happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ going to be 30 years ago on wednesday that john lennon was murdered by mark david chapman. the premier this weekend "lossing lennon "right here on cnn and then we have got a half-hour special 10:00 on saturday, 10:30 on sunday, tracing his life simply in new york, a city he grew to will have. >> you talk to people that never before shared the firsthand experiences. it's a must watch documentary. >> it's a great oral history of the year leading up to his death. it's going to wrap it up for us. thank you for joining us. have yourself a wonderful weekend and see you back here bright and early on monday.

>> don lemon is in the cnn center right now. center right now. >> thank you, guys very much. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we start with breaking room. may be no more important issue and measure of the economy than jobs. this morning, we have breaking news and a grim sign of a weak economy to tell you about. just minutes ago, we learned that the jobless rate increased to 9.8%. you know, that's a double hit that economists expected good news and they had thought they'd see an optimistic uptick in jobs. joining us to talk about this, christine romans in new york with that report and chief business correspondent is here, ali velshi and break it down to tell us what it means. we start with christine in new york, though. christine, talk to us about the job numbers that came out today. >> all right. 9.8% unemployment rate, rose after holding steady for three months. that was a bit of a surprise. an enthe economy only added 39,000 jobs in the month of

november. another surprise. people had expected 150,000 jobs added. it didn't happen. one thing we've been watching very closely is the private sector jobs creation. we have seen private sector jobs creation for 11 months in a row. that is a trend to see continue and it's been pretty weak. 50,000 private sector jobs created. this means all of main street adding 50,000 jobs for such a big country. it's simply not enough to keep the unemployment rate from going up. when you look within the numbers, look, it is a longest period of unemployment now in history. longest period above 9% unemployment that we have ever seen meaning the duration, the length of this horrible situation for many job seekers is worse than it was in the '80s and when you look at how long people have been unemployed. a couple of other things, too. there's been some activity for people who have just recently become unemployed. they're having a better chance finding a job in this economy. people at the long-term

unemployed, don, people out of work for six months or longer, prospects are dimming. that is challenge for the president at 11:15 today to talk to the nation about the economy. how you take a look at this kind of anemic jobs growth and try to explain how you're going to get the juice going again in the labor market. >> ali, you and i were talking about this, doesn't help the president's agenda and talking about that today, these are not good numbers. >> we have two emergency issues. one is jockeying in washington about tax cuts for the wealthy that the republicans want. in exchange for the democrats wanting an extension on unemployment benefits that have just run out. this does help the president on that front to say, look, we still have more people who are on long-term unemployment to deal with but this is the -- this is not only issue number one within issue number one, the economy, this is the number one issue, solving the jobs problem. we are creating jobs but at

150,000 jobs -- >> we'd that lot more. >> if we got 150,000 in november we were expecting, the unemployment rate probably would have stayed the same, maybe ticked up. we need about 300,000 jobs in november to bring the unemployment rate down. we have 39,000. >> can you break this down amongst groups, men, women, ethnicities. >> men have a higher -- national average is 3.8%. for men, higher, 10% and that's because men dominate the industries that lost jobs in this economy. women have an unemployment rate that's lower than the national average because women occupy education and health care that have been growing but for -- if you break it down by ethnicity, asians have the lowest unemployment rate. blacks and hispanics really suffering. unemployment rate for blacks 16 pstz and by educational level, if you have a bachelor's degree, about half the national average.

advanced degrees, about 2%, 2.5%. if you are black or hispanic, male without a high school education, i'm guessing here but it's around 40% is your unemployment rate. >> yeah. we were talking about this. christine, weigh in on this. all indications were at least yesterday, all the reports seeing -- >> will be better. >> going to be better. is there anything, christine, to be looking at on wall street? will that affect wall street today since you're there in new york? >> yeah. futures turned lower after this. i mean, look. there were some signs earlier this week that maybe the economy was starting to stabilize a little bit and we talked to jeff jarris of manpower saying demand isn't there for most companies and until they have customers out there buying more of their products, they'll get more with less in the workplace. we're seeing that. he also said that there's not a lot of hiring he doesn't think in december, maybe even january. a time of the year when people are figuring out the books and looking forward to the next year.

maybe february is the next time to see if the hiring has come back full barrel. you don't want to too negative of a picture here. september better than we thought. about 24,000 jobs lost and october -- in october this economy created 172,000 jobs. that was more than they had initially gauged. remember, this is not exact. there will be some revisions. we'll be very closely watching this but gosh. 50,000 private sector jobs is just not enough. i think, ali and don, too, this is something to talk about over at the fed, the federal reserve trying to figure out new ways to stimulate the economy and the president could try to use this as an ammunition of extension of unemployment benefits through saying, look, we knew that the recovery would be jagged and painful so we as the nation, the president could take the position, needing to spend money to help those left behind. >> very interesting. you know, it's going to help the folks who want to increase or to

extend benefits. help them. but does it -- >> rather -- wouldn't want your help from this. >> took the words out of my mouth as they say. we'll be following this all day long to tell you what it means to you, the new jobs numbers aenl not good. worse than expected. let's go to washington now. democrats on one side. republicans on the other. and your future tax bill stuck there in the middle. on capitol hill today, the two parties trying to hammer out a deal on extending the bush era tax cuts. a vote could come tomorrow we're told. let's go to cnn's congressional correspondent brianna keilar. you heard what we were saying with ali and christine. tell us about the negotiations. they hit a snag last night. what happened and is this likely to affect what happens there? >> reporter: well, we were expecting, don, to see a group of votes today. four votes having to do with extending these bush era tax cuts that they're set to expire

here in less than a month and obviously that would have a huge impact on so many people's tax bill if they were to happen and expecting the four votes and then these negotiations kind of fell apart. there's a republican senator whose name we at this point do not know who objected to this agreement and so it's not going to go forward. now what we are going to be seeing is two votes tomorrow on democratic-backed bills. one that would let tax cuts expire for couples who make more than $250,000 per year and then there is another one that would bump up that cap to $1 million. of course, remember, don, that republicans want to extend tax cuts for all americans. democrats want to have them expire for the wealthy, keeping in mind, though, there are some democrats who are joining republicans and wanting to let these tax cuts be extended for everyone, don. >> so listen. >> trying to catch my breath so

i don't refer to this -- this maneuver going on today as -- as chicken crap. all right? but this is nonsense. all right? the election was one month ago. we're 23 months from the next election and the political games have already started trying to set up the next election. >> reporter: all right. we jumped the gun on that a little bit, don, rolling that sound. >> chicken crap. >> reporter: right? you know i tweeted that. so did so many other people up here on the hill. not very often you heard the house minority leader say something like that but that was just part of the rhetoric. john boehner was talking about a house vote, very similar to what they're going to be passing -- they're going to be voting on tomorrow in the senate that would have allowed tax cuts to expire for anyone -- couples making more than $250,000 a year. the reason he called it, quote, chicken crap, is because it's not expected to clear congress

and so he's saying, look, this is just politics but you have democrats saying, no, republicans are on the side of millionaires and billionaires here. we are on the side of the middle class and that's why you see them pushing the votes, don. >> nice job today breaking news. a lot going on so we're trying to handle it all. we'll check back with you. thank you very much. still on the topic of money today, presidential commission tries to move ahead with a controversial plan tackling america's staggering debt. almost every american would feel the sting. eliminating tax breaks and raising the age for social security. panel members say without the sacrifices, the government faces a real threat of bankruptcy. now, if approved, the recommendations could face a house vote later this month. breaking rank on military's don't ask, don't tell policy. this morning on capitol hill, lawmakers are hearing from the leaders of the army, navy, air force and marines. at least one lawmaker says it will be their testimony that may well decide whether she will vote to repeal the policy.

it bans gays from serving openly in the military and yesterday we saw just howdy vicive the issue is. >> most of the marines in combat are 18 to 24, 25 years old. most of them have never served with women, either. and so, they have had a very focused, very limited experience in the military and it's been a tough one. but i think that with time and adequate preparation, we can mitigate their concerns. >> well, i couldn't disagree more. we send these young people into combat. i think they're mature enough to make a judgment on who they want to serve with and the impact on the battle effectiveness, mr. secretary. i speak from personal experience. >> yesterday's hearing, joint chiefs admiral mike mullen joined secretary gates in calling for the repeal. the house passed the repeal.

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all right. we are back here on cnn. try this again. parts of buffalo blanketed by three feet of snow this morning. some drifts taller than me blocking doors and driveways. and it's not over yet. this morning into an afternoon, a nightmare for drivers and for everyone here. some of them marooned. paul chambers gives us a roadside view. >> reporter: snow bound for nearly a day.

drivers stranded on interstate 90 near buffalo in disbelief over the winter pummeling. >> i've seen snow three times my entire life. this is the third time. >> reporter: two four-mile stretches of interstate 90 finally started to move thursday night though several sections remain closed. some of the only people getting anywhere, rescue crews on atvs. >> taking people out in the cars that went to get out. and then just bringing water and granola bars is all we could carry, really. >> reporter: snow fell as fast as three inches an hour. only sounds in the neighborhoods, spinning tires and snow blowers. some areas with three feet and drifts as high as six feet. despite a grueling wait, a driver took a positive approach to the ordeal. >> been a long 24 hours but this is buffalo weather, i guess. you make the most of it. >> reporter: the national weather service says most of the heavy snowfall should be

tapering off this morning and more is expected this weekend. >> that was paul chambers reporting and you heard that woman say it's all part of december in buffalo. it happens every year. but one moment of the storm so rare it made the winter weather vets cringe and then they cursed. >> good situation and everything. >> aah! what was that? holy cow. >> what in the world? that bolt was part of a phenomenon called thundersnow. it's mysterious and it's rare. reynolds, wolf. i've heard it but not that loud before. that would score the bejesus out of me. >> unexpected. it does happen. essentially what it is is just a thunderstorm that occurs but instead of prix marly precipitation type being a water drop wills let like rain it is a snowflake and but other than

that the structure is similar to what you find at least in a summer's thunderstorm. right now, we could see more of that activity form and it is not just buffalo that's getting in on the snow action. up to the north in rochester, light precipitation. north of syracuse, same deal. buffalo and especially south of buffalo that takes the cake. the reason why we're seeing this, simple. warm water in the lakes. warm, if you were to jump in, you feel cold. say, for example, up in lake ontario, water temperatures at 50. and water, of course, constant state of evaporation. what happens is when you have prevailing wind out of the west, it picks up the moisture and when you have air temperatures in the 30s causes that to form into snow and the snow mounts up along parts of the shoreline and seeing in buffalo. doesn't just end today but lasts through the weekend and possibly early next week. don saying earlier the snow is about as high as he is. don's a pretty tall high. seeing the snow that high or

higher monday. fast forward quickly. the temperatures across the country. rain north of san francisco, 69 in los angeles. 43 in new york and 68 in tampa. more on the snow coming up. again, don, it's not over just yet. could last through monday or tuesday. >> some people stuck in the cars for 20 hours. >> insane. absolutely. bad situation. >> all right. see you soon. thank you. you know, nearly 30 years after john lennon's assassination, we are learning more about his last dais, more about the people who were there. next, we'll hear from a woman that met the man who became the assassin. something he said to her days before the murder just didn't sound right.

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♪ just amazing. timeless music every time you hear it it sounds like it should be right now. it was made right now. next wednesday marks 30 years since john lennon was shot fatally outside his home in new york. mark david chapman stalked him for three days.

in the cnn documentary" losing lennon," we hear from people who were there. cnn's john roberts talked with a woman who had a pretty eerie conversation with chapman days before his infamous crime. >> it had to be done. nothing could have stopped me. >> on december 6th, chapman arrived in new york city. he checked into the ymca just blocks from lennon's home. almost immediately he began stalking his victim and headed over to the dakotas. >> he was very quiet, dressed casually, dressed very normally. >> jeri mall and her friend jude stein were there when chapman arrived. >> and then he said he was there to see john and it was always his dream to meet john. >> reporter: but lennon never came out of the building. mall and stein swewent across t

street to have lunch. chapman went off to buy lennon's album. less than an hour, they were back on the sidewalk. >> he was out there waving the album, very excited that he had it. i got it. i got it. and he said, do you think john would sign it? i said, if you were quiet and mannerly and if he had the time, maybe he would sign it for you. he said, oh, okay. so he is nice. i said, absolutely. i said, he's terrific. >> reporter: but he had this idea that maybe he wasn't nice? >> yeah. >> reporter: chapman gave mall no clue about the deep-seeded anger for lennon. she took off far movie and he hinted of the deadly plan. >> he said you might not see him again. this might be your last time to see him. >> reporter: he was indicating to you in a way that you didn't understand at the time that lennon might not be around much

longer? >> right. >> what's most surprising is after that encounter in the afternoon and lennon signed the album, mark chapman had second thoughts about whether or not he wanted to carry out the deadly plan but waiting for lennon for another six hours at the hit factory working on the song "thin ice" he say it is little person in my head as john lennon was pulling back up to the dakota and walked started screaming, do it, do it, do it. he said, don, up until that time, the big person in his head, two people, little one evil, big person good, the big person had won out. and this is what he told police, though, at that moment it was the little person in my head who won me over. >> john, what of mark david chapman today? >> mark david chapman remains in solitary confinement in attica state prison.

people don't know this. he remains married to gloria abba chapman and she still visits him yearly for conjugal visits. it's something that for many people might be inexplicable. >> i know that jackie o.'s apartment they hold vigils for her berth day and anniversary of her death. at the dakota, the same thing. does it wane, grow, steady when they have the vigils? >> it waxes and wanes. five years, ten years, 25 years. you are going to have a big observance there. we expect there will be a fairly large observance next wednesday, the 30th anniversary of his death but what's really interesting, don, i was just there yesterday, is when you go to the dakota apartment, you know, you can't help but

recognize the history and have it have some sort of emotional impact on you. and every day on the streets of new york there are people who walk up to the front of the dakota, the gates there off of 72nd street and take photographs of the entranceway where he was killed. they're still doing it 30 years later and probably for another 30 years. >> amazing. amazing that john lennon and the beatles still on the charts after all these years. >> yeah, you know. >> at the top of the charts. >> all the analysts that said why would you need the catalog on itunes? anybody that's a fan has it and yet selling millions of albums. the special airs saturday, sunday night 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn and then at 10:00 on saturday and 10:30 on sunday, we have a little bit extra for you. we have a half hour special just on john lennon's life in new york and, of course, that infamous 18-month-long lost weekend he took in 1973 going out to los angeles. >> looks amazing, john.

looking forward to it. thank you very much. >> thanks so much, don. appreciate it. >> you know, we are not the only ones battling the bitter cold. you heard reynolds wolf talking about it in buffalo. snow is blanketing parts of europe right now making it tough to catch a flight or hop a train. for the fifth straight day on the ground in london for you. a break throughthrough bacterium hungry for arsenic. it could have huge implications of what we think about life on earth and beyond. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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want to get you live to capitol hill now because on capitol hill a debate that could impact your wallet and your future is happening right now. this is the presidential commission that is considering a controversial plan to reduce america's staggering debt. almost every american would feel the sting here. among the possibilities, raising the social security age and eliminating tax breaks and members say without the sacrifices, the government faces a real threat of bankruptcy. if approved, the recommendations could face a house vote later on this month and later today at 3:00 p.m. eastern on cnn hearing from a panel member who's been an outspoken critic of those proposals. 3:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. the job market is wall street's focus over the past few days as several reports have

been released but today is the most important report of them all. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange right now. alison, we added 39,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate rose so how's wall street reacting to this? >> you know what, don, there's no way to sugar coat this. this is a disappointment for wall street. the expectation was that the economy was going to show that it added 150,000 jobs in november and that the unemployment rate held steady. instead, it showed that the economy added only 39,000 and the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.8% so, sure, this report was a huge shock because we got all of the other economic readings over the past few weeks and they have been strong. retail sales strong, manufacturing growing for 16 straight months. even housing, pending home sales up yesterday we found out but the job reports, it's the biggy. it shows people are out of work and they're searching for a job but there aren't any out there.

wall street is waiting for this all week and the reaction was immediate. the dow right now down 20 points. nasdaq off four. don, back the you. >> all right. thank you, alison kosik at the new york stock exchange, we appreciate it. half past the hour and time to check your headlines here on cnn. on capitol hill, lots of negotiations but no compromise on extending the bush era tax cuts. they're due to expire at the end of the month. democrats want the cuts extended for families making less than $350,000. republicans believe the wealthiest americans should also benefit. government regulators may soon block advertisers from spying on your web surfing. the federal trade commission wants to create an equivalent of the do not call registration. the do not track list requires basic technology but the challenge will be enforcing it. good situation in everything. >> aah! what was that? >> that was a thunder clap.

thunder accompanying this wicked snowstorm in upstate new york. look at that. as much as three feet snow fallen in upstate new york and even more is in the forecast today. some people stuck in the cars on interstate 90 for almost a day. about 20 hours. can you imagine? weather, big problem in europe, as well. heavy snow, bone-chilling temperatures and high winds stranding travelers on roadways, airports and railway lines, as well. we're going to get more from dan rivers joining us in london with the very latest. dan, unbelievable. people have been trapped for days. >> reporter: they have, yeah. this is gathwick airport which is the sort of second airport for london. it's been shut for three days. it's open again now. they say they're getting about 16 flights in and out every hour against the 50 or 60 that they would normally be getting so it's open but it's still a very reduced service and they say

it's a couple of days before they can get all this worked out here before the chaos begins to be sorted out. you can see behind me how much snow and slush there is around and it's still bitterly cold here. about minus 5 right now and ice and stuff around. looking around europe, it is a very similar picture. in germany, i think we have some pictures from germany of people stranded at railway stations and on trains. told about 3,000 people across germany at one point stuck on various different trains. in poland, as well, have been terribly cold temperatures. minus 26 centigrade. that's minus 14 fahrenheit there. 12 people dead in poland. in france, as well, flight cancelations and in the czech republic, eight people also dead from exposure. a lot of people who are dying, sadly, homeless people. in those temperatures, you don't

stand much of a chance. >> dan rivers reporting on the problems of weather in london, thank you very much. there's been a big breakthrough in nasa's search for life out there. it's a microbe from mono lake in california and trained to eat arsenic. here's why. until now, we thought there were six basic ingredients required for life on earth. carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur. but the microbe uses arsenic instead of phosphorus. the poison. it is a historic discovery and having a hard time getting pumped up about the big announcement, you are not alone but the science channel's guest can shed light on why this is such a big deal. why is this so important? >> this is a potential game changer. i mean, this is a home run for

nasa. every single biology textbook in the world has to be rewritten. the very definition of life itself may have to be changed. and this is going to alter the way we look at the search for extra terrestrial intelligence in outer space and may have industrial applications on the earth. this is big. >> okay. that was one of my questions. you said it will change the definition of life as we know it. so, will we start to look at life in a different way? what we perceive as life forms? >> that's right. all dna on the earth is basically the same. just rearranged differently. take a yeast cell, scramble the dna and, bingo, you get an elephant, you get a human being. however, this is the first time in history that we have found an alien form of dna. and that raises a whole question. how many more microbes, how many more forms of dna can you get

substituting, substituting one atom for another? so this means that in outer space we have to be much more open minded about what alien life form can look for. forget just california. we are talking about mars, saturn, extra solar planets. >> so this is mono lake in california and you said alien. why are people thinking aliens in outer space before this announcement was made? >> well, nasa consulted astrobiologists who searched for life on outer life on moons saturn, jupiter and other planets but now we have to widen the scope of what we may find in outer space that qualifies for life. if we find the exotic bacteria in california, you can imagine what kinds of exotic microbes or germs may exist in outer space. so this is basically a world altering point of view. >> professor, in the short time

we have left, what does this mean for medical research? >> well, for the short term, nothing. however, it also has industrial commercial applications. we use bacteria as a way to enhance our production of fertilizer. energy production. oil. plastics. this may have industrial applications as we find more and more different kinds of dna that is altderred. and remember, these microbes proliferate for free and they would have commercial industrial applications as we discover more varieties. >> professor, thank you very much. have a great weekend, sir. the probe into john edwards' payments to one-time mistress expands. two former aides testified before a grand jury. that he'd made from our pale ale. and from that first bite, i knew my business would never be the same. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity to grow, the hartford is there.

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this is the sort of -- didn't ask for their views? if don't ask, don't tell is repealed, how would it affect how service members in your immediate unit work together to get the job down? how would it affect how you trust each other and pull together as a team, how would your job performance and personal morale be affected? here's a good one, if assigned a bathroom facility with an open bay shower that someone you believe to be a gay or lesbian service member used, what are you most likely to do? i don't know how you can get more specific about their views than if you're showering with a gay guy without maybe giving the name of the actual gay guy they would be showering with. oh, oh, how about this? would you be okay with roy?

what about jim? oh, a little politics from "the lady show" last night. always a good time with jon stewart. two republicans fighting for a senate seat go before a judge. our senior political editor mark preston joins us now from the cnnpolitics.com desk with that story. hey, mark. >> hey, don. happy friday to you. this senate race up in alaska still is unresolved but there will be a court date set for next wednesday. joe miller who was the republican nominee, he was that tea party-backed candidate that look on lisa murkowski and beat her in the primarily is a murkowski ran as a write-in candidate and if you look at the vote totals, she has won the election. hour, joe miller says that the way that the state counted those ballots was incorrect and he is taking it to court. hopefully a resolution on wednesday when the court makes a

ruling on that. speaking of court, john edwards, two of the former aides in a federal courthouse yesterday that we believe that the two aides were answering questions about this allegation that he made illegal payments to a mistress and how he did that was through some of the campaign benefactors. now, john edwards with this once rising career and supposed to be a superstar, don, of the democratic party came crashing down and acknowledged having a child out of wedlock with his mistress hunter saying that he maintains the innocence and did anything of criminal wrongdoing so that case is ongoing and, of course, john edwards really rise to the strat stas to fear came crashing down. >> there's buzz about who will be the chairman of the republican national committee and will michael steele decide to seek another term. people weighing in on the matter. who's weighing in now and what are they saying?

>> yeah, don. this is really the biggest pure political story of the day. it's who's the next chairman of the republican national committee? in fact, a forum in washington this past week and several candidates answered questions of tea party activists and rnc members but we are hearing from a former rnc staffer with five bullet points, don. among those, the next chairman has to be a prolific fund-raiser and fortune 500 management skills, don. so rnc race next january. we'll see that election. don? >> all right. mark preston, thank you very much. stand by, sir. we are coming back to you as wolf blitzer says. we'll have an update in an hour and for the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com. they're ceos of major companies by night and then transform into this at night. nice night job, right? belting out rock n roll.

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we want to scan our morning passport for you. wildfire raging near the northern israeli city of haifa. the fire fanned by strong winds has devoured 3700 acres and moving close to a neighborhood in haifa. nearly 15,000 people have been evacuated. benjamin netanyahu calls it one of the worst fires in israel's history. in japan, there are joint military exercises alongside japanese troops. the drill's name key sword. let's move on now to hong kong where business execs strut their stuff. ♪ hong kong's hottest new attraction is a night spot

designed for ceos to let loose and destress. i think we could use one here in the cnn newsroom. one night a month, they tap into their inner rock gods and forgetting about balance sheets and what happens at the office. one event raised thousands of dollars for medical work in china. lots of developments in the cnn newsroom this hour. let's check in first with christine romans. hi. >> do not call me at supper time with your offer and do not track my action on the internet because i want to browse without my information being sold to advertisers. it's like a do not track list for web users. i'm barbara starr at the pentagon. top military brass on capitol hill right now talking about repealing don't ask, don't tell. we'll have the latest at the top of the hour.

i'm meteorologist reynolds wolf. in buffalo, it was a few snowflakes and now there are two or three feet on the ground with more on the way. parents, you know that one about the biggest keys to success in school -- studying, of course. but before your kid can hit the books, they've got to be able to find them. >> take me on a tour of the other part of the bomb that exploded. where do you study? >> looks like my room opinion we're tagging along as dr. steve perry starts one family's education makeover, and he's giving advice that every parent can use to make their child's study habits more effective. r.a. medicine jece you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of r.a. with one dose once a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi® can lower your ability to fight infections,

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the idea is do you want to go -- did you pick that music? that would make me samuel jackson. >> come in, tony. >> as shaft, right? yeah, yeah. they found it. >> that was good, thanks. >> you asked for it, you got it. >> how are you, sir? >> they say that cat is bad. >> i'm good. >> that's a bad man. >> she a bad, bad man.

he is arguably the number one or number two best player in the nba right now. some folks would say coby bryant is the number one player. that's last night. this is the player introduction. this is lebron obviously being introduced as he goes back home to cleveland. his home is akron but he goes back to the team where he played and starred for seven years and he's wearing another team's jersey. >> that sounds like when we walk into the newsroom. >> you are a mess. >> i had to come in early, and i was trying to sleep but it was over pretty quick. the cavs were leading but it was over quickly. >> as kevin mchale said, it is a different experience for the fans than the players. lebron is still friends with people on the cavs' team. the fans had the signs, and they

came up with chants, even akron hates you, lebron, and that's his hometown. the reality is the fans in cleveland have to look at last night's game and be bitterly disappointed that a he's gone and with him goes one of the best basketball players in the league and he'll be one of the top ten when he's done all-time and he's not playing in your town. you don't get to see this 41 nights a year and in the playoffs. you don't get to see it anymore. you have to look at your team's management and ownership. there was a point in time when lebron was saying, i need a better team around me. if i can get a couple of additional pieces, we can win championships here in cleveland. kobe bryant said i need a couple of complimentary players if we're going to continue to win championships. the lakers got paul gasol, and the cavaliers didn't make the

changes necessary. >> i need to you name the story in 15 seconds. let's talk about michael vick. >> he's playing great ball. the eagles are 8-4. he lost one game, five games that he started and lost one. he continues to play amazing ball. over 300 yards in passing, two touchdown passes, ran for another one. getting pounded for much of the evening and hung in and led his team to a fourth-quarter victory. playing great ball. >> salt in the wound for a lot of people. >> i'll see you later. >> thank you very much. >> sam jackson, tony harris is shaft. shaft's big score. >> i'm talking richard roundtree. >> i don't have any hair, so it has got to be sam jackson. >> all right. get you an afro wig. all right, everyone. top of the hour, 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. kyra is off today. i'm don lemon. here are stories that have us

talking right now. >> wow! >> that is what you call a rare snowstorm thunder clap. it happened in buffalo as the city shivers under three feet of snow. some roads are shut down. drivers are stranded for nearly a full day. congress fights to seal the deal on taxes. republicans and democrats agree tax breaks should be extended but they can't agree on whether to give them to everyone or just those earns less than $250,000 a year. a senate vote could come tomorrow. the wikileaks website is back on line but you can't find it at wikileaks.org. the site was shut down because of multiple cyberattacks, so it switched to the company out of switzerland of wikileaks.ch. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators is calling for julian asaurchl to be prosecuted for

leaking confidential material. lawmakers on capitol hill are hearing from the leaders of the five branchs of the military. looking at pictures now of those hearings. the focus, the possible repeal of the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. at least one lawmakers says today's testimony may well decide how she will vote on this issue. barbara starr following that hearing for us and joining us now live with the very latest. there is no sugar coating going on there this morning, is there? >> reporter: absolutely not. why is this hearing so important? why these five men? these are the chiefs of the military services, and under law, they're job is to provide trained and equipped forces for the wars in iraq and afghanistan and other contingencies around the world. so these are the men who are

very responsible for training the young troops that join the military and then go off to war. how would repeal of don't ask, don't tell affect the young troops that they're responsible for? it is no surprise, i think. it's the army and marine corps this morning that are voicing the most concern. general george casey, head of the army saying he's worried about the impact of repeal on the readiness of the force, although he says if the repeal comes, the army will salute smartly and follow the law. jebl james amos, head of the marine corps says outright he is opposed to the repeal because of his concern about the impact on young marines on the front lines. listen to what general amos had to say. >> i cannot reconcile nor turn my back on the negative perceptions held by our marines who are most engaged in the hard work of day-to-day operations in the work in afghanistan.

we asked for this opinions and they gave them to us. their message is that the potential exists for the disruption of the successful execution of the current combat mission should repeal be implemented at this time. >> reporter: so, again, general amos, head of the marine corps, saying flat out he opposes repeal in that survey where they are discussing where military members were asked about all of this. about 50% of the marines serving in front line combat said they were concerned about the job they had to do in the war. congress taking this up, not clear yet whether there are the votes in the senate to vote repeal of don't ask, don't tell. back to you. >> barbara starr, appreciate it. pardon my rudeness. good morning to you as well. i want to get back to the live pictures. showing you john mccain there. it's get be interesting. he is doing the questioning. yesterday it was very controversial what he had to

say. if anything interesting comes out, we'll bring it to you live right here on cnn, the hearing for the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. let's talk about money. today a presidential commission tries to move ahead with a controversial plan tackling america's staggering debt. almost every american would feel the sting, including eliminating tax breaks and raising the age for social security. panel members say without the sacrifices, the government faces a real threat of bankruptcy. we could face a house vote later this month and later today at 3:00 p.m. eastern, we'll hear from the panel member who has been an outspoken critic of the proposals. lots of negotiations but no compromise on extending the bush era tax cuts due to expire at the end of the month. democrats want the cuts extended for families making less than $250,000. republicans believe the wealthiest americans should also benefit. a vote could come tomorrow. for millions of americans

out of work, this next story could be the latest punch in the gut. about 90 minutes ago, we learned that the jobless rate has taken a surprising uptick to 9.8%, and the encouraging signs that we all expected were all be dissipated. alison kosic at the new york stock exchange with the latest. alison, for wall street, how big of a miss was this report? >> it was a big, big miss, don. you know, a huge disappointment. it left everybody here on wall street scratching their heads because the other economic reports this week have been so positive. we found out that the number of jobs that we gained in november were 39,000. that missed expectations by, about 100,000. i want to show you what that looks like on this chart we put together for you because it shows these job losses and the gains over the past two years. i don't know, seeing a lot of red, not much green there. we do have a recovery in the works, but it's spotty at best.

it's not going to be that straight line. recoveries really aren't smooth but this report, don, really kind of smacks wall street in the head with the idea that this is going to be a rough recovery. we have a weak job market that affects virtually every corner of the economy, spending, housing, corporate profits. this is not good news for the recovery. although, wall street is doing pretty well today considering. the dow only down 4 points, and the nasdaq in positive territory. i think what i'm hearing here on the floor is that a lot of investors are looking at the bush era tax cuts that you just mentioned, they're being positive and thinking that they're not going to be allowed to expire, not for anybody. they'll be extended for the waly as well. >> what's the idea on wall street for getting the unemployment rate down, alison? >> we're just not adding jobs fast enough to bring down unmilitary. we found out today it ticked up to 9.8%.

we need at least 200,000 jobs gained every single month just to make a dent in the unemployment rate, and now more people are being counted as unemployed, and that's also why we're seeing the unemployment rate tick up a bit because what's happening is all of these people are getting out there and starting to look for work again but they're really not finding jobs out there, and these people, by the way, weren't being counted before because they gave up looking. now they're jumping back in and not finding work out there and that's why we're seeing the unemployment rate tick up. >> appreciate it. barack obama is expected to make a statement on this morning's surprising jobs report. that is scheduled in just over an hour and cnn, of course, will carry it for you live. if you can watch us, you're lucky. parts of buffalo blanketed by three feet of snow this morning. some drifts taller than me, not quite as talls a reynolds wolf

because he's a tall guy. blocking doorways, driveways and shutting down roads. it is not over yet. part of new york is under a lake-effect snow warning. a nightmare for drivers. some were marooned on i-90 for nearly a full day. >> i just want to be home. they're all home from what snow day and i have been up for like over 24 hours. i want to go home. >> from the official threwway radio, it was saying traffic is heavy, stop and go. and we've been stopped dead for six hours. >> as the weather reporters say, you know, northeast and midwest, hey, it's winter. supposed to snow. a lot of people might say it's all part of december in buffalo. one part of the storm is so rare. it made a group of winter

weather vets cringe and curse. >> there's a good situation in everything. >> oh [ bleep ]. >> holy cow! >> that bolt was part of a phenomenon called thunder snow. it's mysterious, doesn't happen very often and it is veally quite scary. >> it really is. one of the neat things about it is when you have thunder snow, it's one thing to have it in the day time, but at night, when it seldom happens and it eloom nates the sky and filters through the snow, the effect is erie and cool. speaking of lake erie, you got lake erie right here. that's where the moisture is coming up and mixing with the cool air and causing the snowfall. we have good news for the time being for buffalo. a little bit of sunshine might pop up around the city. that's good news. it's going to be a very brief break for the time being because

we do anticipate it will start up again with the prevailing wind from the west northwest and more snow possibly into the weekend, not only saturday and sunday, maybe even monday and tuesday. we will see snow begin to development across parts of the midst west, portions of the cornbelt and minnesota and pars of the dakotas and iowa before all is said and done. we have the winter snow in the central and northern rockies and sierra nevada. no question it will be nice and comfortable for you in parts of southern california. los angeles, 69 degrees, 66 in vegas, 78 in phoenix, and in chicago, the breeze picks up into the afternoon. 42 in new york, 58 in atlanta and 69 currently in new orleans. that's a quick wrap on the forecast. i wish i had better news for the folks in buffalo. rough times.

we do talk about snow in buffalo, but this magnitude and this quickly -- >> that's a lot. people are oh, my, gosh, it's snowing outside. 58 here? didn't feel like that. >> we have a ways to go. >> remember the golden girls? >> huge fan. >> i do remember. rue mcclanahan, estelle getty, bea arthur. betty white still going strong. there are women trying to take up in their stead. he's like, what are we talking about? >> it's what hard to replace them. i have the golden girls lunch box. a huge fan. feeling it right there. >> the only thing i can say, some of the best writing on television. i miss it. dorothy, blanch, rose and sophia, that show was ahead of its time. 18 years after it went off the air, we're seeing more older

divorcees and widows moving in together thanks to the economy. that's what we were talking about. we've saved people a lot of money on car insurance. feels nice going into the holidays. ohhhh.... will you marry me? oooh, helzberg diamonds. yeah, well he must have saved some money with geico. reminds me of the gecko mating call. really? how does that go? shoo be doo be doo. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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♪ riding on the freeway >> i thought you guys were taking a bum shot. i love that song. every aretha franklin song is pretty much a classic. that's her singing "freeway of love" but right now she is on the road to recovery. she had surgery in a hospital in detroit. she says it was a success and thanked her doctors for their support. she is not saying what was wrong. last month she cancelled concert dates through may. she said it was on doctor's orders. queen of soul, get better soon. she a national treasure.

the 927nd street y in new york says it will refund hundreds of dollars of ticks. steve martin was there to talk about art but the crowd wanted to hear about his career as a comedian and actor. he stayed focused on art, though, and the crowd wasn't happy about it. so, hence, those refunds. the golden girls, reason them, blanch, sophia, rose. what was the other one? dorothy. making comeback. not those, though, and it has nothing to do with the tv show. hard times have made more golden girls out of more american women. alina cho will explain. >> reporter: call them modern day golden girls. more and more women of a certain age are deciding it's practical to become roommates. they're saving money which certainly helps in this economy, and in some cases there's an added bonus. friendship. you seem like an old married

couple to me. >> we sometimes argue that way, too. >> reporter: from the looks of it, you'd think jeannette brown and linda brown have been friends forever. not so. three years ago they were perfect strangers who came together out of necessity. jeannette needed help paying her mortgage and linda long divorced had lost her job. they decided to become roommates. what attracted you to this? >> well, i didn't want to bother my family and i wanted to be able to take care of myself. >> reporter: call them modern day golden girls, like the tv show. >> have i got a man for you. >> no, thanks. had one. >> reporter: single women in their 50s, 60ss and 70s choosing to live together to cut down on expenses without giving up standard of living. the recession, high divorce rates and the fact that women live longer than men are all reasons, according to home-sharing agencies across the

country why older women are moving in together. so popular, a cottage industry has popped up nationwide. like new jersey-based home sharing inc., a roommate finding service. >> i'd say the number one reason is economics, and then, of course, there are the other attend ant factors, such as companionship and having another voice in the home. >> reporter: jeannette and linda go to church together, walk their dogs together and read their mail together. it's not always perfect. >> she lives the dishes in the sink and i get upset but we work it out. >> she turns the music on in every room. >> reporter: but these two golden girls now say they're as close as sisters. do you finish each other's sentences? >> we learned to do that. we just did that recently. we started finishing each other's sentences.

>> reporter: plan to live together a long time? >> hopefully. >> i haven't thrown her out yet. >> reporter: it is so popular that there aring as that cater exclusively to women, minnesota based golden girl homes. these two have become so close that next year, don, they're planning to take a trip together. don? >> very nice. alina, thank you so much. advertisers watching your every move on line. hate it? sure. well, now there's a new plan in the works to keep them from tracking you across the internet. we'll tell you about it. [ female announcer ] imagine the possibilities with stelara®.

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let's take a look at stories that are happening

across the country right now. starting on the side of the interstate 95 in boca raton, florida. see the suv burning? there is a woman trapped inside. you see a firefighter slam the window with a fire extinguisher but the glass won't break. he fires two shots, breaks the glass and pulls the woman out. well done, sir. in case you still don't believe the holiday season is here. here's more proof. lego land in california has a giant christmas tree built with more than 245,000 legos, and, by hold, miami's first cougar convention. seasoned ladies on the prowl for younger guys proving 40 and 50 are the new fabulous.

>> their vitality and flexibility. >> yes, many. did i say that? i'm sorry, a few. >> i am a cougar. >> i always had a crush on my mom's friends, my teachers, all of that good stuff. >> awkward. the cougars all head to the bahamas today on a cougar cruise. nassau, you have been warned. whether you know it or not, companies are secretly tracking you on line to show you targeted ads but there is a new push to keep what you do on the internet private, do not track list. christine romans is live in new york. this is kind of like a do not call list that keeps telemarketers from interrupting dinner? >> you are trying to get me off the cougar story, i can tell. >> i'm trying to not laugh. >> do not call list -- there are about 200 million people in the

do not call list. wildly popular. i'm on it. i bet you're on it, too, don. what about a do not track list? companies can't see your every move when you are on the internet shopping or brassing and the like? that's what the ftc is considering, the federal trade commission, and they'll know for sure if they are going to propose this by january or so. it's intriguing. consumer rights groups like the idea because whether you mow it or not, there are so many eyeballs watching what you do on line and selling the information to advertisers so they can target ads to you. his is a do not track list, like the do not call list. it would be an add-on piece of software that lets you go dark when you work on the internet. >> isn't this a big part of business? people think they are being anonymous. you can always track your ip

address. what about the unintended consequences here? >> here's the thing. facebook is free. gmail is free. websites and applications you use that are free. why are they frey because the people offering them are selling your information and selling your traffic and interests to advertisers. so would the unintened consequences be higher costs and restrictions on where you gore on the internet? it's unclear. there are people in the tech industry who say you can already privately bras through your web brasser, and a lot of people don't know it. what kind of compromise could there be with a universal do not track list and maybe helping people and urging industry not to use so much of our information. that's still unclear as well, but consumer rights people like it. privacy rights people like it. tech people, not so much because the big companies make money this way. >> i notice there is something

on my browser that says private browsing. does that matter or is that just for your own computer? >> how is use that. that means where you are going and what you're doing is just for you, not being sold and shopped around, and i use it pretty religiously, actually. >> christine romans, thank you. if you go to that cougar website, they'll know and get ads for cougars. >> i'm not going on the miami cruise, i guess, darn. >> have a great weekend. >> bye. >> buckle down and study. it can be a tall order with three middle schoolers. can you imagine? we're tracking one family as they go through an education makeover with dr. steve perry. he's giving u.s. advice every parent can use to make their child a more effective student.

the stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. you see the dow down about 20. there it is right there. and nasdaq down 3. we'll continue to check that for you here on cnn. it is half past the hour, time to check your headlines. as much as three feet of snow has fallen in upstate new york. six-foot tall snowdrifts have kept people in their homes and paralyzed roads. some motorists were stuck in

their cars on internet 90 for about 20 hours. the nation's jobless rate has ticked up to 9.8% but here's the double whammy. economists actually expected good news on jobs being created. those new jobs turned out to be only about one-fourth of what was expected. today, a presidential commission tries to move ahead on eliminating tax breaks and raising the age for social security. they say without the sacrifices, the country faces bankruptcy. if approved the recommendations could face a house vote later on this month. success at school, something every parent wants for their kids but between classes and homework and sports and a social life, everything else, dinner on the table, everything else, it can be tough to keep your student on track. for one family, the battle begins before the first bell rings. it starts when the alarm clock rings. we went with dr. steve perry for

an education makeover. ♪ >> we have three marvelous children, all in middle school right now. the first is nathan. he is 14, just turned 14, and he's in the eighth grade. then our twins david and eba are 12 years old. they love school because they get to see all of their friends there, but victor and i feel that the children maybe are not meeting their full potential. >> we gave the family a flip cam so i could get a sense of what was going on inside the home. what the daily routines look like and how mom and dad struggle to get their children to comply with what they want them to do to be successful in school. >> good morning, nathan, time to

get up. >> good morning, eva, time to rise. are you awake? nathan, good morning. time to wake up. time to get up and get your stuff together to go to school. good morning, c'mon, rise and shine, happy guy. c'mon, nathan, this is your second call. hurry up because you need to leave with daddy in five minutes. it's worry some because it's five minutes of 8:00 i'm leaving the house and the kid isn't out of the bed. >> steve perry joins us now on the set. where do you start with a family like this? it's a typical family. >> in many ways it is a typical family. when i first started watching what they were dealing with, i thought, i don't know what i'm going to do to help them. but as i watched more and more the specific challenges they were dealing with, i found that structure was a real challenge for that family. not atypical. this is what happens when people

come to school and i find myself talking to a parent, doesn't matter what their education is, doesn't matter where they live, doesn't matter their race, everybody's got issues with their kids. >> i think i saw in this family, that they seemed upper middle-class to maybe wealthy, so why is it a problem for them? because a lot of people are struggling right now. we have the jobless numbers today, but you say it doesn't matter? >> it doesn't matter how much you make or used to make, how much education you have or hope to attain. parenting is a life-long battle and we don't seem to get it right until we become grandparents. >> say that again. >> we don't seem to get it right until we become grandparents. >> are you listening, mom. >> they are different with the grandkids. >> right. same thing with me and my mother, now she's the best parent on earth. >> we don't get it right until another generation. >> we don't. what the education make overis

about. imagine if you could ask an expert, ask your principal to come home with you and help you fix home so that it would complement what's happening in school. that's what we do. this is really exciting because the parents and i get to sit down and i go through the kids rooms, and you get to see the guts of the home. >> do you get them to realize that what happens when they get to you in the classroom at school is starting really, in their bedroom, in the den, in the ditch jn. >> it all matters. there's a direct line between what's happening at home and then what happens in school. schools need improve, but this is what i really do, don. when you see me at home and i'm on the phone with a family, and they say, if my daughter comes in with marks on her tarm, it's because i had to strangle her because she wasn't listening. . >> your child doesn't change when she leaves the house. they're the same person all of

the way through the process. >> good to see you. let's go have some chicken wings like dwe that one time. you can catch education makeover with dr. steve perry at 2:30 tomorrow and 4 s 30 eastern right here on cnn. weather hassles galore, snow and bitter cold causing major problems all across europe. live in london after the break. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] print from any mobile device so your ideas can be there even when you're not. introducing the new web-connected printers with eprint from hp.

heavy snow, bitter cold temperatures and high winds are reeking havoc all across europe. looks like buffalo, doesn't it? stranding travellers on roadways and airports and rail lines. in poland, the temperature dropped to as low as minus 27 degrees fahrenheit. there are reports of at least a dozen people who died from exposure. mounds of snow forced travellers to abandon their cars. as you can see, the kids are loving it as always. gatwick airport has been reopened in london after being closed for two days but that doesn't mean the weather hassles and delays are over yet. dan rivers joins us now from gatwick. what's the gatest there now, dan? >> reporter: the airport is open but there are still severe delays here.

they say they're getting in about 16 planes coming and going every hour. the normal rate is about 50 or 60. so it's well under half capacity operating at almost a quarter of capacity, really. there is a lot of ice crystals in the air right now, and it is very cold here as well. so there's a lot of ice around. it's still very, very dangerous on the roads, and this is the situation really across most of continental europe as well. as you mentioned, in germany, we are getting reports of some 3,000 people stranded on trains and stations at one point yesterday. in poland as well. 12 people have been killed from the cold basically. in france, there have been a few flight disruptions, and in the czech republican, eight people also killed from exposure to the cold. so the whole of europe, as well as uk is in the grip of this really bitter arctic blast of

air coming down from siberia, and at the moment it is for more of the same throughout the weekend. >> this is rare, isn't it? >> reporter: yeah. this is veally rare. in the uk, it's very rare to get this kind of cold before christmas. i mean, sometimes in january -- last january there was a big cold snap, january and february but this early on it's rare and to get this much snow, there has been a foot or more of snow here over the last few days. they've been saying here to clear the airport, they it h to clear 1.8 million square meters or yards of concrete, a huge amount of snow, about 150,000 tons of snow have been taken off the runway here. it's been a massive operation. it is now open but as i say there are huge delays, a backlog of planes to clear. >> gatwick finally opened after days of being closed.

thanks again, dan rivers. new evidence an expensive election campaign. the republican national committee is more than $50 million in debt.

>> get -- qatar beat the united states. this celebrity endorsement probably didn't he. >> in a country that admires individual achievement, we truly cherish what can be done when we come together as a group and there is no stronger, more

resolute supporter -- i'm sorry, i missed a page. >> when you are trying to impress fifa, you can't miss a page. this is not the first time the united states has been beaten out by qatar. the first was in the most sand competition. they crushed us. >> oh, it happens all of the time. can you imagine missing a page? well, he's a pro. so it's all good. let's talk some politics now. that was some expensive election campaign that just happened. let's take a look at the rnc's bottom line right now. paul steinhauser did. paul, tell us what it looks like. not good? >> not good. the most expensive midterm elections in the country's his strip. both the republican national committee and the democratic national committee both $15 million in the red. that's how much money they owe now. they put out their filings last night.

i was one of the first to get them and i put them up on the cnn political ticker. the democrats have $10 million cash on hand, money in the bank and the republican committee has a little under 2 million. you were talking about this last hour with mark preston. michael steele thinking about running again. he's under attack by a lot of people and one of the reasons is because of the money and fund-raising. these numbers may not help his case, don. letsz talk about sarah palin, the former alaskan governor, the running mate from the last presidential election. she was in iowa yesterday, her second stop in iowa on the book tour for "america by heart." today she's in south carolina. yesterday, we sent jim acosta there. he was able to shout questions to her. she is not taking questions during the book signings, and he asked if she is closer to making a decision about running for the white house. sarah palin said, no, i am not.

>> let's look at the bush era tax cuts. what do americans think about extending them? >> interesting. a brand new poll came out last night from cbs news. this is the first time the majority of americans are saying that they should not be extended for the wealthiest americans. this poll says, yeah, extend the tax cuts for people making under a quarter million a year, but only 26% say continue them for all americans. that's lower than other recent polls. 14% say don't extend those tax cuts for anybody. we can't afford them. >> paul steinhauser thank you very much. the next political update in an hour on cnn. for all of the latest political news, go to our website cnnpolitics.com. making their mark and living the dream. a former nfl player helps single parents to honor the mother who was killed in a robbery. that story is just ahead. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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in today's "making their mark," we're highlighting janice cantrell. she thought she was going to sign the necessary paper work and was greeted by a former nfl star and a former u.s. president. our camera was there as her dreams came true. >> here is your surprise. >> all of the work is done. >> oh, the football player? >> yes, ma'am. today is special. because you are our 100th recipient, this is the president, jimmy carter. >> oh, my god. >> i think she's going to be completely dumbfounded when she goes in her house. she knows what habitat can do but she hasn't heard what warrick dunn can do.

>> i lost two sons. one in 2008. one this year. i lost a nephew to gun violence, and god has given me a new families. i have six grandkids now, but i did this for them. this is their home. >> she didn't want to move. did you imagine this? could you imagine this? >> no, because i was trying to figure out what was i going to do. >> growing up and not having somewhere stable forced my mom to work as hard as she worked, forced my mom to sacrifice her life. if someone could have helped us, she would still be here today. everything you need to start cooking today. today. can you cook? i know my grandmother can cook? >> yes, i can.

pinch me. am i dreaming? >> you're up. >> i feel like i have won the lottery. i swear. i've won the lottery. i thank almighty god. thank you, thank you, thank you. whew. you are my guardian angel. >> it is all yours. i want to figure out what i can do to really change someone's life. so the only person i can think about is my mom, her dream. her dream was to own her own home. it's been a dream come true. >> congratulations. >> can i get another hug? >> definitely. >> a perfect story for the holidays. this week we told you about the international manhunt for the wikileaks founder. when somebody finds him, maybe they can ask how he says his last name. no one seems to no for sure. jeanne moos is all over the story.

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as joan rivers would say, can we talk? let's talk about the mysterious wikileaks guy, julian assange, defending his website today in an online chat. he says posting all of those documents never harmed anyone. no one knows where he is. they kind of know, but not for sure. or how to say his last name. you say assange. i say assange. too bad the pronunciation isn't as transparent as he is. >> reporter: it's been like a drip, drip, drip. >> wikileaks, wikileaks, wikileaks. rr founded by a guy named. >> julian assange. >> julian assange. >> a man relentlessly committed

to transparency because his skin is see-through. >> reporter: people pronounce it wrong but most of those who get his name wrong do it on purpose, like rush limbaugh. or bill o'reilly. >> a sleaze ball named julian assange. >> reporter: or jon stewart. >> julian assange. am i pronouncing this right? >> julian assange. >> assange. >> thank you. >> reporter: now, in one case, it wasn't the last name someone got wrong. >> because jack assange has -- >> reporter: did she say jack? because his first name is really -- sorry to break into that. we have breaking news. we're hearing that barack obama is in afghanistan. that's what i'm being told. the president is in afghanistan. the interesting thing is that he was supposed to talk about jobs

today, the jobs report. that's what we were reporting. that's what his schedule said. that is not the case. the president is actually in afghanistan today. so, listen. that's going to do it for me. i'm going to let my partner tony harris pick up on this because he is up next in the cnn newsroom. surprising news. the president is supposed to be talking about jobs. we're learns he is in afghanistan, and we know the withdrawal period of july 2011. >> it's not that i suppose he can still talk about the report from afghanistan. it's not where we thought the statement was going to come from. that's for sure. we will continue to follow it. >> you have a great weekend. >> you, too, sir. good morning, everybody, live from studio 7, stories happening right now you need to know about on this friday, december 3rd, live at the capitol hill, lame duck congress closing in on a deal to stop a tax increase that is coming january 1. the senate armed services committee questioning t