of making tough decisions. that have had payoff for a very difficult economy that he and we inherited. >> organizing for america hosts voter registration drives and phone banks to try to drum up democratic support for the upcoming election. when we talk about the weather, chuck, you're telling us in the next couple days, the best time to put up the lights, maybe go get the christmas tree. >> this is it. >> the rain is coming. >> that's right. it will be raining all week. go after work on a tuesday. >> not only that but if it's getting dark by 4:45? really. >> these are early sunsets. our earliest stretch of sunsets. >> early bird gets the work. >> another planeload of hopefully happy visitors. beautiful day out there. sunshine streaming through a mostly clear sky. temperatures in the upper 30s to 40 degrees. 42 national airport. 47 in annapolis. no rain showing up in our immediate vicinity. showers out to our west. they won't be arriving today. 100% dry for your sunday. most of us dry tomorrow as well. rain chances for tuesday. so today, sunny. nice. temperatures mid to upper 50s. perfect weather for the jets and the redskins. 55 for game time forecast. then back to work and school. cloudy. warm. a chance of a few showers tomorrow. tom kierein september in pictures. getting us great sunrise pictures. gleaming through a little bit of a fog layer this morning. cows in fog. this is northern montgomery county. look at the great shot with the frost across the grass and the barn. >> i'm convinced he's a professional photographer in his second life. >> thanks, tom, for sending them in. >> good morning. >> get some sleep. sleep in for once. >> he slept in to 4:00 a.m. >> thanks, chuck. new from overnight. police in portland arrested several occupy protesters after the demonstrators refused to leave a local park. the protesters set up camp yesterday and vowed to stay through the winter despite city officials say overnight camps were not allowed. portland's mayor said he won't allow overnight camps because concerns over drug use and violence at the original camps. today is your last chance to use the new part of the intercounty connector for free. the all-electronic toll road in maryland starts charging drivers tomorrow. the newest section opened two weeks ago and connects i-370 in gaithersburg to i-95 in laurel. during peak hours it will cost 25 cents a mile or four bucks to travel the entire length of the icc. right now the d.c. national guard is being recognized for its efforts around the world. particularly for its service to the wars in iraq and afghanistan. news 4's derrick ward is at this morning's service at the d.c. national guard armory. hey, good morning to you. >> good morning to you. you know, when you think about it, this unit in our area, the 113th wing, they've been on high alert since september 11th. these 10 years. these are our neighbors, our co-workers. soldiers called into a wide theater of war. today there's a ceremony set up that will thank and recognize some of the men and women who have made that sacrifice and continue to make it today. joining us today is colonel mark susserville. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> tell us what you remember about that day. you were flying. >> i was flying. as you know, it was a place where none of us had been before. a lot of bad things were happening to good people that day. it was a big team effort to get airplanes in the air both on the air side and big army guard response as well. we made it happen. we did things that we never thought we would be doing. but we all pulled together and did the best we could that day. >> as a member of the national guard you are in sort of two worlds. you had to leave your personal life to answer this call. theaters of war that people don't expect the guard has participated. but that's been the case since vietnam i imagine. >> it certainly has. and it exacerbated after 9/11. the national guard and the reserves, they have employer, their family life, and then the military. so since 9/11 we have been a big part of overseas and at home. we're all very proud to be part of that. we're very thankful for the opportunity. >> today there's some recognition for that. >> that's what i hear. there's a little bit of recognition. but i want to make sure everybody understands only a few people can fit on that stage but the award goes out to everybody who participated, the unsung heroes, unsung and unseen heroes in the back that make the airplanes fly and keep the runways clear for us. thank you, sir. my pleasure. >> the ceremony gets under way in just a few minutes. the mayor is here, as well as arlington officials who were also at the center of things that fateful day 10 years ago. we're live at the d.c. armory. now back to you. >> derrick ward, thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> yeah. special thanks to all the men and women who serve here and abroad. >> that's right. >> seven minutes after our 9:00 hour right now. this is a big question, who says that you can't make an entire meal out of chocolate? >> not us. you can certainly do it this month. we'll show you why the ritz-carlton, oh, just take a look at this, is making it possible. we'll taste literally some of the sinful sweets [ male announcer ] it's a rule of nature. you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green giant fantastic! pro-gresso ] they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call greater washington, d.c. home. from supporting an organization that helps new citizens find their way... to proudly supporting our washington redskins... and partnering with a school that brings academic excellence to the anacostia community. because the more we do in greater washington, d.c., the more we help make opportunity possible. no, it's not the scent of spruce filling the air this morning. it's chocolate. and it's the holiday season. so you do have permission to be a little indulgent with your sweet tooth. a little bit. there's no better place to indulge than at the ritz-carlton. this month you are in luck. the ritz is offering chocolate decadence in december. it's a whole buffet. joining is is executive pastry chef daniel. thank you for being with us this morning. look at this. >> this is a sampling of some we're offering. $35. all you can eat chocolate buffet. gingerbread, macaroons, chocolate truffles and candies. >> these are truffles? >> those are. we call them hot chocolate. inside there's a little bit of pepper. we also have orange brioche with tangerine spread. >> so it's not only all you can eat here, then you can take it home too. >> of course. >> and you make all of this. >> we do. we make everything in-house. we have a fantastic team. we build everything up. >> what's your favorite? this kind of looks interesting to me. >> that is gingerbread panicotta with orange compote. >> we're making chocolate waffles in front of the guests. >> this is stuff that we all have at home and that you can make. >> of course. you have a waffle machine at home. our take on this is chocolate waffle with maple syrup. you have sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. combine all those. it's a simple method of waffles which is left to dry. so you have all your buttermilk here. >> sugar, flour, buttermilk. >> and two eggs go on top of that. and then the trick, the little secret, once you got it all mixed, pour in your melted butter. >> can i help? >> you can. scrape it in. >> so you warm this up. >> warm that up and just pour it in. oh, my gosh! there's a few hundred thousand calories for you this the morning. breakfast of champions, people. love that. so you give that a stir? >> you can see it's coming together. you treat it as a regular waffle. you bake it just until done. and you will see what you have here. >> this is our finished product? >> here we have a little white chocolate cream. >> even more white chocolate on top of that. of course we have our own maple syrup. >> is that sugar free? no, not here. for the things we don't have in our kitchen, $35 at the ritz-carlton will get you in all you can eat chocolate and dessert lovers paradise. >> two chocolate fountains as well. chocolate from belgium that's a strawberry chocolate. imagine dipping that. >> oh, that is good. >> yeah. >> so what you see on your screen is the event. guys, i'm hungry. 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. $35. reservations, there's the phone number for you. i don't know if i could do this all this weekend. $35, all you can eat buffet. how much do we add to the hips, daniel? >> it's just the holidays. >> thanks a lot. we'll send it back to angie. you're going to love this stuff, girl. >> i know. save some for us. sinus up. >> calories don't count during the holidays, it's true. >> i love any type of buffet but a chocolate buffet? >> the chocolate and the strawberry. >> take us there. >> i have a check of sunshine filled days in our forecast. don't go away. we'll be right back. this is droid razr by motorola. the droid that proves thin is no longer frail. diamond-cut spun aluminum. a face reinforced with gorilla glass and a back plate made kevlar strong. inside, it's covered with water repellent nanocoating. it's the thinnest 4g lte smartphone. powered by verizon, this droid is too powerful to fall in the wrong hands. what about the season of sharing? what happened to that season? >> there's more over there, chucky. i'm glad you have a couple minutes for weather. >> no kidding. >> i can polish these off. >> i'm keeping a count on how many are in the bowls. i will revert back to my usual duties which is talking about your weekend forecast and the fact that we have sunshine on a sunday. temperatures today going to be a few degrees warmer than average. that's good. i had to swallow first. chock lot covered strawberry in the cheek. performing arts center in the distance. big night tonight for neil diamond, yo-yo ma, meryl streep. big, big celebrities out there at the kennedy center. good-looking day. 42 at national airport. not much of a breeze just yet. later on today, winds south at 5 to 10 miles per hour. 40 in dulles. annapolis, 46 degrees. even up into northern maryland, temperatures up close to the 40-degree mark. so it will be a nice day today. temperatures low to mid-40s through the rest of the morning hours. easily into the mid-50s for a time this afternoon. 100% dry for today. rain chances will be going up as we get to the end of the day tomorrow, then into the day on tuesday, a lot of moisture down across parts of the ohio valley and down into the deep south. all that moisture is riding the conveyor belt all the way to the gulf coast to us. so the clear skies we have outside this morning we'll gradually pick up mid and high-level cloudiness. clouds a little bit more of a milky white color as opposed to sparkling blue. a good-looking day with the sunshine. mild for today and tomorrow ahead of our next chance for rain showers which will bring a cloudy stretch of weather for tomorrow, tuesday, wednesday, and maybe thursday. enjoy the sunshine and mild weather today. temperatures in the upper 50s to near 60 for your sunday high temperature. then come, plenty of clouds around. but it will be plenty warm. highs tomorrow in the upper 50s and low 60s. again, with a chance of a few showers out way west and southwest of washington. all-important seven-day forecast. enjoy the sunshine while it's here because you won't see a whole lot of sun from monday to thursday afternoon, unfortunately. chilly sunshine back for next weekend. >> thank you, chuck. take a break, grab some snacks, buddy. all right. well, if you've got an ipad or iphone you won't want to miss this week's kidspost. >> good morning. this week on kidspost on tv, ipad answer that are really top rate, where you don't need ice to use your ice skates and donating books to a special prima primate. good morning to you. let's talk about some of the coolest answer. you always have good ones. >> in sunday's kids post we look at 10 apps. there's a new study out from nielsen saying 44% of kids ages 6 to 12 want an ipad for christmas. >> is that outrageous? >> it is outrageous. >> that's an expensive toy. >> but lots of parents have them. all of our apps also work on the ipad touch which a lot of kids have. so this one is one of our favorites. it's called stack the states. it's actually a little bit educational as well as fun. >> that's good. >> kansas city is the abbreviation for which state? i'm kansas. and which of these states is louisiana? >> i have forgotten all my geography. >> you have to hit drop it. the state drops. and the idea is to stack this until they reach this line here. we like where is my water is another one? and lily and the lost key is a great example of a book that works well as an app. >> check them all out. >> the the most expensive is $4.99. if you already have the device this is a way to augment learning and creativity. >> you can share with your kids. >> absolutely. a family ipad. >> holiday time at the national zoo. >> well, zoolights again. they have added some new elements this year. including an ice skating rink that is made not with ice but with recycled materials. so it's a green ice skating rink. so it's free. it's through new year's. we encourage everybody to go. >> kids love it every year. finally a book drive with unexpected recipients. >> so chimp haven is a retirement home for want of a better word, for chimps in louisiana. and they wrote to us and said could you ask your readers to send us old, used board books. >> oh, my goodness. >> because the chimps love them as enrichment activities. obviously any books are fine. but board books work better. so in sunday's kids post we have all the details about how, you know, those torn, drooled on board books that you would probably putn the trash you can sent to chimp haven. and anybody who does gets a thank you note. >> i have a stack, boxes full. tracy, thanks so much as always. for fun family activities visit nbcwashington.com or washingtonpost.com and click on kidspost. that is kidspost on tv. >> that's good stuff. caps were looking for good stuff. they were looking for their first win under coach hunter. here's hakim dermish with your sports minute. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with hockey. last night the capitals hosting ottawa senators. game goes to overtime. tied at overtime. in o.t., cams on the attack. sets up brooks light for the game winner. he scores just 12 seconds into overtime against the only other nhl he has played for. caps win 3-2, ending the four-game losing streak and give dale hunter his first win as an nhl coach. virginia tech playing clemson for the acc championship and a trip to the orange bowl. it was pretty much all tigers. third quarter, clemson up 17-10. taj boyd rolls out and throw toss a wide open sammy watkins. clemson defeats virginia tech, 38-10. second round of the fcs playoffs. mickey matthews and james madison on the road at north dakota state. bison just too much in the end. mcmorton runs for a 60 yard touchdown. north dakota state defeats james madison, 26-14. college basketball. georgetown hosting the new jersey institute of technology. thompson finishes with a career six three-pointers and and game-high 20 points. hoyas crush the highlanders, 84-44. georgetown improves 7-1. virginia beats longwood. 86-53. and george mason beats townsend. 65-53. that's your sports minute. i'm hakim dermish. have a great day. the time now is 9:26. 85-year-old woman claims she was strip searched at the airport. the tsa, though, telling a very different story. we're going to bring you both sides of that story when we return >> that's right. also ahead -- >> i start screaming bloody murder, 911, police. >> terrifying moments for several georgetown students after they discover intruders in their homes. this morning those students are discussing their ordeals in a news 4 exclusive. ♪ [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. that's the value of performance. bformula one car is sometimes a about more than breaking speed records. it's about breaking barriers. and exploring how robotics systems work is about more than taking apart machinery. it's about dismantling stereotypes. no matter who you are, or what you love to do, you get the chance to master it at rochester institute of technology. around here, we only expect one thing from our students: to be totally and completely unexpected. >> are you sexually attracted to young boys, underaged boys? >> am i sexually attracted to underaged boys? sexually attracted. we're hearing jerry sandusky's explanation to his puzzling statement last month. >> good morning. i'm erika gonzalez. >> i'm angie goff. >> jerry sandusky is speaking out about the allegations against him. >> he repeated the assertion that he is innocent and all the sexual abuse allegations are simply not true. jay gray has the story. >> this weekend jerry sandusky is speaking out. >> i didn't do those things. >> the embattled coach sat down for a wide-ranging interview with "new york times" reporter joan becker. >> he's trying to get his story out there. >> a part of that story, his explanation of what penn state officials knew about the allegations and what they did. he said former athletic director tim curly, facing perjury charges, approached him with concerns but never went any further. >> i still have my keys. >> and sandusky said legendary coach joe paterno never discussed the issue. >> i don't know that he didn't know. i know that he never said anything to me. >> he was very loyal still to coach paterno and very upset. talked about being very upset that he had been fired over this whole thing. >> another regret, how he answered this question. from nbc's pwoft costas and his only other interview. >> are you sexually attracted to young boys, underaged boys? >> am i sexually attracted to underaged boys? >> yes. >> sexually attracted? you know -- they're saying what in the world is this question? i general -- that's what i was trying -- i enjoy spending time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. >> but since the charges and the controversy these days he spends most of his time you with his dog bo. jay gray, nbc news, state college, pennsylvania. >> sandusky says since the grand jury report became public last month most of his friends and former colleagues have distanced themselves from him. he said he misses those relationships and his charity, the second mile the most. >> virginia tech is appealing a federal fine more than four years after a mass shooting tragedy at the school. the education department says virginia tech was too slow in notifying students, faculty and staff about a gunman loose on the blacksburg campus. the 2007 shooting spree left 33 people dead. the government fined the school $55,000 for violating a federal law that requires timely warnings about safety threats. virginia tech says it acted appropriately and will appeal its case wednesday. all right. shifting things over to weather. you have to great news for us. another nice day. >> i have very good news for both of you. >> spill it. >> it's going to be sun y. the only thing better is if you had the day off to be in the sunshine. but 10:00 a.m., we're off. then plenty of sunshine. 4:46 the sun goes down. temperatures a little warmer today than yesterday. we're all in bonus material now. average high temperature only 50. every tick above 50 is bonus ground around here. nice-looking day outside so far. sunshine out there. temperatures are climbing from the 30s. now into the 40s in many neighborhoods. 37 in fredericksburg and culpepper. 39 degrees in bethesda, chevy chase, silver spring. nothing showing up on doppler. we will be dry the rest of the day. that's good news for everybody. sunny and mild day. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. perfect weather for the jets and the skins. kickoff is at 1:00 this afternoon. no weather problems there. milder tomorrow. but plenty of clouds around tomorrow. and the rain drops follow the clouds after that. >> you know, the sun is going down earlier. a good suggestion is to go out and check out the holiday lights. a lot of great displays out there. >> i agree. >> thanks, chuck. >> right now police are investigating two shootings that happened less than a mile apart from each other in northeast washington. the first victim was shot in the face late last night 21st street near maryland avenue. there's no word on his condition. a woman was shot and killed on 23rd place northeast. there's no word on her identity or if police have a suspect in the shooting. police are not saying whether they think the shootings are related. >> there is a community alert out there for george stks town university and the surrounding area after reports of two break-ins near campus. police say someone got in two off-campus apartments, both near 36th and 0 streets. in the first case, a man somehow got into a home on 36th street friday night and scared a woman when he jumped out of her closet. 30 minutes later, police say an intruder got into another home. he had on a mask like the one in the movie "scream." >> i started screaming bloody murder, 911, police. he looked at us and continued on. >> the man who broke in was pocketing items, an ipod, cash. police do not know if the two cases are related. an 85-year-old grandmother said she was injured and humiliated when she was strip searched at new york's jfk airport. she feared body scanners would interfere with her defibrillator so she opted for the pat-down. the screener made her take off her pants and she banged her leg causing her shin to bleed. they deny strip searching the woman. she said closed-circuit television footage shows tsa followed proper procedures. later today, a local landmark will celebrate five major icons in american entertainment. ♪ ♪ sweet caroline >> sing it, angie. i'm just kidding. >> tonight is the 34th annual kennedy center honors. neil diamond, meryl streep, yo-yo ma sunny rollins and barbara cook will all walk the red carpet for the black tie gala. they're all being honored for their lifetime contributions to american culture. a number of dignitaries from around the world come to attend this event. >> hollywood desends on d.c. >> love it. >> going to be a great night. >> all right. time now early on this sunday, 9:37. still ahead, walking the plank and looking quite swell. arr! ♪ [ jerry ] attention shoppers. your groceries are the size of idaho but the interest rate on your checking is small potatoes. earn more at capital one bank. get new high yield free checking. your interest rate will be 5 times the national average. that's huge. and free atms at any bank. free is good. sign up at capital one bank. what's in your wallet? what is he, a clydesdale. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. rise and shine, everyone. this week's wednesday's child is a lovely young lady who wants to be a basketball player when she gets older. >> barbara harrison takes us to meet yvonne. >> at spoon and rotten spa, a salon for kids, it was a big day for yvonne. she got her nails done in pink, blue and some in sparkles. >> oh, that's pretty. >> she said while she likes pretty things she would rather use her hands to play basketball. >> can these hands handle a basketball? >> yes. >> she wants to do a lot of things. and i'm trying to find someone who will allow her to try all these different things that she wants to do. >> yvonne's social worker is looking for an adoptive family that will support all of her goals in life. she was invited to try out new wardrobe looks for school. >> this is leslie. she's going to tile you today. >> leslie arnell chose looks, who was a little shy about showing off her outfit. she warmed up to the idea of strutting her stuff with her second outfit. by the time we got to outfit number 3 she was getting a little more comfortable with the idea of being center stage. and we even got her to smile a bit with the idea of showing off. yvonne is not sure exactly what she wants to be some day. she said not a model. but she would like a permanent family to support all of her hopes and dreams. >> why do kids need families? >> for people to take care of them and love them and treat them nice. >> i'm looking for a family who can be consistent and supportive and loving all at the same time. because she hasn't had that consistency in her life. >> okay. we have a surprise for you. so which one of these looks do you want? >> she was invited to keep one of the outfits she modeled. >> tha you. >> i have one more surprise for you? do you like behavior? >> yes. >> do you have the cd? >> no. >> you do now. >> and all that was enough to bring out yvonne's beautiful smile. barbara harrison, news 4, for wednesday's child. >> well, if you have room in your home and your heart for yvonne or another child waiting for a permanent loving family, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me. of course you can logon to our home page, nbcwashington.com. very heart warming. >> i know. she picked the right outfit, hello kitty. >> getting on a catwalk for anyone is very intimidating. a maryland man is the winner of a contest in key west. how well they pleaded for mercy and of course the big splash. he won last year wearing a king neptune costume. >> is that another take on the polar bear dip? that's got to be chilly water. >> it's key west. water temperatures are still close to 80 degrees. so that's not so bad. >> this is true. >> we have nice weather here, but i would not want to jump into any body of water. >> don't jump into the water here. >> note to self. >> temperatures only in the low 50s right now. so it's a little bit cooler than in key west, no doubt bit. a nice looking day. sunshine on your sunday morning. temperatures responding very favorably to the sunshine. sun has been up since 10 after 7:00. temperature down at the airport right now is at 42 degrees. not much of a breeze just yet. as i have been talking about, a little bit of southwesterly flow will put our temperatures in the mid and upper 50s today. near 60 degrees coming up for tomorrow. right now, though, still climbing our way out of the 30s and into the low 40s across many neighborhoods. no rain threat for your sunday. a completely dry finish to your weekend. most of us dry through monday as well. but the rain just like the last two weeks in a row, the rain is running parallel to the virginia/west virginia border. as a result it will take a long time for showers to inch their way into the the western parts of virginia and eventually into our area. look at all the moisture across arkansas, louisiana, texas. all the moisture will ride straight from the gulf of mexico to us, which means very limited amounts of sunshine after today. if you like the sunshine, get out there and enjoy it while it's here. it's not going to last long. after a cool start, a beautiful afternoon coming in. dimming out sunshine late in the day. another cloudy sunshine challenged stretch of weather coming our way as this next weather front inches its way down through the mountains. probably not arriving here until tuesday. so today, sunny, mild. temperatures in the upper 50s. some lucky spots might even touch 60 degrees today. the seven-day forecast calls for a very mild monday but with plenty of clouds around. and the risk of a few showers west and south of town tomorrow. everybody gets in on the rain drops tuesday and wednesday. probably lingering into thursday as well. keep that in mind. not much sunshine this weekend. nbcwashington or follow me on twitter @chuckbell4. >> even when you're not working you're always tweeting the weather. >> that's true. >> thanks, chuck. weather is for you. weather for you. just 11 minutes away from the start of the 10:00 hour right now. coming up next, spicing up your traditional gingerbread house. >> it looks good. up next, our chef daniel from the ritz-carlton will be back with simple tips and some very cute young ladies who are putting the icing on the gingerbread houses for us this morning. we're coming back with mor to make a commitment is to see things through. confident that no matter what the obstacles we can build something better, together. with the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile, we're making a commitment, to create a stronger network for all our customers. we will invest an additional eight billion dollars and build out the next generation of mobile broadband to nearly everyone in america. that'll mean better coverage and call quality and faster downloads. but it will also create as many as ninety-six thousand american jobs. and we will begin bringing five thousand jobs to america from overseas. we're committed to investing in america now. why? well, we know it's good business. because america has always been and always will be a smart investment. at&t you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ good morning, washington. coming up at 10:00 on the chris matthews show, i'm sitting in for chris today while he's on a book tour for his kennedy biography. today we look at the gop race. it's down to mitt romney and newt gingrich. the sudden rise of gingrich underscores romney's challenge. republican voters are holding back. they seem to find romney too elite, not convincing. reservations are serious enough that newt gingrich now leads in many polls. does our panel think newt might actually get the nomination? plus, the news from iran extremely threatening and promises to be president obama's biggest foreign policy problem in the coming here. will he resist growing pressure to act? join me for a great roundtable. now for a look at what's coming up on "meet the press" here's david gregory. david? >> coming up, a major shakeup in the republican field as herman cain sus spends his campaign. what affect will it have on the republican case raes? new jobless numbers give president obama a boost, falling to their lowest level since 2009. a debate on the president's case for reelection and the 2012 republican field with senior campaign adviser to the president, david axelrod and chairman of the republican national committee. and our new polls iowa and new hampshire it's coming up on "meet the press" and an inside look at the republican primary campaign with michael lessen only here on nbc 4. all right. thank you, david. exact pastry chef daniel mangioni of the ritz-carlton washington is back as promised and he's going to show us how to make beautiful gingerbread houses this hole day. they're so perfect. and the process, you're making it easier than ever. >> we're trying. this year we're offering what we call gingerbread to go. we will give you a blank house and three colors of icing, candy, sugar for you to take home and decorate at your place. it's a great opportunity for you to do a gingerbread house if you don't want to bake the dough. we definitely have cutters that you can buy at local craft stores. gingerbread to go is the way. that's the way to go. >> we do want to give a little shout out to our chief decorators claire and audrey. how old are you girls? >> 9. >> 9 years old. this is really so easy. we're having a blast to go the frosting. chef, i have to ask you. it is simple and pretty. there are tips when it comes to making a work of art like this. >> there are. color is key. try to get a variety of different candies and stuff that you know is going to bring good smell as well. cinnamon candies are definitely a key. >> and when you're making a gingerbread house, what's the common mistake people make at home? is it cooking the gingerbread? >> no. the icing is not thick enough. it needs to be thick. let it set overnight. >> what do you recommend as far as time something. >> overnight let it set and go back and decorate with the icing to put your candy on. >> i'm making a grinch. how much do these run? >> $65 is our gingerbread to go price which includes the house, three types of icing, candies and sugars. >> are you girls having fun? >> yeah. >> not everybody loves the taste of gingerbread, so there are alternatives. >> we can do chocolate houses. it's something people can decorate. they don't like gingerbread. >> chuck and i are hovering over this huge block of chocolate over here. >> 11 pound bar of chocolate. the surge to the top of my christmas wish list. >> thank you for joining us. girls, a pleasure to have you here on our set. that's going todz it for this edition of news 4 today. thank you so much for joining us thank you so much for joining us at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call greater washington, d.c. home. from supporting an organization that helps new citizens find their way... to proudly supporting our washington redskins... and partnering with a school that brings academic excellence to the anacostia community. because the more we do in greater washington, d.c., the more we help make opportunity possible. you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green giant your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [captioning made possible by nbc universal] this is the "the chris matthews show." >> i can hear you! >> a time for change has come! >> the latest on romney. the latest conservative hero, the last man standing against mitt romney is newt gingrich. does newt have the stuff and the cash to carry the anti-romney fight to the end. in your heart, you know he's right. that was the goldwater slogan. this year, will conservatives tur