This hour. Well talk about his decision and new job. And syrias civil war is in a very dangerous perhaps decisive Tipping Point right now. Can the world prevent Bashar Al Assad from using chemical weapons against his own people . Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. We begin with president obama taking his battle to extend tax cuts for the middle class into the heart of the middle class suburb today. He visited a family just outside washington, d. C. , using their story to dramatize what will happen in just 26 days if he and congress cant make a deal on the socalled fiscal cliff. A source of great concern for so many people, everyones taxes will go up, will go up if theres no deal. Lets go live to our White House Correspondent dan lothian. Hes on the scene for us over at the white house. How did it go, dan . Reporter well, wolf, weve seen the president do this before in the past whenever hes locked in negotiations with lawmakers. He heads out on the road, either goes to a back
Downtown on pennsylvania avenue. D. C. Officials have privately said they would support moving the fbi to Prince Georges County, if the county would allow the redskins to move back to the district. Tom sherwood is here with new developments. Tom, whats the story . Doreen, d. C. , maryland and virginia all want the fbi headquarters. The redskins would be a new wrinkle. The fbi headquarters downtown has a hyper security focus. It creates a dead space along pennsylvania avenue, just blocks from the capitol. Now that the fbi is looking to move to a bigger and better space, Regional Business leaders say theres new hope the dead fbi block can be rebuilt with businesses, condos, retail and night life. This would be a very big shot in the arm to downtown washington, to better utilize that space. And god help us not that building. Not one of the it is the Ugliest Building in the city, and could be in the country. Reporter a regional battle has broken out between d. C. , maryland and virginia. P
Number of workers affected by fatigue appears small. But the problem is big. A study of Railroad Workers found when the effectiveness of tired workers fell below 70 , the risk of accidents went up. And the problem is you cant necessarily eliminate that shift. These people are building trains in rush hour. We have to figure out how they can do that job and be wellrested and alert. Reporter some workers load up on coffee to stay awake. Do that all of the time, and experts say it loses its affect. Bottom line, workers need sleep. Reporter in the coming months, metro plans to have some workers log their work and sleep habits. A small number of them will wear a monitor like a wristwatch that will record their activity 24 7. And this should help them determine, will, whether workers truly are getting enough sleep. Anything that helps. Thank you. Metro has been trying to make safety a priority for some workers. But some are still not getting the message. A survey of metro workers found a majo
Grandfather. Even made a little joke. Another radio station. Nice to see him having a sense of humor about it. He was referring to a prank by two australian deejays in which they called kates hospital, disguising their voices, very badly we must say, as the queen herself and prince charles. They persuaded two nurses they were the real deal despite all of their wackiness in the process. They also received some personal information about kates treatment. Those deejays apologized, saying that they fully expected to be hung up on immediately and saying they only meant to wish kate well. Back to you. A student takes a gun to school in Montgomery County. News4s Keith Russell is at the live desk with the details. Pat, around 8 00 this morning, 17yearold student Octavio Estevez was seen in rockville. He wasnt supposed to be on the property today. He was asked to leave. Once he was refused, he was arrested for trespassing. A 22 caliber handgun was discovered in his backpack. No bullets found wi
This video. 2,000 for me would be paying a months rent. Reporter back in washington, more gridlock. Its up to the republicans to decide how long its going to take. The president actually isnt interested in a balanced agreement. Reporter with both sides stuck on tax hikes for the top 2 , economists wonder if lawmakers will reach a deal this year. Im skeptical, but i do think it can be done next year. Reporter warning a Congressional Committee they would just have a month to negotiate in 2013 before the economy falls apart. By midfebruary it will be doing a lot of damage. Reporter democrats called on lawmakers to continue an extension to jobless benefits expiring this year. Now theyre at risk of losing their last lifeline. Reporter 25 days left, no deal yet. Republicans have word they may be losing ground on the tax hike debate. The latest poll shows the majority of voters actually trust the president and democrats on the issue. Reporting live on capitol hill, im danielle lee, news4. The