♪ here come ssanta claus ♪ >> president obama joined pop stars for some of the christmas carolling washington style. the first family watched mariah carey and others sing at the christmas in washington concert last night. >> she can sing, too. >> joe johns was there. >> it was exciting. including "icarly." that's why they had to come. >> i didn't see her. what's her name? miranda. >> cosgrove. >> ellen degeneres joked that she was there because opera was in australia. >> that's going to do it for us. we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. j.r. should be back.

>> one of us will be here. you're heading back hopefully to d.c. if you can get out. >> good morning. it's 9:00 on the east coast. here's some of the stories that had us talking. a major storm pounding the eastern half of the u.s. heavy snow and bitter cold grounding more than 1700 flights. >> fed ex says today will likely be the busiest shipping day in history. our david mattingly jumps on a truck and takes us on a live tour. >> in sweden police say explosions that killed one person and wounded two were an act of terrorism and could have been worse. police believe the bomber was on the way to an area more crowded with christmas shoppers. >> we begin this morning with the raging storm and video that's gone viral. watch closely as the inflatable roof on the minneapolis metrodome buckles under the weight of the heavy snow. first the snow streams in, then

teflon panel gives way and dumps an avalanche. more on that in a moment. right now that wicked weather is heading east. it's slipping south. snowfall in tennessee and georgia, bitter cold reaching all the way into florida. it could be an awful couple of days for travelers, airlines canceled more than 1700 flights. by last night and airports are bracing for more bad news today. covering all of the angles. chris welch inside the metrodome, his colleague patrick covering flooding in the pacific northwest, and rob marciano has the big picture from coast to coast. let's start our coverage in minneapolis with chris. metrodome officials downplaying the roof failure, is that right? >> reporter: well, you know, this is quite a thing to be seeing video. the director says it looks like

something that's very serious. but it's actually easier to fix, i think. >> actually, i think i'll say it looks worse than what it is. in some respects. because the repair as i understand it will be basically to unclamp the old fabric and clamp new fabric in its place and then blow the roof back up. >> looks like we lost our live connection inside the metrodome there with chris. we'll try and get him back as we talk about the severe weather. it's definitely playing havoc with travel plans as well. in cleveland the conditions are expected to go from bad to worse. the city could see up to nine inches of snow today and that amount could be dwarfed by the end of the week. cnn meteorologist rob marciano was trying to fly in to cleveland but your flight was canceled. >> yeah.

all day yesterday. but it was even before the weather got bad in cleveland. this storm is so big, kyra, that especially when you try to get out of a hub city it may not be what's going on in your city or destination but in other spots, especially if you fly those little planes they have a hard time catching up once they start slowing down. cleveland, might try to get in there later today because it's not over. maybe one to two feet of snow in the favored areas east and north of the city. maybe up toward western new york as well. they are under a lake-effect snow warning. we have a good fetch of cold air coming off lake michigan getting in places like south bend, indiana so winter storm warnings are posted for those areas, too. even though the bulk of the storm is moving off into quebec, the back side of this is going to crank up the lake-effect snows and we're seeing that now in cleveland do. we have a live picture of cleveland? there you go. that looks cold. maybe i don't want to go there. wkyc, there you go, my friends,

you've got temperatures right around 20. you've got winds gusting 35, 40 miles an hour. you've got snow coming down. there's the picture. it says it all. let's go to chicago or des moines, one of those frigid locations. chicago, there it is. there's the mile. looking not so bad on the main roads there. but it's cold. and the snows are mostly east and south of the city there. speaking of south, how about the snows across the deep south. nashville, birmingham, atlanta, georgia. flakes flying yesterday even this morning we got the kids fired up. there are some schools in georgia that are closed today because of it. temperatures right now around 20 degrees, not going to get above freezing in atlanta proper. and it is above freezing in new york. you've been on the warm side of this system. that has let you stay mostly in the form of rain. by the time everything is through even though the cold air is driving to the east i think all of the moisture will be done and we won't see much snow in the i-95 corridor. this is still around but there

is something interesting shaping up for this weekend that would include the east coast. plenty of time to talk about that in the next few days. >> thanks, rob. it's not just air travel that has been stopped in its tracks. in minneapolis city buses have also bogged down in the heavy snowfall. i-reporter peter frye went out in the blizzard conditions to lend the hand. they were able to get all of the buses on the street moving again. here is a view from another i-reporter in the twin cities. >> it's really bad out. there's a car stuck. that's the best way to get around, cross country skis right there. >> snow and frigid temps aren't causing the only problems. we're going to head to the pacific northwest for the latest on the flooding and the mudslides there. let's turn to an issue that affects our wallets. the senate is expected to hold an important test vote on extending the bush era tax cuts days after the white house

struck a deal with republican leaders. now the greatest rift may be between the president and members of his own party. ed henry joins us with all of the drama. ed. >> reporter: good morning, kyra. the president may have gotten a lift late friday when former president bill clinton decided to show up in the white house briefing room as a surprise, we knew he was meeting here with president obama but we didn't know he was going to come out and give a full endorsement of the tax cut plan, even stuck around, took questions, almost as if the white house staff couldn't shoe him out of the briefing room. i think on the substance of all of this, it shows for the first time that president obama has momentum in this tax cut fight he was struggling last week. now all of a sudden he can see daylight. first of all there is a procedural vote in the senate later today. it looks like they will have the super majority of 60 votes to clear that. that will put pressure on house democrats to consider this as well. yesterday david axelrod was on state of the union with candy

crowley and was basically saying that this is not a perfect deal but needs to move forward to make sure the american people don't see their taxes go up. >> we handled it as best as we could give at any time frame that we had. and i'm not looking for style points here. what i'm looking for is progress for the american people. what i'm looking for is to forestall what would be devastating for the american people and our economy. and that's what we should be focused on. >> reporter: the other big news to pay attention to is the fact you have various house democrats now saying look, this is likely to come to the house floor 18 few days, there might be changes, they want to tweak the estate tax provisions which they think are too generous to the republican position. but that's a far cry from where house democrats were last week when they were saying don't bring this up in the house for a vote at all. they are softening that position, so once this clears the senate hurdle later today, you can maybe see a breakthrough

in the house in the next few days, so that means bottom line, the president will likely get his tax cut deal and more importantly for the american people they won't sea their taxes go up january 1. >> we all want to know what's going to happen with regard to our taxes and our bottom line. we can't forget also part of this is the s.t.a.r.t. treaty and "don't ask, don't tell." >> reporter: there is a lot of other big issues as you know, as we get closer to christmas and potential vacation, members of congress start smelling the jet fuel as they say, they want to get home with families so there is a real time pressure to get things like that done. bottom line on s.t.a.r.t., this white house privately believes they have the 67 votes to pass it. it's whether or not republicans will block it for consideration. "don't ask, don't tell," in private they are pessimistic. they don't see a likelihood that it's going to come back and they are going to overturn it. they are hopeful but it's difficult and the bottom line is that the time is of the essence. democratic leaders want to wrap this session up and go home as

early as friday. >> all right. ed henry, thanks so much. keep it here for the latest on the tax deal, senate is scheduled to hold that key test vote today around 3:00 p.m. eastern time. we'll have live coverage. new york city mayor michael bloomberg is joining a new political group which actually launches today. it's called no labels. looking at live pictures from this event at columbia university in new york. the goal, to bridge the political divide in america by promising nonpartisan solutions to some of the country's biggest problems. the group wants to put aside party doctrine to judge ideas based on merits. bloomberg denies that this is part of a disguised run for president. he says that we need help to the man already on the job. >> i start with the assumption that or with the belief that this president has to succeed. we all have an enormous amount of capital invested in his success. his success is the country's success. whether you like hm or not, voted for him or not if you want to vote for somebody else you'll

have that opportunity in two years but right now we should all pull together, republicans and democrats, both sides of the aisle, the public as well as the elected officials and make sure that this president is successful. >> bloomberg joins charlie crist, senator joe lieberman and senator joe manchin of west virginia among others on no labels. as you saw, our cnn contributor is one of the driving forces behind it as well. he is speaking live and will continue to follow this throughout the morning. it's a real life da vinci code. you've seen the painting. now historians using technology see something extra in the eyes of mona lisa, a code. so what does it mean? we've got the best person to talk about it, the host of tv's decoded joins us next. ♪ express yourself

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real life da vinci code. historians with high techniques and time have discovered more than a quirky smile on the mona lisa. like the investigators from that movie "the da vinci code" were

trying to decode the mystery. is it a message? we brought in the expert. brad is the best-selling author too familiar with the codes and hidden messages, also the host of "decoded." what do you think? the headlines all over the place saying da vinci code found in mona lisa's eyes. is there something here? >> listen. here's the thing. first t publisher is so excited right now they are having a heart attack because they are going to sell a couple hundred companies. as an author i love it but not because it's going to sell my books and thrillers. but because it makes history reminds everyone how amazing history is. this is one of those moments where you look and go, you know what, fiction is fine but reality is so much better. da vinci proofs that over and over. >> what they see in her eyes are

tiny letters and numbers. they are trying to make it out. maybe the letter c, e, b, maybe 72, maybe his initials l.v., trying to figure out. do any of these mean anything to you as i name what they think they see in her eyes? >> listen. it doesn't take having your own tv show to know that l.v. stands for leonardo da vinci. one, leonardo da vinci never made it that easy. it was just incredible the way he obscured things. talking about one of the greatest minds of human history. this is a man who invented the submarine long before any one could fathom such a thing, a flying device so far before any one could think about air travel. so, you know, this is what people freak out. you decode this everyone wants to run in but before you decode

anything, this is what we do every week on the show, before you decode stuff you got to figure out what it says first. that's the first part of this puzzle is before you start pulling it apart you got to make sure you know what the cover of the puzzle looks like. >> you're one individual that knows da vinci better than even some of the other experts out there. why was he so wrapped up in these secret messages? >> you know, this is one of those ones and you can see in this story, they want to now exhume his body, to see if it was him, to see if he looks likes the mona lisa. it's a perfect allegory for da vinci. he took everything to the grave. nobody knew. he used to take the mona lisa and carry it around with him because he didn't want to leave it alone. okay. that's not only crazy, that is amazing to me. i love when i hear something like that. and you know, as far as why he

did those things, i think when you're that kind of brain faced with all of the other normal brains like the rest of us around him, maybe you just get bored. maybe you are writing a secret message. here is the thing about secret messages. everyone forgets, when you create a code, there's two people that have power over it. the person who creates it which is the intended power. and then the rest of us, the person who receives it. and that person we also have power too. we're going to put our power into what da vinci created and take our own message from it. the idea is when these two different points of view match up. that's when you crack the code. that's when you know that what is intended is received. the hard part is making those two things match. >> it's going to be fun to follow this. i know that you are obsessed with it. you bring up a good point. some say that da vinci created the mona lisa as a self portrait. who knows if he'll be exhumed. we'll try to decode. don't want to miss your show on

the history channel, "decoded." great talking to you today. >> thank you. i appreciate it. i thank da vinci himself for another episode to do. >> no doubt. the year's top 10 quotes. where do you think these guys ended up in the mix? also the politician who tops the list not once but twice. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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♪ >> we're all busy for many of us social media has been a great way to update friends and family, posting a status, sharing vacation details, photos of the kids birthday party. who else are you updating?

cnn's end of privacy week, jeanne meserve gives us this chilling update. >> reporter: dick hart put photos of his hawaiian wedding on facebook to share with close friends. when he made mention of it on twitter he didn't know a link would be attached giving more than 3,000 followers access to rather intimate images. >> we didn't think they were offensive but my wife didn't prefer for everybody to see those. >> reporter: while his case was embarrassing others are downright dangerous. sarah downey was horrified when a picture of her daughter was hijacked from her flicker account and used in a sexually suggestive language profile on a social networking site. >> it broke my heart. >> she posted a translation to warn other users but then she says total strangers exploited the internet to find her phone number and worse, her home address. >> we would go to the store and

i'd wonder has this person seen my daughter? are they here trying to find us, trying to get close with my daughter. >> since then downey has tried to protect her private information. has it worked? we gave her name to steven, a private investigator who harvests information from the internet. in less than 90 seconds he turns up 100 pages of possible links. >> frankly, anything you would want to know about this young lady seems to be available on the web. >> on youtube, facebook, myspace and twitter, more and more americans are making their private information public. put it together with public documents like newspaper accounts and property records and a portrait emerges. take supreme court justice scalia, using free information on the internet a ford ham law school class came wake-up 15 pages of information including his home address and phone number, even the movies and foods he likes.

>> if we were willing to spend $100 for the project we would have been able to acquire far more intrusive, scarier information. >> rambam says any time you hit send your information is no longer your own. he says your frequent flyer program, movie account, book purchases, even some searches can be tracked, stored and sometimes sold. >> i have a window into your soul. i know what you believe. i know what you think. i know who your family is. i know who your friends are. i know your politics. >> orchid.com has updated its policies and tools to find and remove fake profiles like the one of sarah's daughter. and google says it gives customers the tools to protect personal information. many of us could be more careful. in addition, some privacy experts would like to see standardized simplified website privacy policies or government restrictions on second hand use of private information. steven rambam sees a lot of

positives to having so much information on the internet and says the genie is already out of the bottle. >> ten years from now you're going to have a choice of getting used to minimal privacy or subleasing the unabomber. scores big on this year's top 10 quotes of the year-roundup. not only earning two of the ten slots but the top spot as well without further adieu, here we go. >> should never have put me -- said she used to be. >> so you are telling me the

separation of church and state. >> in this form i'll take my talent to south beach and join the miami zbleext we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it. >> congress is going the way it is people are really looking toward those second amendment remedies. >> chi chi chi le le le! >> if you touch my junk i'm going to have you arrested. >> there is no one who want this is thing over more than i do. i'd like my life back. >> i'm not a witch. >> and as you noticed o'donnell and tony hayward were tied as number one. the top ten list of quotes is compiled by yale university librarian fred shapiro who began his look back in 2006. got your favorite gifts ready to. go time is wasting.

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it pays to discover. >> good news on wall street. the s&p 500 closed at a 2-year high. will it continue? let's ask stephanie. what do you think? >> as of now in this moment kyra, uh-huh, yeah, sure, for now. let's see what happens. right now we have a little gain today. we'll take it to start off. we don't have economic reports on tap so what do you do, you look overseas. we're seeing a bit of a rally. asian markets rose because china did not raise interest rates. there was talk of a rate hike and move to put -- that would put a lid on china's growth. with all of that in mind let's show you what we're talking about. the markets showing us that the dow is up 11,430.

and the s&p 500 up 3. but green is green so we'll take it. for shares of a & p, they were halted. the company file forward bankruptcy. the stores will stay open. the company opened in 1859 and so that makes it one of the oldest grocery stores in the nation. and finally, if you were shipping packages today, better get ready for long lines. fedex said today will be the busiest day of the year. it's expected to move 16 million packages. no wonder christmas is 12 days away. to ring in the shipping thing, fedex rang the opening bell to celebrate and get those packages moving. they have purple santa hats and giving out hot beverages to get everybody happy about standing in line to ship those packages. >> our david manningly is out at one of the hubs jumping on the trucks, going to give us a live tour to show us how nutty it is.

>> we should tell david i helped him out last noyt after i put up the tree i shipped some gifts. there you go. doing my part. >> i'm make sure he makes sure they get i delivered. >> very good. thanks. >> all right. 9:32 on the east coast. 6 clorn 32 out west. here is a look at stories had us talking. in france tense moments at a kind are garten just east of paris. a 17-year-old man armed with two swords look children ages 4-6 hostage. he later released them and was arrested. richard holbrooke, the special envoy for afghanistan and pakistan, is in critical but stable condition at a washington hospital. holbrooke under went surgery to repair a tear in his large artery and to improve blood circulation. in minneapolis the air comes out of the metrodome, part of the fiberglass fabric roof collapsed under the weight of snow yesterday. the collapse blamed on the arctic blast sweeping east.

rob marciano in the severe weather center, what do you think, how bad is it going to get? >> in some spots a lot more snow. the new york area, boston, philly, the major areas along the i-95 corridor are going to get away from this. they had mostly rain. now that the cold air is coming in most of the moisture is gone. so, at least for this storm you won't see a lot of accumulation. down in richmond up through d.c. and baltimore you may see a little bit. the larger deal with this is the cold air. here are some of the wind chills. they are striking. feels like 21 below zero in minneapolis. feels like minus lfrn in chicago. look at the south and the mid south. 4 is the wind chill in memphis. it was 3 in atlanta earlier. we're warming up to 6 degrees, what it feels like. today's highs are going to probably not get above the freezing mark in atlanta. so, the freeze is on for florida, again parts of mid and north florida below freezing tonight and the winds are going to whip.

then also across the pacific northwest, another system coming through. we've got flooding issues across western washington so that's where the action is. you need some drier, warmer air. go down to the desert southwest. that's the latest from here. could see a foot or two in some spots, kyra. we're also looking at flight delays in some of the areas that saw flight issues yesterday. >> you saw this video at the metrodome in minneapolis. is that just crazy. so, but apparently, well, the game was canceled, obviously. you know what they are doing, giving free tickets for the giants/vikings game, it's moved to ford field in detroit. >> a free ride too? >> exactly. how are they going to get there? it's still cold, still snowy. exactly. hey, if you want to haul over there go ahead. free tickets. that was kind of crazy. have you seen snow? i don't know if we've got the video. it created an avalanche in the metrodo metrodome. >> the fact that they had fox crew in there, that's why you

had great shots. >> they were getting ready for the game. >> 17 inches of snow in minneapolis is a big deal. you think minneapolis, chicago, they don't get a ton of snow. they get a lot of cold but to get that much snow. >> do we have that avalanche video? there we go. here it comes. >> there you go. narrate, rob. >> that teflon roof is held up by hot air. it sprung a leak in a big way. multiple camera angles. high definition. this is some of the best sports video we've seen. >> thanks, rob. well, they get to see the game but head to detroit with a free ticket. we're moving to the busiest time of the year for shipping items. fedex saying it expects to move nearly 16 million packages today. our david mattingly bravely decided to go to the warehouse in georgia north of atlanta and david, we heard earlier from i guess electronics to crickets

being sent out. you want to explain that? >> reporter: well, what we're seeing, fedex is saying that today is their biggest day ever. with 16 million packages flooding the system. a lot of people were busy over the weekend packing, wrapping and shipping, getting shipments out ahead of christmas. what we're seeing is like in the truck that we're riding in now, and throughout the fedex system, there are packages, a lot of them -- excuse me, a bum withpy road here. what we're seeing is that 30% to 40% of the packages, so 3 to 4 out of 10 packages in the system are purchased online from e-retailers to e-commerce so we see a lot of online shopping this year, overall what they are seeing is about 10% more shipping this year and again, this is their busiest day at

their busiest week at the busiest time of year, all vacations have been canceled. our driver kenny james can talk about that quite a bit. he has been doing this for 19 years. and kenny, you're telling me expectations are pretty high among the customers this time of year. >> they are. what we do, we our job is pretty much receive the package from the customers, take them out, get them there on time. that's what the customer is paying for. 100% service. >> you're talking about delivering christmas cheer, so people want their packages on time. what are they saying to you when you show up? >> good to see you, thank you. appreciate you. >> i bet. with 16 million packages in the fedex system today, you can imagine there's going to be a lot of thankful people getting these packages today. one important thing to tell everybody is that if you want to make sure this package gets to where it's going the way it's

supposed to, shippers across the board, they have people ready to help you. make sure you use a new box that's really firm that can take the traveling. also to make sure that you pack everything very well inside a lot of padding if it shakes, rattles or rolls, chances are it's not going to get there in one piece. so, do yourself a favor and do it right when you put it in the box so it will get there the way it's supposed to. >> so you're driving along with your new best friend. are you going to help deliver as well? >> can i help deliver, kenny? is that allowed? . no. he says no. we're going to leave this up to the professionals. >> can't touch the packages. love it. kenny is a smart man. >> like where does this one go? >> exactly. david. all right. appreciate it. thanks so much. get that stuff over to fedex and so you can arrive on time.

sarah palin makes a visit to haiti calling on americans to help people recovering from the earthquake. you'll hear from her. ♪ oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her.

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>> there's buzz out there. howard dean challenging president obama, what do you think. mark preston all over -- what's the latest on the story? >> good morning. yes. there has been talk that the liberal left is so upset with president obama over this tax cut deal it could potentially lead to a primary challenge and a lot of people saying it could be howard dean. well, howard dean put that rumor to rest yesterday. he was on cbs's face the nation. he was asked this. he went on the say i don't think he is going to face an opponent in the democratic primary. the reason why, the former vermont governor says it would be bad for the country and bad for the democratic party. he goes on to say that look, bottom line is whenever you have a sitting president who is challenged from somebody in his own party all it does is really

weaken that president and that president ends up losing. soho ward dean taking it off the table that he will challenge president obama in 2012. you know, the other big political question is what is michael steele going to do? is he going to run for another term? as a chairman of the republican national committee? or is he going to bowow. hopefully we'll have that answer tonight. he has sent out an e-mail message over the weekend to members of the republican national committee saying look, i want to talk about the future, let's talk about it monday night. in the e-mail he gives out a call-in number. so hopefully we'll know tonight at some point some of these folks whether michael steele says he is going to run or if he is going to bow out for another term. >> sarah palin spending time unhaiti. >> yeah. time in haiti. our justine was down there with samaritans first. trying to do good will. and what have you. she said that she found that the conditions down there were much

rougher than she expected. she also said that she doesn't want americans to forget the need that is there in haiti. more importantly for americans and the people across the world to know what an individual can do to make a difference. of course haiti is still struggling from that epic earthquake that happened last january. they are dealing with a cholera outbreak and of course there is the disputed presidential election down there. so, a lot on the table in haiti. sarah palin visiting yesterday. >> got you. mark, thanks so much. your next update in about an hour. go to our website politics.com. what a newborn's mother's milk and the web have in common? more than you might think as the fda weighs in on the growing trend of nursing moms buying and selling breast milk online. first, flash back. on this date, seven years ago today that u.s. forces found their long-awaited former iraqi strong man saddam hussein

reduced to cowering in a spider hole in his own town. later found guilty of crimes against humanity by a special iraqi tribunal and executed three years after his capture. exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf.

we asked people all over america where the best potatoes come the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that. i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal. women who can't breast feed are turning to the web to get breast milk. the fda says maybe that's not a good idea and could actually put

your child at risk. cnn's medical correspondent is joining us to talk about what's going on. when i heard about this i thought it was a bit, i don't know. >> it's kind of -- hmm. someone i know used the word freaky like women are buying and selling breast milk. >> maybe if you're family. >> it's different. women used to breast feed each other's babies all the time in days of yore. so this is sort of electronic way of doing that i guess you could say. actually i did a story with this woman, jen, she lost both of her breasts to breast cancer but knew that her baby needed breast milk. so what she did, here is her baby, she's feeding her from one of the 35 women who donated their milk. to this baby. so she went on line, created a website and 35 women donated to her child. so that's pretty amazing. you can find this, google it.

there's website called only the breast.com. i love that. only the breast.com. you can do buying and selling of breast milk. >> depending on i mean, some doctors say the formula has become so advanced and is so good it's just as good. >> i think even the formula manufacturers will tell you breast is best. >> really. >> no question. t the question is, is someone else's breast milk best. >> because it's all about your -- else's breast milk is as good for your body. >> reit. because it's all about your -- >> all about your stuff. >> how do i put this diplomatic alley? >> why does the fda want to stop it? >> well, how do you know the woman doesn't have hepatitis you're getting milk from? how do you know when she packaged the milk she didn't leave it sitting out on the counter for three days before

she shipped it off? you don't know. when i asked jen connell, what are you doing? she said, look, these are other mothers, we chat, we e-mail. they are feeding their own baby this breast milk. we trust them to package it right. there's a high element of trust. the women say it's worth it. the women we talked to don't intend to stop, don't care what the fda says. they trust each other and breast milk is better. >> what did you do for your kids? >> breast milk. >> you did the whole thing. >> i did. it was difficult. i had a premature baby and it's was hard. i wasn't always successful at it. i think it's important for mothers to say that. it didn't always go very well, but eventually it worked out. thank goodness. >> i never knew this was sold online. i never knew. good stuff.

thanks. school lunches are about to get healthier for millions of american kids. next, the first major change in school lunch standards in 30 years, among the requirements, more fruits and veggies, less salt, sugar and fat. next we'll take a closer look. here are other developments we're working. chris welch is inside the minneapolis metrodome, it's damaged. how are you? >> reporter: i'm inside the collapsed metrodome, about as cold out here as outside. we'll have an update on the repairs. we'll get an update. record snow in minneapolis, heavy snow across northern illinois, indiana, now ohio. and the cold air continues to drive to the south, even worse than the cold blast next week. weather at the top of the hour. and i'm stephanie elam at

the new york stock exchange. we aren't talking about weather but gift cards. millions of americans are handing them out. are you getting the right one? we'll look at the most requested and the consumer protection rules that goo along with them. also, celebrities and the charities support. we're going one-on-one with nicole kidman. ♪ 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. duare almost inseparable. she wlifts her calf to its firstr breath of air, then protects it on the long journey

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♪ you're as cold as ice you're as cold as ice. >> why? >> because you won't talk about what i want to talk about. >> what? >> i want to set the story straight about what came out on the internet. >> what? >> that you and i are having twins. >> we're having twins? does r.j. know about that? >> i want to set the record straight. i love tony harris, but that was a typo. >> j.r.? >> i'm turning red thinking p it. >> are you doing good? >> i'm doing fine. i'm getting the e-mail alert and people are laughing. >> things happen. we're a close family here in the

"newsroom". >> we get along very well. >> yes, we do. the bill chill at the big house. >> oh, that's the music. >> there you go. >> it wasn't about you. >> have you seen this? because i don't know anything about this story. >> yes. phil riley our producer, first thing he came in and said, you have to see this video. >> this is the big house, michigan state. they're playing hockey, which is why i don't know anything about it. because it's hockey. >> oh, but see my better half is a canadian. >> oh, he is? >> oh, apparently the twins are coming out wearing hockey skates. >> way to go back to the story. >> record attendance. >> can we talk about real sports now? >> come on. >> national football league. >> every hockey player is is going to come after you now,

pal. >> like i'm not used to that. the ferrari of quarterbacks in the nfl, we've talked about quarterbacks who have made a nice statement on monday night, michael vick, on, on, the ferrari of quarterbacks in the nfl. tom brady, look at this guy in chicago. they play in new england, but this is the field -- this is soldier field. this a mess. bone-chilling cold and what does this guy do? the good-looking, ferrari, perfect guy, married to gisele buchen, beautiful kid, he plays an amazing game. the patriots look unbeatable, they beat chicago in chicago on their field, their conditions, 36-7. here's what i loved from the "chicago sun-times." here's the headline. patriots make bears fans endure frozen day in hell.

is that good? is that good? yeah, this is ridiculous. >> i remember seeing the flurries yesterday. reminds me of lambeau field and green bay. >> that's right. >> i don't know how they play in this weather with. i meant to bring up the newspaper clippings from minnesota with the metrodome. >> oh, we've got the joid. >> you've got that? >> yeah. do you want the avalanche video in the metrodome? >> yeah. you've got it? >> yeah. we've been watching all hour. don't know what you're watching. >> show prep. one other game i want to highlight for you. that's the miami game and the jets. take a look at this play. this is -- did you see this yesterday? >> i did not see this. i did see chicago and patriots. >> illegal tripping, unnecessary roughness. this is not how you play the game. this is the jets' strength and conditioning coach. >> he was just doing lungs, that's all.

he was practicing his strength and conditioning. >> so here's the thing. the folk you us cus in the leag safety. you've got a coach doing this to an opposing player as he's running down the sideline. >> it's not cool. >> the coaches apologized to everyone they needed to apologize to. the player is fine. expect fines and suspensions to come. he'll miss some games down the stretch. >> how we feeling? our baby is good? >> our babies are great. gotta love it. >> got to make news however we need to do it. >> need numbers. love you. >> see you, tony. >> oh, man. let's get it, huh? time to get serious. 10:00 a.m. orn the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. here are stories that have us talking today. from the upper midwest to the deep south, a major storm pounding the eastern halfful the u.s., knsnow and cold grounding

flights. just minutes from now, president obama will set tough new standards for school lunches. more fruits and ledgies and less fat and salt. first major changes to school lunches in 30 years. we're happy to report that a hostage incident has ended peacefully at a school in france. earlier this morning a teenager armed with two swords walked into a kindergarten class, held the teacher and five students hostage. he xrernd surrendered just a short time later. let's begin with the raging storm we just mentioned. first stop, minneapolis and video that's gone viral. we were just talking about it. the inflatable roof at the metrodome buckles under the weight of the snow. first the snow streams in, then a teflon panel gives way and everything is caught on cameras because fox tv was right there, fox sports, getting ready to shoot the game. talk about picture-perfect position. and outside the familiar round

tap top of the dome now sagging, crews are getting ready for repairs. upstate new york, also the sites of this storm as it heads east, several inches have fallen in buffalo and the area will see even more through the next several days. some parts of the state will get the full impact of the lake-effect. near seattle, washington, too much rain, mud slides in the area has sandbags and watching rivers rise. several homes have flooded and mud slides shut down passenger trains in the area. about 300 people staying in shelters now. >> this is it the worst i've seen it i think about 2008 we had about close to this, but this is is a little scary right now. >> it just amazes me to see what nature can do. it's so powerful. >> little scary? >> little scary. little scary, yeah. >> well, if you call chicago the

windy city, you only have half the picture. here's the rest. heavy snow blanketing the region, chauzing headaches for travelers. more than 3300 flights canceled last night at chicago's o'hare airport. take a look. >> it's just been frustrating because i was canceled and then i was moved to tomorrow night and now it's canceled and moved to tonight. i'm just hoping it doesn't cancel again tonight. >> let's get an idea of what people can expect over the next few days cnn meteorologist rob marciano doing last-minute checks. >> i'm trying to see just how cold it remains in some of these spots t. was so bitterly cold this morning, i'm curious how quickly things are rebounding. everybody getting a chill east of the mississippi and even folks west of the mississippi getting into some chilly temperatures. these are actual air temperatures across the northeastern core of the country, 11 detroit, 15

cleveland. a lot of these places it's blowing and you have snow coming down. it's miserable. 41 in new york and we're starting to cool down. it's 52 degrees in boston. it is warmer in iceland right now than it is in atlanta. so atmosphere kind of topsy-turvy. that's what makes weather fun this time of year. the cold air coming over the warm waters from cleveland up through erie, buffalo, just south of buffalo, syracuse and rochester, causing the lake-effect snow, getting action throughout the day today and tonight. deep south, this is what it feels like in atlanta, the windchill 5, feels minus 3 in nashville. live picture from nashville, snow pictures earlier from today. wsmv, it's currently around 13, as i mentioned, the windchill minus 3. and that tower cam is kind of shaking in the breeze this there. it's definitely blowing. we've got video that's coming in

highlighting the snow falling around the nashville area. more significant snow band setting up yesterday, causing some travel headaches and traffic accidents. the mid-south, deep south, you get any sort of snow especially over the bridges and yoe passes, it freezes quickly. that's the situation we have for the morning rush in nashville. it's not warming up quickly there at all. it's not going to get above the freezing mack. here's where the snows are and rains. rains, new york east to boston. i think by the time the cold air will come into new york, you'll be out of it as far as moisture. philly to d.c., may see snow showers but that's it. one to two with feet from buffalo tlup cleveland, at least at the higher elevations. then we've also got issues -- i want to go to northwestern indiana, just east of chicago. serious streams of lake-effect snow coming down across south bend, indiana, and some of the areas here dealing with some

travel problems as well. this batch of cold air, ke kyra colder than last week and florida will be feeling it tonight. unless congress comes up with a deal by the even of the week, your taxes go up december 31st. the senate votes on the tax bill, but not all democrats are on board. what's the biggest steking point? the estate tax provision. they feel it only helps the wealthiest americans. the congressional budget says it will add $9 billion to the deficit over the next few years. but senator dick durbin says it's time to move forward. >> what we can seize on today is something that will help working families, the only stimulus we can bring to this economy. we need to work together to pass it and hope that this economy gets well. i think this president is going to come back and be strong with the house democratic caucus even after the next -- the swearing in that's going to occur january

5th. >> as congressman elijah cummings says, not everyone feels the same. >> i think it's quite possible the tax extension will be passed but not with my vote. >> the white house is pushing the bill but the president looks like he's getting opposition on all sides now. steve car knacky, editor for salon.com, he's in new york. do you think the president anticipated how hard of a sell this bill would be? >> yeah. no, i think so. i think there is sort of a precedent here, if you go way back, if you can think of the first president bursh, he broke his no new taxes pledge he knew he would face a revolt from the republicans and basically got it through with minimal support from the republicans. when you look at what the democrats really to get this through the house and senate, there's a lot of room built in for defections, for sort of liberal legislators to take a

principled stand. frankly, there's a lot of room for legislators, anthony wiener comes to mind, to do some grand standing. they definitely anticipated this, there's room for that. most expectations at this point are that there will be a lot of noise this week but it will get through. >> steve, it's like our paychecks are being used as a political chip. >> i'm sew? >> it's like our paychecks are being used as a political chip. >> well, i mean, that's the urgency that obviously the white house felt on this and that's the urgency that i think the democrats will end up voting for this feel, if you get to january 1st and you don't have a deal on this, then the republicans can go out there and say that the democrats blocked your taxes staying at these levels or the democrats could make the same claim about the republicans. the problem that i think the democrats realize they have in this is, you know, when the unemployment rate is as high as it is, the economy as stalled as it is, people really aren't

looking for excuses from the governing party. so what the white house sort of saw as an opportunity here is, okay, we get these tax cuts extended, for the middle class, we'll have to swallow hard on the extensions for the wealthy, but what we can also get is about $300 billion in economic stimulus. if you think of all the debates we had this year in congress, you know, the idea that republicans at the end of 2010 would sign off and vote for 3$30 billio billions in stimulus. it's remarkable. the white house says, this is our last best chance of economic stimulus under these conditions. if the political climate things, the economy gets better, we can finally be in a better climate to have a fight over tax cuts and win. >> steve, appreciate your time today. >> sure. keep it right here on the latest on the tax deals. senate holds a key vote. we have new details on it as

well that we'llor sharing with you throughout the morning. nicole kidman takes on a real-life role to lift up women around the world. she'll talk to us as her work as a u.n. good will embass dor. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. the morning after the big move starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now... and maybe up to 4 in a day. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪

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you know nicole kidman as an academy award-winning actress. did you also know she's been working to improve the lives of women all over the world? lena cho takes a look at that as part of our series big stars big giving. >> a lot of my life i've been trying to please my mother, and i suppose i still felt like i'd won an ogs car, i'd done this, my mom was still not like, i feel like you -- >> this is really what she most responds to in my life.

>> reporter: that thing nicole kidman is talking about is her work as a goodwill ambassador for unicef. >> take action. say no. >> reporter: a role she's held for nearly five years. >> these women in this organization, they're working for nothing, you know, and they're so committed. >> reporter: ironically, it was a movie role, "the interpreter" that first drew kidman to the united nations. what she didn't know was that soon art, in part, would imitate life. her work with unicef has taken her to congress, fighting for women's rights. she's also traveled to places like kosovo and just this year, earthquake-ravaged haiti. >> it breaks my heart. i mean, i'm a terrible person sometimes for this because i can become so emotionally involveded and actually in kosovo i had to be taken aside and told, this is

going to be a very emotional path for the rest of your life. you're going to see and hear things that you should never see and hae hear, but they exist. these girls with were raped, a lot of their faces were completely battered and destroyed. and their bodies. and they had nowhere to go. when you see it, see it and hear it, i think it changes you forever. it certainly changed me forever. >> by a nose, nicole kidman. >> you are an academy award-winning actress. you are married to a music star. you have a beautiful family. some people might ask, how does this woman, nicole kidman, relate? >> relate? i don't know how you say, whether you relate, but i certainly feel and it brings me

to my knees and i feel it's my duty and it's an honor to be able to do the work. >> it brings you to your knees. that's astrong statement. >> yeah. but i mean it. >> lena cho joining us from new york. alena, i know you're profiling several celebrities for this series. who are you profiling, how did you select them and why? >> you know, we really wanted to make sure, kyra, that the stars we selected were really committed to the causes they were with talking about and are involved with. i think he can see from nicole kidman's face and how she speaks she is committed. she told me she's going to be involved with with the u.n. as long as they'll have her. of course i said, i think they'll have you. now having said that, yes, tomorrow we're going to be talking to halle berry, another academy award-winning actress, someone who really is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. she's really committed to the

jen owe see center, a shelter for domestic violence victims in los angeles. i spent hours with her there. interesting enough kier rashgs all of the stars we spoke to have ray family component. for halle berry, her mother was a victim of domestic violence. that is why this project and center is to close to her heart. >> we look forward to the entere series. thanks. one-hour special debuts christmas eve 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. what do you see when you look at this famous moan la lisa painting? the unsure smile, missing eyebrows? historians have discovered something new, an actual da vinci code hidden somewhere within this painting. we'll try to decipher it sfor for you, next. we're so sure priceline

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. warm, stable, and glad to be back on dry land. that's how the 650 people trapped aboard a crippled riverboat feel this morning after spending a shivering night on the rocks. it tops our "cross country". >> miserable. >> it was a pain. >> we took the table cloths offed tables and wrapped up in those. >> that drama ended yesterday morning after 15 tumultuous hours on the rough waters. the boat lost engine power saturday night. strong winds pushed the boat aground. cruisers getting a full refund and annual pass to a nearby theme park for their trouble. high-speed police chase in suburban houston ends in a rollover crash that leaves the

driver dead at the scene and 3-year-old in the back seat hanging upside down in her baby's seat. we're told she's okay. congratulations to the owe ace sister church of pembroke pines, florida. they proek a guinness world record for the number of nativity scenes on display at the same time. 2150 to be exact. the previous mark was 1800. talk you abo talk about christmas spirit. to the spit of adventure, hiss storians have found hidden messages in a famous painting. i had a chance to speak with brad meltzer and ask him about these tiny numbers and letters that historians have found in the eyes of the mona lisa. >> listen, it doesn't take having your own tv show to know that lv stands for lee owe n le

da vinci. >> but he never made it that easy. he wrote backwards and in mys. it's incorrodible how he on stured things. this is one of the greatest mans in history. this a man that invented the submarine before anyone could fathom such a thing. invented a flying device before anyone could even think about air travel. this is what people forget. when you decode this stuff, everyone wants to run in. this is ha we do every week on our tv show. before you decode stuff, you have to figure out what it says first. that's going to be the first part of the puzzle. before you start pulling it apart, you have to make sure you know what the cover of the puzzle looks like. >> you're one individual who knows da vinci better than even some of the other experts out there. why was he so wrapped up in these secret messages?

>> you know, this is one of those -- you can see in this story they want to now exhume his body to see if it was really him, if it was him inside, to see what he looks like. it's a perfect al gory for da vinci himself. he took everything to the grave. nobody knew. he used to carry around the mona lisa because he didn't want to leave it alone, okay? that's not only crazy, that is amazing to me. i love when i hear something like that. and, you know, as far as why he did those things, i think when you're that kind of brain faced with all the other normal brains like the rest of us around him, maybe you just get bored. maybe you are writing a secret message. >> we'll stay on the story for you. here's food for thought. school lunches about to get healthier for millions of american kids at any moment president obama will sign into law the healthy and hunger-free kids act. here is a closer look at what that means. it's the first major change to

school lunch standards in three decades. and it will impact about 31 million xoodkids. among the new requirements, more fruits and vegetable countries, also more selections of whole grainses and low-fat dairy products. the new standards will also mean less. the lunches will have reduced sodium, sugar and fat. computers. great for a lot of things except for keeping secrets. just exactly how much of your personal information can be dredged up? even for those who steer clear of social media, the distressing and surprising answers just ahead. ♪ private eyes and live pictures from our affiliate c.a.r.e.-tv in minneapolis. this is a picture of the metrodome from the outside. what's pretty amazing from the inside? well, the heavy snow actually broke through the teflon there on time, causing an avalanche of

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tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 all right. stock market opening bell rang about an hour ago, numbers dow industrial is up almost 22 points. are you planning on getting or giving a gift card this holiday? you'll want to hear which u.n.s are the right chun ones. stephanie ei stephanie elam is joining us. which cards are the most popular? >> there are really popular ones out there. just for the fun of it, what do you think is the most wanted gift of all-time for the holidays? not a gift card but the most-wanted gift for the holidays. >> among adults, among kids? >> no. just like -- let's say adults.

>> okay. no, no. i can't even take a guess. >> cold. cold hard cash. apparently it puts you in the holiday spirit. people want money. at the top of the list, they're, like, give me money and i can figure out what i want for myself. then after that, electronics, third on the list gift cards and then clothing and then perhaps jewelry. i understand why money would be at the top of the list. but let's look at gift cards. 56% of adults got a gift card last holiday season. of those that got a gift card, 27% of the adults say they haven't used it, some didn't have time, some say the store wasn't convenient. take a look at the gift cards that are the most popular. walmart at the top, amazon.com, target, visa. what's interesting is that visa is on here, american express is on here, mastercard is on here. you can use those for anything.

and also there's stores where you can get a lot of needs met, not just wants. places like walmart or target or costco, even gas stations. look at 17, 18, 19 on there, gas stations. people are like just help me getting from point a to point b. an interesting statement perhaps about the sign of the times, that people are still looking to get their needs met at this point, kyra. >> got it. but what about all the fine print? sometimes there's fees and special rules that go along with these cards, right? >> yeah. we talk about that a lot. and if you remember back to august, the federal government made some changes to make sure that consumers are a little bit more protected. among them, they're limiting the fees on what you can be hit with. so basically what they're saying here is there's now limiteds on when card will expire. the money is good on the card for five years. even if it expires, you can reach out to the company and say, i still had money, can you put it on a new card and not get charged. that's i a new option.

any of the fees on the card have to be clearly printed on the packaging so you know up front you could possibly lose money if you don't use all of your gift card, say, to target within five years. that's good to know, there's a limit how much you could have subtracted from your gift card because of the fact you haven't used it all. it's a little bit safer investment for all of the people thinking about getting them for their lo eloved one you this holiday season. are you getting gift cards? >> no. i like picking out something special and meaningful. you? >> same to me. i get all excited. i can't wait for them to open the gift. >> i'm the same way. i love creative surprises. exactly. i've got a good one for j.d. you got a good one for you your husband this year? >> i've already got it. 's it's hiding. i'm so excited about his christmas gift this year. it's the first one i got. >> what did you say, rob?

>> iget him a gift receipt in case he wants to return it for a gift card. >> i'm sure it's very special. >> okay, scrooge. >> you know what? no gift for rob. >> maybe rob doesn't get meaningful gifts? do behave bitterness? >> yeah. it's caron it's ongoing. >> e-mail me the gift, stephment i want to know and i'll tell you mine. >> cool. i'll do it right after this. >> rob! shame on you. >> couldn't help it. 10:32 on the east coast, 7:there out west. we're happy to report that a hostage incident has ended peacefully in france. earlier this morning a teenager armed with two swords walked into a kindergarten class and held a teacher students hostage. i surrendered say short time later. here's the new engagement photo of prince william and his fee eun you see kate middleton. the april 29th wedding will be a

national holiday in britain. have you seen the video of the metrodome? a portion of of the fabric roof gave way, too much snow there, and, boom, you just saw the avalanche of snow. i guess it's going to pop up any minute, rob marciano, right here? >> we're slowing it down for effect. >> gotcha. >> and the sands of time tick away. >> do you watch with soap operas? >> is that a cosoap opera? >> yeah. what's the soap opera? "days of our lives". >> yeah. i guess i do. >> your life is a soap opera. >> there's nothing on tv between 10:00 and 2:00. >> and you're bitter because nobody is sending you a meaningful gift. they're getting snowfall across the great lakes, midwest. look at the streams coming off of lake michigan. that's a warm fetch. boy, it's really coming down in this area northwest indiana.

we have 17 inches of snow in laporte, indiana, between south bend and gary. you can see it's still coming down here. some of the state highways and just off the interstates, there are some reports of some motorists stranded because of the severe snow coming down here. we can expect that to continue. not so severe but certainly enough snow to get people worried in nashville and north georgia and some snows now falling across parts of d.c. and virginia beach. most of the northeast with this system by the time the cold air comes in, tonight, most of the moisture will be gone but the lake-effect snows will keep cranking. also watching the system coming into the pacific northwest which will increase the risk of landslides as their soil is already saturated. kyra, back to you. right now president obama is getting ready to sign a piece of legislation designed to make the food we feed our kids better. it's the healthy hunger-free kids act of 2010. on hand as well is michelle obama.

she's made health nutrition a big push. peter iceler, rotter for u"usa toda today", he's done incredible stories for our school lunch yous. highly the president is getting ready to kick this off, peter, you know all about the unhealthy food our kids are fed at school. what's happening today is definitely a step in the right direction, right? we're talking about the first time we've got upgrades in 30 years. >> yeah. this will be the u.s. department of agriculture which runs the school lunch program will have to adopt new nutrition standards for all schools that participate, which is vertly every public school in the country. this will with be the first time in 30 years they've really revisited this piece of legislation and tried to bring it up to speed. they're going to provide more money for schools, greater federal reimbursement, which should allow the schools to buy better food for the kids.

>> you and your partner exposed the fact that many of these kids that their only meal of the day is what they're getting at school, they were getting food that as going to be donated to make dog food and cat food. it was appalling what you uncovered in your investigations. the government both provides money to schools to buy food themselves and doughnut kmodedties to the schools, ground beef, chicken in some cases. one of the things we looked very closely at were some of the safety aspects. there is legislation that would better training to cafeteria workers, help cut down on the illnesses we're seeing in schools. there's language that would help to speed alerts to schools if food that they have that they're serving to students has been recalled because there are safety problems with it.

so there are a lot of very big changes in this bill. >> and why do you think it finally happened? because we're talking three decades of basically a lot of garbage given to our kids, and now finally something is going to happen. >> well, this bill, you know, it's a consensus piece of legislation. it has pretty good bipartisan support. it has the support of a lot of industry people, the grocers association and people like that. so really everybody was able to come together and come up with a plan that had something for everybody in it. there are provisions in the bill that will help provide more doctor get more low-income children into the program. that will help for those kids not getting good, healthy meals at home. it will set new nutrition standards to the food should be healthier and better. >> peter, stay with us. the president is starting to talk about it now in detail.

stay with me. i want to talk to you on the back side. >> this bill is is also about doing what's right for our country because we feel the strains the treating obesity-related health conditions puts on our economy. we've seen the connection between what our kids eat and how well they perform in school. and we know that the countries that succeed in the 21st century will be the ones that have the best-prepared, best-educated workforce around. so we need to make sure our kids have the energy and the capacity to go toe-to-toe with many any of their peers anywhere in the world and make sure they're all reaching their potential. that's precisely what this bill, the healthy hunger-free kids act will accomplish. this legislation will help 115,000 children gain access to school meal programs and wherever we can we're doing away with bureaucracy and red tape so that families don't have to fill out mountains of paperwork to get their kids the nutrition

they need. we're improving the quality of those meals by reimbursing schools an additional six cents per lunch to help them provide healthier options. the first real increase, by the way, in over 30 years. because when we our kids walk into the lunch room, we want to be sure they're getting balanced, nutritious meals they need to succeed in the classroom. we're empowering parents by making information more available about the quality of school meals. helping families understand what their kids are eating during the day. and to support our schools' efforts to serve fresh fruits and vegetables we're connecting them with local farm erfarmers. also improving safety and boosting kmod edcommodities lik cheese. it's also important to note that while this bill is fully paid for, it won't add a dime to the deficit. some of the funding comes from rolling back a temporary

increase in food stamp benefits or s.n.a.p., starting in the fall of 2013. i know a number of members of congress have expressed concerns about this offset being included in the bill. i'm committed to working with them to restore these fund yous in the future. we know that every day across this country parents are working as hard as they can to make healthy choices for their kids. cools are doing everything possible to provide the nutritious food they need to thrive, communities are coming together to help our young people lead healthier lives right from the beginning. it's time that we made that work a little bit easier. so these folks are fulfilling their responsibilities to our kids. legislation helps ensure we fulfill our responsibilities as well. shortly after signing the first law establishing school lunches, harry truman said that nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children, and proper

nourishment comes first in obtaining this welfare. so i'm very proud today to sign this bill that continues that legacy. not only am i very proud you of the bill, but had i not been able to get this passed, i would be sleeping on the couch. so now i am -- now i am very proud to introduce somebody who's done so much to shine a light on these critical issues related to childhood nutrition and obesity and exercise, america's first lady, my first lady, michelle obama. >> thank you. thank you, everybody.

thank you will aall. thanks so much, and good morning. >> good morning. >> and thank you, mr. president, for that very kind introduction. and all kidding aside, my husband worked very hard to make sure that this bill was a priority in this session, and i am grateful to you. >> because i would have been sleeping on the couch. >> but i am thrilled to be here -- we won't go into that. let's just say it got done so we don't have to go down that road. but i am thrilled to be here with all of you today as my husband signs the healthy hunger-free kids act into law. now, usually we hold these bill signings in the white house, but we felt it was important to do this one right here at tubman elementary because we wanted to share this moment with our partn

partners, with the students, the parents, the teachers, the community leaders, like all of you here, who have been so instrumental. our white house chefs have worked closely with educators at the school and they've seen your commitment to serving high-quality school meals to all of your students. i've worked side-by-side with kids from the school as well as from bancroft elementary school to harvest our white house garden. we couldn't have done it without all our students helping us. and i saw how hard they worked, and i also saw how you brabrave were to try vegetables many of them hadn't even heard of. and i also understand there are students from merch elementary school here today as well, and we all just had a great time last spring working up a sweat and exercising and playing on the south lawn of the white house. so, with everything that all of you are doing to give these

children a healthy start in life, you are fulfilling the mission of this legislation every single day. that's why we're here. so i want to thank you all, all of our partners, for what you've done not just in hosting us here today but in making sure -- >> peter eisler joining us, investigative reporter for "usa today," has exposed many of the failings within our school lunches, what our kids have had to endure. peter, i'm curious, the first lady mentioned the white house chefs helping them with this program. are the white house chefs that healthy? do we know anything about them? that might be an interesting story. >> you know, i think they probably eat pretty well over at the white house. and the first lady, you know, has done a lot of promotion of farm-to-school programs and the use of community gardens and of course has planted a garden at the white house that the chefs are using for some of the food

over there. and one of the things that this bill does is it provides about $40 million over ten years to encourage schools to set up you these farm-to-school programs and to set up community gardens and to try to get more local produce and healthier produce into the kids' meals. >> so as soon as the president signs this into law, how soon could we see these changes take effect, peter? >> well, i mean, some of the effects are going to take effect -- some of the changes will take effect very quickly. others will take a little bit of time. the legislation directs the usda to set new nutrition standards for schools. those standards will be set based on the recommendations from the institutes of medicine. that process will take a little time. but the reimbursement rates for schools will go up element immediately. they'll get six cents more per meal and the school lunch administrators have been asking

for the money for a long time. they say it will make a substantial difference in their ability to buy better quality products and put healthier, more nutritious meals on the table. so i think some of the stuff we'll see will happen very quickly. >> good. good news. peter, thanks so much for joining us today. appreciate your work, appreciate you. and president obama on another note stunned mike huckabee, the former presidential candidate, said the president obama self-destructed when talking about the tax deal. we'll talk about that next.

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of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me ♪ browsers, kookies, search engi engines, no wonder everyone's privacy is at risk. exactly how much is nothing shorpt of amazing. poppy harlow finds out. >> reporter: many times a day americans are getting their private data collected, if you're online or especially social net working sites, your privacy is at risk. yes, i report online and on

television, but personally i'm a very private person. so i did something i've never done before. i put myself right in this story to find out just how much information is out there about me. we gave michael fertick, the founder of reputation dender my name and e-mail address. his company dug around to see what they could find. >> you're a very private person, the average viewer is much less private than you, especially in social media. they don't know how much they've been opted in. even someone as private as you can, the system can find out very deeply personal and private information about you. >> reporter: he's exactly right. they pulled information about my family's health history, that my father passed away at 49 from cancer and other issues just too personal to share. and -- >> your religion. we believe and seem to be right that you are epifk pail kron. >> that's right. >> which is not something you advertise. >> reporter: they also got my parents' names, college education and whether i'm married or not.

but on other facts they were wrong, on my salary, current address and phone number. here's what really shocked me. reputation defender came back with words on internet associated with me. they say it's just because these are things i've reported on as a journalist. but the bottom line, whether the information is out there correct or incorrect, it's being used to make decisions about you. >> whether they want to hire you, fire you, date you, market to you, sell to you, insurance you or not. the important lesson, the takeaway, is it would be very easy for a machine to make a mistake about who poppy harlow is. >> we should know reputation dender did this report as just an experiment. the company operates solely to protect anyone's information on the web. >> anything you share in social media can and will find itself in a database and ultimately into a score. >> it's going to define you. >> it's doing to define you forever. >> reporter: in the end, this

turned out to be much more personal than i expected. in some ways it was invasive. but what it showed me is just how much personal information is out there, true and untrue, and many of us have no idea. in new york, poppy harlow reporting. the tax deal that president obama worked out, ed henry is following that story at the white house and other things on the political ticker. >> good morning again. this is a senate showdown but looking like it's going to the go the president's way. they'll have a procedural vote where they need 60 votes to move forward on the tax cut plan. it's looking like they'll easily get the votes, especially since you have a lot of republicans supporting the tax cut plan, not something the president has seen a lot. that's why the action will really be in the house down the road. the senate vote could provide

momentum. what's interesting is house democrats last week had the nonbinding resolution saying they weren't even going to take up the tax cut plan they were so upset about it. a lot of house democrats are backpedalling on that, basically saying they're not happy with the plan, try to tinker with it, but in the end it's probably going to pass. mike huckabee really taking a pop at president obama in an interview with national journal magazine saying he thinks the president's news conference last week was amateurish and that he shouldn't have taken on republicans in the way he did by suggesting they were hostage takers in this whole tax cut fight. also mike huckabee saying to national journal that he's surprised the president decided to extend the bush tax rates for just two years and not three years, the reason being they'll now expire again -- >> ed, stay with me. forgive me. president obama just signing the healthy, hunger-free kids act right now into law. as you know, ed, this has been a

big deal for the president and the first lady. the bill hopefully -- apparently there's parts of it that will be enacted right away. it's going to provide children to better access to nutritious food, also embursmentes to schools will increase. ed ed being the us is da will be establishing new dpied loins for vending machines and school cafeteria food. we've been talking a lot about this. a big deal for our country because it's been 30 years, ed, since those school lunches have been krup grade upgraded. you and i could probably tell the horror stories of what was coming in front of us on those trays. hopefully less tater tots and processed foods, more fruits and vegetables for our kids. >> i remember the phrase "mystery meat" in school.

>> exactly. >> that is good to see. interesting as well that the president you heard his remarks before he signed it, he introduced michelle obama. this has been one of her key initiatives. she's finally see it come to fruition. he joked he's glad it passed because otherwise he would be sleeping on the couch. i'm not sure he's joking. >> i didn't want to go there. >> the first lady said, i don't know if we should go there. i think she was serious about it. >> okay. moving on from this subject matter. ed henry, thank you. lgae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the world's energy demands.

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well, every day at this time we honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan for us. we call it "home and away." today we're lifting up private first class matthew wilde from hammond, louisiana. he died following a roadside bomb attack in afghanistan august of 2009. he was just 18 years old. his mom wrote us and said matt was a good kid who never gave her any trouble. he had wanted to join the army since he was 13 years old and enlisted at the age of 17. matt loved being in the army and he was so very proud he was an infantry army soldier. if you've got a loved one you'd like us to honor, go to cnn.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name, pull

down the profile, send us your thoughts, pictures, and we'll keep the memory of your hero alive.