he will withdraw almost all of the troops in time for the holidays. >> today i can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in iraq will come home by the end of the year. after nearly nine years, america's role in iraq will be over. we will continue to offer training and as we do around the world. there will be difficult days ahead. the united states will continue to have an interest until iraq is stable, secure, and self-reliant. just as iraqis have persevered in war, i'm confident that they can build a future worthy of a future. here at home, the combing months

will be another season of homecomings and men and women and i can say that our troops in iraq will definitely be home for the holidays. >> i want to go to chris lawrence, live for us at the pentagon. we're talking 39,000 u.s. troops leaving iraq. as we heard the president say, being home for the holidays is certainly good news for folks here at home. but explain to me, though, we know that the u.s. and iraq didn't exactly see eye to eye with regard to an immunity issue because the u.s. wanted to have several thousand troops remain. >> that's right. there was a split, on both sides. there were some iraqi leaders who wanted a security of having a small u.s. force there. but ultimately it mainly came down to this issue of legal immunity. and what that means is, right now iraq and the u.s. have an

agreement that american troops are not subject to iraqi law. they would fall under the uniform code of military justice right now. well, that agreement expires at the end of the year. and to set up a new agreement or to extend that agreement, iraq would have had to have agreed to grant that same immunity going forward. the iraqi politicians and parliament were not able to okay that or to agree to that and the u.s. government and by extension they could not keep troops there without that immunity clause. >> do we know when the beginning of that pullout will begin? >> it's already started in any given week you can see up to 14,000 trucks on the road and they have taken out 1.6 million pieces of equipment. they are down to about 39,000 troops and they will have to move those out tlf by the end of

the year but this effort has already started and will continue to accelerate. >> final question to you as we look at the broader picture. once these 39,000 u.s. troops are gone, talk to me about iraq's neighbor, iran. how does this embolden that country? >> i was embedded with american troops right on the border with iran about a year or so ago. they told me how much influence iran had in that area and you look at the statements and beating over our heads about how much influence iraq has, that iranian weapons are in iraq being used to kill u.s. troops. well, now you have to account or answer the question, if iran was

able to exert that much influence with tens and thousands of american troops in iraq, how are you going to lessen that influence when all of the troops are gone. >> chris lawrence, thank you so much. certainly the president is billing this as a win, saying that he spoke with iraqi prime minist minister al maliki. but not all are seeing that way. mitt romney is reacting to the president's decision. paul steinhauser is joining me. in looking at the few statements, president obamaed astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in iraq. >> let me continue on with that. he said that it's an astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of american men and

women. the question is, is this a naked political or with the iraqi government. the american people deserve to hear the recommendations made by our military commanders in iraq. that is tough language from the romney campaign, no doubt about it. >> yeah. >> rick santorum, also running for nomination, the former sen tore was on fox news and said that he has a big concern going forward, is the war in iraq and iran -- he was just talking to chris lawrence about it -- if we -- my concern is that we are leaving a potential state that could turn into a puppet state for iran. you're going to hear a lot of tough language from these potential presidential nominees. >> why though, paul? >> it's very interesting. this comes one day after a big foreign follow see success for the president. >> right. >> on the president's watch earlier, the killing of osama bin laden. in some ways he has scored major

successes and on iraq and afghanistan, you're going to see the republican candidates take a hardline. you've seen it in the debates. the presidential debates most recently on tuesday night, they are going to try to paint this president and the administration as weak in iraq and in afghanistan, brooke. >> paul steinhauser, thank you so much for that. speaking of gadhafi, moammar gadhafi captured alive but minutes later somehow his life comes to a bloody end. now an investigation as new video continues to pour in. we're live on the ground. and nato is deciding whether to end the mission in libya. it's taken months and mondths ad billions of dollars. we'll go live to that next. te o. up to 12 hours. salonpas. [ guy ] ring, ring. progresso... i love your new loaded potato with bacon. that's what we like to hear. ring, ring. progresso...

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we have talked quite a bit over the last hour about moammar gadhafi and the fact that he may have been executed. hold that thought. this is one of moammar gadhafi's son after he was captured. obviously he looks a little worse for the wear but he's drinking water and he's having a smoke. this is him after being captured in sirte and this is him dead a little while later. he died in custody a few hours later. i want to bring in wife van watson in tripoli. the last time i saw, you fireworks were popping up over your heads. do libyans care one way or another how gadhafi died? they seemed just pretty thrilled that he's gone. >> reporter: yeah. i mean, there are some that are overjoyed and others that are

uncomfortable with the way that the dictator for more than 40 years went down. some of the people who are, of course, very unhappy with this are the family of gadhafi himself and the tv network, a pro-gadhafi network that is out of syria with an authoritarian government that has ruled for more than 40 years, broadcast an announcement that comes from the family of gadhafi, from his wife. it claims calling for an investigation into the death of gadhafi and his son and for their bodies to be given back to gadhafi's tribe for a proper islamic burial. brooke? >> let's listen to a human rights watchdog group.

>> and as he was brought out to the road, enraged fighters started pulling on his hair and punching him in the face and he was beset upon by a mob of fighters. they tried to put him on the front of one of his vehicled and drove away. he fell off the vehicle and was ultimately put into the back of one of their vehicles. he definitely left from this area alive without any gunshot wounds to his head. >> they want the body for proper burial but the u.n. may need the body for evidence, correct? >> reporter: we've been told that the government that is taking over that they are

delaying the burial of gadhafi's body until a possible forensic analysis can be performed and sharing that with the icc. so all of this is swirling around. if you talk to the people in the streets here, if you talk to the people wholville been battling against him for more than 40 years, the only way we could bring this bloody conflict to an end, despite all of the pressure from the international community and from his own people, they are justifying if this is in fact the government here, the trans national transitional council, they say that he was not killed and caught in a

crossfire. >> you bring up the bloody conflict. before i let you go, we've seen the fireworks. what about fighting? are there any reports of fighting in libya? >> you know, i haven't heard of any today. i confess. maintaining security and the checkpoints, that's going to be a big question in the future. we know officially declaring victory this weekend, what they call lib brags day, that's a big presumption, there's no more resistance and they are going to start preparing to try to set up democratic elections for a new parliament type elections. >> ivan watson, thank you very much from libya.

also at this hour, nato officials continue to huddle in belgian. they are talking about the operation in libya. now that gadhafi is dead, is nato go to uphold the operations in libya? >> that's the key question, officials from nato and other countries have been talking about this for well almost five hours now, taking longer than many people expected and shows that there must be a range of views. some want to walk away from this pretty quickly. others suggest the need to hold on, maintain their resources just in case a little longer,

we're not sure where this is going to go. as i say, five hours of talks so far. the decision is possible tonight but certainly not certain. five hours and counting. thank you. now this -- >> have you ever had a close call? >> every day. >> after dozens of animals terrorize a town, new questions about exotic pets and a fascinating cnn investigation is coming up next. plus, it's the plan on which herman cain is running for president, 9-9-9. guess what? he just changed that plan. how it will affect your wallet just ahead. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal.

one lawmaker sl asl opposing where people live, go to school, listen as jack hanna sums up the collective shock. >> the question i'm getting asked all over the world, the fact that you look at this, the man was cited for many things but it's amazing, doing what he loves. which just i'm sitting here going, i can't believe this happened. >> so we sent our own jason carroll to talk about what hanna opposes. listen to what jason found. >> reporter: it's feeding time at a private game reserve outside of toledo, ohio. leo the lion is one of a dozen big cats and wolves getting

lunch. do you ever get nervous when you're feeding the animals? >> no. >> reporter: nerve get nervous? ever had a close call? >> every day. >> reporter: he's been operating with over three decades with no violations. >> it's what i like to do. it's part of me. >> reporter: enter terry thompson, the man who owned and released 56 animals and then took his life. 49 of them had to be killed. hetrick says he doesn't know why thompson snapped but worries it will ruin things for others. he says accidents involving exotic animals are rare. but when they do happen, the results can be both tragic and violent n 2009 a. pet chimpanzee attacks a woman.

>> he ripped her apart. >> what? her face? >> everything. please, please hurry! oh, my god. >> reporter: in 2005, a 911 operator responds after a man was attacked by two chimps at a private sanctuary in california. >> tell me his injuries and repeat them. they need to know. they tore out his eye? >> they tore out his eye. >> a man is maimed by a tiger that was kept in in an apartment in harlem. given the history of exotic animal attacks, the potential was there. the story drawing attention to laws on keeping wild animals. ohio is one of eight states with the least restrictive laws regarding owning exotic animals. the few requirements to owning animals in ohio include the need for entry and veterinarian

inspection. the sheriff that had to put down thompson's escaped animals says the law here should be changed. >> me and the other deputies were forced to doing it due to the lax laws here in ohio. >> reporter: kenny hopes that those that care for the animals are not pun mished under the process. >> there's not a word of truth in that. >> reporter: jason carroll, cnn, toledo, ohio. an ohio lawmaker announced her plan to introduce a plan to ban exotic pets after the problem in zanesville. senator carl levin talks about the decision to end the war in iraq and i'll ask him to also react to mitt romney's harsh words regarding the president and this move. plus, many are warning that

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tt death of moammar gadhafi one decade later, arwa is joining us. >> reporter: the opposition most certainly was celebrating and we saw them taking to the streets in various parts of the country today, chanting a warning from syrian president that he would be next, that he, too, would be facing a similar fate, underscoring their point that no one at this stage in the history of the middle east was immune. no one could consider themselves safe. >> is this protest in syria calling for nato intervention like what we saw in libya?

>> reporter: that's a reluctant call for intervention because for eight months they've been trying to demonstrate peacefully and they have gotten know where but there is a the realization that any international intervention would lead to some sort of civil war in syria but also warning that the country is on that path right now, brooke. >> remind us again, this is his family -- his family has ruled this country for decades. >> reporter: that's right. before assad was in power, his father was in power. it's about the regime loyalty's to the assad regime. they seem to have the support of

the government. despite some defection and syria security forces, they have the support of the business class, the merchant middle class people that are not speaking out against the recommend jeej and, regime and an international community, they still have the support of china and russia. by all accounts it's also a regime that feels if on the one hand it's winning and being able to ride this out. the activists will tell you, no, that's not going to happen. they will keep going until the regime kills every single one of them or is finally forced to leave. >> arwa damon in beirut, thank you. >> now this -- >> if some woman in your family, if you stop us from seeking treatment so you can right a ticket or violation -- >> one man, you heard his voice, got pulled over on the way to

the hospital. sitting in the passenger seat, his ill wife. wait until you hear what she offers to do and why there is now an investigation into that. also, any minute the prosecution is expected to rest. the defense will begin in the case of michael jackson's doctor. carl levin is also standing by and his reaction to the fact that the war in iraq is ending and his reaction to mitt romney's harsh words. next. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

snoop want to bring you back to our breaking story. the president announcing that the war in iraq is about to end. many of the troops will be home in time for the holidays. let's go straight to capitol hill to carl levin, chairman of the u.s. armed services committee. we knew this was coming but now it's official. your reaction? >> it was the right thing to do. it was the plan all along, to pull out the troops by end of

this year. president obama said he would make the promise to do so. it's important that the iraqis take the responsibility for their own security. they've got a large enough army to do it, if they can get their political act together, that will create more stability in iraq and we we can't do that for them. they've got to do this for themselves. >> senator levin, i know a lot of people say it's a great day and a great call. but mitt romney's reaction, gop front-runner, i'm quoting, president obama's astonishing failure to secure an orderly failure in iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of american men and women. he continues on blasting this. your reaction? >> well, of course he's right about the sacrifice of our men

and women in uniform but he should or should not be trying to use that for any political prophet. i gas uess he's making some kinf an appeal but it's kind of sad to hear him attack a policy which i think is applauded by the vast majority of americans. i would hope that he should talk to the families of the troops coming home by christmas and also the troop to bring home by december was a decision made by president bush a couple years ago and president obama was correct in implementing this decision the way he has. >> senator levin, thank you very much. a georgia couple gets a ticket while rushing to the hospital. also, michael jackson's

doctor's attorneys get their chance to tell their story of what happened. a woman has stage 4 breast cancer and she's in the car with her husband. he gets pulled over by the police who is going 44 in a 25 mile per hour zone. the police dashboard reporting the couple trying to explain this to police officer that they are simply trying to get to the hospital. >> she's having a hard attack right now? >> i don't know. we're trying to get to the doctor and you're writing a ticket. if someone in your family, and you remember this day, you stop us to seek medical treatment. you can write a ticket of whatever violation. >> i tried to show you my body. what else do you want me to show you? >> do you want her to pull her breasts out and show you? >> that's not what i want. >> so according to the couple, the officer insisted upon holding them there until the ambulance came.

he asked for some kind of written proof she had breast cancer. and then he gave them a speeding ticket. was that the right call? >> you know, i think unfortunately under the law it was the right call because he was speeding, right, doing 44 in a 25 mile per hour zone and the officer with the information that he had in front of him didn't necessarily know that this woman did have breast cancer and that she was suffering from these chest pains. he couldn't confirm it. often times people lie at traffic stops. so legally, yes. but in the court of public opinion, in the decency court, it was an indecent thing to do. he had them there for so long. if this was a true medical emergency, it would have been a shameful chain of events. >> the department is supporting this officer. people are rushing to the hospital as an excuse all the time. but this woman ended up being

held at the hospital with blood clots in her lungs. might that couple have any kind of legal issue here? >> i don't think so. again, she was taken to the hospital. the officer did what he thought he should do, given the circumstances and the information in front of him. but sometimes i always say, to law enforcement and lawyers, take off the law enforcement hat and legal hat and become the human being that you're supposed to be and help your fellow person. second case here. can't let you go without talking about the michael jackson doctor trial. so lawyers for dr. conrad murray are expected to begin their side of the case. what direction will they take? >> well, the prosecution has on the stand -- or has had on the stand for the past three days, its star witness dr. steven shafer, that he's sort of "the father" of propofol and he's been very effective.

so the defense is going to get its chance today, brooke, to cross-examine this very, very crucial and important witness. then we're hearing that they are going to start their case in chief next week. they are going to apparently call about 15 witnesses. some of them character witnesses to talk about the good character of dr. conrad murray. and in my view and in the view of many legal experts, they are now going to try to shift the focus off of dr. conrad murray and on to michael jackson, on to his life style, and on to perhaps, his chemical dependency, his addiction to prescription drugs. they are saying that they could be done by the end of this week and this, brooke, could be in the hand of the jury by the end of next week. really crucial week for the defense coming up. >> sunny hostin, thank you very much, on the case. >> thanks. we're learning about breaking news on the search for a the missing infant.

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sfloo. all right. joining me now is jim spellman who has behind him the home of little baby lisa who has been missing for several weeks. we know that the police have had the search warrant, coming through the home. what have they found? >> reporter: well, we now know what got them that search warrant. on monday, brooke, we saw a much smaller search here at the home of baby lisa, including with dogs. we weren't sure exactly what the dogs were doing. we now know from the affidavit

that has been released from the court, those were cadaver dogs and they got a positive hit for an area near the mother's bed. tuesday they went to court, got a search warrant based on that. as soon as they got that, the police car showed up here to block the family. >> from entering the house. then on wednesday they spent all day, 17 hours, intensely searching this, including x-ray equipment that looks through walls and floor boards. police even asked her why she didn't look in the backyard behind the shed. she said that she was afraid of what she might find. this is really a huge change in this case that a cadaver dog got a positive hit near deborah bradley's bed. that's a key element pro pepell this case forward. >> cadaver dogs and a positive

hit, which is brought in to smell the smell of death? >> indeed. that's exactly what tp sounds like. they have other types of dogs that they might use, off the scent of a blanket. these dogs for a number of reasons, the cadaver dog is trained to hone in on the scent of death. it's gruesome to think about but that's a tool that they used here on monday. >> jim spellman, thank you very much. let us know if anything changes there. i want to move on to politics. herman cain took some flack on his plan during the debate in vegas. today the presidential hopeful is making some changes. let's go live to alison kosik. now what is he is talking about? >> okay. now he says that 9-9-9 is really 9-0-9 but for some people. so what cain did today, he

announced a couple of changes. two things. now he's allowing for some businesses to go ahead and take deductions but the bigger thing here is the 9-9-9 plan and critics say that it puts the burden on low-income americans, many who are not paying income taxes now and cain addressed that in detroit today. let's see what he had to say. >> how do we deal with the poor, those that are at or below poverty level? we already had this provision in there and we raise the same amount of minute. if you're at or below the poverty level. your plan is not 9-9-9. it's 9-0-9. say amen, you all. 9-0-9. >> and so what is means sl people in poverty will be continued to be exempt poverty and that sl a family of four

under $22 thourk. that's because it wipes out their tax liability. for these people that will not change if he becomes president. it will be 9-0-9 for them. keep in mind, however, they would have to pay the new 9% national sales tax which is also in his plan. >> what about the middle class? what did cane say about them? >> no changes for the middle class. it's still 9-9-9 if you're in the middle class. the tax policy center crunched some numbers and says that the middle class will have less money after they pay cain's taxes. and if you make less than $50,000, after you pay taxes, you would end up with less money than you do now. and if you make more than 500,000 after you pay taxes, you'll end up with considerably more money than you do now. keep in mind, this is just one study that has crunched the numbers on his tax plan, brooke. >> so back to 9-9-9, because we've been hearing about that from him for a while.

why haven't we heard that exemption for people tat or belw the poverty level before? >> he said that it's been part of the plan all along. some think that he may be taking changes as the plan draws more attention and criticism but he says he's clarifying what was already in his tax plan. so you decide what is going on there, brooke. >> all right. alison kosik, thanks. coming up, one of the first soldiers on the ground in iraq, he's going to share his story about what it was like and what it's like to see this war come to an end. that interview is coming up next.

time now for the help desk. the founder of the financial blog asked the moneycoach.com and certified financial planner at nyu. thanks for being here. so appreciate it. mur wrote in that they converted $25,000 from a regular ira to a roth with the option of paying the taxes on the conversion in 2001 and 2012. they want to know if they should keep the roth or convert back to a remember i.r.a.? >> it's unclear, whether they are questioning that it's down 5,000 because of market forces or perhaps when they did the conversion they paid a portion of that, the taxes that were due, out of the fund. so $20,000 down from 25 mean as 20% loss but the fact is that

you don't switch back to a traditional i.r.a. you might want to look at what the underlying investments are. is it too aggressive for that person? do they have a proper mix of assets? that's the thing to look at. >> sure. interesting point. ryan writes in that all of his debt has been paid off but still has black marks on his credit report from late student debt payments p what is the best way to raise his credit score? >> to make sure that he keeps paying all of his existing obligations, pay them on time without fail. and accounts that he has, keep them open for now. don't apply for any new credit at this time. and additionally, he may also want to look into checking his credit report to make sure that it is accurate and try to get anything adverse removed from it. >> and have a little patience

because it takes time, right? >> yes, it takes time. >> thank you. folks, send us a question to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. can a trading site help make you a sharper trader? mine can. td ameritrade can. they've got trading specialists i can call for help. and paper trading. free practice trading that helps me hone my technique.

complex options. and free tutorials. online or in person. can a trading site really make a difference? if it can't, why are you trading there? number one in online equity trades: td ameritrade. trade commission-free for 30 days, plus get up to $500 when you open an account. what are the front lines of war really like? last hour, i spoke with former u.s. army specialist who was right there when the u.s. went into iraq. he talked about the early stages of the operation back when he left in 2003 and told me about his toughest memory, losing a brother in arms. were you frightened when you went over at first? >> i was. there are times like you're wondering, okay, am i really going to make it home? you just realize the mission

comes first. >> what was your specific mission? >> my job was to repair tanks and get them battle ready. i worked on the firing components of them that made them run and operate. pretty big need while you're over there. >> and you guys were the first groups really to come into iraq, first americans. how did the iraqis receive you? >> they were up in arms with us. i remember on many occasions when we would pull over on the side of the road to take a quick break or go into little l market areas for a few minutes, they would swarm us and give us hugs and kisses and say, we love you, god bless america, thank you. >> what about just the whole process of setting up there militari militarily? you were the very beginning. >> it was definitely a -- there was one -- there was never one day that was the same. every day was different. one day we would be at a certain location. the next day, we'd be 50, 100

miles north of another location until we got to our permanent place, which was about three months after we got into the country. i was stationed at a little abandoned air force base there. >> what was the one day, the one moment, that you will forever carry with you? >> i'll never forget the day that a good friend of mine was killed in action. he was going down in a convoy and his humvee got hit and it injured two people. sergeant williams left behind a wife and two kids and you never forget that moment. don't want to see grown men cry, listen for a bugle playing "taps." still to come, a new study suggests cell phones won't give you cancer. by the way, not everyone agrees and why the fine print is raising some eyebrows. elizabeth cohen is standing by with the facts and each and

every friday, like to answer some of your questions. you throw all kinds of stuff at me. i just retweeted the video at my twitter page. be right back. jenna shared her recipe with sharon, who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter.

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phone and brain tumors, but cynics dispute the findings, which are published in the british medical journal. they say that a 17-year study doesn't look at long-term risks. i want to bring in elizabeth cohen here to talk about this. but before we talk about the study, i'm kind of thinking, is this something that we should be worried about or children more? >> i'm more worried about my kids. >> because they're growing up. >> exactly. my kids have had cell phones, now, i don't do it, when they were really little, say hi to grandma and put the phone next to their ear. when i was growing up, i was using rotary phones. and it's cumulative. >> so, what's the issue here? i hope we understand how this group is saying, no big deal. >> because the world health organization said it's a potential carcinogen. danish study, biggest study ever like this. more than 300,000 people and

they found that folk who is use cell phones were no more likely to get brain cancer than folks who didn't, however, people point out that it takes like 20 to 30 years to develop a brain tumor. in that country, they've been around longer than they have here, but still, it's probably to safe to say that many of the people in the study were not using cell phones for r 20 years. this is not a question really that we can answer right now at this moment. we're just going to have to wait. these are slow growing cancers. >> but i have questions and one is what's a person to do? i mean since i see you walk around all the time with your headphones as a cell phone, i do as elizabeth cohen does. >> i'm glad to hear that. sanjay does the same thing. he and i have been all over this issue. he got his cell phone tested to see if it had the right amount of radiation in it. you can actually see if it is

amount of radiation it was supposed to. his phone checked out. there's one thing that i for want of a better term, kind of like about this issue is there is an easy solution. i'm not going even going to say it. just use a headset because the danger of the radiation is when it's up next to your head. the minute you hold it at this distance, that radiation just goes into air. use this. use a blue teeth. >> speakerphone. >> and there are lots of options. if you go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient. >> so, is the issue potentially a brain tumor? >> and they're especially concerned for children. in this study, the youngest person was about my age. so people my age were not using cell phones as children and we can't really test children now

because again, these take 20 or 30 years to develop. we don't know what it means to be using a cell phone. there are kids using cell phones for huge chunks of time starting at age 9. >> since i have you here, i heard about this u.s. preventive services task force, which was you were talking about not too long ago. urged fewer screenings for prostate cancer, mammograms. they have a new recommendation when it comes to pap smears. >> which is that women don't need them every year. >> because we're supposed to be going every year. >> yes, you're told to go every year, get a pap smear every year. the american college of obstetrics and gynecologists says something similar. what's interesting about this, mine does it every year. >> every year. >> every year. so, there's this disconnect between the groups that give