leave the area when they had a chance and instead sustaining a war against israel. just moments ago his campaign staff sent this response. gingrich supports and negotiated peace agreement between israel and the palestinians. the statement adds, however, to understand what is being proposed and negotiated, you have to understand decades of complex history. a top palestinian executive committee member shot back. >> very, very long statement. the strongest possible term and such statement is inciting for bloodshed of muslims, christians, jews and we don't need such -- >> newt gingrich is likely to face more heat for his comments tonight when he faces off with five of his republican rivals in a debate in iowa. mitt romney's campaign is

already responding. let's bring in cnn political producer shawna sheppard following the gingrich campaign. following us from des moines. you got the statement from newt gingrich. what else is he or his camp saying? >> moments ago we heard from newt gingrich's campaign press secretary. he sent a statement to cnn to clarify the former house speaker's remarks. he said gingrich supports a negotiated peace agreement between israel and palestinians. which will necessarily include agreements between israel and the palestinians over the borders of palestinian state. however, to understand what is being proposed and negotiated you have to understand decades of con complex history which is what gingrich is referencing during the interview with jewish tv. this is something the gingrich campaign often will comment on, the fact he was a former professor, and -- study of history.

so we will see if he -- if he clarifies his remarks even more, challenging them even more at the debate tonight. >> and mitt romney's campaign is already responding. what are some of the candidates saying? >> mitt romney has not addressed the issue directly. his campaign responded. you know, we'll see if he goes after his rival at the debate tonight. and i'm sure, you know, ron paul is also -- pretty staunch critic of newt gingrich and also be sure to comment on his remarks. >> and what do you know about the format this evening at the debate? what is expected? and if these latest words from gingrich will in some way redirect the focus of the debate? >> well, i think that, you know, tonight is the first time that newt gingrich and mitt romney square off as two clear front

runners. gingrich is walking into the debate with a bullhorn on his back and will be likely challenged from all candidates as they try to make up ground with weeks before the iowa caucuses. it should be interesting. >> all right. political producer shawna shepherd. thanks so much. join us every sunday afternoon at 4:00 when we dedicate an entire hour to the presidential contenders in the 2012 election. on capitol hill both parties are focus order the payroll tax cut. it is set to expire at the end of the year. both democrats and republicans have plans to extend the cuts but there's not a lot of common ground between them. president obama called on congress to get it done in an interview with cbs. he acknowledged there's no quick fix for the economy. >> did you overpromise? did you underestimate how difficult this would be? >> i didn't overpromise and i didn't underestimate how tough this was going to be. i always believed that this was

a long-term project. shore-term project and -- you know, for individual americans who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. reversing structural problems in our economy that had been building up for two decades, that's going to take time. it is going to take more an year. it is going to take more than two years. it is going to take more than one term. probably takes more than one president. >> both parties are being pressured to cut a deal or millions of voters will face a tax hike in an election year. tens of thousands of russians have packed a freezing moscow square to protest last weekend's parliamentary elections. prime minister putin's united russia party lost some seats but retained them the majority. international monitors say the election was tilted toward

united russia. protesters want the results thrown out and a new election held. three champions for women's rights in the developing world equally share this year's highest award for nonviolence struggle. nobel peace prize going to two liberian women. one of whom is the country's president. receiving their prize in oslo today. the other recipient is the first arab woman to win the nobel peace prize recognized for her role in this year's popular uprising in yemen. jerry sandusky now faces more than 50 charges of sexually abusing children. and one of our legal guys says the former penn state coach's wife should be indicted as well. the latest from penn state live with our legal experts. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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volunteers across the country are spending this saturday at military and veterans cemeteries. they are helping lay holiday wreaths on the headstones of fallen service members. volunteers at arlington national cemetery got an early start this morning when trucks filled with donated wreaths arrived there and placing 100,000 wreaths at arlg thon. let's go now to cnn's athena jones. she is there and has been watching this volunteer action in place all morning long. why did so many people volunteer and who are these volunteers? >> well, i suppose with a lot of people. have you veterans, you have a lot of service members, people in uniform. marines. people in the military. there are a lot of kids and at least one boy scout troop. you also had a lot of people who came -- lost people, whether it was a son or daughter or

partner. i spoke with a lot of people here who said they wanted to come out. one man told me he had a relative who died in world war ii who was very -- buried somewhere here. i said are you going to try to lay a wreath on that grave? he said no, i wanted to come anywhere, it didn't matter where i came. i wanted to give back because they have given so much and i have given so little. the idea here was for i people to come together and honor the troops. this group's mission wreaths across america is remember, honor, teach. it is the 20th anniversary of laying wreaths and all began back in 1992 when a business man from maine who has a wreath company had a surplus of wreaths at the end of the year and donated 5,000 wreaths here toal ton to be laid on the graves in an older section, section that didn't get as many visitors. so the tradition continued and it expanded to all 50 states, more than 500 seem tearies and it is a big day of volunteering. and a day of honoring the troops.

>> all right. athena jones, thanks so much, arlington cemetery. many of america's unemployed are over 50 but age was no barrier for at least two men they turned to food to get them back on the job. their tasty success story next.

a look at the top stories straight ahead. including the longer list of sex abuse charges against former penn state football coach jerry sandus sandusky. the allege victims are younger and indictments are falling on more people. we have our legal guys tackling that next.

take two boomers, both out of work, and add in a love of food and you have a career reinvention. in this week's "smart is the new rich" christine romans takes a look at starting over and starting a business after 50. >> very emotional thing. >> now it is a livelihood for these two. >> really good. >> almost two years ago the friends and next-door neighbors cooked up elizabeth lane cuisines. it is a line of all-natural gluten free simmer cooking sauce. >> these are sauces that we make on a regular basis. >> in 2008 the advertising business tanked. >> when the phones stopped ringing i knew hi to do something quick. >> reporter: when michael lost his job in health care management, he found inspiration from his 12-year-old daughter she said dad, what sit you really like to do? and out of those conversations was, you know, my love of food.

>> reporter: neighbors and foodies together with 60 years of work experience, they named their new company after the street where it all began. >> two 50-some-year-old guys, we are not afraid to admit that, you know, we don't know. >> it was exciting but it was also a little terrifying. because at the time i was 58 years old. and to reinvent yourself at that age is a pretty drastic thing to do. but i knew if we stuck with it, it had a possible bit of working. >> reporter: rid does the design, ads and labels. michael handles operations. >> the suit and rid is kind of the creative guy. >> reporter: it is about profit and principle. they ship their sauce using handy crafters. it gives jobs to people with disabilities. rid's stepson works there. >> there are a lot of parents who have special needs children who lay awake at night wondering well, when it he gets out of

school, what are are we going to do with him? and this -- a place like handy craft really gives them a wonderful opportunity to have a responsible 9:00 to 5:00 job. >> reporter: with 50 stores in 16 states, their boomer reboot is working. >> if we started this out of college or -- you know, our late 20s, early 30s, it properly would have been much tougher. >> so totally different from having a 9:00 to 5:00 job. i have done both and i know where i want to be. i'm where i want to be. >> reporter: christine romans, cnn. >> feds want to put a baseball legend in jail for more an year. i'm talking about barry bonds. his sentence sing a few days away. prison or probation? americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894,

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[♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. jerry sandusky is home again. former penn state football coach posted bail thursday. one day after he was arrested again. this time on 12 new counts of child sex abuse. sandusky faces more than 50 charges he abused kids over the span of more than 15 years. let's bring in our legal guys, avery friedman, civil rights attorney and professor. joining us from cleveland. and richard herman, a new york criminal defense opportunity and la professor joining us from las vegas. good to see you. >> hi. >> all right. this is very interesting. not only was he facing more charges, he was released on bail. and now he's on house arrest. his wife comes out, dottie

sandusky, and is defending her husband saying that these charges are false and eventually her husband will be cleared. avery, how might her statement now -- apparently that statement was released by his attorney. how might that statement either hurt or help his case? >> well, i don't think it is -- it doesn't mean a darned thing. i mean, what -- the problem is that she put herself in a position of potential criminal liability in trying to defend her husband. again, i -- maybe sandusky's lawyer is so brilliant, fredricka, that we just can't figure out how smart he is. i mean, first permitting his client to go on tv and making incriminating statements and then having the wife go there. potentially i think there's a possibility she could find herself in this suit. i don't understand the strategy. >> richard, do you find the more she talks or even that one statement saying that there were no boys in the basement, she

never heard anybody yelling for help, and that isn't true, her statement might potentially be used in court in any way and she could potentially be facing charges herself, richard? >> i want her to be indicted. i want them to indict her. she has to be indicted, fred. she was involved. she was at that house. he was taking children to the basement. he's innocent until proven guilty. we have to say that up front. but there's a lot of claims here, fred. there's a lot of consistent patterns of behavior from these ten alleged victims at this point that, you know, i mean, it is building up strong against them. and avery is right. his lawyer is bonkers, fred. seriously. he needs to get a new lawyer if he has any chance -- >> richard, that's a legal term. >> bonkers. >> if he has any chance of seeing a light of day he needs to get a new lawyer right now let's look at these new charges. avery, how do they compare to the previous charges?

>> well, they are very similar, fredricka. there are nine felonies, three misdemeanors. if you read the -- the grand jury testimony, the -- five pages of it, it is very, very clear that it follows the pattern of the first eight and so basically these new individuals came forward. you want to know why? the pennsylvania attorney general featured it on her website. they found out. that's very common in these kind of manners. more people coming forward. by the way, this isn't the end of it. you will see other young people coming forward in this and, frankly, i think you are going to see the consistent pattern of what sandusky is alleged to have done in this case. >> there will be a preliminary hearing on tuesday and this might -- this week coming may be the first time since these charges were imposed, jerry sandus sandusky, may be facing some of these charge. >> i don't think it is going to

go tuesday because of the superseding indictment. i think they are going to adjourn that day. essentially all of the preliminary hearing is going to consist of is a field day for the defense to see exactly what the prosecution's case is. and the prosecutors claim -- they are going to put all victims on the stand to testify. it is going to be overwhelming. it is going to be very, very emotional. if you read the grand jury report this time, fred, four counts of deviate sexual intercourse he is charged with, four more, child rape. that's what that is. one of the victims, victim nine, says i was in the basement and i screamed for help because i knew his wife was there. but nobody came to my rescue. this testimony comes in. it is going to be so powerful, fred 37. really. very, very powerful. >> since then, again, dottie sandusky saying she doesn't recall that at all. she never heard any screaming. she is saying emphatically there were no kids even in the base many. let's move on to barry bonds. talking about the all-time home run leader.

barry bonds now going to be back in court. this time facing sentencing after conviction of obstruction. what is he facing potentially, avery? >> potentially under the guidelines 15 to 21 months. united states attorney, justice department, talked about recommending 15 months. it is going to u.s. district susan illston, a wonderful federal judge in san francisco. but the judge is not bound by the guidelines. she's looking to the probation offic officer's report. the probation officer saying what any common sense person would say. that is barry bonds is looking at probation and nothing more. he was evasive before the grand jury. if you look at other cases resolved in the federal court in san francisco, same result, probation is what we are going to see this week. >> do you agree, probation? likely? >> yes. presentence report is extremely powerful tool for the sentencing judge. and here that report says

because of his good deeds and because of everything else surrounding this case, he should not go to prison. he should have -- maybe some home confinement but that's it, fred. probation, that's what he deserves. jury did not convict him of perjury. how he could be convicted of obstruction when he wasn't convicted of perjury is beyond me. the judge is going to know that. he does not deserve to go to prison on this, fred. he absolutely deserves probation. and that's what i'm going for. it is going to be probation but he's not going get to the hall of fame. it is not going to happen for him. >> might he still appeal that obstruction. >> yes, he is going to appeal that. he has a good shot on the appeal, i think. >> okay, gentlemen. thanks so much. we will see you again. we are not done with you. we have other cases including that of joran van der sloot. he was the main suspect in the natalee holloway disappearance. he is a murder suspect in peru facing charges. he decided to turn the tables.

he is suing the government of chile. we will talk about that and how that came to be. after the sex abuse can't dals at penn state, syracuse and now the aau victim no, sir longer have to live in the shadows. one woman's story next. ( phone ringing )

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highest award, nobel peace award. the country's president received their prizes in oslo today. the other recipient is the first arab woman to win the nobel peace prize, recognized for her role in this year's popular uprising in yemen. in japan, reports of a radioactive water leak inside of a nuclear power plant in the southern part of the country. a spokesman for the plant says no radioactive materials leaked outside of the facility. no word on the cause of the leak. the plant is hundreds of miles away from a nuclear power plant damaged in this year's earthquake and tsunami. in boston, police have cleared the occupy protest camp there. they moved in early this morning. dozens of people were arrested but there were no reports of violence. new allegations today that the head of the amateur athletic

union may have sexually abused two people decades ago. police in memphis, tennessee, have opened an investigation. two men tell espn robert bobby dodd molested them back in the 1980s when they were playing on his aau basketball team. one told reuters dodd drugged him and offered him a thousand dollars for oral sex. no comment from dodd who is battling colon cancer. how do you deal with sexual abuse? it is a mature subject that may not be appropriate for all audiences. dottedy sandusky she continues to believe her husband, jerry, is innocent. the former penn state assistant football coach faces a number of sexual abuse charges. he hasn't been tried yet but it is not unusual for abusers' families to remain in denial even after the abuser has been convicted. julie peterson talked exclusively to the ex-wife of one sexual predator.

>> he was arrested for soliciting minors on the internet. >> her nightmare started eight years ago with a phone dpraul jail. it was her husband. he had been arrested at a shopping mall preparing to meet a young girl online. instead of the young girl it was the fbi. he was indicted on five sxoupts pleaded guilty to one charge transferring obscenity over the internet. we hid her face because she wants to protect her daughters. >> he spent 18 months in a federal prison and then six weeks in a halfway house after that. >> reporter: and you stuck with him, didn't you? >> i did. >> reporter: why? >> i was terrified of being alone. i had a 10-year-old child and a 1-year-old at the time of his arrest. and no job. i was a stay-at-home mom.

>> reporter: jane continued to help hope her husband would be rehabilitated. >> there was a lot of shame that i didn't want to face. i stayed in that place of denial that there was a possibility of anything else. >> reporter: how long did you stay in that place of denial? >> the whole 18 months he was in prison, until about two months after he returned home. then i started to wake up. >> reporter: she left her husband and moved in with family. >> i had never experienced such a low. i felt -- i felt awful about myself, how could i have fallen in love with this, how could i have not seen it? >> reporter: psychologist julie runs a large practice that treats sexual offenders and has written a book about protecting children from predators. it is. >> it is very hard for women when their husband or boyfriend has been accused of sexual abuse because the woman wants to believe that their husband is telling the truth. >> reporter: she says it is confusing for people to seam there has been a secret area hidden for such a long time. >> child molesters can seem so normal in every other area of

their lives. except for this one area which is the sexual deviancy or sexual problem. >> reporter: the six-year marriage ended in divorce. jane says her ex-husband now out of prison still has excuses. >> i didn't do it. no, i'm not sexually attracted to children. >> reporter: as jane looks back, she says she missed red flags along the way. >> checking my e-mail and pop-up comes up on his computer. and so i looked in the history of the computer and there were pornographic sites there. he blamed it on a friend who had been visiting and staying at work late, longer than normal, trips out of town. >> reporter: why were those things happening? >> i thought he was having an affair. but apparently what was happening was he was online at the office. so is she still doing it now? i don't know. it wouldn't surprise me.

it terrifies me. not for me and my children anymore but for anybody else that he could hurt. and i believe that's a possibility. >> reporter: at 42 jane is optimistic about her future. her advice to others -- >> trust your gut. those red flags pop up for a reason. trust it. >> reporter: julie peterson, cnn, atlanta. >> ahead at 2:00 eastern time, a woman who was sexually abused by her stepfather tells her story. each state has its own statute of limitations for these kinds of heinous crimes. we will talk about why they are so hard to prosecute. erin andrews, esfn reporter and target of a hotel peeping tom, she is taking the hotel chain to court p.

espn reporter erin andrews said the man who -- who looked through a peep hole of her hotel door had help from the hotel itself. our legal guys are back. avery friedman in land and richard herman in las vegas. that's why, gentlemen, she is

suing for millions. she is suing the marriott chain and also suing the convicted peeping tom. is this going to be difficult, though, for her to try to establish this, richard, particularly because she's -- in the public view? she works in the public view, people have been seeing her. how will she establish if there has been some damage? >> well, she going to be able to prove the invasion of privacy claims no problem there. on the negligence and the intentional infliction of emotional distress i'm not so sure. she is bringing the case in tennessee, fred. sued for $6 million against marriott. and, you know, i think if she got anywhere close to a six figure offer she should take it and run. you know, she was prancing around naked on "dancing with the stars," just about naked, almost naked. i don't know what the damages are there. i don't know -- she's not going -- this is not going to be a lot of victory for her. lotto victory for her. i think the case will settle. i can't see it going to a verdict. if it does she will not get a lot of money.

>> avery, you disagree with everything or just with the portion about dancing around naked? >> i mean -- that is not fair. i mean the truth is that she's going to have to establish the hotel knew she was a star and new she had attracted stalkers, knew that the stalker was going to have a room next door. knew the stalker was going to look through and drill a hole through the wall and knew they would post it. i think it is a very difficult case. i will tell you one thing that impresses me is she's going after michael barrett for $4 million. he is the peeper, guy convicted. she won't get a nickel but it is the principle right thing to do. i think money is secondary. there is going to be he a motion to dismiss. >> not likely to get any money out of him, why is that the right principle thing to do? what will be the -- the accomplishment? >> because it makes -- it makes a righteous point. the fact is he should be accountable. she should get a big verdict. that is a message. if she doesn't get anything that sing secondary. that's what i mean by that.

you know what -- >> go ahead soshgsy. >> no, go ahead. >> i was going to say she has to establish the marriott was complicit, right? that it was negligent, that it allowed this to happen. how will she and her attorneys try to establish that? >> very difficult. well, very -- i'm sorry. >> let me just -- let me just say this. number one, i think it is a -- an uphill battle because there are so many factors involved. maybe it is the peep hole structure itself. but even that doesn't make any sense. it is a complicated case. if the judge denies the motion to dismiss, richard is right in thing respect. they will probably propose some kind of lower level settlement but that won't happen until the procedural aspect of this case is complete d. >> richard. >> yeah. she claims that marriott was negligent because they should have seen the hole that he had drilled and that after seeing that, they failed to do anything about it. but how is she going to prove that? the maid saw it?

i don't know. fred, it is very strange. you call and ask for someone's room in a hotel, they never give that information. they may connect you on the phone. i have never seen a case where it is given that information. kind of strange here. but i don't know if it is negligence. i don't know. it is going to -- interesting how it plays out. it may be dismissed before, like avery said. in any event, this is not a big money case. absolutely not. >> okay. let's move on to joran van der sloot. this is an interesting case taking quite the turn. he is facing murder charges for peruvian woman. now he is suing the country of chile for violating his human rights because he says chile should never have handed him over to peru. >> he's saying that chile never afforded him an attorney, they didn't afford him an interpreter. they failed to give him a computer so he could contact his family. all that well and good. chile didn't prosecute him, fred. they just extradited him to peru. >> that's right. >> no claim here.

this is garbage. throw it in the garbage. this guy is going to be convicted of murder in peru and there's nothing he can do about it. he's going down hard on this one, fred. >> he's suing for $13 million. why would he and his attorneys even attempt this? >> well, it was a creative effort that's going nowhere. he is using an agency which basically provides for friendly settlements. that's what they tout themselves doing between nations. he is going to trial in three weeks. it is a last-ditch effort to try to enjoin this but it will not happen. the argument is will he haver is rights in chile and, therefore, chile should not have turned him over to peru. i did homework on this. it is going nowhere. he's going to trial. i believe he will be convicted and start newspaper about three weeks. >> okay. that trial for the murder of stephany flores. this perhaps was a delay technique? >> yes. yeah. that's all it was.

last-ditch effort. we are not going to see anything happen. international commission on human rights is going to do absolutely nothing. or they will spend the next year debating it and meantime he will already be convicted. >> they have like -- 1,500 cases ahead. 1,500 cases ahead of him. by the time they get to him, it will at least be a year, i have never seen a civil case stay a criminal trial. so -- i don't think it is -- you know, he will get convict. >> yeah. >> international -- they don't have the right to stay the criminal proceedings. >> all right. avery, richard, thanks so much. appreciate that. you know, there are a couple of other cases we will button up. cases that you and i have talked about over the course of the last few months. this one involving that connecticut man. now heading to death row for his part in that brutal home invasion that no one can forget. a jurly good new haven recommended joshua komisarjevsky

be put to death for putting to death jennifer petit and her two daughters. the sole survivor of the attack says justice has been done. another accomplice, steven hayes, he is already on death row for that crime after his conviction. here's another big closed case of the week. the former governor of illinois is sent to prison. rod blagojevich must report to prison within 90 days to begin serving a 14-year sentence. he was convicted in june on 17 corruption charges. one which involved his alleged attempt to sell the senate seat vacated by president barack obama. straight ahead, we are going to talk about the weather picture. it is definitely winter. some folks are shivering, particularly in the midwest. we will find out more about the big cooldown. time, hassle, and the big one -- money. hundreds, in fact, if you're a progressive customer, like me.

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it is very cold in certain parts of the country but it is supposed to be. it is almost winter, right? bonnie schneider in the weather center. yes. it is a holiday season. we are not even officially -- 21st is official winter solstice. >> what's so funny about that, people in new england are saying -- we have been in winter. >> they had a warm season so

far. some people are saying it is already too cold. others are saying where is winter? it is all coming. it is cold outside much of the great lakes and midwest. that's where temperatures are brutal. it is only 16 degrees in duluth, minnesota. eventually we will see a warmup but not much. chilly down south. 38 degrees in nashville right now. 44 in birmingham and 52 in atlanta. that's a little more pleasant than what we have had so far. it has been so cold this week. watching out for delays out west due to snow showers. little bit of rain down in south florida. keep that in mind. otherwise you are looking at the chance for showers popping newspaper south florida. certainly for tomorrow. wet weather in the forecast there. we are watching out for lake effect snow. we have some heavy snow that is likely to fall later on in upstate new york. four to seven inches expected. keep that in mind as you shuffle out. winds will be strong, too. that will blow the snow and may cause higher snowdrifts to develop. we have been checking out freezing fog out west. that's going to limit visibility.

overall, i would say for the country, most of the weather today looks pretty good for those of you traveling. temperatures today will be comfortable but chilly in the midwest. great lakes. but the south looks much milder. tomorrow that's when it gets trickin sunday. because in the southeast we are looking for the chance of showers down in florida and south carolina and otherwise high pressure building in, bringing cooler weather. lots of shine there. we are looking for wet to develop out on the west coast. that includes southern california. so tomorrow's high temperatures are looking pretty much similar to today. a little milder in minneapolis and chicago. you are out of the zbepts into the upper 30s. get above freeze. >> fred, not bad at all. thanks so much. talk about melting heart. you will love this story. who doesn't? after waiting more than three hours for his plane to arrive a u.s. army specialist gave his girlfriend the surprise of a lifetime. here we see it happening right there.

>> yes. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> we are on tv, do you know that? >> yeah. figured what the cameras were for. >> she thought she was surprising him with the welcome back party. but then he obviously had an even bigger surprise. she said yes. you heard that. thank goodness, right? delta airlines, airport officials and tsa were all in on it. cnn is honoring the every day heroes around the world. we will take you live to los angeles for a preview of the huge all-star tribute.

we are just hours away from tomorrow night's cnn heroes. an all-star tribute. the show honors those who go above and beyond to make the world a better place. a.j. hammer host of "showbiz tonight" will co-host a special preview show. he is joining from us the shrine auditorium. hey, what can we expect tomorrow? they are already starting to do the finishing touches today? >> yes, that's right, fred. right behind me is actually where the red carpet will be laid out. i saw them grab it with a big front loader and lower it down on to the ground.

they are setting up the staging for a big one-hour live preshow before any of the big-time celebrities can walk into the shrine they have to come down our red carpet. celebrities will include jerry seinfeld, mary-louise parker and many more. of course the true celebrities of the night are our top ten honorees, these are individuals making extraordinary differences in their communities by giving back and providing some amazing services. their stories are all so touching. i am personally touched by the fact that i still can't believe who is joining me as my coast host for "showbiz tonight," our one-hour preshow. the great j.r. martinez. j.r., wounded iraq war veteran, who, of course, won the coveted trophy on "dancing with the stars." everybody was inspired by his incredible story. i had a chance to hang out and spend time with j.r. and he is a guy just could spend hours talking to about anything. we were inside the shrine

auditorium as they were making preps yesterday. talking about cnn heroes and how important it is to him that he's very excited to be here. we got to talking a little bit about what "dancing with the stars" has brought to him. when you win "dancing with the stars," you never know where your christmas cards are going to come from. watch what he told me a special piece of mail he just received a short time ago. let's look at that. >> i have been traveling a lot since the show ended. i came home the other day and going through my mail and just saying okay, that's not -- that's nothing, that's nothing. i see this envelope. i say, well, what's this going to be? i go and i open up the envelope. and needless to say, it is a christmas card from the obamas. >> no kidding. >> no kidding. yeah. >> reporter: you have the fans at the top of the ladder now. >> nice. so you never know when you compete on a show who will be sending you christmas mail. we spent a great deal of time also, fred, talking about how excited he is to be here.

watch what j.r. told me about why this was so important for him to be a part of this year. >> i actually had been traveling a lotins the show ended. i came home the other day and i'm going through all my mail and just saying okay, that's nothing. that's nothing. i see this envelope. i say, well, what's in going to be? i go and i open up the envelope. and needless to say it is a christmas card from the obamas. >> no kid. >> no kidding. yeah. >> he has fans all the way at the top of the ladder now. >> be surprise order who watches "dancing with the stars." >> okay. obviously the same bit of sound there from j.r. fmartinez. he was that excited he got a christmas card from the president we had to reveal it again. anyway, we are going to go inside in a little while to see exactly how they are doing the staging being set. all the cables are being set. cameras are being put in place. it is going to be an extraordinary night. as i tell people every time i talk about this, i dare you to not feel inspired by the stories you will see.

of course, 8:00 p.m., live. here from the shrine auditorium eastern time tomorrow. before then make sure you catch j.r. and myself on "showbiz tonight." >> i'm sure j.r. has shown you a few new moves. >> no question about it. we are going to do a little cha cha down the red carpet. hopefully the cameras won't catch that. he promised me that. >> we want to make sure they do catch that. we look forward to that. now that's a tease. all right. thanks so much, a.j. all right. watch "cnn heroes" tomorrow night after the preview special a.j. was talking about. 8:00 p.m. eastern time. 5:00 p.m. pacific. go to cnnheroes.com to see who this year's nominees are and nominate the organization for your hero of the year. the top stories straight ahead. what do you got? restrained driver in a motor vehicle.

sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson.

look at the top stories now.

newt gingrich is stirring up a middle peace controversy. he said in an interview palestinians are, quote, an invented people. a palestinian leader calls that, in his words, of the most racist statement he has ever seen. and now gingrich has issued a news statement saying he supports a negotiated peace. but adds to understand what is being proposed you have to understand decades of complex history. tens of thousands of russians packed a freezing moscow square today. they are protesting last weekend's parliamentary elections. prime minister putin's united russia party lost some seats but retained the majority. international monitors say the election was tilted towards united russia. protesters want the results thrown out and a new election. three champions for women's rights in the developing world. equally share this year's highest award for nonviolent struggle. the nobel peace prize, two

liberian women, one of whom the country's president, received their prizes in oslo today. the other recipient is the first arab woman to win the know bell peace prize recognized for her role in this year's popular uprising in yemen. a lot of you know what it is like setting off a metal detector when passing through a security check point. well, now president barack obama knows, too. he was walking back to the white house from the blair house when he stopped at a security gate and when he walked through, yes, it beeped. apparently it was his cell phone. he said he wanted to see what it was like going through the checkpoint at the white house. all right. stay with us. cnn this afternoon coming up at 2:00 eastern time. you probably need some extra cash, right, this holiday season? how about a virtual garage sale. our financial fix, karen lee explains how to get money by getting rid of the stuff you don't need anymore. plus, one woman's