was up to me to support our family. [ male announcer ] kar danner went ck to school, to become a nurse. my edution made all the difference... [ le announcer ]ut now some in washington want regulions restricting access to career collegesand universities, denying opportunity to millions of peoe like karri, letting government dece o can go to college. it's my education, and my job, itshould be my cice. [ male aouncer ] don't let washington getn the way. bad and sething had to be done but think inging in the for profit company mayot hav been as shown to be that it was not in >> the one thing is there's a $1 milli newly constructed campus. well, that's nderful but, again, ifhe campus -- ifhe administrati doesn't shape up as well as the good toys and, yoknow, the gdquipment and the new stuff they're going to ge the people don't know how to run t school we, so what if they g a brand-new campus. >> t point, t, and that's involving e parents. >> we have to take a break. welcome back. it's areat day for the constitution. those are the wor of the attorney general who was responding to a feral judge's ruling last week that the new heth carreformaw is unconstitutional. he suederoing in on the prision that reqres people to buy insurance. he say the law is not aut health care. he says it's about libert that the issues of liberty. thedminisation disagrees with the ling, doesn't seem to be too worried about i other supporters of the law caed theudge's ruling political. >> uil hudson ruling came down they thought this objecti was frivolous. itasn't going that way in other court rulings on the ste level. now that he has won this poi, atleast, that consideration will ben the hher level of consideration. and the viewpoint, as you say, is that yo can'te forced to do something in this country but the counteroint of that is for health and safetynd oth reasons you can be force to do things. we do it in health allhe time. we prohibit ctain things. >> we buy car insunce. >> you have to b car insurance. thiss a big debate that will esolved in the supreme court. e compents got a big boost. >> adrienne d jerry, didn't both sides get sometng here? >> the demrats are happy fro what i've read and been studng. democrat have been happy -- no. i'm sorry,inishour thought. >> this h really come out front. number e, iwas political. mean, the judge tt made this decion 22 years as a big supporter, big advocate of the gop. >> but on the issuef people getting sothing, ah, they did. the law will n - this part of the law will not tak effect for another year or s and so the whollaw ctinues and the judg in an interesting part of his rulingoesn't try to stay theaw as it is. he let it continue based o rulings. >> the's a reaso why the torney general didn't join in with the other 20 states, the florida ce is also being decide this had ek, is because he knew heould get this case before henry hudson w i coved back in arlingtonounty when hwas a prosecutor. so i knew he was a very coervativeepublican and he boasted in h autobiography out how he has beenaising a flag for republicans and, you mo, just the whole idea, activi judges is sething that's going to come out a i think that what the ministration h said and what democrats are hoping is that this case is goingo be overturned whent's on appeal anyway. >> but what does it do forhe attorney gener? >> i think it raises his prole for sure. he's the darling now of, you know, cable talk. >> definitely he' the darli of conservative opposion to health care but, more importantly, this puts him in th place we said last week. this is areat grandstand. >> and the part that reallgets u is that here is another example ofoliticians plang politics with t issue that is affecting evyday people wh cannot go to the drugstore and decide i have to pay $100 for a presiption, you know, as opposed to getting some he. >> just a final thought on activist judges. the other judge who red opposite t hudson, who favore theyere consideri coming home true to their own colors t too. soou have it on th sides. moving to montgomery county, thouncil takes steps to address the $300 million budget problem approving $3 million in midyear cuts and chaenging laws and governing with public employee unis. what does this mean in montgomery county which is not usedo having to thten its belt this way? >> well, it means they have to tighn their belt. this is the writingn the wa. things can't get any wsehan they are or maybe they will. in the meantime, no matter what the unionshink, no matter what the critics think, certain cuts ve to come in and certain policiesave to be take and i take it on t chin right nobut he's determined to push on. >>nd it's the whole fight out raising taxes or cting rvices. and one of the things, for ample, isis, you know, how is it tha we can't affor to feed all the seniors in the senior program, you know, giv them lunch? well, you know, ts is something that we want to do but are pple wilng to pay taxes fo it? are students even dling wh the school bget, are parents willing to t larger class sizes, willing to pay- or get a tax incrse? this is where we are everyere because of this economy. >> it's not new in montgomery county. can remember two years ago when ike started talking abo how he would hav to address this budget oblem. and back en, remember, he talked about - he wanted to get around furloughs. he didn't wa to lay employs off. he talked about furloughs but 's tryg to dance around that. and w the curtain has come to thpoint where thstage is showing he has to do someing. heas to make a very, very, unrtunately, conservative proach horde to correct the budget pblems from hpening all over. >>heoncern is class size is going up and the extra a lot of parents in the chevy chase gion, mid school, middle schoolbut this is the end. this is what they have to do and they hope it doesn't get any worse. >> exact. think about the school superintdent is propong raises for teachers. well then, you have thether coun employees saying, well why are teachers geing raises d we aren't getting raises this is going to ugh, tough, tough budget times coming up where well no matterhere we live are goingo be faced with theseough dags of what rvices we're not going to ab to have that we have had i the pa or like in virginia wher i am, there's still a consideratn of raising the gas ta >> will everybody sfer equally? that's the big qution. adrienne pointed out witthe rais, some people think that's no the case. >> thank you. and thank you for being with with u that's "reporters notebook." stay with us. ne 4 today continues. good morningnd welcome back to news 4 today. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and'm kimberlsuiters. it's nday, december 19th, 2010. the news is st ahead. first, though, let's checkn our forecast with meteorologist chuck bell who joins us inhe studio. good morni, chuck. >> gd morning, onc again. it is off t a cold start ase have come to expect in the month of december. it's been a very cold december. our coldest december i t years. >> i keep telng people who aren't from here is not usually this bad. this is more like january or february. >> i'm one of these people that december is a winte month. i know that winter solstice is yet t occur but dember in my opiniois winter. >> you're allowed thavet cold. >> it can be cold in wint. that's just me. i know how that goes f a lot of ople. they're hoping for a littl mildereather in december. outside right noon a sunday morning it's cold. it's mostly oudy. we have missed the little chance we had for snow aoss th area. mperatures right now in the mid to upper 20s across much of northern vginia. low to mid-20s in northern maryland, montgomery county, and low 30s alongside the bay. there you can see on radar, set your mind at ease, a chae for snow. the eastern sre has basically stayed in ose areas and now is starting to move on aw. we'll get a littl sunine back. as a result teeratur will be back just above the freezing mark for couple of hours but, unfortunately, for those peopl who do not lik the cold, aaron gilchrist, it it is going to stay very chilly aroun here for much of the week. we'll talkbout that. two more cnces for snow in the seven-day forest. >> sounds good. >> thanks, chuck. this morning investigators say flame from g stove spard a fire that killed a man in d.c. last nig. the re started around 8:15 at a house on madison street. a woman ran to help her husband when the alarm wentoff. she triedo p out the fmes and then ran to the neighb's house for help. flames is typically the best defense in cases like this. >> anyme open flame is always dangerous sohether forour candle or in this case a stove, if the clothing doesatch o fire, just drop to your knees, roll, cover your ce, that will generally put out the fire. we believe that's whatheyid in this case t, again, may have bee a couple of mines before s was able to come to his aid. >> the vict's wife also went the hospital b she was not badly hurt. d.c. police anvestigating a shooting that left a store manager dead. he washington st" reports two gunmen tried to hold up newtonood mart at 12 and newton streets in northeast around 6:3last night. bullets hit the mager in the chest. poce havnot released the victim's name or aescription of the suspected gunman. and pnce orge's county poce are looking for the driver who hit and kille a enag teenager andhen left the scene. it happed around 2:0 yesterday morning along 38th avenue in hyatville. lice say 18-year-old wilber ramirez was on hisay to a coenience storehen he was hi soar no arres have been made. ramirez'funeral is bei planned for tuesday. or 17 years i didn't matter if yere a good soldier it if you we openly gay. u were not aowed to serve your countr but that could be abouto change as the senat votes to repeal the conoversi don't ask, d't tell policy. the nate passed the bil 65-31 getting several republicanso cross the ale tsupport repealing the policy. president obama expected toign it into l some timeext week. so republicans say it ps troops in danger whi democrats say i simply doesn't matter what your sexual orientation i as long as you're willing to serve. >> the ar, the air force, particular the marin cps has caution us not to do ts now this way. does anybody look at those graves and say, movehis one, beuse we just found o that soldier that died in battle was y? >> nearly 14,000 men and wom haveeen kicked out of the military under don't ask, d't tell. many sayhat even though the werexpelled due to being gay, they are considering re-enlisting when t new policy takes effect. meanwhile, those who have served under the existg ban are reflecti on what yesterday's sete vot will mean for them. nbc's vin tibbles has more. >> reporter: retired navy captain and her partner were married ands they prepareo celebratthey tk time out to watch the senate vote. >> always this little fear in the back of my mindomehow i've been outed and i was being called it to btold my career was over. >> reporter: dara, a formal naval intelligencefficer says for nearly to years she could ner share her relationship th military colleagues and ultimately don't k,on't tell influenced her retirement >> it's not right to make people hide their live >> reporter: more than 70% of americanroops feel the repeal of don't k, don't tell will ha mixed, positive or no effe. but among combat trps, numbers change dramatically. 48% of army and 58% strongly oppose serving with gays. >> the lawas changed, implementing repealnd assimilang openly hosexual marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has stng potential for disruption as a small unit vel. >>eporter:t the coffee shop near seattl opinis are mixed. sergeant marcus mcgivy has recent served in afghanistan. we have hosexuals that otect men and women. >> reporter: one retired soldier says it's ti for cnge. >> gayeople servi right now at eve rank and ion't think it will be a big deal all. >> gd-bye don't ask, don't tell. >> reporr: for joan serving her country in the navy was her life. but not all of her lif kevin tibbles, nbc news, chago. ll, there was excitement for most docratsver the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. there waequal disappointment in theream act. oppones of the bill called it amnesty and say it woul encourage more illegal immigrants to come to the states in the eventually being legalized. >>ore military drills on the island attacked by north korea la month. soldiers are expected to conduct artillery dlls on the island of yeongyang. north korea fired more than 100 shel at the island in november killing two soldie and two civilians. some peopleho le on the island say they will ecuate before the drills begin. your time now is 6:38. stl ahead this hour, the malls are pack this weekend fore christmas, bute'll show you another sign experts says proof that theconomy may be improving. >>and the wizards trade gilbert arenas. the latest on what's turning out to be a wildeekend pour shingt sports fans. keep you awake.. sleeis here, on t wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in t middle of theight... rest is here, on the wings of lusta. lunesta helps you fa asleep and ay asleep, when taking lunesta, don't dve operate machinery until you fe fully awake. walkg, eating, driving, or engaging in otherctivities while asleepwithout rembering it the next day, normal behaviors may include aggressivene, agitation, hallucinationsr confusion. in depressed patnts, worseninof depression, including risk of suicide, y occur. alcohol may increa these risks. allergic reactns, su as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be tal. side effts maynclude unpleasant taste, headache, ask ur docr if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta fo a $0 co-pay at lunesta.com. sleep we, on the wingsof lu. > it was dubd super saturday,he last shopping weekd before christmas. but it should b cald super crowded. the discounts are dp which meanshe lines are long and it exactlyhe gift retailers ve bee wishi for. kristen dahlgren h more from tysons corner. >> reporter: for kara wiiams, ahopping spreeaturday morning. >> everything. everything. start to finish. >> reporter: and she was definitely not alone. >> i hav all my shopping todo. >> reporte going int the weekend, one in three americans re only halfone with the holiday shopping. on surday malls across america were pked with tho looking to fill their lis and find deals. even the big man hawking the bargains, stes had markdowns just about everything. >> we actually got some 40% o the entire store mercndise. >> it's going to loo like i spent a lotut not really. >> reporter: retailers well awe the last wkend before christmas c be critical to their bougttom line inhat has so far been an upbeat season. >> youeallyee people have fun this year and it's nice to see. ople are out here enjoying themlves. reporter: and they're parently moreilling to spend. reil sal expected to be up at least 3% from last year. >> i the past, so dism. everybody aving the jobs. we'r on t rise to spend more and hp the econom >> reporter: to take advantage ofthat, some stores plan to ay open 24 hours a day as the clockounts down tochstmas. good news for that one in ten who eve now say they have a ng wayo go. >> up to the last minute. >>erry christmas to you. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, malean, haverginia. and the start of one of the busit weekon the road and in the air. aaexpects more tn 92 million people will travel durg the christmas and new year's holiys, many taking trips more than 50 miles from home anmost will be driving despite rising gas prices which are u 40 cents from a year ago. and more fs a airports an't expected to drive travers away either. those are all good signs f the economy. >> the year-end holiday travel period is following a trend that we'vseen throughout 10. we've projeed increases for allive of the major travel lidays and i thi that is a sign of some good ns for the trel industry. >> alo with gas prices, hotel rates e on the rise mpared to last year >> we three will not b gng anywhere, wever. >> i'll be here. you'll be here. >> chuc you will be here? >> i will not be here next week. >> oh, you're not? are you going home? >> i'llen washington but i wot be atwork. lots of snowo i might be at rk. you never know. >> and itould snow. >> that's what i asking for for christmas, 12 inches of ow. >> oh, come on. >> that's not thforecast. that's just what i want. details cong up. wow. forty years o, he wasn't worried about rerement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, is, or nuities. back en, he had sothing more important to do. he wasn't fused on his fure but fortunately, somody el was. ausaa we provi retirement solutions for our ilitary, veterans and their filies. from vestments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more witour free usaa retirement guide. cl 877-242-usa ere are still 12 days remaining in december but syracuse, new york, has already expeenced their snowiest december er. inches of snow.ey've gotten breaking the recdf 70.3et in 2000. th nional weather svice says snow has fallen the past 14 out of 17 days. >> i d a little summer vacation in syracuse for august. >> was there still snow then >> that was the end of their two-month window without snow one of my buddies from high hool,t wasust snowing all the ti now. >> and he likes that? >> we grew up down in georgia. i think he les i i think they like the snow but at december reco, december 2000 was the record they've jus broke with more than 70 inches. that was the last time we had in it december, colr tha this one. and that decemr of 200 weot two inches ofsnow. >> right. kind of annoying. >> we are going to s a little chanceor some sn. not today but as we get to tuesdaand there may be another chance in the forecast by christmas eve night and christs day. we're going to have to keep all eyes on the chrtmas fecast as it gets a little bit closer. ere are indicationshat we may have whi christmas in washington. may. emphasis o may. it's a long ways out. right now mostly cloudy skyver washington our temperatus are hovering near the freezing mark. 're twoegrees below freezg atonald agan washington nation airport. the lig norwest breeze between five and ten miles an hour will keep tperatus right now upper 20s to near 30. a littleorth breeze, though, does matter. windchills now upper teens and low 2s. you're going to need the heavy winter coat on your wayut t winter servicesr whatever you're going t do on your sunday morning. not much in the way o snow on the dar. the little snow shower across lower southern maryland, ler parts of theastern shore, did occur but they didn't add up to too much. veryold across parts ofhe great lakes. single digits in the twin cities where they a already under the gun for more snow. that's part of the albta clipr that's actually aiming in o direction foruesday afternoon and tuesday night. alberta cliprs don't have a lot of moistureo work with. anything tuesdayill b fairly light. the bigger stos for w is staying off the coast so we won't be bhered by that. high pressurout to the west as this area of low pressure will incrse our north wd tomorrow. expect a breezy andold monday around here and the cold stretch will continu for much if not all of the upcoming week. wednesdaand thursday will be the nicest o days of theeek when we might get to 40 degrees. ow showers on their way as we get tohe second half ofhe day on tuesda so we'll keep you posted on that little cpper system. since they can tap the ocean isture not much accumution. for today, cudy to start. clearing out later on thi afteoon, sunny, breezy and very cold tomorrow with hig barely making it above the freezing mark. that will b the coldest day of the week. 40% chan of lht snown tuesday afternoon, tuesday evening. then sunnynd dry. relatively mild by this deceer stanrds for wednesday and thursday. i ha the precautionar snowflake in there for christmas eve and temperatus wl be flirtingith withhe freezing mark as we get to friday nig and saturday so thereay be some rainixed into the system as well but i do think there is an increing likelihood we'll have to keep snow in the forecast as we look at the christmas eve, christmas daytime frame. the finer poisill need to be worked ou >> some people like kimberly and chuck. >> there you go. >>thanks, chuck. one of washington's biggest sportsames iheading out of town and one of the area's other huge figures may be gone, too. >> hakem dermish has more i sports. good morning, everyone. your srts on this sunday rning gins with the wizards. december 21st, 2009, gilbert arenas brought guns to the verizon center locker room. almost one year ago the y, the wizards sent arenas packing. washington traded the ree-time all-star to orldo for rashard lewis yestday. the deal saved theizards at least $17 million. the 31-year-d rasrd lewis is averaging 12 points p game this ason, his lowest total in a decade. aftethis yr lewis has two ars and $43 million left on his contct. gilbert aren first sigd with the wizds in 2003, led the team to the playoffs thr times. this seaso he was theeading point scorer aveging 17 points per game. after this year arenas has thr years and $60 million left on hi deal. when arenas told teamme nick younhe was gone, young thought arena was talkg about going the store. no, nick, gbert is going to lando. i was a little shocked that happened tonight. we jus heard about it, i thi, lastight. it's kind of sad b is part of buness. i've beenre. i've seen mtly everybody ave. >>e're totally in a rebuild. we are in a suation where we have three oour top player playing pretty much the same positi and john and gilbert and kirk, aituation now that can move forrd and also gives gilbertn opportunity to go to a team that has a chance to win a cmpionship. >> on the court last night nick yog and e wizards hosting the heat. rook john wahl missing wit tendinitis in his knee. fit quarter, blahe gets the steal. bounce pass to nick young and, folks, it's a wild nk. a teamigh 30 points. atche had four of the wizards 11teals. ss than two minutes to play, wizardlead 89-84. kurt behiheinrich tries to pass lebron james, two of h 32 points. all right. 7.9 seconds to go, tiedt 94-94. dwne wade at the free-throw line hits bhshots. heat up by one. wizards with the last chance. kurt heiich drives and draws the contact. looks like h gets fouled but n call. are you kiddinge? . e wizards le 95-94. they've lo sevenn it a row. miami has won 12 straig. hometown hocke now. the al dra is supposed tbe in april when thenhl playoffs begin. there's re drama for the capitals. in boston last night the caps off their eighth in row. here's how i wt down. bruce boudreaux, nothing t smile about. first peod is where we stt, down 2-0. patrice bergeron to weler and he rips it past neuvirth 3-0,boston at the end of one. second period, same ore. caps on the attack. david steckel along the near boards corrales the puck. ses it to bradleand this is impressive from a tough angle. theapitals cut thlead to 3-1. oh, yeah, they neededthat. third piod now, still 3-1. john carlson passes and ss you're not stopping this shot. caps trail, 3-2, plenty of time left. caps still dow 3-2. off theface-off, caps get the pass to alex ovechkin tries to go backhand onthomas. but thomas stops him. see it again. thomasad 39 saves. the capitals lose 3-2, their eighth i a row. it's their longest ling streak in almost four years. marand football coach ralp friedgen has verbally agreed to a buyout of his contct. that's according to insidemdsports.com. he is owed llion. he was the acc coach of the year afte leading theerps to an 4 record and a berth in the military bowl. orangebloocom is reporting that former texasech coach mike leetch is maryland's next head coach. college hoops, georgetow taking on loyola a veriz center. topf the third and georgetown unbeaten at home thisyear. first ha, hoyas on defse and check out chris wright. ge the steal. goes saight to thebucket, lays it up and in. wright scod 11 points. the hoyas had ten steals. later, hoyas on the break. wright, noook pa to austin freeman, drives, pass to henry sims and he boxed the rim. th rand georgetown beats loyola 99-75, improving to 10-1. and lateroday the redskins ta on the dallas cowbo at 1:00. that's yr morng sports. i'hakem dermish. have a great day. well, sev new lion cubs at the national z now have name >> the cubs came from two serate litters b all have the same father first there's john, the only male in the group. the only one with a simple ne. he was named after a former zoo rector john berry. aslund was named by actors in "the chronicles of naia." >> a dayreicked the name f another cub. lasakaas named after a zoo lioness who died last year. th other three -- >> see, i told you john was the easiest of the bunch. >> you gave me the har ones. >> they surere cute, though. >> y got to read the name john. >> isn't that nice? >> i'lpractice for the next time. there is still much more news after the eak. also news 4's viewpoint. [ female announcer ] safey talks gift ideas. music makes a great gift. i like rk, hipop, country... and you are telling me this, wh i...uh...thought u mighbe my secret santa? no. i'm giving for skunk. uh, i can hear u. no. not you the other skunk. [ female announcer ] safeway is the pce to stock up on itunes gift cas. right now, ve $6 on a $40-pack. keep 'em on hand. only atafeway. ingredients for life. ♪ hark hothe bes,ng sweet silver bells, all seem tsay, ♪ keep 'em on hand. ♪ t♪ to ung and old, meek and the bold, dingong ding, dong♪ ♪ that is their son with joyl ring, all caroling, ♪ ♪ one seems to hear, words of good chee om everywhere, ♪ ♪ filng the air, oh how they pound, raising the sound,♪ ♪ o'er hill and dale, tellintheir tale,e gaily they ring, ♪ ♪ while people sing, songs of good eer, christmas is here, ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas,♪ weome to news 4 day. i'm kimberly suiters. >>nd i'm aaron gilchrist. it's sunday december 19th. a look at e news in just a seco. a qck check on our forecast. chuck be is here with us this morning and a rbon copy of yesterday. >> very much so. in rerse. yesterday we started with sun and ded up with clds and today we'll end up -- start wh clouds and end u with sunshine. so tt's not too ba we won't have a repeat of last december 1th when we had all at glorious, glorioussnow. no repeat toda fortunately. outside just a little bit of cold air as you lkt abraham lincoln's memori sitting in the cold this morning. 32 downtown 27 and 28 degrees now in prince george's county. 26 outn falls church be a arlington. 19 in frederick, maryland. aook at radar. those fewnow showersn the dell h have a but that was about it andhattorm is staying far enough offhe coast where we don't haveo worry about at all. more cold on t way. r cold stretch will continue. today increasing amounts of suhine by later this afternoon. teeratures into the mi30s and if you're going down to the baltore ravens game or up to it if you' starting fromhe washington area, cold but dry for th game. >> all rit. thanks, chuck. you'r welcome. this morning's top stories r you now, the senate has voted to real don't ask,on't tell allowing openly gay and lesbian soldiers and other members of the military t serve in the milita. the 17-year-old policy psed republicans.om several president obama expected to sig that bill into law nt week. >> investigators say fmes fm a gas stove killed man in d.c. it happened around 8:15 last night on madison seet in the peworth neighborhood. fifighters say that fire caught the mas clothes on fire. he died befor rescuers could get himo the hospital. >> this moingolice in d.c. are investigating an attemed robbery that left atore manager dead. "the washington post" reports two guan tried to ho up the newton food mart in northeast. bullets hit the store manager in thchest. >> those are some stories making news today. next is nbc 4's viewpoint. >> we'll be back with an update. good morning welcomto "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. tis the ason for giving. the season to be jolly and for good cheer. it is also the sean for h stle, bustle a buying. but what does chrtmasean to you? at does it meato most of us? that's the topic of our discuson on "viewpoint." joinin us are reverend ronald braxton who is the pastor of metropolitan ame church i washington, d.c., monsignor chles po who's a pastor of th catholic church here in washington, andindsey buss, president of martha'stable. you're celebrating your 30th anniversary. >>e are. >> happy anniversy. >> thank you. >> whe i was a kid, chrisas seemed to take forever t come and now it seems it com mor quicy tha ever. does i seem that way to you, too? every ar it comesfaster. a couple reasons why. one of them, i think, it's important to menti is that the celebration of christmas ces rlier. when we were much younge you didn't reall get into the cebration of chrisas until right teranksgiving. but now they' movedhe celebrationf christmas right after labor da d the commercial indust ved it forward to almost t months. so that'sne of the reasons. >> retailers have extended the buying seon. so the season of celebration, you believe, has been exnded. >> the season o buying. >> the season of buying, okay. the seasonf buying. do you thinkhe true meaning of christmas has been lost in t hustle and bustle and to my in the suggling economy? >> yes, well, i would say for a good biblicalpproac to connect the t eas, the scriptures the word bece flesh. th is to say god'love inot nearly an abstraction. it's not nearly some idea but rather something quite touchable, tangible we can literally touch god's loven the incarnion when jesus becomes one of us. he can take our han and he can layands on us and we can touch our god and so there is, i ink, something tangible and touchable and particularly, i thin what we need to focus on the christmas season is once again how we are ae to be touchable and tangible to others that we reach out. we do care forur family members and we do give gifts but not elabote gifts. the real gift weive is a gift of our selfnd likewise to reh out to the poo andnce again to give the gift of ou very sf as well as what we can in ter of money and other gifts to the poor. very, very important this time of year. >> we work harder in trying to reinforce the real christmas messag >> the challenge. >> it's a challenge for paren. it's challenge to get parents to foc in on the realessage of christmas, to get young people to focus in on tt message. so i think we work harr today from our pulpit we preach harr to sort of instill, reinforce the message ofhope. it's a hder job. >> you believe cistian have sort of compromisedsecularism? >> i believe the wle country hasort of moved towards the secularism and it hasecome our job- i know my job tory and pull the people bac to refocus on the true meaning of chrimas. >>indsey buss with a nearly 10% unemployment rate in this country, 8%, tbe exact, with homessness, persistent pblem and many people feeling, frankly, that the arican dream is jt slipping away, is it a merry christmas? >> i think we have to make it one. i think we have to assert ourselves and to follow up on reverend braxton's pnt that it's a time o opportunity. it's oen a time when people do think about helping 0 othersnd if we could help pple connect right now with helping others, th volunteerinand reaching out to their neighbor. rit now that's something that can carry on through thyear. t right now is oftentimes that importt time to connt and help people connect. >> so you're saying it's an oprtunity, we can take advante of this tim to focus matter?this that really >> exactly. >> mm-hmm. who ar your clients now at martha's tabl what are you seeing in terms o your trend this year? >> sure. for us the most startng trend is that overheast two yea e number of people coming to us forroceries has qdrupled. but it's not simply those immediate ed food and we have the wa list for our daycare is for 79 spots on our daycare i 200 children long. and those are the challens that think people are facing, reaching o for help and 's elusive at times. wee been able to meet that need f food right n but we are frustted every time we have to turn a child ay. >> okay. we he to take a break but we'll pick up onhat point talking abt christmas, e true meaning of christmas. welcome ck. we're talking about chrtmas which is tough for a lot of folks this year. mon monsignor pope, how h the economy impacted your church >> s, right inoutheast along east cital street. i wou say that certainly we are certainly seeing -- it's interesting. in some ways the economy remains strong but in oer ways the main impa is pple who had jobs that haveost them and just -- >> a that in an are -- >> after months and mthsf searching. >> it' skyrocketed. >> out of ward seven and eight it's well above %. and people have been looki n just for aew wks or a few months but even for yrs now at this poi f work and it's very, very snificant and personly devasting to them toot be able to work. >> so what's your approach? whatave you had to do differently to minister to the needs this communit >> well, the primary way we do it on the groun so to speak is we provide a food pantry. mostly ne perishable items although at christs we a in a turkey and everything else. but provide a lot of fo and then i have to help people with rental assisnce and a case-by-case basis. but we also try to be a little bit more advocate oriented to the waington network and we're very, very fused these days o jobs and finng jobs and getting theoney and the work that needs tbe done together d really beginni to move both government and private indust forward in reemployin those who are unemployed. >> revend braxton, your church is loced in the heart of downtown. how has the enomy impacted you and wh are you seein in that location? >> wellne of the things we're seeing is in our effts to work with the vious groups in our community, wre giving out more fo. we have a food bk -- once a month they giveut foo and 's doubled, sending fd to mott just families b t many seniors wh have found themselv reallfalling on hard times. and so that provides that oprtunity. but what iound is that as diicult as times are the membership, and i know they're struggling but they are so nerous in their giving to make sure tt someone els is heed. and i have seen it happen over anover again and the cl t last week we had a call f an anl tree family and cld hardly believe it, aother and father who had 13 children. and before the end of worship that day, the whole te was cleared. and so a diffilt and as hard as times are, what i'm finding is that people who a particularly church based a really generous to the point that it's unbelievable. >> statiics do show that peoplere giving dpite the fact that the economy has been so rough and, ndsey, you were explaining to me earlierhat you have more people giving en though they maye giving less. >> exactly. that's what we saw for all of 2009 is that the siz of the average gift went down. the impa of the economy was hitting everybody and people were able to help les but more ople were givi so that sen of community during these times wasn't getting weer, it s gettingtronger and i think that a real sign of hope for us. as we trto push througthis. >> therein lies the christmas meage. the message of hope and it's the opportunity that we have. >> many would say, mongnor pope, this i't a joyful time in our country whias become so sharply dividedlong ideologicalines. so many people sta their positions issues, they've dug in their heels and they no longerven try to find common ground. wh are your thoughts about that? >> well, i think to some extent, and pard me putting it this wa part of that is media jep rated. i really think that in my pish and not only in my pish but as atholic priest i'm connected with the entire archdiocese, thers a widespread nion of the urgency at this time to give, to be generous, and i see of us, whater our political backgrounds, whatever our economic status, have aeal sense that this is a time to ach out. this is a time to really care foother people. there's real crisis and a sense of urgcy and i think tha everybody from every spectrum shares that. >>o you agree wh that? is this a time for joy tohe world inerica? >> it's a time for joy to the world among the common people i would hope that the feral government, t powers that be would really follow the heart of the ople. because if they follod the heart of the people it would be a giving time and a joyful me. >> lindsey, you don't see any partisan dide a martha's table, do you? >> i'm actually daily inspired by t mix of people i see come in to martha's table because it's children, it's senis, all fferent racial groups, dierent religious. republicans, mocrats,ewish peop, christian people, muslim pele, buddhist people, big corporations, sml corporations, all these different peopleoming in and demonsating theirhared values and, again, to me there's someing there 0 toeally grab hold of. and it's inspiring to me a it's one of the reasons i really love my job. >> all rig ♪ ♪ you can find your feet and you can find your y ♪ ♪ you can find yourself in bed at the end of the da♪ ♪ you canind some fun oa tropical isthmus ♪ ♪buyou'll never fd my... ♪ you can find it in your heart to be patient with me ♪ ♪ you can find a new star for the top the tree ♪ ♪ i don't mean to be coy and i don't an to be vicious ♪ ♪ but you'll never find my christma♪ > welcome back. we're talking this morningbout christmas. and a recent poll showed95% of ericans celebrate christmas t it also showed tha nearly 80% of nonchristians celebrate christmas. is christm more about family and tradion than faith reverend braxton? >> that's a great question because christmas is about faith butt is also aboutfaly. and i think that i comnity andf family were to come together, they could reay set the ne forhristmas and not allow the media,he stores to set their christmas expectation. it's a mvelous time for family and faith to co-mine and to rely pull out the real essence anmessage of christmas. >> monsignor, are christians n longer setting the agenda for christmas? >> i think ireasingly that is the case. i would say tt we've been throh long periods where i thk primarily the commercia developers and others have really sort of usurp the ssage at it's allbout buying the gifts, decoting and so on. we have got to begin to give back now. i realize not everyone inhis nations christi and it's beautiful thing thatveryon gathers for family a to celebrate,ou know, family and to be together but io think that ultimately in the church, the christian church, we have got to remind peoplehat christmas is about christ and it ally is aboutim coming t us to save us andhat we need that salvation and the incredible, awesome gift that god is tus hagot to constantly be our focus. it's a constt battle because there are so many other ices. i wouldn't say wt ty're ying is always wrong b we always have to remain with t original focus. >> i think that's bes don in e church and ithe family. yes. >> ttf the ur much of promotes the true meaning of christmas and the family follows thugh on that message, think that we can regain but we have been so orwhelmed by it's the most wonderful time of the year mmercial that starts in september. that we have lost a msage in our own secular setting. but the church has that wonderful opportity t reinforce ttessage of christmas, of christ, of hop antipation, of love and peace and that message can begin in that family and that fily can set their own agend for love and hope and peace. i think wean make it. >> lindsey, wha does christmas an at martha's table? >> i think it means lot of people defining what it means for themselves so we have a lot of people e resing whether it's later today we're goi thave our sunday christmas dinner at martha's table and we'll haveeveral hundred people come for that, volunteers are serving and obviously there's bitter cold and people expssing themselves that way. i think it's that christmas point, people taking a moment think outside of themselves and think about how cany life tter for someone else? >> father, thatounds great, monsignor. >> ye >> it sounds like it does reflect t christian christmas message. >> it does. and as say, that's why i think it's a neworthy thing that this gre feast that began as chry ristiafeast has sort of widened into the wer culture and many can kind of claim some ownership ove it and we need to len to connect the dots. on the other hand, aseverend braxton was saying, i believe i the churches thate haveot to really help kpeople focused very much on jesus christ in this feast. >> all rit. we have to take another break but we'll be bk. 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[ female announcer ] serve a main course brimminwith comfort and joy. safeway. ingredients for life. ♪gden morning family's smiling♪ ♪gonna be special day anncr: for e perfect start to the perfect day, i alys choose land o'lakes all-natural eggs. from hens fea rich, wle-grain diet with no add antibiotics or hormones. ♪pure and simple always natural♪ ♪our best eggs say land o'lake♪ land o'lakes al-natur eggs. where simple goodness begins. gotta get that bacon! okey bacon, where is it? where is thbacon? tvewscaster: bacon popular, story at 11. dog: yummy. crunchy. bac. bacon. bon. there, ithat bag! mom: whoants aeggin' strip!? do me! i'd get imyself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum... it's bgin'! hm... i love you! i love bacon! i love you! ilove! beggin' rips! there's no time like beggin' time! it's bgin'! hm... i love you! share the fun at begginte.com i love eggnog, love gingerbread, i love pumpkin pie i love everything but the blinng lights. oh yeah, right in my ey [ female announcer ] if itastesike the holidays, we've got . safeway. ingredients for fe. welcome ck. we're talking about christs. let's talk abouthristmas traditions. what's your favorite tradition? >> my favorite tradition is my wife's family comes to my hous for dinner and i d all the cooking and we need about 30r 40 people ery christmas we've been dng this now forhe last 12 years. >> you cook for 30 or 40? monsignor? >> well, can't cook. i bring the salad. r met the churchevele have a beautiful midnight mass of aboutn hou before the oir. we have a wonderful cir and they sing seltions from ssiah d then we have a beautiful mas and all the stops pulled and we celebrate and tn the next i gather wh my family but i don cook. >>ndsey? >>or me i have a young fily and it's about creatin traditions for us and a lotf it is hping our children escially focus on other childr and thinking about what this christmas might mean for them. >> last week the loudoun county board of supvisors agrd to allow a mture of displays on the lawnf the courthouse there. sohis year we'll see everhing from a nativit sce to star wars. yo impressn of that. >> for me, i thinkhat t whole issue of dilays overplayed. the christmas tree, the natity scenes, they've all been uall acss public vens for ars. and i think that they need to have others don't offende just so w can show ours. >> okay. monsignor at abo that? mostmericans do believe tha nativity scenes are fine on blic property, a small number,till a majority, thgh, thk christian symbols are displaye everyon else's ould be allowed. certainly from thestandpoint of tolerance. i have to say iteems to me that christm is partilarly in terms of theeligious traditionshe jewish people and the christian people have very significant holidays at that timef the year. i would also perhaps le to see it broadened other faith traditions even at other times ofhe year want to make dispys, i would be open to that. i think some -- so we don't have 1000 things on t fro lawn of a courthouse, there may be some way of doi a triage and focusing on certai times of the year. ndsey, do you have thought abt that? >> i'd like to see food drives the year. projects throughout th's what i'd like to see throughout t year >> okay. and forget a the scenery. do you use the term xmas, season's greetingshappy holidays? >> absolutel not. for me,or the chryistian church, it's about christ. it it is aut the bir of christ, god's gift it to the it is chrtmas and anything that wou reduce cistmas and the message of chrt i would be bitterly opposed to >> moignor? >> i wouldbe, also, armed that someone shod take offense that i wish tm a merry christmas particularly if ty know that i'm a ristian. i would not be offended if a jewish pson wished me a happy hanukkah. any other tradition and i'm not offended if soone says to me seass greetings uess i know th're a fellow catholic. let's make that mry christmas. but i tnk th, again, i avoid usinghe other terms because i'm announcing jesus chst. >> lindsey? >> we use all those messages and i think for us it is abo each person coming from whe they're comi and encouraging tha as they're expressin and ling their values. >> a right. i wish you all a mry christmas. >>he sam to you. happyholidays. seasons greetings and we hope that it's wonderful time for yo and for your family. thank you all foroining us today on viewpot. reverend ronald braxton of ame ch chch, monsignor arles pope, pastor of holy comfort, cathic church and lindsey buss of martha's table serving our community and serving the needs of the famils of washiton, d.c., and surroundingareas. thank you so much for bei with us. >> merry christmas to you. >> tha you so much. and ank you for bng with us on viewpoin stay with us. news 4 today continu. don'task, don't tell will so be relegated to the dust bin history and atain on our nation will be lifted forever historic day on capitol hill as the sene vot to repeal don'tsk,on't tell. but that controrsial licy may not be lifted anytime soon. goodorning and welcome back to news 4 tod. i'm ron gilchrist. >> and i'm kimberly iters. 's sunday, december 19th, 2010. all the newshead. let's check in with chuck bell. he joins us i the stewudio to talk abo snow in the fecast. >> yes, an opportunity, not today. not day, everybody. you look outside andt's cold and it's cloudy and it looks likeinter and iteels like winter, no sno in the forast for today. we wilhave a couple of chances with the cold air hanging arod all eklong. that's ually the trick in our focast in it december is the cold air in place. boy, we've had norouble finding cold air this december. cold and cudy this mornin 32 downtown. 28 degreesight now at anews air force base. 27 in massas. 29 degrees in quantico. 19n frederick, maryland. there's a loo at radar. set your mind at ease. i couldn't rule out a snowflake orwo but nothing to worry about. cloudy t start a. break of sunshineefore e day is through. temperatures climbing int the mid-30s and if you're headingp to the ravens and snts game, bundle up. it will a cold day it at the game but at lst you won't have to contend with rain or snow. we'll talk morabout our snow chances as we get in later in the show for later in the week. >> thank you, chuck. during the 2008 campaign then senator obama made a promise that if he became president he would overturn dot ask, don't tell. it appears he'llake good on th prome. the senate votedoepeal the 93 policy to ban only gay service members from servi. some look at th a a threat to troop safety. brian mooar has the latest on this landmark te. the fellowrom corado aye. >> repter: the senate cleared the way for ys and lesbianto serve openly in the u.s. military but not immediately. >> house resolution 2965 is adopted. >>eporter: the senate vote and the present's signature will d the 17-year-old law known as don't ask, d't tel but the ntagon could te a year to carry out changes. >> we n't care who y love as long as you love yr country. >> reporter: lawmakers who voted noear those changes could hurt frontline troo. >> they ve a differentiew that this is aut being on th battlefield at a time ofar not civil rights. >> reporter: that's what supporters sayhis vote represents. >> d't ask, don't tell is the only law left in america tod thatandates someonbe fired mply because owho they are. >> m chandler, mr.oburn -- >> reporter: meahile, e sete failed to ps the dream act. >> the motion is not aeed to. >> reporter: -- the pass for citinship for chilen of illegal immigrants. esident obama vowed to try again burepublicans arnot sounng a bipartisan tone. >>o somehow think that beginning xt january 5th we will all love one another, i don't think so. >> reporter: gop lmakers claim they've beentrong-armed byhe demoatic majority and now the tables are about tturn. brian mooar,bc news, washington. efense secretary bob gates who supported repealing don't ask, don't tell, told reporters he's already starting the process thatill lead to changes todapt to the ne rules. under the current policy nearly 14,000 men and wom have been expelled from the litary one is forr air force staff sergeant david hl. hall was fir in his class before being kicked oufor beg gay. he says that it's about time the policyas oveurned. >> gays and lesbians have been servinin the military from the beginning time. rrently 6,000 are already serving in the military so they're ready there. we're not introducing anything w to t military that they are not already ed to. 's now that people can serving openly andre gng to face discharge. >> halsays he is condering a return to the military once e new licy takes effect. ts morning investigators say a fir on atove kild a man in d.c. firefighters say a woman calle for help just after 8:00 when ames from a gas stove caut her husband's clothes o fire. this happenedn a hou on madison street near north pital northwest in the wetworth ighborhood. the man diedefore rescuers could ge him to the hospital. his me has not been released. >> also th morning d.c. lice are investigating an attempted robbery at left a store manager dead. "the washingtopost" ports the man tried it to hold up the newton food mart aund 6:30 last night at 12th and newton streets in northeast. during the incidenbullethit the store manager in the chest. police he not said if the store had a surveiance camera that may have got ann picture of the nman. prince george's count police are looki for the driver who hit and kille a teenager andhen drove away. it happed aund 2:00 around 38th avenue in hyatville. lice say 18-year-old wilber ramirez was wa to go a convenience store when he was hit. family mbers say that ramirez had a bright future ahead of him. >> he s a very loving person. he was a hard worker ande really had something going for him. >> so far norrests have be made. ramirez's funeral iseing anned for tuesday. in virginia police in otsylvia county are trying to figure out what drove an 18ear-olto kill his mother and try to take thlife of his father. that attack happened saturday moing inde the family's home on south lamont urt. poce say matthew robertson attacked both of his parents with a knife and they fnd him covered in blood. 61 ye 61-yr-old susan rortson died. matthew robertsos father was taken to the hospital and is expected to surve. robertson is now facing murder chges. a ads-up,ext time you drive through falls church, be sure tstop at red lights or you could be tketed. d light cameras will be there at two busy intersecons toy, one on the corner of et broad street and south cherry street. the other at west broad and annandale road. now you'll get off wh a rning if you're caught during the first 30 days of forcement. after that you will be fined. >> in this last weekend before christmas, holiday shopping sprees a turning into sprint cong into the weekend, one in threamericans were only half done with holiday shopping retailers are rpondin by offeng big markdowns on some of the hotte products. shoppers flocking to mallsll ov the country and that's a good sign for retailersbottom line. >> you really s people have fun agn this year and it's nice to e. people areut here, enjoying themselves >> it'o dismal, everydy losing their jobs. we're on t rise to, you know spend more and help the economy. >> spending thisoliday season is expected to be up 3% from last year. this weekend also marks the start of one of the buest weeks on the roads and in the air. aaa expects more than 9million people will travel. ny taking tripmore than 50 miles from home and most wilbe driving despite rising gas prices which are up 40ents from a yr ago. those aoying extra fees w't keep people fro flying either. aitravel expected to be up 3% this year. >> things are shaping up to be one of the most thoet worthy for sports fans. gilbert aren traded to the orlando magic. >> hakem dermi has the detai plus the weekend's other big stories in thimorning's sports in a minute. >>good morning, eryone. your sports minute begs with the gilbert arenas trade. washington sent ththree-time all-star to lando for forward rashard lewis. th31-year-old lewis is averaging 12oints a game this seas, his lowest tal in a decade. gilbert arenas first signed in 03, lethe team to the playoffs threeimes. this season he was the wards leadg point scorerveraging 17 points per me. the deal wl save the wizds at least $17 million. on the crt, wizards hosting the heat last night. 30 pointand they had a chance gh to w in the end. kirk heinrich drives. looks like he t fouled but no call. the wizards lose5-94. they've lost seven straight. miami, meanwhile, has n 12 i a row. hometown hkey, the capitals on the road in bost. third period. alder rips one past thomas and at cutthe lead to one. thenith a chance ttie, thomas shuts t door on alexander ovechkin he h 39 saves in t game. the caps fall 3-2. their eighth loss a row college footba news, marylan footballoach ralph friedgen has verbally agreed to a buyout of his contracand will not returnext season. at's aording to insidemdorts.com. he is owed $2 million. he w the acc coachf the year after leing the terps to an 8-recordnd a berth in the military bowl. orangeblood.com is reporting is maryld's next head coach.ch and college hoops yesterday georgetown defts loyola 99-75. and later today the dskins play the cowboys at 1:00. that's your "sports minute." m hakem dermish. have a greatay. thanks, hakem. it's 31 degrees outside. can you s up an entire year with a list of a few words? george carlin words o this one. e words of the year list whe we return. > and christmas may be less than a week away but this year's holiy will feel a bit differenfor one maryland community. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about tireme. he'd yet to hear of mutl unds, iras, or annuities. back then, had something more importan to do. he wasn'tocusedn his future but fortnately, somebody else was. t usawe provide retirement solutionfor our mility, veterans and theiramili. from investnts... to life insurance... to heah care options. learn more wh our ee usaa retirement guide. all 877-242-usaa. christmas won't be the same this year for an entire community in maryland. r nearly 50 years one tree in old town, laurel, defin christmas for the people who lived there. >> it survived the comings and goings of generation after generation. this cistmas that tree will not shine. that doesn't mean itill n ve on. it's theymbothat gives us the feeling of christm. overhe hill on montgomery street in laur, the -foot-tall pine is part of the community's heart and soul. since the 1960s the big christmas ee, as it's called, s lit in early december. if you led i laurel, you knew it. >> sat on the hill made i ectacular. >> denis has loved the tre since was a child. >> people came from mes around. i mean it was nothing to see cars stoppedhere and peopl taking pictures it was just sptacular. it it was bigger and prettie than the one downn the mall. >> the family made the painf decion to stop the tradition. the tree iin pretty bad ape. several years ago someone set fire to it and this past winter relentless snowstorms dieven more damage. >> it was maybe inay when richard and a couple o guys trimmed it up, cleaned itup, got rid of the broken limbs, took a look a it and think he knew then that it would probly haveo come down. >> the 12,000 lightsormallyn the tree didn't go up thi christmasnd when word got out, the community was heartbron. a faceok page broke o and has 5,000 ns. people sharing their memories anphotosrom visiting the tree in years pas and there's sadness it's goingaway. >> it's bn very overwhelming that so man people we touched by thisree likee were. >> the memory lives . the laurel historical society holiday ornaments thi year. >> everyone remembers seeing at tree with their family, their kids, their parents. and i think it's such a personal memory to so many people they wa to capture it. >> they sol 1,000, four times whathey normally order. a reminder of a family and the community's christmas past. the big christmas tree will likely havto be cut down some time this sprin though i've heard that there's psibility of a tree replacg it. >> planting a new one. >> so thtradition coul continue. >> i think that wod be great to come over the hill and see a nebig tree. it h a good run. the "day" shows next. it startat 8:00. >> we'll get aprevie now. lesterolt is live. good morning. you guys look eat this morning. i'm just sing. >>s opposed to other mornings? >> that's the problem when you say thgs. >> thank you, lester. that's sweet. lete show you what'soming up on "today. the endf don't ask, don't tell. the litary's ban on gays openlyervingn the military is being lifted. the presiden expected to sign theepeal this week. much more coming up. also, wicked weather and a series of powerfultorms sweepingcross the west bringing foding to parts of calirnia and heavey snow e expected in the rockies. and a woman nvicted of the murder of her roommate in italy has order a comple review of the evidence. amanda knos parents willoin us live. and steppingout, prince wilam d kate middleton on the town appearing together in blic f the first time since announcing the engagement. we'll have more when we see you lateon today. back to you. >> dsn't everybody have an entourage like that on date nigh >> can you imagine having the press follow you on a date? >>nd that's a grt tie, by the way. >> thank y. you dn't like the one last week? >> yeah! >> s you, lester. >> thanks, les lester. let's check in with uck. we haveold and gray outside. i feel b for lester. now he know the bear trap of chitchat i dea wh every weekend around here cloudy skies for now and the mention of sw in the forecas and some video that will remind us wter can still come to washington all ofhat is coming up. christma came a little early for some ks in prince george's countyhis weekend after wks ofollecting toys, county police. a whopping 30,000 gifts wen to more tha 4,000 families who otherwis may haveone without prests this christmas. >> and, you kn, if there were any bikes in tt bunch, all the more reason to not want snow on christmas day because then you cat getut and ride the bike. >> it is fun toide your bike in snow. haveou not ever done that? >> can't win witthis. are you kidding me? the's n toy that can't be played with more effectively in snow especially on christmas day than a bike. >> i fou there is a divide that separes us, though. yowere saying the gloriou two feet ofsnow. >> i love the snow. most o the snow last yearame on weekends. it made a big difference in people's lives. the blast with the wind was i the middle of the wee and people hated tha one a lot more so. so we're talking aut thesnow. have a fewore mentions of snow but today ishe one-year anniversary of the fir blizzard from lastwinter. let us harken back to time when the landas frozen with e and snow. at was the key bridge one year ag today. peop walking, couldn't even walk o the sidewalks. unfortunaty a lot of people had toalk on the road part. rock creekparkway, all awash in snow look at how beautiful that is. this is one of the times i lov living in wasngton when we get a nice fresh coating of the white stuff o there. th is snow-meddon or the shopper spper storm because it, of course,ell th saturday before chrimas. right now with the cloudy sky overad in washington temperatures are ithe upper 20s and low 30s. a year ago onhe 19th wid the 15 inches of snow and 1 1/2 the day before as that frid night led into the saturday morning. new market, maryland, 21 in hagerstown. 24 in charlestow west virgin. 32 degrees in capitolheights, maryland, ts morning. wind chills are i the upper teens and low 20s. still a little bit of a wintry feel out there. you can see onadar the light snow showershat were in the focast did go across southern maryland and the lower pts of thedelmarva. also as forast they are long gone now. uck with the clouds and cold now. we'll endp with a little bit sunshine later today. not a lot sun but at least a little bit. noeal winter wther srm warnings or aisorie out just ye i do think we may he advisoes posted for tuesday afteoon ashis area of low pressure pulls ay and deepens out across the gulf strm. it will increase the winds aroundere for tomorrow. plenty o sunine on your monday but it's going to be a very stiff north wind. 15 to 25 miles a hour. tomorrow win chills in the single digits and teens tomorrow afteoon so a very cold start to the wk and shortened school week. snowhowers startinto show up in the western parts of the ohio valley as we get into the end of the day on mony and we get to tuesday morning time fram the ouds on the increase and we may he snow shower to contenwith tuesday afternoon. this isn alberta clipr, not a lot of moisture, might be in the one to two-inch snowrange. so for today we'll start out with plenty of clouds and cold weathe it's going to stay chilly all day long but io think gradually the clouds will be scoureout of here by the increasing north breeze. highs in the 30s. tomorrow plenty ofunshine b it's going to be a day to look out the sunshine because it's going be a windy and cold day tomorrow. the extded forecast, the coldest day ofhe week wille mond. then on tuesd temperatures barely above freezing so we may haveore contention between rain and snobut it should d as snow around here on tuesday late afteron and evening. turning sunny and dry and cold still for wnesday and thsday. clouds back on friday with a risk of som rn or snow showers friday night and aisk of rain or snow going into saturday which is, ofurse, christmas day. it's only an indicatio at this point in time we're not talking about amoun or whaver because jt like this last storm that is off the coast today, a few ds ago, esday of last week, it lood like it would -- so there a lot of time for the computer models and reality to set in and that storm could go out to sea just like theast one did. don'tet your hopes upet b you have to put it out there because people want toknow. >> sure. wll he whatever side u're o in this snow thing -- >>omething willall from the sky on christmas. >> got yo >> and you want snow not rain for sure. ank you, chuck. washington biggest names is heang out of town. >> hakem dermish has more in this morni's sports. good morning, eryone. your sports on this sunday morng begi with the wizards. december 21st, 200 gilbert arenas broug guns to the verizon center locker room. almost one year ago the day, the wizards sent arenas packing. washingt traded the the-time all-star to orlando for rashar lewis yesterday. the deal saved theizards at least $17 million. the 31-yeaold rashard les is averaging 12 points per game this season, his lowest tol in a cade. after this yealewis has two years and 3 million leftn his contract. gilbert arenas first signed with the wizards in 2003, led t teamo the playoffshree times. this season he was the leadi poinscorer averagi 17 points per game. after this year arenas h three years and $60 million left on s deal. when arenas told teammate nick young he wasone, young thoht arenas was tking about goi to the store. no, nick, gilbert is going to orlando. >> i was a lite shocked that it happened tonight. we jusheard about it, i think, last night. it kind of sad b it's part of business. i've been here. i've seen mostly erybody leave. >> we're totally in a rebuild. we are in a situatiowhere we have three oour top player playinpretty much the same position and john and gilbert and kurt, it's a situationow th gives gilbert an opportunity too to a teathat has a chance to win a ampionship. on thcourt last night nick young and the zards hosting the heat. rookie john wa missing with tendinit in his knee. first quarter, blatche gets the steal. bounce pass to nick young and, folks, it's a wild dunk. a team hig30 points. blche hafour of the wizards 11 steals. less than o minutes to py, wizards lead 89-84. kurt heinrich tries to pass, lebron jam, steps in, goes straight to the bucket. 2 of his 32 ints. all right. 7.9 seconds too, tied at 94-94. dwyane we at the free-throw lineits both shots heat up by one. wizards with the last chance. kurt heinrich drivesnd draws the ntact. looks like he gets fouled but no ca. are you kidding me? no. the wizards lose5-94. they've lost seven in a row. miami has won 12 strght. hometown hockenow. the real drama isupposed to be in april wn the nhl playoffs ben. there's real drama for the capitals. in bostolast night theaps lo their eighth a row. he's how it wentown. bruce boudreaux, nothing to smile abou first period is where start down 2-0. patrice rgeron to wheer and he rips it pt neuvirth. 3- boston, at thend of one. second period, same score. caps on the attack. david steckel ong the near boards corrales the puck sends it to bradley and this is impressive from a ugh ane. the capitals cut the lead to 3-1. oh, yeah, th needed that. third peod nowstill 3-1. john carlson passes d says you're not stopping is shot. caps trail3-2, plenty of time left. caps still down 3-2. off the face-off, caps get the pass to alex ochkin. he skates in. tries to go ckhand on thomas. but thomas stops him. see it again. thomas had 39 saves. the capils los3-2, their eighth in a row. it's tir longest losing streak in almost ur years. maland football ach ralph friedgen has verbally agreed ta buyo of his contract. and wil n return next season. that's according to indemdspts.com. he is owed $2 million. he was the acc coach of the ye after leading the terps to an 8-4 record and a berth in the litary bowl. orangeblood.com iseporti that former texas tech coach mike leetcis maryland's next head coa. college hoops, georgown taking on lola at verizon center. top of t third and geoetown unbeaten at home this year. first half, hoyas on dense and check out chris wright. gets the steal. goes straight to the bucket, layst up and in. ight scored 11 points. the hoyas had ten steals. later, hoyas othe break. wrht, noook pass to austin freeman, drives, pass to henry sims and hboxed the rim. 13 ranked georgetown beats loyola 99-75, improving to 11. and later today the redskins ke on e dallas cowboys at 1:00. at's your morning sports. i'm hakem rmish. ve a great day. well,ith the year winding down "the new york times" s coiled a list of the top words of 20. and you won't fin tweetn it. "the new york times" has banned writing the word tweet. he are some of o favors. sarah palis refudiate made it to the lis it's aombination, of course, of refe and repudiate. >> preside obama's description of the democrats' loss in the midterms,shelcking. >> that's one of my favorites. th tsa made the lis with hanced pat-down. or grope as some other called it. >> got to get yourgtl on e situation introduced it on jersey shore for gym, tan, undry. >> i don't know why party isn't there. love themr hate themou know the sounof the vuvuzela the mr plastic trumpet heard arnd the world during the world cup matches inouth aica. >> and i hope it never comes back. >> i think it's cool whe you're there in person, although the players didn't likeit. it's a tradion, though. that's it for news 4 today. we'll be back in 25 minutes wit a local news upda. >> and join u at 9:00 a.m. for a full houof new we'll see you in a bit. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about rerement. he'd yet to hear omutual funds, iras, or annuities. back en, he had something more imrtant to do. he wsn't fused on his future bufortunately, somebody else was. ausaa we provide retirement soltions for our ilitary,