Hour. The Afghan Government is welcoming president obamas decision to cut the number of american troops in half there before the end of this year. But a controversial nato strike is fueling new tension there. Reporter afghan president says its time for Afghan Soldiers to take charge of their countrys future. He says local Security Forces are ready to replace american troops. But many ordinary afghans say the u. S. Is leaving too soon. Over the next year, another 34,000 american troops will come home from afghanistan. This drawdown will continue and by the end of next year, our war in afghanistan will be over. Reporter president obama says the 11year conflict is finally coming to a close. But as he put the finishing touches on his state of the union address, the war claimed another round of victims. Afghan government Officials Say a nato air strike killed at least 10 civilians, half of them children, in the remote mountains of eastern afghanistan. Killing the innocent while hunting insurgents has long made this conflict controversial. Analysts say the countrys violence will likely continue long after u. S. Troops depart. I think what matters to them is getting their people out, getting their kids out, being able to talk about the victory but for afghans, that victory is continued war. Reporter the main task with bringing u. S. Troops home is now general joseph doneford. He became the most senior american commander in afghanistan and possibly the last. About 34,000 u. S. Troops will remain in afghanistan after the drawdown this year. President obama says withdrawals will happen in 2013 and eventually he says lead to the end of the war. The man to become natos Top Commander is considering retiring. John allens staff, a member, says he may take time to spend with his family before taking on another time. The general found himself caught up in a scandal with embarrassing emails. He was recently cleared of any wrongdoing. The man expected to be the next treasury secretary is urging congress to avoid those steep automatic cuts that take place next month. The comment was made during the confirmation hearings yesterday in the senate. President obamas former chief of staff says the 85 billion in cuts couldism pose self inflicted wounds to the economy and put too many jobs and businesses at risk. Hes expected to win confirmation later this month. Our time is 4 33. Were in for a mild valentines day but its expected to get a little chilly later on. That means youll have to hug and cuddle. Howard is back in two minutes to let you know if you need to bundle up before any dates tonight. We have more on a merger of two airlines. It pays to be a top dog. Well take a look at the day after the westminster for banana joe. Thanks for waking up with us. Wusa9 returns in two minutes. We have your weather good morning. We may have an isolated slick spot because of the wetness yesterday and temperatures at or just below freezing so be aware of that the next couple of hours but its going to turn out to be a great afternoon. Loads of sunshine. Highs in the upper 40s to low 50s. We have some arctic air lurking. Well let you know when it gets here in a few minutes. We go to monika with timesaver traffic. Northbound bw parkway ramp to eastbound route 50 is shut down right now. A car hit the guardrail. He was trying to get away from a traffic stop and hit the guardrail. Watch out for that activity. No problems in college park near route 1 heading for 95 in silver spring. Back to you. Thank you, monika. 4 37. Time for your first money segment of the morning. Jessica doyle has headlines. It was a mixed day. Were hoping for better days. Of course we have good news to report or big news for wall street. American airlines, u. S. Airways will announce this morning theyre merging. The boards agreed late last night. The new larger airline will keep the American Airlines name. Smu economists economics Professor Bernard weinstein says American Airlines bankruptcy helped it to compete. There will be higher airfares because there will be less competition. American will have a monopoly on virtually every route that they fly. The only hope is that there will be some competition from other airlines. American airlines bankruptcy judge as well as federal regulators must still approve this merger. If approved, u. S. Airways c. E. O. Will run the new company. It will be based out of fort worth, texas. That could be a big deal for wall street. Tech stocks could get a boost after Cisco Systems reported quarterly profits that beat estimates. Stocks mixed as the dow moves to an alltime high. The dow actually fell 35 points to close about 180 points shy of the new record. The nasdaq meantime rose by 10. And the s p 500 was up by a point. The u. S. Lags behind many of its rivals when it comes tots minimum wage. President comes to the minimum wage. The president is proposing 9. Australia tops it with nearly 17 an hour. Next comes france, england and japan. A new study finds foreign automakers still make the most dependable cars in america. Toyotas lexus brand tops the new jd powers and Associates List of most dependable vehicles for a second year in a row. Overall cars and trucks have become more reliable than ever. Lexus, porsche, lincoln and toyota owners reported the fewest problems last year. Jeep, mitsibishi, dodge and landover owners had the most. Finally banana joe is getting around. If you dont know who he is, hes the dog that won best in show at the Westminster Dog Show yesterday. He stopped by sandys new york city. He was treated to a steak on a silver platter. Today he will ring the opening bell at the new york stock exchange. One paw or two. Thats very funny. Good to be the top dog. He can eat whatever he wants. Doesnt have to worry about his girlish figure. Taking a cab in the district could have you seeing red soon. The food police are waging a new war. This time its against a Popular American drink they believe is entirely too sweet. Have some steak, buddy. Wusa9 returns in two minutes with those stories and of course your weather first. Keep it here. Good morning. Welcome back to wusa9. It is 4 42. Because im wearing ruffles, he called me [ inaudible ] im turning it over to the king of weather in the morning, howard bernstein, to get our forecast. You would make a nice appearance at the grammys. My cane is out back. Weather wise its a valentines day. You feel the love. Weve got a good start this morning but i have to caution you. Theres a little bit of fog but more importantly areas that had the rain and snow where it was in the mid30s yesterday, wet streets, we have some clearing going o. Temperatures are at, even below freezing in a few spots. If there isnt enough treatment, enough chemical left from previous storms, some slick spots could be developing out there very, very quickly. Be aware of that. Heres a look at a picturesque scene from clarksburg, maryland. Just took this this morning. This is courtesy of me where we had this is perfect snow. Courtesy of me. This is a perfect snow where it sticks to everything but the roads and sidewalks. I have to courtesy somebody, right, mike . Lets talk about the day planner where weve got sunshine. Temperatures today will be climbing into the mild 40s by lunch time. Mid40s by lunch time. 4 00 p. M. 50 degrees. The winds will go from the west to the south here this evening on the light side, 5, 6 miles an hour. Well be chilly by 8 00, down to 33. The 30s once again tonight. Theres that area of low pressure. This thing is racing off to the east. Behind it we have the breaks i was talking about which has led to the development of a little bit of fog in spots, especially north of town. New york, pennsylvania, zero visibility. One to two spots south, there will be pockets of lower advice i cants here and there lower visibilities here and there so watch out for that. Prince William County into fauquier county, even dumb fridays even dumfries, watch out for slick spots. Waldorf is 32. So is college park and bethesda. Also in reston. This is my concern over the next couple of hours, the isolated slick spots. Outside weve got some good visibilities. Just a touch of haze in the air here in washington. 35. Partly cloudy. Feels like 31 due to a west wind at 5 miles an hour. Pretty active Northern Branch of the jet stream. You can see these disturb badgeses coming through the zach disturb disturbances coming through the dakotas. The first one in wisconsin will stay north of us. Tomorrow night one of the disturb bangses with the cold front disturbances with the cold front will come through. Tomorrow night if everything got going, we have a little bit of snow out of this before it pulls away saturday morning. Today a nice, sunny day. A couple of clouds could come over tonight. Tomorrow starts all right but the rain showers here for the afternoon rush. We may have to go yellow alert tomorrow afternoon and evening. Look at this. Snow could be developing on this front as it pulls away from us and the cold air really pours in here for the weekend. Heres our forecast. 51 today. Very pleasant day. Tomorrow some late showers and again we may go jello alert yellow alert for tomorrow evening. Looks like a decent day but a much colder day on saturday, 39, with flurries around. Sunday also free turring newer featuring flurries. Windy and cold. Tuesday looks wet with a high around 50. Lets check in with monika samtani. Timesaver traffic. You hearing anything about any slick spots anywhere . No one is complaining about that, especially coming in from the north and the west. Everyone is just saying that the roads are wet and the grass is white with snow. So its really pretty out. By the way, there is an accident, a couple of them. One at 3 00 this morning on the inbound side of the 11th Street Bridge. An mpd officer involved there but minor injuries. He was transported to the hospital and should be okay. Another accident on the ramp from northbound 295 to the northbound side of the bw parkway. Because of that, the ramp is closed. Someone was trying to avoid a traffic stop and hit the guardrail will so be aware of that as well. Lets take you outside live and show what you it looks like here in college park. No issues to report as you leave route 1 into silver spring. Back to the maps. This time were heading to the other side of town. Northbound 95 in virginia looking good. No issues from dale city to springfield and up toward the district. Well take a live look at 395 right now on the northbound side. Youre looking great as well. No issues here at duke street heading for the 14th street bridge and into the district. And speaking of that, taxis in the district will rock the red. Thats the vote of a special Panel Established to consider and recommend a uniform color for cabs in the district. The move should bring relief to City Council Members who are also pushing for a onecolor solution. Now its up to the full d. C. Taxicab commission to determine whether city passengers will be seeing red in the future. What do you think . The Virginia State senate has passed its version of a plan to raise money for roads, bridges and mass transit. It differs a great deal from a plan passed by the house of delegates and a plan proposed by the governor. The senate plan would, get this, raise the taxes on gasoline rather than eliminate it. And the bill now heads to the house. It likely will then go to a Conference Committee where both chambers will try to hammer out a bill that they can agree on. Lets just hope that happens. Thank you, monika. Heres a look at this mornings health headlines. A womans blood may hold clues as to whether shes at increased risk for memory problems after menopause. Researchers found some women have platelets in their blood which are more likely to cause clots. It may lead to areas of brain damage after menopause which causes memory loss. More women are using the morning after pill or emergency contraceptives. These are pills used to stop unwanted pregnancies. A study for the centers for Disease Control found that from about 2006 to 2010, roughly 11 of sexually active women had used the emergency pills. Thats nearly triple the number from earlier in the decade. Women in their early 20s were the most likely to use these pills. Long, low intensity workouts may be better for you than short intense ones. Researchers in netherlands compared those who exercised vigorously for an hour each day and others who walked longer periods. It improved lefts of chest recall and fats chest recall and cholesterol and fats. Theres a Consumer Group that is waging war on soda. The center for the science of Public Interest is calling on the food and Drug Administration to limit the sugar content in soda and other sugary drinks. They say the current levels are harmful and can lead to obesity and even heart disease. When youre faced with a diabetes epidemic, a situation which twothirds of American Adults are overweight or obese, the government has a responsibility to do something about that. This is hard to believe. A 20 ounce bottle of soda has 16 teaspoons of she gar in it. Can you eat of sugar in it. Can you eat 16 teaspoons of sugar by itself . Calories on beverages have come down the last several years. Thats just for men. In case you forgot, todays valentines day. Its an important day for many women and men. You can bet several people will spend part of the day buying a lastminute gift for that special someone. That also means the stores need to be ready for all of us procrastinators. Delia goncalves is live at potomac wholesale where they help get the stores ready. Reporter good morning. It is a beautiful day. Im surrounded by these beautiful sweet flowers. It smells wonderful. Im right next to these cal lilies which are my favorite because these were at my wedding. I love them. Were going to talk to the owner of potomac floral wholesalers. You have hundreds of thousands of flowers. Were amongst many of them. Tell me about the value times day rush that you had. Well, its been a very good valentines day. We had no concern about the weather. Everything went well with that. Today were up here early trying to get the last of the beautiful flowers to the beautiful women of the washington, d. C. Area. Reporter and beyond. Im told you deliver out as far as richmond and pennsylvania. And charlottesville. Thats a very romantic place to go on valentines day too. Lets not forget charlottesville. Reporter you mentioned were starting early today but i know youve been here earlier. Some members here, some co workers told me youve been here since midnight, as early as midnight on some of the days. Correct. We have a lot of early people that come in. This is almost like a market. We do deliver but people, our clients also come here and during valentines day we will there will be getting the coffee ready, brewing, waiting for us to come. We start very early. Its almost like 24 7 operation during the holiday like this. Reporter is this one of your bigger days . Valentines day is definitely big. Mothers day is actually bigger. You have the proms, the weddings, mothers day. You have everything, spring. But valentines day is a big one. Reporter one of the guys told me everyone has a mom but not everyone has a valentines so thats why mothers day is a little bigger. We all know and every woman knows valentines day is a big day. It is. Reporter what are you doing for your valentine . Im taking my wife to a nice dinner. Shes going to get some flowers. Reporter im sure shes going to get a beautiful arrangement. I have no excuses. Reporter were going to talk more with jacob and take a look around the warehouse and take a look at all the beautiful flowers and the busyness thats going on in the packing and arrangement thats going on. Well see you in a half an hour. Maybe jacob, she doesnt want flowers. A little bobble here, a little bobble there. Well be back with delia and jacob at the beautiful flower mart there later on in our newscast. It really is quite nice. Managing the symptoms of autism. Its a big challenge for many families. One of the hurdles is helping kids recognize facial expressions like happy and sad. When they misinterpret those signs, it could lead to very uncomfortable situations in school. This stop, that inability to associate speech with emotion is really something that does hamper those. They think they can help with this. Coming up later at 6 15 in this weeks cool schools report, were going to show you an electronic bracelet theyre trying to develop that has parents and even m. I. T. Taking notice. Just in case you were wondering, we are now 46 days away from opening day at nationals park. The Washington Nationals will be hosting the florida marlins and you can see that game right here on wusa9 april 1. The first pitch is 1 05, one of 20 games well be carrying. With the relationship we have now with masn. Wusa9 will have full postgame coverage at 5 00, 6 00, 7 00 and 11 00. Were looking forward to it. Time for the question of the morning. A recent survey suggests 66 of americans had this when they were children. Is it a, a teddy bear, b, an imaginary friend, or c, a video game . Log on to the facebook fan page. Leave your response. Well reveal the answer during the 6 00 hour. 4 57. Your weather first on this friday eve. Were starting out with partly cloudy conditions, touch of tog. Watch out for the isolated slick spots. We have a few temperatures below freezing with wet roads. You know what that means. We have a nice sunny day ahead. 50 degrees. By 4 00 highs in the low 50s. Looking real nice. Monika . Two accidents right now. One on the inbound side of the 11th Street Bridge blocks the right lane. Another one blocks the ramp from the northbound bw parkway to eastbound route 50. Here in virginia in springfield, volumes still are light. Back to you guys. Thanks, monika. A popular novel series about the supernatural comes to life on the big screen with the release of beautiful creatures. Bigad shaban has a preview of the supernatural romance which hits see they ares theaters today. Reporter beautiful creatures is the story of a smalltown teenager who falls in love with a witch. Newcomers land the starring roles. Erin wright tells aaron wright tells me a famous director helped him break into show biz. I made a video for this girls bar mits today bar mitzvah. It was funny. Then we got a call from dream works. The accusations against my niece. Reporter Emma Thompson and jeremiah play brother and sister. Its based on a Popular Series of novels. Davis is hoping to reprise her role. I hope so. Then i would have some employment. Three years. Something tells me you dont need reporter the movies young stars hope their big break means more big screen success. Will this be a first in a series . If the movie is successful, yeah. Reporter and theyre confident their some natural love story will leave audiences wanting more. Bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. Good morning. Thank you no watching wusa9 at 5 00 a. M. Happy valentines day. Im andrea roane. Its also thursday which means youre almost to the weekend. Im mike hydeck. Thanks for joining us. Good morning, monika. Its also february 14. It is. Wow. I have nothing but weather. Go ahead. Like the red tie. Thank you very much. Happy valentines day. We have a nice day ahead but this morning could be an isolated slick spot. We had the rain and