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julian assange, the founder of the whistle-blowing website facing a new bail hearing over alleged sex crimes. sweden wants him returned to face those charges. as early as today, the full senate could approve the controversial plan to extend the bush era tax cuts and extends unemployment benefits and cut it is payroll tax. some house democrats aren't saying if they'll support it. best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mymy series or motion picture made for television. >> early morning in hollywood. just before dawn local time. the golden globes announced their nominations. we'll give you the rundown on some of this year's nominees. well, we begin with the official start of winter more than a week away. just trying tell that to the

eastern two thirds of the nation where the mercury is plunging and the records are falling. from minneapolis to miami, temps are as much as 30 degrees below normal and that's only part of the nation's extreme weather. in indiana, motorists were stopped in the tracks. two counties declared states of emergency. the south pounded. this is mountain city, tennessee, just outside the window of phillips mullens parts of the state saw eight inches of snow. in the pacific northwest, trying to assess the damage of weekend flooding. rising waters chased hundreds from their homes and mud slides shut down roads and rail services. meteorologists are covering all the angles for us. rob marciano covered in snow but he's still smiling. he is in ohio. jacqui jeras with the big picture in the extreme weather center. let's begin with the northwest flooding. >> just been amazing, kyra. since the weekend, we are

talking about 29 landslides occurred because of all the rain we have had between two and five inches into the valley areas. as much as ten inches into the mountains. a little bit of a break as a system moves inland today and more rain can be expected and flood warnings will continue. the soil is very, very saturated and more of the landslides is a real good probability in the upcoming days. our other top weather story today is the cold weather. we have got temperatures plummeting across the east and very warm into the southwest. those of you over here, though, looking at temperatures about 25 to 30 degrees below the average. we had a record low this morning of 23 degrees in jacksonville, florida. and there are great concerns about the citrus crop. picture to show you from morning in lake county just outside of the orlando area shows you that they spray water on top of these things to provide a little bit of an insulation on the oranges

and lemons and grapefruit in the area. we will have a live report coming up this morning from some of the citrus growers. show you temperatures right now. how high today? not very across the east. there you can see not above freezing ail cross about the northern two thirds of the country. that cold air is blowing over the warmer lake waters. we have had an incredible amount of snow coming in off the lakes, especially to the east of the cleveland area. a couple of feet can be expected before all is said and done and continuing to see the snow showers probably at least into thursday. that's where we find our own meteorologist cnn's rob marciano in she grin falls, ohio, and rob, how much snow are we talking about here? >> reporter: well, just last night they got a foot here on top of what they got last week and northeast ohio seeing 19, 20 inches and it's still snowing. we have a winter storm warning in effect until 7:00 tom morn. less lake-effect snow, usually that light, fluffy stuff and

still coming down. the bitterly cold temperatures, biting cold. woke up this morning, and winds howling 40 miles per hour. temperatures in the teens. dangerously cold air and places like this, a little town about 20 miles east-northeast of cleveland. beautiful. they have the holiday decorations up but even for folks here with the holiday spirit being pretty storm hardened residents, this is too much. three times the snow they typically get in the month of december and back to back weeks like this, already tired of it and we haven't hit winter yet. sporadic power outages in suburbs of cleveland. they have to boil the water because there's been a number of water mains that have burst because of the bitterly cold temperatures and as you know it's not going to warm up any time too soon so they could use a break and not going to get it for 24 hours. snow's sporadic. shifted a little bit to the east

and dangerous situation. traffic is moving. pretty good about clearing the streets around here. regardless of that, when you have to deal with water mains that are breaking and power out because the winds are so bad and talking about temperatures that are dangerously cold, it's not whole lot of fun. back to you in atlanta. >> all right. thanks so much. well, at the top of the hour, we're going to talk to a couple of motorists stranded by the lake-effect snow, paralyzing much of the northwest indiana area. they were bogged down for more than 14 hours. they're going to share their ordeal and pictures a hour from now. also, this morning, the future of your health care is being debated. from conference room to water coolers. it comes after a big blow to president obama's health care reforms. a federal judge in virginia says it's unconstitution alto force americans to buy health insurance. now, earlier on cnn's "american morning" we heard from

virginia's attorney general who brought the challenge to court. >> there's things to do in the area of health reform. i'm sympathetic to that but you have to stay within the boundaries of the constitution and there's no power given to congress or the president to order you and i and other americans to buy any product. and this is never, ever been tried by any congress before and we think it's because they have all recognized they didn't have the power to do this. the judge yesterday recommend d recognized they don't have the power to order us to buy product. if they can do it here, they can order us to buy cars, gym memberships to use the examples talked about in court in our case. >> all right. let's take a closer look at this ruling means to you and for that of course we turn to cnn chief medal correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. an interesting back and forth. >> the whole thing sort of based on a bargain between congress and insurance companies. this sort of deal, sort to speak.

insurance companies said, okay, we won't charge higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions. give them insurance. we'll let young adults stay on the parent's plan until 26. these various provisions. it was predicated on the fact that more people would buy insurance. this mandate sort to speak. got a lot of people out there, the young invincible, sort to speak. young and healthy and don't carry health care insurance. that's the exact kind of patient or customer the insurance companies want providing money for the insurance and defray the costs of taking care of sick patients and the bargain between congress and insurance companies. if it's not in place and can't penalize people for not buying health care insurance, it puts it in jeopardy. >> which, you know, what's that mean for the folks counting on this benefit? >> there's a couple of things. a lot of what happens here doesn't roll out until 2014 and geared to take out many years, a few things have taken place.

for example, young adults can stay on the parent's insurance to 26. there was a gray area. finish with college. didn't get a job yet. the four or five years can be tough. >> now in an economy -- >> right. >> it's kind of -- lasting a little longer. >> may need the years to get the health care to 26. children cannot be discriminated against with a preexisting condition. can be a very frightening burden for parents. and that doesn't exist. but the other stuff, the public option, people right now who say i have had some sort of preexisting problem. i can't get health care insurance banking on this. people with a job and want to start a business and buy my health insurance through the public option, they might be paying attention today, as well, putting it in jeopardy. this is one thing, two rulings going the opposite direction and that is state court. as you said, it is likely to go to the supreme court before this is actually finally said and done. >> yeah. it's going to be a long time to

get answers. >> that's right. >> we'll talk act it. sanjay, thanks so much. washington remembering diplomat richard holbrooke whose efforts helped end the boss kneeian war in the 1990s. he died last night. he had surgery over the weekend to repair damage to the aorta. the top envoy for afghanistan and pakistan was 69 years old. president obama called holbrooke, quote, a true giant of american foreign policy. he was a truly unique figure remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of his country and pursuit of peace. secretary of state hillary clinton issued a statement saying america lost one of the fiercest champions and most dedicated public servants. he was one of a kind, a true statesman and that makes his passing all the more painful. david gergen remembered holbrooke as a tough negotiator. >> he was very tough.

president obama said at the state department he was one tough son of a gun. that is right. if you're president and had to face a criminal, a really bad guy out there, you called for dick holbrooke. that was especially true of the clintons, both bill clinton and hillary clinton loved dick holbrooke and groomed him to be secretary of state and some people thought he should have won the nobel peace prize for the work in bosnia. other people thought he should have been secretary of state. he never got there and willing to do these really messy jobs. >> holbrooke was a diplomat to the end. a senior official says before going into surgery he told the surgeon, quote, you have to stop this war in afghanistan. so who's been the biggest news maker of the year? tomorrow we find out. who will the don the cover of "time" magazine's person of the year? the readers have spoken and i'll

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dodging fate and a date with the slaughterhouse. from san antonio, a reluctant bull tops the list. check out the showdown. late last week, a meat packing company, a big reason why he would not go quietly. took more than an hour to corral

the big fellow. to west lafayette, indiana, now. people could use this. robotic snow blower. the brain child of a few purdue university students. prototype cost about $6,000 to build and still has a few kinks to work out like the wheels. last stop, simi valley, california. a new stamp unveiled by the u.s. postal service yesterday. appropriately enough at the reagan -- ronald reagan library with his widow former first lady nancy attending. the stamp goes on sale in february. now to the end of privacy. our series about all the ways that personal details turn up in the public domain. today's topic -- cameras. you're under watch more often than you know but you probably didn't know that. cnn's josh levs shows us how to shut down the prying eyes. i thought there wasn't a way to do that, josh. >> i'm going to surprise you. look. we hear stories of hidden cameras disguised as all sorts

of things but you can hold a device in the hand that will show you if there is one of them near you. i visited a spy shop. check it out. they look like every day objects, a lamp, an ipod docking station. looking closer, they have hidden cameras inside. tiny, unnoticeable. >> the camera lens right here and usually pointing up. >> i have no idea. nothing about this that suggests anything is videoing me. they can provide an extra layer of security. >> the ones that tell me what they're doing, with their cameras, are going to be the people wanting to either keep an eye on their sitter, their nanny. >> reporter: we have seen how they kept the good guys in movies like "mission impossible." >> there's a camera built into the bridge. it transmits it back here. >> reporter: but some end up with there shouldn't be. >> i heard of a guy with a pin camera that he got, i guess motion activated and set it up

in a gym bag and i think in ymca or something. >> reporter: relatively affordable. a few hundred bucks and technology is making smaller and more sophisticated ones all the time and some broadcast it wirelessly over the internet. how can you tell if there's a hidden camera where you can? technology can help with that, too. >> this is actually a low-cost camera finder. >> reporter: private investigator brian curry sells the cameras and helps people watch out for them. >> seeing a big bright dot. it's telling me there's a camera. they can seek out wireless camera camera. >> reporter: seeing is picking up lots of different cameras in here? >> yeah. that's the flower pod camera. >> reporter: technology versus technology. potentially giving people the tools to invade the privacy an giving you a chance to catch them. it is pretty amazing. hold it in the hands. different ways to work.

beep or vibrate if there's a camera near you or look through it and see and the more sophisticated ones show you a screen of exactly what those hidden cameras are picking up. i have more information for you about them posted at my pages at facebook and twitter and having a conversation about it. about your concerns about the end of privacy, what you want to know. so kyra, while technology is taking away privacy, it is also giving people ways to empower themselves and try to get some of the privacy back. >> got it. all right. josh, thanks so much. there are people that influence your life every day, family, friends, maybe that chatty co-worker. some people have an affect globally. "time" magazine names the influencers as person of the year. you may remember ghandi in 1930. martin luther king in 1963. elizabeth ii 1952. but not all persons of the year were heroes. joseph s thealin in 1942 and

1938, person of the year was adolph hitler. tomorrow "time" picks someone for 2010 but the readers have spoken. they are just polled prior to this picture and name that will be on "time's" cover. what does the online poll say? reader's pick is julian assange, the wikileaks leader who this morning appearing in a british courtroom after being charged with rape. so, who do you think "time" should pick as person of the year? head to our blog cnn.com/kyra and tell us what you think. so would you say that the "social network" was the best pick of the year? foreign critics may have agreed. they came out with the list of golden globe nominees. stick around.

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well, teen star miley cyrus making headlines recently and of course late-night comics jumped on the opportunity to joke about it. here's jay leno. >> you heard about this. apparently a video -- apparently? i saw it. miley cyrus smoking what she -- a psychedelic herb. salvia. she said it was out her but hannah bong-tana. i believe it wasn't her. >> next hour we have a serious discussion ahead with you for an addiction specialist on the pitfalls of salvia use. the golden globes are often

calls litmus test to the oscars, best performance of the year according to foreign critics and learned the nominee of 2010. it was an early morning for you. any surprises? >> oh, there are always surprises on this exciting day. as you mentioned, the golden globes, huge, huge, huge deal to set up not only kicks off award show season but an idea of what the oscar race may be like. get to the exciting categories. the big one, start with best motion picture drama category. the king speech, believe it or not, that garnered the "the new york post" nomination this morning. seven. that's a small, independent film. it's highly regarded. it stars collin firth and plays king george the 6th and really, really considered a big favorite this award season and garnered the most nominations, seven. also black swan made the list. the fighter.

inception and the social network, a film that you perhaps have seen, kyra. six nominations. big, big film. also, in the best motion picture comedy category, alison in wonderland, johnnie depp did really well this morning. not only a nomination and the tourist stars opposite angelina jolie. other films in that category, burr lusing. the kids are all right and red. let me talk about red. it standards for retired extremely dangerous. not a lot of people heard of that film or seen the movie so why is it in the category? the golden globes love, love a great cast. they love a big party. that's what it's all about. listen to the players. bruce willis. morgan freeman. so you know, a little bit of surprise right there, as well. kyra? >> always a little bit. did you have a favorite, by the way? >> i loved "the social network."

"black swan" right up there. i interviewed natalie portman, saw the movie. i love the thriller. >> i heard it was really dark, though. depressing and dark. >> very dark. you kind of have to prepare yourself for that. beautifully, beautifully directed and natalie portman, such a talent. >> what about tv? what are the big picks? >> oh, all right. so "glee," no surprise there. >> we knew that. >> and they're still writing that momentum of the emmy awards this year. they did so well. they had the most gnome nations, five. as well as the big bang theory. the big c. 30 rock. another big favorite. and "modern family." and for best tv series, drama. boardwalk empire. dexter, the good wife. mad men and walking dead. and something else in that category. seeing a tip in power here between cable tv and network tv. traditionally, tv shows were the

ones that made the cut at the broadcast end but the only one from that tv and broadcast side is the good wife on cbs. the rest are from cable tv shows and could be a new trend that we're seeing perhaps, i ckyra. >> all right. thank you. >> thank you. well, as congress fights over the current tax legislation, 2 million people wait to find if the unemployment benefits run out. more than 15 million are jobless in this country. and that's got a devastating impact on the economy but what sort of affect does unemployment have on the unemployed? we'll take a look at that next.

well, on wall street, the federal reserve is in focus. policymakers meet today to discuss the recent moves to

kickstart the economy. stephanie elam is at the new york stock exchange. what are we expecting to hear, steph? >> a couple of things to expect to hear today, kyra. people looking for here on wall street are first how the economy is doing. and how the fed's $600 billion bond buying program was going. it's a type of stimulus and stocks have risen. one economist says any sort of optimism on the part of the fed will impact the market. it really does come down to what they have to say in that company statement. nobody's expecting anything to be changed with interest rates. consumer spending is a consideration today. retail sales rose almost a percentage point last month and a good start to the holiday shopping season good overall but investors waiting on the fed's decision so take a look at the numbers in the early going. the dow on the upside by 18 points. s&p 500 up, as well.

nasdaq up about 6 points right now. finally, kyra, the wedding of prince william and kate middleton is already turning out to be a boon for london's economy. several travel agents tell us that people started calling about hotel rooms immediately after the date was announced. some hotels are already sold out for the last week of april. one travel agent says there will always be a room available. just depends on how much you're willing to pay. did you ever think that a business correspondent would ever have anything to say about a wedding going on across the pond? >> yes. when it's this big, absolutely. everybody's paying attention. >> we cover it all, everything. they're very beautiful picture. rob probably talk about the weather and may be like in april and talking about the wedding, find a way to talk about it. >> i'm telling you. you know princess diana, for this, as well. thanks, steph. >> so true. sure. 9:30 on the east coast. 6:30 out west.

a look at other stories this morning. american diplomat richard holbrooke special envoy for afghanistan and pakistan died yesterday after surgery to repair a tear in the aorta. he was the chief architect of the 1995 dayton peace accords that ended the violence in the balkans. wikileaks founder julian assange back in a london courtroom attempting to get released on bail. he was denied bail in a court appearance earlier this month. assange is wanted for alleged sex crimes in sweden. and a good part of the nation in the deep freeze right now. let's get to the cnn severe weather center and jacqui jeras. any relief in sight? >> well, minor. kyra, it is going to get a little bit better. i think we are probably bottoming out with the worst of the temperatures this morning in the southeast. we have one more day where the temperatures are sub freezing before they start to lift a

little bit but cooler than average for at least another week and the plus side, those of you in the southwest dealing with near record temperatures. we could break one today in phoenix. so only up into the teens in the upper midwest and just barely above freezing even into the southeast for today. now, the cold air remaining in place. blustery into the northeast and northeast. lake-effect snow machines continue and one to two feet expected before the end of the week and then the other weather headline today is when's happening out west a. number of landslides have happened in the state of washington as very saturated ground and rains continue there at least through the middle of the week. kyra? >> all right. thanks. it's been a cold and restless night for a lot of farmers in florida with the plummeting temperatures. much of the state's citrus industry is literally hanging in the balance. florida's governor declared a state of emergency proceeding the latest cold snap.

turn to wftv steve barrett live in lake county, florida. steve, we saw now on the early morning feeds and we couldn't believe -- i mean, the way the crops look behind you, give us a show and tell. there's actual ice on the leaves there? is that right? >> absolutely. you can see it right behind me. look at the citrus trees here in florida look like. sunny florida. covered in ice. just a second here, i'm going to tell you how this is helpful and we'll have phillip here give us a look right down the aisle here. this is 350 acres of groves. called the showcase of citrus and it is like a winter wonderland this morning but this is all done with irrigation. i can show you they have these tiny little irrigation sprayers still working right now. they're going to be on all day for most of the day here and what they does is puts the water on the tree. creates the ice and then the ice

creates a barrier to the cold believe it or not. the more ice you have got on it, the better off the citrus is and overnight they watched it quickly. a demonstration of how they figure out whether it's frozen. take a knife. stab it in there and cut a hole in the citrus and what you can see there is that you got grapefruit. that's just grapefruit. no ice in there and worked. overnight wasn't a problem. didn't get cold enough long enough here to freeze this. so that's very good news. this is a $9 billion industry here so, you know, people can't understand why at 20-something degrees this would be a state of emergency. but this can not only kill the fruit but in the wood in the trees and affect the crop output here for years to come. it can kill the whole tree if not make it go dormant for several years and a real problem. i'll tell you this.

once it's really cold, almost frozen, about as good as it gets. almost frozen, but not quite. right off the tree. kyra. >> wow, steve, it is deceiving because when you first saw the video this morning, we thought, oh my gosh, the cold weather and the ice is actually hurting the crops but it's a protective measure. so what are farmers telling you? do you think that they were able to protect the crops in time and we're still going to get our citr citrus? >> well, here's -- it's kind of a double-edged sword here. they protected the crops tonight. i've been in florida for 20 years and this is a very early freeze. and often what that means is there are a lot more freezes to come. while they dodged the bullet tonight, they not be the case on another night. est mate is that if you get to 28 degrees or lower, for more than four hours, you're going to have a significant problem with your trees and with the crop. that didn't happen tonight but

being that this is only the middle of december, you know, we are not even into winter yet and could be a very, very difficult year. we already had a couple of freezes in 2010 already back in january. so these guys are really still scared even though right now they're sort of breathing a sig of relief for the moment. >> yeah. i'm curious. you have been there for a number of years and we are lucky to have a relationship with the affiliate so we can get a firsthand look of what you are dealing with. it affects all of us. have you ever experienced temps like this? this is extremely unusual for florida. >> well, i tell you. last year, earlier, january, was extremely unusual and lasted like four days. this is the second time in a week of threatening weather that went down into the freezing level. but we're still not getting down into those low 20s. the grove that we're at right now is one of the northern most groves annual not a lot of groves like this in this area of

florida. there are a few up north up of here. waiting to find out how they fared in all this. it might not be good. to answer your question, no. i don't recall this early there being a freeze and consecutive years of freezing. usually we go several years without a freeze here in florida at all here. we have two consecutive years and might be worse from here. this could be one of the worst years i have ever experienced here. >> steve barrett, we sure appreciate you reporting for us. keep us updated, steve, please, as you get more information. we'd love to talk to you again. >> we will. >> thanks, steve. senate could see a final vote on the tax legislation today. then the house gets it and that could be a real fight. meanwhile, 2 million jobless americans holding their breath this week. waiting to see if congress reups the benefits for 13 months. more than 15 million people are out of work in this country. american morning's john roberts

and kiran chetry spoke with daniel roth of how high unemployment has an impact on the unemployed and that brings us to our "a.m. extra." >> the principle is that you remember what it's like to be in the work force, network, know the people that you know and you're constantly in touch with them. out of work for a few months, a few weeks, you are still calling people, still in the habit of going to work. that habit erodes after a little while and your connections erode and the connections to technology start eroding. >> perishable skills, basically? >> absolutely. the tougher it is for employers -- employers start to think this person out of work for a while. why would i bring them in? their skills are rusty. they don't know all the people they're supposed to know. why don't i move this person internally? a lot of employers say i poach now and start to take people from other companies. would i rather have someone working somewhere else? the employer kept them on.

they must be really good. we have been waiting for rnc chair michael steele to make a decision about the next move. well, now he has. and he's running again. as we take you to break, cleveland, ohio, live pictures. 16 degrees right now with a high of 20. they can look forward to snow tonight, as well. ♪ 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.

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well, the president and members of congress may have to change their holiday travel plans. our senior political editor mark preston working the story for us this morning. hey, mark. >> hey, kyra. good morning. yes, you know, president obama supposed to head out to hawaii on saturday and congress is supposed to wrap up on saturday but with so much still left on the agenda unfinished, including the bush era tax cuts, and of course, all of these other votes that the administration would like to see happen such as don't ask, don't tell and the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear treaty, looks like that will slip. yesterday, during the white house briefing, robert gibbs suggested that it won't happen on saturday. meaning, we'll see these lawmakers in town for a few more

days and i literally got off the phone with a senior aide on capitol hill that said, look, look for it to slip into next week. you know, a lot has been said about ronald reagan and a lot has commemorated him. just -- just -- you know, 100th birthday in february. he is now had the third postal stamp has been issued to honor him. it was unveiled yesterday and in fact, a former first lady nancy reagan was there during the unveiling. this is going to be one of those forever stamps so it's not one of the limited issue stamps to honor the late president. kyra? >> and then the spence over michael steele finally making a decision, right? >> yeah. well, looks like he is now going to run for a second term as head of the republican national committee. you know, he had been mum for about a month now, hadn't given us any kind case which way to go. in fact, yesterday there were reports that he was not going to run and then reports that he was going to run. well, last night, he put that

all to rest. he is now going to run in a conference call with rnc members acknowledged that he's had stumbles and said he's been forthright at the head of the party and said that the rnc deserves credit of the republican gains. the election is in january and will have competition. other people looking to run against him. kyra? >> thanks so much. well, we'll have your next political update in about an hour. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, 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

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mexico's ongoing drug war has doctors saying no mas. first stop. thousands of doctors put down the stethoscopes yesterday to protest the growing violence say they increasingly targeting them. they demanded the mexican government do more to stop the killings in their city. chernobyl, ukraine. site of the world's worst nuclear disaster. how would you like to vacati will? government officials will reopen the restricted zone around the burned-out power plant that exploded in 1986. in case you plan to visit, be forewarned. the background radiation levels still well above normal.

last but not least, russia, prime minister vladimir putin does his best -- you ready for this -- fats domino impersonation. ♪ i'm blue okay. well, the multi-talented putin tickled the ivories a bit for cancer research at a charity event. following lots of developments. let's start with the stephanie elam. hey, steph. >> hey there. well, we are taking a look at the at the workforce and women. it turns out women are getting mbas at higher levels of education benefit most don't take it to the highest in the corporate ladder. we'll take a look at the gender gap coming up in the next hour. we're also looking at the controversy surrounding video of miley cyrus partying with a bong. ♪

>> and also ahead, hue jackman was people magazine's sexiest man alive in 2008, but he wasn't feeling so hot after you stunt he performed. yeah, it didn't go so well. we want to get to a developing story out of italy right now. protesters have taken to the streets after italian prime minister berlusconi eked his way through the votes at the last minute. cnn's dan rivers live in rome. walk us through what happened. and let's bring our viewers up to speed about why this guy has so many enemies right now. >> well, this was a no confidence vote that had been provoked after one of his coalition allies defected and took a bunch of politicians with him prompting this no confidence vote. sylvia berlusconi has been

embroiled in scandal after scandal here in italy, all of which he has tried to trot off or deny. but the allegations keep coming involving sex parties with underage girls, involving alleged corruption, involving court cases. it's just been one thing after another. he narrowly got through this vote by two votes. so he survives as prime minister. but there has been a very angry reaction on the streets of rome. we got caught up in it ourselves. there was tear gas being fired and protestses responding with bricks and missiles and fires being hit in the streets. this is happening on one of the main shopping streets in rome, via delcaso, down from the spanish steps. so right in the heart of the shopping district of rome and descended into, really, a full scale riot.

>> and let's not forget how frustrated italians have been with the debt, with the bad economy. and we're talking about these individuals being led by a prime minister who has been mired in a number of investigations into corrupt business dealings, profiting himself while others in italy are struggling just to get by day-to-day. >> yeah. and i think that's what's really enslaved intentions here. these are all things that show berlusconi is fighting and denying, but nevertheless, it's scandal after scandal here as the economy is in a dire stage. the level of debt that italy has is bigger than spain, portugal, ireland and greece combined. so it is -- there are massive structural issue here against a background of austerity cutes and so forth. so i think there is a fairly

large chunk of citizens here who are angry with berlusconi seeming to be lining his own pockets while the economy suffers something he denies. but he still, in the polls, amazingly, his party is still ahead in the polls, not enough to lead outright, but enough to get a coalition of other parties together to lead. so he survived this confidence vote. the second one in three months. on limps on as prime minister as the streets continue to be choked with tear gas. >> dan rivers, we will stay in contact with you as this story continues to develop. thanks so much. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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♪ it's electric pp >> give me some electric slide. >> if you'll do it with me. heck no. i'll do the electric slide on my big butt is what i would do. hi, tony. >> how are you doing? good to see you, kyra. so we changed it up a little bit. >> yeah. we like the couch.

you look uncomfortable. i'm a tall guy. i have my knees up to my chin. yao blue socks don't match, by the way. >> what do you think they don't match? they don't? now i have to match socks? are you kidding me? >> it works on tv. you can't tell that they're dark blue. >> and just like on television, people think i don't have a lot of hair, but i have a lot of hair, rights? >> and you've got some exciting monday night football. >> did you watch a little bit of this last night. >> i did not. i know you have to crash. take a look at this. the play of the game. this was a great game. win in overtime probably for ravens fans it was nerve-racking because the ravens were in control of this game until the fourth quarter. this is david rooes, first year in the lead and he breaks off a big one, david reed to the house, 103 yards. ready for the big playstation/xbox finish, there you go. but you get a furious comeback

in the fourth quarter. matt schabb plays terrific football in this game. he brings the texans back. they came all the way back in this game, tie it up, get it into overtime, off his back foot, ball game over. ravens win. now, the david reed return for a touchdown, 103 yards, an all-time record for the ravens. there was a huge return in the super bowl, 2000, germane lewis, a blast from the past, one of my son's favorite players as he was growing up, 100 yards -- no, not quite that long, but it was a big return in the super bowl when the ravens in 2000 beat the giants. i mentioned that because i was there. >> brett farve out. >> how about that? what do we do without brett farve? >> and how about the sexting

with his girlfriend? >> you had to go there. that could potentially get really ugly, no pun intended. so here we go. 297 games, the consecutive game streak ends last night in detroit. brett farve can't play because he's got a busted up arm and shoulder. he's hurt. he's just hurt and he can't play. >> that's what happens when you get old. what is he now? he's 41. >> he goes on the inactive list. essentially, that ends his professional career, 297 games. and what does he do? he is now selling footballs, commerative footballs, memorabilia with the stats, 297 games pep started playing in '92 in the george r.w. bush administration. >> way back when. >> way back when. >> i remember living in wisconsin covering brett farve, brett farve, sterling sharp, reggie white. it was the big day of the packers when they started.

next thing you knew, they were in the super bowl. >> and all those great players. >> that was a great time to be on lambeau field, let me tell you. >> how did we do, did we do okay? >> yeah, we did great. give me a little electric slide out of here. >> how about that move? see you at the top of the hour. >> tony harris, ladies and gentlemen. we'll see you back here tomorrow. >> okay. all right. it's now 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. here are some of the stories that have us talking from coast to coast. much of the u.s. reeling from extreme weather, the mudslides in the pacific northwest, record breaking cold from minneapolis to miami. and republicans headed for a fight over the leadership of the national party, rnc chair michael steele says he is not running for a second term. several candidates lining up to challenge him, including one of his own top allies. and right now, the man behind the wikileaks candle,

julian assange, appearing in a new bail hearing over an alleged sex crime. sweden wants him returned to face those charges. he says the allegations are part the of a smear campaign. but we begin this morning with the future of your health care. it's being debated from conference rooms to water coolers. it comes after a big blow to president obama's health care reform. a federal judge in virginia says it's unconstitutional to force americans to buy health insurance. earlier, on "cnn headline news's" american morning, we heard from virginia's attorney general who brought that challenge to the court. >> for 45 years, we've had one solution when we've all gotten together and recognized that we had problems in health care and that was more government control and what we need is more citizen control. going in that direction wouldn't offend the constitution like this bill does where we're ordering our citizens to do something. you must buy this product that we have preapproved. if they can do this, they can

order you to buy a car. maybe they'll order you to buy a chevy equinox. >> what does the move mean? more importantly, what does this mean for your health care? it sounds like it's getting complicated, so that's why we brought in elizabeth cohen. hopefully she can talk more about this. what did a virginia judge find unconstitutional? >> what they found unconstitutional is the specific part of the bill that said hey, you, kyra, you, elizabeth, every american, you have to have health insurance because right now it's your choice, right? if you don't feel like forking over the money for health insurance, you don't have to have it. let's look closely at what happens if you don't buy health insurance under the law. if you decide to buck that order and say, i don't want health insurance, i'm not going to get it, what happens is you'll get a penalty of up to about $700 of 2% of your taxable income. so that is a pretty hefty penalty. so you have to go out and buy

health insurance or face a penalty of up to $750. that is what the virginia judge found unconstitutional. other district court judges said it was fine but he said it was unconstitutional. >> and you pointed out that americans were being forced by hcr to buy it. have there been any other scenarios where government has forced us to purchase something? >> it's interesting. we asked the lawyers this and they said no. this is really unprecedented. i was speaking with a health lawyer at boston university and he's writing an article on this specific topic and he said, no, there really isn't anything else where just by virtue of being an american, the federal government makes you buy something. and so they're going to have a tough time at the supreme court because that is where this is headed. rationalizing this from a legal point of view because there's no precedent and in no other place does the federal government say you have to buy this, just by existing, you have to buy this.

>> interesting. >> some people may be enjoying benefits and they want to know if they go away. the short answer is no, they don't go away. let's talk about two of the important ones. for example, already, as of september, if your kid is up to age 26, they can stay on your insurance. so you can stay on your parents' insurance until age 26. that doesn't change with this virginia ruling. also, children with pre-existing conditions who are having a tough time getting insurance before now it is easier for them to get insurance. and companies cannot say no. that doesn't change, either. so those two things, which are very helpful to many american families, those stay in effect. now, as we go down the road years from now, those and other things may go away. but at this moment, those are safe. >> elizabeth, thanks. >> thanks. well, that highly fought over tax bill could get final senate approval as early as today. the senate voted yesterday to

end debate on the measure. the deal includes a two-year extension of the bush era tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. it would extend unemployment benefits for 13 months and cut the payroll tax by 2% for a year. senate approval should set up a showdown over house democrats divided by that plan. washington is remembering diplomate richard holbrooke whose efforts helped end the bosnian war in the 1990s. holbrooke had surgery over the weekend to repair damage to his aorta. he was only 69 years old. president obama called holbrooke, quote, a true giant of american foreign policy who has made american stronger, safer and more respected. holbrooke was remembered as a determined negotiator. >> he was very tough. president obama said today at

the state department, he was one tough son of a gun and that's exactly right. he was a man that if you were president and you had to face somebody who was a criminal or one of the bad guys out there, you called for dick holbrooke. that was especially true of the clintons. bill clinton and hillary clinton loved holbrooke. he was groomed for the secretary of state. other people thought he should have been secretary of state. he never got there, but he was still willing to go out and do messy jobs. >> holbrooke was a diplomate to the very end. a senior administration official says just going into surgery, holbrooke told his pakistani surgeon, quote, you've got to stop this war in afghanistan. >> northwest indiana, travelers were stranded for hours. lucky ones were able to find

refuge inside some businesses that kept their doors open. two candidates there have been declared states of emergency. our next guests were bogged down in that snow for 15 hours. but, of course, they captured a time of this experience on camera. scott and jeremy trying to make their way to chicago. that's why we find them today, thank goodness. it was not an easy haul. scott, 15 hours, how did you pass the time besides taking pictures and detailing things for us? >> we had plenty of things saved on jeremy's ipads and we had our phones and we had cell service. so as long as we had that, we were okay. >> thank goodness. now, i was reading a little -- scott is smiling, but jeremy, you say your biggest issue was fear. you know, on a serious noe note, that is a little scary just

getting past one hour, let alone 15. tell me what you were so frightened about. >> in our first hour, we were stuck in basically a traffic jam on 30 for about an hour. for the first 15, 20 minutes of that hour we were the last car in the lineup. so any cars coming up from the back of us, we were the first car people would hit and we had a very close experience with that because a guy coming up on the roadway and hit us. we were in a hybrid the car, do we have enough battery life? how long will we be able to sit here? ultimately, we decided to turn around. >> scott, how durchbd? did you make any phone calls? did you try to reach out for help? what kind of response did you get? oh, no, you laugh. that may not be good. t

the. >> thank goodness my car made i over the median because we didn't get much help. when we said we wanted to know whether to wait there or try to get off the road, they said, well, there's a weather emergency. and we thought, that's probably one of the most apparent things someone could have said to us. >> that's a little obvious. >> i guess what was odd was they said they didn't have a policy of telling people either to move ahead or to try to go back. so we had to make the decision ourselves and i thought that that sounded like they didn't want to be liable for what they told us. so we went back to the closest thing that was safe, which was a gas station about two miles away. >> very smart. jeremy, was there any tense moment there where you and scott were about to choke each other's necks or was everything pretty calm, cool and collected? >> funny you should ask. no, we really did pretty well. i think in those moments when i'm a back seat driver and i'm making sounds if he should stop

or something, that's a pretty big issue and it doesn't help to the stress levels. but once we got to the gas station, what can you do except try to make the best of it and have a good time and keep a positive attitude. one of the things we want to say is how amazing the gas service station people were. they stayed there all night. it was tend of their shift and they ended up being with them, just the two of them with us and probably another 100 people all night long. they kept it up and running and they could have easily gone home to their families, probably, so -- >> wow, big shout out to them. >> francis and mika at the speedway on route 30 in wanataugh, indiana. >> there you go. excellent. everybody stop think there and give them a cup of coffee. fill up your tank of gas. that's really nice, guys. scott, jeremy, glad you made it to a safe location, you're dry and warm. we appreciate you ireporting for us. >> thank you.

for those men, the misery could be measured in hours. for much of the nation today, it's a matter of degrees and mercury plunging and records falling. one thing that could be going up, too, is your grocery bill. farmers in florida doing everything they can to protect fragile crops from a hard dip that can dip south to the orlando area. significant damage there could push the price of things like orange juice up pretty high. >> if it goes below 27 for three to four hours with no cloud cover, it could be a disaster for the whole citrus industry. it could wipe out these beautiful honey bells that are just coming in. >> for us, it's devastating. >> not only will you see a lot of farmers close the door, but you'll see vegetable prices go to prices never seen before. >> the overflight temps have declared a state of new jersey.

orange juice features skyrocketed to a two-year high. >> we had a couple of record lows this morning. a couple of those citrus areas could be below freezing yet again before they start to warm up a little bit. west palm beach, down to 32. jacksonville was down to 20. pa duke wa paducah, kentucky, had a record low of 4 degrees. the weather is favorable for continuing to bring that arctic air down and staying cooler than normal. there you can see we're about 20 to 25 degrees below average and that's preventing the temperatures from getting above freezing all the way down into parts of the deep south. we're a little concerned because there's an area of low pressure developing over here into parts of texas that is going to take a southerly track for tomorrow and that could be bringing wintry mixes across parts of the tennessee valley. that is something to watch for

some icy conditions. teens in boston and in pittsburgh, subzero. lake-effect snow are continuing to turn at this hour. those cold temperatures over those warmer lakes, we're expecting to see another foot or so here over the next couple of days. travel, we have problems in the northeast because of those winds. out west, we've got problems with clouds and fog in san francisco. also san diego and, of course, the wet conditions with the flooding in the pacific northwest. kyra. >> jackie, thanks. hugh jackman tries to impress fans of oprah. it looks cool, but oh, the landing, a little uncomfortable. gecko: gd news sir, i jugot ae

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on screen, his character, wolverine, he opens second. but on "today" hugh jackman showed he does bruise after you bummed a stunt. jackman tried to im pres press fans as he zip lined to the top of the stage. but reuters is reporting he was so distracted by the view, he forgot to brake in time and he hit some of the light rigging, giving himself a black eye. yeah. jackman made it on stage minutes later, saying, quote, that was so much fun until the end. big talk of tinsel town right now, besides hugh jackman, the nominees for this year's golden globe awards. a.j. hammer joins us from new york with all the details. let's talk about this hugh jackman stunt. is he all right?

>> yeah. he's fine. but a bit bruised and shaken and probably not that happy that it went that way. it was quite the on-stage scare. he is on the zip line making his grand entrance as you mentioned, and boom, unfortunately he swooped on the zip line right into some ska folding. he smacked his face there. paramedics and oprah herself tended to the star's eye. jackman did return to the stage about ten minutes later saying he was okay, explaining he forgot to put on the brakes. but nurse oprah attending to jackman, that woman can do anything! >> she can. >> i sound like regis. >> yes, you do. they stayed at a holiday inn express. she healed junk jackman. zip lining is such a blast and you're right, if you don't pay attention to when you're supposed to break, you can be in

huge trouble. he got caught up in the moment, didn't he? >> he certainly did. before that, he had a big smile on his face and he said, yeah, the view distracted him, which is understandable. that skyline there is unbelievable. and i think he was just -- you know, it was one of those moments. he was taking it all in. >> and i love the picture of him drinking a little wine afterwards. that probably helps a little. on to the golden gloeps globes, a lot of talkers made it to the short list, like social network. >> and that was a film that everybody expected. we had kately holmes getting up early today, 5:30 a.m. in hollywood making the announcement along with blair underwood and josh dumel. take a look. >> best actor in a motion picture comedy or musical, johnny depp, alice in wonderland, johnny depp, "the tourist." >> well, some of the highlights

aus just heard there, johnny depp will be competing against himself for alley in wonderland and the tourist. that's cool and unfortunate because it splits up the vote. angelina jolie got an actress nomination in the motion picture musical or comedy category along with annette benning, ann hath aw hathaway. moving to the big film category, nominees, "black swan," the "the fighter," "inception," the king's speech, and "the social network." this is the one show that brings film and stv stars together for really what a huge party. looking at the tv fom nominees now, "30 rock," "the big bank theory," "the big c," modern family. moving to the best

television series category, "boardwalk empire," "dexter," "the good wife". michael c hall nominated, madmen, hugh lauri, nominated for "house." the globes are handed out on sunday. ricky jervais will host. if you look around on the tables, you'll notice they're serving wine and champagne and that adds to the possibility of what stars may say. >> oh, yes, you never know. you need a shot of that champagne right now with that dry throat. our favorite shows made it, modern family and glee. >> very happy to see boardwalk empire getting some attention, as well. >> all right, jay. thank you very much. see you tomorrow. >> you got it. >> if you want information on everything breaking in the

entertainment world, a.j. has it, "showbiz tonight," 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. tomorrow, we'll find out whose faift face will be the cover of "time" magazine's person of the year. up next, i'll tell you who they chose and not everyone is real thrilled about it. ♪ there are no sick days. vicks dayquil defeats 5 cold and flu symptoms. ♪ [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] in the nfl, you can't win tomorrow if a cold keeps you up tonight. vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold...medicine.

how about the people that influence your life, like family and friends, your neighbor, people that have ta big effect globally. time magazine names these global influencers of person -- as person of the year, gandhi, 1930, martin luther king, 1963, queen elizabeth ii, 1952. but not all persons of the year were heroes. 1938, who could forget person of the year, adolf hitler. tomorrow, "time" picks someone for 2010. but their readers have already spoken.

they've been polled prior to the picture and name that you'll see on "time"'s cover. what does the online say? the readers' pick is julian assange, who this morning is appearing in a british courtroom after being charged with rape. who do you think "time" should pick as person of the year? that was the question we asked you last hour and here are some of your responses. >> storm on twitter, putting their vote on "time's" person of the year, i think it should be the ceo of facebook. sorry, but i forgot his name. that's mike zuckerberg, lyricalstorm. maybe you could friend him. twitter named media track facilitates julian assange for showing the world who we really are. person of the year, lady gaga. and a tweeter calling himself guevardjd, key ra, you should be

the one. tomorrow, remember, we find out who "time" has chosen for perpendicular of the year. i don't think guevardjd, your candidate has a real shot, but thank you so much for giving us a shout out. surviving the arctic blast. a real close call caught on tape with a happy ending. t plan for . call now to find out how a medicare plan from unitedhealthcare medicare solutions may have the coverage you're looking for. and now is the time because december 31st is the last day you can switch plans. medicare has two parts, parts a and b, to help cover a lot of your expenses. like doctor visits, and hospital care. but they still won't cover all of your costs. now's the time to learn about plans that may be right for you. call now and tell us about your situation. we can help you select the right medicare plan. with some plans, we can help you enroll right over the phone. i'm looking for help paying for my prescriptions.

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7:30 out west. here is a story that had us talking this morning. wikileaks founder julian assange grant ed bail in a london courtroom. assange is wanted for alleged sex crimes in sweden. almost nine months after president obama signed a massive health care reform bill, one key part of the measure has been declared unconstitutional. a federal judge in virginia ruled that congress cannot force americans to buy health insurance. now, watch this video ought of australia. ooh, yeah, did you hear the ouch? that's aussie actor hugh jackman on a zip line at oprah winfrey's ultimate australian adventure show. the take off was fine. the landing wasn't. he hit the brakes too late, slammed into the lighting rig

just above the stage. jackman later appeared with oprah sporting a bandage under his eye. the stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. dow jones up. the path to the top for women is not always clear. this is stephanie elam joining us now. the study says some female executives get stuck in the corporate merry go round and can't move up, right? >> exactly. they get somewhere mierd in the middle somehow, and if you take a look at 2009, women made up 50% of the workforce. think about it, that's a lot. but take a look at how far up the chain they get. 15% have board seats. 13% were executive officers. and then just 2% were ceos. so it just shows you that overall, even though they're making up half the workforce, women are not making the levels that men are doing there.

so one of the things that this survey looked at here, the catalyst of study was how much is mentoring playing a part in this? and they're saying it's better to have a mentor than not having one, but it depends on the level of the mentor because that mentor usually helps with promotions and getting higher pay, as well, and they help you move up pt and the higher up that mentor is, then the better pay and level of employment that the mentee will get. that's part of the issue we're seeing, is that they're not questing after these jobs. it's just that women aren't getting the same opportunities. >> so if women don't have mentors, does that hold them back, bottom line? >> yeah, well, it's not necessarily just about that. it's not loofk mentors. the difference is that men get mentored and then they get sponsored and promoted, as well. sponsorship means you have someone who is an advocate. they're going to tell you, this is what you need to do.

this is what you've done wrong. it's more than just saying, this is what business is like. also women start out of school with higher job levels than women do. oftentimes women don't ever get back to a level where they're on par with men. also one of the thing i want to point out, male pay raises when they're promoted, about 21%. for women, they're about 2%. so you show there there's a big disparity when it comes to even things that have to do with the wallet. >> interesting. i also hear you can get a new deal on a new jetta from a website. >> yeah. if you're just crying your tears away because you don't have the level of job that you want, perhaps you can make yourself feel better and sporty by log on to deals.com because if you go to the website tomorrow, thursday and friday, they are going to sell a 2011 volkswagen jetta for $5,995, sell one a day. the first day is just for people

who go on gilt.com and by their phones. get your fingers ready. go for it. see if you can get yourself a $6,000 car. what do you think, kyra? >> dress for success is a fabulous charity. i'm glad you put a plug in for them. >> great stuff. it's a great thing they're doing. >> exactly. >> $6,000 a day, woo-hoo, yeah. >> thanks, stef. take a look at those temperatures. a deep freeze covering much of the nation. you know it's cold when it's the 20s in florida. but it's not just the horrible cold. in washington stated, the problem is rain which triggered mudslides sending hundreds of people to shelters. hillsides washed away. in indiana, the problem is snow. sheriff's deputies in northern indiana rescued 100 stranded motorists trapped by more than two feet of snow. so far, that weather is blamed for 16 deaths across four states. take a look at this incredible

video from cincinnati. icy roads to blame for this motorist slammed into a car on the side of the road, actually pinning a police officer. he had stopped to investigate an accident when another car lost control, crashed into him, sending him hurdling over a concrete barrier. amazingly, everyone in that accident is fine. people in ohio still dealing with nasty cold and snow. it's beautiful background, though, rob, i have to tell you. >> it is. you know, it's stuff not to get in the spirit of things here when you're in the town square here and a cute, quaint town. it's snowy and you have the christmas lights up. but the fact of the matter is, this is the second week in a row they have got hammered with a tremendous amount of snowfall. they do pretty good clearing the roads, the sidewalks here, so traffic is moving. but other issues with the cold have come to light. a couple of water main breaks have caused some roads to flood and freeze and also caused some communities just south of cleveland to have to actually

boil their water to make it safe to drink. so it's not just the snow. it's the bitter, bitter cold, the dangerous cold that has been affecting this area. when we woke up in cleveland this morning, close to the lake, that's winds were howling, 30 to 40 miles per hour and windchills well below zero. the snow continues to fall. the big freeze is on. but as mentioned, it's been ongoing and we're not through the month of december. we caught up with the mayor of chagrin falls yesterday and here is what he had to say about that streak. >> this is -- this is very severe. it's as severe 80s gets. we had a couple of feet of snow last week and then partially melted over the weekend and now we're in for it again. so we are used to winter, but this is peak. >> you get used to it, i suppose. but when it comes to that early on, and when it comes two weeks in a row, it can wear you down rapidly.

as jackie has been telling us, but don't see a huge, huge warm-up anytime soon. there's a winter storm warning in effect for this area until 7:00 this morning. chagrin falls, not bad. check out this gazebo. they have a volunteer group that decorates all this stuff. big wreaths and nice christmas lights. we haven't run into too many people that are really looking badly at this, but they could stand it to be a couple degrees warmer, that's for sure. >> i'll tell you what, you are getting into the spirit, rob. are you going to go and have a nice lunch now? >> we just had a nice, cozy breakfast. time to get back to work, so here we are. >> very good. up to the moment weather, breaking news, video and more. we're going to tell you in a little bit that you and i, when we get going, it's all over. we were talking about the newest edition to the cnn family ipad app is actually up and running.

we've been talking about it all morning and our buddy, michael homes is here to walk us through it. >> i go from war correspondent to geek guy because i love all this stuff as well. >> you have a tech know geek. >> it was my birthday yesterday, thanks for the card, and my kids gave me an ipad. the ipad app has launched. everyone has been using the iphone and the itouch. this is the bigger, brighter one. this sa blown-up ipad itself. different ways of looking at the news. if you want to watch some, you just touch it. but also, we can go to the list view. if you don't want to have a look at all the pictures, again, just touch. i like this one because it's full of pictures and that's what we're about. you flip through the stories of the day and, oh, that's an attractive one. and then you touch on whatever -- >> we needs to talk about that one, it caught your attention. >>ite flower sure we should. but if you want to see the story, bang. >> and video, too, right?

>> yes, video, too. that's me. how is that on there? >> look at that. oh, a cartier watch, how lovely. >> that's almost weird, isn't it? we did this at cnn international running this all night describing the app. so you can do that for any news story that's on the app and there is a million of them, of course. and the other thing, too, you can do, you can check out your featured stories. then you've got a whole option of videos. who is that guy? i haven't seen him before. >> what a handsome man. he needs to close his mouth. >> some might say. and i know what you'll be doing. you'll be switching your preference to international. >> and can i get your show, back story? >> i don't think you can get the show, but you can get that on the website, cnn.com/backstory. >> or maybe you can get segmentes and clips of michael's show. >> you really can't miss. that's out now.

it's free. it's just for the ipad. all of the apps are now free for everyone all around the world. and this is going to be pretty popular, i hope. it's now released. i was sweating it last night waiting to get to the apps story and it hit. >> and you got it on your birthday on your new ipad from your kids. >> exciting. you have all of this ahead of you. >> i can't wait. exactly. i've been trying to keep away from technology for a long time. miley cyrus, making headlines. this time we're looking at the controversy surrounding video of her reportedly partying with a bong. reports are it wasn't pot. it was salvia. do you know what that is? well, we had to do a little research. you beftter be checking in with your kids, son. coming up. the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho.

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it took little time to jump on the miley cyrus story. here is jay leno. >> have you heard about this? apparently think a video of miely -- i saw it. miley cyrus, smoking a psychedelic herb. salvia. although miely says it wasn't her, it was her alter ego, hannah bongtana.

>> that was pretty good. jay having a little fun. she was reportedly caught on tape smoking this bong and it has heart broken some fans and concerned a lot of parents. reports are that it's all legal. it wasn't pot, but something as jay mentioned salvia. karen miado is an addiction expert. karen, first off, what is salary via? >> it is a potent, halucinogenic plant. >> bottom line, so how does this compare to, say, peyoti, that native americans smoke during their spiritual ceremonies? >> very similar. it's been used by people in mexico. the shahmans have use it for a healing and requiredal ceremonies. so it is considered a sacred plant. >> here is what's interesting, karen.

seven years ago, we did a little research. our doctor, sanjay gupta, did research on salvia. the dea said this is as dangerous as cocaine, heroine and lsd. that was coming from the dea seven years ago. do you agree with that? what do we know about how dangerous it is? can you compare it to as dangerous as cocaine or heroine? >> it is dangerous because when users smoke it or chew it, they enter a different reality. so the effects are undoctor uncontrollable laughter, loss of sensation, feeling you're merging into a different world. but people don't use their rationale minds. so they may drive without having coordination or control and they may make decisions that are hamful to themselves or others. so in that sense, it's dangerous. >> okay.

and where could you line it up, say, comparing it to marijuana, smoking pot? >> well, marijuana is considered a recreational or a fun drug. and many users say this isn't necessarily fun. it can be a bad experience. so it's very different. it's a fascinating molecule. we don't have another drug or substance that acts as the opiate receptor the way this one does. so we don't have a lot of information about what could be the long-term effects. many scientists are interested in it medically because it is part of the opiate family. it may be a possibility of treating other disorders. >> so are you concerned about teens seeing miley cyrus doing this? because apparently the word out now is it's crazying a buzz among teens wanting to ask about it, trying it, are you concerned about that and what should

parents do now as we see this video and we're talking about it? >> i am concerned. i think parents should ask their children, ask their teens about the substance. some states have actually prohibited sales. there's no federal regulation against the drugs. but in certain states, it is illegal. so not only are we concerned about the effects on a teenager, but also there may be some legal repercussions for sales or use. >> karen, we appreciate your insight. a lot of concerned parents out there. thank you. >> thank you. well, before he can convince voters he should be mayor of chicago, rahm emanuel has something to prove, that he's a resident of chicago. but first, take a look at these pretty incredible pictures from voyager i. it reached a new milestone. scientists believe it finally reached the edge of the solar system. it's been more than 30 years since voyager was launched. the probe's initial goal was to get a look at the planets like

saturn, neptune, but voyager wrapped up that in 1989. now it's making the move to deep space and the center of the milky way.

rahm emanuel may be leading

the the polls in the run for chicago mayor. but he has a huge question to answer today. paul steinhauser has that story for us from the cnn.com desk. >> there's a new law that says if you're running for mayor, you have to be a resident of the city in the year leading up to the election. he was the chief of staff to president barack obama. right now, we have live pictures in chicago, chicago board of elections. he is testifying and trying to prove that, yeah, he is a resident. he said, listen, while i was in washington, i continued to pay taxes in my house, my car was registered there and i voted in chicago. he is trying to prove that he is a resident in chicago so he can stay on the ballot. mitt romney with an op ed this morning in usa today. you know what? he doesn't like that tax cut compromise between president barack obama and congressional republicans. he calls it a bad deal and it cites the deficit. >> how do americans feel about

the tax cut deal? i know you've been checking those polls, as well. >> check this out. here is one of them from pugh, the pugh research center. 6 out of 10 people in that survey say they support or approve of the tax cut compromise which extends the tax cuts for two years and unemployment benefits for one year. abc washington post had had a similar post out yesterday and 69% approve of it, as well. wooep we'll keep an eye on the public opinion. back to you. an anoining orange, a double rainbow and an inconsolable toddler coming up on youtube's 10 most popular viral videos. [ male announcer ] don't let aches and pains in the morning

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to you, chad, i salute you and you will never be forgotten in my heart. well, if you've got a comrade or a loved one you would like to honor, here is all you have to do. go to cnn.com/homeandaway. we'll guide you through exactly how you can put in your memories and your pictures. we'll promise to keep the memory of your hero alive. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own.

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well, with 2010 on the way out, to folks at youtube have released this top ten videos of the year. did any of your favorites make the list? let's see what jeanne moos has to show us. >> from it forget cats playing patty cake. there's not a single adorable animal video in youtube's top ten most popular videos this year. number ten showcases extreme driving. the number nine video featured a 3-year-old heart broken over heart tloeb justin bieber. >> you're crying because you love justin bieber? >> yes.

>> so jimmy kimmel invited cody on his show and surprised her with justin bieber. the group okay took eight place with their lou goldberg like music individualso. talk about the pot at the end of the rainbow -- >> double rainbow, oh, my god. >> many who saw the rainbow guy video that came in sixth were suspicious. whatever he was smoking, i want it. but the bow guy told jimmy kimmel he hasn't ingested anything. >> absolutely not. i was completely sober in that video. >> one kid posted that his parents wondered if he was watching some kind of porno stuff. >> speaking of spicy, number tief, it's the old space web ad. >> he could smell like he's me. look out, back up, where are you? you're on a boat with the man your man could smell. >> the number four video made a fruit famous. >> what's up?