facebook.com/fit nation. we want to hear from you. we want to help you as well. that's going to wrap things up for sgmd this morning. join the conversation on twitter. hope to see you back here next weekend. time to give you a check of your top stories from the "cnn newsroom." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we are in cnn center here in atlanta, georgia. it's january 7th, 2012, 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. in dallas, 5:00 a.m. in san diego, california. good morning. i'm gary tuchman. a u.s. teenager back on u.s.

soil this morning. we'll tell you how the 15-year-old dallas girl ended up in colombia and how she was located. and what does slavery and math have to do with each other? a teacher gives a math test with word problems such as, if frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week? we'll tell you the full story, and we want your reaction. send your thoughts to gary tuchman cnn on twitter. he's on trial for murder. joran van der sloot sits in court yawning. hear what the judge had to say about his behavior. we start with the republican presidential race and the battle for the granite state, new hampshire. the candidates have two debates there this weekend. but that doesn't mean they're scaling back on the personal appearances. this is mitt romney holding a rally in dairy, new hampshire. he's been dominating the polls in new hampshire, but now rick santorum may have some momentum.

paul steinhouser joins me from manchester, new hampshire, early in the morning. you look good, you don't look too cold, which is a good sign. is this a battle now for second place in new hampshire? is mitt romney going to win this? >> reporter: i think that's a pretty fair statement, gary. mitt romney, he's from neighboring massachusetts, he owns a vacation home here in new hampshire, spends a lot of time here campaigning, helping other republicans. it's home field advantage for mitt romney, no doubt about that. take a look at this brand-new ad that came out last night. this is the people likely to vote in tuesday's republican primary. romney, again, way up top at 44%. ron paul at 20%. this is interesting, look at rick santorum, the senator from pennsylvania at 13%. another poll also came out yesterday, i would guess he's getting mo jo from the second-place finish in iowa back on tuesday in the caucuses. so the battle here is for second

place. and hopefully, you know, the candidate who comes in second is hoping they get good momentum going into south carolina. their primary comes 11 days after new hampshire. check out this, where does the race stand in south carolina? our poll in south carolina, we made some news yesterday when we put ours out, because look who's on top in south carolina, mitt romney. that was not the case a month ago. it used to be newt gingrich. newt gingrich going the other way. as you can see behind me, we have the cnn election express. the commander of the bus just rolled in last night from iowa. you know we're ready to go here in new hampshire, gary. >> that bus is everything we need to broadcast, and stay warm, it has great food and drinks aboard. it's high-tech. >> reporter: oh, yeah. >> what do we need to know about the debates this weekend? what's the viewers' guide here? >> reporter: i think it's pretty obvious when you're on top, like a mitt romney, you're going to

come under attack. you're going to get a lot more attention from the other candidates. but now we're seeing the same thing for rick santorum. he was an afterthought a couple of weeks ago until he started making progress in iowa. the other person to look for, newt gingrich. he's trying to jump-start his campaign. he was the front-runner just about a month ago. a poor showing in iowa, poor fourth-place finish. he's going to try to show he is the conservative alternative to mitt romney. expect him to try to break out in performances tonight and tomorrow morning. >> paul and i are both boston university terriers. that's why he's such a smart guy. good talking to you. the best political team on television for the new hampshire primary, join them for live coverage from this very studio tuesday night 7:00 eastern right here on cnn.

mitt romney isn't the only one on the campaign trail this morning. here at the live events we'll be watching today, coming up in about one hour, ron paul will be meeting people coming to breakfast at the wind mill restaurant in concord, which is the state capital. rick santorum is in manchester 9:45 eastern time. at 11:00, newt gingrich will hold a town hall meeting in wolfeboro. and jon huntsman is in holderness, new hampshire. stay with cnn throughout the day for the latest on the candidates. federal investigators are helping in the search for a missing toddler in maine. ayla reynolds went missing from her bed december 17th. her father noticed her missing in the morning hours after he put her to bed. the 21-month-old's grandmother said no family members had anything to do with the disappearance. police say the family is cooperating in the investigation. the fbi is also assisting with

the missing child case in south carolina. 18-month-old amir jennings was last seen around thanksgiving. the boy's mother was arrested and is still in jail for lying to police about where the child is. the family, though, is asking for help. >> he loves nursery rhymes, he will repeat back to you. he's a very bright child. my family and i are requesting your support in helping us to find his location, and to bring him home. >> so sad. the family says amir's mother has been dealing with depression. she's being held on $150,000 bail. it looks like we'll have to wait until at least wednesday to hear a plea from joran van der sloot. he was expected to plead guilty to murder yesterday in the death of a 21-year-old woman in peru,

but instead van der sloot asked the judge for more time to consider his plea. you may remember that van der sloot was also a suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway in 2005. penn state is ready to replace joe paterno. the offensive coordinator bill o'brien, the official announcement expected a few hours from now. o'brien is taking over a program reeling from the sexual abuse scandal surrounding jerry sandusky. the news was met by excite from team members. >> i'm very excited about it. we heard the news late last night. i talked to a couple of my buddies on the team who are excited as well. it's a fresh start for the penn state program. and i'm anxious to get it going. >> you'll re that joe paterno was dismissed as part of the cleanup from the sandusky scandal. o'brien won't be coming to happy valley right away, though, he'll stay with the patriots as long as they stay alive in the nfl play-offs, wild card play-offs

begin this weekend. the surf in california has turned deadly. take a look at the huge swells. according to affiliate ktla, rip currents have already killed at least one swimmer. high surf advisory in effect for most southern california beaches. some parts of the coast could possibly even see surf as high as 14 feet. meteorologist alexandria steele is keeping an eye on it. >> aggressive surf, no question about it. here's where the advisories are through 6:00 local time tonight. so we will see it through this morning, through the afternoon but it will abate later today. in terms of the surf, maybe high tides also of about 6 feet for some right around los angeles. and that's around high tide at 7:22 this morning. so certainly be mindful of that if you're heading out. and gary, where's the winter, right? where's the snow, where's the cold temperatures? also forecast for tuesday in new

hampshire, all that coming up in a little bit. >> thank you, alexandra. and i'm not complaining about the winter. at least yet. a teen deported to columbia is now back home. her family wants to know why immigration officials didn't know she was an american. her story is next. and imagine winning the lottery. but when you go to cash the winning check, the check bounces. my name is ron orsini, i'm forty eight years-old, i love to swim, and i love to walk outside. osteo bi-flex has really helped my knees. osteo bi-flex has been incredible for me,

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good morning, everybody. it's ten minutes after the hour. let's take a look at news cross-country. we'll start in boston. nothing ruins a robbery like a trooper in the store. >> there was a man behind the counter. he had a hood up. it definitely didn't look right. >> reporter: massachusetts state trooper john mckinnon walked into this cvs when a clerk told him something strange was happening by the pharmacy. >> i pulled my gun and said, let me see your hands. he looked at me real quick and ran out. the chase was on. >> reporter: mckinnon caught up with this man and blasted him twice in the face with pepper spray. investigators say he demanded pharmacists give him painkillers. to newport beach, california, a cheating scandal t at a school there. students are accused of prepping for a test by buying answers from teachers.

the teachers apparently found the book they were reading which included questions and answers. school officials say at least one student tried to sell the material to classmates. by the way, these test documents are not on amazon anymore. in chicago, 85 lotto winners cashed in their checks around christmas and they bounced. illinois lottery officials say the checks totaling about $159,000 did not have the proper security authorization. they blame short staffing because of the holidays. but they do plan to pay the winners, plus they'll be reimbursed for any bank fees. one teenager's stunning saga has ended with her return to the united states. this is video of turner arriving at the airport in dallas, texas. she spent most of the past year in colombia, the nation of colombia, in south america, being deported by the u.s. government. the problem is, she's not colombian. she's 15. american teenager. she just ran away from home.

after a shoplifting arrest in houston, she convinced american colombian officials, from both countries, that her name is really tika cortez. why she did this, we don't know. her family finally tracked her down on facebook. >> we don't know when she was really deported, but that's when i saw her on facebook, when i saw her picture. colombia's right there to the side, you know. where you are shows up on facebook. and it had colombia there. so i started looking it up. >> is this a colombian newspaper? >> no, facebook. the computer. but i had a detective to check it for me. it wasn't a regular detective. someone who came to the shop and they checked it. and she was in colombia. i knew it all the time. but i just wanted to prove to other people that she was there. >> weird story.

these are some of the posts that led to her grandmother to look in colombia. was in jail, now i'm a free man and still feel like i'm loke up in this country. i think she meant locked up. this one from june, i'm having too many problems in my life. just found out i can't even go back to the states in another five years. her family wants to know how the if federal government didn't figure out that she wasn't an illegal immigrant. federal immigration officials are investigating the case. using slavery to teach a lesson about math. ahead, you'll hear from some parents who are rightfully outraged about their children's homework assignment. look at these workmen building a snow village in montreal. one of canada's newest attractions. but they're having trouble finishing it, and you'll never guess why. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories.

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businesses across canada are suffering from the lack of something usually very plentiful this time of year -- snow. work on montreal's newest cold-weather attraction a snow village is behind schedule. it's just too warm in montreal to make the snow that sculptors need to build it. that brings us to alexandra steele. it's 16 minutes past the hour. alexandra, a lot of people are wondering, might we miss winter this year in north america? >> no. >> no? >> no. remember thanksgiving? we had snow in the northeast. >> that may be what it is. we had the huge early snow, very unexpected, and now we're not

going to have any snow until the opening day of baseball season in april. >> want to put a bet on that? >> i'll bet you $1 on that. >> a novelist in canada, some places of canada, christmas, no snow. new year's eve, no snow. so take a look at this. of course, here in the lower 48 as well. this is one year ago, this purple and pink denotes about between 8 and a foot of snow on the ground as kind of a blanket there as cover. that is canada. you can see in the northeast, of course, through michigan, dakotas, where we typically would expect it. last year, let's fast forward to this year. last year, 45% of the country had snow. this year, 16%, the same time, but this year, look how cool, of course, no snow at all with this mild weather. no snow cover. even, of course, a little accumulation, so ski resorts, be it tahoe in the west or straten in the northeast, really having some trouble, no question about that. so no snow. we've seen this record heat. so really just an incredible condition.

this jet stream is so far to the north, it's locking all that cold air, what cold there is, to the north in canada. so much of the country warm. 15 to 25 degrees above average. just this last seven days alone, over 1,100 record high temperatures around the country. most of them west of the mississippi. but still, yesterday, where it was, the axis of the heat. now moving eastward. heat here in january. boston, new york, washington, 15 to 20 degrees above average for today. so temperatures well warmer than where we should be. today what we're going to see in boston and new york, again, temperatures 15 to 20 degrees warmer. boston should be in the 30s. how about 53 for you. of course, in new hampshire as well, a lot of people there, temperatures about 10 degrees above average for tuesday. 55 in new york. d.c., look at that, 62. you should be in the 50s. should be 52 in atlanta, georgia. 65 degrees here. of course, it's warm in the east. getting a little bit cooler in the northern plains, but still well above average, gary. so not a lot of snow. haven't seen it.

the forecast looking still kind of warm for a lot of the country. >> bad for the skiers, but great for the golfers. >> oh, yeah. the iconic pictures of new hampshire won't be the same with the town squares covered in snow. >> thank you, alexandra. some parents in the state of georgia are outraged after an elementary school's assignment used slavery and beatings in math word problems. >> i'm having to explain to my 8-year-old why slavery, or slave or beatings is in a math problem. and that hurts. >> whoever put together this paperwork and everything else, the schools and everything, shouldn't teach it this way. >> school officials say it was a cross-curricular activity. >> the teachers were trying to do a cross-curricular activity. we understand there are concerns about these questions. and we agree that these questions were not appropriate. >> after the school finally acknowledged its mistake, the assignments were shredded. we want to hear from you

about this. did the school do enough to handle this really strange situation. tweet me at gary tuchman cnn. in one minute, new technology that could get you off the couch and back at the gym. don't go anywhere. ♪ [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be.

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big campaign day for the republican candidates. we're giving you a live look in dairy, new hampshire. mitt romney is about to arrive on the stage. at the pinkerton academy field house. this will be romney's only appearance today in the granite state. he's leading the polls in new hampshire. remember, he was the governor of next door massachusetts. a lot of people thought after rick santorum's second-place finish, that the latest polls showing santorum closing in there. this is romney's only stop before the debate tonight. well, we've had our fun today. but the holidays are over. and it's time to start burning off all those extra calories we ate. in my case, my wife's pecan pie. it's the digital age, so there has to be a way to use a tablet, or a laptop to help us shape up. wouldn't you think so, right? the answer is yes.

i wouldn't pose that question if the answer wasn't yes. our lifestyle expert mario armstrong joins us now. mario, thank you very much for joining us. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me on. >> it's great to have you. >> i've got a way fork you to work off the pecan pie. >> i ate a lot of dessert. but i eat salads, too. >> they make vegan desserts, by the way. >> we'll have to talk about that the next time. we have something interesting we want to talk about this time. you'll give us the heads up on the new health and fitness gadgets premiering at the consumer electronics show. first tell us what css is, how big of a show is? >> this is massive. it happens in vegas. you're talking close to 130 or more thousand people from over 100 different countries attend. over 2,400 exhibiters. and the space takes up about the length of 33 football fields.

this is a massive conference. all of the latest technology that shows up in the stores, the services, all the things that could affect your life. everything from smart refrigerators, to health and fitness, to tablets and cell phones, everything that you end up wanting to use or take a look at and want to buy shows their products at this particular show. >> 33 football feels. that's 3,300 yards, that means 9,900 feet. that's almost two miles long. >> that's right. >> all right. >> i'm there for four days. so i'm going to be tracking myself with a pedometer. >> there's apparently a smart watch from motorola? >> yes, this is called the motorola moto active. it's a smart gps watch that also tracks your fitness. so you can track your jogging, you can track walking or cycling. it will not only track all of your calories being burned, the amount of miles that you're going, your heart rate, it can also show you a gps map of where

you're going, where you've been, and it's just one of these incredibly smart watches, because it also has an mp3 player. it can, over time, it learns what music you perform best to. and so you almost end up with this performance play list of music. it has wireless features in it as well so you could do blue tooth, ear phones. i've been using it the past week, i'm really impressed. >> do you remember the dick tracy show? he had this watch that he could watch tv on, that's what it sounds like, the future has arrived. >> the future has arrived. >> there may be a solution for those of us who have trouble sleeping. >> yes, this is the lark sleep monitor. i've been testing this out for the past few days. this is awesome. what this is is a wrist band that basically you wear at night when you go to sleep. and you sync this up with your computer. what it does is it measures your sleep activity. this is very important for health. many people stress out, many

people don't get enough relaxation and get quality rest. they're having a rough time throughout the day, or not being productive or creative. it links up to your smartphone or tablet and can actually create a sleeping plan for you. it's almost like having a virtual sleep coach. so over time, it shows you a chart, and can progress exactly how many times you wake up in the night. and how many hours you actually slept. and whether that was good or bad. really, really impressive stuff to kind of really give you an idea of what your sleeping habits are. >> regarding health, there's a way i understand to check your blood pressure from your telephone, right? >> that's right. well, see, the whole thing that's going on is we want people to have technology that helps them manage their health better. you may have distant relatives or may want to get information to your physician faster. so this is a blood pressure monitor made by a company called ihealth. this connects to a dock, which then reads out the information onto your ipad or onto a smartphone. so you can track your blood

pressure progress over time. and then e-mail these results to your doctor or to a trainer. so that you can really make sure you're taking care of your health. >> mario armstrong, cool stuff. i expect you'll be jogging in las vegas very soon. >> i'm looking for a segway. >> oh, i see, taking the lazy man's way out. >> you bet. >> take care. join us every saturday at this time as our digital lifestyle expert mario arm strongs gives us the scoop on the latest technology. we look at the country's new jobs report. and hear what president obama has to say about it. plus, peace talks in afghanistan between the u.s. and the taliban? what afghan president hamid karzai says about the negotiations and where the taliban may open an office there. those details in about two minutes.

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31 minutes past the hour. welcome back. i'm gary tuchman. thanks for starting your day with us. let's check some of our top stories. the 15-year-old texas teenager who was mistakenly deported to colombia is now back in the united states. you're looking at video of jakadrien turner in dallas

moments after getting off the plane yesterday. turner, who is pregnant, was deported to colombia last may. immigration officials are investigating the mistake. meanwhile, in peru, joran van der sloot suddenly changes his mind and asks for more time to consider how he will plea in his murder trial. the 24-year-old was charged with murdering a woman in peru. he was expected to plead guilty yesterday to all charges. you may remember, van der sloot was already a suspect in the disappearance of alabama teenager natalee holloway in 20 2005. mitt romney is back in the state, you're looking at a live picture as mitt romney gets introduced at a rally in new hampshire. he will square off with the other gop presidential hopefuls in manchester for the abc news debate. there's another debate tomorrow before the primary. the new december jobs report is out. the big news, the u.s. unemployment rate fell to 8.5%

last month. that's the lowest number we've seen since february 2009, a month after barack obama took office. 200,000 new jobs contributed to that number. president obama says we're on the right track. >> we're making progress. we're moving in the right direction. and one of the reasons for this is the tax cut for working americans that we put in place last year. and when congress returns, they should extend the middle class tax cut for all of this year, to make sure that we keep this recovery going. >> thomas boston, a professor of economics at georgia tech joins me in just a couple of minutes to break down how the new job report affects our wallets. and we'll also discuss if president obama is correct to say we're headed in the right direction. this morning, afghan president hamid karzai is back in direct talks between the u.s. and the taliban, following news the taliban may open an office in qatar to facilitate talks. foreign affairs correspondent

jill daugherty joins us. why would the u.s. want to talk with the taliban? and omar is still on the loose, over ten years since they've been looking for him. >> you know, that's an excellent question. and you think the taliban, what is your image. people who chop off hands, won't let girls go to school. but there are other taliban out there. it's a very mixed bag. and now this news that they would be willing to open an office to begin some type of peace negotiations with the u.s. and its international partners is big news. and as we know, there have been talks. they've been at times secret, and the government isn't willing to talk too much about it openly. but there have been talks going on for almost two years. but there are a lot of pros and cons obviously about doing this. >> the big question, jill, i mean, diplomatically, can this work? >> well, let's go through the pros and cons. if you say, what are the cons, there are a lot out there. number one, who are the taliban. they're a different group,

disparate groups. number two, what do they want exactly. nobody seems to know exactly ha they want. they know one thing, they want american troops, any type of international troops out of afghanistan. but beyond that, what do they support. would they break ties with al qaeda. that is really crucial. would they renounce violence, things like that. on the pro side, you could say that maybe this would work out the way it worked out in ireland. remember when you had the i.r.a., like three decades ago, a political wing, and eventually now sinn fein is part of the government. so it could happen. it's a long way between that. let's listen to what victoria newland, who is the press secretary for the state department, said. it's an interesting quote. let's listen. >> are there individual fighters of strategic significance who are prepared to come off the

battlefield and join the political process within the framework that the afghans have discussed and that we have supported, namely, that they are now ready to denounce violence, to cut ties with al qaeda and to work within the afghan constitution. so, you know, in any negotiated settlement, at the end of a conflict, there has to be a negotiation, right? so the question is whether this office were to open, would it play a positive role in that. >> yeah. so again, a lot of questions. nobody is going into this with their eyes closed. and remember that case, an amazing case where there was a guy who was saying that he was a representative of the taliban, and it turned out he was a shop keeper from pakistan. so you never know. but there is some hope that this might lead to something. >> jill, it's very interesting, and also very important.

jill dougherty, thank you very much. the anticipated film about the killing of osama bin laden is getting the kind of attention you probably didn't expect from the department of defense. officials want to know if the filmmakers got their hands on classified information. plus using flip-flops to protest. why people are dumping them outside a police station. [ f] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno.

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a movie about the killing of osama bin laden is already causing a stir, and it doesn't have a title yet. listen to this. the department of defense says it will investigate allegations that the white house gave the filmmakers access to top white house and pentagon officials with knowledge of the bin laden raid. representative peter king first raised this concern last summer. he said he wants to make sure that information about special operations, tactics, techniques and procedures weren't leaked. when asked about the probe, white house spokesman jay carney brushed off the allegations. legendary singer eta james is out of the hospital. the "at last" singer was released thursday. she's battling the final stages of leukemia. her attorney wrote that james is nearing the end of her time. but she's a tough lady. we certainly wish her the best. after seven seasons, the hallmark channel is canceling the martha stewart show.

re-runs will air until the summer. in the past it was a star in the cable network. it earned two daytime emmy awards in the first two seasons, but recently the ratings for the show have dropped. stewart fans, though, you don't have to worry, the lifestyle experts to the hallmark channel are already in talks of developing a new program. outraged in indonesia, sparks an unusual national protest. a police station in jakarta overwhelmed with people dumping flip-flops over the brutal treatment of a teenager. joining me is nadia with details. dumping flip-flops. what's the significance? >> the significance of the flip-flops is this week a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to a five-year term for doing, what? for allegedly stealing some flip-flops from an officer. now, he stole them last year, when he was only 14. and he only admitted to doing it after he was severely beaten. and then this week got the

sentence of five years. so the national commission for the protection of children has arranged a protest by dumping flip-flops in front of police stations around the country. let's hear what the national commission for the protection of children had to say as to why they're doing this. >> we came up with the idea of 1,000 sandals which we see as being the symbol of resistance. also as a compensation for the sandals that were allegedly stolen. >> now, this is a country where over 6,000 young children a year, literally, minors are held in prisons. so it's very concerning. and this particular commission for the protection of children in 2002, they actually enacted the law for child protection. but it doesn't seem to have helped or stopped these kind of things happening. >> what's going on with this child right now? >> this child right now, after receiving his sentence, has gone back to his parents. why? because that's how effective the protests have been. there have been a lot more than

1,000 flip-flops. i think it shows ingenious ways of protesting. but i wanted you to here from the indonesian authorities as to what they say they're doing regarding minors. >> translator: the commission is moving to abolish child punishment in indonesia. it means that first the child needs to be returned to their parents for guidance. and then given training and education. the harshest would be rehabilitation with the right intervention. >> by the way, is this legal, this protest? >> it's unprecedented. it's not really illegal, if you think about the occupy protesters. >> that's in the united states. >> but again, when you look at creative ways of protesting, they unprecedented. so it's not illegal. what it's doing is causing a great deal of embarrassment for the indonesian authorities. certainly look at the video. it's causing a lot of worldwide attention, which is the pressure that has caused them not to actually act at this point, because the young man is back

with his parents. and not seemingly serving the prison sentence at this point. >> nadia, you always find the most interesting stories. thank you. >> the flip-flop revolution. >> the flip-flop revolution. >> worth $3. >> you should trademark that. the number of jobs added in the month of december, so what does this mean for the economy? are things starting to turn around?

some encouraging news on the job front. the unemployment rate is down to 8.5%, that's the lowest number we've seen since february 2009. and employers added 200,000 jobs last month. but president obama said there's

still work to do. >> all together, more private sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005. there are a lot of people that are still -- [ applause ] there are a lot of people that are still hurting out there. >> here's a breakdown of those new jobs. 7,000 mining jobs were added, 21,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality, 23,000 new jobs in health care and manufacturing, and 28,000 retail jobs were created in december. now, while the nuks look promising, we still have people unemployed in the double digits. asian-americans lost jobs in the u.s. while white americans picked up some. hispanics are still struggling, but their rate dropped a bit. african-americans still make up the majority of the unemployed. the dismal 15.8%. joining me to help us understand this situation is professor of economics at georgia tech. professor, even with our economy gaining some solid ground, we

still have a lot of groups that are struggling. why is that? what can be done? >> there are groups that are struggling. a lot of it has to do with the industries that there are various groups located in, particularly african-americans and hispanics. particularly manufacturing, and construction and then retail. and if you look at the job picture as a whole, those industries, 30% of the jobs that have not been recovered are in manufacturing. another 30% are construction. and 15% in retail. so those are the industries where those groups are concentrated most heavily. >> what i've heard a lot of people saying, and a lot of republican presidential candidates on the stump, is that, hey, look at the month, december, it's christmas season, holidays, new year's, gifts, jobs are needed. this isn't going to stay this way. we may see more dismal numbers in january and february. is there some credence to that? >> well, you know, they'll have to adjust their strategy, as far as i'm concerned.

because the numbers will get better. and i think they will get significantly better, because if you really look at the labor market as a whole, we have not been stalled because corporations were bleeding. they were not hurting. in fact, they're making record profits. they were just lacking confidence, and not spending. but the latest investment figures indicates that private fixed investment went up 15.7%. now they're beginning to spend. and the economy is going to grow very rapidly. >> your predictions for 2012? >> my predictions for 2012 is that the unemployment rate will be down by the leks time, 7.5% or lower. i think there are a lot of factors happening at one time that will aloup the economy to grow very, very rapidly. >> what do you think about troops coming home from iraq, troops coming home continuously from afghanistan? will there be jobs for them? or will that be a troubled group, the u.s. military?

>> that will be a troubled group. i think special consideration has to be given to veterans, as the administration has talked about. i'm a former veteran myself. in fact -- >> what branch of the service? >> i was in the army. and i got a purple heart. and i know -- >> i didn't know that. >> that's right. >> you served where? >> i served in vietnam. >> you served in vietnam? what, were you 12 years old? i mean, vietnam ended in 1973. that was 38 -- 39 years ago. you have to be at least 57, right? >> i was a soldier boy. >> good for you. >> but there are adjustments that soldiers coming home have to make. even if you are -- you know, if you have a normal life going in, coming out of a situation is a psychological transformation. you have to be able to adjust to that. so there will have to be some

type of special consideration. >> thanks for joining us, danny. from georgia tech, young looking man, i'll tell you. i thought you were going to say iraq. that's impressive. thank you for talking with us. >> sure. leaving the dancing in the end zone, one nfl player says thanks, but no thanks, he won't be "dancing with the stars." that's ahead in sports. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor?

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for. games all the time. play-off games, wild card weekend. joe carter is here with me now. joe's a bronco fan. i'm a bear fan. you're the only one who had a chance to win a super bowl this year. >> that's a fat, fat chance. >> the bears have no chance. they're not in the play-offs. >> this is a great weekend. you said how wild will it be, it depends on which party you're attending. we've seen the nfl grow in popularity over the years. last year was a really good indication how popular the play-offs are, because millions of people tune in. "american idol" gets about between 19 million and 20 million viewers. the most people have tuned in for a play-off game in 16 years for the nfl last year. 4:30 is the big game between cincinnati and houston. the first time we're going to see two rookie quarterbacks go against each other. speaking of rookie quarterback, i remember when the nfl draft was taking place and people were

looking at andy dalton saying, we'll pass on this guy because he has red hair. remember that? >> i do. i thought that was a joke. >> absolutely. cincinnati did, too. they snatched him up. here they are back in the play-offs for the first time in six years. so you've got that game. then the night game tonight, which i know the saints are a huge favorite, 8:00 p.m. eastern, lions at the saints. >> two great quarterbacks. >> great quarterbacks. two great offenses really. so don't let the point spread fool you. the saints are an 11-point favorite. but detroit can put up big numbers. just throw it up to calvin johnson and let him score a touchdown. on sunday you've got the giants, and then steelers at my broncos. tim tebow faces a mighty challenge going against that steeler defense. i think we'll see some good games this weekend. today's games will be a little closer than tomorrow's games, i think. >> i think the giants and falcons will be the best game.

>> really? >> it's in the middle. i think atlanta is a better team. >> they are. much improving team. especially with julio jones really coming on. >> who do you pick for that one? >> falcons. i've got falcons-steelers tomorrow. sorry, broncos. >> thank you very much for talking with us, joe. >> you bet. 2012 is just getting started. and dealnews.com released the list of items that will cost you more money this year. airfa airfare, economy seats will rise about 5% in 2012. next food prices going up on higher wholesale prices. in other news, the main suspect in the disappearance of an alabama teenager suddenly decides to change his strategy after his murder trial starts in another case. 2012 is just getting started and we'll tell you more about dealnews.com, items that will cost you more money. let's start with the car. expect gas prices to inch up $4 a gallon.

the u.s. postal rates will raise rates more than 4% this year. fedex and u.p.s. is expected to as well. municipal fees, from everything from dog licenses to vehicle registration, even local police may be writing more tickets. but it's not all bad news. after the break, i've got a list of five items that will cost you less this year. so stay with us. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ more and more folks are trying out snapshot from progressive.

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before the break, we showed you a list of items with prices on the rise in 2012 from dealnews.com. good news, prices will be falling on some items this year. so take a look with me. first up, wine. retailers are slashing prices on bottles that are priced over $30. next, car rentals, with plenty of vehicles sitting at idle places on empty lots. next, ipads. specifically the ipad 2, because the ipad 3 is rumored to hit store shelves this year. watch for some price cuts on the popular ipad 2s, especially the refurbished models. and 3-d tvs, prices will plummet

in 2012. and homes, don't expect a change in 2012, it will be bad for the sellers, good for the buyers. expect prices to stay low throughout the year. christine romans has a preview. >> good morning, gary. coming up on "your bottom line," it's your money and your vote. but what does your vote really mean. for the next 11 months we're going beyond precincts, straight to what politics means for your pocketbook. how you vote determines the direction of the american middle class. no pressure. plus, are you ready to find a new job in 2012? we'll tell you how to get hired, and from camping and cooking to mortgages and taxes. today's girl scouts can get a badge for their money smarts. that's right. that's all coming up at 9:30 a.m. eastern. gary? checking top stories. a year-long saga for a texas teen is over.

15-year-old jakadrien turner was reunited with her family in dallas last night. she was a runaway who after a series of mishaps was deported to colombia. her family said it may sue the government for deporting her. british police need your help to identify the body of a young woman found on queen elizabeth's estate. a person out dog walking spotted the remains on the public portion of the 20,000-acre sandringham grounds. they're trying to profile a dna profile. results could be back by monday. and you are looking live at presidential candidate ron paul, meeting with voters at a restaurant in concord, new hampshire. that's mitt romney. i know that some people might think that mitt romney and ron paul look alike, but they don't. this is mitt romney meeting and greeting. this is his one stop in new hampshire today. he, of course, is in front in polls. the latest poll shows him in second place, by 24 points.

that's ron paul who we're talking about, in second place, 24 points behind front-runner mitt romney. mitt romney is in front, ron paul second, santorum third, and gingrich in fourth. in the polls right now, in the critical primary in the state of new hampshire. paul will face off against his republican rivals in two debates in new hampshire this weekend. paul steinhouser joins me now from manchester. is this now a battle for second place? we know mitt romney is strong in the polls, he was governor of massachusetts. is this second place? >> reporter: gary, i think that's a very, very fair statement. everybody knows him here, you're absolutely right. he owns a vacation home up here. and he's up here a lot helping out fellow republicans. he's a known commodity here. as you said, the battle is for second place. hopefully with the candidates battling for second, what they're hoping for is getting a little mojo to move on to south

carolina. where it could be a little more wide open. you mentioned romney just a few minutes ago, he had that rally not too far from where i am. he had nikki haley, the south carolina governor, plus kelly iot a popular republican senator here. during that rally, a couple of protests. fake a listen. >> the funny thing, even in massachusetts we balanced the budgets every year. hi, guys. hi there. how are you doing? >> reporter: now, we've seen that a lot. the occupy protesters here in new hampshire, iowa as well. i think we'll see it as the campaign continues. for romney, he's feeling pretty good right here in new hampshire, and the new polls in south carolina, three out yesterday, indicate he's on top there as well, gary. >> let's talk about the candidate who's had the toughest the last few weeks, gingrich. what's he doing right now to turn it around?

>> reporter: he's trying to show that, hey, i am a conservative alternative to mitt romney. i am the one who can actually beat president obama. he had an event in salem, new hampshire last night, and he was trying to say once again that mitt romney is a massachusetts moderate. take a listen. >> and i would argue that a conservative is vastly better than a moderate. in campaigning in an environment like this. because by definition, the gap between barack obama and a conservative is vastly wider, and that ultimately you get to october, if he's going to raise $1 billion, and he's going to have to run a scorched-earth campaign, because he won't be able to get himself re-elected. he'll have to try to destroy the republican. and i would argue that if you have a big gap between the two of you, most of his attack will fall in the middle. >> reporter: gary, we've got a doubleheader of debates, one tonight, one tomorrow. newt gingrich has done very well

in the debates in the fall. he's hoping for a strong performance. rick santorum, the former senator from pennsylvania, he's now almost a front-runner. so expect more scrutiny for him. he won't be at the edge of the stage anymore, he'll be right in the middle with romney. >> salem, new hampshire, aren't your in-laws from there? >> reporter: they are. yeah, i've been bragging about that over the last couple days. >> the reason i'm asking is, is kennedy lake amusement park still there? i used to go there when i was in college. >> reporter: academy lake is still there. they do the fireworks all summer long. >> good to know something stays after all these years. paul, thank you very much. we're now going to go another paul, ron paul. ron paul does have an event going on. he's about to take the stage. that's not ron paul on the big screens. not sure who that is. may be a supporter of ron paul talking about him. all the candidates campaigning today, ron paul is in concord,

new hampshire. that is the capital of the state, at a restaurant. they will all be campaigning today. ron paul, mitt romney, everybody all on the campaign trail today for a big day. here are some of the other live events we'll be watching throughout the day. rick santorum in iowa, losing by eight votes. will be in manchester. taking part in an event called the electorate and economy. newt gingrich will be holding a town hall meeting in wolfeboro. and jon huntsman in holderness, new hampshire. stay with cnn throughout the day for the latest on the gop candidates who want to be president of the united states. it's a name linked to two crimes. joran van der sloot was a suspect in natalee holloway's disappearance in aruba six years ago, now he's on trial for a

peruvian woman. >> reporter: the judge had to ask him twice to act appropriately in court. when he was asked if he understood spanish, he said he would ask for help if needed. van der sloot is accused in the robbery and beating death of 21-year-old stephany flores. >> translator: he beat her violently in the face, beat her in the head, took her pants off and finally choked her to death with a piece of clothing of his, stained with his own blood. >> translator: the killing happened on may 30th, 2010, exactly five years after alabama teenager natalee holloway disappeared in the caribbean island of aruba, after spending time with van der sloot. though arrested as a suspect in holloway's death, van der sloot, then 17, was never charged due to lack of evidence. in peru, van der sloot initially confessed to killing flores, but he later recanted. his attorneys say he was not given a translator during his

interrogation. when asked for a plea by the presiding judge in the peruvian court friday, van der sloot said in spanish he wanted to give a sincere confession. going on to say he did not agree with all of the charges against him. when the judge asked for clarification, he said he needed more time to decide his plea. van der sloot is being tried, along with three peruvian nationals. all three are accused of helping him escape to chile after the killing. besides the flores murder trial, van der sloot faces extradition to the united states. a grand jury in alabama indicted him on charges of wire fraud and extortion after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort $250,000 from holloway's mother. he allegedly received $25,000. and authorities believe he used that money to travel to peru to participate in a poker tournament where he met flores.

cnn, atlanta. police here in georgia are expanding their search for a missing atlanta area woman. stacey nicole english was last seen around christmas. her car was found abandoned and still running. police named a man visiting english as a person of interest. don lemon will be speaking with stacey's parents live tonight at 6:00 eastern time. check on this video from the sufficient navy. it shows 13 iranian fishermen held hostage by suspected pirates. an american destroyer rescued the men. they were held for more than 40 days. 15 suspected pirates are now being held by the u.s. navy. the u.s. military rescued the iranians. what irony there. we're learning more about what happened in the moments before a hot air balloon crashed in a new zealand field. all 11 people, including the pilot onboard, were killed. police say the balloon plunged to the ground after apparently hitting a power line. >> when it clipped the power

lines, it then caught fire, and very quickly the entire basket was said to be engulfed in flames. one eyewitness told us she saw someone jump from the basket and another person fall before the balloon crashed down to the ground. and a giant black cloud ascended into the sky. >> what a horrible story. it may be winter, but you wouldn't know it in some states. meteorologist alexandra steele is monitoring everything from the weather center, and she'll have the forecast in about a minute. gary, 62 degrees in washington, d.c. today. 20 degrees above average. so where's the cold air? where's the snow, where's the ice? we're on the trail as cold temperatures and a detailed forecast for your weekend coming up in just a bit. only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3.

8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! [ indistinct conversations ] [ hissing ] agents, what did we learn here today? that lint balls are extremely flammable! well, yeah. and that 15,000 dryer fires happen every year! that's why it's important to regularly clean and inspect your vents! correct. where did you get that?! i built it. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers

♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ it may be warmer than usual in minnesota, but take a look at this. a truck driver lost control and ran off an interstate. according to affiliate kare, the semi apparently skidded 200 yards across the frozen pond before the ice broke and the truck plunged into six feet of

water. luckily the driver called to safety and was not seriously hurt. eight hours later, crews are finally able to free the target truck and haul it out. meteorologist alexandra steele is standing by at the weather center, despite that accident in minnesota, isn't exactly having a typical winter. i think this is a good time before all the ice comes to everybody, to explain the difference between clear ice and white ice and what's dangerous about the ice. >> absolutely. clear ice is different. clear ice is a lot stronger. doubly as strong as white ice. clear ice is fresher. the troubles we're seeing with that, the problems because we're seeing such warm temperatures, the ice thickness, i checked in minnesota, the ice thickness on some of the lakes, and it's very sporadic. you need five inches of clear ice for one of those little motorcycle things that you do on the ice, atvs, say. you need about 8 to 10 inches in ice thickness for a small car. so the ice has to be certainly pretty thick. and that's a problem we're seeing, that kind of ice

thickness around the country, especially in the northern tier. there are some issues there. snow cover, no ice, no cold air, no snow. last year, at this time, 45% of the country had some snow cover. today, 16%. so dramatically less than what we would normally see. where's the winter, right? least snowiest december on record in a few places, utah, nevada and michigan. 1,100 record highs, just alone in the last seven days. and speaking of what we've seen in minnesota, first time ever in minnesota, that the first week in january, we had high temperatures in the 60s. so you can only imagine why that ice depth and thickness is so sporadic. and certainly not strong enough to hold an atv, small car or any type of vehicle. look what we had yesterday, fargo, 44 degrees. where is that in comparison? well, today it's going to be 34. the average is 18. and next wednesday, it will be 18. so we're going to get back down there. but all of these, of course,

record heats from duluth to des moines to lake tahoe. lake tahoe, paltry snow. a lot of these resorts haven't even been able to open because of the lack of snow. 56 degrees. so hard to make snow with that. highs today around the country, 62 in washington, d.c. you should be at 42 this time of year, gary. so temperatures across the board, 10 to 15, 25 degrees, especially above average on the eastern seaboard today. the fargos of the world are cooling down. >> i like to ski, but i also like the warm weather. >> i think everybody feels that way. >> thank you very much. >> sure. time to check this out. a chinese hotel chain is offering something new to guests, a night on a retired soviet era aircraft carrier. these aren't exactly the type of accommodations the soviet military endured. the hotel's owner spent $15 million to renovate the vessel called the kiev, part of a military theme park. it's marketed as a unique experience for high-end travelers and includes lavish presidential suites. most of the 148 hotel rooms are

not ready but the restaurant is now open to the public. wonder if they have chicken kiev on it. how do people look good all the time? we get the secret from a guy who says, you need to think gay. we'll explain in just a minute. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta launched a new program called "the next list." it will profile innovators from all walks of life in all fields of endeavor. this week he talks to christopher, a former new york city cab driver turned award-winning perfumer. >> being self-taught is actually, it's very much a blessing and a curse. the curse part means that i do not have, or did not have a lot of technical experience that people who were classically trained in the very few perfume schools that exist do. they knew how to make certain cords, because they were taught how. they were taught how to work with certain materials, because

this was the knowledge passed down through these schools. i had to figure everything out myself. >> set your dvr for 2:00 p.m. eastern time. ♪ [ male announcer ] escape convention. ♪ escape definition. ♪ escape compromise. ♪ experience the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. ♪ the 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. ♪ break free of the status quo. ♪ my high school science teacher made me what i am today.

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how are those new year's resolutions coming along? time to reassess. take a good look at your clothes, your job, your diet. because the next guest will have you rethinking all of it. i spoke with simon doonan, the creative director of barney's new york, who has written a book called "gay men don't get fat." this isn't your usual how-to diet and exercise book. >> it's a humor book. so it's absolutely full of insane exaggerations, and all kinds of wild claims. but it's primarily a humor book. as you saw from the cover, joan

rivers said she split her spanx when she was reading it. >> do gay men really do not get fat? >> i think gay men in general tend to be very focused on looking trim and fit, and presenting themselves a certain way. but, you know, it's a rip on the book "french women don't get fat. "my thesis is it's not french women who know all about style, and how to live, it's actually gay men. i'm taking all my nuances and nuggets of gay wisdom and hurling them at straight people like you. >> well, is it fair to presume that you're a gay man, i should ask you that? >> how dare you. >> okay. >> no, i'm a proud gay man. 50 years old. and trim. >> now, are we in danger of stereotyping here, with talking about gay men not getting fat, and gay men eating their own kind of food? >> my book is a humor book, so it's full of all kinds of

generalizations and stereotyping. so i think it's more an entertainment read. will you lose weight if you follow my tips? maybe. and i encourage people to weigh themselves before they read the book, and then after. because i have this theory that people burn calories when they laugh. but i don't have any research yet. so i'm hoping that people who buy the book will weigh themselves before and after. and send me some detailed research on that. >> we all hope to laugh a lot. particularly during this interview. so let me ask you about some tips. what does a gay man eat that makes them slimmer? >> the traditional idea that food is divided into four groups, right? well, i divide it into two groups. there's gay food and straight food. for example, if you go into a restaurant you order a big steak. that's obviously straight food,

correct? and you order with it a huge bowl of mashed potatoes. those are two very straight foods together. and that's probably too many calories. so what you need to do is order the steak, and then order like a fluffy gay salad to go with it. then you balance your gay food and your straight food. >> my wife is always after me to eat healthier, so i do my best. and i travel a lot in this job. covering stories. so i do my best to eat a lot of salads and not eat a lot of red meat or fried foods. so am i eating gay food? because of tips from my wife? >> well, i would advise you, because you travel around a lot, you know, if ever you get kidnapped, then like tell your kidnappers, no guacamole, because you're stuck in a confined space. if you ate guacamole all the time you would become rather chubby. maybe you could apply it topically, because it's very good for your skin. >> i thought guacamole is a good fat. >> it's a good fat, but not when

you have it with like tons of deep-fried chips. >> you're very talented and a funny writer. i wish you a lot of luck with this book. >> thank you very much. can you pass the gaum mo le? oh, we're back on. sorry about that. this does bring attention to a serious problem, according to the cdc, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and for most ethnicities. based on the latest cdc numbers, one in every four people will die from heart disease. using slavery to teach a lesson about math. ahead, you'll hear from some parents who are outraged about their children's homework assignment.

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. it's time to check top stories. the year-long saga for a texas teenager is over. 15-year-old jakadrien turner was reunited with her family in dallas, texas, last night. she ran away from home and through a series of mishaps was deported to colombia. police in the state of georgia are expanding their search for a missing atlanta

area woman. she was last seen around christmas. her car was found abandoned and still running, and found just a couple days ago. police named a man visiting english as a person of interest. a woman was found dead on land belonging to queen elizabeth. the queen learned about the discovery this week. investigators are treating the case as a murder investigation. some parents here in georgia are outraged about their children's homework assignment. they say an elementary school used examples of slavery and beatings to teach about math. carrie cavanaugh with wsb has more. >> i had to explain to him why daddy was upset, because of the words that were used in that problem. >> the problem appeared on a third grader's math assignment. terrence bar net was outraged when he read his son's homework. one problem said, if eight slaves picked them equally how

much would each slave pick. then there was another, if frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week? >> i'm having to explain to my 8-year-old why slavery, or slaves, or beatings is in a math problem. that hurts. >> reporter: christopher braxton had the same reaction. >> it kind of blew me away. frederick, if anyone got any beatings, you don't put that in the homework of any source. >> reporter: both fathers contacted the principal, then called us. they wanted to know how these questions ended up on a child's homework. i brought that question to the gwinnett school district officials. >> the teachers were trying to do a cross-curricular activity. >> reporter: sloan roach said the teachers were trying to cross curriculums, adding social study questions into the math problems. the problems with these questions, there's no historical context. >> we understand there are concerns about these questions, and we agree that these questions were not appropriate. >> whoever put together this paperwk