staying in the 20s. you can see the clear skies we had from d.c. really north and east. some clouds skirting maryland, more in virginia. not as good a view of the eclipse. temperatures are running in the upper 20s at patuxent river. 30 down at the tappahannock airport. you go on the other side of the divide, you cross kaisers ridge, it is another world out there. i was skiing. i was skiing saturday up at blue knob. what a great day that was. 15 is the wind chill right now in gaithersburg. it is 4:31. hello, richard andrei. >> it looks like we get the all clear at this early hour including the beltway moving in month gomery county. no issues there. prince george's county, we get a clean bill of health there. route 4, route 5 and route 301, a light volume of traffic. in the district, pretty much the same thing on the main roads. >> no real problems or issues as we take the early look over at new york avenue. not too much going on there right now out in that particular area. 395 northbound virginia side quiet as you move from the beltway up to the 14th street bridge. left lane is blocked northbound for overnight roadwork. also in virginia, northbound 95 before you get to 395, we're still clear going from dumfries up to the mixing bowl. mike, andrea? >> thank you, richard. here is a look at some of the stories we've been following while you slept. >> we're now in the end of this year's only total lunar eclipse. around 1:41 this morning, the full moon began passing through the shadow, created by the earth blocking the sun's light. anyone in north and central america and a tiny sliver of south america could see the eclipse. >> last night in minneapolis, brett favre started what may have been his last nfl game. in the second quarter, he was sacked and slammed to the ground, reinjuring his surgically repaired shoulder. he would spend the rest of the game on the sidelines watching the chicago bears thump the vikings and win the nfc north crown. one other highlight came in the third quarter. there it is. devin hester returns the punt 64 yards for a touchdown. boy, is he fast. he broke the former redskin brian mitchell's return record. tester has 14 combined kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns. today, bob marshall is scheduled to talk to governor bob mcdonnell about his plans to draft a bill which would ban gays from serving in the virginia national guard. he says the senate's decision to repeal the 17-year-old policy will weaken military recruitment and increase pressure for a draft. president obama is set to sign the senate bill tomorrow. american commanders in afghanistan are pushing for increased ground attacks. into the tribal areas of pakistan. "the new york times" is reporting on its web site the u.s. military commanders believe that special operations forces could capture militants for interrogation and bring an intelligence windfall. until now though, the united states has mainly relied on unmanned drones to pursue militants based in pakistan. the senate is set to take up a key procedural vote on a nuclear arms treaty with russia. >> supporters of the s.t.a.r.t. treaty killed back four amendments. they have to vote in favor of cutting off debate today. >> busy day on capitol hill. first responders injured on 9- 11 head to the hill today. >> they're urging congress to pass a bill that would provide billions of dollars in healthcare for them. as reported, the group is staying in washington until the senate acts. >> we'll have more on that story a little while later. but another vote on the bill is expected either today are or wednesday. this is about giving money to those injured in the 9-11 attacks. 12 men are in rustdy in britain today, accused of plotting a large scale terror attack in the united kingdom. the men who have links to pakistan and bangladesh have been under surveillance for weeks. the arrests were the biggest antiterror roundup since april of last year. one british security official says the arrests aren't believed to be connected to any planned attack over the holiday season. working longer to qualify. state workers in maryland may be on the job a lot longer than they first thought. before they qualify for a certain employee benefit. toyota agrees to pay a multi-million dollar fine for the way it handled its last two recalls. óóóóóó welcome back. 4:38 on this tuesday morning. another cold one out there. a little breezy. wind chills are down in the teens. as far as this tuesday, it is going to break down as we look at the day planner for you. we'll have sunshine. but i think variably cloudy skies. by noon, up to 35. mid afternoon, 37. we'll top off 37, 38. by 6:00 p.m., still partly to mostly cloudy. a southside chance of a flurry. it is 4:38. here's richard andrei with your timesaver traffic. >> it looks like we still check in the all clear going from bowie to the beltway ramps. no problems or issues yet. we'll have a complete look at traffic in a few minutes around 4:47. mike, andrea? >> thank you, richard. first responder injured on 9-11 will be on capitol hill today. >> they're urging congress to pass a bill that would provide billions of dollars for their healthcare. as we report, they say they're going to stay in washington until the senate does something about it. >> reporter: first responders who got sick at ground zero are taking their fight to washington. >> this morning, the rally at the white house and capitol hill urging congress to pass a bill that would provide billions for their healthcare. the previous version passed the house but failed to get a vote in the senate this month. >> it is a lot of money. so, my early response is that i'm skeptical about that bill. >> but now that lawmakers have trimmed the final price tag and changed how to pay for it, supporters believe they have the votes to get the job done. >> the men and women who answer the call on september 11th, we're obligated to pass this bill for them. >> the house and senate would both need to approve the revised bill before the new congress convenes next month or else it is back to the drawing board. 14,000 first responders are currently living with illnesses they contracted after inhaling the dust at the world trade center site. >> i remember him coming home just covered in it. >> for some like greta, passage even now comes too late. a police officer, robert spent months at ground zero after the attacks. within four years, he had full- blown colorectal cancer. within six years, he was dead at the age of 43. >> pretty devastating. especially for such a great man. who, up until the end, said to me, i just want to get better. so i can go back to work. >> the hope now is congress will act soon. to help those who helped the country when it needed it most. now, another vote on the bill is expected either today or possibly wednesday. >> our time is coming up on 4:41. it is time for the first your money report of the morning. >> jessica doyle is here with the headlines from wall street. >> good morning, guys. wall street starts this morning still trying to crawl back to the two-year highs. we're very, very close and in overnight trading, asian stocks headed higher. checking wall street for you, the dow standing this morning at 11,478 after finishing the day down almost 14 points. but we have some green arrows here. the nasdaq up 6 points. s&p 500 climbed by 3 points. toyota says it is working hard to put its safety problems behind it. it has agreed to pay the u.s. u.s. government record fees. it will settle investigations into how the automaker dealt with recalls over gas pedals and steering relay rods. the settlement is on top of a $16 million fine toyota paid earlier this year. maryland state workers may have to work a little longer to qualify for pensions to retiree healthcare benefits. under new cost saving recommendations, employees would have to work for 15 years before being eligible for programs. it currently takes five years. they would have to work for ten years to become vested in the state's employee pension plan. this goes back to the state budget crunch situation that maryland and so many other states are facing right now. >> the governor said he's going to do what he can to cut to work on the deficit. >> thanks, jess. >> thank you, jessica. a popular natural cold remedy doesn't fare any better than a placebo in one recent study. >> a new vaccine may help treat one of the most deadly forms of cancer. that and more coming up. >> howard bernstein is here with weather first. we had pictures of him doing his winter solstice dance but he said don't show it on air. >> this will be daywise, is unwise, the shortest day of the year. still 24 hours along. >> outside, it will get longer starting tomorrow. >> it will take another two months before we start to warm up again. very cold month. one of the coldest we've seen in awhile. after having a very warm year. we started with a record snows. we had the record heat. a little bit of drought. now we're in the deep freeze once again. another chilly day. average high is 46. we won't come close to it. here is a look at the day planner for you. the momslikeme bus stop forecast. only a few more days left of the school year. partly to mostly cloudy. temps in the low 20s to the low 30s. sunrise at 7:21 sets about 4:47, 4:48. our day planner, we're variably cloudy skies. still partly sunny at 9:00. northwest wind at about 13. by the time we get toward midday, 35. still northwest wind on that 10 to 15. partly to mostly cloudy. 5:00 p.m. with a mid afternoon high at 37 to 38. the outside story, just a few flurries at worst although in the mountains, some snow showers. we're going to watch that. they may pick up another one, two, three inches of snow in spots in the west facing slopes there. it is going to stay chilly for the rest of the week. and then we get a little snow for christmas? some of the models indicating light snow potentially and potentially more than that. it depends on the storm track. we have 29 in washington. 28 in southern maryland. cambridge, easton. 29 fredericksburg. culpepper and orange stanton. got them beat by one at 22. oakland at 18. here are the wind chills running in the teens and low 20s. so, you're outside at all, yesterday, to be outside, a key pad on the garage door opener. mostly cloudy skies with a dew point of 17. with the north-northwest winds at 8, it feels like 21 degrees right now. weak little system pushing south and east. it is west coast. still in a kind strong and another storm here. so, boy, the parade keeps going on there in the west coast. many feet of snow up in the mountains and many inches of rain lower elevations. big, big flood concern out in california. for us, you'll notice the snow showers, snow flurries west virginia down to southwestern virginia headed toward lynchburg. maybe even raleigh but they're not headed toward us. for us, we're kind of on the border with the clouds and the clear skies. your future cast, we'll put it in motion through this morning. heavier clouds, well out to the west and southwest. even this afternoon, a mix of sunshine. some clouds, i think we'll be a little cloudier than the models are depicting. any rain well to the west here in kentucky, tennessee out toward parts of the deep south there. in huntsville and even atlanta, we'll see a few showers. around here, just some passing clouds tonight and again on wednesday. another little system looks like it is going to slide off to our west and southwest. now, the storm for the weekend, that's going to come across i- 20 through texas down south and potentially go this way. if it comes this way, not much. if it comes this way, ooh, saturday, maybe even into late saturday, early sunday, could be a lot more interesting around here. we're looking at temperatures around the next few days still below average. average is 36. a flurry can't be ruled out. tomorrow, 39. as we head toward the weekend, well, friday, 37, increasing clouds late. saturday, i've got light snow here for now with a coastal storm and a question mark. gotta watch that. 32. then sunday and monday behind the storm look kind of windy. if you're going up to the northeastern new england this weekend, they may be getting snow saturday night, sunday. they could have more problems through sunday. it is 4:48. here's richard andrei. he's got your timesaver traffic. >> it looks like we're still generally checking out clear conditions at this early hour. we do have some overnight construction in the process of clearing the virginia beltway. inner loop and outer loop between i-66 and the toll roads. no major delays as a result. i-66 not too far from there clear going eastbound from manassas toward 50 heading in toward the 494 ramps and heading into maryland on northbound i-270, the construction is still there at falls road. looks like northbound, the right lane taken away. that should be lifting fairly soon. as you head down from gaithersburg toward the beltway. prince george's county overnight roadwork wrapping up. montgomery county still quiet. all the way in through the i- 270 interchange. next traffic coming your way at the top of the hour at 5:01. mike, andrea? >> prison inmates sorting through your personal information like your social security number? believe it or not, this is happening in maryland and has been for about seven years now. the state uses inmates, they say, to process information from people who receive state- funded medical benefits. maryland health officials actually defend the practice saying using inmates saves money and they have not run into problems so far. some of the inmates though with access to this information are in prison for identity fraud. all of the stories we've done on identity fraud and how to protect yourself and it might be happening on the state level. >> they have all of the information that you need to create an identity. >> that's really scary. >> stay healthy. that's what it says. >> hearing the words lung cancer often means a grim prognosis. >> a new, experimental vaccine is giving hope to millions of patients all over the world. randall pinkston reports. >> everything is good. >> carol terry went to her doctor for swollen ankles last year but after listening to her breathing, her physician ordered an x-ray. >> i had an extremely large tumor. >> terri who had smoked for 45 years had stage two lung cancer. >> she had surgery to remove the tumor then underwent four rounds of debilitating chemotherapy. doctors suggested she join a new vaccine trial to stop the cancer from coming back. >> this is actually number eight today. >> the experimental vaccine exposes the body to a protein the tumor produces. that helps the body build up protection against the cancer that is attacking it. >> it is huge because it proves the concept of engaging the immune system in the fight against cancer. i cannot tell you how important that is. >> more than a million people die of lung cancer every year. because there's no effective screening, most lung cancers are discovered at an advanced stage. the vaccine doesn't prevent lung cancer but it gives patients a new weapon against the disease. >> it changes completely the way we treat lung cancer. it is a game changer. >> since it has few side effects, patients are able to do more. >> my youngest grandchild is 11. she was in a parade. you know, to see her dancing and everything was wonderful and hopefully, you know, be there to see her grow up. >> early vaccine test results are promising. while it is still experimental, terri is hopeful the vaccine will add years to her life. randall pinkston, new york. more than 400 centers in 33 countries are taking part in the study which is funded by glaxosmithkline. >> there's more evidence that echinacea will not help you fight the common cold. the study out of the university of wisconsin of 700 adults and kids found only the tiniest possible benefit came from echinacea. maybe half shaved off a -- half a day shaved off a week-long bout with sneezeels and sniffles. researchers say that's probably not worth the trouble or the cost when it comes to taking the supplement. >> we're in the final push for toy drive 9. you can see plenty of the donations are around our news set this morning. >> as many as we have on the new set, we could still use a little more help. especially for the littlest children up to 3 years of age and teenagers. if you want to give back and team up with us and the marines, you can donate a new unwrapped toy to any local fire station through december 22nd. you can get more information at wusa9.com. just click on toy drive 9. snow in the australian outback? it could happen. we'll have more on that coming up. >> the new movie from the cohen brothers may be their most violent. we'll have a preview. >> our time is 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> according to a recent survey, women drivers are 80% more likely to do this than men. a, get lost. b, scare their significant other. my wife would say that's me, actually. c, lock their keys in the vehicle. >> i've done two out of three. >> add your answer to our facebook page and we'll reveal the real one coming up. d4 [ female announcer ] dry, cracked hands? gold bond ultimate concentrated cream heals and protects like lotion can't. gold bond concentrated therapy. real medicine, ultimate healing. when i first saw the movie, it hit me i actually did it. now, it is like all of this press, i mean it is so new to me and everything is a first. >> there were high expectations for the remake. early reviews are scathing. and true grit was shut out of the golden globes. audiences will have the final say. los angeles. good morning and thank you for watching 9news now. it is 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. richard and andrea will have weather first in a moment. first over to howard. >> cold out there. cold month. other than what? one day -- >> the first day. >> 65. >> memory. >> early in the mornon