right mow on news # midday, gushing water in dupont circle this morning after a large water main break. businesses and residents try to work around it. >> it is a hit to nearly everyone's budget. oil prices have jumped, translating into higher prices at the gasoline pump. >> and panda watch. a glimmer of hope this morning a new panda could be born at the national zoo. "news 4 midday" begins right now. good morning and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. >> good morning. i'm joe krebs on this monday, the 11th of january, 2010. we are following some breaking news out of northwest washington, where crews are trying to fix a broken water main. it broke earlier thimorning at 17th and pea streets northwest in the dupont circle area. and that's where megan mcgrath is right now. she joins us live with the very latest. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning. i'm going to step out of the way here so you can take a live look at the area where the water is coming from there. you can see that's the location of the water main break. we're told it's a 20-inch water main, basically, right here near the intersection of "p" and 17th street. it's actually on 17th here. and it's been gurgling for quite some time. been going on since a little before 9:00 this morning. you can see that the water is still coming from the pavement. they have, kind of, shut it down a little bit here, while it's still coming out. it's nothing like what it was earlier this morning when this first happened. we have some eyewitness accounts of folks that say the water was actually shooting about 20 feet up into the air when it first occurred. a 20-inch water main, so this is a larger water main here. so a lot of water has spilled out into the area. they have not shut off the street. both "p" and 17th streets are open, although there is one lane of traffic on 17th that has been closed off. but you can still get thut area, and cars are just driving through the water that has gathered here at the intersection. should also mention that there's quite a bit of ice. it's very, very cold out here. and of course, when you get water like this that is freezing basically instantly in some parts on the sidewalks and on the streets. so they've got crews out here, salting it down, but it's still a slippery situation. we talked to some folks earlier who described what it all looked like when it happened. >> well, it's completely flooded, essentially. it's completely impossible on all four sides of the crossroads here and i'm not sure exactly what happened. >> a lot of pressure on it. so it went off like 20 feet up in the air. >> reporter: now it's all ice? >> now it's all ice. i was just sitting here, i don't know what happened. >> reporter: and we're still trying to get an update from wasa about the specifics of what happened. i will tell you, there is a construction crew that's in the area and when we arrived here on the scene, there were some construction trucks. we're not sure if that has anything to do with this or not. whether, perhaps, they struck the water main line while doing some work or whether it's just pure coincidence there happened to be a water main break nearby. but a 20-inch main, you can see the water that's accumulated here in the street. but as you can see with this van, they are allowing traffic to go through the area, but a little bit icy. a lot of folks having to jump over the water to get across the street and deal with the ice. so if you're traveling through the area, definitely keep your speeds down. if you're walking, watch out for those icy patches. joe, back to you. >> and wear your boots. >> reporter: oh, yeah. >> thanks very much, megan mcgrath. and crews are busy cleaning up another water main break in mclane. the intersection was blocked off for some time because of the break. the break has since been fixed and traffic is moving normally now. the search continues this midday for a man who police say broke into a glover park home and attacked the woman who live there had. police say the woman in the 3800 block of calvert street northwest woke up yterday morning to find a man in her bed. he got away before she had a chance to get a good look at him. she wasn't hurt, but says she is still terrified about what happened. >> we've heard several incidents of it happening around the neighborhood, and definitely hit home when it was at our house today. >> this happened just blocks from the georgetown university campus, where similar incidents have been reported in the past. police are not saying whether this case is connected to the other attacks. let's take a look outside right now. beautiful sky, blue sky, a lot of sunshine, but still quite cold temperatures. >> let's get a check on our first forecast from meteorologist tom kierein in the storm center. good morning, tom. >> hi, eun and joe. it is still below freezing. 29 degrees now in washington, at 11:00 in the morning, we still have lots of sunshine, but it's not helping out much. we're still just in the 20s all around the region, and it's subfreezing all around the region as well. out in the mountains this morning, got down to nearly 10 below zero in many locations. right now, it's only near 10 above zero there. and elsewhere, we're near 30. and it's going to continue to be cold here for the rest of the day. it should warm up, though, a little above freezing by later on this afternoon. and as we look at the view from space, we are getting a few flurries. a band of flurries now coming into the eastern panhandle of west virginia and western maryland. that will be zipping off to the north and east. another band out here in the ohio valley that will be, perhaps, arriving into the metro area later on this evening. between now and then, partly sunny as the clouds roll in from the west and a light breeze coming in out of the west-southwest. highs reaching the mid-30s this afternoon. a look at the rest of the week and a welcome warm-up on the way. details on that, we'll look into next weekend as well. that'll be in just a few minutes. eun and joe? >> okay, thanks very much, tom. >> let's check in with steve hirschhorn who's in for jerry edwards for an update on the midday traffic. >> good morning, eun, good morning, joe. take a look at the inner loop of the beltway. you'll see cones blocking the left side of the roadway, but fortunately right now with the light volume of traffic, no delays to get by. on the inner loop heading from connecticut avenue towards silver spring. over to springfield now, on the right-hand side, the southbound 95 trip, heading down towards newington. fortunately, also, we're not seeing major delays there as well, even though there's a work zone that begins south of newington and blocking the right lane. but, so far, so good. back to you. >> steve, thanks very much. not a great way to start a monday if you have to fill up the old gas guzzler. prices at the pump are going back up. the average price of gasoline is up 14 cents over a two-week period to $2.74. the price of regular gasoline in the district averages $2.83. maryland, $2.72. virginia, $2.65. in the next half hour, we're going to hear from some local drivers on how they're dealing with these recent hikes. this morning, republicans are calling on senate majority leader harry reid to step down. it comes with the release of the new book "game chge." it's about the 2008 presidential election, and in the book, reid is quoted making what many call racially insensitive remarks. kimberly suiters joins us now with the fallout from the book. kimberly, good morning. >> good morning, eun. well, are the comments racist are are they simply descriptive right here on page 36? no matter your view of the fire storm, the debate is likely fueling sales of this 464-page book, ranked number one right now on amazon.com. a little publicity, even the bad kind, rarely hurts book sales, and "game change" has got it. right as the little red book hits store shelves. >> isn't harry reid implying that a dark-skinned african-american who speaks in a way that some would consider more stereotypical would not be electable? >> well, there is actual political science that backs that up. >> reporter: on the "today" show mondaymorning, a debate over a quote from senate majority leader harry reid, that he believes candidate barack obama could win the 2008 presidential election in part because obama was "light-skinned," with "no negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." >> there is evidence to support that people, whether it's a matter of voting far white candidate or voting for a black candidate. if the person is very much different from who they are or what they perceive the mainstream to be, they are less likely to vote for that person. >> reporter: democrats are dismissing the quote as water under the campaign bridge. >> senator reid stepped up, acknowledged that they were wrong, apologized to the president. he's accepted the apology. and we're moving on. >> reporter: republicans say "game change" is evidence there must be a leadership change, but senator reid can't stay in power, and that democrats can't have it both ways. >> democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own, but if it comes from anyone else, it's racism. >> reporter: also in the book, accounts that during an angry rant over her husband's affair, elizabeth edwards ripped off her blouse in an airport terminal. and that hillary clinton warned president obama about her husband if she were to join his cabinet. "i can't control him, and at some point he'll be a problem," she reportedly said. and another quote from dick cheney, who allegedly called sarah palin a reckless choice as john mccain's running mate. many of these vignettes supposedly leaked just in time for the book's release. in calling for reid to step down, republicans say, hey, trent lott was ousted as gop leader for saying he wished segregationist strom thurmond had won the white house. lott did apologize and then resigned less than two weeks later. but democrats said it took lott four days to apologize while reid spoke to the president right away, and they claim that quick act of contrition makes all the difference. eun, back the you. >> kimberly suiters, kimberly, thank you. three u.s. service members were killed in afghanistan today in the deadliest day in nearly two months. nato says six troops, including three americans were killed by enemy forces in the southern part of the country. no further details are available at this time. the southern half of theountry has frequently been hit by attacks. most of the 30,000 additional american troops that president obama has ordered to afghanistan will be deployed there. secretary of state hillary clinton is headed to honolulu today, kicking off her ten-day trip to the western pacific. she'll visit australia, new zealand, and popular new guinea in an effort to strengthen u.s. relationships with major allies in that region. she plans to focus on terrorism, climate change, and energy security in her talks. defense secretary robert gates will join her in australia. well, folks at the national zoo are holding their breath today, hoping that one of their beloved pandas is pregnant. they artificially inseminated her over the weekend after she went into heat. they tried y ed tied to mate on, but to no avail. they typically have only 48 hours a year to conceive. and they are supposed to go back to china later this year, so this may be the last chance zoo officials have to impregnate her. >> trying to have a baby, got a big trip coming up. >> a lot of pressure on a little panda. >> a lot of stress. our time is now 11:11. the first federal try involving the state's efforts to outlaw same-sex marriages gets under way today. coming up, the latest on that case that could end up in front of the u.s. supreme court. plus, headed to jail today. the father of -- the father convicted of planning the balloon boy hoax spends his first night behind bars. and the big freeze is still causing some major problems across the south. we'll have the latest. plus, a closer look at our forecast. new today, north korea says it's finally willing to reach a peace treaty with the united states. the north's foreign ministry announced this morning that if that country can reach a treaty with the u.s., it will resume international talks about ending its nuclear program. a treaty would officially end the korean war and end all sanctions against that country. u.s. officials, however, say that the communist regime must improve its, quote, appalling human rights record before any change takes place. happening today, human rights activists are gathering outside the white house to protest the continued use of guantanamo bay. organizers of the group, witness against torture, are holding a demonstration at noon to demand that the president shut down the u.s. prison in cuba. e group also opposes holding prisoners without charge or trial in the united states. when president obama took office, he originally ordered the detention facility be shut down within one year. in california today -- >> in california today, the federal trial could begin that could eventually determine whether same-sex couples in the u.s. have a constitutiona right to marry. the proceedings, which are expected to last two to three weeks, involve a challenge to proposition 8. it's the gay marriage ban approved by california voters in november of 2008. experts say the case may eventually go to the u.s. supreme court, rardless of the california court's outcome. before today's trial, protesters gathered outside the courthouse and just minutes ago, the u.s. supreme court blocked the telecast of this trial. passengers are praising a united airlines pilot that landed their united airlines plane safely, despite problems with the landing gear. this happened yestery morning on a flight arriving from newark -- in newark from chicago. a passenger on the flight took this cell phone video after everyone was evacuated on the runway. none of the 53 people on board was injured, but many of them had great things to say about the pilot and his ability to land the plane safely. the incident shut down newark airport for about 20 minutes. and the father of the so-called balloon boy reported to jail this morning. richard heene will serve a 30-day sentence followed by 60 days of work release. he must also pay for the cost of the rescue effort, and that could be close to $50,000. heene still insists the whole ordeal was not a hoax and says he just pled guilty to charges to protect his wife from being deported to japan. well, we are finally in store from some relief from all this cold, tom. we can't wait. >> i know, but you're going to have to, unfortunately, for another two or three days. but we ought to finally get above our average high by the end of the week. and this morning, once again, we were off to another frigid start. and at this hour, we are looking at a sky that is streaked with a few high clouds. and under that, we've got the frozen waters of the potomac river. yes, this is certainly not that often we see the potomac frozen over. right now, still below freezing in washington. 29 degrees. where 23 of the last 27 days have been colder than average. so if you think it's been cold for a long time, it certainly has been. it's been about a month we have had this cold wave around. but it appears it's going to weaken and the pattern is going to change. let's take a look now at the temperatures at this hour. it is now into thepper 20s to near 30 degrees, from near washington to around the bay, the eastern shore, and across much of virginia and maryland and around the shenandoah valley, where this morning, it was down to around 10 degrees. we bottomed out in washington around the low 20s. out in elkins, west virginia, they were down to 8 below zero this morning. now it's only 9 above zero there. eastern shores, near 30 degrees. the only place even near the freezing mark is richmond, norfolk, a little bit above freezing, raleigh, durham, so we're not alone. this is a large, cold air mass that is in pce throughout the entire eastern half of the country. we do have a disturbance that's now coming down from the upper great lakes. and out ahead of that, it's triggering a few flurries. there's one band that stretches across pennsylvania down into western maryland, the panhandle of west virginia, a quick band of flurries, maybe a brief dusting from this. another band out here in the ohio valley. that is heading off to the east. here's the wider vi, showing the circulation around this area of low pressure at the surface. it's very weak. and there's some spin in the atmosphere in the midlevels. and it's very dry. it's continuing to move off to the east, so it does not have a lot of moisture with it. and as it does, it zips right to our north here, overnight tonight, it may bring a few flurries or a passing snow shower throughout mountains and perhaps pre-dawn here. but as it moves off to the north and east, it weakens and pulls away. we have another shot of some chilly weather, some colder than average will be moving in as high pressure moves in in a couple of days. then by that time,we we'll see that move off to the east and begin to warm up. but for today, another day of below-average temperatures. highs only reaching the mid-30s, perhaps upper 30s near the bay, and those high clouds streaking in from the west. and tonight, a few chances of a flurry or a passing snow shower from midevening until just past midnight, and we'll be near freezing, and then below freezing again into the low 20s tomorrow morning. sunset today is 5:06. the sunrise tomorrow, 7:26. and then, lots of sun back on tuesday. afternoon highs reaching the mid-30s. and then, cold again on wednesday morning, but finally, near the average high on wednesday, of 42 by the afternoon with lots of sun. and then, we'll begin to see our winds out of the southwest and begin to shift around and we'll get it into the mid-40s by thursday afternoon with lots of sun. and it looks like we'll repeat that again on friday and saturday too. and remaining dry through the ekend. there's going to be a storm passing through the carolinas and out to sea on sunday, but it looks like it's going to be far enough south of us that we'll probably stay away from any precipitation from that particular system. but if it does change and come farther to the north, we might get a little snow into the weekend. but right now, it appears that it is going to miss us and we will stay dry here, but a bit colder again, up near 40 degrees by sunday afternoon. after this long stretch of about a month than colder than average weather, finally some relief on the way. >> very good. thank you, tom. >> let's get another check of our midday traffic, steve hirschhorn. steve? >> joe, we'll start off with a map. you can see the cones in the center of your screen. new york avenue represented there, both ways, inbound, there's construction blocking a lane and outbound leaving downtown as you head past florida avenue northeast, you're going to find a lane blocked there, also for road work. delays both ways on new york avenue, as you head through northeast for your midday road work. over at springfield, we're still not seeing a major delay on southbound 95 into the work zone just beyond camel range starting at newington blocking the right lane. and over to maryland briefly, 270, a lot of pavement, not that many cars. looks very good. after several incidents early this morning, everything is moving well. >> thanks, steve. still ahead on "news 4 midday," a new look and new message outside the verizon center. we'll explain. plus, a look at what's new this year at north american's auto show. and nbc says they'll pull the plug on t"the jay leno sho." what's next for the late-night host? but first, what's hot on nbcwashington.com. it hard to breathe. but now that i'm breathing better with advair... i can enjoy the zoo with my grandkids. (announcer) for people with copd including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different frommos because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. we had a great day, grandpa! we sure did. ask your doctor how advair helpimprove lung function for better breathing. (announcer) find out how to get your first full prescription free at advaircopd.com. the verizon center is sporting a new team banner to greet fans. the wizards put the banner on the outside of the building with the slogan, "on your team, on the court, and in the community, wizards care." the new banner replaces the one taken down a few days ago that showed suspended wizards player gilbert arenas. the league and police are investigating allegations that arenas drew a gun on a teammate inside the locker room on christmas eve. if you're looking for a great deal meal at a great price, you are now in luck. today begins the start of restaurant week here in the district. nearly 180 local eateries are participating this year. you can get a three-course lunch for $20.10 or a three-course dinner for $35.10. the deal runs through sunday january 17th and you can find the list of the participating restaurants on our website at nbcwashington.com. 11:25 is your time now. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday," the average price of regular gasoline in the u.s. is up 14 cents over a three-week period. we'll look at what's causing the increase. plus, the search for 8-month-old baby continues. his mother is in jail, his father is hoping for a miracle. and the south is still an icebox this morning. but a january thaw is ahead. and tom kierein is going to beack to let us know whether we can look forward to any warmer temperatures headed our right now on "news 4 midday," police in the district are trying to find an intruder who attacked a woman in her own glover park home. they say a woman in the 800 block of calvert street northwest woke up yesterday morning to find a strange man lying in her bed. he got away before she could get a good look at him. well, this is the scene of 17th and "p" streets northwest just a short time ago. that's in the dupont circle area. a 20-inch wart main broke, sending water spilling out on to the streets. wasa is now on the scene. the national zoo is on panda watch this morning. officials there are weighing to see if mei xiang is pregnant. they attempted to impregnate her on sunday, if she is pregnant, it will take 90 to 185 days before a cub is born. if you haven't noticed, gas prices are not only creeping up, but zooming. the average gas pri for d.c. is $2.. maryland is $2.73. and for virginia, $2.65 cents. tracee wilkins has more on why you're paying more to fill up your tank. >> reporter: it appears that the higher gas prices snuck in with the new year along with all of this frigid cold and some analysts are saying that the cold weather is the reason why. if you're driving, looking for cheaper gas prices, you may notice, it's a pretty long drive these days. >> i usually either drive to virginia to get lower gas. i live in maryland. >> reporter: in the past month, gas prices shot up 14 cents, 7 cents in the past week alone, according to aaa. the national average for regular is now $2.74 a gallon. it was just $1.79 this time last year. >> i've been traveling up to ewg jersey, where gas is relatively cheap compared to here. >> at some stations like this exxon in d.c., near the key bridge, gas is already more than $3 a gallon for regular. analysts say prices are higher now than they've been in more than a year and consumers are noticing. >> once it hits $3.50, i'm going to start rethinking things, really. >> trying to tough it out, suck it up, and deal with it for now. >> reporter: analysts say frigid cold temperatures across much of the u.s. is one reason for higher prices. crude prices are also up to $82.50 a barrel, twice more than last year. >> i'm not sure what drives the prices up and down, but, again, no matter what the price is, i'm going to fill up. >> reporter: now, while our gas prices are not as high as what we sougaw in 2008, analysts are saying right now our national average for regular is higher than it was in all of 2009. some are predicting in coming weeks, we could see the national average for regular gasoline go above $3. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> aaa also says it does not help that the dollar is weakening at the same time refineries have begun planned shutdowns for seasonal maintenance. joe? this morning, d.c. police are investigating the shooting of a taxi cab driver in the dupont circle neighborhood. he was shot in the jaw on saturday night. his cab was found double parked in the 1700 block of "t" street northwest around 11:30. he was inside, unconscious -- or rather, he was conscious, but he was unable to talk. traffic around "t" street was blocked off while investigators looked for evidence. and this morning, a man is in serious condition after a freight train hit his car in prince george's county. this happened yesterday around 6:00 in the morning near baltimore avenue and ritz way in beltsville. the tracks there are below street level and down an embankment. and take a look at some of the pictures of the mangled mess of a car taken by rescue crews. fortunately, the man was able to jump out of the car before the train hit it. he's now being treated to injuries to his upper body. there are no train crossings in that area, so investigators are not sure what caused the man to drive off the road, down to the tracks below. this morning, d.c.'s police chief says eight arrests have already been made in a string of recent carjackings on capitol hill. according to chief cathy lanier, there was an increase in both armed and unarmed carjackings in the neighborhood between september and december. 12 carjackings occurred between the 10th -- 10th and 14th streets northeast, mostly on weekends. many of the targets were mothers with their children. investigators are trying to figure out what sparked a fire that destroyed a house in northern virginia. it happened last night on cherry drive in marefield. the fire started in the kitchen and quickly spread. dozens of firefighters were called to the scene, but there was little they could do to save the large house. they not only had to battle the flames, but had to battle the elements as well. >> there's just black ice everywhere. it's very cold. some steep grades in the back of the house. this was a two-alarm fire, bringing 60 firefighters to the scene. took us a little over an hour to bring this fire under control. >> no one was hurt, but the house is a total loss. three leesburg teens are still missing this morning, nearly five days after police say they ran away from a home. 14-year-old flores, 14-year-old allison, and 14-year-old jocelyn were dropped off last wednesday morning at smartsville middle school, but they were not in class that day. police are very concerned right now about their whereabouts, because of this very cold weather. across the country this morning, a desperate search continues for 8-month-old gabriel johnson. the young boy was last seen with his mother, elizabeth johnson, in san antonio, texas, last month. she was arrested last week after she told the boy's father she had killed their son. johnson then changed his story and told police he had given the boy to jack and tammi smith, a couple reportedly interested in adopting him. now they're calling the smiths persons of interest. they believe they're keeping information from investigators. this morning, they spoke on the "today" show. >> she never, ever gave any specific details. it was always, you know, whether it be a domestic violence shelter, the underground, whether it be a tel, whatever it was that she continued to tell me and now i feel like a fool, because knowing more stuff now after all the facts have been laid out in front of me, i see that she was lying to us and playing us. >> jack and tammi smith volunteered to take a polygraph test. the results have not been released, but the smiths say they're certain they passed it and that they have done nothing wrong. this cold snap has been brutal here in our area, but we aren't the only ones facing frigid weather right now. florida is dealing with freezing temperatures and as ron mott reports, this weather is more than just a nuisance, it's also quite costly. >> reporter: in florida this weekend, farmers like karl grooms had a lot of frozen fruit on their hands and a disturbing crunch under their feet, as temperatures continued to plummet overnight, threatening to wipe out crops and the profits that come with them. >> if you're a farmer, you need to deal with the elements and this is one of them. i wish it would be a little kind to us right now, put a warm hand down this way. >> reporter: that's why grooms is running the sprinklers, using ice as an insulator with hopes of keeping his straw berries growing. much of the nation is gripped by a deep freeze. frigid wintry weather wreaking havoc. from brisk winds in the pacific northwest to record snowfall around milwaukee. >> look out! >> reporter: to bumper cars in atlanta -- >> you just watch one, boom, and there's anotherne and there's another one. >> reporter: to a pair of teens drawing after falling through thin ice in a georgia lake. and keeping warm through it all will be pricey, especially in the northeast. where home heating oil is up $1 a gallon over last year. >> the winter weather conditions have come early, they've come hard, and they're the absolutely perfect elements for driving heating bills higher. >> reporter: winter delivering a wallop, just about everywhere you look. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. >> wow. what a mess out there. 11:36 now. time to take another look at our weather today. >> tom kierein is in the storm center. tom, good morning. >> the deep freeze certainly has affected us as well. and there is the frozen potomac river. live picture from our city camera this morning. and it is frozen over. all the area ponds are frozen over as well. remind the children, stay off the ice. it's very tempting, they want to go out there and slide around and play around, it's not thick enough. you fall through and we could have a tragedy like what happened down in georgia. as we look at the lows we had this morning, another frigid start on this january morning. got down to 21 degrees in washington. the low in prince george's county was in the upper teens. it got down into the low and mid-teens in montgomery and fairfax counties. arlington county got down near 20 degrees. and parts of central virginia were in the upper single digits, as well as the shenandoah valley. right near the bay, bottomed out in the teens, near 20. and it's climbed back up to near 30 right now. we should climb another five or six degrees for the afternoon high over the next two or three hours. out in the mountains, it was frigid. it got down below zero this morning, easily the coldest morning of the seasono far. it was 8 below zero elkins, west virginia, predawn. now it's just 9 above there. and over the last six hours, we've had a few high clouds drifting through. those are moving across the bay now. and we've got a lot of sunshine behind that, but there's another band of some clouds that are producing a f snow flurries out in western maryland and into the panhandle of west virginia and up into virginia. out ahead of that, just some clouds in and out this afternoon, with a light breeze out of the west-southwest, as highs make it into the mid-30s. then tonight, as that disturbance passes to our north, we'll have some clouds and maybe a few flurries in the air. perhaps a passing snow shower. and we'll be near freezing by midevening and then below freezing by midnight. and by dawn tomorrow, the low 20s. sunset today is 5:06. and the sunrise on tuesday at 7:26. and then tomorrow, sun returns, but still cold. highs only in the mid-30s again. cold again wednesday morning, but finally, we see a shift in this cold pattern. it looks like we'll be near 40 or so on wednesday with bright sunshine, mid-40s on thursday and friday, as well as into saturday with sunshine. perhaps a bit colder again on sunday. that's the way it looks right now. eun and joe? >> okay. thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's get a final check of our midday traffic. >> steve hirschhorn has the latest on the road conditions out there. hey, steve. >> good morning, eun, good morning, joe. that water main break in the due po month circle area, 17th street at "p" street, you can get by on 1th street, but if you're on "p" street, you'll be directed on southbound 17th street. you may want to head over to 16th street if you're heading that way. otherwise, springfield, not looking too bad despite the road work just out of camera range, blocking the right lane. the delay, not too bad so far. and over to the beltway in silver spring, looking very good both ways. inner loop and outer loop near coatesville road. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much, steve. today, the 2010 north american international auto show opens its doors in detroit with more than 50 automakers from around the world displaying their four-wheel eed wares. like last year, the auto show will be scaled back from its traditional extravagance among the still-sputtering economy. >> reporter: for the big three this year, it is all about small. the focus of the detroit auto show, efficient and affordable. >> the story really is about our leadership and fuel economy. >> reporter: but while they may not have a lot of trunk space, make no mistake, these cars are carrying a heavy load -- the future of the industry. since this time last year, gm and chrysler have been in and out of bankruptcy. gm, now mostly owned by the government, chrysler is runy fiat. meantime, toyota had its first loss in more than five decades, while pontiac, saturn, and saab are gone. so automakers say this year is about turning the old way upside down. >> kind of a celebration of the new, reconstituted general motors with four bras instead of seven or eight. >> reporter: now, there is still plenty of gee whiz here, like a truck that gives new meaning to tailgating, a built-in barbecue, flat screen, and a place for your keg. but the real future of flashy may be this. electric. several manufacturers are unveiling plug-ins and green is bigger than ever. while most are also appealing to the tech savvy, with a place to plug in your electronics. welcome to the future. one automaker's hope will finally be as bright as the cars they spent alleekend polishing. so normally the big talker might be the most expensive car. well, this year, it may be the cheapest. later this week, a few miles from the show, tata motors is unveiling the nano, which costs only $2,500. it would have to have some safety improvements to make it legal here in the u.s., but that puts the final cost around $10,000. the arizona cardinals are another step closer to going to the super bowl. arizona intercepted a pass from erin rogers in overtime to win 51-45. it was the highest-scoring game in playoff history. up next for the cardinals, the new orleans saints next saturday. baltimore ravens' fans are celebrating today after their team beat the new england patriots yesterday at foxborough. ray rice rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. tom brady was also off in his game, throwing three interceptions in the loss. the ravens head to indianapolis next week to take on the colts, a team that breaks the city of baltimore's heart nearly 30 years ago by moving out of the charmed city. >> in the middle of the night. >> that's right. >> that was awful. still ahead on "news 4 midday," stock prices enjoyed gains last week. we'll check on where stocks are headed today. and we'll introduce you to a mechanic who is going strong at 90 years old. stay with us. good morning and welcome back. china has overtaken germany as the world's largest exporter. exports from china leapt 17.7% in december from a year earlier. far above the 4% increase expected by economists. the rise underscores the strong science of revival china's economy has shown in recent months. but imports in china also surged almost 56%, meaning that china's trade surplus actually slipped a bit to $18.4 billion from $19.1 billion the year before. egypt's chief archaeologist saysoday that new tombs found in western cairo support the theory that the great pyramids were built by free workers, not slaves. the traditional belief is that slaves built the mammoth pyramids and were killed after the giant structuring were finished. but according to egypt's chief archaeologist, new tombs found in the 1990s reveal that they belong to workers and artisans. >> they used it in constructing the tombs. the upper areas we discovered are for the artisans. the overseer of the pyramid builders. the overseer of the workmen who moved the stones. all of this are written in hieroglyphics. >> the tombs are located on the western edge of cairo a are believed to be 4,500 years old. strong gains in overseas markets could mean higher stock prices here. >> let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live with more on that. >> right now the dow is only slightly higher, four or three points. the nasdaq and s&p are both trading lower. asian markets were higher overnight, like you mentioned. europe also positive, so some green arrow s around the world. not a ton here. investors looking past friday's jobs report. it did show a bigger than expected drop in payrolls last month, not dwelling on it, but instead might be focusing on earnings season that unofficially kicks off tonight with alcoa. the aluminum giant is expected to post its second straight quarterly profit. we have intel later this week as well. goldman sachs may expand a program requiring executives to donate part of their salaries to charity in a bid to cool criticism over big bank bonuses. "the new york times" says the company has been weighing the idea for months. goldman could pay out $22 billion in bonuses this year. and the 2010 north american international auto show is open today in detroit. lots of action with more than 50 automakers from around the world displaying their wares. ford unveiling the new 2012 focus. it will be the automaker's first truly global car, designed to be sold worldwide using almost all of the same parts. and joe and eun, i've actually heard that there is increased optimism this year at the show as opposed to in years past, in a year where we saw both gm and chrysler go into and emerge from bankruptcy. so i think things are looking better on the horizon, at least from the big wigs at these auto companies. hopefully that bodes well for the rest of us. >> hope is always the first step, i guess. hope so. thanks very much, courtney. have a great day. >> you too. >> thanks, courtney. a pennsylvania man loves his job so much that even at 90 years old, he's nowhere near retirement. miller stella started working in the coal mines at 16 and he served the country during the second world war. when the war ended, he worked around a few garages in wilgs berry, pennsylvania. he finally opened up his own, called stellas. he contributes his longevity to god, and although the cars that come through his shop have changed drastically, his work ethic have not. >> sometimes i feel sick and i come out here and work and by the time i get done working, my sickness is gone. >> he has people that come by and they don't have $10 or $20 and he takes them. >> miller says he first opened his garage in 1950, he charged $45 to replay four brakes. today he charges $119, which is still a good price. i'll have what he's having. our time is 11:49. 29 degrees. nbc's new drama, "the jay leno show" in pme-time has been canceled. so what does this mean for the late-night schedule? plus meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check on your forecast. stay with us. welcome back. "avatar" come fated the box office this weekend for the fourth straight weekend. james cameron's 3-d epic brought in $48.5 million. its earnings worldwide have banked $1.34 billion, second only to cameron's "titanic," which made $1.8 billion. nbc is shaking up its late-night lineup. the network is moving "the jay leno show" out of its 10:00 p.m. time slot. mark barger has more on what the move will mean for jay and nbc's other late-night stars. >> reporter: nbc's experiment with jay leno in prime-time is coming to an end. >> i still haven't unpacked from the last show they canceled. everything's still back there. >> reporter: nbc announced officially sunday that the "jay leno show" will leave its 10:00 p.m. time slot after february 12th. >> jay leno at 10:00 was okay for nbc. financially, it made sense for us. creatively, we thought it was a nice alternative to what else was on. but the lead-in that he was providing to the late local news for the affiliates was not as strong as they needed it to be. >> reporter: leno's move out of prime-time is having a ripple effect on nbc's late-night lineup that's still unsettled. nbc has offered leno a half-hour show at 11:35, moving "the tonight show" with conan o'brien at 12:05 and late-night with jimmy fallon to 1:05. but those talks are still ongoing. >> they said they understood the difficult position that nbc was in and that they would think about what i had to say and that we would have further conversations. >> reporter: also up in the air is what will fill leno's 10:00 p.m. time slot after the winter olympics. gaston says the network is still developing that plan. the only thing that is certain right now is that jay leno's leaving prime-time. in pasadena, mark barger, nbc news. >> jeff gaston says nbc was still making money off of the "jay leno show," despite the lower ratings. let's take a look at some of the stories we are following for news 4 this afternoon. >> pat lawson muse joins us in the studio with what's up this afternoon. >> happy monday to you. >> thank you. >> coming up this afternoon, we're working on several stories that you'll see beginning at 4:00. first at 4:00, it's a hormonal disorder seen in many pregnant women. we'll tell you about a new procedure that's being used to combat this common skin disorder. then at 5:00 tonight, eating healthy and staying fit. we should all be trying to do at least one of those. we'll tell you how a group of scientists have developed a simple way to tell you whether ur meals are a good fit or whether they're full of fat. those stories and all the day's latest news coming up today at 4:00. of course, i know neither of you eat food that's full of fat. >> oh, yeah. >> not into doughnuts or fried foods. >> no, but don't get me near ice cream. >> i'm into it, but don't eat it every day. >> cookies and cupcakes? >> oh, yeah, can't say no to sweets. fil check of the forecast now with tom. >> you would talk about food. here we are at the noon hour. everybody's getting hungry. temperatures around the region are certainly cold again. it's a good day for a hot soup for lunch. right now, 31 in silver spring, around the neighborhood network. so it is approaching the freezing mark there. and it's in the upper 20s, near 30 elsewhere around the blue ridge to the chesapeake bay. out of the mountains, though, still frigid. only in the teens and single digit there is, where they are getting a few snow flurries now. and we'll have a few clouds coming through later on this afternoon. partly sunny, cold, with a light breeze out of the south-southwest. d tonight, there is a chance of a few flurries this evening, perhaps just past midnight, or a passing brief snow shower. and sunset today is at 5:06. by then, we'll be back down to freezing and down into the low 20s tomorrow morning. on tuesday, morning clouds breaking up, sunshine back by late morning into the afternoon with highs reaching the mid-30s. then finally warming to near the average by wednesday afternoon. and thursday, we may even exceed the average high into the mid-40s or upper 40s in many locations with lots of sun. looks like we'll stay dry through the weekend. highs in the 40s on friday. perhaps low to mid-40s on saturday and a bit colder on sunday. it will be near 40. we'll see you tomorrow morning. that's the way it looks right now, eun and joe. >> thank you, tom. >> thanks very much, tom. that's all the news, but for this. hundreds of people in the district got caught with their pants down on purpose. this is all part of the ninth annual no pants subway ride. it's exactly what it sounds like. briefs and boxers abounding. a group of people gathered on the d.c. metro and stripped down to their underwear. where? there. the same thing happened in new york city as well. these people weren't trying to raise money or awareness, they just wanted to ride the metro without pants. the stunt was organized by improv everywhere, a group whose mission is, it says, to cause scenes of chaos and joy and perhaps embarrassment for others in public places. >> see the look on the faces of the people who have to sit next to them. >> i'm not believing this, i'm not believing this. >> oh, man. that does it for "news 4 midday." thanks for joining us. be sure to tune into "daily connection" at 3. >> and we'll be back tomorrow morning. until then, hope you have a terrific day. >> see you tomorrow. >> bye.
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