broken. >> the senate's final test for the tax-cut compromise. "good morning washington" continues right now. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> good morning, washington. it is 6:00 on this wednesday, december 15. great to have you along with us on this wednesday morning. dom pamela brown. >> i am greta kreuz, in for alison starling. important news for students and parents. rappahannock county, va., schools closed because of the water issue. schools in garrett county, md., and morgan county, west virginia, have two-hour delays for the schools. we will check in with lisa baden in a moment. first we started to meteorologist adam caskey. today is a repeat of yesterday, though we have changes on the way.

>> the cold air will stick around. gul this morning like yesterday morning, but it is not as gusty. you do feel the wind and you will notice it all day, but it will not be howling. 23 at reagan national, 23 a culprit. 20 at martinsburg. 20 in hagerstown. sunny and cool today, breezy, rise in the low '30's. increasing clouds tonight. that will lead to a few midday light snow showers tomorrow, just a trace of snow to maybe an inch and a hal especially south of the metro area. a fabulous trip as far as traffic on route 5, 228, 210, northbound on route 4 into town. but there's a broken-down vehicle in the travel lane before dowerhouse road.

there are no issues on 270, but heavier volume. more of your neighbors in the road close to the beltway at colesville road. back to you. >> thank you. 6:01. it is bitterly cold and it's tough to be on the streets. that's what dozens of people are dealing with brown the area. >> brianne carter is bundled up on the streets of bethesda. how is it right now? i can imagine it is bitterly cold. >> it is. about thecaskey spoke slight improvement. that's good news. we expect some in guests today. but certainly the bitter cold weather is taking its toll on a lot of people across the region. another day and another round of bone-chilling temperatures. >> it is freezing. >> last night dozens of people if in this gaithersburg apartment complex found themselves without heat for

after an electrical problem with the boiler. the fire marshal declared a section of the apartment unsafe. they brought a vehicle to keep the displaced residents warm. firefighters in landover worked to battle a blaze. >> with temperatures at 20 degrees and the wind from 20-25 miles an hour, windchills below zero, there is ice all over everything here. >> talking about the windchills, could lead to a dangerously low temperatures. remember to bundle up if you are headed out today. brianne carter, abc 7 news. the canadian military whoued hundreds of people became trapped on an ontario highway during a blizzard. more coming up in a live report in a few minutes. checking news on capitol

hill, the senate today is expected to take a final vote on the tax-cut compromise that was negotiated by president obama and congressional republicans. the bill would temporarily extend all of the bush becerra tax cuts and jobless benefits for millions of americans. despite reservations, the measure is expected to pass. the house could also take a bill to repeal the military's longstanding ban on openly gay troops. democrats hope it will put pressure on the senate to act on ending the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. some advocates say it could be their best shot. breaking news from iran. 38 people are dead after a pair of suicide bombings at a mosque in tehran. there reportedly targeted shi'ite worshipers at a morning ceremony. no one has claimed responsibility. if we will bring you more details as they become available. the fbi has broken up an

alleged bomb plot born on facebook. the suspect plans to target metro as well as sidewalks in georgetown. ben is at the clarendon metro station with details on the investigation. what can you tell us? >> this is the second four of attack on metro in the past few months. the suspect is 26-year-old awais younis from arlington. he was caught on facebook. he was studying to be a doctor at george mason university. he spoke with a girlfriend on facebook about building pipe bombs and planting them in sac metro cars and in manholes in georgetown. when a facebook friend told him he would never do it, younis told her, "watch me." he described the type of trap nell that created the most damage. he also said christmas trees would soon go boom. and the was a picture of him in

front of the 10th of explosives and holding an ak-47. the caption read, "my family business." we will have highlights of an interview with his father, later in the morning. >> thank you. looking at the day ahead, people living in anacostia plan to protest a recent spike in crime. they are calling for more police in their neighborhood and they want the noaa administration to come up with a plan to reduce crime. the protest is set for 6:30 this morning. that's at the corner of martin luther king jr. avenue and w st. se. >> montgomery county schools are bracing for big budget cuts. the county council voted yesterday to cut more than $32 million out of the budget. and $90 million will come from the school system. the council rejected plans to remove 9 police officers from the county's schools. the county is trying to fill a $300 million budget >.

there will be lane closures on the beltway during the overnight hours because of the 495 hot lanes project. four southbound lanes and three northbound lanes will be closed at route 7 from midnight tonight until 5:30 tomorrow morning. the san closures are planned during the overnight hours beginning at midnight tomorrow. 6:07, 22 degrees on this wednesday morning. >> still ahead, there's no relief from the arctic blast. record low temperatures stretching from florida to the state of maine. first, another day to bundle up. traffic and weather every ten

>> i am when the morris from the salvation army, reminding you to give generously this christmas season. >> good morning, washington. welcome back and good morning. 6:10, 4 traffic and weather every ten minutes. >> we are complaining about the cold. if so many people up and down the east coast and in the midwest have it a lot worse than we do. >> we are not the only ones feeling this. all the way down to florida they expect single digits. single digits in the midsection of the country. 21 at arlington. we will take it. 20 in martinsburg, 19 in bowie, 18 in leesburg. windchills are in the single digits. it will be breezy today, not as

gusty as yesterday. still cold, high temperatures near the freezing point. today we reached only 28 for the high temperature at reagan national. today, near freezing. tomorrow, near 30 degrees, mostly cloudy. ona trace of snow up to 1.5 inches possible tomorrow. now to lisa baden. less than 10 minutes ago a tractor-trailer was stalled and now that's gone from alexandria at the beltway. now were open on wilson bridge to springfield. on routes for a broken-down vehicle is gone. a crash in maryland, let's go live to newschopper 7. this was southbound on 95 between 198 and 212. notice that everything is open. they moved to the crash out of the roadway right away. 66, 95, 395, status quo.

just the normal volume of traffic flowing. more to come from newschopper 7. back to you. >> thank you. the d.c. area is home to some of the country's best educated and best pay people. census data shows fairfax, arlington, loudoun county, howard county montgomery, alexandria and falls church are among 17 places in the united states where more than half the residents have at least a bachelor's degree. fairfax and loudoun counties along with falls church are the only three places in the country with a median incomes of more than $100,000. we are rich. [laughter] >> 22 degrees on this wednesday, 6:12. >> 1 companies discoed is 43 pages. at one company is

43 pages. >> the bitter cold snap, that's coming up. >> one more day in jail for the founder of wikileaks. the latest on the legal battle

checking our top stories on this wednesday morning, the bitter cold weather will stick around at least another day. it's taking the big toe. firefighters had a tough time battling the blaze in landover. and dozens of a desperate residents are in the cold after of orla problem at their building apartments. a virginia man was arrested after he used facebook to threaten metro. the fbi said awais younis of arlington told a friend that he would use pipe bombs to kill people on metro as well as in georgetown. he's undergoing a mental evaluation. wikileaks founder julian assange is still in custody and

britain even though he was granted bail. sweden is appealing the decision. julian a sund is under investigation there for sex crimes allegations. more than half the country under a cold snap. it will stick around a few more days. now the latest on the winter storm. good morning, karen. >> good morning. this massive arctic blast swept down from canada, but it does not spirit our neighbors to the north. in ontario, a blizzard stranded 300 drivers on monday for nearly 30 hours. they had to be rescued by helicopter. there was zero visibility. there were no deaths or injuries. the crops in florida were turned into upper obstacles. farmers are doing all they can divide the defrost and they are spraying water on the truth and

vegetables to keep the temperature is above freezing and they are using helicopters to funnel been warmer air down. there could be warmer temperatures by friday, but it's a brief reprieve. colder temperatures are returning next week. abc 7 news. back to you. >> thank you. look at the damage left behind by a tornado. it touched down in a small town near portland, oregon. it tore roofs off the buildings, uprooted trees, and destroyed several houses. damage,iles long, the 150 yards wide, no reports of injury. let's look around the region. investigators are trying to find out what caused a fire in baltimore that killed six members of the same family. relatives believe a space heater may be to blame. an elderly couple, their granddaughter, and her three children died in yesterday morning star.

it spread to two other houses, affecting 40 >. the man found in california with a missing virginia girl is headed back to virginia to face charges. police found him with the 12- year-old britney smith outside a san francisco safeway after shopper alerted authorities. the girl has been reunited with her family. she disappeared after her mother was found murdered in their house. the man was her mother's boyfriend. the dc9 nightclub will reopen at 9:00 tonight. it was closed in october after man died outside the club. five employees were initially charged in the death of ali mohammed. if charges have been dropped. there's no ruling on how the man died. it takes a 43-page lesson to address -- dress.

beds at some big companies. >> president obama will sit down with executives from 20 top companies this morning including american express, general electric, and others. he's looking for ideas to create jobs. and on the agenda is education, the deficit, and trade. the federal reserve is sticking with the bond-buying program and that the economy is too weak to bring down unemployment. 45% of executives from big companies say that they plan to hire within the next six months, the highest percentage in eight years. u.b.s. bank of switzerland is telling its employees to dress to impress. they have issued a 43-page drasco it that includes hygiene and grooming tips. there's no black nail polish or women and certain things men cannot where i there. a couple of school closures.

rappahannock county schools are closed. schools in garrett county, md., and morgan county, west virginia, are opening two hours late. >> adam caskey is talking a little about the weather. it's freezing. >> yesterday we did not even get to the freezing point all day. the high temperature and reagan national was 28 degrees. it was cooler in outlying areas. it is cold. unseasonably cold. >> it is not even the official start of winter. >> december 1 is the start of winter according to meteorologist. january and february is what we have for bookkeeping purposes. next tuesday is the official start of winter. it's 19 in manassas, 20 in martinsburg. 17 degrees in quantico. a little cooler farther south. a chilly morning. we have been gusts at 28 miles

an hour at dulles airport, 21 miles an hour in gaithersburg. these are the latest wind gusts within the past 15 minutes. windchills are in the single digits periodically this morning. clear skies overhead right now. some cloud cover at times. we have an area of low pressure developing and forming in parts of oklahoma and north texas. that will track to the east. that will pass just to our south tomorrow, throwing some snowflakes in our direction midday tomorrow and after the rush hour. after the morning rush hour. snow falling mainly midday, but even late morning out west and then quickly zipping out by the evening rush hour. a trace of snow to an inch and a half is expected locally and south of the metro area. scattered clouds today, high temperatures in the low 30s. near 30 tomorrow with 1.5 inches

of snow possible. there's the prospect of a coastal storm on sunday. i am on the phone it, inner loop of the beltway. i was telling you about a tractor-trailer on the inner loop at telegraph road. out of maryland, across the wilson bridge, the center of the road is the two lanes. they tell me the tractor trailer has been moved from the roadway. local lanes are running a little better. how's it running on the other side of town? the geico camera at and newschopper 7, this is traffic in college park. 95, built still traffic merges with traffic from route 1 on the beltway, the volume is heavy, but running smoothly. back to you. >> thank you. 6 zagat 21, 22 degrees.

qwest set a year of giving comes full circle with a local man who is a source of inspiration. >> today on "oprah," celebrities take on their dream jobs, today at 4:00 on abc 7.

developments in the fight against aids. a man has appeared to be cured. he had a stem cell transplants in 2007 to treat leukemia. the donor had a gene mutation that transferred his resistance to hiv. the doctors say that it is very risky, so don't get your hopes up. >> a milestone for local man who spent the year giving back to those in need. >> years $10. >> thanks. >> it's about the relationship, the time you spent with someone. >> sanders has given $10 to a stranger it with no strings attached. >> he's been laid off for months, but still able to give money to people struggling. sanders invited all 355 recipients to a party that he threw last night. >> very few people spend it on themselves. most people felt like they had

to do something now. >> i gave my to my church. >> sanders now has a job, but he's not ending his year of giving. he's recruiting people out of work to commit one week in the coming year to give away $10 a day like he's been doing. he plans to dedicate the next year of his life to volunteer work. amazing. >> the gift that keeps on giving. >> we need more people like him. >> we do. still another half-hour of good morning washington. >> coming up, the man behind "sweet caroline" is making rock- and-roll history. >> another foiled metro terror plot. details coming up next. >> adam caskey in the belfort furniture weather center. cold and blustery.

>> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> we have ice all over. >> dozens of people are out on the streets on one of the most frigid ninth yet. -- nights yet. "good morning washington," i am greta kreuz. >> we have a couple of school delays and closings. rappahannock county, va., schools are closed because of all water issue. schools in garrett county, md., and morgan county, west virginia, will open two hours late. >> let's check in with adam. it is dusty -- gusty, but yesterday.y as

you can still feel it. temperatures are near 20. you are looking at the windchills -- the fields-like temperatures. feels like 8 in martinsburg and winchester. nine in frederick. dulles airport feels like 7. quantico feels like 10 degrees. high temperatures are near freezing, in the low-30's. blustery winds. we are anticipating some midday snow it showers tomorrow -- snow showers tomorrow. 1/2 inches.1 southbound approaching 109, slow traffic approaching vermont town -- germantown. middlebrook road, the accident is out of the way. route 4, the lanes are open. a minor wreck close to suitland

road. nothing but normal volume on the 95. now to greta and pamela. it is another day of single- digit temperatures. some firefighters say that walking to work is taking a toll. >> brianne carter has more on how this is affecting people. it is affecting your voice. dam you talked about the water problem and the school -- >> you talked about the water problem and the school been closed. the water freezes. the firefighters were trying to battle a blaze in landover. everything was quickly turned to ice. the residents were battling the cold. we are experiencing bitter cold weather. the good news is that we're not seeing the of gusts quite as

strong as yesterday. we are still expecting to see some wind costs today. windchills are making these already blustery temperatures feel like they're in the teens and single digits. the good news on the roads -- we're not having to deal with any of the snow we saw yesterday. the cold and wind is enough for us to have to deal with. if you are going of this morning, remember to bundle up. grab the scarves and hats. reporting live, pre and carter, abc 7 news. -- brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> to get a check on the weather any time, log on to tbd.com. the senate will take a final vote on the tax-cut compromise negotiated by president obama and congressional republicans. it would extend the bush-era tax cuts and jobless benefits for millions of americans. the measure faces a tougher time in the house where democrats

want to make changes. president obama will meet with executives from some of the nation's largest companies. the meeting at blair house will focus on job creation, economic recovery, and corporate regulation. we have breaking news from iran where 38 people are dead after a pair of suicide bombings at a mosque in the southeastern part of the country. the attackers targeted shi'ite worshipers at a morning ceremony. nobody has claimed responsibility. the fbi has broken another alleged bomb plot of the metro system. there is a troubling trend -- homegrown terrorists. >> this is the second foiled attack on metro in the last couple of months. the suspect is from arlington. he was caught for facebook. we spoke to his father.

>> he said he never made any threats and would never. >> he says his 26-year-old son, studying to be a doctor at george mason, is not a violent and definitely is not a terrorist. >> they are talking about him making bombs. >> they could not find anything from the bomb. they were here for six hours. >> according to the fbi, he talked to his girlfriend about building pipe bombs and planting them in crowded metro cars. he also allegedly wanted to drop them in georgetown man holes. his girlfriend told him he would never do that, he replied, "watch me." >> it makes me nervous. should i not go along with my daily routine? bamut in october, a pakistan- american was arrested for planning a series of attacks on

metro. he will appear in court on tuesday. he has been charged with communicating threats using interstate communications. >> thank you, ben. authority's are preparing to unveil the representative tells of a major -- until the results of a major drug investigation. investigators seized millions of dollars worth of methamphetamines. the government county's schools will take a big hit as the county tries to fill a $3 million budget gap -- $300 million budget gap. yesterday, they said they would cut $32 million from the budget, including $19 million from schools. they said they would cut 21 fire and rescue jobs, but nine police officers will stay in schools. we have 22 degrees this

morning. a shooting spree at a school board meeting in florida was caught on tape. doug hill will join us live with the next chance for

welcome back, everybody. it is time for traffic and

weather every 10 minutes. >> we will check in with doug hill, are meteorologist, who is cozy and stunned at home. you said the wind "what last night -- wind woke you up last night. >> the wind is going to diminish today. we will get a downgrade to breezy later today. when shall advisories are still in effect. it is a long -- windchill advisories are still in effect. it is up in the blue ridge area. temperatures will mostly be in the 20's. 19 in gaithersburg. 17 in quantico right now. windchills make it feel like it is in the teens and single digits. we will have some sunshine and clouds, but a little bit of a break. we will have 10-20 mile per hour of winds out of the west. yesterday, we hit 28 degrees.

throughout the day, we will be in pretty good shape. tomorrow, we have an opportunity for snowflakes. the weather system will pass south of the metro area. it could give us that traced to end inch -- a trace to 1 1/2 inches. back to you. >> thank you. we will check in in a bit. lisa, how are the roads looking? >> this will not work for you now. there is a crash on 55 in marcum at fiery run road. bail out at glendon -- glyndon. there is a crash on 55. it is shut down. traffic on 66 out of manassas -- normal delays in centreville. we go in that -- go now to

newschopper 7, looking at traffic where it merges to the beltway at falls church. the beltway is moving from left to right. it looks great. more to come. >> it is 6:41 and 21 degrees. rock'n'roll's class of 2011 -- some of the new recruits to the hall of fame. >> please don't. please. [gunshots] >> a dramatic school board

when i saw all the jobs disappearing, i knew i needed to find a better way to support my daughter. at age forty, greg flowers went back to school.

i got a job as a computer applications engineer. but now some in washington want regulations restricting access to career colleges and universities, denying opportunity to millions of people like greg, letting government decide who can go to college. it's my education, my job, it should be my choice. don't let washington get in the way. a horrifying, dramatic scene at the florida school board

meeting was caught on camera. a gunman threatened to kill officials. the suspect lay dead in the end. police are looking closely at the tape, trying to determine what happened. the gunman, 56-year-old clay duke, seen here, started addressing the panama city board members just after students left. >> there were about 20 members there. >> then a strange stunt. >> i saw him spray paint a big v and a circle. he pulled out a gun. >> leave. you may leave. >> he claimed they had fired his wife. he ordered all of the women to leave. one reporter turned on her camera. the only female member of the school board snuck behind him and hit him with her purse.

he knocked her down, but did not shoot. the board members pleaded with him to put the gun down. after a few minutes, he pointed directly at the superintendent and began to fire. >> please don't. please. >> the shots missed. no one was hurt. a school safety officer fired back and took duke down. the gunman then fatally shot himself. the board members say they knew nothing of his claims that his wife had been fired. he had served time in prison for aggravated stalking and other crimes. there was a dramatic casino heist in las vegas. the robber pulled out a gun at the craps table. he took about $1.5 million in casino chips and then ran away. he might have pulled off a similar heists last week. interim schools

chancellor says dunbar high school is still plagued with problems. she says nearly half of the seniors are not on track to graduate. the campus is growing increasingly unsafe. the washington post reports those findings. she has decided to -- by anderson has decided to oust the person who was hired to work on those issues. one lieutenant-colonel pleaded guilty to not reporting for duty and now faces up to 18 months in prison. he could now face the military friable -- military trial. running from the rnc -- top donors say they will bolt if michael steele stays as chairman. >> this is an unbelievable

story, isn't it? some of the language that we are hearing. it is embarrassing. all of this stuff. the money is going somewhere else. >> going into a presidential year -- the year building up to the convention, when they need to be building the party and surfing the advantages they have been getting, instead, the republican committee is in shambles. $15 million or more in debt. michael steele got a lot of attention. in january, 2009, he became the first black republican national chairman. he stunned everybody by running again. donors tell us they will not give money to him. it will give it to outside groups. that leaves the committee with an inability to pay off debt and weaker going into the convention in tampa. >> you have to wonder about the so-called money mismanagement. did not michael steele consider this when he decided he would run for reelection?

you wonder what he was thinking in making that decision. >> that is a good point. his senior staff would be leaving if he were to win again. he did not build any support or case. one conservative magazine has an editorial out this morning saying anybody but steele. there are six other candidates and they said none would be worse. >> thanks for joining us. good to see you. the drama continues. we have a quick reminder about some schools. rappahannock county schools are closed because the water issue. schools in garrett county, md., and morgan county, west virginia, are opening two hours late. >> time now for traffic and weather. we go back to chief meteorologist doug hill. we have snow flurries on the way tomorrow. >> it looks like midday tomorrow into the afternoon, early- evening hours, we could pick up

a trace to 1 1/2 inches. reagan national airport is showing 23 degrees. the wind chill is at 12 degrees. that is an improvement. 80 degrees in leesburg. clarksburg is at 20 degrees. 17 in warrenton. these numbers are cold. yesterday, at this time, everybody was in the single digits as far as windchills. tomorrow, cloudiness moves in from the south in response to a low-pressure center moving toward virginia. it will set up the possibility of snow. it is not a big deal. portions south of a t washington may south ofrace to -- areas

south of washington may pick up a trace to 1 1/2 inches. most areas will be in the 30's for the highs tomorrow. we have the possibility of something brewing over the weekend. the more we looked at the computer model, the less sure we were. we will check out the seven day in a couple of minutes. >> thank you, doug. let's go out to lisa. it has been an easy morning. >> not like yesterday. it was horrible. any white on the highways is just left over from yesterday. we're moving nicely. the eye-to 70 at father hurley -- the i-270 to father hurley moving well. thank goodness for math and

civil engineers. who figures are all of this out? watch news choppers 7 bounce

there is only one barbra streisand. robin roberts has an exclusive on good morning america.

checking our top stories, the bitter cold is taking its toll on the area. authorities say freezing temperatures made it tough for firefighters to battle a blaze in landover. dozens of residents are out in the cold after a problem left their building without heat. a virginia man is undergoing a mental evaluation after he allegedly used facebook to make threats against metro. he told a friend that he used -- he would use pipe bombs to kill people on metro and in georgetown. the senate is expected to take a final vote on extending the bush-era tax cuts and employ it -- and unemployment benefits. the democrats support a plan -- few democrats support the plan. one of this year's rock-and- roll hall of fame inductees had been passed up over the last few

years. >> ♪ >> neil diamond finally made the cut. he knew they would get around to him eventually. >> confident. rightfully so. now for a quick look at traffic and weather. no major problems. 270 and 95. newschopper 7 was flying over springfield. traffic -- the headlights are northbound. over to adam caskey. just expect a light dusting tomorrow. mostly, blustery and cold. we talked about the prospects of a coastal storm over the weekend. they can bring bigger snowfall amounts. there is still that chance, but

it could be an all-or-nothing tuition. >> that does it for "good morning washington."