see the flatness of it. it's a black tiger. >> yes, it's a black tiger shrimp. it's the largest salt water shrimp in the world. when it's fully grown, it can be as much as a foot. that's 12 inches. it can weigh about a pound. it is kind of comparable to a lobster. the concern is that this is an invasive species. this is predatory. they also can carry diseases. that's a concern. it also competes f

today the federal government will start the first auction of offshore petroleum leases in the gulf of mexicoeep water horizon disaster. attorney general ken salazar will sell gas and oil leases selli filling 21 million acres in the gulf of mexico. the explosion in 2010 led to the worst oil spill in the history of the u.s., sparking the interior department to change how it regulates the offshore industry. >>> the united states military is trying to recover a drone that crashed off the east coast of -- rather off the coast of east africa. the u.s. embassy in mauritia said the u.s. used an unmanned aircraft to monitor piracy. the drone had engine problems and went down near the airport on the island nation of seychelles. no one was injured. this comes after iran claims it seized another drone identified as the rq sentinel. the u.s. asked for its return on monday, but iran refused that request and said the u.s. should apologize for funding. >>> conrad murray asked for a publicly funded lawyer to appeal a manslaughter conviction for michael jackson's death saying he could not pay for one himself.

until after 2012 approval of the pipeline linking alberta's oil stands with refineries on the gulf of mexicoans see politics in the delay. >> the politics is delaying it past the election so the president doesn't have to choose between two friends, labor, who will be the folks that will build this or environmentalists who are fighting to kill the pipeline. >> reporter: congressman terry want to begin construction before the nebraska road is finalized, the proposal likely to be rejected by the democrat- controlle senate. president obama talked about a disappointed prime minister harper just days after announcing the delay. he calls the $7 billion project a no brainer. it would reduce america's did he have exon arab oil and the construction would create thousands of jobs. it is the kind of stimulus project mr. obama ought to approve. >> here is the single greatest shovel ready project in america, ready to foe and for some reason, he is suddenly not interestedded. >> reporter: polls suggest strong public support for the pipeline and mcconnell and house speaker john boehner expressed hope the ca

spill last year that killed eleven men and spewed at least five million barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico and just like the much smaller oil spill and she lay many think b.p. kept it a secret exactly how much oil leaked into the gulf. but aside from the role that trans ocean played in aside from the corporate secrecy over just how bad the spills are the similarities between the two spills stop that's because the governments of the united states and brazil have taken drastically different courses of action to punish the corporations responsible for ruining local environments last week the federal the federal police in brazil submitted a report recommending that seventeen employees of chevron and trans ocean be charged with crimes against the environment one of those charged is chevron's president in brazil a guy named george buck as the lead investigator said is the name by the way fabio sklar he said i am utterly convinced that the company's institutional policy is reckless and irresponsible therefore the executives are responsible and we're not talking about civil penalties here there ar

set for february to determine fault that dumped more than 200 million gallons of oil into the gulf of mexico. >>> members of the maryland national guard will soon be coming home to their families. coming up a look at the challenges the men and women of the guard are still facing. >> and your child is asking for a tablet this year. is the tablet worth the money? we have some things to consider before you put it under the christmas tree. >>> plus, do you wait until the last minute to do that shopping? you can get it done without leaving your home. @ @ >>> since 1788 she's kept a watchful eye on annapolis. the dome was give an fresh coat of patient -- paint. >> reporter: when the congress met here they fond it nice and useful but the roof leaked. the architect raise the pitch of the roof and the dome was created. little did clark know 233 years later we would stibble admiring his house. the statehouse dome was last antid more than 20 years ago. it got a touchup in '96. joe schmitz is one of the project managers. >> we were instructed to just remove the lay tax. that's what's been keeping the st

government has begun leasing in the gulf of mexico again for oil production we've seen for oil drilling this is the first time after the deep water horizon oil spill in that gulf now this issue of energy extends a lot further than just this news it is the largest issue one of them that is facing us today and i want to bring chris martenson back into the conversation to talk about this he's author of crash course and before the break we were talking about how energy is intertwined with both environments as well as the economy you cannot separate them and why and why this issue of energy is so important and i actually want to bring our producer dimitri kofi anna into the conversation because he had a question about just that for you dr martin there so the the expense of function we talk about the resource depletion and specifically oil and natural gas markets are very good at getting goods and resources through the price mechanism but when it comes to the pollution that occurs so quickly and not steadily can markets adjust and can they find an alternative fuel source or is there a place f

there is a new twist in the aftermath of last year's oil spill in the gulf of mexico. ant b.p. is accusing the subcontracting company halliburton of intentionally destroying damaging evidence to protect itself from blame. wait a minute. those who companies destroying damaging evidence. this is considered the worst oil spill in history. a deadly explosion on a b.p. oil rig killed 11 men, unleashed 200 million gallons of crude oil into the gulf of mexico, and halliburton was working on the rig at the time and now b.p. has filed suit claiming that halliburton got rid of results showing cement they used to seal the well may have caused the blast. halliburton has denied the accusation. >> another day in court, sadly, for our blago. a judge will decide how much time the ex-governor will have to spend behind bars. that's weird looking, shooting it through glass. and it is destroying some of his handsomeness. come on, blago, make yourself known, there he is. our blago. plus an escaped convict on the run and he could be out for revenge. run from that in a dark alley. there he is

taking this pig deep bend down to the south and -- big deep bend down to the south and bringing up gulf of mexicof mexico moisture, things are changing a little. this storm track is coming up farther to the north here. it's still locking most of the cold air up into canada, but since we're right along the storm track here in d.c., i think for the next several days we're going to be basically playing hit and miss with some clouds out there and there's a couple of chances for maybe a little bit of light rain or potentially a little light snow for us depending on the timing of the day or night when these little impulses come through on the storm track. so overnight tonight generally partly cloudy, breezy. the winds will kick up a little overnight. it will be breezy tomorrow and watch out tomorrow. it's going to be middle 40s with a mix of clouds and sun, but the winds tomorrow will be sustained at 15 to 20 miles per hour and we'll have some gusts there at about 30 to 40 miles per hour for the afternoon hours. when the gusts get up around 35, 40 miles per hour, i always think maybe some trees might c

employees may be about to face criminal charges for that huge gulf of mexico oil spill. the accident killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. prosecutors are prosecuting. they think that employees may have provided false information to regulators while the drilling was in progress. it is not unusual for prosecutors to threaten criminal charges to get them to cooperate. bad news if you think you're saving money by eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly. they have sent peanut prices to all-time highs. the u.s. produced 12% fewer pounds of peanuts this year compared to last. as for trading stock-index trading is higher. if you think you're coming here, hopefully of are locked in the hotel rate. i will explain that all in my next report. that is business news in new york. reporting for abc 7 news. >>> thank you. timeit is 43 degrees. >> a tribute continues for north korea's late dictator kim jong ill. cracks in politics, a huge blow to michele bachman's campaign. >>> perce you will take a look outside of the traffic and weather. i'm just a

surface lows in north western gulf of mexico, enhancing the rainfall across the valley. that moves in our direction, we had clouds move in overnight. there was the threat of sprinkles and flurries, that's eroding away. we saw the disturbance that gives us strong winds during the morning hours. the clouds give way to clearing sky today and tonight, and tomorrow, they come back in next wave of clouds pushing in, during the day, we could have rain in the afternoon. rain heavy in the afternoon and evening hours. pittsburgh, snowstorm, mix north and west. this cut oh of here by wednesday morning -- this is out of here by wednesday morning. 47 today, about that wind gusting to 30-35 miles per hour, the fact we will see more sunshine. tonight near 30. 20s north and west. back to 50 tomorrow. rain heavy in the evening, ending wednesday morning. upper 40s to 50s thursday and friday. rain showers give way to snow showers next weekend. back to you. >>> it's about proper prior planning, if you are going to party for the new year, you are going to get tipsy, call tipty taxi service. t

it leaves millions of gallons of crude oil into the gulf of mexico. bp also accuses halliburton of failing to produce incriminating evidence. >> halliburton calls the accusations untrue. >> fire investigators say a kitchen fire is what caused a three-alarm blaze in northwest baltimore. broke out late friday night in the 6500 block of red cedar place. officials say a tea kettle was left in the stove in one of the units. no one was hurt. but nearly 100 senior citizens were displaced. >>> the new maryland casino is hoping to put hundreds to work. maryland live casino at arundel mills is looking to fill certain management conditions. officials say more jobs will be filled later. but suggests applicants roll the dice. the first phase of the operation will open in june. >>> mild weather comes with gray skies and rain. but there is a change on the way. wjz has weather and traffic together. bob turk has the weather and traffic now. >>> by this time tomorrow afternoon, we'll be back in the upper 40s, beginning to cool down. right now, we have rain and drizzle a

companies for rent -- of intentionally destroying evidence related to last year's spill in the gulf of mexico. the have accused halliburton of destroying evidence related to cement. halliburton has rejected the claims. election figures suggest that the current president in the republic of congo is leading the vote for president. still to come on "gmt," hundreds of protesters are still being held in russia after last night's demonstration in moscow. we speak to one activist was there. >> the relationship between france and germany has been the power house behind european integration, shrined behind the tree of 1992, setting up the european union as the single currency. >> it was in france that the european project got its kickoff. the six founder members sign that the treaty of paris, setting up what was then known as the coal and steel community. 60 years later, almost by instinct, the french see themselves as the heart of the european union. as one prime minister once said of this man, general de gaulle, when he speaks of europe, he means france. this idea of a france as the equivalent is st

this north western region of the gulf of mexico. this area has been a hot spot for developing stories. upper level energy sitting here, rain in nebraska, especially pushing in through kansas and oklahoma, nebraska. we expect this to make a track with the low pressure over central maryland. on the warm side to mostly rain we expect. a look at the developing system. enhancement of the rain in through southern sections of mississippi them. the minor part of this forecast, general trend, clearing skies today and tonight. bringing clouds in today break tomorrow. making for a pretty sunrise. clouds will fade out the sun and looking for rain in to the afternoon. rain all the way on in through carroll county. snow pittsburgh. that dividing line will stay to the west. chunk of heavy rain through tuesday night. some computer models are indicating, cold air, a brief period of a mix or snow showers early on wednesday morning. returning back to beneficial snows in to the ski resorts by wednesday itself. winds gusting as high as 35 miles per hour

federal prosecutors going to file the first criminal charges stemg from the bp oil spill in the gulf of mexicot year. the focus is on houston based volunteers and one supervisor. they may have provided false information about the risk associated with the well. a conviction could carry a penalty of up to five years in prison. it was followed by taylor swift, kenny chesny. there are going to be big shows in 2012 to watch for as well. beach boys and rolling stones are celebrating 50th anniversaries. >> now let's get to the forecast with chris tee na lortina loren >> you don't have to worry about frigid conditions. that's the gad news. limited sunshine for the first part of the day. in the south bay t sun will breakthrough the clouds by noon today. san francisco, expecting more clouds than sun with a lot of fog developing. 51 in san mateo. a mild start. this morning the mildest start in almost two weeks. 7 degrees warmer in san mateo. quite a bit of cloud cover dividing the bay area. most of the clouds are situated over the north bay. increasing clouds ahead of a front that will bring in some show

partner companies of intentionally destroying evidence regarding the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. it's said that halliburton destroyed the results of tests on the cement which was a principal factor in causing the accident. halliburton says the claims are without merit. this is an interesting exchange of allegations which will be poor court battle. >> the context is we are into legal arguments ahead of civil court case that will take place in new orleans early next year at which blame will be apportioned and damages in this case will be quantified. it was the biggest oil spill in u.s. history. various companies were involved. the u.s. government appointed the commission but and pinpointed the cement that should fco to comic-con doh oil well as having been the root of the problem, it shouldn't prevented the leaks of oil and gas, but it did not. bp says that halliburton the contractor had the primary responsibility for the cement. halliburton says that bp meddled in the type of mix that was using in the cement at the last minute and did not carry out the protests. so that is the ex

as we take this closer to home, one thing we have notice second tapping in to the gulf of mexico moisture. thunderstorms rolling in through florida. this is interesting. see the convergence, picking up atlantic moisture in addition and all the stuff feeding carolinas, georgia, this is the hot zone for getting nasty storms and the thunderstorm variety and maybe violent storms as well. that may clip as far north as virginia beach, few rumbles of thunder through the chesapeake bay in to the delmar va. we will tap in to the rain and heavy stuff rolls in through midday in the afternoon. expect the heaviest rain on top of us for the ride home. it does look like at least the kids are home from school. the commute with less traffic could be a rough time around the beltway getting back through the afternoon and the evening hours. this should cut off this evening. racing through and gets out of here before midnight. cold air left with snow showers in the mountains. strong winds pick up behind the system. a fast flow brings a few weaker systems in through new year's day. midday , the afternoon and e

oil spill, uncle sam auctioned off drilling rights in the gulf of mexico. today's sale pulled in over $337 million in winning bids. the interior department put oil lease auctions on hold after the 2010 deepwater horizon oil disaster. b.p. was among the 20 companies bidding for the new drilling rights today, and conoco- phillips submitted the highest bid at just over $100 million. a federal judge has signed off they have seen all the money transfers leading up to m. f. global's collapse. it is now working to see if those transfers were legal. that came after a federal judge signed off on a deal allowing failed brokerage mf global to continue using cash to finance its bankrupt. the judge says none of the money cover bid the decision came from customer accounts. tomorrow m. f. global's ex c.e.o. makes his third appearance on capitol hill. >> tom: just two weeks left to take care of tax issues before the calendar turns to 2012. that's why we're focusing this week on some last-minute tips to cut your tax bill. our tax guru, kevin mccormally is here to help. he's

johnny turtle was released back into the gulf of mexico where he started a journey three years ago. they think he was swept up by a gulf stream to the netherlands. after a long rehabilitation in portugal, yesterday he returned home to his home waters. >>> in nepal a game for charity. the players were beneficiaries themselves. four elephants led by they show amazing dexterity. it promotes conservation of the elephants and the tourism that locals depend on. >>> in algeria, lack of snow didn't stop ski fans from hitting the slopes much the sii locals. you have to climb up the dunes before you get to the fun part, sailing down to the bottom. oh! yikes! and a mouthful of fund to sand with that. >>> stories we'll follow nowout the day on nbc. the trial of hosni mubarak has resumed. this following accident sdwlaus a jfs biased toward mubarak. >>> nasa will hold a briefing. they hope to collect a wealth of new information. >>> and america's first test tube baby celebrates a milestone. elizabeth jordan carr turns 30 years old today. she was born in virginia in 1981. >>> all day long, stay on

. >>> today the government will start the first auction of offshore petroleum leases in the gulf of mexico since the deep water horizon. interior secretary salazar will conduct the sale. the explosion in the gulf led to the worst oil spill in the history of the u.s., sparking the interior department to regulate how it handles the offshore industry. >>> the capitals have been playing their best hockey since dale hunter took over as coach, but last night they proved the caps have a long way to go. the offense and defense seemed to be lacking, and the flyers absolutely dominated in a 5-1 win at the verizon center. the second period appeared to be the difference as the flyers scored three unanswered goals. the coach pulled the goalie tomas vokoun from the game. jeff halpern gave the caps their only goal, but that did not come into the final minutes of the game. >> get the caps back on track. >> they're bailey getting back on track. >> remember the beginning of the season? what happened? >> that's right. let's go to tom kierein. he's looking at the weather. tom. >>> we've got quite a bit of clo

government will hold off an auction in the gulf of mexico. 20 companies have bid for the right to drill for oil and gas. the obama administration safeguards will reduce the risk of future spills. 5 million barrels lead into the oil -- into the gulf. taiwan's voters go to the polls to elect their president a month from today. the election could have an impact on the relationship with china. beijing sees taiwan as its province even though it has been separate since the end of a civil war in 1949. relations with beijing could take a turn for the batter or the worst. >> the president was swept to power in a victory in 2008. four years later, he is facing a tougher fight. his main rival, the first elected female leader of the progressive party, has been gaining ground. polls suggest the candidates are neck and neck. the president wants another term to cement the achievements he has made so far. ties with china are the best they have been since they stopped fighting. deals were signed in 2010. thousands of chinese tourists are allowed to visit the island each day. as some voters are concerned

argument, that they're going to actually be able to pump in all of this oil, the oil sands to the gulf of mexico and a lot of people digging ditches for the pipe, but that's temporary amelia, you're going to look at a couple of jobs and that's going to end. if anything it's not going to help the overall economy and not going to pump up a lot of oil supplies and bring down gas prices. >> brenda: and susan, what is todd shovelling. >> it might be freaky friday because i'm agreeing with todd. he's right this is a tiny drop in the bucket as far as the broader economic growth. the tax cut is going to give us as a minimum. 110 billion dollars pumped into the economy and taxes maximum 6 billion and tiny drop and these jobs, are not permanent jobs, a lot of temporary construction jobs. we need a much bigger, broader plan and the number of jobs they're talking about, 20,000, even those, they're talking one work year, could be over one job, this isn't 20,000 jocks, it's a fraction of what we need. >> and jonas. >> we're going to need a much bigger pipeline. look, in general, tax cuts would be spectacular,

general storm track pumping in all the warm air and taking in moisture off the gulf of mexico. so, this band of cloudiness and developing showers is something we have to focus onto enhance the rainfall. but the main system is sitting back here. the apparent lo low will be responsible for developing rain and keeping the snow and cold air on the north and west side as we wrap in the warm air in the cotter clockwise fashion ahead of it. that's going to pump in moisture and bring us some showers today but i think the heavier rainfall will come on in tomorrow and then we will have another burst coming towards the end of the week. there's the cold air and snow across the great lakes so it's not that far away. but this main band stays up pennsylvania a good chunk of the day spreading showers in our direction. nothing really substantial showing up in the future trend but i will be look out tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening for the low level jet stream. winds and mid level of the atmosphere could be pumping in warm moisture and thunderstorms to develop any time after three through

it's tapping in to the gulf of mexico moisture and there will be thunderstorms. severe threat just clips on through virginia beach, stays to the south. we could get a rumble of up thisser across the -- of thunder across the bay. cold air not that cold. near or just above freezing snow events, heavy wet one for indiana and illinois as we are watching the storm track past overhead or to the northwest, we stay on the warm side and get train. there is the snow, we miss out on it. starting around noon, through the afternoon, it could get heavy. this wasting through, gets out of here if a hurry. by 10:00, most of the rain maybe cut off. turns to snow back in the mountains. mix of clouds tomorrow, strong winds be happed the system. today -- behind the system. rain develops by lunchtime. it will cut off tonight as temperatures shout down in to the 30s. we will check out the weekend in a moment. >>> it's not bad at all, especially if you are traveling through baltimore city. a check of 895 and 95, around the tunnels looking pretty good. also looking good for those of you h

the moisture continues to stream in from the gulf of mexico all the way up toward new england. a little bit of snow possible on the northern edge of this. way too warm. much of the season so far. this will clear up later today. tomorrow night, another rain system heads this way. that should be out of here sometime friday morning. then again on sunday, another chance for some showers. today, 60, 63. breezy. tonight, 45 to 50. mild tomorrow. increasing clouds. rain at night into the morning hours on friday. friday about 54. the weekend, well, saturday should be ok. 'skins have a home game. 46 on christmas eve. christmas day, a chance of showers and temps in the lower 40s. we've got a special guest in studio with j.c. when 9news now at noon returns. >>> i'm one on one today with a special guest. and it is always a pleasure and a delight to be with him. because i've had a love affair with this man for a long time. not because -- >> same here. >> not because he is a hall of famer for the redskins, set records that still haven't been broken but i love darrell green because he is such

> federal charges may be filed against several bp employees over last year's oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the "wall street journal" reports federal prosecutors accuse the employees of providing false information to regulators about the risks of the oil rig. the accident that led to the spill killed 11 people. >>> 5:11. a push for pipeline safety in the new year. the changes designed to prevent another san bruno disaster. >> and it's a bay area hotspot for deadly crashes. how a new crackdown could cost you big bucks. >>> and let's talk skiing. your snow report not looking too bad right now. no new snow this week but we do have a rain-snow mix expected for tomorrow at least a chance of it. so over at northstar no new snow. snow base right now is 18 to 26." most of the man made, the machine stuff out there right now over at squaw this weekend no new snow but again, we could get some wet stuff but at least a little bit tomorrow. so may make a little bit of a dent in the numbers. 10 lifts open at squaw. coming up a check of your seven- day forecast. ♪ [ male announcer ] when you're a true fan

might end up charging several bp employees and in connection with the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. they could face criminal charges for giving them the false info about the risk of their drilling operations. they died in an explosion on the deep water horizon platforms. >>> we are also getting a better picture as to how some of them impacted the spill spending the money bp that gave them afterwards. a review by the associated press shows that it includes blankets, music festivals, poker tournaments, millions of dollars in advertising that you may have seen it on tv. >>> on to a 9news now computer alert. a heads up for drivers here in northern virginia. they will close the right lane of southbound route 123 tonight for the construction work. and a stretch running from the drive here to the ramp to north i-494 shut down at 9:00 tonight until 5:00 in the morning. and the ramp from southbound route 123 to northbound i-495 also will be closed. that will be a little slow going. they would like to make it easier for people to know which buses will be running when they snow. so arlington

the to the gulf of mexico where the first time since the deep water horizon disaster, today the u.s. government was auctioning off rights to drill offshore. it doesn't seem the worst oil spill in u.s. history diminished the interest. for more on the process, i am joined in loss angeles. you would think that after deepwater horizon, offshore drilling might be a little more of a risky venture. >> it will be expensive in terms of the environmental regulations being put in place that will be enforced by the government. but what it suggests is that the company's very much want to be a part of the oil-drilling in the gulf. they feel these standards are being lifted by the companies themselves and the government is ensuring that they are following them. it is very profitable to take oil out of the gulf even if they have to follow these very strict guidelines. 20 companies, including be peahen, and this is the beginning of the process. they put the bids into these 191 blocks. they'll make sure it never happens again. we follow the guidelines that are environmentally secure. $337 million is t

the to the gulf of mexico where the first time since the deep water horizon disaster, today the u.s. government was auctioning off rights to drill offshore. it doesn't seem the worst oil spill in u.s. history diminished the interest. for more on the process, i am joined in loss angeles. you would think that after deepwater horizon, offshore drilling might be a little more of a risky venture. >> it will be expensive in terms of the environmental regulations being put in place that will be enforced by the government. but what it suggests is that the company's very much want to be a part of the oil-drilling in the gulf. they feel these standards are being lifted by the companies themselves and the government is ensuring that they are following them. it is very profitable to take oil out of the gulf even if they have to follow these very strict guidelines. 20 companies, including be peahen, and this is the beginning of the process. they put the bids into these 191 blocks. they'll make sure it never happens again. we follow the guidelines that are environmentally secure. $337 million is t

of our blood. >> cbs news, new york. >>> and coming up on the morning news, a major lawsuit in the gulf oil spill. plus, a rare night of frigid temperatures and heavy snow near mexico. this is "cbs morning news." this is "cbs morningews." race l without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still l

justice department may file the first criminal charges in connection with bp's oil spill in the gulf of mexico last year. the "wall street journal" reports that those charges may be filed against several bp employees. here's what they are accused of. providing false information to regulators about the risks of the oil rig. this accident that led to the spill killed 11 people >>> it may have been under your christmas tree. why a build-a-bear is recalling hundreds of thousands of those stuffed animals. >>> didn't even ask people to leave. >> here's some food for thought. how doctors say you can drop the pounds by using just a little bit of brain power. >>> and we have some sun peeking through the clouds at mount vaca. when will this fog clear? and how much warmer are we going to get by this afternoon? we'll tell you coming up. danger for a popular children's toy. >>> hopefully you can see behind us because that's the bridge back there. you can't see it. >> it's socked in. >> it's a cool view of the bridge. the fog is doing a little dance. we are dealing with a mix of high, low and mid-level clou

what did america learn from the dp oil disaster in the gulf of mexico? e crude oil spill from the ocean captivated the country and dominated the news in the spring of 2010 it seems to have not treated. in the summer bp finally plugged the gusher and in january 2011 the national oil spill commission convened by president obama issued a report on government and industry failures that caused an estimated 11,700,000,000 krivoy to be released into the ocean. i miss p.a., host climate one and for the next hour with a live audience of the commonwealth club we will discuss the oil disaster and we are delighted to have the chairman of the president's national commission here and joining us. please welcome republican bill reilly and democrat bob graham to the commonwealth club. [applause] >> gentlemen, thank you for coming. >> i don't think i've ever introduced quite that way as republican bill reilly. [laughter] >> let's get right into this. mr. reilly, when the report came out you said that only systemic reform in government and business could prevent a similar d

a helicopter spotted this craft off the gulf of mexico. the crew surrendered, and the coast guard seized a stash of cocaine worth over $200 million and brought it ashore. the men on board are fishermen from colombia. they introduced themselves as enrique and rodrigo and say they all come theybuenaventura. -- come from buenaventura. the port city has seen better days. the conflict between guerillas and paramilitary forces has taken its toll. the strain is plain to see at the local market. colombia's fishermen's association says the seas are not as safe as they used to be. that means many fishermen can no longer earn a living on the open water. unemployment among them is a 70%. >> making quick money from the drug trade is a big temptation for loss of fishermen, but it is also a big risk. they often find themselves in the crossfire of rival gangs and they end up getting killed. >> this fishermen worked on board one of the drug submarines. his face has been obscured and his voice modulated to protect his identity. >> the journeys are gruesome.

over the gulf of mexico oil spill. it was cameron's blow-out preventer which failed at the mocondo well, causing the gulf's biggest oil spill ever. cameron shares surged 6% closing at $47.55-- a gain of $2.69. but shares of british petroleum closed unchanged today. the company plans to put the payment in its $20 billion trust fund to pay for compensation and environmental damage. and, finally, if you want to see an impssive gainer today. take a look at r.s.c. holdings. the shares lept nearly 60% today. the rental equipment maker is being acquired by united rentals for about $2 billion. and that's tonight's market focus. >> susie: all this week, we've been talking about year-end tax planning with kevin mccormally of kiplinger's personal finance. in tonight's tax tips, kevin joins us live to answer some of your questns. kevin, great to you have on the program, thanks so much for all your tax tips all week long. >> thank you, i'm happy to be here. >> susie: now we're going put on the spot. we have a lot of questions from s

information to regulators about the risk of the oil rig, the accident that led to the oil spill in the gulf of mexicoilled a number of people. >>> the use of pesticides in california crops is on the rise. last year, 173 million pounds of pesticides and herbicides were used on produce grown in the state, a 10% increase after years of decline. industry advocates say pesticides help farmers generate more crops per acre making sure high quality food stays affordable and safe. consumer opinions vary. >> i think we are experiencing the longest average age ever on the face of the earth. so i'm not that concerned about it. >> i carry around the dirty 10 list when i shop and i try to avoid as much as possible. >> are you -- do you buy organic when you can? >> yes, absolutely. >> people who sell organic food say there is a growing demand for produce touted as being free of pesticides and herbicides. >>> san francisco is one of the major cities hit by a massive verizon network outage. >> it's the third time in a month that customers ran into data connection problems. this latest issue affecting 4-g devices. in

louis and right down to the gulf of mexico, houston, dallas, rich that and here's the snow and that blizzard. this is a monster of a storm. will the weaken as it moves to the northeast but it will bring us changes over the next couple days. i'll show you how will the affect your workweek coming up. >>> as shoppers try to knock out the last-minute gift lists one manmade a $20,000 donation to help people who paid for items on layaway in k-mart. darcy spencer has more. >> reporter: this woman showed up to make a payment on her layaway to find that the $300 bill was paid in full. >> i'm shocked. i'm sweating and feel like crying. >> reporter: she is one of 150 rerecipients of an anonymous donor's generosity, a man store owners call an angel. he donated $20,000 to pay off layaways consisting of children's toys and clothing. >> we were told to take care of the kids to make sure they have a good christmas. >> reporter: the associate has broke the great news to several customers. >> what are some of the reactions you have got someone. >> praise the lord. merry christmas. tears of joy. visibly shaken

. >> tom: one of the companies involved in the gulf of mexico oil disaster last year claims halliburton intentionally b.p. is not telling the truth. b.p. claims oil service firm halliburton intentionally destroyed evidence about the work it did on the cement used on the deep water oil well that blew out, killing 11 workers. that blowout led to the worst off shore oil spill in u.s. history. halliburton called the accusations it destroyed evidence untrue. >> tom: it's one of the hottest categories for holiday spending, but the stock sector hasn't been so hot this year. tonight's word on the street is "technology." i recently spoke with james rogers, a reporter at thestreet.com, and began by asking him for the outlook for tech spending in 2012. >> you know, it's uncertain with so many things hanging over the economy at the moment, and the super committee. and with europe there's a lot of things ongoing. and there could be stocks, high points >> one of those is one that's been around for a century. ibm. 30% of the revenues are from europe. and the mideast and warren buffet owns it. ask that