the only exception tonight south of warrenton and culpeper a little light rain or snow before dawn. lows 35 to 40. the temperature is above freezing. coming up we will talk about when the snow begins and how much it will accumulate. we will talk about the roadway temperatures, too and when the temperatures fall to 32 degrees because that will be critical in terms of folks trying to drive around tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. back to you. >> thank you, top. the winner preps across the area are one of the stories rewith are following. crews are loading up on the salt and sand ready to hit the road. plus, behind bars the two men accused of carjacking a senator's daughter will not be going anywhere anytime soon and the sad good-bye. one of the district's most famous residents will be going home to china for the first time. i'm bruce leshan at the national zoo. tai shan is leaving home. the beloved cub has reached what amounts to the teen years for pandas and it is time for him to go out in search of a chinese bride. actually a lot of chinese brides. the chinese governments limb back to add though this gene pool. there are 268 pandas in captivity and 1600 in the wild. >> maybe he will go back to china and have some babies. >> all: yea! >> reporter: wouldn't that be cool. >> all: yea! >> reporter: papa slept through the announce but mama snuggled briefly with her cub. they are on loan, too but the hope is china will let them stay awhile and maybe give us another cub. i'm armando trull in prince georges county where a bond hearing was held for the two suspects accused of carjacking senator bob corker's daughter on wednesday night this the district. julia corker identified 25-year- old 25year -old steven austin and 22-year-old dewalden couldn't nors as the man who stole her -- beat her and stole herta hoe. they are held on 75,000 there's bond for possession of stolen property. >> we would refer to the district for more serious charges. in my view awould allow them to go to the trick and face the carjacking charges there. contingent on them being sent here after the charges are done there. >> reporter: i'm audrey barnes. the first snow of the season is in the forecast. what kind of shape will the roads be in? >> we will deploy around 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to be ready. >> reporter: officials are converting leaf collection trucks in to snow equipment to get ready. transportation officials are pretreating the roads and so are crews in maryland. >> pretreatment is good for 72 hours so good through the weekend. >> reporter: road crews in dc, maryland and virginia are on stand by in case we get more snow than expected. thank you. this year maryland is trying a new combination to treat its roads. the state highway transportation is mixing sugar beat moolas sauce with salt brian to create a de-icing treatment. it is supposed to do a better job of sticking to the roads. sounds like that will work the district uses a similar solution. virginia using appetizing chemicals including salt and magnesium chloride. over to patranya bhoolsuwan in the 9 news now traffic center. the calm before the storm. you know about that. it is friday evening after all. >> no snow on the road yet. no weather problems there. we are seeing traffic especially when there is an accident 95 southbound a crash at dale city. delays are backed up to prince william parkway to the scene. watch if you are heading in that direction. it will be a rough one out there. inner loop, another bad accident as we look at the maps. route 50, three lanes are blocked. traffic is squeezing by to the right. as you can see the red cars there. it will be a rough ride for folks in the area and we have a commuter alert to tell you about this week. the ramp for northbound and southbound telegraph to the inner loop. this is in sand will be closed to traffic in an hour from now through sunday morning for a beltway widening initiative. so folks crews say stay away from the area if possible and if you want to detour take route 1, right on huntington and back to telegraph and that's the way to get around it. back to you. breaking news out of russia where an explosion has killed more than 100 people in a nightclub. this happened in perm, that's 270 miles northeast of moscow. russian news agencies say that explosion appeared to start with a pyrotechnics show inside the club. there were 200 people in there when it happened and you may remember a similar accident at a rhode island nightclub that killed 100 people back in 2003. we're also following a breaking story out of italy where in the last hour an american student was found guilty of killing her roommate. charlie d'agata is live with the latest on amanda knox. a lot of folks are watching this. >> derek, after two years in jail, one year pleading her innocence, amanda knox broke down in tears as she heard the guilty plea. she was found guilty and sentenced to 26 years in an italian prison. an italian jury delivered the verdict amanda knox feared, guilty of murder. they convicted the 22-year-old seattle student of killing her british roommate meredith kercher. earlier, knox made an emotional appeal and fluent italian. she urged the six jurors and two judges not to brand her with the mask of a killer but they did. her former boyfriend, was also convicted in the stabbing death. another man has already been found guilty and sentenced to 30 years for his involvement. jurors locked themselves away in this medieval courthouse to deliberate a year's worth of evidence in this complicated case. even before the verdict, knox's family pledged to keep fighting for her freedom. >> we'll continue to fight for her innocence. we'll go to the appeals process and do what it takes to get her out of here. >> reporter: the victim's family kept a low profile throughout the year-long trial saying they were simply praying for justice. amanda knox's family has already said they plan to appeal the case under italian law. they have two chances to do so, but that whole process can take years. derek? >> all right. charlie d'agata, thank you, sir. salahis didn't have much to say as they left a hearing in virginia. this video comes from the northern virginia daily. the salahis gained national recognition for getting in the white house state dinner last week without an invitation and today they have been ordered to appear over a $2,000 dispute with a former landscaper. the parties agreed to settle by selling an expensive watch. you will hear from the landscaper at 11:00 tonight. while the salahis were in that hearing, a police officer wrote them a ticket for an expired inspection sticker on their car. they also learned today they are being sued by montgomery county over a bounced check for $24,000. this afternoon, defense secretary robert gates signed the first orders deploying more troops to afghanistan. this is all part of president obama's new surge strategy. that plan will send another 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan over the next two or three months. the order comes the same day the u.s. military launched a new offensive in southern afghanistan. and the president made his case to the nation about afghanistan earlier this week. we heard from a lot of you in the mail bag about the plan but unfortunately all the stories about tiger woods and then the salahis at the white house state dinner pushed that to the side. but we heard from debbie from arlington who writes -- so tonight we want to know what do you think of the president's plan for afghanistan? are you satisfied with the exit strategy? and what about the latest offensive we are hearing about and sending another 30,000 troops. share your thoughts to mcginty -- mcginty's mail bag@wusa9.com. we have seen long lines as sarah palin is promoting the new book and now the former governor and vice presidential candidate is heading to our part of the world. she will sign books a the b.j.'s wholesale club in fairfax tomorrow from 11:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon. still to come, a massive recall has cans of a popular diet drink coming off the shelf. i'm scott broom in west virginia. coming up voters in this scenic spot go to the polls to decide the future of casino gambling in our . there are some early signs the hotly-contested gambling referendum in our region will turn out a lot of voters whatever the weather. scott broom is in charleston where supporters of casino table games are betting they can reverse the vote they lost two years ago. >> reporter: just 70 miles from washington, charlestown races and slots boasts the fourth largest slots operation in the nation. with room to add table games like craps, poker and roulette if local jefferson county voters would just say yes. >> we beat them before. >> reporter: that is reverend doug frame, leader of the church-based opposition that blocked table games in 2007. >> once again i hope that david can whip goliath. >> reporter: this time around, nothing is being left to chance by table game supporters. a well-funded campaign war room, near the casino, is the epicenter of the effort to reverse the 2007 outcome. >> we need these jobs now. >> reporter: casino manager says what is different this time is the economy. >> the unemployment rate is higher this time around than last time around. the economy isn't what it was two and a half years ago when we had the referendum so there is a sense of urgency. >> charlestown is promising 500 new jobs and 4 million a year to local schools and something else has changed since the last vote. it is on the other side of the river. that is maryland where voter approved slot machine gambling. so supporters of gambling over here say they have to stay competitive by staying one step ahead. >> what's next. >> reporter: the reverend call ate gambling arms race that he aims to stop again. >> amen. it sometimes feels like you don't have a stone for your slingshot, but we are working on it. >> reporter: in charlestown, west virginia, scott broom, 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> and so far the early voting on the issue has been three times heavier than last time around. jefferson county voters will decide the issue tomorrow. from the white house to your house, a lot of folks decorating this time of the year. still ahead a shopper alert to save you money as you try to deck the halls and topper is back with the weekend forecast. you want to keep it right here. a health alert for you now about a popular diet drink. the makers of slim-fast are recalling all of their canned diet drinks tonight because they could be contaminated with bacteria and that could lead to some ugly things like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. the spokesperson says the chances of those serious health problems are remote, but the company does not want to take any chances. ready to make over your home for the holidays? we have help to deck the halls in the shopper alert. the christmas depot.com has extreme deals. find ornaments from 99 cents. save money and energy when you light your home. get the ge 50 count multicolor and white led microchristmas lights at loews for $6. print out a coupon from our website and get them for $3 and michaels you will get garland, and greenery for 50% off. the watershed society is teaming up to clean up the and cost na ya river. this kicked off today at the store in southeast. giant appointed a green captain at every one of its dc stores. those champion green initiatives among store employees and customers. as of january 1st you will have to pay a nickel for paper or plastic bags at grocery stores so giant is getting ready with its own reusable bags. a leak of e-mails from a leading british climate center. the e-mails were stolen from the university of east hang lea and appear to show rom solve the leading climate scientists are talking about ways to shield data from public scrutiny and suppress other climate work. global warming skeptics say the mails prove a conspiracy to hide the evidence of climate change. late today the learned the president is changing his plans to attend the climate conference in copen hager. he was supposed be there next wednesday on the way to the nobel peace prize events in oslo. now the associated press says the president will be there on december 18th. you can learn more about the conference at wusa9.com. click on living green and that's where we will have updates from copenhagen once the conference gets going on monday. right now we want to get to monday. safely. it looks like it could be a little nasty tomorrow, top. >> for a first ice breaker it will be a decent storm, it will be a nor'easter. >> top likes this. >> yeah. take you to san angelo, texas which is southwest of dallas- ft. worth. it is south of 20, north of 10 and west of 35. snow. so snow there before chicago this year. snowed there before boston. and i tell you what reduced visibility there. that will be what we see tomorrow afternoon. it is supposed to snow tomorrow afternoon in to the evening. derek is shaking his head. let's go to the maps. next three days, winter weather advisory tomorrow. 40 but temperatures will fall all day. the rain, it starts as rain initially and changes to snow and heavy and steady in the afternoon. sunday nice for the redskins game, 43 and partly cloudy. if you want to stay indoors go to the bb and t classic. it benefits the childrens charities foundation. a great event. and maryland plays villanova. good stuff. tonight cloudy and cold. light rain or snow is possible well south and west of town by dawn. winds northeasterly at ten. all right. remember, if you see the snow, want to track it, watch our live doppler 24/7. come cast channel 203. i watch that at home occasionally. i know i have no life. and cox 805 and fios 461. the winter weather advisory in affect tomorrow. 35 to 40 and winds northeasterly at ten. by afternoon, snow one to three inches abode bet in the metro area with more north and west and highs in the 30s but falling all day. winds increasing 10 to 15. the first snow will begin as rain and turn to snow. the snow is steady and heavy between 3:00 p.m. and 7 p.m. temperatures will fall all day around 32 by 6:00 downtown. 54 at 5:00 north and west of town. some of the secondary roads will be slippery and everybody is below freezing on saturday night. it impacts the driving from 5:00 p.m. to saturday night to sunday morning. one to three inches across the metro area. two to four in the mountains and may slide this down at 11:00. we will let you know. we broke out the bread ometer. we had to do it. it is a decent storm. it adds up to a one, maybe a two. satellite-radar picture combined. there's the snow that went through dallas and houston and san angelo. and it's part of system that will develop in an area of low pressure off the coast, a nor'easter. colder air will wrap in behind it. next seven days, 43 on sunday. more rain on wednesday upper 40s. cold on thursday and windy, only 40 for a high. hold in the 40s next friday. about 46. check out my blog. we have more on the storm and the history of how many times it snows on december 5th. crazy. >> thank you, my brother. thank you, top. the weird news file. you know what they say, bone is for the dog, meat is for the man. but are you ready to sail on the meat ship? i don't think so. let's look at 17,000-calories of pure ocean going carnivore heaven. the it is coming to rape and pillage your arteries. look at the construction shall we. starts off innocent enough. a pasty hole soon to be filled with minced beef and bacon. and from there we fill the hole with sausages, the masts are made of franks and the sails, when we get to them, i assume we will, bacon. the whole thing looks gross but then it goes in the oven to bake for three days and when it comes out we have total meat ship. ramming speed. boom boom boom [ laughter ] q it's time for holiday bargain hunting. which requires a razor sharp eye and blazing speed. especially if you're shopping for a chevy. can we speed this up? not only do they come with the best deals of the year, they come with the best coverage in america. you snooze you lose. hey! i'll take it! let the chevy red tag event begin. now during the chevy red tag event, get 0 percent apr for 72 months on most '09 models. see red and save green. now at your local chevy dealer. this he mail bag tonight the fading sympathy for tiger woods. earlier almost all of you were saying the media ought to leave him alone and you don't care about his private life but tonight the backlash. bob bee from beltsville says this stuff is getting old. tiger woods and all of these sports stars and politicians get themselves in to these messes. they know exactly what they are doing. they know it is wrong and when they get caught they want sympathy, give me a break. and from olney, maryland, one says -- that tiger woods is a perfect example of anything is the problem. you thought tiger was better than the rest of us because he could play golf well? because he looked good on tv poe posing with the wife. of course he is like everyone else and that means complicated. not just one thing or the other. for you he has gone from hero to guest. for me i say he was always both. as for his kids he has plenty of time to show his kids what you do when you really mess up. i hope he can do it. that's our report. i will be back here tonight at 11:00 with anita. topper is keeping an you on the winter weather. we will see you then. bye-bye. at safeway, we make the joy of the season... deliciously affordable. with a commitment to thousands of new everyday low prices. ♪ and with club card specials like boneless... new york strip loin roast, $4.97 a pound, you can get all the holiday oohs and ahhs you want... when you want them, at the price you need. ♪ that's our promise. that's ingredients for life. safeway. "entertainment tonight" in high-definition. did tiger have sex on drugs with rachel uchitel? explosive developments in our "e.t." investigation. is rachel fearing for her safety? and the reported e-mail evidence that links her to tiger. plus, alleged mistress number two. only we have her intimate on-camera confession. >> one embarrassing thing of my life. >> dr. drew sounds off on tiger. >> he's got to agree to stop all this. george clooney with a big win. and brad and angelina's big night with son maddox. the latest news on hillary, halle. eva. >> it feels