weapons. ginger's daughter was left holding the bag while mom did interviews. ginger has no plans to retire her bag or to bronze it. >> it's my purse. >> reporter: jeanne moos, happy to meet both you and the purse, cnn -- >> i'm glad you said me before the purse. i appreciate that. >> reporter: new york. >> she's very lucky, though, to be standing there talking to jeanne moos. >> really is. >> could have gone the other way >> could have gone the other way so quickly. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> the news continues with t.j. holmes right now. >> glad you're right here with us. i'm t.j. holmes in for kyra phillips. we begin with news of minutes ago. britain's high court granted bail to wikileaks founder julian assange. the ruling supports a lower court decision that he could be

freed on bond, swedish prosecutors want to ask him some questions about sex charges unrelated, though, to wikileaks. we'll continue to follow the story and updates as we get them in. also, it's been a rough morning, a rough commute for a lot of folks in the eastern part of the country. we've got snow, we've got ice from the upper plains to the deep south. icy roads, of course, means a whole lot of accidents. we'll give you the latest on this weather as it continues for some parts of the country. also, a tv meteorologist is off the air and under arrest. new york police heidi jones that you are seeing there lied to them about an attempted sexual assault. they say she admits to lying but everybody's asking the question -- why in the world would she make up this story? also, this morning, the federal government going to court over last summer's oil spill in the gulf. yesterday, the federal government has now filed a lawsuit against the oil giant bp

and several other firms connected to that blown-out well. all that coming up but here we get started here. think back, folks. almost to christmas again and think back to christmas of last year. you're enjoying the day with the family, having christmas and then breaking news comes that someone trying to possibly blow up a plane over the u.s. yes, the christmas day bomber. we all remember that. now there are new concerns that al qaeda could once again be planning suicide attacks in the u.s. this holiday season. the u.s. official says the new intelligence is coming from captured insurgents. cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr following the story for us. barbara, hello, we remember what happened last year around the holidays and hearing this again, people will certainly get nervous, but i guess how credible is the information that we're getting? >> reporter: well, you know, t.j. that is what u.s. officials trying to assess. as you said, here we are again

in the holiday season and talking about a potential, a possible al qaeda threat. why does al qaeda raise the head seemingly every holiday season? well, they're trying to cause disruption and they know they can do it at the holiday season when so many people out and about. what do we know about this? well, u.s. officials say they have received information from iraqi authorities who have talked to captured insurgents interrogated them and those people say al qaeda in iraq is planning attacks possibly against the u.s. or europe at this holiday season. now, they say that there's no specific target or timing or specific location associated with it. a u.s. military spokesman in baghdad gave cnn this following statement. let me read it. he says, quote, we are aware of the announcement by officials within the government of iraq yesterday regarding alleged terrorist plans for attacks against the u.s. and europe.

the u.s. mission in iraq will work closely with the government of iraq and our interagency partners to help determine the extent of any potential threat. so they're taking it seriously. they're looking into it. but right now, nothing specific in terms of a location or a specific plan. t.j.? >> is there anything, any talk -- i know this is early and i'm sorry if i'm putting you on the spot but talk of doing anything differently at this point heading for the holidays and the airports, possibly asking americans once again to step up the vigilance if we can step it up more than we already have? >> reporter: i think you just hit the question right there. can it be stepped up reasonably anymore than it already is? no indication at this point that u.s. authorities are planning any step up but let's remind ourselves, vigilance in europe is also very high just a few days ago, that car bomb explosion in sweden.

swedish authorities very concerned. and over the summer, a lot of intelligence emerging in germany about potential attacks that let the german authorities to be very concerned. london always concerned. always vigilant. so, it's that time of the year when so many people are on the move and the massive disruption is possible that everyone is keeping their eyes more than open. t.j.? >> barbara starr, we appreciate you as always. thank you so much. speaking of christmas day last year, that so-called underwear bomber he is due in court today. he's set to be arraigned on new charges, specifically tied to terrorism. you will remember, of course, the nigerian man accused of a failed bombing attack. passengers and crew members subdued him after they say he tried to detonate an explosive device inside his underwear. he could face life in prison. the united states still on track to begin withdrawing troops from afghanistan and

pakistan next july. a highly anticipated white house report says enough progress in the region to stick with that planned to draw down of forces but the report also cautions, quote, the gains remain fragile and reversal. turn back to pan that city to a story yesterday that captivated so many people with the video. police say that gunman that opened fire in the school board meeting had a grudge and a plan. his wife, though, is taking a different view. there he is. the suspect. clay duke. his wife calling him a gentle giant that didn't want to hurt anyone. going to get back to that in a second. we, of course, need to warn you some of the video that you're going to see is graphic from that school board meeting. officers say duke had circled the day, december 14th, on his home calendar. and that was the day, that was on tuesday, he walked into the meeting with more than two dozen rounds of ammunition. spray painted a "v" on the wall

and missed the board members eventually killed himself during a shootout with a security guard. now, take a listen to this 911 call that came in from an unidentified woman. >> oh my gosh. he's firing. >> okay. >> he's firing. he's firing. he's firing. i don't know if -- >> are you secure? >> we don't believe we need an ambulance. it looks like everybody is up walking. >> okay. so the person that was shot -- >> i don't know. somebody is down. somebody is down. >> you don't know who's down? >> we don't know. >> okay. do you have visual of him? >> karen? everybody's okay? everybody's okay. who was shot? the gunman was shot. >> the gunman was shot? >> the gunman was shot. >> duke's wife says it's clear from the video that her husband wasn't trying to hurt anybody except himself. >> if you totally look at the

video, when he starts actually shooting, he's a military man. he's been trained in guns. he knows how to use them. okay? he knows about them. now, as close as he was, seriously, people. he was that close. if he wanted to shoot somebody, they would have already been dead. >> rebecca duke there as a former teacher that lost her job last year. she says her husband was upset about the firing and the world simply got the best of him. let's turn now to the weather and parts of the country including the south, oh, having some issues with the commute this morning. of course, as you get all that ice on the ground, you know what happens. you get pile-ups, fender benders on the frozen streets including in and around the atlanta area. up in minnesota, another leak, as well, for the metrodome.

you will remember these pictures from over the weekend. snow piled on top of that building just a little too heavy and caused a hole, caused the bubble up there, if you will, to sink. you saw the snow coming through. well, now they have another problem. snow continues to dump. another panel crumbled under the weight of the snow. the repair work has been suspended for the time being. workers are checking thought new dodge. don't know when they end up in the metrodome. also, take a look at this picture. this is lake erie lighthouse. frozen solid. you see how it could possibly happen. water tossed up, freezes and that's what you get. coast guard telling boaters to be ware. our rob marciano live for us out in louisville. rob, how are you?

>> reporter: i'm cold. how are you? >> i'm a little better than cold. it is a little cold in atlanta, of course. and we saw the streets here. how are the streets there? louisville supposed to be a spot that was really under the gun coming to this ice. >> reporter: yeah. you're right about that. and louisville did get much -- hit much harder than places like atlanta and huntsville and birmingham who had freezing rain but louisville's prepared for it and louisville already had a couple of inches of snow over the weekend so the roads which are pretty good right now were pretty much pre-treated. so not too shabby. last night, you know, things were looking a little bit slick. this morning, pretty much the roads and the sidewalks coated in ice. temperatures are still right about freezing but between the salt and the traffic moving over the roadways, doing okay. throw salt on there, lowers the freezing temperature of water well into the 20s so that's all you need to help. atlanta, no such luck.

one, they weren't expecting a whole lot of freezing rain. two, not really prepared as far as pre-salting the roads. cherokee county, especially hard hit last night and this morning. hundreds of accidents around the atlanta metro area and even a few onramps and off ramps and overpasses closed this morning but temperatures are rising quickly. scary stuff. all right. let's go over the maps and show you where the moisture is and what the temperatures are because that's the key. already into the mid-40s in atlanta. rapid warm-up. shallow a layer of cold air in the deep freeze this morning but the threat is over. little bit further to the north here, you go north of the tennessee-north carolina border and temps won't warm up much. freezing in louisville. nashville, lower 50s. so huge difference there. and again, south of that line, stay warm. north of the line, stay cold. the winter weather now reaching

out towards the virginias and the mid-atlantic. and winter storm warnings posted for richmond seeing three to potentially six inches of snow with this system. d.c. could see a couple of inches, too. no snow expected in new york or boston. at least with this one. but the wind will keep things dicey as far as travel goes. philly and detroit, some snow rf h related travel delays. hope to open two runways before the day is done today but check with your airlines, obviously, if you're traveling. there's the forecast weather map for today. another little system in the four corners, tapping energy in the gulf of mexico. this weekend. which may bring snow to the northeast. over the weekend. although it looks like it's offshore and the west coast is good. here's the high temperatures today. wondering how warm you're going to get in places like atlanta and nashville, places like louisville, and places like new york to get above freezing by one degree, d.c. in the snow,

29. 52 degrees in atlanta. home of kentucky fried chicken and louisville sluggers. it is not a day made for man or beast or baseball player. that's for sure. back over to you. >> you handling it just fine. wrapped it up there for us in weather. we appreciate you as always, buddy. talk to you again real soon. we're going to turn to capitol hill now. where folks, if they don't do something your taxes are going to go up in about two weeks. if something is not done on capitol hill. this morning, the house is going to take up the bush era tax cuts but of course we know that the deadline is looming and stale few obstacles here. some democrats as you know are against cuts for the wealthiest americans. however, it seems many have gotten past that point and willing to have that be a part of the compromise. many democrats -- excuse me -- also against the estate tax which they say would also just

benefit the rich. both parties worried that the 13-month extension of jobless benefits in the compromise will only add to the nation's staggering deficit. now again, hanging over the objection is this warning. republicans say they'll walk, they'll walk away from this deal if any changes are made from the senate version that was just approved yesterday to the house when they get their hands on it and decide to vote on something. they say if it's changed one bit, the deal is in limbo. again, your taxes in about two weeks are going to go up. we are monitoring that on capitol hill closely. we will have a live report for you in just a few moments. excuse me. been a little under the weather here in atlanta. forgive the cough. let's move on. video here. take a look at the guy's hair. you see that? get a little closer to the screen. well, that's his style of choice. okay? he likes it. that's fine. everybody has their own style and thing. but a judge doesn't like it.

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well, it's 17 minutes past the hour.

time now to travel cross country. the first stop, my old stomping ground, memphis, tennessee, where this guy's hair's got him banned from traffic court. bobby todd says a bailiff told him to leave because of how his 'do looked. >> can you explain to me how does a black man supposed to wear his hair? and he just asked me to leave. >> we're told court officials declined to comment. there is, however, a dress code that's posted at that memphis court and bans halter tops, shorts and tank tops. now cypress, texas. a pair of thieves swiped a christmas tree. a christmas tree from a vfw post. all caught on the surveillance tape as you' here and made off with an inflatable santa claus and a snow globe. a christmas tree. also, turn to miami. an aquarium. they have a new addition, a baby dolphin born a couple of days

ago. water park wants help, though, with the name. they have launched a name that dolphin contest. let's turn back to capitol hill now. like i told you a moment ago, in just over two weeks if doesn't take place on capitol hill your taxes are going to go up. so, the house is taking up that tax cut compromise that was reached between the white house and republicans. some democrats, of course, upset about that compromise. but the senate has already passed that compromise. so now it's in the house's hands. brianna keilar on capitol hill for us. taking it up today. how quickly will they move to end debate on it or add or take away and vote on this thing? >> reporter: it is going to move pretty quickly but the big question here is are democrats changing the bill which, you know, republicans said you can't change it. this whole deal is going to unravel if you change it and a lot of liberal democrats in the house say, you know what?

we have a big problem with this estate tax we feel is a giveaway to the rich. here's what happens in the house today. going to be seeing this going down this afternoon. it is going to be two different votes and the first one is going to be a vote on the change to this estate tax that is at a lower rate than a lot of democrats would like to see. then we are going to be seeing a vote on the underlying bill. what does this do? this allows some of the liberal democrats that just -- they downright hate this. get on the record we don't like this. if it were to fail, then the big question would be, would enough of them get behind the overall bill just kind of holding their nose without the change in the estate tax and pass this through? there is uncertainty about this. but bottom line, no one is saying that tax cuts are not going to be extended but the thing is getting this close to the wire, everyone just starts to bite their nails and worry it is in jeopardy, t.j.

>> they'll get this done. they have to get it done. amazing to talk about estate tax affecting a few thousand people in the country is really the thing to hold this up. we know you are on it. continuing to check in with you and if anything pops out of there, let us know and we'll get you back on the air. all right? thanks so much. good to see you. coming up next, we are talking about how vulnerable you are when you get on the internet. you know, don't you just love that free wi-fi? hackers love that free wi-fi, too. they love it because you love it and it makes stealing your identity oh so much easier.

we continue now with the series on end of privacy. up next, the use of public

wi-fi. restaurants, malls, airports. very convenient. also a little risky. hackers target places like that, trolling for personal information to steal to use your identity. cnn's ted rowlands shows you how easy it is to do with a former hacker. >> reporter: inside terminal 5 at the los angeles international airport, dozens of people are on their computers. gregory evans is a former hacker whose resume includes two years in federal prison. >> we were doing almost $1 million or more a week against the biggest corporations in the world. >> reporter: we set up in the corner of the terminal so evans could show us just how vulnerable people are to hackers. >> i will go and set up a fake wi-fi and watch everybody connect to it. once they connect to it and start surfing the internet, now what i'll do is just grab all of their traffic. >> reporter: we launched a fake network named lax free wi-fi.

people started to connect to it. evans and then showed us how a hacker can record everything off of a computer that joined our network. by tracking what i was doing on my laptop. so they're going to the bank and grab the banking information. going to the facebook, grab all that, twitter accounts, writing love letters. >> reporter: evans says worse, if a hacker has enough time, spyware can be installed to stay with the victim. >> you get on the plane, go one to country, i go to another and everything that you do as long as you have that computer is going to be e-mailed back to me. >> reporter: turning the experiment, stumbled across a real hacker at work with our fake network, another one called free public wi-fi. airport administrators told us t-mobile is the only authorized provider. you think there's a hacker here right now? >> that's correct. >> reporter: catching and prosecuting a hacker especially in an airport is extremely

difficult. b.j. hill bert personalized in cyber crime. >> virtually impossible to catch them. law enforcement is aware and always the next piece. you steal the cards, information. you have to steal them and start getting the real investigations going. >> reporter: experts say there's a few things to do to protect yourself. at an airport or a public spot, find out who the wi-fi provider is and use that. they also say change your password and university ones for different accounts. another tip, turn your computer off when you're not using it. and if you do go online, using a public wi-fi, keep in mind that someone may be watching you. >> you don't know if you're getting on a true wi-fi or connecting to a network like you don't know if you're connecting to me or if you're really connecting to the airport. >> reporter: ted rowlands, cnn, los angeles. coming up next, wikileaks founder julian assange, he is

getting out of jail and will be some conditions. we are heading to london after the break. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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bottom of the hour now. there it is. wall street today. reports on how the economy is doing. the headlines show improvement but investors, how do they react to this? trisha taylor with the details. hello. we always get the reports and wait on reaction. >> well, t.j. the reaction is not that great, i'm afraid. wall street not that impressed. we are up one fifth of 1% on the dow and just marginally up on the nasdaq and s&p. the word is this morning new jobless claims fell by 3,000, the right direction and stands to 420,000 and wasn't a big drop and at least moving like i said

in the good grdirection. we haven't seen growth in about two years. also, we had new home construction numbers that rose 4% last month and building permits actually hit the lowest level in more than a year and a half so that's a bad sign for future building projects. if we take a look at stocks again, seeing marginal gains across the board. not enough to make any difference significantly. the interesting story of the day for me, frankly, take a breath here, a $11 million christmas tree in a an abu dhabi mall. i can't believe that there would be one worth more. we don't have an official word on that from the world records but allegedly has gold orion ms, maybe diamonds thrown in, rubies, sapphires. to sparkle more.

>> okay. that's how they get to the $11 million. they just keep dumping stuff on it. jewelry and seeing the video here. they're just dumping stuff on it to get the cost up. do i have that right? >> i guess so. i mean, what else will you put on it? you can come up with more sapphires, i suppose. >> what will they do with the tree when it's done? what happens to the stuff, do we know? >> are you suggesting to recycle it? >> no. not suggesting that at all. $11 million. like you said, your story of the day. it is amazing how we're struggling with so many things in the economy and they blow it on a christmas tree. ain't that something in felicia, good to see you, as always. be talking to you again. we're at the bottom of the hour. about 6:30 out west. 9:30 in the east wherever you are. glad you are right here. we are keeping an eye on in the cnn newsroom, keeping an eye on the weather. been a mix of snow and ice from the upper plains to the deep

south. thursday morning commute was a doozy. icy roads blamed for dozens and dozens of accidents in mississippi, alabama, georgia, as well. a tv meet ol yis in new york is off the air. police say heidi jones, you are seeing there, she lied about an attempted tex july assault and admits to lying but everyone's wondering now, why? they're not clear about the motive right now. her bosses at wcbs-tv suspended her. also, here we are a year after the infamous underwear bomber incident and now word al qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the united states and europe this holiday season. the officials say that word coming from captured insurgents in iraq. there's no specific threat, however, against the united states. we are going to get back now to the developing story out of london. we got this just a short time ago, a british court granted

bail for julian assange, the wikileaks founder. wanted in sweden on sex charges. sweden didn't want him out on bail. atika shubert is live for us now in london. atika, he is granted bail and has to get the money together and post it. he is not out just yet, is he? >> reporter: no. basically waiting to make sure that that more than $300,000 is actually hit the court's account and when that's finally basically achieved then they'll allow him to walk out the front door and hoping to get a statement from him. basically the judge ruled that he is not a fugitive and that he did not exhibit any behavior to suggest that he would be fleeing justice or that he would refuse to surrender himself to the court. they point to the fact he did submit himself for questioning in sweden. he did ask for permission to leave sweden and then in britain volunteered to police.

these are things that the judge took into account making that decision. his lawyers, julian assange's lawyers, came out briefly just about 125 minute about 15 minutes ago to give a statement. here's what they said. i understand we don't have that sound bite but what they basically sound was that they hope he'll be released. they're delighted he has now gotten bail and they expect him not to return to the prison but instead go to the manor house that will become the residence while the legal proceedings ongoing. 600-acre estate which has a 18th century mansion on it and living in luxury waiting out this trial. t.j.? >> waits out? do we know when sweden might get their hands on him? any idea if he might be heading back to sweden? >> reporter: well, that's the next step is the extradition hearing.

that -- we won't be talking about proceedings like that until january and february is now being given as the possible date for the actual extradition hearing getting a decision. but yes, that's always been the concern that sweden really just wants to get him into custody to try them himself. >> atika shubert, we appreciate you as always. thank you so much. want to turn to the white house now. president obama is going to be speaking at an event there at the white house to tribal nations conference taking place there. they've invited native american leaders from some 565 federally-recognized tribes. they get a chance to be up close and personal with the president. each tribe sent one representative and again that's expected to get under way. might be as we speak. we are hoping to have a live picture from inside. we do get one or president makes comments we'll monitor that and bring it to you. well, it's been 25 years, 25 years and larry king will sign off tonight.

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president obama working hard to fix the economy today president obama met with a group of ceos from top companies about creating more jobs for americans. that's what he wants to do. met with the ceos, yeah. yeah, the ceos told obama, we'll see what we can do and then went back home to china. this is weird. president obama has appointed -- i'm not making this up. appointed jon bon jovi to a white house counsel that works to solve community problems. he appointed him. yeah. obama made the decision because he thought it would be fun to say at least once, get bon jovi on it, now! just -- just special bon jovi

phone. it rings and plays "living on a prayer." we turn from that to politics for you now and for some folks, certainly some folks, in our political unit never too early to be talking about the white house race in 2012. our deputy political director paul steinhauser lives for this stuff. he has the story for us from the cnnpolitics.com desk. and paul, the survey says -- >>t.j. never too early. seeing the republicans come out of the closet announcing for the white house but there's polls out already, obviously, on the race for the white house and take a look at this. new this morning, nbc/"wall street journal" hypothetical, president obama versus unnamed republican, a pretty close contest right now. the president ahead for a few points. that's what this poll suggests but when you start to put names on did gop candidate, changes. president ahead by seven points

over mitt romney and the president versus sarah palin in a hypothetical matchup in 2012 and this poll indicates the president far ahead of sarah palin. remember, hypotheticals here, 2012 election, a long, long, long, long, long way away, t.j. the possible contenders talking out about the tax cut compromise. passed the senate yesterday. voted on the house today. rick sanatorium, may want to run for the white house, against the deal. the former senator from pennsylvania who's thinking about running for the white house in iowa yesterday. interesting state to be, of course, he came out against the plan. he joins mitt romney, sarah palin and mike pence as possible contenders against the tax cut compromise, t.j. >> you are a numbers guy as always. what do we hear the americans feel? always hear about the politicians on the deals, the tax cut, americans think what? >> yeah. we have been talking about this for a while and a brand-new poll this morning from "nbc/"wall

street journal" saying americans give a thumb's up and those numbers are pretty much in line with other recent surveys of other organizations. we have seen over the last couple of weeks so there you go. >> all right. we appreciate you as always, paul steinhauser. thanks so much. today as many of you may know marks the end of an era here at cnn. larry king is going to sign off for the final time tonight after 25 years as host to the stars on cnn's "larry king live." let's take a look back. >> larry: good evening. my name is larry king and this is the premier edition of "larry king live." every night at this time we'll be here for one hour. we'll meet fascinating people. from all walks of life. you're a legend. i mean, you do know that. >> everybody really legend would be no nobody, no normal people

in the world. >> fame almost impossible. >> from here up, i'm fine. from here down, i need makeup. ♪ everybody going to dance around tonight ♪ >> larry, kiss me. do it now. don't be afraid. hold me. i love you. >> larry: struggling jew. >> wait. >> larry: dance, dance whoa! >> i told you low to the floor. >> larry: i'm low to the floor. want more children? >> oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> back there. a dog eats it -- he won't hurt you. >> get away from me. get off of me! >> paul's going to get upset. you're touching my leg, larry. >> you must have conjured something in your head for you to come out and call me a murderer of my child. >> we went downhill carrying that coffin feeling like slaves. and we're going uphill feeling like free people. ♪ when the chapel bells ring out ♪ ♪ going to make him an offer he can't refuse ♪ >> darling. good-bye. >> larry: good-bye.

>> wasn't a road i would have picked but a lot of times things get picked for you. >> why should i be bitter? i'm thrilled to death with life. >> is peace possible? can we do it? why are we even trying? >> jesus, jesus. you know, the bible says he his name is all powerful. that his name is above every name. >> don't spend your time worrying about when it is you're going to die. worry about how you're going to live today. >> that's why i was put on this earth, to try to help conserve our trees, our wilderness, the oceans and our wildlife. >> larry: police radio saying that simpson, the passenger in the car, has a gun at his head. >> i will not run as a democrat or a republican. >> i know that's kind of a line you're trying to come across with. but either -- no. it's weak. >> you said your sons -- >> ever do anything but propaganda? >> larry: was there a holocaust? >> you want to impose your viewpoint on me. >> i've never been in the watergate. >> larry: never been in?

>> no. other people were in there. unfortunately. >> larry: still a texas driver's license? >> you want to see it? >> larry: yeah. >> i don't have a question. i have a statement, please. >> larry: go. >> i want to say hello to my son bill clinton. >> hi, mother. >> it's a strange question to ask. >> larry: what happened with the submarine? >> translator: it sunk. >> larry: there's a curse of any kind? >> oh, no. it comes with so much love. >> larry: what's it like to kill someone? if tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, i'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again. >> yes. >> it is his creation, his idea. to come here and to feel him here. i'm happy. >> larry: also going live to haiti showing you specifically what your donations mean. for now, for here, it's time to hang up the nightly suspenders. and who knows what the future's going to bring?

>> okay. we know you are not going to miss this. it's tonight. it's tonight. this is it. 25 years coming to an end here on cnn. larry's going to have a star-studded hour. a lot of surprise guests. again, the final live show of "larry king live" tonight 9:00 eastern. well, she is one of the most decorated gymnasts around and lately making headlines as the alleged mistress of russia's prime minister. and now, she's a cover girl. but first, hard to believe it's been nearly 250 years since a group of angry come nonists s disguised themselves as indians and staged what became known as the boston tea party. fast forward to today. a new party around. you may have heard of it.

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begun in england where the london chess classic just wrapped up. the question this morning, is chess a game or is it a sport?

yes, it's competitive, yes, it's intense, requires a lot of mental and sometimes some physical stamina to endure those matches and we're told a few years ago, a player left a tournament 20 pounds lighter actually. a committee may have already answered the question, though, it considers chess a sport. >> chess is a very tiring game and so if you look at the sacrifices, you know, that a professional player makes to preparation and the game with his energy, sometimes losing weight, and being totally exhausted, yeah, you can hardly find physical sports that could be so demanding. >> you sit down across from a table, right, and you've got one opponent cross and you move some pieces around? checkers is a sport as well. the alleged mistress of

russian prime minister vladimir putin has now snagged the cover of russian vogue's january issue. it is all the buzz in the fashion and political circles in russia, in case you run around in those circles. she's an olympic gold medal winning gymnast, she gave birth to a son last year t father never been named. both putin who have never been married and the alleged mistress have denied any affair. we're following all the developments in the next hour of the cnn newsroom. let's check in with rob marciano, hey there, rob. >> reporter: louisville, kentucky, atlanta, nashville, all spots that are not used to this winter weather. freezing rain has stopped at least for now, but the storm is on the move east. we'll have a live weather report from louisville, kentucky in the next hour. it's two weeks until your

tax rates are set to go up, two weeks before unemployment benefits are set to end to millions of americans. and i'm stephanie elam in new york. we have the list of the best places to work according to employees of these companies and we'll tell you if these companies are hiring and what kind of jobs they're looking to fill, t.j. >> are we on the list, stephanie? turner broadcasting? >> not in the top five, but i still love you. >> yes, we are all happy to be looking here. thanks so much, guys, we'll see you guys soon. also coming up next hour, we're asking the question, is the statue of liberty what she appears to be? or is she holding a dark secret that's right in front of our

eyes. interesting stuff whether you believe it or not. we're going to talk to brad miltzer as he joins us.

>> this is "thriller"? are we changing this eliot? >> i'm not going to do that. >> because kyra would have me doing the dance and the shimmer and the shake. >> we don't do too many shows together. and we ought to. >> have you been to the knicks game in the garden? and if you do it, you should do it in this current run this season. this is the first time they have been relevant in 13 years? 15 years? last night, the knicks and the celtics. everybody wants to make this out to be a rivalry game. in my opinion, it's not a rivalry game until the knicks beat the celtics in a really important game. but it was a heck of a ball game last night. we're talking big shot after big shot in this game. amare stod mire who's the

difference ma difference maker in the league. 30 points last night, for the ninth straight game. that was the dagger right there. and paul pierce, superstar for the celtics hitting the shot with 15 seconds left to give the celtics a lead. >> now that was the moment. >> yes. >> the garden is losing its mind because amare goes up for this three, it goes down, everyone thinks that's the game winning shot, but as you can see -- he didn't release it in time, .4 left on the clock. you can't get a catch and release in .4 seconds. so the celtics lose. >> it's something to look forward to when those two meet up. >> and are you anxious to see the friday game in new york against the heat? do you feel as though he is beingscape coated?

sal alosi is the strength and conditioning coach for the jets, and he trips this player, the guy could have been seriously hurt. but he wasn't. coach apologizes, but now the internal investigation from the jets, what do you do, talk to the team manager? learns that alosi may have had a hand in recruiting the players to stand up and form this wall, players in an illegal area, so the guy who was supposed to be the get back coach when things go wrong, is now the get up here coach. >> as always, we'll see him in one hour, he's coming back top of the hour next hour. and tony harris, always good to

see you, my man. 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. wherever you may be, welcome to the newsroom. britain's high court granting bail to wikileaks founder julian assange. it's a lower court decision that he could be freed on bond. he's not out yet, we're just waiting for the money to exchange hands, if you will. swedish officials want to question assange about sexual allegations unrelated to his website. a nmix of snow and ice from the northern plains to the deep south. dozens of accidents in mississippi, alabama and georgia as well. also a tv meteorologist is off the air and facing charges, heidi jones who you're seeing here lied to them about an attempted sexual assault.

they say she's now admitted to lying but she won't say why she did. her bosses at wabc have suspended her. it is crunch time on capitol hill, the clock is ticking, this morning the house is taking up the bush era tax cuts. the big issues having to do with your money. also the military, one of the most passionate debates yesterday was over working over the holidays. >> it is impossible to do all the things that the majority leader laid out frankly without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for christians. >> i don't think any of us, i don't need to hear sanctimonious lectures to remind me of what

christmas means. >> they fight over everything else, might as well fight over christmas. the white house could, the house i should say, the house could vote today on extending the bush era tax cuts, the senate begins the debate on the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. the house has already approved repealing the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly. and also the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. let's head to capitol hill now, brian brianna kieler keeping track of things for us. >> reporter: the headliner in all of this, all these things that congress is trying to get done is tax cuts, those bush era tax cuts and the house is set for a vote. we're expecting this to come this afternoon. and the first vote we're expecting is one that would change that compromise president obama struck with senate republicans because a lot of

liberal democrats in the house don't like the estate tax provision of it, they feel like it's too generous and it's a give away to the wealthy, but the republicans say this allows businesses to be passed down to generations without completely depleting the worth of them. we're expecting to see a vote on that, if it were to fail because the outcome of that is uncertain, we could just see a vote on the senate bill, the senate bill that passed the house overwhelmingly. and the question is are some of these democrats going to hold their nose, saying i got it on the record that i wasn't for it, we'll go ahead and move it along. but we're two weeks out from these tax rates going up, two weeks out from unemployment benefits expiring for millions of americans. you're going to have a lot of people biting their nails, even if you feel that congress is going to go ahead and extend these tax rates.

>> if it changes one bit in the house, senate republicans have threatened this will kill the whole deal. are they holding firm to that threat? >> we expect that they would. let's say it does change, here's the other option. if this changed bill would be sent back to the senate, what we might expect to happen would be senators over 80 of them who signed on in the senate, we're not buying the changes we made, we're sending you back the same bill that we passed and then it would be this back and forth between the house, that is one scenario that a lot of people up here think might be likely. >> is another scenario, is for them to just leave, not get the work done, let the taxes go up january 1, you get the new republican house in place come next year, and they just enact the bush era tax cuts and this compromise in the first place, is that being talkinged about. >> no, and republicans and democrats aren't saying that, and the actual reason behind that is that republicans want

this as much as democrats. they feel like they've gotten a sweet deal out of this and they don't feel like they will get as much as they want in the new congress because they only control the house. no one is talking about not getting this done, although it's really getting down to the wire. >> like you said, everybody's biting those nails up there, just cutting it a little close right now for a lot of people's comfort. at five minutes past the hour, we have some new concerns to tell you about with al qaeda possibly planning attacks in the u.s. and europe. this holiday season, u.s. officials tell cnn that -that - will remember that nigerian man who tried to ignite a bomb hidden in his underwear. today he's set to be arraigned on new charges specifically tied to terrorism. let's look closer at these

newest concerns, those holiday threats. fran, always good to talk to you. is this something we all should just be accustomed to, we hear some kind of increased chatter or more threats around the holidays, but also, this is really fresh on their minds from last christmas? >> that's right, t.j. and the thing that makes it concerning is that it's information coming from a captured insurgents in iraq who have direct links to al qaeda's command structure. now i will tell you, it seems to me as i have spoken to people in the intelligence and counter terrorism communities, they point to the fact, look, these threats have been building since late spring or early summer. we have been all over this, in fact they increased screening procedures at airports, remember the controversy just before thanksgiving. they say, look, we have seen this, we're concerned about it, this is not new based on the holidays so when we get this sort of information, we feel like we're prepared positions to

counter the threat. >> help us understand the information we're getting from an insurgent getting captured in iraq, and getting the information through increased chatter. is one considered quite frankly more credible than another? >> well, generally speaking, yes. chatter, that there's an increase in volume has rarely ever indicated it. so an increase in chatter, so if it's real intelligence, if it's somebody who's got access to the information. all of those go into how much credibility you get. in these failed attacks, they get a lot of publicity, even now, small unsuccessful attacks have their benefits for them and that's what makes it more difficult for law enforcement and intelligence authorities. >> and finally here, fran, what

can the government do, certainly publicly that they might come out and tell us all to be more vigilant, but behind the scenes what's going on right now as we move closer and closer to the christmas holiday? >> no question, the government is in the interagency process, fbi, cia, department of homeland security, sharing information, trying to understand if there are any credible threats. i think we should probably expect all these enhanced procedures, you may see them randomly applied. at one checkpoint they're asking for your boarding pass and at another checkpoint they want to see your boarding pass and your driver's license. i think people need to leave enough time when they travel. >> fran townsend, we appreciate you as always. thank you so much, enjoy the rest of your day. parts of the country, have

you seen just icy. as we know what happens when the ice gets out there on the roads, people have a tough time controlling those vehicles, that was certain the case in freezing streets and pileups. in kentucky, pretty dangerous, you're seeing both atlanta and kentucky here in some of these pictures, if you're making your way across icy streets and sidewalks this morning, you certainly are not alone. take a look at this picture, which rob marciano will break down for me in a few minutes. rob, you're keeping an eye on what's happening out there. some places got hit overnight, do some places need to be on the lookout for icy conditions? >> this is all moving to the east as you saw in that radar picture there, t.j. places like louisville, places like atlanta that were iced over

earlier, conditions are getting better because the temperature has moved above freezing. still not able to get above freezing in louisville. so thankfully, most of the precip as moved off to the east. here's what it looked like when we woke up this morning. we're treating the roads that in many cases were already pretreated. the sidewalks, the railings, the grassy surfaces, the side streets, still frozen over. and we still have ice building up on some of the free limbs. so far we haven't seen a lot of power outages because of falling tree limbs and that is what we were most worried about. atlanta on the other hand, they weren't expecting a ton of freezing rain, but it doesn't take much, just a little coating of ice across atlanta, especially in cherokee county,

than thankfully, the ice is melting. all right, back to the maps we go. and we'll show you what's going on as far as the precip and the temperatures because that's going to be the main player, into the 40s already in atlanta. there are still pockets of freezing air, so just be careful, but obviously some rain still peppering the atlanta area. a little bit farther to the north and east is where the moisture is heading and tennessee and kentucky, as you know, at least here in louisville, still below freezing. national on the other hand, right around 50 degrees. but this moisture is all heading east and that means winter storm warnings are posted for virginia, west virginia, richmond could see three to six inches of snow, d.c. a couple of inches potentially. so most of the snow will be well south of philadelphia. here's the expected forecast for the next 24 hours, basically

south of the mason-dixon line. all this stuff coated all the roadways and sidewalks, still about a quarter inch of ice here in louisville, but luckily not upwards of a half an inch which will take down trees and power lines. so so far so good in that respect. >> rob, we appreciate you as always, buddy, thanks so much. actor david hasselhoff, did you see him on "dancing with the stars"? it didn't go so well. didn't go so well with his reality show. but he has landed a new tv gig. that's next in our showbiz update. ♪

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thush push this out. no push this out. >> larry: one, two, one, two.

>> didn't i tell you to turn, larry? >> oh, larry, he's had a great gig, can you believe, in 25 years, he's giving up the throne tonight? tonight will be his last live show. the man's going to be taking over his time slot, pierce morgan, he's from britain's got talent. now he's leaving that gig, that's leaving an opening for somebody else on that show, britain's got talent. showbiz host a.j hammer is here to tell us about that and also you got some other headlines in showbiz. good to see you as always. >> really you have larry king doing all kinds of good things for all kinds of people. he's probably not even aware of that. you know david arquette, after several public confessions about his separation from courteney cox, david arquette is admitting

he has a drinking problem. he said he is just heart broken, he's been using alcohol as a way to cope with the trauma of his split from courtney. he says his contrpsychologist believes he's having a nervous breakdown. everybody's worried an concerned about me, i am drinking a lot, it's really a personal traumatic thing. when i drink, i become a maniac. ever since he and courtney announced their trial separation he has been regularly been seen out drinking. he was posting pictures of himself out on a wild weekend in miami, just like a kid on spring break. arquette did tell stern that he realizes his drinking have gotten out of hand, he's not going to drink for a long time. i wish him the best, he's ee's obviously in a lot of pain.

now david's brand-new a & e reality show, it was cancelled after just two episodes, the former bay watch star has his new job on britain's got talent because there was a vacancy at the judge's table after pierce morgan left that show to appear on cnn. hof is on board do judge the uk series. and you have to remember, he has experience in the talent show arena. he he was once a judge on "america's got talent." simon cowell who invited the hoff to be part it. i'm happy to say the hoff is not down on his luck after doing miserably on "dancing with the stars". two episodes, it was gone. i'm glad to see he's got a gig. >> it was a reality show?

why did they pull it after two gigs. >> the ratings were terrible. they just didn't want to see it continued. >> a.j., good to see you as always. and of course if you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, a.j. is your guy. 5:00 and 11:00 on hln. we're asking this question, is the statue of liberty the lady we all really thought she was? or does the lady hold a dark secret, a dark message that's right there in front of us but we just can't see it? we have got some theories to throw out there, if you can believe it or not, we want to hear from brad meltzer who's decoding the statue of liberty. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused.

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there she is. lady liberty. every time you see it, i mean what words come to your mind? you thinking about america, you think about liberty, you think about freedom. but maybe not? yeah. there is an author and history expert out there by the name of brad meltzer, he's trying to

find out if there's much more to the statue of liberty than meets the eye. here's a clip from his history channel show dakota. >> some believe this lady is not what she appears to be that. her outward message cloaks a much darker meaning, a coded symbol meant for a chosen few. >> brad meltzer joins us now. if she's not who we think she is, brad, tell us who's lady liberty? >> if you want to ask me, a sane human being, it's one of the greatest symbols in america. but if you go to google right now, and you put in statue of liberty and the word satan of all things, all these things come up that she's a trojan horse of satanic messages. that's nonsense to me. but where does that story get

started in and on decoded, every week on history, we try to figure out the answer. and tonight we actually do find the answer of what are the secret symbols. because the amazing part is there are hidden symbols built into the statue of liberty, there is greater meaning in here structure, but it's not the meaning you think. >> is some of it in plain sight, we can all see it but maybe we don't realize what we're looking at? >> yeah, exactly. when you look at the creator of the statue of liberty, the head of the statue of liberty is actually based on his mother, the body is based on his mistress. but when you look at the symbolism, bartoli who designed what she looks likes and the other three designers are all free masons. it doesn't mean that free masons

are trying to eat your babies or trying to kill you, but there's seven spikes on the statue of liberty's crown. what does that stand for? there are 25 windows on the statue of liberty. you'll see tonight all the different seven ways that she's there. she's kind of a symbol to the number seven. the statue of liberty is 151 feet and one inch stall. why is there always an extra inch hidden in the statue of liberty? it's a great question and you'll see tonight on decoded what the answer is. a friend of mine who works for the national parks service said this to me. he said the statue of liberty when she was built was never meant to be seen from the

inside. she was meant to be seen from the outside. she was even a light house at one point. but you know what that means? i want to go inside, i want to go inside now, show me the inside of the statue. the structure inside resembles something you know really well. it was designed by a man named eiffel. so there's all these great things that are hidden inside this great person. >> great things hidden in there. and i know people can see the show this evening. but are people going to walk away from this thinking any less of the symbol of liberty and america and justice that this thing has come to stand for? >> listen, not if i have anything to say about it. you will see tonight where that thing about satan really does come from, and she's one of the greatest symbols of all time. and you'll see tonight on decoded where it actually comes from. it's a mistranslation of all

things. but the reason we love lady liberty is that she's fantastic. we're not there to pick her down. >> history channel tonight, tell me the time. >> it's history, 10:00 tonight on history channel and it's 9:00 central. and you'll see, you know, to me the best part of history is history is a selection process and it doesn't just choose moments and men and put them together, it chooses all of us. the question is do you hear its call? when you find out about history, you find out more about yourself, when you find out more about the statue of liberty, you find out more about america. how many people out there can say they just love, i mean truly love their job? after the break, survey results on the best places to work created by the employees themselves and we're going to ask, are these companies actually hiring? maybe you could be a happy employee there as well.

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when you think about the best places to work, does your own employer come to mind? we have got some ratings here for you. stephanie elam is here with the new poll results. what are the best places to work? >> it may not be surprising based on the kind of year they

have had. but at the top of the list, according to a survey of employees, facebook is at the top of the list. they have had like a banner year. they're at the top of the best places to work, southwest airlines and then you've got bain and company, general mills and edelman. so at facebook, the pros said the job is all about cooperation, not competition, the food and the laundry is free. and the food apparently is also really good. and it also helps when you get great pay on top of it. the cons, everyone expects to change the world, there's long hours. southwest airlines, the pro about that one, they're different from the rest of the industry, they're way more casual than the rest of the industry, and they're encouraged

to have fun. and on top of that they have 11 job openings. bain and company, they have a very good network of team work, t.j. >> any of those folks hiring, you mentioned 11 jobs open at southwest. not that i'm looking, but are any of these places hiring? >> they r and even at face book, they have 245 positions open. they're also opening a new facility in north carolina, so that's another thing to keep in mind, but big companies looking for talented people. >> what is the dress code for ubs? >> you might want to keep in mind to keep your outfits together. they have a new -- they testing it out in switzerland. for women, wear your jacket buttoned and unbuttoned if you're sitting down, touch up your hair regrowth regularly.

it's pretty funny if you take a look at their list of things. >> but as simple as your jacket buttoned or unbuttoned? >> even down to making sure your socks go all the way up. there's no bare skin. no cuff links for men. there's a ton of stuff. so it's really pretty interesting. >> here we are at the bottom of the hour, 10:30 here, about 7:30 out west. president obama will -- expected to address progress that is both fragile and reversible. u.s. still on track to bring some troops home next summer. also. nearly a year after the infamous underwear bomber incident. u.s. officials say word is coming from captured insurgents

in iraq. no specific threats against the u.s. also the number of people who filed for their first unemployment check dropped by 3,000 for the week. it was the second straight week the number actually went down. we're hoping the job situation is going to change for a lot of folks. including jake resnikov. he is our 30-second pitch this week from boston. jake, good to see you here, man. is that right, you haven't had a full-time job in how long? >> it's about a year and a half, right now. i have had a couple of part-time jobs, but i'm still looking for that full-timer. >> what kind of part-time work you been doing? >> i actually did the work for the census over the summer for about four months and i have had a couple of sales positions, but other than that, i'm still looking for work in the finance industry. >> what is your full-time gig, what is your expertise? >> my most recent job, i was a

mutual fund accountant working at a bank so i love working with numbers. so hopefully something in that arena. >> i assume it's been a full-time job for you as well over the past year and a half looking for a full-time job. have you been at it, hitting the payment pretty much every day? >> i have definitely been looking online, going to job fairs and things like that. as you said, it's a full-time job looking for a job. >> here we go with the clock, i know you're prepared, when you start talking, we'll start the clock. you give those potential employers out there your 30-second pitch. >> okay, first off i would like to thank t.j. and cnn for having me here today, my name is james resnikov and i'm from the boston area, my most recent job was as a mutual fund accountant. i am currently seeking a role as a financial ammist or similar position, however i would

definitely be willing to explore other options as well. if you're a company out there who wants to hire a hard working individual, look no further because i'm your guy. >> you are my guy. and you talked about the field you're looking in, are those jobs few and far between right now especially in that field? >> i would definitely say so, they say that for every one job out there, there's hundreds of applicants, so you definitely have to make yourself stand out and i'm trying to do that. >> jake, we appreciate you taking the time out, coming in and giving us your pitch and sharing some of your experience. we had your information on the bottom of the screen so anybody can get a hold of you. thanks so much for taking the time out. >> thanks for having me here, and have a great day. >> if you are out of work and you want to possibly sell yourself to prospective employers, send us a letter and

your resume to 30secondpitch@cnn.com. a lot of people doing their christmas shopping online. do you know how to protect yourself? this season can be a holiday for hackers. what you need to know to shop safely, coming up. h three seafok combinations, all under $20! like succulent lobster and wood-grilled sirloin, or new chardonnay shrimp and sirloin. ends soon at red lobster. to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan that has the lowest nationaly of only $14.80 per month. so you can focus on the things that really matter. go to walmart.com for details.

all right, we're about 20 minutes from the top of the hour, and all week long we have been focusing on the end of privacy. today we take a look at online holiday shoppers. these stores have raked in about $22 billion so far this holiday season. that's about a 12% jump from 2009. take a look at this, there are about 10 million identity thefts a year, and a growing number of these criminals are preying upon people online. thank you for being with us, we talked about how many identity thefts there are a year. do we see a spike around the holidays? >> absolutely, cyber monday, recent statistics are telling us we had more than $1 billion in sales in one single day. that's a record. whenever people go online, it's just like the real world, when

you go shopping in major malls, the bad guys show up either to steal your wallet or steal your identity. so we all have to be on guard. there's really not much you can do to protect yourself, how much can you really do? >> well, with all respect, i would disagree with that, we have to look at this from two perspectives, the companies that have your information and you yourself who chooses to give it to them. you think about the companies, even the last week alone, the hacks have happened on youtube, amazon, mastercard, visa. you name it. these are the fabric of america, if you think about it. if you're a consumer at home watching, you have to look at this in a real world sense. when you look at your key chain,

and i'm sure you have your key chain and your producers say leave a it at the door because it jingles so much. there's a separate key for your house, for your security deposit box, and your key chain gets bigger and bigger and bigger and when we're thinking about providing an e-mail address and a password, we have to think about our pass words in the same exact way, which is a different password, a different key for every site we visit and i say this because if you get victimized, let's say on amazon, that hacker now has your information on the 40 other sites you visited if you kept the same password. so it's really up to you to control what can happen to you and you don't want to make a mess out of your life because one site got hacked. you really got to think about this. >> that's key there. making sure you have different logins and pass words for all of these different sites you might visit. and then in regards to something like visa and mastercard those

sites that were hacked, if you use that website and it's hacked, that's kind of out your hands at that point. is there anything you could have done when logging on to those sites to try to reduce the risk? >> it's actually not out of your hands in the sense that visa, mastercard, all of these companies have been put on notice by the hackers. if you can make a great headlines it's worth it to talk about them on cnn and other shows. if you are one of those companies, you ought to be on red alert, you ought to be locking down your systems, protecting your systems, incrypting them. those responsibilities rest on the companies. if you're at home, the responsibility is for you to think about whether or not you're going to allow the company to store your personal information. when you're shopping, it's so much easier to say, just pull-up my old info, i left it for you.

but if you're nerve us, think about whether or not you give them that right, and if you do want to give them that right, they need to earn it. >> that's why we have you here because you know this stuff and can bring us some perspective. we appreciate you, thanks so much, enjoy your day out there in san francisco. >> thanks for having me, t.j. >> we're reaching out to the folks who are making some decisions possibly about running for the white house. also newt gingrich doing some campaigning, we'll explain. stay here.

the work continues in washington as they're trying to figure out what to do about those bush era tax cuts. there could be some conservative pay back for republicans out there who voted for t.a.r.p. cnn political producer peter hanby has that. >> the $1.1 trillion spending bill before congress right now, the new t.a.r.p., a lot of conservatives are really mad right now because included in that bill, $8 million in earmarks t club for growth, the conservative group, a number of tea party groups are furious

about it and they are vowing to primary challenge republican who is vote for this bill. these guys had a big impact in the 2010 election cycle. they could play in some 2012 races and could swing the party against some incumbent republicans if they don't vote for this bill. and the governor of indiana is setting a deadline for himself about -- mitch daniels is a fiscal conservative, a lot of insiders really want him to run, but he's been really cagey about what he's going to do. and newt gingrich has been not very cagey about his ambitions to possibly run for the white house. he's made a lot of noise in the past about running for president, but a lot of operatives, a lot of his rivals think he's serious about this time and today he's in south carolina speaking to the

spartanburg county gop. really making inroads to the republicans there, which he'll need if he wants to win that prime minist primary in 2012. >> we'll have our next political update in one hour. 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. but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions.

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over the past year, cnn has been following the lives of three u.s. soldiers from basic training to the battlefield. today we take you inside one unit in afghanistan to gain the trust of the afghan people. our jason caroll reports. >> on the move again. >> on the move again. >> our enemy situation t last 24, a lot of ieds, you anticipate the worst. everybody tracking me? >> yes. >> okay right now sergeant shorter and the rest of his men in his unit are about to head outside the wire for their first time on foot patrol. so we're going to be going along with them. >> if you haven't done so, lock

and load. it's game-time now. >> just some guys. our first stop outside the wire on this particular day is a meeting with the village elders but security is such that you really have to have troops surrounding you in order just to get to this location. >> i need shooters on this side. you need to have eyes on every direction possible. >> inside, shorter superior officers are trying to build bridges with afghan elders, some are taliban sympathizers, they're demanding the release of afghan prisoners. >> i know you guys are all vouching that you're innocent -- >> we don't just randomly go in and take prisoners. usually there's a reason why. that dint mean that we're right all the time. >> did anything happen while we were inside and you were outside? >> a lot of traffic coming in. a lot of motorcycles.

>> and an area just steps from sergeant shorter's base which you just saw are from a one-hour documentary that we put together for you. that documentary debuts this saturday at 8:00, t.j., i know you've been following along, i hope you'll be able to watch either saturday or sunday night. i think you're going to see and learn a lot about the three people we're profiling. >> i have been complimenting you from the moment you have done the first story with some of these soldiers. a phenomenal story. glad you pieced it together for one full hour like that. coming up, larry king, in suspenders, in that signature set, actually signing off tonight for the final time. >> larry: my name is larry king and this is premiere edition of

"larry king live." we'll be here for one hour, we'll meet fascinating people from all walks of life. we hope you enjoy this alternative to prime time television. boy, did that turn out to be true. >> welcome to "larry king live." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] print from any mobile device so your ideas can be there even when you're not. introducing the new web-connected printers with eprint from hp.

larry king, the career, the iconic career, can you believe it's coming to an end here on cnn tonight after 25 years? he's signing off for the final time. you're not going to miss it tonight, i know. here's a look at some of the more memorable highlights. >> larry: good evening, my name is larry king and this is the premier edition of "larry king live." every night at this time, we'll be here for one hour, we're going to meet fascinating people from all walks of life. you are a legend, you do know that? >> there are no normal people in the world. >> from here up, i'm fine, from here down i need makeup. ♪ everybody's going to dance

around tonight ♪ >> larry, kiss me, do it now. hold me. your nipples are hard. >> see, i told you, it was low to the floor. >> i'm low to the floor. >> want more children? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> there's some glands right here -- >> get it away from me. >> paul's going to get upset at you touching my leg, larry. >> you must have something in your head to come out here and call me a murder of my child. >> down here feeling like slaves and we're going uphill feeling like free people. >> when the chapel bells ring out. ♪ do i make him an offer he can't refuse ♪ >> darling, goodbye. >> i can actually be of help. it was ant road i would have picked. but a lot of times things get picked for you. >> why should i be bitter? i'm thrilled to death with life.

>> why can't we do it? why aren't we even trying? >> jesus, jesus, the bible says that his name is all powerful, and that his name is about every name. >> don't spend your time worrying about how you're going to die, spend your time worrying about how you're going to live today. >> we were put on this world to try and help conserve our trees, our wilderness, our oceans and our wildlife. >> o.j. simpson is a passenger in the car, he has a gun at his head. >> i know that's kind of a line that you're trying to come across with. but it's weak. >> do you guys ever do anything but propaganda? >> larry: was there a holocaust? >> you want to impose your viewpoint on me. >> larry: it's not a viewpoint, it a question. >> i have never been in the white house. other people were in there, fortunately. >> larry: you still have a texas driver's license?