flannel, your wool, and whatever else you can find. it's a cold morning. thankfully, not a lot of win. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein, starting off this monday morning with that bright moon in the western sky. reagan national down to a cold 30 degrees. with a calm wind, it's a little bit better. at least it's somewhat tolerable. if we'd have had wind, we'd have windchill single digits. temperatures down in upper teens. much of the region to near 20 degrees in the rural areas. right near the bay, upper 20s to avouround 30. the view from space showing a few high clouds drifting south. some rain in the carolinas that will stay south of us. here's your "day planner," sunrise 7:17. we'll get above freezing by midmorning. by midafternoon ought to hit the mid-40s with a light wind. cold night coming up tonight. a look at your evening planner in ten minutes. here's a look at traffic. good morning, danella. >> good morning. we have good news for you. if you're taking the clara barton parkway, had some closures due to an accident. now it's open. the accident is out of the roadway. take a look at the beltway, you're clear. not seeing any issues there. this is the view at colesville road, taking the outer loop or inner loop, no accidents to report at this time. if you're traveling in virginia, checking interstates there. here's a view of i-95 at fairfax county parkway, heading northbound, getting a little bit busy. no major delays just yet. southbound, you're in the clear. also checking i-66 for you as well. cameras in that area. this is the view at u.s. 50. again, 66 both inside and outside of the beltway, no accidents to report at this time. eun and angie, back to you. >> danella, thanks. 5:02 now. new from overnight, a man is in critical condition after he was shot in northeast d.c. it happened around midnight at the intersection of 15th street and "w" street. investigators say a man in his 40s was shot in the head. he was immediately taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. right now police do not have any information on a suspect in this shooting. today family and friends will say their final good-byes to a virginia tech campus police officer killed in the line of duty. thousands of people turned out for a vigil this weekend for officer derek krouse. he was shot and killed by 22-year-old ross ashley during a routine traffic stop on thursday. ashley killed himself a short time after that. a funeral service for officer krouse will be held at 2:00 this afternoon at virginia tech's capital coliseum. governor bob mcdonnell is expected to speak. the gunman's family is offering its condolences and prayers to krouse's loved ones. in an unsigned statement, ross ashley's family also requested their privacy be expected. they say there will be no additional statements to come. police are trying to determine a motive for the shooting. today we'll learn about a proposed bill in maryland to stop groups of teens and young adults from stealing in so-called mob thefts. it comes after several incidents like this one at a 7/eleven in august. maryland delegate jeffrey wallstriker will introduce a bill called the theft by mob act. it would create one crime that could increase the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony instead of individual shoplifting charges. a man is in police custody this morning after a five-hour standoff in northwest washington. a man barricaded himself in a house on gallatin street near north capitol street. it started with a traffic stop a few blocks away. police say the driver of a lincoln town car took off, leading police on a chase. a u.s. park police officer crashed into the car, but not before the man ran into a house and refused to come out. investigators say 12 people were inside that home, including six small children. neighbors say police and s.w.a.t. teams swarmed the community. >> i see the helicopters and the police came out on the back porch. they told me to come back. >> you could see the s.w.a.t. team with the seals and the guns. yeah, it was pretty scary. >> after five hours, police escorted the suspect from the home. investigators are not saying if he knew the people inside the house. no one was hurt. now to decision 2012. this morning republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich is surging in two more battleground states. the new nbc news poll found gingrich in the lead in south carolina with 42% of likely primary voters. that's a 35-point jump since august. his nearest competitor is mitt romney is 23% of the vote. south carolina has its primary january 21st. in florida the nbc news poll found gingrich in the lead with 44% of likely voters followed by romney with 29% of the vote. florida holds its primary january 31st. as gingrich maintains his front-runner status, romney is paying for a joke his competitors say is out of touch with americans. it comes at the worst possible time, just 22 days until the iowa caucuses. during a republican debate in iowa, romney defended his health care mandate he signed into law in massachusetts when he was governor. it's how the multimillionaire did it that raised eyebrows over the weekend. >> i'm hearing you saying all the right things, but i read your first book, and it said that your mandate in massachusetts should be the model for the country. i know it came out of the reprint of the book. >> you said that before, rick. you're simply wrong. >> it was true then. it's true now. >> rick, i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks. $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> oh, okay. >> romney's republican rivals and democrats have used his remark to portray him as out of step. they say $10,000 represents more than three months salary for most people. but romney did not back away from it. on sunday romney said he's been told he's not a good gambler. today a new attack ad against president obama will make its debut. the ad comes from crossroads gps. it's a conservative leaning group. it will focus on the obama administration's failed $500 million loan to solyndra, which declared bankruptcy back in september. the group's president says this ad is, quote, aimed at exposing the ugly underbelly of obama's vision. 5:07 now. the redskins find yet another way to lose a football game. this week the offense showed up, but the defense let the burgundy and gold down of the the skins were trailing late in the fourth quarter. rex grossman connects with santana moss for that touchdown. but wait. moss gets flagged for pass interference. grossman then throws an interception, and the patriots hold on for the win 34-27. there's that interception there. the redskins are now 4-9, good for last place, alone in last place in the nfc east. next week is a road game against their division rival, one of their division rival, the new york giants. another heart breaking loss. this time i felt -- usually i turn it off because i can't watch anymore. i watched the whole thing thinking we can make a comeback. >> it got so close. they were neck and neck. if anything, they were showing a lot of the younger players are really developing. helu -- >> he had a great game. he's been exceeding expectations the last few times. we're just eight minutes after the 5:00 hour. under attack this morning, the criticism facing a popular home improvement store after its decision to pull ads airing during a very certain reality show. and even though you do what you can to take care of it, sometimes you want to give your immune system some support. try new airborne chewable tablets. each serving contains 14 vitamins, minerals and herbs... including zinc, echinacea, ginger, and a blast of vitamin c. it's the easy, great-tasting way to help support your immune system. airborne. in fast-acting effervescent formula, and new super-convenient chewable tablets! good morning. time for weather and traffic on the ones. right now at 5:11 on this monday morning, it's a morning you want to hug your furnace because it is a cold start. thankfully, it's keeping your home warm this morning. we've got temperatures right outside the window down into the teens to just near 20 degrees. it's near 30 in washington and right by the bay. but elsewhere, the teens and low 20s. we've got a few high clouds drifting in from the south. they'll be with us this morning into the afternoon. we'll have sunshine through the high clouds. sunrise at 7:17. by 9:00 we'll be above freezing. during the afternoon peaking in the mid-40s. here is your evening planner and a cold night. sunset at 4:46. we'll be right back down into the 30s by midevening and then mid-30s by midnight. another cold start tomorrow morning. a bit warmer as we get into the rest of the week. we'll look at that and the weekend in ten minutes. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> good morning. if you're taking the rails, not seeing any delays on the metro, marc, or vre. i-270, not seeing any major issues just yet. as you make your way towards the spur, getting a little busy at father hurley. northbound, you're in the clear. traveling 395 checking cameras in that area, here's the view at 13th street. if you make your way towards the 14th street bridge, that trip is clear. not seeing any issues as you make your way into the city. angie and eun, back to you. >> thank you, danella. it is 5:12. 34 degree out there. gearing up for the busiest day of the year. a look at how one major shipping company is bracing for an influx of holiday shipping. [ mom ] hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...buttery and flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents? welcome back at 5:15. a california state senator is pushing for a boycott of home improvement store lowe's because of an advertising controversy. lowe's pulled its ads from the tv show "all american muslim" after an evangelical christian group complained the show was propaganda. the chain store apologized for pulling its ads but did not say it was going to reinstate the ads during the show. the star of the show is sad she decided to pull its ads and, quote, succumb to bigots. tomorrow jerry sandusky will most likely face some of his accusers as they plan to testify at the preliminary trial. meanwhile, sandusky's lawyers spoke yesterday and said some information from sandusky leads him to believe that the accusers could be working together >> is it possible that all of them have reacted the same way to the abuse by staying in touch with jerry and maintaining contacts with him? i find that kind of strange. what it might smack of is some sort of collusion. >> the attorney for one of the victims says the collusion is just a smoke screen. the patriot news is reporting a family friend told the grand jury that mike foreclo mcqueary was asked several times if he saw anything sexual, and he said no each time. he is expected to testify at tomorrow's hearing. and joe paterno is back in the hospital. the former penn state fobl coach reinjured his pelvis after a fall at home this weekend. he was taken to the hospital but won't need surgery. the 84-year-old is also being treated for lung cancer. paterno first injured his pelvis earlier this year when a player accidentally collided with him during a preseason practice. today at the white house, president obama will meet with iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki. they're expected to discuss the next phase of the u.s. relationship with the country. they're expected to discuss security, commerce, and education. the u.s. will leave the country at the end of the month ending a nine-year war. the president and nouri al maliki have pledged to retain strong ties. and a homecoming for virginia national guard soldiers. they will return home after a six-month tour of duty in iraq. this specific group, task for 183, was the largest single unit mobilization of the virginia army national guard since world war ii. the troop's return is part of america's promise to reduce that number of soldiers in iraq. right now d.c. police are asking for your help to find a missing woman. 68-year-old florence ann dillon was last seen saturday along cane place in northeast washington. she's about 5'5", weighs 155 pounds, and has a mole to the right of her nose. dillon was last seen wearing a black hat and black coat and blue hanpants. if you see her, call police. this morning a military service member faces several charges for a cab ride that turned into a series of crimes. police say 23-year-old andrew gerald roberts and a companion got into a cab on wednesday. at one point, police say roberts and his companion asked the driver to pull over, and roberts pushed the driver to the passenger seat, and he drove the taxi. police say roberts then hit another car but left the scene. they drove to target in rockville. police say surveillance video from the store helped them find roberts. he is charged with cab carjacking, kidnapping, and theft of a vehicle. he will also be charged in connection with the hit and run. roberts is out of jail after he posted a $3,500 bond. the parents of a gay rutgers university student who committed suicide are speaking out this morning. tyler clemente jumped off a new jersey bridge last year days after he found a web cam broadcasting his intimate encounter with another man. his roommate, 19-year-old darun ravi was charged with setting up that web cal. friday ravi rejected a plea deal to accept probation and admit to charges of invasion with privacy. clemente's parents will discuss the case in an exclusive interview with the "today" show. it has now been almost two weeks since a wssc worker disappeared. family and friends held a candlelight vigil for 35-year-old chuck duckett. he never returned from a managed deer hunt assignment from the triadelphia reservoir. people gathered there yesterday to tell stories about chuck and pray for his self return. duckett's wife was at the vigil but had a friend read a statement for the family. >> chuck, we miss you. we pray you can find your way home to your beautiful family. we pray to god that he will deliver you. we pray that he can find a way to grant us some peace during this very difficult time. >> duckett worked for the wssc for 12 years. it is now 5:20. right now public works crews in frederick, maryland, are trying to clean up raw sewage leaks. the sewage is leaking into carroll creek, the city's wastewater treatment plant is now running on a generatogenera. until that problem can be fixed, people are urged to avoid contact with carroll creek. county officials say the drinking water is still safe. >> and we are going to check in with meteorologist tom kierein. it was in the 20s when we woke up this morning. it looks like things are starting to rise just a little bit. we'll be pretty much stuck in the 40s, huh? for the afternoon high, but right now under this clear sky, it's a live view from the city camera, it's right down at the freezing mark. temperatures have plummeted down into the teens throughout many of the rural areas in virginia and maryland, montgomery and prince george's, arlington, fairfax counties only in the low 20s to near 20 degrees. reagan national at 30. right near the bay, upper 20s to near 30 degrees. western maryland and much of west virginia, only the teens to near 20 there. a few high clouds drifting in from the south. they'll be with us throughout much of the day. sunrise at 7:17. sunshining through the high clouds. get above freezing. and peak in the mid-40s. tonight clear and cold again. another clear start to the morning. afternoon highs low 50s tomorrow. a lot of sun. into the low 50s again on wednesday. increasing clouds. looks like rain by thursday afternoon perhaps into thursday evening as the front sweeps on through. friday, saturday, sunday, we clear out and get cold again. danella, how's traffic? >> cold. back to you. just kidding. light volume if you're taking the beltway at new hampshire avenue. no issues there. as you travel around the beltway, taking the beltway in virginia, again still very cold, but you are in the clear. this is a view at van dorn street. volume is increasing just a bit, but no major delays just yet. if you're traveling around d.c., checking cameras in that area, here's the view right now as you're making your commute. seventh and eighth streets driving around chinatown. traffic very light here and no accidents to report. but it is cold. now back to you both. >> danella, it certainly is. thank you so much. a traffic alert for beltway drivers in northern virginia. there is a major construction project going on this week associated with the woodrow wilson bridge project. today crews will have the right lane closed on the inner loop between telegraph road and the eisenhower avenue connector. workers are installing overhead signs right now. that work will continue between 9:30 and 2:30 p.m. today through thursday. more construction work is scheduled in the area overnight this week. now virginia drivers will now have a better idea of how long their commute is going to take. today seven electronic signs will begin displaying travel times on i-95 between the pentagon and fredericksburg. the goal, to help drivers decide which route is the best during major traffic delays. travel times will be displayed from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. during the week. these seven signs are in addition to signs on i-66 between 495 and gainesville. it is going to cost a little more to light up today. the top three tobacco companies -- altria, reynolds american, and lorelard -- are raising prices by at least 10 cents a pack. reynolds and lorelard will raise across all brands. altria will raise for marlboro and virginia slims. plan ahead if you need to mail off a package today. you won't be alone. in fact, today is the busiest day of the year for fedex and other shipping companies. news 4's tracee wilkins is live at the fedex station in northeast washington with more. good morning to you, tracee. >> reporter: good morning to you, eun. everyone is shipping today because they want to make sure it gets there for the holidays. fedex is saying 17 million packages will be going out today alone. that's a lot. it's a big jump from last year. a 10% jump from last year. more people are shopping and shipping. and joining us to explain exactly what you need to do if you're planning on shopping and shipping is jaycie avis. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> reporter: you are a fedex expert packer, i hear. you know how to do this right. >> yes, ma'am. >> reporter: first of all, we want to give some advice for folks who -- the best way to pack and ship is to come on down and have fedex do it for you because you guys know how to do it. if you're going to do it at home, aadvivis is going to give advice on how to do this. >> you want to bubble wrap the package. >> reporter: these are ginger bread cookies you're sending. >> exactly. you're going to bubble wrap it. >> reporter: if people don't have bubble wrap at home. >> packing peanuts, old newspapers, foam wrap. anything that will cushion the inside of the box. >> reporter: and the idea is you want to protect what you have inside of there? >> exactly. >> reporter: and you guys also tape it down as well. >> yes, ma'am. actually at home, what we would like you to do as well is your label. put a label inside the box as well as outside of the box. >> reporter: sos wh what's the purpose for putting a label inside the box? >> just in case something happens. just in case. >> reporter: you never know. if it rips or something. how do you weigh, and how can you tell? like if you're trying to take care of this and you're not bringing it right to the station, but you want to mail it. how do you know how much postage to put on it? >> you don't put postage on it. what you do is, when you get here, it goes by weight and distance. that's how you're charged at fedex. >> so bring it here and let you guys sort it out. >> sort it out. exactly. >> reporter: we're going to be here all morning long providing tips for you, what you can do if you're going to be packing and sending this holiday season. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning. we're going to send this box somewhere, maybe to you guys at the station, and you can have the cookies. >> yes. send it our way. we like packages and gifts. tracee, thanks so much. we'll see you soon. >> if it's esibdible, it's bett. >> we're all about the food on the morning show. coming up, holding the immigration debate in the spotlight. the decision facing our high court about state's attempts to crack down on illegal immigrants. ♪ [ female announcer ] everybody loves that cushiony feeling. uh oh. i gotta go. [ female announcer ] and with charmin ultra soft, you can get that same cushiony feeling you love while still using less. charmin ultra soft has extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ah. [ female announcer ] using less never felt so good. we all go... why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft. [ coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] more pollution from power plants means more childhood asthma attacks. [ labored breathing ] there's technology that makes the air cleaner, but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards to protect our kids. [ baby coughing ] a new challenge to mitt romney this morning as one of the his presidential opponents gets a big boost in the polls. plus friends and family planning to gather today to remember the life of a virginia tech police officer killed in the line of duty. good morning, everyone. i'm angie goff, in for joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this monday, december 12th, 2011. we're going to take a live look outside. it's 5:30, 34 degrees. tom kierein says no complaining. it's winter. in winter it's cold. that's what it is. >> all we need to know, is there a warming trend on the way? >> there's a fire burning in our hearts. isn't that nice? because you're watching. thank you so much this morning. we love you all. >> thank you, tom. are we kissing up to the viewers? >> is that too patronizing? this morning we are happy you're with us. starting off this monday with a clear sky. it's calm thankfully because temperatures have plummeted overnight. it's now 30 at reagan national. we've got a northeasterly breeze that's very light thankfully. not much wind around. temperatures in the suburbs and rural areas only around 20 degrees to the upper teens. right near the bay, it's in the upper 20s to around 30. we've had a few high clouds drifting in over the last several hours. we still have the bright moon in the western sky. we'll have sun through the high clouds today. sunrise at 7:17. above freezing by midmorning. mid-40s by midafternoon. a look at your evening planner at 5:41. danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. getting pretty busy on our roadways. if you're traveling i-270, heading south at father hurley, starting to see a little volume, but your travel speed good at this time. up on i-270 around urbanna, we are seeing delays as you head south towards clarksburg. starting to pick up volume around father hurley but not too bad. i-95, volume again as you travel north and southbound, but no accidents to report. and you're clear as you make your way onto the beltway. angie and eun, back to you. >> thanks, danella. 5:32 now. now to decision 2012. republican presidential candidate newt gingrich maintains his front-runner status, but fellow candidate mitt romney is paying for a joke that his competitors say is out of touch with americans. it comes at the worst possible time, just 22 days before the iowa caucuses. nbc's tracie potts is live on capitol hill now with details on the latest polls. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, eun. good morning. let's start with gingrich because he is the front-runner even more so than now. a new nbc news poll shows him widening his already large lead in key battle ground states. in florida, he's got 44% support up from just single digits just a couple of months ago. similar in south carolina, 42% support there. moving up from single digits just a couple of months ago. we saw in saturday's debate and on the sunday talk shows the other candidates going after him, both his views and personally. gingrich fighting right back. in fact, in terms of his maiages, personally saying he is asking god for forgiveness, and people will have to render judgment on that. now let's talk about mitt romney. here's that $10,000 comment he made over the weekend. >> rick, i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> ann came up and gave me a kiss and said i was great. she said, a lot of things you do well. betting isn't one of them. >> i'm pretty sure i didn't drive by a house that anyone in iowa would even think about a $10,000 bet was even possible. a little out of touch with the normal iowa citizen. >> reporter: they were talking about his massachusetts health plan and something that was in romney's book. romney made a $10,000 bet that what perry said isn't there. now the candidate worth about $200 million being characterized by republicans and democrats alike that he's out of touch. >> tracie, thank you. today the supreme court will take up state immigration laws for the first time. arizona, in particular, disputes a law that won't allow police would question a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. similar provisions in alabama, south carolina, and utah also are facing lawsuits by the obama administration. the justice department says regulating immigration is the job of the federal government, not states. congress is expected to pass a new spending bill and avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week of the according to "the washington post," appropriators from the house and senate have been working on legislation to unveil sometime today. the bipartisan bill would keep the government running past friday. that's when a short-term spending bill is set to expire. the family of a man accused of killing a virginia tech campus police officer is offering its condolences. in an unsigned statement, 22-year-old ross ashley's family also requested their privacy be respected. police are still trying to find a motive for thursday's shooting. they say ashley shot and killed officer derek crouse during a routine traffic stop. ashley then killed himself a short time later. a funeral service for officer crouse will be held at 2:00 this afternoon at virginia tech's capital coliseum. governor bob mcdonnell is expected to speak. new from overnight, police are investigating a shooting that left a man in critical condition. it happened around midnight near the intersection of 15th street and "w" street northeast. investigators say a man in his 40s was shot in the head. he was immediately taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. right now police don't have any information on a suspect in the shooting. the university of maryland is sending out a crime alert after a robbery near campus. a student told police two men approached him with a gun near his apartment on rowalt drive around 10:30 last night. the student was not hurt. maryland police officers remind others that a security escort is offered to anyone at night who might feel unsafe. another close game for the redski redskins, but they can't pull off the "w." this week the offense wasn't a problem, it was the defense in a costly penalty. the redskins were leading the patriots in the second quarter thanks to a trick play. a touchdown pass by wide receiver brandon banks puts the skins ahead by three. but the pats claw their way back leading into the fourth quarter. the skins are able to find their way into the end zone once again for a game-tieing touchdown. it's called back because of a penalty. rex grossman is intercepted two points later, and the redskins hold on for the win 34-27. >> it's just frustrating to play well and move the ball and be in position to try to win the game and have it go the other way. it's frustrating. >> the loss dropped washington to 4-9 in last place in the nfc east. next week they're on the road against the new york giants. tough loss. >> that's right. we're now just playing for pride in the final game. don't know how to get ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves into. >> they're keeping their spirits up. >> hard to be a fan, spt it? >> 5:38. 38 degrees. trying to avoid a repeat of scenes like this one. how local lawmakers are hoping to crack down on these so-called mop thefts. state farm. this is jessica. 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. cold start to this monday morning. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein in stormcenter 4. time for your weather and traffic on the ones. at 5:41, it is down into the upper teens, just near 20 degrees throughout much of the region. in washington and by the way, it's near 30. and we're under a partly cloudy sky, some high thin clouds coming in, a bit of a halo around the moon. we have a high cloud cover probably with us here throughout much of the day. we'll have sun shining through it. above freezing by midmorning. sunrise at 7:17. by noontime low 40s. mid-40s midafternoon. sunset at 4:46. by then in the 30s. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> good morning. if you're traveling in virginia, this is a view at i-95 and fairfax county parkway as you make your way north. not seeing any major problems just yet from fairfax county parkway as you make your way on 395. checking cameras on 395, getting busy on duke street. no major delays just yet. your volume is increasing as you make your way towards the 14th street bridge. checking cameras in that area. volume is increasing as you head into the city. on 395 north and south, no accidents to report at this time. now back to you both. >> danella, thanks so much. the time now 5:42. early on this monday morning, getting your holiday gifts to their destination on time. how one shipping company is getting ready for its busiest day of the year. welcome back at 5:46. today a bill proposed in maryland to stop teens from stealing in mob thefts. at this 7-eleven at this german town, a dozen teens walked in and left without paying. the mob act would create one crime that would increase the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony instead of individual shoplifting charges. a neighborhood in northwest washington has calmed down after a tense five-hour standoff that ended peacefully. a man barricaded himself in a house on gallatin street near north capitol street. it started with a traffic stop a few blocks away. police say the driver of a lincoln town car took off and led police on a chase. they crashed into the car, but a driver got out and ran inside the house and refused to come out. investigators say 12 people were inside the home, including six small children. neighbors say they could see police and a s.w.a.t. team with guns drawn at times. >> i see the helicopters and the police. i came out on my back porch, and they told me to come back. >> you could see the s.w.a.t. team with the shields and the guns. it was pretty scary. >> police eventually escorted the suspect out of the home. investigators are not saying if he knew the people inside that house. no one was hurt. two new york lawmakers want passenger advocates at all airports after complaints that tsa agents strip searched women. a letter was written urging homeland security janet napolitano and tsa director to strike the right balance between security and protecting travelers. this after a 90-year-old woman complained that tsa agents strip searched her. the tsa denies the accusation. two other women made similar complaints. the tsa plans to set up a hot line to field passenger complaints. lawmakers say that is not enough. today protesters from occupy wall street are planning to shut down all major ports on the west coast. this is video from november when demonstrators marched to the port at oakland and shut it down. planners say this hopefully, quote, attacks the 1% at their point of profit. they plan to block ports in oakland, los angeles, san diego, and portland. they're calling for a general strike today to protest pension reforms in italy. they part of premier mario monti's rescue package to save the country from financial disaster. they insist the austerity measures should be fairer. they include massively overhauling the country's generous pension system, raising taxes, and reviving a home property tax. the news sent stocks down around the world. investigators are skeptical about the latest european union deal aimed at fixing the debt crisis and preventing a breakup of the euro currency bloc. asian stock markets ended mixed, and european stocks are down. u.s. futures are down as well. the d.c. department of employment services will launch its second phase of its campaign called one city, one hire. the campaign encourages businesses in the district to hire qualified unemployed d.c. residents in all eight wards. the agency will announce a new mobile unit where residents can register for job assistance at libraries and community events. the announcement will happen later this morning at the martin king memorial library on "g" street northwest. if you're looking for a job, try the military. the air force tops the list of companies with the highest number of job listings. simplyhire.com found nearly 150,000 openings with the air force. trucking company schneider national has more than 1,000 openings. pizza hut is looking for 28,000 people. taco bell and the army national guard round out the top five. there you go. >> some good news there. it is now 5:50. we're taking a live look outside. 34 degrees. it is a cold start to the day. not getting much warmer. you've got to break out all the coats and the layers and the hats and digging out mittens out of the drawers. you can always find that one. it's like a missing mitten. >> always missing. hopefully, the winds are going to be light. at least there's going to be some sunshine. >> you know that someone somewhere has the other mitten. >> please bring it back. >> we should get something going on the internet so we'll all meet and get our mittens back. >> even if they don't match, we can get our hands warm. we certainly need them this morning. temperatures in many locations down in the upper teens. we've got high clouds drifting over that big bright moon in the western sky. right now at reagan national, it's at 30 degrees. this is our second morning in a row with subfreezing temperatures there. we had our first freeze of the season late saturday night at reagan national. that's the second latest this decade. temperatures thankfully are accompanied by calm winds that are certainly very cold now. if we didn't have much wind, we'd have single digit windchills. thankfully, we've got a calm wind. from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches and the teens just near 20 degrees. right near the bay waters and tidal potomac, it's in the upper 20s to around 30. we've had high clouds drifting in from the south over the last few hours, just some rain down in the carolinas and florida. that's going to stay well to our south. we'll have a few high clouds from that system throughout the day. sunrise 7:17. by 9:00 above freezing. during the afrnoon, hitting the mid-40s with high clouds in and out. they'll clear out tonight. under a clear sky after sunset at 4:46. we'll be right back down near 40 degrees. by midnight, the mid-30s. by dawn tomorrow, down into the upper 20s. mostly sunny tuesday, into the low 50s. increasing clouds, highs low 50s again on wednesday. thursday cloudy. could get showers during the afternoon and evening. before then, into the mid-50s. followed by cold dry weather for friday night into saturday and sunday. friday afternoon, mid-50s. highs on saturday and sunday, only mid-40s, and morning lows 20. danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. let's start with the 14th street bridge. just a moment ago, there was an accident blocking the right side of the roadway. that accident is now clear. you're still seeing a little volume as you make your way over the 14th street bridge and head into the city. the good news is that accident is out of the roadway. if you're checking the american legion bridge, i'm checking that bridge as well. i am seeing volume increase just a bit on the outer loop as you make your way into virginia. if you're traveling on the inner loop taking the beltway in montgomery county, your volume is increasing just a bit. no major delays just yet. i'm back in ten minutes with another look the at your traffic. now back to you both. 5:53. you'll save at the pump this morning if you're filling up. gas prices are down. analysts expect it to stay that way through the year. right now in the district, aaa says drivers are paying $3.42 for a gallon of regular. in maryland the average is $3.25. in virginia, they're paying $3.17 at the pump. in west virginia, the average is $3.37 for a gallon of regular. more shoppers are buying gifts online this holiday season. it's not over yet. comscore found online sales in the u.s. up 15% at $24.6 billion this year alone. the research firm says all signs are pointing to a strong finish to the season. today is known as green monday. over the past six years, the second monday of december has consistently ranked among the top spending days of the season. many of those online orders are being shipped today of all days. in fact, this is expected to be the busiest shipping day of the year. news 4's tracee wilkins is live at the fedex shipping facility in northeast washington. tracee, good morning. we are going to hold you to shipping that package over to us. >> reporter: good morning. out here in the facility. they don't have the packages moving yet. that's going to happen in just a little while. they're preparing for all the packages coming in today. we're looking at 17 million packages being shipped today alone. folks want to make sure their packages are making it to their destination by the holidays. that's why they're calling this is the busiest shipping day of the year. the general manager at this facility. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> reporter: let's talk about what this means for you all when you're talking about the busiest shipping day of the year. >> certainly, through our training processes, we've staffed up. we've got all our folks ready to go, geared up, a lot of holiday cheer. they're excited to move all these packages because, obviously whrgs they come down, they know how important it is. they know they've got to get to the final destination and make a happy christmas for somebody. >> reporter: and you can feel it. even when we arrived this morning at just after 3:30 this morning, the workers were so excited about being here. they're ready and geared up and ready to go. what do you need from customers to make sure this is a smooth experience for them? >> biggest thing is obviously that they can make sure it's packed well so it gets to the final destination, and they can certainly go to any fedex office location to do that. certainly make sure that the address is clear, zip codes are clear so that, when our folks do see the packages, they know exactly where they're supposed to go. they go on the right truck and get to where they need to be. >> keep up with that tracking number so you can watch where your package is and know that it gets there on time. we're going to be here hanging out in the facility all morning long, bringing you tips to make sure that, as you ship today, it's a successful process for you as well. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning. back to you all in the studio. >> appreciate the tips, tracee. reporting live from northeast washington. thank you. a month after releasing the kindle fire, amazon is already considering an upgrade. "the new york times" reports amazon is planning to revamp the tablet after getting multiple complaints about the slow load times and unresponsive touchscreen. spokesman says there will be an online update in about two weeks. meanwhile, there are rumors that the kindle fire 2.0 could already be in production and released sometime in the spring. also, when you send off those holiday packages, save a headache later and include the receipt. nearly 62% of holiday shoppers say they include a receipt most of the time. that is the highest percentage in history of the national retail federation's holiday returns survey. but those givers seem to be getting it right because nearly 65% of recipient didn't return a single gift last holiday season. the survey polled about 8,500 consumers last month. it's always nice to have a gift receipt just in case. it makes it so much easier to return an item you don't want. >> i keep a little envelope, and i stuff everything in there. >> nice to be organized. >> yes. it was a star-studded night in the district for the 30th annual christmas in washington concert. >> even the first family got in on the holiday spirit and sang with justin bieber and jennifer hudson. ♪ the concert was held at the national building museum. proceeds benefit the children's medical center. before the concert, the first family greeted patients dressed as elves and gave them a basketful of children's books. it was hosted by comedian and late night tv shoehost conan o'brien. the concert will air friday on tnt. we love those little elf shoes. >> you need to get those for your daughter. how cute would she be? >> her feet are growing way too fast. [ screaming ] [ zapping ] there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered. nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. right now the virginia tech communit i