centreville, all the way to fairfax. tysons corner, the beltway looks good. no issues to report as you travel take from annandale. on the northbound side of i-95 coming from dumfries you're going to be okay. this is where the accident was overnight southbound at route 234. the big accident. everything has been cleared in case you heard about it. let's go back to the maps this time over to the bw parkway, route 50 through cheverly into the northeast corridor. a live look at the beltway north of town near new hampshire avenue. all clear at this time. andrea and mike? >> thank you, monika. wow, a scary, scary day for a couple of jewelry stores. for area police departments and some other detectives are trying to figure out why these places were robbed in broad daylight. >> exactly. both these heists happened while the stores were open for business. wusa9 reporter delia goncalves is live in arlington with more on the story. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning, andrea, mike. a very busy today for these jewelry stores when these robbers walked in, like you said, broad daylight and shoppers were inside the stores in one particular indication. the first robbery we know happened here at pentagon city mall, very busy as we all know. the second in downtown frederick in the middle of the day. now police in both jurisdictions working together to solve these crimes. take a look at some surveillance video of the attack ha happened tuesday -- attack that happened tuesday. at 1:30 at colonial jewelers in downtown frederick. the men force the employees down, spray one with pepper spray, smash into the jewelry case and take off with rolex watches. at pentagon city four men ran inside a store, forcing two employees out of the shop. they smashed the glass case 20 times with a hammer and take off with 27 rings worth $128,000. >> very bold behavior. it's a crowded mall, 11:00 a.m. broad daylight, a very bold behavior. this is something we haven't seen in arlington for a while. >> reporter: the suspects both we're told used hammers during their attack. so that's one common theme that we're seeing here and they both had getaway cars. one leaving downtown frederick. one leaving and smashing through the arm gate at the parking garage here at pentagon city mall. we'll have more on their brazen get aways and why police think they robbed the jewelry stores now. we'll have more on that in a half-hour. back to you. >> delia goncalves live in arlington, virginia. thanks, delia. investigators are still trying to figure out and identify the two people who died in a fire on tuesday. their bodies were burned so badly, investigators have not determined the genders yet. the flames tore through this boarded up apartment building on 17th and r streets in southeast d.c. neighbors believe that squatters had moved in trying to stay warm in itself building. three firefighter -- in the building. three firefighters suffered minor injuries trying to put out the thames. they're still trying to figure out the cause of the fire. the d.c. city council is expected to discuss what to do with the $400 million surplus left over from the last fiscal year. in his state of the district address last night, mayor vincent gray says the money is rirdz to go into the city's rainy -- required to go into the city's rainy day fund. >> we will see a prosperity dividend materialize, a dividend that i intend to invest into some strategic initiatives that advance important goals to our city. >> the mayor also touted the district's expanding population, booming real estate market and a huge drop in the murder rate. virginia governor bob mcdonnell is hoping to reform some funding for transportation now that a single bill passed in the statehouse. last night the democrats in the state senate rejected two measures which would have funded transportation projects. this comes on the same day the d.c. area was named the most congested in the country. governor mcdonnell issue add statement that said clearly this was about partisanship and not politics. virginians deserve far better from their elected officials he said. as of today any bill that hasn't been passed by either the house or senate is dead for the 2013 general assembly. 5:05. time for the latest your money report of the morning. >> jessica is here with a look at the headlines. not a bad day yesterday. >> no, let's cross our fingers. let's do it together. dow 14,000 maybe today. we're so, so close after stocks rebounded from their biggest loss of the year. there was news that home prices are sunning. we had strong earnings. all of that contributed to this big rally and investors may keep it going today. after the better than expected results from walt disney, gaming company zinga and restaurant chains chipotle and panera. the dow climbed 99 points in trade yesterday. it starts today just a smidge below 14,000, 13,979 to be exact. s that zach was up by -- the nasdaq was up by 40 and s&p 500 up by 15.5. it may be too late for some local workers. some government contractors and subcontractors have already started notifying employees they will be laid off in a few weeks unless lawmakers act quickly. and this continual limbo of lastmen stopgap measures is making future planning nearly impossible. >> the uncertainty is worse than the ultimate cuts. private sector companies are like living organisms. we can adapt but we need to know what the living conditions are going to be in order for us to adapt. we don't have that right now. >> the congressional budget office says sequestration could cost as many as one million jobs and put the u.s. back into a second recession. obviously we don't like to hear that here in washington because we've got three-quarters of the economy depending on the federal government with subcontractors and the like. >> all right, jess. >> what do we have in the next half hour? >> a beer battle is brewing, if you will. it's going to have a big impact on a bunch of local breweries. we've seen the craft brew scene in the washington area exploding. this has a big area of significance for them. so we'll talk about it. >> cheers. police release more details about what they found at the scene of that alabama child hostage standoff. the story is coming up. >> it's pretty scary, too. plus, the white house confirms the president will be making a major overseas trip. he'll do that next month. >> ahead in sports, the wizards pull themselves out of last place but now washington has another pro team that's the worst in their league. we'll be right back at a:08. just about 5:10 on this wednesday morning. we have a good day now. it's going to be sunny today. maybe breezy at times so the sun will be nice, especially after the all the cloudiness we had on tuesday. by lunch time 43. look for a high today about 45 in town. closer to 50 in fredricksburg. seven-day forecast with ups and downs, even some rain and a little bit of the white stuff to talk about when i see you in five minutes. right now here comes monika with timesaver traffic. northbound 95 looking heavier from route 644 up to the beltway. still not too bad. all lanes are open in the main and hov lanes heading up to 395 and the 14th street bridge. i'll be back with more in a few minutes. >> thanks, monika. here's a look at what's new this morning. a judge in florida has rejected a defense request to delay george zimmerman's murder trial. zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of shooting 17-year-old trayvon martin last february. the teenager was unarmed. zimmerman's trial is scheduled to start in june. authorities have revealed more about the hostage standoff in southeast alabama. it turns out there were two bombs inside that bunker where jimmy dykes was holding a 5- year-old boy. f.b.i. acts stormed that bunker monday, killed dykes. the boy whose first name is ethan is home safely with liz mom. today is his birthday. he turns 6. the white house has confirmed the president will travel to israel, the west bank and jordan. this will be the first time he's visited israel since taking office four years ago. during last year's campaign, mitt romney claimed the president was not supportive of israel, a claim the white house denies. well, the bitter cold is finally gone. >> now howard has a nice looking weekend for us in the seven-day forecast. details coming up we gotta sell the car. where would we even start? get the car. hi howard. get in. hi, good to see you. start with an actual written offer when selling your car, no strings attached. carmax. start here. hello. welcome back to 9news. it's 5:14 this wednesday morning. we are getting a little warmer today and maybe a little warmer through the rest of the week. >> yes, especially by next week temperatures get into the 50s. going to be an interesting friday up and down the eastern seaboard. got some rain likely here. our western suburbs may be talking about a little bit of wintry weather in the morning on friday. garrett county by the way under a for-hour delay for some of the -- two-hour tray for some of the -- delay for some of the snow they've been dealing with you. up to our north and east, potentially a major, major snowstorm for areas from new york up to boston. we'll watch that. let's get you going with a look at your day plan other this wednesday morning. topper and i are snow lovers. we have a saying about d.c. one and a half inches of snow for the season, four and a half at dulles. we live in a pit is what we say as far as snow is concerned. low 40s by noon, sunshine. 42 by 5:00 for that drive home. a couple of rain and snow showers yesterday. it did not amount to much. this morning you see plenty of clouds still around here, especially in the mountains where the clouds seem to hang tough. we're going to see a good deal of sunshine today. it's 31 in reston right now. leesburg 37. so they're a little warmer. 30 in manassas with 35 for rockville. hello scott. even stafford reports of 31. waldorf also 31 degrees. you can see the low clouds hanging over town reflecting some of the lights of d.c. even a sprinkle being reported at national on the hour. feeling like 35 with a very light south, southwesterly wind at 3 miles an hour. our weather headlines, we're going to turn bright but brisk today as temperatures get to the mid-40s. a little bit of a breeze. more clouds, colder temperatures on thursday. only about 40, 41. a cold, wet friday but with winter precip possible friday morning toward the shenandoah valley, i-81. going to have to start thinking about school issues but it will be dry for the ekend, a little cool saturday, better on sunday. the weather pattern is such we don't have a lot of cold air across the country. the real arctic stuff thanks to the storms crashing into the west coast will be pushed back into canada. the systems will move east across the country. there's also moisture and energy in the southern jet stream that will come up the east coast. by the time we get to friday, that's when things get more interesting. we're all quiet here this afternoon and tonight and tomorrow we'll see the clouds start to increase here during the day. here we are at lunch time. late thursday still quiet but look what happens thursday night into friday morning. as the moisture comes up our way by 5:00 a.m., we're raining. this is just one model. this is the coldest model i've seen but it has snow out in the shenandoah valley and far northern maryland, several inches. then this system really cranks the snow out in new york up to boston. 1 to 2 feet there. i can't tell whether or not i believe this just yet. i want to see some more runs but the potential for some wintry weather north and west of us friday morning is out there. 45 degrees, seasonable this afternoon, sunny. tonight 30 in town. low 20s north and west. tomorrow increasing clouds, 41. then a cold, wet friday, potentially a wintry start in our far western and northwestern suburbs with a high friday only of 40. over the weekend we're dry. milder sunday. more wet weather monday. monika samtani, you're not smiling a lot this wednesday morning. no, i'm not, am i? we have very important news for vre commuters. due to a broken rail and disabled train. right now there is no service at the brook station. no service at the brook station. at least a 30-minute delay. metro will honor your tickets. we'll keep you posted on that situation with vre this morning. 66 is looking good. no problems manassas into centreville into fairfax right now. let's take a live look near route 123 on the inbound side where you have the volume but no delays as you travel in toward fairfax and the beltway. back to the maps, this time to the other side of town. no problems if you're planning to head around the beltway. things are looking good as well in the northeast corridor right here on new york avenue. one more last live look outside. this time we're heading over to 270 at democracy boulevard. brake lights in hyattstown into clarksburg. back to you. >> thanks, monika. today dozens of area high school football players will decide where they'll spend the next four years of their careers. >> sign on the dotted line. plus, the capitals new head coach talks about what he's trying to tell his players. >> we want to take another look at our question of the morning on facebook at 5:19. the british heart foundation recently conducted a study on clothes in the workplace. according to the study, 25% of men said they wish women at work would do this. is it a, cover up more, b, stop wearing those animal prints and c, stop criticizing other female workers? >> our face toni king wrote b, i feel some animal prints are just better suited for casual dress, not the office. >> let us know came you think by going to -- snow what you think by going to our facebook page. welcome back. 5:22. your weather first on this wednesday morning. a few clouds out there and an isolated sprinkle but all in all a sunny day expected. temperatures in the low to mid- 30s. good deal of sun here, clouds still hanging out in the mountains. that will be the case, even at lunch time with a temperature of 43 in the district. 45 fredricksburg and 42 in easton. in the afternoon high temperatures in the mid-40s. more clouds coming for thursday . good morning, everybody. the washington capitals having a tough go of things this shortened season. new coach, new people playing new positions. the capitals just haven't been able to find a groove and unfortunately last night wasn't any different. the capitals did start on a high note honoring a hero last night hosting the maple leafs, a war hero anyways. not a good start for the red in the first period, two goals within two and a half minutes but the caps keep fighting. playing keepaway. a score on the power play to pull the caps within 1. but the maple leafs making it look easy. toronto beats washington 3-2. the capitals officially have the worst record in the nhl. >> you rung out of cliches to say to the guys obviously. we'll talk tomorrow and we'll figure out a plan on how to approach it because we have to rebound for thursday again. >> today is national signing day at high schools around the country. lots of players from the dmv moving on to play college football. of the area's top recruits, kendall fuller following his brothers to virginia tech. jonathan allen heading south to alabama. devin butler shows notre dame over michigan and e.j. elevenberry expected to become a seminole and derwin gray decided to stay close to home. that will do it for your sports. aim kristen berset. two area cities, two brazen robberies in both cases targeting jewelry. we'll have the very latest. it's 5:24. here's monika with problems on the roadways. >> that's right. a broken rail affecting vre service at the brooke station. expect at least a 30-minute delay on train 300. metro will honor your tickets and i think that's a good option. more weather and traffic coming more weather and traffic coming up in a more weather and traffic coming up in a this is dylan right here, this is dylan, and this is his big brother hayden. dylan's only five, but he's already been through two surgeries for brain tumors. and he just went through his second round of chemo. and this is their mother, dawn, who runs this loving and happy home. she too struggled with tumors. but that doesn't slow her down. her love of family comes first. their dad, phil, works two jobs, repairing copiers, and on weekends delivering newspapers. but the bills keep piling up, and the heating bill gets pushed off. when you learn about their difficulties, it just breaks your heart. when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like the berios. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm, call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold! good morning. welcome back to wusa9. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. it's wednesday. that means we're halfway there. we're glad you're with us. the coffee is kicking in. did you notice? >> just a little. he's louder. that's what we've noticed. howard is here. he has weather. >> going to be a better day than yesterday. >> happy birthday. >> weather wise-- >> they don't watch you. >> my wife is sleeping. >> so is mine. >> yesterday the clouds hung tough and we were looking at a few sprinkles and snow showers. 44 here by 1:00 with a high of 45 at 3:00. back to 42 by 5:00. a bit of a breeze at times with the northwesterly winds 5 to 10, gusting to 15. there goes the next little clipper system. we've had a series of them. there it goes. a few snow showers in boston back to buffalo. around here, a sprinkle actually been reported at national airport this past hour. they're at 35. mid-30s shenandoah valley to 32 hagerstown down to frederick. la plata, one of our cold spots along with the pax river naval air station. highs ranging from 40 near hagerstown to 50 down in fredricksburg and 45 here in the district. let's go over to monika samtani with timesaver traffic. i do have some news for vre commuters. you'll want to know due to a broken rail, there's no service at the brooke station. expect at least a 30-minute delay if not more on train 300. the good news for you, though, is that metro will honor your tickets. i think that's a great idea. just go ahead and use metro this morning and get yourself to work on time. otherwise 270 southbound, you've just got the slow traffic route 109 to 121. you can see the slow stretch right there, the yellow and the orange. other than that things still looking good. let's take a live look outside. first let's go over to the wilson bridge on the south side of town. no issues to report through oxon hill as you leave st. barnabas road. all of the southern maryland corridors are doing great. a last live look as well on the northbound side of i-95. traffic is looking good here in springfield. just a little slow and under the speed limit. back to you. today we could learn much more about a recent secret court proceeding in the chan la levy case. >> a judge is holding a hearing at the request of several media outlets to decide whether they can have access to transcripts and documents from the secret proceedings. levy as you may recall was a government intern. she disappeared in may 2001. her body was found a year late near rock creek park. in 2010, ingmar guandique was convicted of killing levy. he's currently serving a 60- year prison sentence. we might get a plea deal today in last summer's shooting at the family research council's headquarters. police say floyd corkins shot a security guard inside the conservative lobbying group's building in northwest washington. even though he was hit in the arm, the guard helped subdue the gunman before anyone else got hurt. corkins may be ready to plead guilty to some or all of the charges he faces. investigators on both sides of the potomac are trying to find the perpetrators in these two jewelry store robberies. you see this one here. they're smashing cases with a hammer. actually two stores fell victim to this and customers were around when the robberies happened. delia goncalves is in arlington with one of the stores. >> reporter: you can believe it? this is something you can see only in a movie. it's hard to believe in the middle of the day in a very busy store these robberies took place. it's important to tell you that no one was hurt. that is the very good news either in the attack that happened at pentagon city or the robbery that took place in downtown frederick. however, in frederick on tuesday, we can tell you that some female employees were sprayed with pepper spray. three men barge into the store around 1:30 in the afternoon. they ordered employees down to the floor at gunpoint, smashed into the jewelry case with a hammer that they reportedly left behind. on monday four suspects also used a hammer to smash into the glass case at zales in pentagon city stealing we're told $128,000 worth of rings. nice in arlington think the robberies and the upcoming valentine's day holiday could be linked. >> they could be trying to peddle these rings for a profit. right now we do not have any leads. we're asking for the public's assistance in identifying the individuals we show in the surveillance video. >> reporter: police are telling us the suspects in frederick took off in a dark colored suv or truck. there was also a getaway car here in pentagon city. the suspects we're told dreerve that get a-- grove that getaway car through the garage eventually busting straight through the mechanical arm gate to get out and to flee from the scene. coming up at 6:00, we'll let you know why these two very different communities could play a part in catching these suspects. back to you. >> let's hope so. thanks, delia. see you in a little bit. an officer and a suspect were wounded after a late night shooting. police responded to a domestic violence cool in northwest d.c. they -- call in northwest d.c. the man pulled a knife and stabbed an officer twice in the back. that's when police shot the suspect in the temple. the suspect is hospitalized in serious condition. the officer was treated and released. now to a lighter and much nicer story of an incredible feat. the national geographic society is the holder of a new guiness world record for the largest collection of recycled chews. national geographic kids collected tens of thousands shoes including from singer taylor swift and danica patrick. they also marked another record, the greatest number of people to walk 100 meters if 24 hours. that achievement dates back to october and was part of first lady michele obama's let's move campaign. >> neat video. that's a lot of shoes. 5:34. time for another your money segment. >> jessica is back with the high price of the latest smartphone. >> that's right. if you're thinking about upgrading to a 4g phone which so many of us are doing because the technology is available, you need to keep this in mind. your cell phone bill is probably going to go way up. the reason why, 4g phones can easily become data hogs. that mean the typical 4g cell phone plan most of us have nowadays simply doesn't go that far. cnn reports if data plans stay the same five years down the road, the average user's smartphone bill could grow by $40 a month. a lot of cash. this is according to the visual networking index released by cisco. the increase works out to be an extra $500 a year. adds up quick. the justice department is getting into a battle over beer. there are at least 2,000 local breweries around the country like port city in alexandria. they worry about one beer giant getting bigger and dominating the entire market. anheuser-busch already control abouts half of u.s. beer markets and now it wants to merge with corona which is the most popular imported beer. local brewers worry such a deal to coarse their products out of stores. >> there's a limited amount of shelf space out there. the big suppliers have influence over what goes into the set. if one supplier gets too big, then they ultimately can have the opportunity to limit that choice in the market. that's bad for consumers and it's interesting that the justice department agrees with that view. >> craft beer market has been gaining in popularity. the growing industry represents only 6% of the market at this point, but sales of large domestic beers, as they decline, craft beers are up 11%. as i said there were 2,000 local breweries across the country. it's consolidation almost the biggest boar brewers. >> a lot of beers on the market -- sam adams was a craft beer years ago and has gained amazing popularity like places like that. >> what happens is oftentimes the craft brews get really, really popular and then get snapped up by the big brewers. but they're doing really well. port city, as soon as they make the beer, it's shipped out the door. they can't produce enough for the demand out there. it's been around for 110 years. >> but today there's going to abbig change for tens of millions of americans who play monopoly. that sto howard here with your weather first. i just got outside on the weather terrace. mostly cloudy skies. you can see them also in our weather camera. boy, it's going to be a better day, though. we're going to get rid of the clouds. we'll turn mostly sunny, seasonably cold. highs 40 north to 50 south. i'll be back in a few minutes and tell but a storm on friday into saturday which could have major, major impacts across parts of the east coast. see you in a fiewp. right now inside -- in a fiewp. right now inside to monika. the beltway is looking good in prince george's county, east side of town basically between 95 and the wilson bridge. it looks like n. all lanes are -- like this. all lanes are open. back in a few. >> thank you, monika. i've been combing through the daily deals to find you some favorites. we're serving up help for the kiddos, helping them learn to read. google has a deal for hooked on phonics. this is a $299 value, you get it for $139. how about an auto detail. you can get your ride sparkling like new for 25 bucks. gilt city has a deal with eco detail and you're saving 50%. did you know it's the 25th anniversary of the movie "the princess bride." 40% less than other sites -- howard lovers it. pop it in the dvd player on valentine's day. guaranteed she's going to love it. if you have an offer you've seen or you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i would love to hear from you on facebook. >> it's a very cute movie. we're awaiting a huge announcement this morning about the future of gaming in america. >> gaming? how about gambling, monopoly. a fan vote ended at midnight. it will lead to one of the famous pieces being kicked off the board. you're off. would it be the wheelbarrow, the shoe, or the iron? those are all lame anyway. >> i like the shoe. >> ladies like shoes. >> the toy maker is going to announce which one got the boot. the losing piece will be replaced by one of the following which they will also announce today. the new one will either be robot, diamond ring, cat, helicopter or guitar. i sega tar. -- i say guitar. >> cat. >> it's got to be one. a newly disclosed memo from the justice department has the white house defending its policy on drones. that story is coming up. >> the ravens fans and niners fans are gone but you know what? the really big party is about to start in new orleans. >> it's restarting. >> that's right. they're starting again. as the n.f.l. clears out, the partiers are coming in. >> it is the 6th of february. here's who's celebrating a birthday today. he starred in the men in black series, rip thorn is 82. -- rip torn is 82. my lovely wife maggie, it's her birthday today. >> it's a great year. i remember it well. progressive claims. this is flo. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone. i knew you'd come. like i could stay away. you know i can't do this without you. you'll never have to. you're always there for me. shh! i'll get you a rental car. i could also use an umbrella. fall in love with progressive's claims service. hello. welcome back to wusa9. it is 5:46 on this wednesday morning. okay today but the weekend, umbrellas for us? up i long the east coast something a little different. >> ski areas on saturday in new england are going to get hammered starting friday. >> they're going to love it. >> new england has had a pretty good snow season compared to here. >> i have a new blog i posted a few moments ago that has the latest on friday's storm on the east coast. >> notice how people aren't really happy. they haven't had enough snow. they're going to get hammered. >> i'm a snow lover. i'm not going to deny it. it is going to be a tough time for them. but for snow lovers, you've been waiting for this one. there's always winners and losers. we're going to be winners today weather wise in the sense we're going to have sunny skies returning and temperatures in the mid-40s which is about average for this time of year. winds northwest at about 10 miles an hour. may gust to 15 at times. so could be a bit of a breeze at times. had a couple of rain and snow showers last night, yesterday afternoon. this morning more clouds than anything but i do think the sun will be returning in a few hours and it's going to be a better day. temperature of 31 right now for reston. ashburn 34. manassas at 30. dumfries one of our colder spots at 28. to our north college park 32 along with laurel and germantown this morning. as we look outside on our michael & son weather camera, you can see the clouds and the light reflecting off those clouds hanging over d.c. this morning. 35. reporting sprinkles at reagan national with a wind out of the south, southwest at 3 miles an hour and the humidity at 78%. but very few areas are actually reporting any precip. bright but brisk wednesday once the sun comes back. cloudy and colder tomorrow. right now a cold, wet friday but there are areas north and west of town that could be dealing with a wintry mix in the morning. some snow, sleet, maybe freezing rain for a while and dry for the weekend. around here if we get the timing and winter precip in the morning, you know what that means for delays and closings. storming coming in from the west coast. that pushes the jet stream up here. that means the cold, the really cold stuff will be pushed back into canada. so no real arctic outbreaks headed our way but enough cold air as some of the southern energy comes up the east coast toward later friday and saturday, we're talking about the threat for big snows there and just maybe a bit of wintry weather here late friday night, early saturday morning. clouds increasing on thursday. there's the moisture thursday afternoon. by thursday night, friday morning, look, i-81 corridor north of i-70 now we've got snow, sleet, freezing rain there. we'll have to see how long the cold air hangs on but there could be some problems north and west friday morning. 45 today, seasonable as the sun returns. 30 tonight, that's d.c. low 20s north and west. increasing clouds thursday, 41. friday cold and wet, 40, although in the morning again we'll watch for the wintry problems on the northern and western suburbs, the far north and western suburbs. the weekend looks dry and more rain and mild temperatures early next week. monika samtani, happy wednesday t. is for some but virginia rail riders it's not. it's unusual that we have problems on vre but we do this morning. we'll keep you posted on this situation. no service at the brooke station. a broken rail is the cause of this. train 300 is at least 30 minutes delayed. it could be affecting other trains as well. we're keeping an eye on the situation. in the meantime metro is honoring your tickets so go ahead and use metro this morning. will you be able to get o. let's go over to 270 on the southbound side. one long slow stretch right now coming out of frederick. it really gets heavy 109 to 121. pace improves through germantown down to the split. on the northbound side of i-95 looking normal from route 644 up to the beltway. it's also slowed down in dale city to woodbridge. another live look to the other side of town. the beltway at new hampshire half looks great. the brake lights form closer to university boulevard. back to you. >> thanks, monika. see you in a bit. it's 5:50 now. the rules on when the gust government can use -- the u.s. government can use drones on u.s. citizens is not as clear. >> susan mcginnis reports on the controversy. >> reporter: the white house is vigorously defending a justice department memo which says the administration can use drones to attack and kill american citizens working with terrorists. >> these strikes are legal. they are ethical and they are wise. >> reporter: the memo originally obtained by nbc news says killing a u.s. citizen who is a senior operational leader in al qaeda or an associated force is lawful under three conditions: the suspect is engaged in planning operations to kill americans, even if though specific attack is imminent, it's not possible to capture the suspect before the attack, and the operation follows applicable laws and war principles. but some on capitol hill are concerned the policy violates the constitutional right of american terror suspects to a trial by jury. and on tuesday the white house press corps pushed obama officials on the issue. >> this is giving legal justification for killing american citizens without any trial whatsoever, without any evidence. >> i would point you to the ample judicial precedent for the idea that someone who takes up arms against the united states in a war against the united states is an enemy and therefore could be targeted accordingly. >> reporter: so far there is one known case of an american being targeted with a drone strike. >> america cannot and will not win. >> reporter: anwar alwaki was killed at a yemen base in 2011. >> congress requested the justice department memo to get a better understanding of the drone policies. and they'll get to ask even more questions about it tomorrow. that's when john brennan, the nominee to become c.i.a. director has his confirmation hearing. he's considered the architect of the drone program. we're following what's new. at 5:52 several deaths are being reported in the solomon islands after an earthquake there in the south pacific triggered a tsunami. the waves are believed to have destroyed several towns on the islands although the tsunami warning for other areas were canceled later. today the boy scouts of america is expected to vote on a major policy change. since the 100 years of its founding they have banned openly gay scouts and scout leaders. the organization may drop its opposition but allow local groups to determine membership qualifications. the super bowl is cramping the style of mardi gras organizers in new orleans, at least when it comes to their timetable. as of last night the n.f.l. still had not finished clearing out the super dome or the convention center. the first of the big six crews parties at the convention center is tonight. >> parades start rolling again this evening. >> wow. >> it's like hose it down and start all over again. >> exactly. 5:53. there's still more than a month left in flu season. in the next hour what four foods could help you avoid coming down with it this year. >> we'll take you inside the brand new and largest uso station in the nation to see how it will help wounded warriors in our area. >> reporter: this time of year is a great time to be an identity thief. coming up at 6:05, i'll tell you why and how you can protect yourself. good a new facility billed at as the largest in uso history is open in fort belvoir. >>it's a place where troops and their families can get away from the hospital to relax a little bit. peggy fox got a look inside the 20,000 square sphoot home away from -- square foot home away from home. >> reporter: this beautiful huge new uso center in fort belvoir speaks louder than words. after 71 years of serving troops and families, the uso with the help of some big donors opened its biggest, fanciest center yet right here in fort belvoir. the heart of the center is this very large kitchen and dining area, a great place to cook a home cooked meal for lots of people. it's sure to get lots of use. the countertops are ada compliant which means people in wheelchairs will have no problems getting around. check out this large sports center, a place where you can watch your favorite game. if you need a little extra, there's a golf simulator around the corner. in between the theater and game room is a music room where you can make your own music. the uso center is close to the brand new military hospital and next door to the warrior transition complex which can house about 400 people. >> this is open later. it will be some place for them to go. it will be great and it's walking distance. most of them don't have cars. >> if they have tbi or ptsb or not able to get around, this is going to make it very convenient for them because they're able to get next door. >> reporter: fort belvoir commander colonel gadsen says it will help families as well as wounded warriors. >> my kids were 13 and 14 years old when i was wounded. they're in college now. but they were wounded also. and so, you know, life goes on. having your family around you is one of the most significant parts of healing. >> reporter: the center will probably serve mostly wounded warriors, but it is for all warriors and their families. in fort belvoir, peggy fox, wusa9. >> the uso has 160 family centers worldwide. there are 12 centers right in this region. another uh-1 is coming soon to walt -- another new one is coming soon to walter reed medical center. thank now watching wusa9 at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. wednesday is here. you're halfway there. aim mike hydeck. thanks for waking up with us. >> now you're awake too. >> caffeine is a wonderful thing. >>it's kicking in. >> howard's forecast is pretty nice today. good morning. >> good morning. a lot of cloudiness right now but we'll see sunshine return and we have a good looking wednesday around here. then thursday, friday, things start going downhill but the weekend is also looking all right. so good news there as well. here's a look at your day plan other this wednesday. a few clouds early but skies are going to become partly if not mostly sunny. by lunch time we're talking low 40s with highs in the mid-40s which is right where they should be for the 6th of february. winds out of the west, northwest at 10 miles an hour. so a decent day. yesterday afternoon, evening, had a few rain and snow showers. didn't amount to much but with a little bit of moisture, we have a touch of fog. areas in southeastern pennsylvania anded eastern shore. temperatures down to 32 in baltimore. 30 eastton. we've got

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