we'll speak to the senator later on. acquitted 284 times. the guantanamo bay suspect in 1998 embassy bombs in kenya and tanzania on trial in civilian court. and general motors comeback. after two years, general motors hits a milestone on its road to recovery. but will this gamble on wall street made possible by your tax dollars. 33 chilean miners, are all headed for hollywood. >> they've been asked to be part of saturday night's taping of "cnn heroes." the show airs thanksgiving night on cnn. the miners left chile this morning. they just touched down for the kegting flight in los angeles. we're going to take you live in a few minutes. but first, the people have

written. senator lisa murkowski goes back to washington and last night she claimed victory over tea-party backed joe miller. >> although it's not official yet, it looks like murkowski will be the first successful write-in for senator since 1954. that's more than four years before alaska became a state. >> they told us that this could not be done. and we all heard it. you heard kevin say, you know, he's the guy that we're putting in charge, for crying out loud, an he's not 100% sure. what a wild, wild thing that we were doing. what a chance. what a risk. but for the right thing. to hell with politics, do what's right for alaska. tonight, though, i want us to celebrate -- i want its to be happy. i want us to be joyful. because against all odds, we, as alaskans, together, made history.

you made history. thank you. >> well, murkowski's victory speech aside, miller who beat murkowski in the republican primary is not giving up, saying, quote, after you all the absentee ballots are in and we further review the procedures and results we may ask for a recount. less than one 1% vote separates my and lisa's totally. who knows what the difference would be. >> right here at 7:15 eastern, senator lisa murkowski is going to be joining us. she's going to be talking about her historic campaign and how she plans to make peace with her party. it was a blow to sarah palin in her home state. in an interview with barbara walters, palin said she's already looking for a run for the white house and believes she can beat president obama. >> i'm looking at the lay of the land now and trying figure that out, if it's a good thing for

the country, for the discourse, for my family. if it's a good thing. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> well, a candidate has to say they can win, just for the record. but a cnn opinion research corporation poll doesn't agree with her. this was taken before election day. it says president obama beats palin in the popular vote 52% to 44%. but 2012 is a long way off. just into cnn this morning, a flight bound for germany is now delayed. that mibian police say they found a suspicion spies of luggage. >> it contained batteries wires and a running clock. it comes after intelligence was pointed to a potential planned terror attack in the country. that incident under investigation. we'll bring you more as we get it this morning. meantime, he was the first quarterback quarterback detainee

to be tried in a civil court and critics of the obama administration say he should be the last. they found ahmed ghalani. not guilty. >> justice department tried to put a positive spin on that conviction. they're pleased that he now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a potential life sentence. deb feyerick is with us this morning. it was a near disaster for the white house. >>s it was a disaster. as a matter of fact, being in the courtroom, sitting in the courtroom there was an audible gasp as the verdict was read. one of the jurors felt they were being intimidated, bullied, attacks in her words. so many in the court read that as well. except for the one holdout, as a

matter of fact, that wasn't the case because they seemed to be unanimous. when you think about it, there is little bit of discourse, they convicted him on trying to destroy u.s. property but then they can't convict him of conspiracy to murder u.s. nationals. the jury didn't have to explain itself. there are questions, but again, for the obama administration, is this going to be very tough to try to convince others that these guantanamo detainees should be tried in civilian court, especially since a key witness barred those run by the cia. >> they said because of the enhanced interrogations, the judge refused to allow that witness to speak. ohio damaging, in your opinion, was that? >> it was pretty damaging, as a meat of fact. the prosecution initially said, look, we don't want to bring any evidence that was obtained during the enhancement proceedings, the one exception is this one particular witness who will testify that he sold

ghaliani the tnt. the judge said, i don't believe you would have found on your own, therefore, i'm not going to allow it. that was way key ruling. again, a number of these detainees have been held, obviously, in guantanamo, and many in the cia black sites. by banning the evidence the judge was really sort of siding with the constitution saying it's simply not allowed. this is where it comes into play. >> would it have been allowed in a military tribunal? >> absolutely. he was captured in 2004 after a would-hour shoot-out in an al qaeda stakeout. that didn't come in. they didn't hear key pieces of evidence. the judge -- look, they're portraying this as a win. they did. they got him for 20 years to live. but, again that was really --

you neeshgs was a fine line in terms of, they thought this was going to be a throughout better. the outcome was going to be a lot better. they usually say victory. we've got a victory. this was not the case, they say we thank the jury. >> more fuel for fire? >> and there are many. also new this morning, the ahead of the transportation safety administration is defending those airport checks despite a backlash of patdowns. he said it's more invasive but it's necessary to stay ahead of the terrorist thread. the tsa has decided to scrap enhanced patdowns for children. well, the pilot was asleep for most of the flight. that's what investigators are saying this morning about the cause of an air india crash back in may that killed 158 people. the plane overran the runway, plunged off the cliff. reports say you can hear the

captain snoring loudly on a cockpit recorder. when he was woken up, he was too disoriented to save the flight after being in a deep sleep. you wonder who actually runs the internet. listen to this. a toning new claim that china hijacked massive amounts of communications from inside the united states. a report by a congressional commission alleges during an 18-minute period past april, much of the internet traffic to and from key sites in the united states was rerouted to pass through servers in china. that included communications from government agencies and, yes, the u.s. military. well check out seattle this morning. skis and snowboards might be the best way to get around in the mountains and eastern part of the state. parts of washington state under a winter storm warning today. up to 18 inches of fresh snow falling in the cascade mountains. more wet weather is on the way for the weekend. let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines.

rob marciano in the weather center. rob, thinking about waxing up the boards and heading west? >> i'll tell you, it's going to be an historic opening for some part of the intermountain west. and the pattern for those folks is going to get colder and stormier through the weekend. on the east coast, you had your storms yesterday. winds are sticking around just a little bit. we did have damaging winds across upstate new york. orange county, winds gusting over 50 miles an hour. not so bad this morning. places in eastern new england and maine. you're still in a wind advisory. portland 28-mile-an-hour winds sustained. you have another system that brought snow to the heartland yesterday. moving to the ohio river valley. rain, light rain. indianapolis to cincinnati to louisville. some of this will get to the new york city later on today. maybe a sprinkle, that's about it. some of it may get to atlanta. again, this is very, very light and shouldn't be that big of a deal as it scoots across into the mid-atlantic.

southwest looking good. midsection not too shabby. and the winds begin to wind down across the northeast. we'll have more details in about 30 minutes. john, kiran, back to you. >> all right, rob, get out your snowboard. looks like you're going to have fun in seattle. >> thank you, rob. today marks a turning point for an american icon, general motors returns to wall street. but what's in it for the american taxpayer who bailed out the automaker . also, tiger woods is turning his putter in for a pen. saying he's not the same man as a year ago. in an article he wrote for "newsweek." plus, little wheels and a big mess. kind of fun to watch. [ william ] three years ago, i started my first real job as a part time sales associate with walmart. when william came in i knew he had everything he needed to be a leader in this company. [ william ] after a couple of months,

i was promoted to department manager. like, wow, really? me? a year later, i was promoted again. walmart even gave me a grant for my education. recently, he told me he turned down a job at one of the biggest banks in the country. this is where i want to be. i fully expect william will be my boss one day. my name is william and i work at walmart. ♪

13 minutes after the hour. what a difference a couple years make. christine romans mb with general motors. >> that's right, the initial public offering of gm. this was a big victory for the white house. almost all noted analysts agree

that general motors now coming out of its darkest days and will be traded again as gm on the new york stock exchange this morning. what does it mean for you, the people who bailed out general motors? you're still shareholders but not as much as before. it means $54 billion of that bailout is shrinking every minute. $20 million raise in the ipo. the treasury department no longer the largest single shareholder of gm. gm is no longer "government motors." it is general motors. what has turned around for this company? well, back in 2008, every time a car rolled off the assembly line for general motors it lost $1,100. they were losing money on every single car. today in 2010, they're making money again. gm has actually staged a turnaround and is profitable once more. how did it do that? it was not without a great deal

of pain and your money. they sat down, saturn, pontiac, hummer, saab, and a lot of people lost their jobs in receipt making of general motors but the center for automotive research points out that the obama administration rescue with your money of general motors saved in the end about 1 million american jobs. we'll watch today to see how well it does. it's priced at $33 a share. we'll see if investors are very, very optimistic about what's happening here. >> so ironic for the poor people who had invested in general motors when it was worth what, pennies? >> that's right. a lot of people lost a boat load of money and lost their job related to compete. this is now, out of the ashes, the new company crafted by the american government. how did it do? we'll find out. >> you don't want to lose money on a car obviously. making $1,000 on each car, wow think they would make more. >> they're going to have to make

more to be viable. they're going to have to make products that americans, chinese and europeans and everyones wants to buy. this is a company that used to be, as goes gm so goes the country. well, are they able to do that again? they're going to have to approve it. a couple years ago, you guys, we were talking about bailing out this company. a lot of people didn't want to do it. a lot of people thought they would never come out on the other side. hard to imagine this day just from a couple years ago, but here it is. tiger woods is reaching out to his fans opening up in an article in "newsweek" saying he's not the same man as a year ago. tiger, a year after his fall from grace, in his own words ahead. plus, where there's a need for speed, there's a need for brakes, or at least so you would think. ♪

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20 minutes after the hour. a live look inside atlanta's hartsfield airport where the chilean miners are catching a connecting flight. they're going to participate in the cnn "tribute to heroes." it's going to be taped and air on thanksgiving night. we hope to catch a glimpse of them at some point. gary tuchman is chasing them down. >> it's been a wild ride for them and their rescuers as well. good thing they're getting honored on thanksgiving night. a year from his fall from grace, tiger woods says he's not the same man he was, the world's

now number two golfer. this is the latest edition of "newsweek." he wrote about the pain in his soul that he says is proving to be more complex and unsettling than he thought. he said it's obvious that his life was out of balance and his priorities are out of order. he went on to write, quote, i can never truly repair the damage that i've done, especially to my family. but i can keep trying. what endures in the record books are the achievements won through competition. what endures in our actual live is the love of our family and the respect of others. i know now that some things can must change with time. >> he kind of blamed golf for what he did. he said it's such a inward-focused sport that you have to rely on yourself and he thought he could do what he wanted and challenge the world. i don't necessarily know it's the game. >> he also said, a news flash, it's the feeling to spend time

with your. eva lone goreia filed for divorce from her husband of three years, nba tony parker. longoria tweeted yesterday that the two love each other and pray for each other's happiness. >> sad, i take it this viral video clip is a slick go-cart track, clearly, a tight turn when one driver loses it and then another. counted 30-plus in this pileup. while we were counting almost 100,000 views so far on the web. yikes. >> a lot of go-carts all on the same track. keep your thumbs on the wheel. that's the message for anyone who worked at disney world. banning employees from sending texts while driving. employees caught texting could be fined or fired. thou shall not use facebook. a new jersey pastor giving his

married church leaders until sunday to delete their facebook accounts. those who refuse will be asked to resign. it's breaking up marriages because people are reconnecting with old flames. >> most times, facebook creates a vehicle for people to reunite with their past. it's a pre-justice past, it's something that needs to stay dead and buried. >> pastor miller has been married to the same woman for nearly 30 years. he admits he had a facebook page of his own but he got rid of it. this sunday, he'll be urging his entire congregation to stay away from facebook. >> does he say why he got rid of it? >> do as i do and follow his actions as well as his words. coming up, they ride a train together every day. they talk politics a lot. six months after we spoke to them, we're getting

post-election computer reaction all aboard with jim acosta. still ahead. 24 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] montgomery and abigail haggins

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[trumpet playing "reveille" throughout] let's support the small business owners getting our economy booming with the first ever small business saturday. on november 27th, shop small. it's going to be huge. [trumpet playing "reveille" fades to silence] 26 minutes past the hour. we're following developing news this morning that 33 chilean miners and five of their rescuers are hollywood bound this morning. >> they're going to be part of "cnn heroes, an all-star tribute" to air on thanksgiving. our gary tuchman is live from

hartsfield-jackson airport this morning where the miners are making a connecting flight to los angeles. have you spotted them yet? >> well, john, i will tell you this is the coolest story. there's no question about it. within about one minutes, we expect the miners will be coming from behind me. they're in customs right now in the atlanta international airport. they just finished a nine-hour flight from santiago. and then we are continuing on to los angeles so they can attend the taping of the "heroes, the all-star tribute" that airs on cnn thanksgiving evening. all are going to be here and five or six rescuers will also be here. we're admiring their heroism and the true heroism of the rescuers. it's going to be an amazing time for the miners. most of these miners have never been outside of chile, let alone, the united states. here they are going to hollywood. and cnn has invited them to come

to the united states, we take them all over hollywood to do shopping. there are going to be wives, girlfriends, sons, there are going to be daughters. we expect them to come from customs at any moment. we'll be back, john and kiran. >> sound goods. an exciting ride for sure. thanks, gary. well, nearly, 2 million of you voted. how it's time to find out who is the next cnn hero. as anderson soorp hosts "cnn here rose." on thanksgiving. >> and they spoke loudly during the midterm election, wouldn't you say? >> yep, yep. this morning, we're getting post-election reaction from a group of comphurlts who months ago told us what they thought about the president, about the state of the economy. jim acosta caught up with them to see how they're feeling. >> hey, good morning. we wanted to get in touch with the guys because they were so raw and unfiltered in the

country right now. what better way to talk about the election than hopping on a train from a couple guys that will give it to you straight all in the time it takes to get from manhattan to the long island suburbs. >> reporter: it's been six months since we caught up with them. evening commute home hasn't changed. and they do make beer in 12 ounce can, right? >> apparently. >> reporter: times have. a lot has happened in the last, what is it, six months? >> six months or so, yeah. a lot has happened. >> reporter: we reunited with tom mcginley, john loren, jim marin, steve kelly, andy sullen and andy gardner. for their mix of political views on how to get the country back on track. does anyone have a good one-liner on what happened. first up, the 2010 election. obama called it a shellacking, did-d he deserve it? >> yeah, there was a lot of

focus on the health care bill which i'm not sure america understands. >> reporter: you were one of the lone obama voters? >> there are a few. >> reporter: there are some steltth ones i think. for them, the election was about who's driving the train in washington. >> gridlock can be a good thing depending on where things are going. >> reporter: we kind of like the idea of tying things up. >> tying things up for a couple years. >> reporter: until 2012 when the president is up for re-election. >> i didn't vote for him, but i don't underestimate his chances for re-election at all. >> reporter: but what are the alternatives. have any of you watched the sarah palin reality show. >> sarah palin and reality together are like -- i don't know. >> reporter: she could easily win those primaries. you don't think so? >> i disagree. >> the guy from minnesota, what's his name? i think he's got the best shot. >> michael bloomberg? michael bloomberg is a viable candidate. >> and the one that funded his

own campaign, that's fine. >> reporter: or they could go with kevin's chase in the new york governor's chase. >> the rent, it's too damn high. >> i went with the guy that the rent is too damn high. >> reporter: maybe the rent is too damn high guy will run for president and then all our problems will be solved. if only it were that easy, right? if we could just vote him into office, all of our problems would be solved. these zbries more than just a couple of one-liners about people who are in power, people who may be running for president. they also have ideas about what to do about the country. we get in that in our piece tomorrow. they talk about the deficit. whether or not to extend the bush tax cuts. and they come up for a unique idea for the next beer summit if the republicans and democrats can agree on it. >> slerpee summit? >> or slurpee summit. i'll give you two words "man cave." you have to watch tomorrow. >> thanks, jim.

we're crossing the half hour right now. time to look for the top stories. we're calling it a miracle win. lisa murkowski claimed visibility another the long alaska senate race last night saying she does have enough votes to win. murkowski kept go average she lost the primary to joe miller who is backed by sarah palin in the tea party. miller is not giving up. a gitmo detainee cleared of every terror-related charge, including murder against him except for one. a federal jury in new york convicted ahmed ghailani, the suspect in the 1988 u.s. embassy bombs in kenya and tanzania on a single count of conappear to damage or destroy u.s. property. he faces 20 years to life. he'll be sentenced in january. and another big step in general motors' comeback. this morning, gm will once again offer its stock for sale on wall street. the initial public offering is set to raise a record $21.1 billion. almost $12 billion of that will go to u.s. taxpayers who bail

out gm last july. well the makers of seven different alcoholic energy drinks are nursing a hangover this morning after getting slapped down by the food and drug administration. >> the agency has declared four locate ko, as well as other drinks like it, a quote, public health concern. they issued an ultimatum, take the caffeine out within two weeks or risk having your product seized. also, a warning about energy drinks alone without the alcohol. luis cohen jo elizabeth cohen joins us. every morning i have one of these nonalcoholic energy drinks. what's the deal. >> well, john if you were a college student, if you drank one of those drinks at least once a week would more likely make you have a dependentence on alcohol. >> so, it is interesting if the drinks don't have alcohol in them, what makes them more likely to have alcohol problems?

you'd think in some cases it's the equivalent of having a couple cusp of coffee? >> right, it is strange. why, you think an energy drink which doesn't alcohol, why would you be more likely to have alcohol? it's kind of a chicken/egg thing and researchers aren't clear why it's true. kids like 0 to mix these things. it may be that the kids start with the alcohol that they're so tired and hung over that they find themselves drinking energy drinks to compensate. nobody is sure why. but that association is really quite clear. >> you know what is popular at parties, four loko drink aside, people to mix their own, doing red bull and vodka. that's a popular drink. how much caffeine are we talking about here? >> you know what's interesting, john, they don't have to label their chance. i spent all day looking at four loko cans yesterday and it doesn't say how much caffeine is in it. this group analyzed.

elizabeth, we just want to show this video that's new into us. this is the atlanta hartsfield airport where the chilean miners are making their way. you see gary tuchman in the background as well. he's traveling with them. invited to the u.s. by cnn. and they're going to be invited to the big all-star heroes tribute that's taking place in los angeles on thanksgiving day. >> yeah, we get a shot of the miners even though they're making a connecting flight. because as they're coming in from chile. they clear customs and have to check back in and go to their flights. we'll have an opportunity to at least look at them for a little while. i don't believe we got gary tuchman online. he's probably walking with the miners -- oh, we do? gary, talk to us. >> reporter: yeah, i'm glad you guys can hear me. this is really cool technology here. this is daniel herrera. of i got to meet him in santiago last week. i got to go to chile last week

to meet the miners. daniel say great guy. he doesn't understand english. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: daniel is miner number 12. where is your mother? come here, madre? [ speaking foreign language ] this is the mother of daniel. everyone has brought one guest. mothers, daughters, sons, friend, girlfriends, wives. this is one of the 33 miners. five rescuers. daniel has never been outside of chile. most of these miners live in kopoco. it was the first plane trip to get their visa. that's why i was there at the u.s. embassy. first time in the united states, walking through hartsfield airport in atlanta. getting ready to board a flight. they'll attend a hero's celebration. this is the first group of the

33 miners and the five rescuers coming out. a little bewilderment here. people are very tired. they've been flying 9 1/2 hours. they're going all over hollywood and los angeles. these guys don't even know what they're doing yet. they're going to have fun doing shopping. look at the entertainment. going to hollywood boulevard. putting their hand on groman's chinese theater. >> you mentioned, gary, the language barrier, some not that comfortable speaking english. are there translators or hosts to show them around to make sure they get the full experience? >> oh, absolutely. we have plenty of translators. and i speak a little spanish. let me be fair about it. for example, this is jimmy sanchez. jimmy is the youngest miner. 19 years old. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: okay. in may, he'll be 20 years old. this is the youngest miner,

jimmy. le i'll tell one thing. you may have heard about a guy who proposed to his girlfriend while he was under the mine. that is jimmy right here. jimmy is not so sure he wants to get married. in the ground, he was pretty sure. right now, he told me he's not so sure. this is what he told me last week in chile. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: this is jimmy's father over here, by the way. jimmy brought his dad. good son. so anyway, this is a wonderful moment. we're now arriving at the gate here in atlanta. getting ready for the flight in los angeles, around 1:00 p.m. eastern time today. as they get ready for their days of fun and celebration in tinseltown. >> we're looking forward to all of that. good job, too, gary, with the translation. funny when he was 2,300 feet underground, he was dead sure he wanted to get married. wait until he goes to los angeles. >> it seemed like such a great

idea at the time. i love the technology that you're able to show us this amazing and exciting time. we see them taking pictures as well. i hope they have a blast. thanks, gary. 39 minutes after the hour. stay with us. we'll be right back with more of "american morning." ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well. give you and your loved ones an expertly engineered mercedes-benz... ho ho ho! ...at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends soon.

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they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. ♪ well, chicago's wrigley field hasn't seen a world series game in 65 years. but this weekend, it will see something else. college football. the home of the cubs is decked out for saturday's illinois/northwestern game. gridiron slapped sideways on top of a baseball diamond.

a golf post attached to its famous right field wall. and no net either. so kicks are going to sail right into the bleachers. just like the old days. >> pretty cool. how about this one, spotted out of the sky off of florida's coast. this is a huge mantra ray off of singer island of west palm beach. they're not shy, these rays, thai they're known to approach divers and they're not small either. females can have a wing span of 43 feet. a big beautiful animal. >> when we come back, rob marciano joins us. and a backlash of bristol palin's performance on "dancing with the stars." you won't believe just how far one guy went to protest. it's 43 minutes after the hour.

♪ what you got i'm going to soak up the sun ♪ not much soaking up of the sun today, at least in new york. it's 43 degrees, a little later, it's going up to a high of 55. but we're due for clouds and rain, unfortunately. >> oh, a drag. it's been such a beautiful week up until now -- not. let's get a quick check of the extreme weather headlines. good morning, rob. >> i don't think it's going to rain in new york. you're okay. check out this picture. this is what it looks like

outside the windows of the cnn center in atlanta. 33 degrees in the atl. that is cooler than up in new york. you mentioned 43 in spots of new york. we're tapping into 47 degrees. 43 degrees in philadelphia. and a little bit breezy still this morning, and that's what's keeping some of the temperatures up. still blowing, 10, 15 miles an hour here in new york. up towards portland, maine, wind advisories, that gave you guys, yeah, that rough weather yesterday. and winds later in the afternoon. could see winds gusting 25 to 35 miles an hour in parts of new england. then things will wind down. a storm system that brought snow across the heartland yet and rain. getting into the ohio river valley. light rain from indianapolis to louisville. a lot of this is moving into a fair amount of dry air. some of this will begin to disappear and evaporate. maybe sprinkles and light showers in miami and huntsville. what is not weakening, the pattern out west.

we'll continue to see strong storms. heavy rains in the valleys, heavy snows. we do have winter storm warnings that are posted for not only the cascades, but as you get into the intermountain west, this is quite a pattern. the temperature is going to be well below average, it will feel more like the end of the december, as opposed to november. fairly quiet with sunshine warming things up quite nicely. you will see delays in boston, new york, memphis. san francisco, seattle, because of that weather pattern out west, be prepared if you're heading out there, dress appropriately. it will be 66 degrees. rebounds currently in atlanta. 57 degrees better today in new york than yesterday. >> it was so unbelievable windy yesterday. it was flipping over small planes. >> yeah, it just accelerates when it gets squeezed through the building passes, especially downtown and the canyons of wall street. >> thanks. >> see you in just a few minutes. this morning's top stories

just a few minutes from now, including one of the greatest comebacks of all time, lisa murkowski on the verge of the tea party. and how did they do it? the senator coming up in the next hour. and witches for a pirate? the new "harry potter" movie leaked online. those stories and more at the top of the hour. hi, i'm alex sweeney i'm on "days of our lives." and i travel about 150 days of a year. i don't get on a plane without serious preparation. people sit down next to you, ready to chat. i have plans. i have my laptop, my kindle, magazines that i subscribe to. my script. most that i travel with in terms of clothes are my jeans, my flip-flops and my workout

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certainly does move in her own way. bristol palin still dancing, how did they manage to beat brandy and waltz into the "dancing with the stars"? well, it appears that they may have gotten help from a tea party website that instructed viewers how to vote for bristol again and again and again. >> well, this is something that we saw happen with "american idol" where there's a lot of controversy over whether or not the voting is fair. she won. she moved on. they won that round. although she was a controversial choice, this reaction of one guy in wisconsin went too far. he took a shotgun and he actually blew a hole into his tv. he said that he did it, steven

cowen, because he felt palin wasn't a good dancer and he was fed up with politics. so then he allegedly turned the gun on his wife. less funny at this point, and was arrested after an all-night standoff with the s.w.a.t. team. >> i think this problems go beyond bristol palin's dancing problems. let's check in with our gary tuchman. he's at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport. he's at the gate with the chilean miners. what's going on, gary? >> reporter: gate e-15 at the hartsfield-jackson airport, these are some of the miners. a miner, his wife. they have to wear these hats as part of the deal. that's the only part of the deal. that say "cnn heroes." they're invited to the united states of america. five of the rescuers with an all-star tribute presentation on thanksgiving evening. this is a wonderful thing for us i've never done a live report

like this in my life. we're taking them to the united states and going to tour southern california. about to get on the plane. this gentleman speaking a little english. this guy say true hero. this is roberto. your wife's name again? >> yvette. >> reporter: roberto is one of the rescuers. he was the second man who went down to the hole a half a mile to rescue the 32 miners. you, my friend, are a hero. >> thank you, thank you. >> reporter: you're in the service, the military? >> the navy. >> reporter: what's amazing about roberto, he became part of the navy when he was 14 years old. >> yeah, 14. >> reporter: is that allowed in chile to enter the navy when you're 14. he said, no, you have to be 15. he said he lied about being 14. 14. you're how old now? ins pan joel? >> 24.

>> reporter: you're a hero. i hope you have a great time in the united states. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: this is a wonderful occasion for us. we're about to board the plane, go to los angeles. a lot of days of touring and fun with the here rose. >> gary, real quick, because we're as you out of time here? how are you doing this? >> reporter: how am i doing this? >> yeah. >> reporter: with my intellect or what? >> no, no. >> reporter: i'm a translator -- i'm joking, john. we have this new technology, john, kind of the technology that we use during the wars when we're in tanks going through the deserts. unable to walk through the airport and do a live report. it's a back port on my cameraman's back. rolando is my cameraman. >> thanks. i hope you have a safe and easy flight. meanwhile, 2 million of you voted. now, it's time to find out who will be the next hero.

>> cnn's anderson cooper hosts "cnn heroes, an all-star tribute." [ beeping ] ♪ my country ♪ 'tis of thee ♪ sweet land ♪ of liberty ♪ of thee i sing [ laughs ] ♪ oh, land ♪ where my fathers died ♪ land of the pilgrims' pride ♪ from every mountainside ♪ let freedom ring ♪

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it's murkowski's moment in the nation's final race for the senator to declare victory this morning. beating back republican joe miller but the tea party sarah palin as well. good morning, thanks for being with us this thursday, the 18th of november. >> and i'm kiran chet industry. he's saying we may be still be doing some counting. first, the other top story, gitmo detainee, ahmed ghailani, the suspect in the 1988 bombs in

tasmania acquitted. a jury found him guilty of one count of conspiracy. the obama administration taking a beat for its decision to but ghailani on trial in civilian court. general motors, the new darling on wall street. the first public stock since bankruptcy. what's in it for the taxpayers who bailed out the auto giant? also, the fda, stern warnings this morning, the makers of four loko and other beverages just like it. they say to get the caffeine out of the alcohol business, or they're going to start seizing the products. today, we're going to get details on a new study that also suggests energy drinks without the alcohol content can still be a gateway to alcoholism. and tiger woods baring his soul in an article in "newsweek" manage saying he's not the same man he was a year ago, admitting he's no longer the invincible tiger. we'll tell you what else he said in just a moment. i want to start the hour

with a very special story. a story you'll see only on 33. cnn. 33 chilean miners bound for hollywood. >> they've been invited by cnn. we've got new pictures of the guests arriving at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport. they left santiago, chile, late last night. everyone's going to get a whirlwind trip of southern california. gary tuchman is with them. he's traveling with them, he'll be reporting for us all day long. >> they were waiting to get on their connecting flight to los angeles. about four hours and change to atlanta. we'll be covering their special journey throughout the day. >> of course, you can catch "cnn heros" on thanksgiving night. nearly 2 million of you voted. soon, we'll find out who the next cnn hero is. tunes on thanksgiving, as anderson cooper hosts "cnn heroes." to politics, the people have

written, lisa murkowski says she's going to back to washington. last night she declared victory over joe miller. although it's not official yet, it looks like murkowski will be the first successful write-in candidate for senator since 1954 when thurmond was able to do it. >> i want to thank all alaskans for helps us make history. it is truly, truly, truly remarkable. and we will look back on this. we will look back on this and say what a race this has been. what a summer this was. and now, where we are today. ted's motto was to hell with politics, let's just do what's right for alaska, and that's what we did. that's what we did. >> right now, the tally shows that murkowski leads by more than 10,000 votes, but joe miller is not backing down.

and he is contesting more than 8,000 of those votes. shannon travis joins us live from washington this morning. feerch you do the math and he's contesting 8,000, she still wins. so why is he still fighting? >> well, he's still fight, he feels possibly there was fraud in this election. he feels that possibly there's some military ballotle, kiran, that might not have gone out that needed to be mailed out but weren't mailed out. he wants to make sure, his campaign says, that no one was disenfran sichise disenfranchised. i've been following this and i don't want it to be lost on the viewers. but this is dramatic. she would be the second person to be the second winner like this. this is a major, major development. >> as you said, she is declaring victory. and joe miller is leaving it open for the possibility of calling for a recount.

the way they put it, there's only 1% difference between the two candidates. they want to, perhaps, make a recount happen. what are you hearing from his camp about how they're really feeling about his chances? >> well, they are fooelg joe miller said yesterday in a cable news interview that he's feeling less cautiously optimistic, but optimistic that possibly they'll gain some ground, if they continue to get more votes that are out there. and there are only a fushgs a handful, that are left. we have a statement from them. i'm going to read it. this is from a statement attributed to joe miller. quote, after all the absentee ballots are in and we further review the procedures and the results, we may ask for a recount. less than 1% of the vote now separates my and lisa murkowski's total. if there is a recount and a consistent standard is applied to all the ballots who knows what the difference would be. now, what he means there by a consistent standard, you know, kiran, that in the voting when i was there last week, the division of elections was

looking at some ballots that might have misspelled "murkowski" by a letter here or there, or might have said a variation of her name. and some of those ballots were credited to the senator. so what joe miller is saying here, in the statement, what he said all along, is that he wants a consistent standard. he wants it to be only lisa murkowski spelled perfectly correctly. and those vote are the only ones that apply. he's saying, possibly, if this consistent standard is followed. a court saying possibly he'll have to gain some ground. >> that would have to go to the courts, right. they decided early on if the intent was clear that it was lisa murkowski despite perhaps a few spelling errors it would count? >> that's right, the alaska division of elections decided that but a court hasn't yet. that's what joe miller wants the courts to weigh in on. a lot of folks that i spoke with last week said, hey, there was

ample, ample precedence in alaska for the balance of the election, evaluating voters. in elections in the past, they've done the same thing. so he had a steep hill to climb just to get a judge to throw out thousands of votes. >> that's right, for lisa murkowski, she says she's the winner. thank you, shannon. we're going to be speaking to her about her historic campaign and how she plans to make peace with her party when she runs to capitol hill. pretty soon, college kids won't be able to get that wide awake feeling again. the agency is imposing a two-week deadline in the makers of seven different alcoholic energy drinks. they must get the caffeine out of them or stop selling them. also today, a warning about energy drinks without alcohol. our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, live from the cnn center. now, we've heard about all about the combination of alcohol and caffeine. what's the problem with caffeine alone? >> yeah, john this, is a little bit of a twist and it's a little

different. researchers looked at 1,000 college seniors and asked them how often do you drink drinks like red bull, the kinds without alcohol. what they found, the college seniors who zrank one or more energy drink a week were twice as likely to have a problem with alcohol dependence. there seems to be some connection between developing or having an alcohol dependence if you drank a lot of them. >> do they have any idea what the association is? >> you know, john, it's kind of the chicken/egg thing. they don't know which came first were the kid southeast exhausted they had to drink the energy drinks to perk them up. or maybe it's because kids mix these things. if you're drinking alcohol you also drink energy drinks because you like them together. it's not clear kwhats going on here. >> when you caulk about the caffeinated drinks, how much caffeine is in them? >> you know what's sad, john, you can't tell from the can. you would think they have to label it, but, in fact, they

don't. the center for science and public interest which is a public interest group, they did their own research. here's what they found. they sent the drinks to a lab. what they found while a can of coke might have somewhere along the line of 34 milligrams of caffeine for 12 ounces, a red bull, for eight ounces, for less, have 80 milligrams. it kind of makes you wonder if a kid is used to having a can of coke and then a red bull and there's way more caffeine, they don't know that because it's not on the label. you would imagine they're feeling it. >> about the same as a shot of espresso but far less than drip coffee. elizabeth cohen with the new warnings. thanks. >> drip coffee is like 120 milligrams. >> 120, 180, depending on the size. a quick programming note, we're going to be talking to the ceo of one of the makers of juice, that's one of the drinks that has the caffeine and

alcohol. meanwhile, back to gary tuchman with threat miners who just landed in atlanta after a long flight from chile. they're headed to l.a. hey, gary. >> reporter: hey, kiran, these miners just cleared customs and they and their wives and girlfriends are getting ready to board the plane. you have the 33 miners. you have five rescuers. you have their spouses, their girlfriends, their mothers, fathers, children. and also people just boarding the flight for los angeles. it's an amazing scene. the civilians who are expected to have a normal takeoff are just astounded to come to the airport and see the heroes. the miners were were underground for 70 days. it's remarkable. you see the people boarding the flight to los angeles are saying oh, my gosh, the miners from chile. you really don't have this much happiness at airports bright and early.

but a lot of happiness here in atlanta. they're boarding the flight early. 7:30 eastern time. these miners, their spouses, their children are touring here. we're going take them all over southern california to attend the tribute. we're proud and happy to be part of this extravaganza, many of them, the first time they've left the nation of chile. >> going to be a great time. no better person to have along on the trip than you, gary. thanks for that, gary tuchman. also new this morning, no aggressive patdowns for children. passengers were all riled up about this. now the transportation security administration says children 12 years of age and under who require screening will acquire less. and faulty parts and risk of oil leaks like the engine on that qantas flight that exploded in midair.

qantas, single air that fly these powered. they've now been ground for two weeks. far from ground zero in new york, controversy over plans to build a mosque in an islamic center in the center of nashville. a judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order on construction. some residents filed the suit claiming they didn't have enough time to object to the project before a permit was issued. and pacific gas and electric now planning to buy more homes in hinkley, california, that have been affected by a spreading toxic plume of chrome me yum. the town of hinkley was made famous by the film of "erin broncovich." because of chrome me yum contamination in groundwater. so far in the season, the miami heat big three have played pretty small but last night they were as good as advertised. chris bosh led the season high, 35 points as they blue out the

phoenix suns, 121-96. lebron james scored 20 minutes. dwyane wade had 17. i wonder if there was a lot of fist bumping and touching and hugging. >> the new study shows that's actually a good greater of whether the team is going to be successful. >> more you touch, the more you win. >> that's rob's motto as well. he's got a look at the headlines. just teasing you. >> nice transition. good morning, guys. looking good outside. much of the east coast, just fair weather clouds in atlanta. a beautiful shot as the sun coming up on this chilly november morning. across the northeast, you had your winds yesterday and the tomorrows the night before. still breezy. the close are you get to that storm, farther up north and through portland, parts of maine still under a wind advisory. so the winds will continue to blow. a storm system that brought snow to the heartland yesterday, is spreading east across the tennessee and ohio valleys and the deep south.

this is pretty light stuff and heading with dry air. i don't expect a tremendous amount of rain. but a storm system continues to strengthen or continues to pummel the northwest. rain and mountain snow, winter storm warnings are posted and windy conditions expected again after the seattle area got pounded with heavy weather earlier in the week. so that's the story there with the unusually cold and snowy weather expected for the interior mountain west. over the weekend, chilly, but sunny weather expected. temperatures getting up to seasonal levels in places like dallas. 61 degrees. john and kiran, back to you. >> rock thank you so much. we'll see you soon. coming up, mini cars but a amassive pileup. so much for life in the fast lane at this go-cart track. i guess it was too slippery. general motors returning to life as a public company, but will the gamble pay off, we're "minding your business" this morning. also, senator lisa

murkowski, she's claiming victory in alaska after launching a write-in campaign that anchored many in her own party. well, now, it looks like she's the winner. what's next as she heads back to washington. she joins us live from anchorage in just a minute.

17 minutes now after the hour. new developments this morning. it looks like the last undecided

senate race may be over. lisa murkowski declared victory in the long alaska senate race last night calling it a, quote, miracle win. >> yeah, murkowski kept going after she lost to tea. party-backed joe miller and also backed by sarah palin. but miller is not giving up yet. he says he may actually request a recount. meanwhile, as we said, senator murkowski says she's the right winner. she joins us live from anchorage, alaska. thanks for being with us. >> great to be with. thank you. >> congratulations on what must soom like a long road for you. what's interesting, joe miller saying he might still call for a recount. he is not conceding this morning. what are your thoughts on whether or not this is going to drag out even longer. >> well the numbers are what the numbers are. and we are clearly, clearly ahead. well over 10,000 votes. i'm -- you just can't convince

me that a recount is going to change the outcome of this. there are challenge ballots that the miller camp has -- can set aside throughout this write-in counting process. but even if, even if every one of those ballots were thrown out, i would still be ahead in the numbers by several thousand votes. so the numbers are just not adding up. >> it appears, though, he's saying if a consistent standard is applied, seeming to indicate if people didn't spell your name right, which the alaska election board said that was okay, that those ballots would be kicked out. do you think that's not a possibility at this point? >> and he keeps talking about a consistent standard. what, in fact, people did, they filled in that oval and they wrote in my name. some of the ballots that he challenged were if there was a comma between "lisa" and "murkowski" or somebody in a fit

of enthusiasm put a heart over the "i" instead of dotting the "i." he's calling that into question. the name was spelled perfectly. even if we go with his standard where it has to be spelled perfectly, we still win. the numbers just don't add up for mr. miller. he's going to recognize that shortly. >> senator, if your declaration holds and you do return to washington in january. i'm curious what your relationship with the republican leadership is going to be like. because they were against you in the general election. at one point during the campaign, you told our drew griffin that you're going back in a different capacity if you win. what's the different capacity? would you be more willing to challenge the party line? >> well as you know, as you state, i was not my party's nominee. i wept outside the box. i went outside and took a different path. clearly, a harder path. but clearly one that is more grassroots. when you're running a write-in campaign, you're getting a coalition of alaskans that come

together to support you. it is absolutely unprecedented. when i return to washington, it will be all alaskans that i be representing. for it is republicans and democrats and independents and greens and aips that have put me there. i am not there at the -- with the assistance, if you will, of either the national republican party or my state republican party. >> that is interesting. will that affect how you vote and what issues you choose to bring to the forefront, if you can, as a committee chair? >> you know, i am still a republican. in alaska, the way that our election laws work, i did not choose to be an independent, say, for instance, as joe lieberman did when he made his run. i am still a republican. i am still conferencing with the republicans. i retain my seniority that i have built as a republican. but my mandate, if you will,

from the people of alaska, from all alaskans, urban and rural, and again, all different political stripes and flavors is one to represent all of us. that will be my task. that will be my challenge. >> one quick question about sarah palin. i know you haven't been the biggest fan of hers. she told barbara walters earlier this week that she may indeed run for president in 2012. and she thinks she can beat president barack obama if she did. your thoughts on the potential candidacy? would you support her? >> well, she is clearly setting her sights on that higher office. i have been very, very focused on what's going on in alaska. will continue to do that. i have, in the past, said that sarah palin would not be my candidate. i'm still looking to see who is going to emerge in the republican field of candidates. and i think that remains to be seen. but there's been a lot of

assumptions that, because, well, because two women are from alaska we should be friends and supporters automatically. we are two very different women and are choosing two very different paths. >> but would it be a safe assumption if it was between sarah palin and president barack obama, that you would support the gop nominee? that would be sarah palin? >> well, you know, we have a long ways to go before we hit 2012 and before we have to make decisions like that. i'm still waiting, along with the rest of the country, to see what evolves from this process. >> senator lisa murkowski, thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> we'll see where this goes. appreciate your time. >> thanks, is that right. >> thank you. still to come, more than 80 gop rookies joining the establishment in the house and being welcomed into the fold this morning. we're going to talk with one of their leaders just ahead. and convincing the allies to stay the course in afghanistan. can the commander of the u.s. forces keep our allies on the

same page? we have an exclusive interview with general david petraeus. you don't want to miss it. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart. yeah... don't do that. at ally, you'll love our online savings account. named the best of 2010 by money magazine. ally. do you love your bank ?

26 minutes after the hour. here's some of the stories. a horse is a horse, of course,

of course. this one's become an internet horse. check it out. we're talking horsepower. not only under the hood, but in the back seat? >> oh. >> it was captured by a family on the way to a kansas walmart. yep, the horse is apparently named rascal. according to its owners performs tricks and goes to walmart, too. >> that's a stretch. it's a pony. it's one of those miniature ponies. >> it's a horse. >> it's a miniature pony. >> it still qualifies as a horse in the back seat. like a dog. they like to feel the breeze. looks like santa had too much eggnog. surveillance video shows him making his way through the parking garage. look at this. poor guy. or maybe he couldn't see because of the beard -- no. ouch. he falls on his face. gets back on his feet, and then probably have to use your imagination to guess what he does next. all we know that santa is lucky

that he didn't end up in the slammer. >> wow. >> wait, what did he just do -- >> it's a little fuzzy. can anybody tell? i'm not sure what he did. what is it with santas and booze? i don't get it. a housewife no more. eva longoria filed for divorce from her husband of three years, nba star tony parker. she told a friend that she found hundreds of text messages on parker's phone. she tweeted yesterday that the two love each other and they pray for each other's happiness but they're not going to stay together. >> wow, from ugly breakups to a massive mini pileup. once the first drive loses it on the go-cart, it's all over. talk about whiplash. 30 plus in this pileup. while we're counting almost 100,000 views so far on the web. >> mini pileup with massive

outcome. wow. >> general motors set to reclaim its spot in the wall street ticker. the company expected to raise billions of dollars this morning. how did this company that you bailed out turn it all around? we'll tell you. also, tiger woods writing an article for "newsweek" saying he's no longer invincible and not the same man he was a year ago. baring his soul a little bit. we'll have more with what he said coming up. [ female announcer ] it's the ultimate surf and turf event, happening right now at red lobster. choose one of three premium seafood-and-steak combinations... all under $20. get succulent lobster...

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♪ 31 minutes past the hour. time to look at the top stories. if you plan to fly during the

holiday season, you're probably already knowing that you have to be prepared for a more aggressive patdown. well, tsa chief john pistole told a senate committee that he went through an enhanced procedure himself before entering the airports nationwide. >> and your impression? >> it is thorough. >> i understand that. but your impression beyond the fact that it was thorough? >> well, the whole purpose was to -- >> does it make you uncomfortable? what was your impression as a person? >> yes. it was more invasive than what i was used to. >> well, did it make you feel uncomfortable, he said yes. but he gave it the go-ahead. >> i can tell you from experience you haven't been patted down until you've been patted down by britain's special air services. police in nimbyia found a suspicious piece of luggage. it contained an object with a detonator and a running clock. officials say it's not clear if the object could have been

ignited. the incident comes just as germany stepped up security measures as intelligence detected a planning terror plot. a few hours before "harry potter" debuts. 36 minutes of "harry potter and the deathly hall lows part one" leaked online. they're trying to find out the source of the leak. and nearly three decades after it left the u.s. market. italian automaker fiat is back. fiat is unveiled two subcompact cars in los angeles. the fiat hatchback will cost $5,000 less than the mini cooper when it goes on sale in the united states next month. well nearly two years after gm was racing towards utter collapse, a detroit auto make is now revving up its return to wall street. in fact, shares of the automaker will begin trading in just an hour. the sales stock will cut the

stock in the u.s. by more than half. it now owns 33%. >> our christine romans joins us with more. some car manufacturer's stock was a good buy. what are we expecting gm's stock. >> $33 at the ipo price. we don't know if it goes up 30%, 20%. that will suggest it in the two opening bell rings it won't be a bell, it's a horn of the chevy camaro. it would be one of the big gest ipos ever. well, the $50 billion government bailout now will be paid back to the tune of $20 billion raised in the ipo. not all of that is going the treasury. not all of that is going to pay you back and taxpayers back. about $12 billion or so will go back directly to the treasury. and the treasury department will sale its remaining stake over

the next few years. it cannot sale any shares over the next six months or so as the company gets going. now, here's what's happened over the past couple of years. a big turnaround of this company when the obama administration, of course, decided to take it over to keep it alive. in 2008, it was losing $1,180 for every car that rolled off the assembly line. that can't go on. this company was hemorrhaging money. it's making 1,000 ford every car rolling off the assembly line this year. if look at the u.s., they're making about $3,000 per car there. how did that happen? it didn't happen without pain and your money. they had to get rid of four brands, saturn, pontiac, hummer and saab. and they slashed in 2008, this was a company that had $280,000

employees today, just 208,000 employees. they're saying if the obama administration did not step in and save the company when it was on the brink of a financial crisis, millions of jobs would have been lost. it would have imploded the suppliers, the dealerships. so a lot of jobs lost. but is this a victory for the obama administration. at the time people were saying, wait, you're using bank bailout known bail out auto makers? what is the focus here? this company can't compete. the company has made it. now it has to prove it can compete on a global scale, you know, ford did not take bailouts. ford has had a nice turnaround. all of these automakers have a lot to do. >> thanks, christine. well, president obama has got his work cut out for him this weekend at the nato summit convincing his allies to stay the course in afghanistan. >> it's not going to be easy, president karzai calling for fewer u.s. troops in the country and an end to nighttime raids

there. barbara starr live at the pentagon this morning. you had a chance to speak exclusively to general petraeus, bras barbara. a lot of the talk is when the troops will come home. >> it really is topic number one, when will u.s. troops start heading home from afghanistan? number one, general petraeus told me he believes he making progress against the taliban insurgency, and that will leave him to be able to recommend a troop withdrawal. have a listen to what exactly he had to say on this. when you say it will take place and it will begin in july 2011, are you absolutely saying at this point you will be able to send u.s. troops home? or you're just going to reposition them in a part of the country where they may be needed more? >> well we'll have to see. and i can't address every possible hypothetical that all the different journalists might want me to entertain. but the fact is, i think we'll probably do some of both.

i think we will probably reinvest some of our forces. that's what we've been doing so far. >> reinvest. that's a nice bureaucratic word for sending troops to another area of afghanistan where they still may be needed in combat. so some coming home. some being repositioned, sent to other areas. this is what general petraeus will brief at this weekend's nato summit. he will say that there is progress. he will talk about the december review under way for the white house. but the fundamental question remains, is this real progress? is it enduring progress? have they really made a dent in the insurgency? or this really, you know, it's cold, it's wirngt in afghanistan insurgents have gone to ground and they'll be back in the spring. john, kiran. >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks so much with that. good job with general petraeus. still to come this morning, bringing the freshmen into the fold. the new blood and ideas.

one of the new faces, christy gnome joins us next. wrigleyfield in chicago. two storied baseball stadiums, they're hosting college football game this weekend. had to get quite a makeover to do it. wait till you see how they get the goalpost to stay upright in chi-town. 39 minutes past the hour.

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coming up now at 42 minutes after the hour, gop rookies won more than 80 house seats on election night. many of them were backed by the tea party. and republicans are making room at the table for them this morning. they created two new leadership roles for the rookies republicans tim scott of south carolina and christy gnome of south carolina were selected as liaison us. congresswoman, good to see you this morning. thanks so much. congrachgt las vegases on your victory. >> thank you, john. i appreciate that. good to be here. >> so it's unusual for a freshman to come into congress and begin a leadership role. what do you think you bring to of the taken as a leader? >> well, you know, back home in south dakota i filled leadership positions in my state legislature. but the small business experience i have is going to be extremely helpful. i think politicians and people visiting their districts want people to know when you pass policies and legislation what the impacts are on real people

back home. >> as mentioned at the top here, many members of the freshmen class were tea partiers or supported by the tea party. what do you think their influence is going to be in congress over the next couple of years? >> well, we've got a very large freshmen class. it's historic in its size. there are people who are extremely diverse in their backgrounds and viewpoints. i think that we're going to see a conservative group of people come together, focused on real ideals that are extremely important. broad-based policies such as not spending money we don't have. getting the budget balanced. creating jobs in the economy. getting that back on track. that's going to be the priorities of the freshmen class. they want to make sure they have people sitting at the table in the leadership team and put their foot down. >> what's your relationship, congresswoman, with the tea party. you say you're not a tea partyier per se. and you're not sure you're going to join the caucus. what kind of relationship do you have with the tea party? >> well, i've got a good

relationship with the tea party group, specials little the ones in south dakota that i've spoken to and hold to the same values that we talk about as well. we all agree that a smaller, more limited government is better. that we need those balanced budgets. that we need to make responsible decisions. i think labels have been utilized a lot throughout the election process to divide people. and at this point in time, we need people to come together, be their own person, come together with their solutions and solve the problems. >> you came to congress to not be a part of washington, but to change washington. and so many people before you have said the same thing and haven't been able to do it. what makes you different? >> well, what makes me different, ten months ago i would never have said i would run for congress. i truly had been signature at home talking with my family realizing i had been raising my kids to not complain about something but to do something about it when they didn't like it. i had to take that advice myself. i was upset with the way this

country was going. i decided maybe i need to step up. i've been running businesses, raising my kids on a ranch in south dakota with my husband brian. i have real life perspective. i'm going to apply that and do what i can to get results to make sure that the people back there know that i'm still one of them and still are kristi noem. >> what's the first thing that you would cut? >> well, i think we need to put things on the table and have discussions about. i think the budgets have continued to grow, while the rest of us were cutting coupons trying to make our ends meet. i think that's exactly what the government needs to do we need to go back to 2008 spending levels, before the bailouts and increased spending happened. then we need to go back and look at the programs and start making and fighting efficiencies and see if they're worthwhile and

serve their purpose. >> i understand you that need to look at everything. but is there one particular thing that drives you crazy that you think if you had the opportunity you'd cut it tomorrow? >> well, i think we've got a lot of those situations out there. what we need to do as a freshmen class and as a leadership team identify those that we're going after first. >> one of the other issues that people have, the new congress, is it going to be able to cooperate. will it reach across party lines. the indications thus far have not been good. you have a pretty good track there in south dakota as a state legislature to reach across party lines. what difference do you think you were-k make in the next two years to reach across party lines? >> well, back in south dakota my service in the state legislature, i sponsored bills of people from both parties. i was an assistant majority leader but still able to work with the other party to make good legislation pass for the state of said is the. that's why we see such a good business environment there. that's why we have a balanced government. i can offer that, i know how to do that.

i think we've seen a real openness by the republican leadership to include people and bring them to the table. and that's what we're looking forward to with the democratic party as well, that they'll be able to sit down and be part of the solution. >> do you buy this argument that gridlock is good? >> well, it depends on the policies that are being pursued. now that we have new leadership some the house that really is trying to do some things to get the economy back on track, now we need to get things accomplished. >> let's see if we can do it. congresswoman kristi noem, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. 47 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating... ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?! 5 dollar, 50 cents. minus redeeming charge. leaving 50 cents. say what? happy time! what kind of program is this? want better rewards? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program.

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♪ 51 minutes past the hour. we have a check of the weather headlines across the country. rob marciano for us this morning. hey, rob. >> good morning, guys. pretty strong storm through the area yesterday. not terribly cold behind the system. temperatures in the 40s. it is still a bit breezy and tends to keep the temperatures up overnight. 5 to 10-mile-a-hour winds and 25 to 45 maybe up in maine. advisory for eastern ynew england. maybe they dropped that. weak storm getting weaker into the ohio and tennessee valleys here. heading into dry air and probably beginning to evaporate

in the afternoon. this is pretty significant storm heading into portland and seattle. heavy rain in the valleys. snow. 10 to 16 just with this storm and then as we get through the weekend and into the beginning part of next week a tremendous amount of not only moisture but some cold air. we'll see delays in san francisco, los angeles and seattle because of that storm system and in denver 61. atlanta it will be 66 and then boston 45 with sunshine and breezy conditions. john and kiran, back up to you. >> all right, rob. thanks so much for that. >> all right, guys. coming up, the fda tough with companies selling the calf nated drinks. also, making a marriage work. why wealthier couples may have a better chance of going the distance in the first place. we'll talk about the changing ways people view marriage. coming up. ♪

when you're responsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on.

well, a couple of interesting venues for college football this weekend. northwestern and illinois battling it out at wrigley field home of the baseball's chicago cubs. a little bit of a snug fit. the goal post attached to the right field wall. notre dame and army saturday night in yankee stadium. first time they played football in the bronx since 1969. >> that will be an interesting couple of places to play this weekend. tiger woods writing a first-person account of his struggles in "newsweek" saying

the physical pain long healed but the pain in my soul is more complex and unsettling. far more difficult to ease and to understand but this much is obvious now. my life was out of balance. my priorities were out of order. i can never truly repair the damage i have done, especially to my family, but i can keep trying. what endures in the record books won through competition. what endures in our actual lives is the love of our family and the respect of others. i know now that some things can and must change with time and effort. i'm not the same man i was a year ago and that's a good thing. >> all right. tiger woods, writing in "newsweek." still ahead. we'll be right back. bold. daring. capable of moving your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot on the pedal. ♪

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your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben. good morning to you. glad you're with us. thursday, november 18th. i'm kiran chetry. >> good morning. i'm john roberts. let's get you right to it. guantanamo detainee ghailani not guilty on 284 -- what is it?

284 counts. he was convicted of a single conspiracy charge. the obama administration is saying that they do have a bit of a victory here because he wasn't acquitted on all counts. they're under fire, though, this morning for trying this in a civilian court. >> he could face 20 years the life, though. more on that in a second. two weeks after the election day where no one really knew who the senator from alaska was going to be. well, lisa murkowski now declaring victory in the alaskan senate race after many in her party left her for dead. thefda with a strong warning those making alcohol calf nated drinks. we want to start with a story only on cnn about the 33

chilean miners and five of the rescuers. video of them for from a couple of hours ago. >> arriving from chile. a layover in atlanta harts field jackson and on their way to hollywood this mitt romneying. >> invited to attend taping of cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. new pictures of the miners and guests arriving in the past hour in atlanta. they left chile late last night. on their u.s. trip, everyone's going to get a whirlwind tour of southern california. gary tuchman is staying with them through the weekend and reporting on all of that all day long today. >> so the update, the miners are on their connecting flight now to los angeles. about a four-hour trip from atlanta and we'll be covering the special journey throughout the day. >> of course, catch "cnn heroes" on thanksgiving night. nearly 2 million of you voted. soon we'll find out who the next cnn hero is. anderson cooper hosts.

now to the top story. he was the first guantanamo detainee tried in civilian court and critics of the obama administration say he ought to be the last. >> a federal jury in new york finding ahkmed ghailani not guilty convicting him on a single count of conspiracy to damage or destroy u.s. property. for his role in the deadly 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in ken why and tanzania. >> obviously the white house, they put out a statement saying we thank the jury but they could not have been happy with this verdict. >> they were not. i was in the courtroom. you could hear an audible gasp and packed with people from the u.s. attorney's office and tried a same case back in 2001. this is before anybody knew what al qaeda was. on this level, it worked against them. defense saying just because we hear the word "al qaeda" doesn't

mean he is a terrorist. they said he was a dupe. he was not the sort of person who was setting out to build this bomb, that he was just being used by al qaeda because he knew his way around tanzania. this really was in many respects a defeat for the obama administration. yes, they won on a single count and 285 others. was this case just overreaching? did they charge too many things and limited it to the u.s. embassy bombing in tanzania? that is something to look at looking to see if they could have brought a more efficient case against him. remember, this was not about war crimes. this was about his role in embassy bombing back in 1998. now, ghailani was the judge initially said, look, he is never going to get out. he is an enemy combatant. until we cease with al qaeda, he is held regardless. civilian/military. question that is are up in the air right now. that is very, very important case the way it was tried and

both sides did a really fine job trying this case. but certain pieces of evidence were simply not allowed in and many people believe hurt. >> prosecution had a key witness and the judge wouldn't allow testify. >> that was really damaging because part of the problem, he was kept in a secret prison, interrogating, enhanced interrogations and defense say was akin to torture. the witness came out during those interrogations, prosecutors want to say let us question him. he sold him the tnt meaning ghailani must have known what the plot was about. the judge said i can't do that because of the way it was obtained and didn't want to bring in other evidence obtained in the enhanced interrogations and just one witness and they couldn't. >> deb, thanks. >> of course. politics now and the people have written senator lisa murkowski going back to washington. she declared victory last night in the alaska senate race over

republican joe miller. >> people in her own party wanted her to quit but she had enough write-in votes to win and a chance to speak to her a short time ago and asking if she'll challenge the party line going back to work. will that affect how you vote and what issues you choose to bring to the forefront if you can as a committee chair? >> you know, i am -- i am still a republican. in alaska, the way that our election laws work, i did not choose to be an independent, say for instance as joe lieberman did when he made his run. i'm still a republican and conferencing with the republicans. i retain the seniority that i belt. and all alaskans and all different political stripes and flavors is one represent all of us. >> joe miller who beat murkowski

in the gop primary is not giving up saying after all the absentee ballots are in, we may ask for a recount. less than 1% of the vote now separates my and lisa murkowski's total. if there is a recount and a consistent standard is applied to all the ballots who knows what the difference will be? well, murkowski said fellow alaskan sarah palin wouldn't be her candidate in 2012 but in an interview with barbara walters, palin said she is looking for a run to the white house and believes she can beat president obama. >> i'm looking at the lay of the land now and trying to figure that out if it's a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family if it's a good thing. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> cnn opinion research corporation poll doesn't seem to agree with her taken before election day saying president obama would beat palin 52% to 44%. trump for president in 2012?

the donald tells abc news that he is considering a run for the white house and he'll make up his mind by june. trump says he's disturbed by the world's lack of respect for the united states and calls the u.s. a whipping post right now and says china is laughing at us thinking we're fools. the donald claims that would end quickly in a trump administration. well, new this morning, the head of the transportation security administration is defending enhanced body scanners and pat downs. john pit tolle saying, yes, they're more invancive but necessary to stay ahead of the threat. he says he went through the procedure himself before ordering it nationwide. the tsa also amending a ruling saying that they're going to not do these enhanced pat downs for kids. qantas airlines says as many as 40 engines on airbus super jumbo jets need to be replaced. may have faulty parts. the airline's fleet has been

grounded for the past two weeks. well, you won't hear a bell ringing on wall street but the beep of a horn of a camaro. gm on track to make history offers its stock for sale on wall street. the initial offering is set to raise more than $20 billion. almost 12 billion to u.s. taxpayers that bailed out gm last july. a guy that gets honked at a lot, rob marciano, good morning. >> hey, guy. i can be a very bad driver and deserve to be honked at. good morning, guys. certain cities have more aggressive drivers than others. i won't mention them right now. it's a bit breezy in boston, that's for sure. temperatures will be about where they should be for this time of year across the northeast because of the winds kept up overnight and those will be dying down i think going throughout the day today. aggressive drivers in new york city, as well. down south, it's a different kind of driving but just as frustrating. we have rainfall light stuff that's moving across the

tennessee and ohio valleys. not going to amount to a lot. running into fairly dry air and wet weather across the pacific northwest with heavy snow in the mountains there and that's the ongoing theme i think in the weekend. the trend for next week is quite stormy and cold for the west. right now, we're looking for 64 in san francisco. not too shabby. 57 in new york city. could be worse. 44 degrees a bit chilly in chicago. john and kiran, back to you. honk-honk. >> could have snow here. at least we don't have that. hopefully the wind is down a little. thanks, rob. well, the fda with a sobering message for the companies that make the high caffeine, alcohol drinks. change the formula or stop selling it. making a marriage work, why wealthy couples may have a better chance to go the distance coming up in a little while.

across the country when the economy tumbled, jpmorgan chase set up new offices to work one-on-one with homeowners. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part. this is the way forward.

♪ 12 minutes past the hour right now. these drinks, these are the calf nated alcoholic beverages getting attention. the makers have been warned you have to take the caffeine out or else. college kids called them blackout in a can. you may remember the cases washington state to new jersey and heard of students rushed to emergency rooms with alcohol poisoning after downing the

drinks. the fda telling seven companies if they don't act, the government will. michael mckale, the ceo of united brands. he is in san diego this morning. thank you for getting up early with us. >> you're welcome. >> so we have the letter that the fda sent you. they basically say you have about 15 or 30 days to remove the caffeine from the drinks and i understand you're already working on that. give us a status update this morning. >> well, we're very glad that a ruling had come down and it set some clarity. we are in full compliance with the fda. we are currently going through reformulation, taking caffeine, tau arena and ginseng out of the formula. we will be launching it soon. >> letter outlines why they're doing it, saying it's dangerous in the hands of young drinkers causing behavioral affects is what they say and caffeine masks

of effects of the alcohol and can stay up longer, so they can drink more. do you disagree with that? >> we do with juice. juice has been out since 2006. we've been the market leader in this category. we have been marketing our product extremely responsibly. the fact of that is none of what we hear and see in the media today is linked to the juice product. >> right. so you're saying -- >> we feel we have a very good -- sorry. >> no. it's interesting because you said that you think one bad apple and referring to four loko drinks is spoiling the bunch. this one i have in my hand, 12% alcohol and it also combines the other things with the caffeine as well as the general seng and the taurine. why do you think that they're the bad apple? >> well, what this all comes down to is a product and brand

positioning. alcoholic product for adult over 21 consumers. there's got to be a more responsible way of marketing product. as you can see in the media, juice has been not linked to any of these incidents. >> but it's the same formulation. you think it's a marketing issue, not a formulation issue with your drink versus four loko? >> to start with, our product is made with all natural flavors. we use less of the amount of caffeine that is mandated by the fda and t tb. they recommend 200 parts per million. we have always been under that. we are 180 parts per million that puts us at 54 milligrams per serving. we have less caffeine. our approach and the way we product our product is completely different and the greater indication is since 2006 that juice has been on the market hasn't been always at 12%. we launched at 9.9.

we went down a point to 9.0 and we felt that that was a safe approach and the fact of that, again, we have not been linked to health or risk issues ever since. you might have a 12% in front of you but we also make 6%. we make 9%, 9.9 and also made 11%, as well. >> if you believe in the product, why aren't you fighting the ruling from the fda? >> that's a great question. we would like to comply. we would like to comply. we have a great relationship with regulators on the federal and the state levels. we would like to work very closely with them to make sure that the current inventory, the current product out on the market and the transitioning into the new formula takes place smoothly. so, we are in full compliance. i would like to say that. i would like to say we're in

full compliant with the fda and will be recorm lating. going against the grain is not going to help us in the long run. as a responsible marketers, with an alcoholic beverage, we have to be very careful and obey the law of the land. >> all right. so some changes, certainly, coming the alcoholic drinks like yours. michael, the maker of joose and max, thank you for joining us this morning. >> you are welcome, kiran. thank you. >> thanks, kiran. want to put some more horsepower in the car? we'll show you how to do it. stay with us. ♪ express yourself

♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] because coffee is like the holidays. it's better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate. from nestle.

♪ 20 minutes after the hour. and time for some of the story that is got us talking in the newsroom this morning. a horse is a horse of course, of course and this one's become an internet force. check it out. we are talking horsepower there in the backseat. >> look at the little pony. >> it is a horse, a full-grown horse. captured by a family on the way to a kansas walmart. the horse named rascal and performs tricks across the state

including getting into the backseat of the car. >> the air blowing in the breeze. the mane just flying around with the wind. so cute. it is a pony. come on! >> a horse. a race horse. we'll look at the viral video clip now. this is a slick go-kart track. a driver loses it. there you see it. all of them banging each other. surprised they didn't flip. >> difficult to flip a go-kart. >> 30-plus in the pile-up and counting almost 100,000 web views. >> those are go fast go-karts too. housewife no more. eva longoria saying she found, quote, hundreds of text messages from another woman on parker's phone and -- the way that these things go these days, longoria tweeted yesterday that the two love each other and they pray

for each other's happiness. tough times and because of the social networking, pastors say relationships are suffering and forget it. don't friend the old flames on facebook. one new jersey pastor, in fact, giving the married church leaders until sunday to delete their facebook accounts. and those who refuse asked to resign. pastor cedric miller says that the social networking site is breaking up marriages because people are reconnecting with old heartthrobs. >> most times it is that facebook creates the vehicle for people to reunite with their past. if it's a pre-jesus past, it is something that needs to be dead and buried. >> he's been married to the same woman for nearly 30 years and did have a facebook page of his own and got rid of it. sunday he says urging the congregation to stay away from facebook. >> interesting. we should get him on and talk to him more. coming up, they ride the train together every day and the talk turns to politics.

six months after we first spoke to them, we're getting post-election commuter reaction. it's all coming up. thank you for calling usa pmy name peggy. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating... ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?! 5 dollar, 50 cents. minus redeeming charge. leaving 50 cents. say what? happy time! what kind of program is this? want better rewards? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program. duare almost inseparable. she lifts her calf to its firstr

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25 minutes past the hour. american haves a lot to say coming to politics and they spoke rather loudly earlier in the month at the midterm elections. >> they did. this morning a group of new york commuters we first spoke to several months ago are sharing their thoughts of what happened in the election and why it happened. our jim acosta caught up with

them and reports back now. >> we enjoyed them the first time around. it was a spirited exchange and doesn't hurt on the evening commute home to crack a couple of cold ones and sort of loosens things up. and what better way to talk about the election that just happened? which, you know, was an earthquake and the election coming up in a couple of years now than hopping on a train with a bunch of guys to give it straight all in the time of manhattan to the suburbs in long island. it's been six months since we caught up with them. >> in the middle? >> evening commute home hasn't changed. and you know, they make beer in 12-ounce cans, right? >> not in penn station apparently. >> reporter: times have. >> a lot has happened. in the last, what is it, six months? >> or so, yep. a lot happened. >> reporter: we reunited with jim, kevin, steve, and andy. for their lively mix of

political views on how to get the country back on track. does anybody have a good one liner on what happened? first up, the 2010 election. >> obama called ate shellacking. did he deserve it? >> partially, yeah. i think there was a lot of locus on a health care bill which i'm not sure america -- you know, i don't fully understand. >> reporter: you were one of the lone become voters. >> there were a few others. >> reporter: stealth ones. >> stealth voters, yeah. >> reporter: to them the election was about who's driving the train in washington. >> gridlock can be a good thing depending on where things are going and, you know. >> reporter: we like the idea of tying things up? until 2012 when the president is up for re-election. >> i didn't vote for him but i don't underestimate his chances for re-election at all. >> reporter: what about the alternatives? have any of you watched the new sarah palin reality show? >> sarah palin and reality together or, like -- oxymoron?

i don't know. >> she could easily win the primaries. >> reporter: you don't think so? >> i adisagree. >> governor of minnesota. what is his name? >> reporter: paw lanety. >> michael bloomberg. a viable candidate. you know? >> i would support a wealthy third party person to fund the campaign. >> reporter: they could go with kevin's choice in the new york governor's race. >> rent, it's too damn high! >> i went with the guy from the rent is too high. >> reporter: you voted for the rent is too high? >> i cast a protest vote. i'll admit it. >> reporter: maybe he'll run for president and then -- >> there you go. >> reporter: all the problems will be solved. that would make for a great rice. >> jimmy, he is an action figure. >> he'd add the excitement. >> they have more than one liners about the politicians in washington and running for president and talk about their ideas for getting the economy back on track, the deficit, taxes. we talk all about this tomorrow.

they also have a unique idea for the next beer summit or slurpee summit, whatever they want to call it. two words. man cave. >> we remember you went into the man cave with them arriving back home. >> that's right. last time around we didn't do it. it was a greatest report esest reporter. let's do that and it was a lot of fun. >> thanks so much. crossing the half hour right now. they call it the miracle win. lisa murkowski declared victory last night saying she has write-in votes to win. she kept going after losing the primary to joe miller. but she told us earlier she is still a republican and miller is not giving up saying he may request a recount. pacific gas and electric plans to buy more homes in hinckley, california, affect by chromium. the town made famous by the

film. real-life brock vich helped win a settlement against pg & e with chromium in the ground water. there it goes. that was ceneca bridge over the illinois river. near perfect implosion and blew it up in seconds. the center span of the bridge implo imploded, fell 50 feet into the water below. someone that won on a $2 lottery got to push the boom button. $24 million replacement bridge opened to traffic about two weeks ago. >> wonder how the fish felt about that. what a comeback for general motors. in nearly two years from bankruptcy to going public with the first stock offering since being bailed out. >> cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow is live at new york stock exchange. we'll hear a beepg of a horn instead of the bell and you spoke to the ceo dan ackerson. what did he tell you? >> reporter: that's right. this is the fourth ceo that gm

had in less than two years. this is the first time he spoken publicly to the press also the ipo of gm, the new gm. they first listed it here at new york stock exchange back in 1925. a new company. we had a chance to talk to him. my first question and what is on the top of everyone's mind, will this company be able to pay back the $50 billion that came from u.s. taxpayers to bail it out not long ago? take a listen to his answer to that. >> good news is we paid all of our debt back, all the bonds we were issued and we paid back all the preferred with dividends and interest, and we're reducing the government's ownership from roughly 60-plus percent to 33%. >> reporter: that's the big question, shares priced at this ipo at $33. they have to rise 65% for american taxpayers to be paid back in full and you're saying there's no guarantee that's going to happen. are you hopeful? >> sure, i'm hopeful and not

saying it can't happen. i don't know what the markets will do. but i do think that the company is well positioned, producing the best cars in the world. and we have got a strong sheet and good operating model. things look good for general motors. >> reporter: any plans to hire more employees? >> we have hired 7,300 employees this year in north america alone simply because demand for the vehicles increased and as demand increases and hopefully there will be a macro recovery within the united states, sure, we are hiring more people. >> that is very good news for anyone out there looking for a job for former auto workers at gm hiring more but the question is will the economy turn around enough to hire in this country in a meaningful way? one important thing to note from what he told us about gm paying taxpayers back, he said i cannot guarantee that. we spoke to his predecessor less than a year ago, he guaranteed us that u.s. taxpayers would be paid back and this is something

to pay close attention to. shares at $33, see where they open. need to be above $50 for the treasury and taxpayers to get paid back in full but good news, $22 billion after the ipo going to u.s. taxpayers, 28 billion left to be paid back, guys. >> the volt got named car of the year and they have to be feeling pretty good about where they are right now. what about the chinese stake in gm, though? >> reporter: great question, john. there's a company that's gm's partner in china and what they did this morning is they took a 1% stake in yen motors. the question is, how do american taxpayers feel about a chinese company taking a stake in the new gm bailed out by taxpayers. the ceo said they're a good partner. they sold more cars there this year than in the united states. the question is i couldn't get a number from him, i tried, but how big would he let that stake get? that's the big question here. we have to keep an eye on that but china becomes more and more

involved with u.s. companies, this is just another example of that, that chinese company taking a 1% stake in the new general motors and ipo and as you say, kiran, going to rev the engine of one of the cars instead of ringing an opening bell in less than an hour. guys? >> all right. poppy harlow for us, great job. thanks so much. she has an interview, full interview with the ceo of general motors at cnnmoney.com. coming up next, marriage. is it an obsolete institution? are we better off without it? a lot of people think we are. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week,

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♪ love and marriage ♪ love and marriage ♪ go together like a horse and carriage ♪ coming up on 38 minutes after the hour. how's your marriage? think you'd be better off alone in. >> these days the answer to that question is for a growing number of americans at least, yes. three decades 72% of americans were married and now that number closer to 50% and according to a "time" magazine pew research center survey, many people interviewed believe marriage is obsolete. >> linda luscom wrote the article and here with us this morning. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> in this poll, you surveyed 2,600 people. 44% of them, that's close to half the country, believe that marriage is abc lees o obsolete. does it face ex-tix? >> people have been predicting the extinction of marriage for a

long time. 44% of young people predicted to be obsolete and interestingly, the same young people only 5% of them didn't want to be married. >> so while they think that for other people may not be the case i still want to do it? >> i still want to do it or not sure but i don't think i'm not going to be married. >> when i read your article, you said that you wanted to look into this because of the fact that marriage is still something we -- that is front and center. it is the social fabric, it is actually one of the most contested issues going on right now in politics. who can marry, the discussions over same-sex marriage. yet, at the same time, it's under attack in a way. >> i think the reasons we used to have to get married, we needed financial security or needed to have sex or we wanted to have sex or, you know, we wanted to raise children or it was -- there was a society pressure to do that, those have all disappeared. now people just get married because they want to. because they're in love. those are the number one reasons people get married. not really a societial thing.

it is a voluntarily thing and changes so much of what marriage does. >> even though 44% of young people think that the institution may be obsolete, when it comes to raising children, the numbers flip and i think you found 77% of people think it's easier for married couple to raise children than for an unmarried couple. easier for single people, 2%. >> exactly. we asked a whole laundry list of what's easier to do married and single? people said it's the same, to be happy as married and single. be just as well off, single and married. you don't need it for professional success or accepted in society. if you want to have children and raise them, you need to be married which, of course, totally not the way society is going. >> it is not going that way. one thing that you seem to highlight that's a huge factor in this is the change of the role of women both in the earning power and also in terms of education. explain that. >> well, because women have been

graduating from college now more than men for about three decades, men are marrying more college-educated women so you usually people like to marry people with their same education so it used to be that the doctor marries the nurse. now the doctor marries the other doctor. cancer specialist marries the liver specialist and the business executive marrying the secretary in the day and then the next secretary and the next secretary. now they're part of a power couple so he's marrying an executive. what that means is those two people are very high earners so you have the people -- the richer people, well-educated people marrying each other and the people without an education marrying each other and bringing income inequality into the society. >> you cite the statistics, back in 1960, people married had an income 12% higher than people unmarried. 2008 that figure jumped to 41%. that's a huge growth. >> that's huge. that's mostly because of what we

call -- it's a fancy name for it. educational homogamy. that's who we're drawn to and meet and fall in love and actually the biggest beneficiaries of the women's movement have been guys because they have been marrying richer women. >> we've been marrying up. finally got it right. >> you also talk about some of the other things saying because women are not as dependn't on that income of the spouse they're more likely to leave if they're unhappy. talking about the divorce rate being higher and the other interesting aspect is a change in the way and you write that you have to be a good -- you have to figure out how to deal and bargain well to make things work because the household responsibilities have to be shared in greater number since both people are working. >> exactly. if the women feel they're not -- they're doing the bulk of the work, they're happy to walk. in fact, it's very hard to do it statistically but they believe

that two thirds of all divorces initiated by women and largely because i think a lot because of this household responsibility. women and men have to renegotiate. we're both bringing home the bacon. who's going to cook it? >> there's a shift in attitude about when people get married. people used to get married very young. not married by 22 or 23 years old, you were starting to get up there. >> an old maid. >> used to be the demarcation of adulthood. becoming an adult, you got married and now a finishing touch on adulthood. when everything else is said and done and in place, then you get married. >> yes. one of the soesologists say id's like the ultimate merit badge. you have everything sorted. the career in place. did your education. worked it out. probably lived with the person for a couple of years and worked out the kinks, you know, done a little bit of house training. figured out what you like and don't like and then finally you get married and it's a big step. not the beginning of the

adulthood but the last little brick in it. the last little finishing touch. >> john said 77% of people asked believe it's easier to raise children for married couples but not the reality in terms of children born out of wedlock, that number is growing and continued to grow. what affect does that have on society? >> that's an enormous affect. i think something like 41% of children in america are born to out of wedlock to single mothers. they're not always single. sometimes -- i mean, they're not married but they have a live-in lover or they have a partner, a boyfriend that lives with them. >> they're a couple. >> sometimes not legally married, sometimes live together and sometimes they don't and 50% expect they will get married but often with a kid that puts incredible stress on the relationship and it ends up they split up and, of course, then that mother is left in worse poverty and raising a child on her own. she has much less chance of getting educated and getting herself out of that situation

and it becomes a horrible negative feedback cycle further and further. and so, married people end up further away, richer and people who are not married and have kids end up further down the economic ladder. >> intriguing article and a look at the way things are going. the new cover, "who needs marriage?" thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. chilly start to the day for many in the northeast. strong winds still hanging around after yesterday. rob marciano joining us with the full forecast right after the break. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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going to rob marciano right now for the weather headlines. we had some crazy wipds yesterday. you say it's continuing for some people. >> just for a little bit longer, yeah. breezy across parts of new england. winds in new york up the hudson valley, orange county and then further up the way, the winds gusting 50, 60 miles per hour. beginning to wind down somewhat. here are the latest numbers with the winds blowing. 10 to 15 miles per hour in new york city. portland, maine, with an advisory earlier, still chilly day and breezy day, as well. we have a system rolling across the south, the tennessee valley, ohio river valley. brought snow to the heartland and weakening heading into fairly dry air and what we see will probably be disappearing in

the day today. maybe light showers or a sprinkle to amount to. meanwhile, more substantial storm in seattle and portland. western oregon. heavy rain and snow as this one of several storm that is are lining up for the pacific northwest. getting into a stormy weather pattern. several inches of snow and in some cases up to a foot of snow in snoqualmie pass. let's look at video from washington state. yeah. western washington. higher elevations getting some of that snow. ski resorts opening. probably crystal lake. there we go. and the snow cats are out there so winter storm warnings up. ski area closed for now and likely be reopening nonetheless. hike up the hill and slide down on your own accord. delays with winds. san francisco, low clouds and vizn't. getting that storm later on tonight and tomorrow and then seattle with the rain and the wind. 30 to 60-minute delays there. daytime highs in the 40s in seattle. 48 degrees in kansas city.

70 in nurps. 64 degrees in atlanta and 57 not too shap by up there in new york. now that we are heading into fall, 84 degrees expected for a high temperature in miami. that sounds pretty good considering the weather we have seen the past couple of days. john and kiran, back up to you. >> let's head to south beach. thanks so much. hey, quick programming note for you. vice president joe biden is larry king's guest tonight here on cnn. the japanese may know something we don't. the secrets of sushi, how sushi can hold the key to a longer life. i just ate some yesterday. wonder how many years i added. [ female announcer ] introducing splenda® no calorie sweetener granulated with fiber. sweet!

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53 minutes past the hour. something that puzzled doctors for decades. why is the rate of heart disease in japan half of what it is here in the u.s.? >> the secret might be sushi. our dr. sanjay gupta with the raw facts from kobe. >> reporter: there's some cities around the world with extraordinarily high life expectancy rates and health officials trying to figure out what it's about those places

that are different. a place to look is japan. right off the bat, less to do with genetics and more to do with the environment. specifically, the types of food they eat. this is one of the most popular cities in japan. octopus, squid, fresh fish markets. this is a place that a lot of people come and buy fish every single day and particularly fresh fish as you can tell. just looking around here, see how fresh this is but there are some fish you should pay attention to. crabs, big and small clams and certain fish, for example, really high in omega-3 fatty acids. mackerel, a great fish. high in fat sy acids. salmon is another one and if you look at the blood of japanese people, versus people in other parts of the world, the levels of omega-3 fat sy acids twice as high and heart disease, a big killer in the united states, they have rates half of that here in japan. this is a big reason why.

specifically. omega-3 fatty acids, terrific to lower the blood pressure, decreasing the clots and clogging in the arteries. tuna, another great fish, for example. great pieces of tuna here. again, all of it very fresh. people come here every single day. on average, people in japan eat about one two servings of this type of fish per day. as compared to the united states, for example, where they eat one to two servings a week. just really quickly, as well. seaweed, may be hard pressed to find this in the united states. another great source of anti-oxidants and often eating with fish. there's other ways to get the anti-oxidants, soybeans, for example, tofo, walnuts. great sources, as well. really frying to figure out why people live longer in by cities around the world, it has to do with the diet and in japan where they do it better than anywhere else, fish make a difference. you know, there's something else

they taught me here, as well. an idea to push your plate away before you're ever full. they call it horahachibu. never stuff yourself. that's a phrase to use anywhere in the world. >> it is interesting because here we hem and hau about eating too much fish because of concerns with mercury. they eat it one to two times a day. >> with large fish like tuna, sword fish like that, the hurricane ri accumulates. i wonder if there's a trade-off. >> thank you talk about heart disease and being so healthy. they eat a lot of white rice and told to avoid because it spikes your blood sugar. >> i think they live longer and totally ignore the american reporter walking around the fish market. funny. just like he wasn't even there. >> i know. that was cute. >> good report. >> sanjay reporting this morning. for more on that and other insight go to cnn.com/health. 57 minutes past the hour.

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well, some feared the worse that they might be trapped right now but, of course, we watched the rescue and this morning the 33 rescued miners on their way to hollywood and showing you picturing all morning. miners and five of the men that saved their lives landed in atlanta earlier and on their way to hollywood. >> they're asked to be part of the taping of