but it does provoke some thought. our executive producer hates it. there you go. discuss amongst yourselves. it's 5:00, thank you for watching 9news now 5:00 a.m. it is friday. woo-hoo, i'm mike hydeck, here's monika samtani. we have family movie night at the house. just want to tell you what. >> what movie are you going to watch? >> we're going to watch dolphin tale. >> we had some know yesterday. i'm sitting home on the couch and snowing. >> to the northern portions of the viewing area, the panhandle of maryland. some moisture popped on through the radar. this morning though we're in the clear. mainly clear skies and cool temperatures. back down into the 30s so far but into the 50s this afternoon. sunshine to start midday and looking still good by the lunch hour but late afternoon we'll start to pull in the clouds. highs today in the 50s. normally see about 45 degrees for this time of the year. so hitting 54, 55 is going to be quite nice late in the day. then, the later on tonight we

starlet to bring the temperatures back down. not too low, about 45 degrees for our low tonight and then tomorrow, look at the the milder air. middle 50s pushing the upper 50s by new year's day. monika? over all we're looking great all around the beltway this early friday morning. good morning everybody. if you have to go to work early on and you heard about the accident at colesville road overnight, everything's been cleared up there. you're good to go as you travel past route 29 into silver spring. the lanes are going to be open. in fact let's take a live look. here's what it looks like southbound on 95 coming down from 216 to the outer loop and college park and all the way around into bethesda. back to the map miss this time to the vw parkway and route 50. no problems here through cheverly heading into northeast d. c.. coming up in my next report, another look around the area. while the occupy camp sites have been cleared out in many cities across the united states, the d. c. protestors

have r making plans to -- are making plans to get their voices heard well into the new year. 9news now reporter jessica doyle is live at the square where if you drive by you still see the tents. good morning jess. >> reporter: good morning, it is chilly and they are in the tents this morning but today they plan on starting a new phase. they are calling themselves "occupy the vote d. c." and members of this movement plan a new round of hunger strikes as well as an online petition. now the goal here is to push capitol hill to recognize full democracy for d. c.. d. c. mayor vincent gray is among the supporters and at the same time he's finding himself in the middle of a controversy concerning whether crime is up because of pulling officers from other areas to come and police the occupy d. c. movement. kristopher baumann is the chairman of d. c.'s fraternal order of police. he says the mayor made claims the occupy movement has not caused an increase in crime two weeks ago.

some occupiers agree with that but baumann tells 9news now that simply is not true. >> there's been a double digit increase in violent crime and overall crime in the city and as time as passed it has become worse and worse. in fact right now the 21% increase in violent crime through the city and 18% overall increase. >> they don't have to surveil us 24/7 okay? we can take care of ourselves. >> reporter: baumann has sent mayor gray a letter along with supporting documents that claims the occupy movement is to blame for the spike in crime and this is pretty significant. the letter claims violent crime is up 13% and overall crime is up 10% since the occupy movement began in d. c.. now the mayor is expected to address this issue when he meets with d. c. police chief kathy lanier and they hold a press conference later today at 2:30. will be interesting to see what he has to say. mike, back to you in the studio. >> thank you jess and of course

we'll have that right here on 9news now and on wusa9.com as well. a grand jury has now indicted curtis lopez for the murders of his estranged wife jane mcquain and his stepson, 11-year-old william. they were both killed back in october. montgomery county police say lopez went to mcquain's apartment in jermantown where he beat and stabbed her. police found william's body in clarksburg days later. investigators believe lopez used a bat to crush the boy's skull. the district of columbia has been ordered to pay over a million dollars in attorney's fees in connection with the city's handgun ban. the court case back in 2003, dick heller sued the district saying the ban violated his second amendment rights. the case wept to the supreme court. the justice sided with heller and overturned the ban in 2008. now a judge awarded his attorneys more than $1 million in fees and expenses.

that amount was about $2 million less than they had requested. the august earthquake really was disastrous for homeowners closest to the epicenter. well, the federal government is now offering more aid to folks in virginia with big costs when it comes to cleaning up after the quake. governor bob mcdonnell asked for and received money to help families in culpeper, spotsylvania and a handful of other counties as well as fredericksburg. the quake hit august 23rd. nearly all the attention in the upcoming presidential race is going to the fight over the republican nomination right now. and here's something to get the democrats buzzing. former labor secretary robert reich is predicting a hillary clinton and joe biden swap next year. biden becoming secretary of state and clinton running for vice president with barack obama. we nominated gary nuremberg to find out an update. >> reporter: reich blogged on the website that president obama needs to stir the passions and enthusiasms of the

democratic base that's been disillusioned with his cave-ins to aggressive republicans and that clinton on the ticket would take attention away from the economy and toward foreign policy where he says the president and secretary of state have shined. biden shot down similar speculation a year ago telling "vanity fair" he's already been asked to run again. but does the idea make sense? >> no, it doesn't. first of all, although there's precedent for dumping a vice president, it's not an awful lot of it. >> reporter: presidential scholar stephen he zeh ss. >> they don't want to admit mistakes and dumping your vice president would be considered a very big mistake. so that doesn't happen. but there's another reason as well. not only would obama retain joe biden but he thinks joe biden is doing a very good job and in

fact he is doing a very good job by what vice presidents do, what presidents and them to do. the type of advice he's been given the president. i would say he's an asset politically. >> reporter: we called the press office and say we want machine to talk about this -- someone to talk about this and we call hillary clinton's state department and at the end of the day, no one responded. gary nuremberg, 9news now. okay. it is 5:07. time for the latest your money report this morning. wall street may have a good ending in 2011. european markets appear to be headed in positive territory as well as their trading day gets underway and that follows nice gains here from yesterday. the dow jumped 135 points to close at 12,287. well, whether it's pure generosity or a way to save some money on your tax, next year, many local charities are seeing a rush of donations in the end of 2011. the goodwill store on glebe

road in arlington is at the top locally as one of the busiest in the metropolitan area. it's training and job creation. before you donate make sure you know how much your contribution goes to the people in need and how much goes to paying the charities' salaries and bills. >> check first to make sure that it's a charitable organization. there are a lot of businesses out there that mislead donors into thinking they're donating to charity and they're not and this will affect the writeoff. >> okay if you're having trouble adding up just how much to write off, here are some guidelines put out by goodwill -- coming occupien 9news now -- up on 9news now, he returns to the white house next week but first president obama takes

some time to pay respects to pearl harbor in hawaii while vacationing. plus, they're making sure everything will be just right for huge celebration in new york's times square tomorrow night. we'll take you there.

and welcome back. i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein this morning. clear skies and cool temperatures but not quite as cold. most of the area is sitting in the 30s with plenty of sunshine as you step out this morning. we will get some cloud cover later on this afternoon as temperatures move through the 40s and into the middle range 50s. monika? well, construction in dumfries on the northbound side of i-95 at route 234 has been cleared. here's what it looks like 395 at the 14th street bridge. you're good to go into downtown using the interstate.

coming up in my next report, we'll go into maryland at 5:18. mike? thanks monika. president obama paid his respects to the servicemen who died in the attack on pearl harbor which happened 70 years ago the month. the president laid a ceremonial wreath and observed a moment of silence at the memorial. clean-up is underway in colorado after wind gusts topped 100 miles per hour in some cities. the wind was so powerful it knocked over tractor-trailers that were packed on -- parked on a highway. new year's isn't here yet but confetti fell all over times square yesterday. they performed what they call an airworthiness test with the confetti they plan to use tomorrow night. on midnight at new year's eve a ton of confetti will rain down.

a republican presidential hopeful is starting to surge in the polls now. we'll preview tuesday's caucus in iowa at 5:23. at 5:33 the redskins prepare for the final game of the season and next at 5:16. a seven day forecast shows a cold snap for the first week of 2012. we'll be right back.

okay, so ladies is it high heels and skirts for new year's eve? olga is the woman who has answer. good morning olga. >> if you want the peep toe shoes go for it. show off the pedicure on new year's eve. next week you will be wearing the boots and some tights and everything else. a hat, gloves, scarf you will need layers later on in the week. i think we will enjoy this next stretch. it's our last hurrah as we close out the year and head into next year. mainly clear skies this morning. temperatures have dropped a little bit so it is a chilly start for today. we are in the 30s so you will feel some cold but it's not quite as bitter as what we've seen the last couple of mornings with all the wind. forecast does pull in some cloud cover later on in the day so we're officially calling it partly cloudy for today. toward the afternoon hours and become more toward mostly cloudy and even overcast in some locations as temperatures move through the 50s by midday

and middle 50s by this afternoon. the reason for the warmup is all the southerly wind flow we'll have consistently south winds for today and for tomorrow. but if you're going to be out on the town on friday night, just take that jacket with you. it will definitely be cool after sunset. here's what you need to know as you plan your day today. sunny but cold to start us off. we'll get some more cloud cover later on in the afternoon. but basically we're going to be looking at a pretty mild forecast not only today but also for new year's eve for tomorrow, our nighttime temperatures will be fairly reasonable for the next couple of days. but by the time we go from monday into tuesday, we're going to see some cold arctic air come barreling through and it's going to stick around for quite some time. satellite and radar just fine. we're clear on the east coast out to the west a little bit of rain showers starting to pull on through. that moisture is going to take a while for it to get to our area. we'll be dry for the next couple of days. about 36 degrees at reagan national. 38 across luray and down to the south and east temperatures are approaching the uppers and close to 40-degree -- 30s and

close to 40 degrees as you get close to richmond. it is knocking us down a couple of degrees with the windchill but feels fairly comfortable for this time of the year. futurecast is quiet. nothing is remarkably going on for today or for tomorrow. a little bit more cloud cover in the afternoon. moisture whisks by to the north and west. most of us stay dry tonight. then for tomorrow a lot of sunshine and warmer temperatures as we hit the middle 50s once again and then the colder air will hold off until monday, tuesday and into wednesday. here's how we look for today. about the middle range 50s on average for most of us. highs today not so bad. tonight the lows are very reasonable. lower 40s 20 middle 40s across the board and then tomorrow the treat for us means that we get back into the middle range 50s headed on in toward the remainder to have weekend. so the next three days are not so bad. we hold on to mild temperatures and a good deal of sunshine throughout. the seven day forecast has a remarkable change. wednesday is that transition

day be the system comes through and gives us the southerly winds and cold temperatures and once we're back in the 30s, we will remain in the 30s for the rest of the week. monika? well, i'm happy to say that it's friday morning light. no problems to report as you travel on the interstates north of town. we're good to go over on to 270 as you come in from frederick, nice and light this morning. a live look closer into the gaithersburg area. here's what it looks like at route 117 clopper road coming down from montgomery village and gaithersburg. you're going to be good. this time the other side of maryland. 95 from baltimore, the vw parkway, same thing. through cheverly on route 50 you will be okay. heading down to the beltway in from college park whether you're going to new car rollton you will be okay to wilson bridge or college park and silver spring no problems to report in this corridor. coming up in my next report, into virginia at 5:25. mike? thanks punica.

the winner of the redskins most media friendly player award hopes to not go the way of the other winners. plus we will preview the final game of the season as washington tries its best to even up its record in the division. stay tuned for sports, we'll be right back. before we go to break, it's time for the question of the morning -- dana on our facebook page writes -- post your guests and your comments on our facebook page and we'll reveal the answer to our survey in the 6:00 hour. hi, i'm lieutenant daniel buck holes here in afghanistan. a shoutout to my fiancee, friends and family back in arlington, virginia.

welcome back. it's 5:22 on this clear and cold friday morning. we have some temperatures in and around the beltway in the 30s mainly about 31 up toward rockville. we're looking at 30 degrees for alexandria and 35 in arlington. it will be chilly throughout the day today and in fact, clear skies this morning are going to give way to a little bit more cloud cover later on this afternoon and that definitely means that we are going to see our temperatures

move on up. basically into the middle range 50s for most of us, slight chance for a late night shower across the northern zones, mike? thank you olga. howard took on a legendary basketball team and the redskins prepare for the final game of the season. here's dave owens with your morning sports. >> well, good morning everybody. just doesn't have the usual sizzle that we're accustomed to. the redskins' philly finale means nothing in terms of postseason play but still counts in the win loss column and each one wants a positive note. at best the redskins will finish with back-to-back six win campaigns. at worst, mike shanahan will end up with a two year record 11-21. that's not as good as jim dorn's, imagine that. the seat is hot but when asked by reporters about his job security, coach says i'll be back. >> there's no doubt in my mind. you know? hopefully there's in doubt in dan's mind too. i talked to him about it when i first got here. i said dan if you don't plan on

me coaching here for five years and doing it the right way, you're hiring the wrong way, it's going to take some time. horn s alexander was given the media friendly award. he was especially helpful. he loved the award but says he hopes he different end up like past winners carter and campbell. those guys were released or traded. last night college hoops howard taking on kansas. and it was a thomas robinson just popping in his air force ones. the follow-up dunk. jay hawks slam the bisons 89- 34. that's right, 89-34. tough one there for howard. all right, that's going to do it for your morning sports, i'm dave owens, have a great friday everybody. mitt romney has some new competition at the top of the polls in iowa. we'll tell you who coming up. plus maryland's governor drops hints about pushing for an increase in the gas taxes

and other taxes in 2012. checking the commute now monika. >> beltway east side of town, no problems to report between 95 and the wilson bridge this morning. you're good to go on the vw parkway as well. you're watching 9news now. stay with us. alright everybody, get your heads up. now when i was in the military, i learned that if you stand together, you can stand up to anything!

no matter where i was deployed, i always knew that somebody had my back! you boys are your own band of brothers! you have each other! just like i had navy federal credit union... 24/7... live customer support! let's go! let's go! 3 1/2 million members. 3 1/2 million stories. navy federal credit union.

well, hello. if you're on vacation and you're watching us, we're glad for that. if you have to go to work, we're glad for you too. welcome back, i'm mike hydeck, you made it to friday. thank you for joining us, here's monika samtani she does traffic and talk to her in a little bit. here's olga breese in for howard. whoo, i ran back to the set real quick and i'm out of breath. okay, new year's is coming up. and we talked about the last break that ladies can wear their skirts and high heels if

they want. what about guys? >> they're actually going to be pretty good. i think you won't need a heavy coat going out. you might want a little bit of flair to go with it this weekend. but this will be the weekend to show off your good stuff. it's a good stash you got for your christmas holiday but we will have the arctic air coming on through. definitely enjoy the weekend while it losts. i think -- lasts. i think folks are going to be taking down some decorations this weekend and doing a few things outside of the house as well. the forecast today will be fairly mild. we're already sitting into the middle range 30s in and around the beltway. we'll quickly move some sunshine through here by midday and early afternoon. that's going to get the temperatures up into the 50s. most of us will at least make those lower 50s by 3:00 p.m. we're looking at about 55 degrees by later on this afternoon. right now it's a comfortable 36 at reagan national airport. the reason we're so mild? the southwest winds at about 3 miles per hour and that definitely means that we're

going to stick with the pretty good forecast for today. highs making it to 55 for andrews air force base. 52 up to frederick, maryland and about 56 for manassas. monika? overall things have been great around town. no problems to report on the beltway when the rush hour started all lanes were open. with the exception of a few little construction spots really it was light and you were good to go all around town. a look here, things are fine on the dulles toll road as you come in from leesburg 66 in from gainesville. this has been an accident long- standing actually in the bailey's crossroads area on route 7 at charles street so watch put or remaining -- out for remaining activity there. a live look inbounds on the roosevelt bridge. here we are it looks great coming in inside the beltway on 66. and same story as you travel as well on the dulles toll road inside the beltway. back over to the map this is time taking a little look at the southern side of town from springfield and i-95 you will

be fine. 14th street bridge heading into downtown really looked like this all week long which is great news for those of you who did have to go to work. and please, we cannot stress enough that if you do head out to celebrate new year's this weekend, and find that you've had a bit too much to drink. just call -- to get a ride home. now the washington regional alcohol program sober ride service runs between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. every night through january 1st. it covers the cost of the cab ride up to $30. hey, triple a mid-atlantic has the annual list of the best and worst d. c. traffic issues in 2011. among the best --

now, to the worst -- a report found that d. c. has the highest percentage of hit and run crashes in the nation. carmageddon, i remember, you remember. that january winter storm that hit right in the middle of the afternoon stranding drivers on roads all across the area. a deadlock in transportation funding and finally, continued questions about the accuracy and fairness of maryland speed cameras. mike? we know about that one. >> indeed we do. i paid a few of the tickets, thank you monika. well, unlike other cities arnold the united states, there have been few clashes between police in the "occupy wall street" protestors who are camps out in d. c.. and now that their permits have been extended protestors have r planning some new -- are planning some new demonstrations into the early weeks of 2012. 9news now reporter jessica doyle is live at mcfearson's square, good morning jess. >> reporter: good morning to you mike and good morning everybody. that's right, a new year, a new phase for the occupy d. c.

movement. they are calling it occupy the vote d. c. and as part of the new initiative being announced today, adrian parsons who's a member of the movement will enter his 23rd day of hunger strikes. the idea here is to push capitol hill to fully recognize democracy in the district of columbia. one of the supporters of this movement is the mayor, d. c. mayor vincent gray and at the same time he's finding himself in the middle of a controversy regarding policing the occupy movements. now, kristopher baumann is the chairman of the d. c. fraternal order of police. he says crime is up because of the resource problems the occupy protests have only made worse. >> as a result of pulling all those officers out of the districts and out of their neighborhoods, we've seen this increase in crime. this is on top of the fact that we're down 400 police officers. something mayor gray was responsible for as the chair of the council. >> reporter: now baumann is saying that the mayor made

claims on a talk show about two weeks ago locally that the movement didn't cause any increase in crime. so he sent mayor gray a letter along with supporting documents 40 pages of documents that claim that the occupy movement is actually to blame for an increase in crime. violent crime up 13% overall crime up 10% according to baumann. d. c. mayor gray is expected to address this issue later today at 2:30 be a press conference. -- with a press conference. and he's going to be joined there by d. c. police chief kathy lanier. back to you in the studio. >> jess live in d. c. square. now to maryland where the new year will likely bring a big fight over the t. word. taxes. governor o'malley will not shy away from proposing a tax hike here or there. the governor did give reporters a preview of possibly what to expect in 2012. he restated his support for some type of increase on the

state's gas tax. which is not changed since 1992. >> there's no way a build a $100 million bridge for $10 million. there's no innovation in the arsenal that lets that happen. >> another possible tax hike up for debate, is statewide tax on disposable shopping bags. shop state lawmakers said there's not much public support for any tax increase regardless. republican presidential candidates have four more days in iowa and polls show mitt romney and ron paul are in the lead. but duarte geraldino has more on campaign 2012. >> reporter: mitt romney's campaign bus pulled into a packed warehouse in iowa trying to rev up voters. on stage the former massachusetts governor attacked president obama. suggesting he was out of touch with struggling americans.

even comparing him to infamous french queen marie antoinette. >> reporter: i watched the president, he says well it could have been worse. that goes down there with let them eat cake. >> reporter: romney and ron paul currently lead the polls in iowa but their rivals are trying to cut into that momentum. >> this idea that barack obama -- he can only lose to mitt romney is just simply false and you don't have to settle. >> reporter: rick santorum is hoping to capitalize on his growing support. which has other contenders taking notice. >> rick san top um? >> correct. >> reporter: rick perry released this radio ad slamming santorum. michele bachmann is also vowing to push ahead. she is denying rumors her campaign is in disarray after losing not one but two key staffers. thursday, she lost her political director a day after iowa campaign chairman kent sorenson defected joining paul's team. bachmann showed reporters her phone insisting sorenson called

her about a bribe he received from paul's camp. >> clearly this is something they generated and it shows again that we have powerful momentum. >> reporter: both sorenson and the poll campaign deny the allegations, duarte geraldino, cbs news. it shows the metro manager hired a former colleague to help clean up the transit agency's image. that manager, sara p. wilson and marketing exec is marc caposino. he was paid $140,000 in plus $30,000 in relocation expenses and a $10,000 signing bonus. the only proof of work he did, a single banner that's been removed from headquarters. apparently that banner cost $50,000. >> kind of disturbs me. i'm out here working for a living and you know breaking my

back every day trying to scratch together enough money to keep my home and family intact and you've got these kinds of perks and things going on. >> metro tells us the events date back to 2007 in the report and the manager and the person she hired don't work for metro anymore. starting january 15th verizon wireless is going to be charging its customers a $2 payment convenience fee. it's going to be leveed against customers who make single bill payments online or by telephone. it is waived for electronic check or autopay program or make their payments by regular check standard mail or at a verizon store. verizon says the customers will be notified up front and throughout any of the transactions they'll incur the $2 fee. we'll tell you which payment options are free as well. starting sunday finding a 100-watt incandescent lightbulb is going to become more difficult. that's when a congressionally

mandated phaseout of the bulbs start to begin. the idea is to shift to energy efficient lightbulbs. they can no longer be manufactured or imports after january 1st. one island is skipping an entire day and rushing straight into 2012. where it is coming up. and still ahead a dramatic rescue of a teenager follows his dog down a steep hillside. wait until you see this video. we'll be right back.

we have a few high clouds this morning and we're definitely seeing some cool temperatures down into the 30s as you're stepping out. it does mean though that we're going to have some sunshine through midday and early afternoon then we'll start to move the clouds on in. the forecast for today, looking pretty good. we'll get to highs in the middle range 50s and for most of us should be about 55, 56 degrees the next three days are looking fantastic. as the mild air sticks around as we head throughout the holiday weekend. monika? well, we're going to show you a map right now if you're planning to head into the bailey's crossroads area. westbound route 7 has been closed overnight between columbia pike and patrick henry drive. it's taking a while to clear

that up. use the springs old to route 50 arlington boulevard to get around it. coming up in my next report, more on virginia roadways at 5:49. back to you. thanks monika. it's not really supercold yet but one of the closest ski resorts is ready to open this weekend. white tail resort in virginia will open this morning. right now just a few beginner trails are open though but expecting to open more trails next week. this is the latest opening for white tail in the last three years. so tells you how warm it's been. some people in the south pacific refuse to be the last ones to start 2012. in fact. they're probably going to be the first. right now late thursday night the island of samoa but when the clock strikes midnight it will be saturday instead of friday. samoa's government voted this year to move to the other side of the international date line and today is the day they're skipping to make the change. the country wants to be in the same time zone with its key

trading partners. well, the winner of a lottery jackpot waits until less than two hours before the ticket expires to claim their prize. more on that story coming up. plus, neither team is headed to the playoffs but the redskins have a chance to get to .500 in their own division if they beat philadelphia on sunday. before we head to break let's see who's celebrating a birthday today -- a special happy birthday to one of our long time employees, janet terry, not telling you how old she is though. happy birthday janet. if it's your birthday, happy birthday. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. happy friday, 5:45. boy, it's going to be a good weekend. i'm excited about it. let's have olga give us the details. >> december is one of the tricky months we normally are cold at this stage of the game but it looks like we're going to get a little bit of treat as we wrap up 2011. right now we have some high thin clouds outside but a lot of areas are in the clear and that's left some cold temperatures. we're sitting in the 30s and the day planner will feature a great deal of sunshine. first half of the day only. by the time we get to midday and early afternoon, we'll begin to become more overcast and we're officially calling it partly sunny for today. as temperatures move through the upper 40s and into the lower to middle range 50s by later on today. so normally, when we see 45 degrees as our average temperature, hitting a high near 54, 55 is going to be quite a treat. if you are going out on this friday night though, keep in mind though it will get cool directly after sunset.

so between 4:30 and 5:00 we're going to see a drop in the temperatures quickly back down through the 50s and into the 40s and even 30s for some overnight lows for tonight. looks like we're in for a great but cold start for today. the sunshine will prevail through most of the first half of the day then this increasing clouds later on in the afternoon and a mild forecast for saturday and for sunday. see, unfortunately news if you like it warmer is that it's going to get a lot colder and cold quickly by the middle the week. get the arctic cold air blast moving on through and it is not going to let go for any period of time. we're looking at a quiet satellite and radar scan. we had some moisture move on through during the overnight but most of the showers stayed to the north. current temperatures are in the 30s. it doesn't feel too bad this morning with the southerly winds at about 5 to 10 miles an hour. no significant windchill this morning. just maybe a degree or two. the futurecast, forecast model is supercomputers that crunch all the numbers for us every six hours or so and it gives us a suggestion of how things will

play out over the next 48. we should see mainly cloudy skies into the afternoon when we build in that cloud cover. but still quite nice. temperatures in the 50s for today. we'll push it to the middle 50s even maybe some of the upper 50s by later on on our friday afternoon. but saturday is looking pretty good. we start out with a mix of clouds and sun. then we get some sunshine late in the afternoon on your new year's eve. it means that we'll be a fairly cool night new year's night but not so bad as we head into your sunday. our sunday forecast is looking pretty good as well. as we do keep most of the clouds away. it looks like we are going to have a fairly fantastic finish to the workweek for some and even a vacation week for others. about 54 should be our high at reagan national for today. up to about 56 degrees for manassas, virginia and the next three days not so bad. a cold night tonight but not terribly cold in the 40s and that is bearable. looks like 50s again for your saturday forecast. sunday a high of 58 and that will be about it.

once we move on into monday, we begin to start to crank up the winds at 20, 25-mile-per-hour wind on monday and then, the cold air comes through. lows in the 20s, highs in the 30s. monika? well, overall we have not had a bad start to the commute this morning. good morning everybody. the beltway is looking great all running at speed but you're planning to head into the bailey's crossroads area. westbound route 7 is closed between columbia pike and patrick henry drive from overnight with an accident involving a car into a pole. so i suggest that you either use george mason drive or south carlin springs road and take that up to route 50 as the alternate route through this area. let's take a live look if you're planning to head into virginia this morning. there are no problems to report on 95 here in springfield. coming up from the occoquan river to 14th street bridge you will be just fine here. this time on the north side of town on the maps no problems on the beltway. we'll get to that in a minute. there's a water main break on

route 410 at brookville road just east of connecticut avenue here inside the beltway. and it's reduced to one lane. so just in case you travel in that area, that's what you're going to have to deal with. but we'll go to the beltway live. near connecticut avenue where there are no problems at all on the outer loop that's the topside of the screen here. coming through silver spring into bethesda and 270. everything's running at speed. coming up in my next report, another look around the area at 6:00. back to you mike. here's what's making news at 5:50 the morning. videos posted online appear to show renewed violence against protestors in syria. even as the arab league peace monitors tour the country. there were hopes the bloodshed could cease during this visit. thousands though have been killed while they were demanding an end to the president's rule there. four months after hurricane irene caused massive flooding highway in the middle of vermont's green mountains has reopened. large chunks of highway 107 were washed away during the storm. heavy equipment operators have logged more than 20,000 hours

of work to get the rebuilding done. talk about waiting until the last-minute. the holder of a winning lottery ticket in iowa turned it in less than two hours before it expired. the ticket sold in iowa is worth $16 million. the drawing was held december 29th, 2010. lottery officials don't know why the winner waited until the last day to claim the jackpot. another long season for the redskins. one filled with injuries and disappointment including last week's loss to minnesota. who just had two wins at the time. but as kristen berset reports sunday, they have one more chance to get a leg up on philly and go out with a bang. >> the redskins and eagles first collided week 6 in what proved to be the turning point in the redskins' season. after failing to beat mike vick and the one win eagles at fedex, the skins went on to lose five straight games. >> it's frustrating. the locker room and all over the place, at this point the loss we had last week.

but got to finish this thing off right. >> it's been a roller coaster. with fun turns, scary turns. ups and downs. and nearing the -- pulling back into where we started again. >> this is definitely not the season the redskins had envisioned heading into week one. and now as it draws to a close and no postseason to play for, the redskins' pride is on the line when they head to philadelphia on sunday. >> being able to finish a .500 in our division, you know those things are definitely a big factor. >> but it's always good to finish strong and finish dominant and go out with a win. >> on top of another losing season, the redskins were snubbed in the pro bowl voting failing to send even one player to hawaii. disappointing news in a disappointing season. >> the bottom line is you know, you need to win more games than you know, team that wins typically gets more players in the pro bowl.

>> a lot of players know that when they're voted on the pro bowl they don't have pro bowl years but they'll take it because sometimes it works the opposite. >> kristen berset, 9 sports now. >> okay, just about time for a break. let's take another look at the question of the day before we go there -- julie writes on our facebook page -- actually know some friends who did exactly that. post your guess and comments on our facebook page and we'll reveal the answer coming up in the next hour. think you can name the top five movies of 2011? that's coming up in the 6:00 show. first though we'll show you the rescue of a teenage hiker who went after his dog on a treacherous hillside. wait until you see this video.

hi, my name is sergeant clifford george stationed here in afghanistan. i want to send a happy holidays to my mom, my dad and my sister in silver spring, maryland. happy holidays and i love you.

and welcome back everyone on this cool morning. we do have some partly cloudy skies across most of the region. temperatures right now sitting in the 30s inside the beltway. yes, there are a few 20s out toward the north and west and we're going to see a great deal of sunshine through midday. by the time we get into mid- afternoon, late afternoon, that's when the clouds start too roll in but still highs should make it up into the middle range 50s. looks great for the holiday weekend as well. mike? all right, thanks olga. a 19-year-old hiker in southern california thought he was actually going to die after slipping off a cliff while he was trying to save his dog. bigad shaban takes us to los angeles for the dramatic rescue. >> reporter: stranded 150 feet off the ground, a teenage hiker and his dog could feel the dirt slipping right under them. ivan solace and his pet lola were hanging on along the foothills of southern

california as worried family watched on. >> just like -- hours of suspense. waiting for him to be okay. >> reporter: firefighters dangled off a cliff to rescue the pair. low la was saved first and then ivan. he made his way down the hillside using a safety harness. >> i thought i was the end of my life because i saw the bottom and like there's nothing that i'm going to hold on to. first i have to get my dog safe. if anything happens, i hope it happens to me and not to my dog. >> at that point you remember still thinking -- you were still thinking about the dog. >> yeah. >> reporter: lo la fell down a cliff going after a bottle. ivan immediately went after her and when firefighters arrived they found the two about halfway down struggling to hold on. >> the footing on the mountainside was a little bit challenging to us. there's quite a bit of shale and soft dirt up there. >> reporter: but after an hour and a half rescue, ivan was back home. >> what was it like when you got to see him walk through the doors of his house?

>> felt like screaming. like crazy. >> lola! >> reporter: the two are now back together. >> i want my dog to be safe first then me. >> even though you thought you could die. >> uh-huh. yeah. >> reporter: ivan says he's do it all over again for his best friend. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> he still looks like he's a little shaken there don't you think? still a little nervous. thankfully everyone is okay. that's a good story. you're watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m., it's friday you made it to friday. good morning, i'm mike hydeck, andrea roane is off for the last day of the week, see her back on monday. >> i'm monika samtani and i'll have a check on timesaver traffic in a moment. >> and olga breese is sheer, you know -- here, you know what? this is a big weekend for a lot of people. how do we prepare? >> you definitely have to be ready for the cold air this morning. we're looking at temperatures right now in the 30s but we get some sunshine today. that's going to be a treat midday and late afternoon. littleit