extension the senate approved last week. he said lawmakers would then negotiate the terms of a longer extension in the year. bain he is insisting the senate return to washington and hammer out a deal before the tax cuts expire at the end of this year. >> all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us to resolve our differences so we can do what everybody wants to do. >> the ball is in the house's court. there is a compromise available. >> as many as is 160 million americans will lose an average of $40 from their paychecks every two weeks. this morning, republican presidential hopeful newt gingerich will headline a breakfast in richmond. the fund-raiser is for the gop. he said his campaign will turn in more than enough signatures to get on the primary ballot in

the commonwealth. today is the deadline. he also attacked his rivals once again for their negative ads against him. >> i have one opponent. it is barack obama. i will challenge our friends to take down the negative ads that follow the ronald reagan amendment and let's spend the last ten days in iowa on positive messages. if they don't have something positive they can run on, they shouldn't be running. >> a university poll found gingerich ahead in virginia with 30%. mitt romney came in second with 25%. >> romney, meanwhile, continues his attacks on gingerich while he's campaigning in new hampshire. romney said if the former house speaker cannot handle the negative tv ads from his republican rivals, he will wilt going up against president obama next fall. the new hampshire primary is

january the 10th. it looks like we are staying on the mild side once again, as you predicted weatherwise. >> not hearing any complaints. >> no complaints here. >> getting close to christmas, how is the cold weather? >> all right then, i will deliver. it will be getting colder by the weekend. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. there's the live view from our city camera just down river to the right. it's 50 degrees on this first day of astro knot nomiccal winter. the solstice arrived at 12:38 a.m. we've got a light southerly breeze under a partly cloudy sky this morning. watch out, the roads are slick. so many of the areas we have pavement are still slick. watch out for that. there's going to be some people fender bending and spinning out because of that wet pavement. temperatures in the region well above freezing.

and it's in the upper 40s, montgomery, arlington, fairfax and prince georges counties. cloudy in the afternoon. sunrise at 7:23. sunset at 4:50. and more rain on the way tonight. we'll look at that with your evening planner. that will be coming up in just about ten minutes at around 4:41. then we will have some big changes on the way for the weekend. now, let's take a look at the traffic on this thursday morning, danella. >> good morning. be careful traveling around the area. a lot of roadways are slick. and i'm getting reports of people sliding on the roadways. give yourself some extra time so that you don't have to rush so much when you head out of the house this morning. bridges in our area look very good. very slick. if you're looking the at the american legion bridge like i am right now, it's clear in both directs. outer loop, no problems there. headlights coming towards us, that's the inner loop and you're

clear as you head into montgomery county. crossing over the 14th street bridge making your way into the city, you're clear in that area and traveling to the southeast. now back to you all. >> danella, thank you. today, one d.c. school is set to open after being destroyed by a fire a year ago. the fire deeply damaged the building on tiny branch road a year ago. students were forced to go to school this past year at meyer elementary school which was closed back in 20308. mayor vincent gray, kie ya henderson and murial bouser are just a few of the officials expected to attend. mayor gray has a 34% approval rating. the poll found he would lose re-election to former mayors. the poll shows the d.c. council

with a 30% approval rating that's a big drop from march when it was 54%. mayor gray and two members of the d.c. council are under investigation for alleged criminal activity. this morning, pepco says it is not planning to appeal a $1 million fine handed down by the maryland public service commission. they were ordered to pay the fine yesterday after a four-month investigation. the reports found pepco provided inadequate service. poor communications sxin consistent tree trimming practices were cited as reasons for the fine. residents in forest glenn, where outages are common, say they're pleased with the penalty. >> it was good and i was happy. >> you have to cut back those trees during the summertime. maybe they'll learn. >> well, i guess they kind of had it coming.

>> the commission will require pepco to submit a five-year plan on how to better update service. the utility has requested a $68 million rate increase been something county executives say they plan to vigorously protest. the company is asking customers to help pay for measures that would improve reliability. multiple prince william county police officers are on administrative leave after shooting and killing an armed robbery suspect. it happened yesterday afternoon. police pulled a car over connected to a home burglary in wood bridge. the passenger was arrested, but the driver took off into the woods. after refusing to drop his gun, officers shot and killed the man. loudoun county police are

offering a $1,000 reward for anyone with information with this hit and run caught on tape. it happened about ten days ago near the intersection of cottage and fox road. investigators say a minivan hit a man driving a motorcycle and drove off. the motorcyclist is expected to be okay. a prince georges county father accused of neglecting his 2-year-old daughter is due in court today for a bond hearing. anthony vincent faces three counts of child abandonment after police say he left his little girl alone in a felty apartment for hours while her mother was in the hospital. officers found her on tuesday. they say that she was hungry and dehydrated. police don't know how long she had been unattended. they're looking into whether vince ept has some type of mental disability. several rail cars remain out of service this morning as the transit system plans to inspect the car at the end of the week.

on tuesday, a friction ring came off a 5,000 series ring on the blue line damage vp stranding passengers for up to two hours underground. metro says why the ring came off is still under investigation. but officials say a possible failure of the hub, which holds the ring in place, could be to blame. at least 16 cars with hubs from the same batch have been pulled from service. well, the nation's capital is the fastest growing city in the country, according to the u.s. census bureau. the city group by 2.7% between april of 2010 and july of this year. that is an increase of more than 16,000 residents. more than 15,000 people now call maryland home. our time is now 4:38. ahead on news 4 today, family and friends are mourning the loss of a teenager this morning. the unusual accident that caught

her life short. why animals attempted to score a quick meal left empty handed. christmas is around the corner, but it certainly does not feel like it today. not we could never all agree on what kind of pizza to get.

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weather and traffic on the

1s. we've had our sky go partly cloudy. the poimpt still wet. watch out, it's really slick. now 50 at reagan national. throughout the day today, we'll have a little sun in .out this morning through noon time. we'll be in the upper 30s through noon and clouding up this afternoon. then this evening at 4:50, by 8:00, 9:00 or so, and after midnight, we'll have continuing rain. maybe an inch of rain by the time it tempers off later this morning. the holiday weekend and into next week, that will be in ten minutes. danella, how is traffic? >> very light. our traffic looks really good if you're heading out of the house. nothing but green in both directions. i'll give you a look right now at the northbound. travel suites, heading northbound, you're at 61 miles per hour.

and to get to the bridge to the beltway, that trip takes 11 minutes. king street looks clear. traveling northbound across the 14th street bridge, no problem. southbound making your way from the 14th street bruj to the beltway, you're at 61 miles per hour. now back to you both. >> time right now, 4:4. on the defensive, why one congressman is back pedalling this morning after making remarks about michelle obama's figure. police,

a nearly hour-long police chase in orlando, florida, came to an abrupt and violent end. police were chasing two burglary suspects through the city when,

which this out, the car blows through a red light and plows through a jeep. at least two other vehicles were involved in the crash. they are expected to survive. one woman was taken to the hospital and four others suffered but suffered less injuries. two dogs riding in the jeep ran away from the scene, but were found later unharmed. >> this morning, family and friends are mourning the loss of a high school student. 16-year-old sa seen leena guzman died in a horrible accident. police say she got into a fender bender with another car. she stepped out of her car to investigate. once she knew the other driver was okay, she called her mother and then suddenly, police say, a pickup truck hit her car and pinned her between both vehicles. she skied on the scene. her family is devastated.

celina guzman was a student at mesoponac high school. she wanted to become a physician. the driver of the pickup truck did stay on the scene. so far, he has not been charged. a local woman doing her part to help troops overseas is dealing with a major set back this morning. mael logan started trees for our troops year ago. it began with an operation to send candy overseas. but on monday, it was stolen from her arlington home. >> a woman should probably expect a lump of coal in her stocking this christmas. police charged 25-year-old amanda crona with grand larson. authorities say she posted a picture of the statue on her facebook page and one of her

friends contacted police. the baby jesus statue is now back in his rightful place at the shopping center in fredericksberg. if you bought baby formula at walmart, the retailer is pulling a batch of infant formula in more than 3,000 stores nationwide after a baby in missouri became sick and died after an infection. it affects new board powder with the lot numbers zk-7g. the formula's manufacturer says that batch tested negative in the investigation of the boy's death. today's closing argument will be presented in the analyst of a national security leak in united states history. bradley manning's defense team called wpss. they granted that manning should have never been granted access

to classified material and that security at his workplace was weak. he's accused of introducing hundreds of thousands of documents to wikileaks. the officer providing over the hearing will decide if manning should play a court marshall. if convicted, manning should face life. >> prison. >> this morning, we expect to hear a comprehensive report about the state of women in the military. the hoous research center will release a report today analyzing the number of women who serve in the military, a break dunn of rank, race, military status. the report will reveal how much veterans have experienced problems and suffered posttraumatic stress since returning home. for the first time, a lesbian couple shared a kiss at a navy home coming. petty officer gay etta kissed her girlfriend, a fellow sailor. as tradition, one sailor is

chosen to be the first off the ship to kiss a loved one. this morning, a congressman from wisconsin is taking some heat for calling attention to first lady michelle obama's body. mr. sensor brenner said mrs. obama should watch what she's eating and he referred to her large posterior. the congressman said he would apologize to the first lady. sensor brennsensenbrenner has b talking about better eating. jerry massey, meanwhile, writes the era of political correctness ushered in by the clintons in the '90s as totally steered this country into the

wrong direction. don't believe everything you read on your smartphone. a new study shows people are more likely to lie in a text message. researchers discovered police are like 31% -- or lie 31% more via text ves face-to-face. experts believe it's because there's no body language so people find it easier to lie. the people lied to find it harder via text messages. this youtube video skap temperatures a bug smashing game on his phone. the frog, thinking the frogs are real lunger at the phone. when he realizes he didn't kill the bug, he's thoroughly confused. maybe he's just trying to play the game. the frog then lashes out at the owner, instead. quite a little thumb bite,

buster. this video has more than 300,000 hits on youtube. >> i'm amazed by this because i thought it was the heat of your finger that gets the reaction off the phone. but a wet frog? >> maybe it's the heat of. >> entertaining, nonetheless. this morning, it's ended. thankfully, we're dealing with the aftermath of the rain that happened overnight. so the pavement is still wet around much of the region. good morning, i'm meteorologist tom kierein. we've got a light southerly breeze and don't get too used to these mild mornings and mild days. this will be coming to an end by later today. much chillier weather coming our way by tomorrow. let's take a look at what's been happening over the last 12 hours. partly cloudy to mostly cloudy now across virginia, maryland, west virginia, and off to our west. mostly clear sky over central

west virginia. and temperatures right now in the mountains are down to the low 40s in many locations. shennendoah valley, mid and upper 40s and from the blue ridge east to the bay. temperatures in the 40s to near 50 degrees. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince georges counties. watch out for slick pavements. those roads are still wet. sunrise will be at 7:23. we'll have some sun early this morning. sunset will be at 4:50 and this evening will be cloudy and rain. likely returning by 8:00 or 9:00 into the metro area a little sooner farther west. occasional showers through the night until dawn on friday. then some sun back on friday, but a blustery wind bringing down some colder air and we'll have it fall from the 50s in the morning down to the 40s by the evening. then the 30s by dawn on saturday. saturday afternoon, bright and

sunny. good weather for the skins -- vikings game. then on christmas day, there is a small chance of some showers. the storm system passing just to the south of the metro area may bring in some rain. it appears right now we'll keep an eye on it. if we get some cold air injecting into it, might get a few clouds. then dry, monday, tuesday, wednesday into next week. right now, if you're looking together out of the house, looks to be wet pavement. other than that, volume is pretty light in our area. not seeing a lot of problems at all. if you're traveling i-270 making your way to the beltway, no major delays at all. i'll give you a live look at falls road. this is southbound heading towards the spur. northbound, not seeing any major issues for you. traveling on i-66, clear, as well. this is the view at nuttily. eastbound, a little bit of

volume. nothing you can't handle. westbound, clear. eastbound, you're at 59 miles per hour and fairfax county park way to the beltway, it will take you 11 minutes. while you were sleeping, the virginia cavaliers were sleeping. they barely survived a scare from the seattle university seahawks. the red hawks led by two points at halftime. the cavaliers outscored them by eight points in the second half to secure the victory. virginia is now 10-1 on the season. up next, maryland eastern shore next tuesday back down in charlottesville. 4:55 is our time. coming up, getting your children the toys they want can end up cost ago fortune. but there's now a way to let kids enjoy them without having to spend all that money. plus, if you haven't finished your holiday shopping, you're not the only procrastinator. why a busy schedule didn't keep the president from getting those gifts.

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president obama is doing some last minute christmas shopping. he visited potomac yards in alexandria, virginia, yesterday. the president went to pet smart to buy some things for little bo there, the first dog, then stopped by best buy where he shook hands with customers and bought the video game just dance 3 for his daughters. sorry for the spoiler.

then joked about playing it with them. after shopping, the president bought three pizzas from pizzeria del rey. >> three pizzas for one person? >> i think he's going to shear it. >> if you were on a budget, you don't have to buy those pricey toys. you can now rent them. websites like babyrental.com offer prices as low as $2.99 plus shipping. older kids become more attached to their toys. that's true. my 1-year-old plays with something for about 30 minutes and it's done. it's one of the most iconic places in new york city and a classic sign of the holiday season. >> and today celebrating its anniversary. the diamond rockefeller ice rink turns 70 years old today. and a cake cutting with the