colder there. low 30s. southern maryland and the northern neck and the eastern shore, these counties in gray have quite a bit of fog. it's around 40 there. it includes charles, calvert, st. mary's, northern neck, and eastern shore. and we'll have our sunrise at 6:44. here's your day planner. by 9:00, ought to be around 50. a lot of the fog should be gone. by noontime, low 60s. may briefly touch mid and upper 60s for an hour or so by midafternoon as clouds close in from the west as the front approaches. that front is going to be bringing big changes to our weather here beginning later tonight and into tomorrow. a look at your evening planner in ten minutes. here's a look at the wednesday commute. good morning, danella. >> good morning. it's a little tough if you're in germantown. still seeing the accident at the intersection of ridge road and brinks road. if you're on ridge road, we're talking about roughly a two mile backup. chopper 4 is live over the area, and they're telling a two mile delay for you as you make your commute. you've got to follow police direction in the area. the intersection is blocked as they try to clean it up. so far the lanes are open. again, slow down in the area. follow police direction. if you're taking the outer loop of the beltway in montgomery county, you are starting to slow down as you make your way past university boulevard. travel speed is just about 49 miles per hour. it will take you 11 minutes to get from i-95 to i-270. joe, back to you. >> danella, thanks very much. republicans in virginia are celebrating a rare feat. the fwchgop is on the verge of controlling both houses under a republican governor for the second time since the civil war. right now all eyes on the district 17 senate race. republican bryce reeves has an 84-vote lead over incumbent edd houck in a close race. megan mcgrath has the latest. >> reporter: good morning, joe. the gop needed to win just two seats to effectively take control of the senate. they got one of those seats here in district 13, and another, but by the narrowest of margins, in district 17. the question is will the republicans continue to hang on to that seat? republican bryce reeves won by just 86 votes, and with so much at stake, a recount is expected. republicans are confident they've won. democrats say it isn't over. it's too close to call, and they remain hopeful. >> the lawyers will be coming out from all over the country. there will be a lot of lawyers that make a lot of money over the next two weeks. >> there's so much at stake. i'm hopeful, and i hope a message was sent today that virginia needs to stay on a moderate path and not swing so far to the right that we can never recover. >> reporter: if the republicans hold on to district 17, that seat, it means that it's a 20-20 split in the senate, which is effectively a domination by the republicans. that's because the lieutenant governor is a person who would break any ties. he's a republican and presumably would vote along with the gop. a lot at stake here. both sides watching this race very, very closely here. again, a very narrow margin. just 86 votes separating the two. we'll have to keep an eye on this one. back to you in the studio. joe? >> news 4's megan mcgrath reporting live. thanks, megan. a big victory in loudoun county. they swept the board of supervisors. also, gop candidate michael chapman beat out incumbent simpson. governor mcdonnell is congratulating fellow republicans. in prince william county, board of county supervisors chairman corey stewart won his race. earlier this year, there was some speculation he would run for the u.s. senate seat currently held by jim webb. >> for all the election results and all your decision 2011 coverage, log on to our website, nbcwashington.com. elsewhere around the country, union members in ohio are celebrating this morning after voters there struck down a new state law that would have limited collective bargaining abilities of about 350,000 unionized public workers. current union laws will now stand. republican governor john kasich had touted the new law, which would have banned strikes a among other provisions. and mississippi voters have shut down an anti-abortion initiative. the so-called personalhood proposal would have established the definition of life as the molt of conception. it was intended to prompt a legal challenge, overturning roe versus wade. pro life advocates say they will pursue similar initiatives in six other states. the eight leading candidates in the republican race for president are getting ready for a debate in michigan tonight. it will be hosted by cnbc at oakland university just outside of detroit. the debate comes just 60 days before the iowa caucuses. a lawyer for one of the women accusing gop front-runner herman cain is calling for an investigation. sharon bialeck is making allegations, saying cain groped her. she wants the senate to subpoena cain and all four women for a public hearing. another woman says she got a five figure settlement in 1999. she filed a complaint with the national restaurant association where cain worked. cain said the timing of the false claims are a result of what he called the democrat machine. >> as far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race, ain't going to happen. >> new this morning, we're learning karen filed a second complaint in 2002 at her next job. she accused her manager of circulating a sexually charged e-mail. italian premier silvio berlusconi is stepping down. he announced yesterday he is stepping down for the good of the country and will not run for office again. the news comes after berlusconi suffered two humiliating political defeats. first a powerful political ally suggested it was time for him to resign. then parliament narrowly approved a routine budget matter. it sent a clear signal that berlusconi no longer commands enough influence to govern. >> proof that you can tax just about anything. the new fee on a holiday this m. you can select the local charity you'd like to donate to. for more information head to our website at nbcwashington.com and search "give." >> great cause. a lot of great organizations out there that need your support. it's 6:11. time for weather and traffic op the ones. take a look at that gorgeous sky, joe. >> it is lovely of the here's tom. >> a beautiful start. clear. time for your weather and traffic on the ones at 6:11 on this wednesday morning, the 9th day of november. it's cold. temperatures in many locations are at or below freezing, especially in west virginia and virginia. closer to washington and arlington and fairfax counties, most locations in the mid-30s. it's also in the mid-30s in prince george's and montgomery counties. it's near 40 in washington and right by the bay. southern maryland, eastern shore, northern neck, all these counties in gray under a dense fog advisory until 10:00 this morning. and we'll have lots of sunshine. otherwise, where there's no fog, sunrise at 6:44. here's your day planner. again today soaring into the 60s this afternoon with increasing clouds ahead of a cool front that will bring some big changes beginning this evening. the clouds closing in. by midnight down to near 50. sunset at 5:00. and those big changes in place here for thursday and into veterans day and the weekend. a look at that at 6:21. danella, how's traffic? >> still seeing the accident, germantown, ridge road and brinks road. if you're on brinks road, the delays aren't that bad. ridge road, chopper tells me those delays are for about two miles as you make your commute this morning. the accident is blocking the intersection, but the delays are significant. if you're taking ridge road this morning. what you need to do is follow police direction and use caution at this intersection so you can make sure you get to your destination safely. if you're traveling i-270 at father hurley, i'm watching these cars slow down as they head towards the spur. no accidents, but seeing delays toward rockville. 6:12. 46 degrees. ahead, it never happened (announcer) still got flakes? maximum rength cine wipes out flakes. aloe and moisturizers keep hair healthy. country will notice this afternoon. students at penn state are showing support for football coach joe paterno as calls for him to step down are getting louder. the school's board of trustees says it will launch an independent investigation into the sexual abuse allegations that have rocked the university. angie goff has more on the late night developments and a report the university is planning paterno's exit. good morning, angie. >> good morning, eun. "the new york times" cites unnamed sources that penn state is preparing for the legendary football coach's departure. the support for paterno continues to build. >> we are penn state! >> in a rally organized on facebook, more than 300 students rallied outside the home of the head football coach. he came to the window, then walked outside, then thanked the fans and talked about the child sex abuse scandal. >> it's hard for me to tell you how much this means to me. you guys, i've lived for this place. i've lived for people like you guys and girls. the kids who are victims, i think we all ought to say a prayer for them. tough life when people do certain things to you. but anyway, you've been great. you're great. all right? >> the mob of support happened hours after paterno's weekly news conference was cancelled amid reports he would step down. his one time heir apparent, jerry sandusky, a former defensive coordinator, is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a time period of 15 years. paterno reported it to the board of supervisors, but now many want to know why he didn't do more. many want the administration to be held accountable. this picture circulating on twitter is of the paterno statue outside beaver stadium with a sign that reads, "may no act of ours bring shame." it's a sign pulled from penn state's alma mater. the trustees released a statement that says in part, "we cannot begin to express the combination of sorrow and anger that we feel about the allegations surrounding jerry sandusky. this special committee will be commissioned to determine what failures occurred, who is responsible, and what measures are necessary to ensure that this never happens at our university again and that those responsible are held fully accountable." right now paterno is preparing for the nittany lions final home game this weekend, but will it be paterno's last? that's still the big question. back to you. >> a lot of people want to know. angie goff live in our newsroom this morning. angie, thanks so much. this morning we're learning of even more celebrities that may have been spied on by that former british tabloid "news of the world." a former private investigator tells bbc news he was hired to spy on more than 100 people, mostly celebrities and public officials, that include angelina jolie, prince william, prince harry's former girlfriend, and parents of harry potter star daniel radcliffe. the newspaper closed in july after a phone hacking scandal, which included hacking into the phone of a young murder victim. it is now 6:18. nba players have just hours to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement or risk losing more games and potentially more money. owners set a 5:00 p.m. deadline for players to agree to a 50-50 split in league revenues. but nba stars say they aren't willing to agree to a bad deal f they refuse, commissioner david stern says players will only get 47% of the revenue. stern has not said how many games would be cancelled if players don't agree to the deal. former redskins player albert haynesworth is now a former patriot today. he made just three tackles this year and got into an argument with a coach in sunday's loss against the giants. he was told to sit on the bench after that. no home cooking advantage for the caps. they lost 5-2 to the stars last night at the verizon center. it was the caps' first home loss of the season and their second consecutive loss. they'll try to rebound from last night's defeat on friday night in new jersey when they take on the devils. this morning investigators say respiratory problems caused the death of trailblazing rapper heavy d. they say he collapsed at his beverly hills home yesterday after returning from a shopping trip. heavy d's real name was dwight meyers. he a long list of hits in the '80s and '90s, including "overweight lover" and "now that we found love." he also had a cameo in the movie "tower heist." . today the government will conduct its first ever nationwide test of the emergency alert system. at 2:00, it will be on all tv and radio stations throughout the country for about 30 seconds. you'll be advised it is just a test. federal officials say they chose to do the test today because it's near the end of hurricane season but before the start of baldwin ter weather. this morning putting up a real tree in your living room could cost a few cents more. the agricultural department approved a 15 cents tax on trees. it will help pay for a new promotion program. they are losing business because so many people now have fake trees in their homes. it's up to tree sellers as to whether they want to pass the new tax onto buyers. in these tough economic times, i bet you they do. just about 6:21 now. let's take another look at our forecast for today. another nice day, tom? >> yes, but it's cold now. here is the first light of day. this is the view from the skywatcher camera 200 feet above nebraska avenue in northwest washington looking off to the east. the eastern sky flooded with peaches and cream solar rays shooting up into the stratosphere. still dark at the surface. view from space, showing clouds closing in from the midwest. there are showers in ohio and indiana and parts of kentucky. that is drifting off to the east and may be coming our way here by this time tomorrow morning. right now it's cold throughout much of virginia and west virginia. it's at or below freezing. right near washington, prince george's, montgomery, arlington, fairfax, just in the mid-30s. near 40 in washington and by the bay. we also have dense fog, these counties in gray, charles, calvert, st. mary's, eastern shore, northern neck. dense fog advisory until 10:00 this morning. we'll have sunshine throughout the morning and clouds closing in this afternoon as temperatures climb into the upper 60s. tomorrow morning, mid-40s and cloudy and sprinkle as round. maybe passing showers off and on through the day on thursday. cooler. much colder weather for friday into the weekend. sunny. morning lows near freezing friday and saturday. friday afternoon only near 50. saturday afternoon mid-50s. near 60 sunday. a bit louder monday and tuesday. danella, how's traffic? still seeing the accident on germ germantown near ridge road and brinks road. i can tell you the tow truck is on the scene of the looks like this accident should be cleared very shortly. however, chopper 4 is flying over the area live right now and ridge road significant delays over two miles. look at how long this is as you're making your commute. heads up about this. give yourself extra time. hopefully, this accident will be cleared very, very soon. again, it's at the intersection of ridge and brinks road. you may want to just take other plans if you can. i'll be back with an update on that accident in about ten minutes. also got to show you the delays on i-66 at sully road. they continue as you make your way towards fairfax county parkway. joe and eun, back to you. >> that's the main route out of damascus. route 28, ridge road. that's tough. >> try to avoid it if you can. ahead the comment one world we promise not to send you overseas on your first day. day two, however, could be a totally different story. around here, students show up for their first day of co-op work and internships and are assigned to help one of over 1900 corporations, assignments that often lead to full - time career opportunities. it could be around the corner. it could be halfway around the world. no matter where our students go, their journey always begins at rochester institute of technology. pnc virtual wallet gathers your spending and saving in one place. credit and debit purchases, checks, bills, and other financial information. it lets you see the details as well as the big financial picture. so you can do more with your money. see what a complete view of your money can do for you at pncvirtualwallet.com. ♪ pnc bank. for the achiever in you. ♪ your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com. backzuing. how do you repay a stranger for helping to change your flat fire? one wisconsin woman helped repay the good samaritan by saving his life. a man and woman stopped to change a flat tire on saturday. minutes after they changed the tire and drove away, the man had a heart attack and pulled over to the side of the road. the two women they had just helped saw them pulled over, and they pulled over. one of them happened to be a nurse and performed cpr. the man is now in stable condition at a wisconsin hospital. >> great story. today you can get a free cup of java. just head over to your favorite brueggers bakery, get a free cup of coffee, and donate your spare change to charity in the same visit. the money will benefit the children's miracle network and they plan to give a portion of their proceeds from its annual bottomless mug sale to children's national medical center. that's a nice move. >> very nice. good place to get a bagel too. our time is 6:26. he is truly one of the bravest, and he is back on the job now. ahead at 6:45, how a fire. down to the wire. the votes are counted and now they have to be recounted. the race that could swing the power in virginia. it's always been my life. my father and my grandfather and now moved on down to my son. it's just what we do. >> plus bravery on display. why a local firefighter badly burned in a house fire says there was never any doubt he would return to the job. and make some room. the occupation here in washington is going to get a lot bigger. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. let's take a live look outside at 6:41. 47 degrees. traffic and weather on the ones. a cold start, but i think we're on a nice roll when it comes to the weather, tom. >> got a lemonade sunrise over there. it's coming up in about 15 minutes, and we'll have another cold start. be prepared to layer up this morning and then be ready to peel off the layers later because it will warm up. right now just near freezing through much of virginia and west virginia. in most of maryland it's above freezing. in montgomery and prince george's counties, mid-30s. district of columbia is around 40. mid-30s in arlington and fairfax, but the rest of virginia is a little bit below freezing. southern maryland, northern neck, and the eastern shore, these counties in gray under a dense fog advisory until 10:00 that includes charles, calvert, and st. mary's. and the fog there should be dissipating by later this morning. sunrise 6:44. we'll have a bright and sunny morning. this afternoon clouds closing in. the temperatures should be warming up. quite a dramatic rise from where we are now into the mid and perhaps even briefly upper 60s for an hour or so by midafternoon. big changes on the way tonight. a look at the evening planner at 6:41. danella, how's our traffic? . have some good news. the earlier accident in germantown at the intersection of ridge road and brinks road, it's clear. however, still seeing delays. i want to give you a workaround before i go live to shopper and show you the delays. connect to 124 over here. from 124 you can make a left on airpark road. that turns into shady grove road, and then you can connect back to i-270 from there. look at these delays. chopper's telling me over two mile backup as you're traveling on ridge road. again, you might want to jump on 124 there and take shady grove to get back on i-270. also tom mentioned dense fog on the roadways. here's a look at i-95 at the occoquan. very foggy and actually slow out of dale city, passing the occoquan, as you make your way towards lorton. joe and eun, back to you. >> danella, thanks very much. 6:33 right now. republicans in virginia are celebrating a rare feat this morning. the gop is on the verge of controlling both houses under a republican governor for only the second time since the civil war. megan mcgrath is live in loudoun county with the latest. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we're here in senate district 13. this is one of the new seats created through redistricting, and the republicans thought they could win it. indeed they did. the gop only needed two seats in order to effectively take control of the senate. when the votes were counted, republicans got that second seat. by the slimmest of margins. it looks like there's going to be some sort of a challenge. it all comes down to district 17. republican bryce reeves edged out democrat incumbent edd houck by just 86 votes. with so much at stake, it looks like we're headed for a recount. >> it is going to happen, as i've been told. i don't know all the details of what they are looking at down there in that state senate district. as you sometimes see in virginia, usually when you're ahead, when the recount starts, it's very unusual the results are overturned. we're optimistic. >> reporter: as you just heard, republicans optimistic they're going to hold on to that seat. democrats saying not so fast. this is very close. they'd like to see some sort of a recount. a lot at stake here. we're talking about basically control of the senate here. they just need that second seat in order to do that. a lot of people are going to be keeping a close eye on this one. and we will as well. back to you in the studio. >> megan mcgrath live in loudoun county. megan, thank you. don't forget for all the election results and decision 2011 coverage, log onto our website, nbcwashington.com. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to president obama. sarkozy made a comment that he told president obama he thinks netanyahu is a liar, and he also said he cannot stand the israeli leader. president obama apparently replied, you're fed up with him, but i have to deal with him every day, end quote. the white house has not commented on the exchange. this morning federal investigators are describing the mishandling of soldier remains at dover air force base as, quote, deeply troubling. an investigation of transports between 2008 and 2010 revealed body parts of three service members were lost and never recovered. one marine's body was also dismembered with family consent because his arm did not fit into his uniform. and on five locations, fetal remains were transported in reused boxes. they also criticized the air force for not doing enough to discipline those responsible. today a group of occupy wall street protesters is planning to take the demonstration on the road. they marched 240 miles from manhattan to d.c. for what's being dubbed occupy the highway. they hope to arrive on november 23rd, in time for the deadline for a congressional committee to establish tax cuts. organizers hope to pick up other protesters on the way. gun rights activists and occupy george mason demonstrators will each have rallies. the defense league will be protesting the school's weapons policy which makes it more difficult to carry firearms on campus. and occupy george mason protesters plan to demonstrate against what they call social and economic injustices. 6:36 now. 47 degrees. next at 6:00, the new >> so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. giant asteroid making a fly by. it is now 6:39. the "today" show is coming up next at 7:00. ann curry joins us to tell us what's coming up. >> good morning. a new investigation being launched into the shocking case of child sex abuse at the hands of a former coach at penn state university. as pressure intensifies on fabled head coach joe paterno. will he be forced to resign? also ahead this morning, herman cain answers new questions about the sexual misconduct allegations plaguing his campaign, and he vows to stay in the presidential race. while his accusers consider speaking out together, we have details on this story. then we're going to lighten things up. matt's been to africa and spain, as you know. where will his where in the world adventure take him today. he's going to reveal his secret locale this morning. plus twilight's taylor lawsuitner whlawsuit n lautner when we get started on a wednesday morning here on "today." it's been fun so far. >> can't wait to see the next reveal. thank you so much. we'll talk to you soon. take a look at video from nasa. this is an asteroid known as yu-55. it hurdled through space last evening on a path that brought it closer to the earth than the moon. yu-55 is the size of three m manhattan city blocks. yu-55 lived that long, i guess. >> didn't you say we should call him fred? >> we should. it's an odd name, yu-55. that's what they call asteroids and things like that. >> i guess so. 6:41. time for weather and traffic on the ones. meteorologist tom kierein with the latest on this lovely forecast. >> good morning. dawn over the region. live picture from the skywatcher camera on nebraska avenue looking straight up. just now seeing the sun here from 300 feet up. won't see it at the surface for another three minutes. there is the sun just beginning to appear from a little bit of fog there on the eastern horizon. there is denser fog to our south. that fog is going to be hanging around for another few hours. right now it's cold. it's just near 30 throughout much of virginia and west virginia. much of maryland's in the mid-30s. near 40 in washington and by the bay. these counties in gray under this dense fog advisory until 10:00 this morning. and later today with lots of sunshine, will warm into the 60s. increasing clouds by late afternoon. mid and upper 60s by midafternoon. tonight turning cooler under a cloudy sky. near 50 by midnight. big changes on the way tomorrow and into the weekend. i'll show you a crime committ t by a squirrel coming up at 6:51. danella, how's traffic? >> got to watch out for the crime and violent squirrels out there. on the roadways, 66 eastbound an accident at washington boulevard. this one's just kind of in the median here. it's not so bad. i am seeing delays on 66 outside of the beltway. right on nutley as you continue inside the beltway on i-66. i-95 in virginia i'm still seeing a lot of fog, and this is at the rest area. and on i-270, slow. it's almost like a parking lot. slow crawl from father hurley, your delays continue as you make your way towards shady grove. you're still a little slow as you make your way towards the spur. joe, back to you. >> danella, thanks very much. now to decision 2012. eight republican contenders will face off in a debate in michigan tonight hosted by cnbc. this as the first presidential caucus is less than two months away now. the debate is supposed to focus on the economy, but one candidate may take the center of attention. an attorney for one of the women accusing gop front-runner herman cain of sexual harassment wants to address the cases. sharon bialeck is one of four women making the allegations. she says that cain groped her. her attorney wants the senate to subpoena cain and all four women for a public hearing. one other woman says she received a five figure settlement back in 1999. she filed a complaint against cain with the national restaurant association where he worked. now she wants to go public with all of the accusers. >> so much is out there now, she feels she has to get the facts out there to justify her position. >> and new this morning, we're learning she filed a second complaint at her job. she accused an employer of sending a sexually charged e-mail. former state senator ulysses currie has been cleared of corruption charges. he is now speaking out about his trial. >> this has been a rough four years, almost four years, for my wife, my family, and i, and also my constituents. this is the greatest moment of my life. >> currie was acquitted of nine charges related to $245,000 in payments he received from the shoppers food warehouse chain. prosecutors said he traded legislative favors for the money. a couple of capitol hill staffers are learning it's probably not a great idea to throw a huge party in a house rented by your boss. the party led to several noise complaints from neighbors. police even responded. palazzo had rented the house over the columbus day weekend for a tailgate party before the navy-southern miss football game. he was not part of the party that caused the commotion. may day. may day. >> he nearly lost his life in a horrific house fire seven months ago today. this morning one d.c. firefighter's road to recovery finally ends with his return to work. his first shift with d.c. fire rescue squad 3 begins in just a few minutes from now. news 4's tracee wilkins is live at the firehouse in southeast d.c. with more. tracee, good morning. what a great day for him. >> reporter: this is a great day for him, eun. let me tell you that chuck ryan is the definition of a career firefighter. he entered his first firehouse and lived there at age 16 while he was still in high school. he volunteers at riverdale and also works here with rescue three. he returned to work today without the slightest bit of hesitation following the serious injuries he sustained. ryan was loading up his gear, prepared to go to work exactly 212 days after nearly half his body was moved working a northeast house fire. ryan was among five other firefighters entered last april when they entered the burning home believing there were people trapped inside that house. it turned out it was empty. ryan's injuries were the most extensive. he suffered second and third degree burns on most of his body. he almost lost four of his fingers, and he was in the hospital for 49 days. and underwent a number of surgeries. this morning, he's looking and feeling just fine. >> i feel great. i do. hopefully, this will be the next part to move on past the injuries. so i just want to keep on moving forward. >> reporter: just last friday 27-year-old maurice dumes of d.c. pleaded guilty to setting that fire that injured ryan along with other fires in the district. on some occasions he called 911 and helped to evacuate nearby homes around the fires he allegedly set. he's now facing arson charges in prince george's county as well. ryan says he's not focused on that man's charges. he's focused on getting back to work. tracee wilkins live this morning in southeast. eun, back to you in the studio. >> tracee, thanks so much. new from overnight, firefighters in the district are investigating a fire at an apartment complex. this happened near the intersection of 18th street and wyoming avenue. two floors of the apartment building were damaged, by no one was inside because the complex is undergoing renovations right now. no injuries were reported. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. two local airports are among the best in the country when it comes to getting your plane off the ground on time. dulles is the fifth best airport when it comes to on time departures. that's according to "travel and leisure" magazine. reagan scores even higher. it is ranked third. seattle seatac was named the best in terms of on time flights. as for bwi marshall, it has room for improvement. "travel and leisure" calls it the second worst airport in the country when it comes to delays. this morning there is a sign that encouraging jobs could be just around the corner. cnbc's brian schactman has more on that. good morning, brian. >> good morning, joe. we'll see about that, right? job openings at their highest levels in more than three years, which could suggest companies may increase hiring in the coming months, but competition absolutely fierce. the labor department says 4.2 people are vying for each available job. for perspective, in a healthy economy, that ratio is 2-1. some companies cautious about adding workers in an uncertain economy. toyota recalling 10,000 toyota and lexus vehicles to replace the crank shaft pulley on the v6 engine. it's possible the outer ring can become misaligned causing noise and a warning light could come on. the models are in the 2004 to 2006 model year. you might want to get it checked out and replaced. retailers rolling out holiday shopping apps. walmart with an enhanced iphone app allowing shoppers to add items to their list by speaking, talking, or scanning bar codes. as for apple, it's added new features, letting people buy products and pick them up at any apple store. i do want to point out stock futures strongly to the down side. dow down more than 250 points on more concerns about what's going on in italy. back to you. >> brian, thanks very much. we'll certainly have to watch that through the rest of the day. thanks very much.# womaring. crewsswg2t theg óa es woman's lost diamond and sapphire ring. metro crews shut doup the escalators at the dupont circle's metro station to search for alaina van horn's diamond and sapphire ring that belonged to her grandmother. it's valued at $12,000. van horn says she dropped it this weekend. >> i took off my left glove like this. i didn't hear anything. my mom turned around and said, you dropped something. then i heard ping, ping. we both got close like this, seeing what it was, and we saw the last piece of white gold as it went down right there. >> crews have not found the ring yet. van horn says she's glad metro helped her search for it but certainly hopes it will turn up soon. i bet she does. >> i would be panicking. can you imagine? not just the value of the ring, but it's her grandmother's. you can't replace it. bummer. 6:51. meteorologist tom kierein, we are happy about the forecast. >> it's cold now, though, but we'll have a rapid warmup later. here's a view of our sky from the skywatcher camera and from the city camera showing a clear sky at dawn over the potomac river. there's reagan national airport. the temperature there at reagan national with the sun over the horizon at 42. it is rather humid. this photo was september in by bun of our viewers. oh, the humanity. the squirrel ate the face right off that pumpkin. >> that hurts thinking about it. >> it's a delicacy, apparently, for squirrels. as joe would say, the pumpkin police are on its tail. somebody had to say it. right now around the region, it is cold. it's down to just near 30 degrees throughout much of maryland and virginia. and it's in the mid-30s in much of the nearby suburbs in prince george's, montgomery, arlington, and fairfax. check your pumpkin. right now it's near 40 in washington and right by the bay. we also have dense fog in southern maryland, northern neck, and eastern shore. this dense fog advisory is in effect until 10:00 this morning. we'll have sun this morning, and we'll have it warming into the afternoon with increasing clouds climbing into the 60s again today. then colder weather moving in tonight under a cloudy sky. we'll be down near 50 by midnight. and then during the day tomorrow, highs only in the 50s. cloudy. maybe some passing showers. and then clearing out and colder for friday and into the weekend. sunny, though, friday, saturday, and sunday. friday and saturday, highs only in the low 50s. morning lows near freezing. near 60 sunday. warmer monday, tuesday. danella, how's traffic? on the rails, we're talking about a delay of over an hour and a half on the brunswick train east number 890. metro and vre aren't reporting delays at this time. outer loop of the beltway at route 193, university boulevard, a travel speed right now is about 25 miles per hour in this area. and also, if you're making your commute this morning on i-95, you're slow at fairfax county parkway. delays continue onto 395. 395 you're slow from edsall passing duke as you make your way over the 14th street bridge. joe and eun, back to you. >> danella, thanks so much. decision 2011 coverage now. 86 votes. that is what the balance of power in virginia comes down to this morning. republicans on the verge of controlling both houses by a republican governor, which has happened only once since the civil war. news 4's megan mcgrath is live in loudoun county with more on this. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, joe. the gop needed just two seats in order to gain control of the senate. they got one seat here in district 13 and another in district 17. but only by the slimmest of margins. and the big question here today is will the gop be able to hang on to that seat. republican bryce reeves won by just 86 votes, and with so much at stake, a recount is expected. democrats say this is not over. they remain hopeful. republicans, though, they're confident. they say they've won the seat. >> the lawyers will be coming out from all over the country. there will be a lot of lawyers making a lot of money in the next few wieeks. i think it will turn out our way. >> there's so much at stake. i'm hopeful, and i hope a mess a age was sent today that virginia needs to stay on a moderate path and not swing so far to the right that we can never recover. >> reporter: so this is a close one. 86 votes separating the two candidates. the republicans say they have it. they're confident. a lot of people are going to be watching this race. we'll, of course, keep on top of it. back to you all in the studio. >> a lot of legislative battles hang in the balance. thanks very much, megan. and a big win for republicans in loudoun county. the gop swept the board of supervisors. governor bob mcdonnell is congratulating his fellow republicans saying, "over the course of this campaign, republican candidates have focused on providing common sense solutions to the challenges facing our citizens." in prince george's county, absentee ballots will decide the district 1 race for the city council in college park. only nine votes separate incumbent council member christine nagle. incumbent patrick rojon will likely reclaim the second seat for district 1. you can check specific races online. just log on to our website, nbcwashington.com. one day event to raise money for more than 900 local charities is now under way. >> here's the countdown clock. right now just 17 hours left for you to help out. nbc 4 is a partner in give2themax day. here's how it works. you can go to give2max.org. there you can select which local charity you would like to make a donation to. you can see which ones have received the most money so far. or head to our website at nbcwashington.com and search "give." >> great program. great program to raise some money. out the door forecast, tom. enjoy another mild afternoon today. big changes on the way after that. we should make it, though, into the mid and upper 60s by this afternoon. right now it's cold, near freezing throughout much of the region. that fog in southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore, will dissipate by midmorning. cloudy tomorrow. might have a few passing showers, highs in the upper 50s. much colder for friday. morning lows in the 30s for veterans day. afternoon highs mid-50s. sunny sunday too. a bit milder but still chilly. milder weather moves in monday, tuesday. danella, how's traffic? i think those pesky squirrels are to blame for this traffic now. inner loop of the beltway at robinson terminal. you've got to blame someone, right? travel speed in this area about 37 miles per hour, and you are bumper to bumper. also seeing delays on father hurley as you head south towards the spur. it is a slow trip for you. all the way through shady grove, all the way to the spur, no accidents to report, guys. back to you. >> i'm willing to blame squirrels for just about everything. >> me too. and that is "news 4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> day three of where in the world is matt lauer? did you guess right yesterday? we're back in 20 minutes. we're back 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. text save to 7-8836.