>> larry: yeah. >> i don't have a question, i have a statement, please. >> larry: go ahead. >> caller: i want to say hello to my son, bill clinton. >> larry: what happened with the submarine? >> translator: it sunk. >> larry: does it come with a curse of any kind? >> no, it comes with so much love. >> larry: what's it like to kiss him? if tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, i would walk right up to heaven and bring you home again. >> this is his creation, his this is idea, and to come who are and feel him here, i'm happy. >> larry: let's go live to haiti, let's show 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? >> and larry king's final live

hour tonight, 9:00 eastern time. where are you going to be 9:00 eastern time tonight? >> umpteen years ago, i'm a young guy doing radio in baltimore, maryland. i would get up in the morning and i would listen to larry king's radio show. what a career this guy. >> you look upset about it. are you okay? >> it's remarkable. we got the new guy coming in next year. piers morgan. >> we have a surprise guest tonight. >> you want to stay here and do this? i know they want you to start your show. >> take care, i'll call you later. good morning, everyone, the news and information you need for thursday, december 16, the security guard who ended the florida school board shooting

rampage, live this hour. snow, freezing rain, sleet, ice, a little bit of everything making a slippery mess across several states today and a live nativity scene comes alive with a real life birth. one of the stars of the christmas show, a goat, welcomes a baby to the manger. those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the cnn newsroom. the u.s. is making strides in defeating al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan, but the gains are fragile and challenges remain. still a new report being released today says some u.s. troops could begin coming home next year. we will hear from president obama this hour about the assessment. reports abo reports -- progress in the u.s. relationship with pakistan has been, quote, substantial, but

also uneven. the u.s. is setting conditions to begin a responsible conditions-based u.s. troop reduction in july 2011. when it comes to rooting out terrorists, the report says the relationship with pakistan has been uneven. what does that mean? >> tony, it's a nice word, it's a clean word, basically saying of the u.s. saying that pakistan hasn't done everything it wants them to do in order to root out some of these safe havens. what this report really makes clear is that no matter what american troops do on the afghanistan side of the boarder in that fight, the situation will never be resolved until they take care of those militant save havens on this side of the border. the u.s. in this report credits pakistan with going after about six of the areas where extremists are in the tribal

region, but they point out in this report as well, the one that's left out is north waziristan, the u.s. has been pushing for some time because they feel that's where the extremists are massing up and gathering supplies and coming across the border to fight in afghanistan. >> what can the pakistanis do -- >> other parts of the country are more directly targeting the pakistani government, targeting the internal security of the

government whereas some officials feel the extremists in north waziristan are mostly focussed on fighting over the border in afghanistan so. interest sort of diverging. so what would the u.s. do? probably just have to wait it out. at this point, pakistan has already committed over about 140,000 troops to the border area. some officials here feel they're just stretched too thin, do not have the manpower to mount a successful attack on the al qaeda network and those extremists in north waziristan. and u.s. officials say that the worst possible scenario would be for pakistan to go in when they're not really prepared to do so, attack the network and lose. >> our pentagon continue chris lawrence in islamabad pakistan. other big stories we're following for you, diplomatic troubleshooter bill richardson arrives in north korea today.

the former u.n. ambassador says that the north koreans invited him to talk. governor richardson says it is time to turn down the temperature following last month's 40s stillities. >> it's the highest i have ever seen. i have been involved with north korea for the last ten, 15 years, we have negotiated release of prisoners, remains of american soldiers, associated on the nuclear agreement, i've been an envoy officially and unofficially for republican and democratic administrations. i can't remember when the tension wasn't as high as it is now. you worry about some kind of action hastening a potential war. and we have to avoid that at all costs. >> iraqi authorities have learned al qaeda is planning attacks in europe and the united states over the holidays. though there is nothing specific to act on, authorities say a young nigerian man who tried to

bomb a detroit-bound plane last may. a woman who shot up a florida school board meeting said that her husband had lost all hope. duke's wife says he was in despair because she lost her teaching job. >> as close as he was, if he really wanted to shoot somebody, they would have already been dead. he was wanting them all to be underneath that counter so that if stray bullets were flying that they would be underneath that counter. >> the man who brought down the gunman, security guard mike jones will talk to us in about 20 minutes. >

pick up a shovel and dig if you live in the following cities. lawrence, kansas says that'll fine $20 for every time th residents don't clear the snow. cities say they are strapped for cash right now and they need residents to chip in and help clean up the sidewalks and keep

them safe. snow and ice stretching from the upper plains to the deep south right now, rob marciano is in louisville, kentucky. and rob, we were worried about louisville yesterday. you seem to be right there in the bull's-eye for a really significant ice storm. how did it turn out? >> the rains or the freezing rain has stopped. i don't know for sure if that's long-term, but we're still below freezing. so that's the issue here, so what fell last night in the form of sleet and freezing rain is still here on this railing, it's still here on this sidewalk, making for a slick go to work and more importantly, it's still on these trees that have become very, very brittle from the ice that has accumulated. it hasn't been quite enough to break some of these tree limbs which will then take down these power lines. all in all, it could have been a lot worse, certainly if you think back two years ago when

this city was paralyzed by a devastating ice storm, so far that hasn't happened. the roads have been treated. they salted them again last night, that brings the freezing temperatures well down into the 20s so. the main roads aren't bad. you go outside the city, and the secondary roads, obviously it's more of a slow go. definitely a horrifying start to the day before the sun came up and not only are the sidewalks but the roadways covered up in ice, the salt trucks and the plows certainly out getting at least the main roadways in order. one run way open at the airport but is not closed. a lot of salt being dropped as well. in atlanta, late yesterday and last night. they were not prepared. there was no pretreating of the roadways, there was no salt at the ready. so a lot of strobe lights happening because of multiple accidents, hundreds of accidents happening overnight in through

atlanta. but temperatures there i'm told have warmed and the big thaw is on. but here, temperatures are still below freezing and i would look for karen maginess whose watchful eye is on the radar willing showing us if we're done with the rain. >> it was pretty miserable this morning in north georgia, so a wide swathe of real estate that was looking at the icy, freezing rain, snow situation. very tricky for lots of commuters this morning. and it does look like that frozen precipitation is just to your south and just to your east. but there is that very tricky area right where you see this purple. but here is some interesting news. we are watching those temperatures really warm up

fairly dramatically. you can see atlanta, 54 degrees. there were hundreds and hundreds of accidents, cars often to the side of the road. in nashville, the airports were closed. further to the north in louisville, it's 29 degrees, charleston is 24, so the difference between 54 and 24 degrees, we have got that warm air moving to the north. a very quick look now at the tower cam. coming out of washington, d.c., tony, look at this. visibility is almost zero. but actually, it's about a quarter to a half mile and the 827 observation out of dulles said snow has begun and you'll see one to three inches of it. >> was that the white house we saw initially there? >> yes, the capitol and then the white house. >> and then the white house, so flip it. >> my vision is less than zero, that's ridiculous.

>> a senior citizen center in minnesota received a donation of $220,000 from the estate of a 94-year-old farmer who pinched his pennies all his life before making the donation. but the man's kindness didn't end there, in all he spread $3 million across his small hometown. and in south carolina, it wasn't just the virgin mary giving birth in the nativity scene. a goat went into labor, dozens of people stopped to watch the birth. who better to talk about the best in last night's sports than a guy who played in both the mlb and in the national football league. my home slice for baltimore, maryland. brian jordan up next right here on the cnn newsroom. give me one of those. because of one word,

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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. brian jordan joins us now. last night a big game, the garden in new york, live again for the first time in forever. it's been ten, 15 years since basketball really meant something in new york and in the gardens. what did you think of this game, the celtics and the knicks last

night? >> it brought you back to old days of patrick ewing and bernard lee. we haven't seen that it goes to show that knicks basketball is back. >> you mentioned players, a real rivalry between the celtics and the knicks. it feels like a media instigation here to call this a riflery, but for the players, i understand why the league wants it. but for the players, does this feel like a rivalry game? >> it's not really a rivalry, it doesn't take you back in a day. but all of a sudden the knicks are an improved team and media would love to see that rivalry be fired up again. >> as a player, is it a riflery until i take something that you really want?

when i take something that you want in an important game we both want to win, we don't have a rivalry, but when i do that, then there's a rivalry, isn't it? >> that will be later on in the season. >> cliff lee left millions on the table from the yankees? >> i was surprised and the reason i was surprised was ruben, amare jr. did a great job of keeping it out of the media. nobody in philadelphia could sneak in there and grab cliff lee. cliff lee was happy in philadelphia, obviously he thought he was going to stay there the first time around. it just goes to show that happiness is so important. it's not always the money. i was happy to see him do it. >> when you look at -- put your

baseball analyst hat on for a second, you look at starting rotation for -- wow. you got four great starters, halliday and now you put in cliff lee. it's not that he overpowers you, but he hits the spot? >> to go to philadelphia and be the number two starter, takes a lot of pressure off. i think it was a smart choice for cliff lee. >> it reminds me of the dynamic four. >> you're taking me back. >> brian jordan, in the cnn newsroom. good to see you, brian. the government making a legal move against bp for last summer's gulf oil disaster. we're back in a moment here on the cnn newsroom. cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol...

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the justice department taking bp to court over the gulf oil disaster. the lawsuit says those actions began a chain of events leading to the explosion and fire. the complaint did not specify damages but bp could be on the hook for potentially billions of dollars in fines. >> we're taking formal action to hold bp and responsible parties accountable. for the impact this spill has had on our environment and the livelihoods that depend on the gulf's ecosystem. this is about getting a fair deal. it's alsos about securing the

future of the gulf coast. ensuring accountability, strengthening our ongoing efforts to help gulf coast communities get their lives and livelihoods back on track. the government's complaints seeks civil penalties against those responsible for the spill and will lay the foundation for securing what is needed to restore the gulf. >> here's a portion of bp's response, the lawsuit does not in any manner constitute any finding of liability. maritime law limits compensation to the 11 men killed on the oil rig. one senator republican jim demint of south carolina has the legislation on hold. the father of one victim talked about it with cnn's anderson cooper. >> keith, you say this maritime law is draconian, it's outdated and frankly unfair. >> well, of course it is. i think we have looked at wrongful death in 1920 differently than we do now.

back then, it seems like well for one thing industrial accidents, there were a lot more wrongful deaths than there are now. but we have come to realize in this country that a life is a whole lot more than just a paycheck. and i know that my daughter-in-law and my grandsons have lost far, far more than just monthly income. >> you know, it's so frustrating that back when there was a lot of attention this summer, the house version of this legislation passed, had a lot of support, passed in july. you expected it to pass with unanimous consent in the senate, now people aren't paying attention, the media is not paying attention as much as they were. were you surprised when senator demint blocked it. >> i was surprised. first of all, although the bill that we got through the house was wide ranging and broad, the bill, because of the interests of -- of special interest influence has been reduced now to providing more adequate

damages only for the victims of the deep water horizon. it won't affect anything in our american judicial system that senator demint's so worried about other than just these claims by these 11 families. so i was surprised when he objected. no one on his staff had ever indicated, my son visited his office and no one indicated that he would object. but what astonishes me is that he still is the only man in the senate, only senator who objen s and despite the fact that it's 99-1 or whatever, he won't relent. >> i am sold sandy endo has some video that has now gone viral that's down right funny. sandy is next in the cnn newsroom.

some pretty spectacular videos right now on the internet. our sandra endo is checking out what you're checking out. >> trending today, some viral videos to show you. i know you're a huge sports fan, right? >> oh, yes. >> have you ever seen this at a football game? take a look at this halftime show in hawaii. check out the marching band showing off a play of their own. >> that's pretty cool.

yeah, that's great. >> i know it takes a while there, but it's worth the wait, right? >> it absolutely is worth the wait. >> we're getting that a lot this year with the lights and the music around christmas, displays all over the country. that was good stuff, sandy. >> and tony, i know you were in the holiday spirit, you were just mentioning and i know you love to dance and actually you were off a week, just the other week, right on vacation? you never told me that you went to detroit. look what we found on youtube. >> that's the money maker at work there. >> a dancing santa, yeah, trying to keep warm. >> that's right. making it work. >> it looks nothing like you, tony, but the dance reminded me of you. >> all right, sandy, good stuff.

very good stuff. ly see you next hour, thanks. >> hot right now, larry king after 25 years and some 6,000 programs tonight is larry's final live show tonight featuring a quarter century of memories. >> i love you. >> dance. >> see, i told you it was low to the floor. >> larry: i'm low to the floor. want more children? >> oh, yeah. >> larry: i was not in watergate. i have never been in there, fortunately. >> i still have a texas driver's license. >> larry: you do? >> yeah, want to see? >> larry: yeah. >> caller: i have a statement, i want to say hello to my son, bill clinton. >> hi, mother. >> and tonight's guests, for all of us, the final "larry king live" 9:00 eastern only. how a medicare planut

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(announcer) icy hot patches. targeted no-mess relief. icy to dull pain. hot to relax it away. pain's no match for the icy hot patch. a colorado lawmaker says he will introduce a bill next year that would make colorado the fourth state to recognize civil unions. a similar ballot measure was rejected by voters four years ago. repairs have stopped until worker can evaluate the new damage. but if you're looking for some extra holiday cash, you can help dig out the university of minnesota's football stadium so the vikings can play their game there next monday night, bring your own shovel and make $10 an hour. the florida school board

shooting, investigators now say the gunman planned the attack. you have certainly by now seen the video. but it's the spectators inside that room that make this remarkable. >> you could tell by the look in his eyes that there was going to be some killing going on. >> reporter: even with a gun pointed right at him, school superintendent bill husfelt tries to engage a man who had disrupted a florida school board meeting with spray paint, hiss grievances and his 9 millimeter gun. >> i said we need a half cent sales tax in the very beginning. i campaigned on that. another board member tries to address the gunman's other complaints, his wife had been fired, he said. >> please, talk to us, if i can help get your wife a job somewhere else, i'll be glad to do that. >> reporter: the superintendent tells the gunman, i'm the only

one you're mad at. >> i mean, they don't sign the papers, i'm the only ones that sign them. will you let them go? >> reporter: experts say if you're facing an unstable gun n gunman -- >> that's the first thing you need to do is listen and try to be fair. >> reporter: clay duke is undet undeterred. >> i have a feeling you want the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. you said you're going to die tonight? >> i am going to die tonight. >> why? this isn't worth it. please don't, please don't. please. >> i am going to kill you, don't you understand? [ gunshots ] >> reporter: police say duke then shot and killed himself. board members have since been back to the room and saw just how close the bullets came to them. >> he was almost leaning over

right where i was sitting. one hit the papers on my desk. i was laying down and one was probably inches from where i was laying. >> ginger littleton sneaks up on him from behind and tries to knock the dun out of his hands. >> probably not one of the smathest things i ever did. i don't know why he didn't pull the trigger. >> reporter: it's the psychological piece that makes this such an extraordinary story, how the group dynamics came together. lisa van sustren has high praise. >> the response of these people psychologically was extraordinary at this moment? >> this was unemotionally sophisticated group of people looking out for each other, rather than giving in to the impulse simply to protect themselves to survive.

>> reporter: van sustren -- she says in that situation, you don't want to challenge an assailant on his thinking. it was right after that comment that duke started shooting. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> we are standing by waiting to hear from mike jones, he is the security guard who shot the gunman. and if you are like most of us around the country right now you are in a deep freeze. karen maginess is watching your weather. with will talk to karen in just a minute. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

it's crazy, because you can't do anything about ice.

>> i went to play tennis last night at georgia tech, and i was okay getting there, but in the time it took me to walk from the car to the facility. i must have slipped and nearly fallen three or four times.

just talking to karen maginess right now, and we're checking in on rob's condition, this is in louisville, and the worst is over in his area, where he is. but looking at virginia. >> virginia, now they kind of held off a little bit longer than everybody else. we're talking about landing on our keisters. everybody was, whoa.

they almost didn't make it to work and slichi islipping and s. it's much better for atlanta now. we have the tower cam. it's 64 degrees. >> it was a little dicey for a long time yesterday. >> in the teens. >> right. >> and now we're going to show you the capitol. and just about an hour ago, they said the snow has begun. and there you see the visibility is reduced, the delays are running just about half hour to an hour. so, yeah, those -- here's a view of the white house now. you can actually see the white house. but they're looking at one to three inches of snow and tony, you mentioned virginia and that's kind of the area that is going to be the next region that we watched. louisville, you're improving, the temperature is still below freezing so to the ice is still there, but we saw meteorologist rob marciano say, not such a

heavy coating of ice, a lot of trees have broken off. there's a lot of power outages i would imagine in some of the older neighborhoods, maybe, but what we're looking at there is it moves out, this warm air moves towards the north, and that warm air has actually created that layer and then that cold air, the moisture falls through that layer. but it's colder at the surface in some of those regions, so that's why we see some of those icy conditions and they're saying around atlanta we saw about 1,000 accidents that people were telling me cars were off on the side of the road. >> it was nasty. >> it really was. it was terrible and i know a lot of north easterners today are saying i just can't drive on ice. >> conditions are improving in atlanta, but kind of a

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let's get you to a news conference outside of panama city, florida. bill husfelt is the boards -- let's listen now to mike jones. >> i appreciate all of the waiting you have had to go through and i'm sorry, when this incident happened, they took me to the hospital and my daughter's only 5'4" but she's pretty feisty and she wanted know stay overnight so i had to stay there. but first of all i want to tell you that being a law enforcement officer you always think about this day and i just want to let the duke family know that my heart goes out to you. he was somebody's son.

and somebody's father and maybe even a grandfather, i don't know, i have never met him. but my heart goes out to that family. i think that the thing that sticks in my mind most of all is during the gun battle, i tried to get this gentleman to come outside with me and to draw him away from the school board and the superintendent. and that didn't work and when i was planning my engagement and i saw that first shot and i knew the superintendent had fell backwards and all the board members fell backwards and then he and i engaged in the gun battle that i had lost the superintendent and i let them and the board down. that was the only thing that came to my mind. when the superintendent came from behind that counter and franklin harrison came and

hugged my neck, that's when i lost it. like i'm crying now. just to see him, it was like seeing a newborn baby for the first time. >> i am a newborn baby. >> i'm not lying to you and i can't get that out of my mind. that's the picture that i see the most, i will sdon't see the being fired, i don't see anything but him. i saw him come from behind that desk and i knew he was okay. it's just that training that you folks don't know, probably what i know about law enforcement, law enforcement officers and their spouses, they go through so much, we train, we train, we train, we prepare and i know a lot of times the school board folks get tired of me saying, we got to do this, we got to do that, we got to prepare. that's what it's all about, folks, with the training i received with the panama city

police department, over 20 years now and the sheriff's department now. they put me through the rapid response shooting school, if i didn't have that training, it might have been a different scenario. i'm just glad we're here. i apologize that yesterday i spent most of my day with my pastor. i just wanted to get right with god about this and get right where my church about what had happened and, you know, you think the first thing that came to mind was what's this community going to think of me, i'm known as this nice guy and now i'm known for taking somebody's life. and my parishioners, what they would think and then honestly, i shot the man in the back the first time. i thought i was going to jail. there's just so many things that go through your mind, but it's the instinct and the training and i'm just glad that they're all here and alive and i'm not a hero, folks, i just don't my job. >> yes, you are.

[ applause ] >> i just want to thank my wife. folks i want to tell you something, if there's anybody that doesn't believe in god, this was the first angel he sent my way 23 years ago and he was wrapped around that entire room yesterday. i don't know how i lived through all the shots that was fired at me during that battle. but i praise god for everything right now and give him all the thanks. and i appreciate you all being here. i'm sorry it took me so long to get here i had things to do. >> did you walk through yesterday from the time you first heard about it and how it all played back. i think a lot of people are interested in. and the steps you took along the way. >> you mean before the shooting. >> from the beginning, how did you first hear about it? >> actually there was an item on

the agenda, they were doing some remodeling , i was going to move to a different building, i still want to go there, i want to go to the pre-k playground, they play rough here, i don't want to be here anymore. i called my immediate supervise dr. haley to see if he needed me at the meeting. he said no. and then the secretary called me and they said no, i said you know? i'm just going to go by there, because i've just got a feeling they need me in the board memro to answer those questions and it wasn't two minutes until i was in a gun battle. >> one of my people called me on my cell phone and said there's a man in the building with a gun. i done a peekaboo into the room the first time. just wanted to get an assessment, see what was going on. drew the guy's attention to me. i was hoping to get him to come to me, to come out of the

building. and he didn't fall for that. he want med to come in. and i closed the door to go to plan b. and i went to my vehicle, and got my vest and some extra ammo. i was peeking through the crack in the door at the time and when i saw his back and he squared up with both hands, i knew the fight was fixing to happen and i reached for the door and it was too late, he fired the first shot at the superintendent and i thought he was dead and i just opened the door and he and i went at it. >> were you crouched or were you standing? >> i was crouched, i opened the door with one hand and i was firing with the other hand. >> do you think he was looking for a gunfight? >> there's no doubt. when i fired the first shot, it was a gun battle then. >> have you ever had a gun battle like that. >> i had been in one and witnessed another. but in this case, when i was

peeking through the door, i was trying to isolate him and any time you do these things, you locate, isolate and neutralize the threat and rapid response and i just didn't have the shot to take the shot because all the board members were sitting straight up and i didn't have time to snap the door open and get a clean shot. so i was waiting. when i heard and thought he shot the superintendent, president obama now. >> to regularly assess or efforts and review our progress after one year. that's what we've done consistently over the course of the past 12 months in weekly updates from the field and monthly meetings with my national security team and in my frequent consultations with our afghan, pakistani and coalition partners. that's what we've done as part of our annual review. i want to thank secretary

clinton and secretary gates for their leadership, since joint chief of staff chairman admirable mullen is in afghanistan, i'm pleased we're joined by vice chairman general cartwright. our efforts also reflect the dedication of richard holbrooke, whose memory we honor and whose work will continue. the tributes that have poured in from across the globe speak to both the enormous impact of his life and to the broad international commitment to our shared efforts in this critical region. i have spoken with president karzai of afghanistan, as well as president zardari of pakistan. i want to update the american people on our review, our assessment of where we stand, and areas where we need to do better. i want to be clear, this continues to be a very difficult endeavor, but i can report that

thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. it's important to remember why we remain in afghanistan. it was afghanistan where al qaeda plotted the 9/11 attacks that murdered 3,000 innocent people. it is the tribal regions along the afghan/pakistan border from which terrorists have launched more attacks against our homeland and our allies. and if an even wider insurgency were to engulf afghanistan that would give al qaeda even more space to plan these attacks. that's why from the start i've been very clear about our core goal. it's not to defeat every last threat to the security of afc, because ultimately it is afghans who must secure their country. it's not nation building, because it is afghans who must build their nation. rather, we are focused on disrupting, dismantling and

defeating al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan, and preventing its capacity to threaten america and our allies in the future. in pursuit of our core goal, we are seeing significant progress. today al qaeda's senior leadership in the border region of afghanistan and pakistan is under more pressure than at any point since they fled afghanistan nine years ago. senior leaders have been killed. it's harder for them to recruit, it's harder for them to travel, it's harder for them to train, it's harder for them to plot and launch attacks. in short, al qaeda is hunkered down. it will take time to ultimately defeat al qaeda and it remains a ruthless and resilient enemy bent on attacking our country, but make no mistake, we are going to replain relentless in disrupting and dismantling that terrorist organization. in afghanistan, we remain focused on the three areas of our strategy.

our military effort to break the taliban's momentum and train afghan forces, so they can take the lead. our civilian effort to promote effective governance and development, and regional cooperation, especially with pakistan, because our strategy has to succeed on both sides of the border. indeed, for the first time in years, we've put in place the strategy and the resources that our efforts in afghanistan demand. and because we've ended our combat mission in iraq and brought home nearly 100,000 of our troops from iraq, we're in a better position to give our forces in afghanistan the support and equipment they need to achieve their missions. and our drawdown in iraq also means there are tens of thousands fewer americans deployed in harm's way than when i took office. with those additional forces in afghanistan, we are making considerable gains. the additional military and

civilian personnel that i orded in afghanistan are now in place, along with additional force from our coalition, which has grown to 49 nations. along with our afghan partners, we've gone on the offensive, targeting the taliban and its lead respect, and pushing them out of their strongholds. as i said when i visited our troops in afghanistan earlier this month, progress comes slowly, and at a very high price in the lives of our men and women in uniform. in many places the gains we have made are still fragile and reversible, but there is no question we are clear more areas from taliban control and more afghans are re-claiming their communities. to ensure afghans can take responsibility, we continue to focus on training, targets for the growth of afghan security forces are being met, and because of the contributions of additional trainers from our coalition partners, i'm confident we will continue to

meet our goals. i wouldal much of this progress, the speed with which our troops deployed this year, the increase in recruiting and training of afghan forces and additional troops and trainers from other nations, much of this is a result of us having sent a clear signal, we will begin the transition of responsibility to afghans and start reducing american forces next july. this sense of urgency also helped galvanize the coalition around the goals that we agreed to at the resonato summit in lisbon, that we are moving toward a new phase in afghanistan, a transition to full afghan lead for security that will begin early next year and will conclude in 2014, even as nato maintains a long-term commitment to training and advising afghan forces. our review confirms, however, for these gains to be sustained over time, there is an urgent

need for political and economic progress in afghanistan. over the past year we've increased more diplomats and development experts working alongside our troops, risking their lives and partnering with afghans, going forward there must be a continued focus on the delivery of basic services as well as transparency and accountability. we will also fully support an afghan political process that includes reconciliation with those taliban that break ties with al qaeda, renounce violence and accept the afghan constitution. and we will forge a new strategic partnership with afghanistan next year so we make it clear that the united states is committed to the long-term security and development of the after gene people. finally, we will continue to focus on our relationship with pakistan. increasingly the pakistani government recognizes that terrorist networks in its border

regions are a threat to all our countries, especially pakistan. we've welcomed imagine offensives in the tribal regions. we will continue to help strengthen pakistan's capacity to root out terrorists. nevertheless progress has not come fast enough, so we will continue to insist to pakistani leaders that terrorist safe havens within that are borders must be dealt with. at the same time we need to support the economic and political development that's critical to pan stack an future. as part of our strategic dialog dialogue, we will work to deepen trust and cooperation. we'll speed up our investment in civilian institutions and projects that improve the lives of pakistanis. we'll intensify our efforts to encourage closer cooperation between pakistan and afghanistan, and next year i look forward to an exchange of visits, including my visit to pakistan, because the united states is committed to an enduring partnership that helps

deliver improved security, development and justice for the pakistani people. again, none of these challenges that i've outlined will be easy. there are more difficult days ahead, but as a nation we can draw strength from the service of our fellow americans. on my recent visit to afghanistan, i visited a medical unit and pinned purple hearts on some of our wounded warriors. i met with a platoon that had just lost six of their teammates despite the tough fight, despite all that are sacrifice, they continue to stand up for their security and the values that we hold so dear. we're going to have to continue to stand up. we will nerve waver. we will forge enduring partnerships with people who are

committed to progress and to peace, and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the security and the safety of the american people. so with that, vice president biden and myself will depart, and i'm going to turn it over to secretaries clinton, gates as well as vice chairman cartwright and they'll be able to answer your question and give you a more detailed briefing. thank you very much. >> good morning. i appreciate very much the president's words about ambassador holbrook. it was a week ago this morning that he and i, members of our team were meeting about this review and the conclusions to be drawn. as many have observed, he was certainly a giant of diplomacy,

but he understood how difficult the mission that he had been given was, and he threw himself into it with ever fiber of his larger than life being. he was deeply committed to its success, and he and his team -- two members of which are with me today, the acting special representative frank rogero, who has on the ground experience leading one of our civilian attempts in kandahar for a year, and dan feltman, who has been another deputy in the operation focusing on our strategy going forward. both ambassador holbrook and i approached this review keenly aware of where things stood 22 months ago. this administration i think it's fair to remind us's inherited an

extraordinarily difficult situation. there was no coherein strategy. to unify america's efforts in the region. there was know clearly defined mission, and our people, both our military and our civilian forces lacked the resources they needed to get any progress accomplished. today we have a difficult story to tell. president obama announced a strategy a year ago that defined a clear commission and committed the resources needed to accomplish it. today's review shows that while we face serious challenges as the president has just outlined, key parts of our strategy are indeed working well. in pakistan, we have moved beyond a purely transactional

relationship dominated by military cooperation. pakistan and the united states have begun a long-term commitment to work together not just on security, but on energy, agriculture, education health and other areas that directly affect the daily lives of the pakistani people. there have been, there will continue to be obstacles and setbacks, but our conclusion is the partnership is slowly but steady improving. we have greater cooperation and understanding, and that is yielding tangible results on the ground. in afghanistan our surge is not simply military. we have expanded our presence from 320 civilians less than two years ago to 1,100 today. accomplishing our mission

requires close cooperation between our civilians, our troops and our international and afghan partners. we have worked together to arrest the momentum of the taliban. civilians have been particularly instrumental in the progress we have seen in helmand and kandahar, and they will be critical in helping us consolidate the gains we have made in the last year, as we move toward a transition to afghan responsibility. our strategy also recognizes that rebuilding afghanistan is a global commit xhnt. the coalition continues to grow. today it stance at 49 countries. nato and our partners, including the many oic, the organization of islamic countries, that have recently joined the international contact group know that helping the afghan people and standing up against violent extremism is essential for the region and the world. this alirnment of our

international effort was on full display in lisbon last month where the coalition committed to a long-term partnership with afghanistan while laying out a plan for the afghan government to take responsibility for its own security. the transition will begin in 2011 and conclude in 2014. now, of course, we are clear-eyed about the way ahead. the review emphasized the need for a political process in afternoon, including reconciliation and expanded regional and international diplomacy. it needs to complement the continued military presence and to leverage the consensus that we reached in lisbon. in pakistan,fold be important to keep making progress and eliminating sanctuaries for extremists. let me fill you in on our plan for just a bit. we are going to take a break, but we will continue to monitor the comments from secretary of state clinton and secretary of defense gates. we have members of our team

standing by, including our pentagon correspondent barbara starr who will continue to listen to the remarks. we will try to get back in for some of the q&a that will follow the remarks. we'll take a break, but when we come back, we'll talk to peter bergen, cnn's analyst, who was briefed on the review, the findings and conclusions, earlier this morning. so with will talk to peter berg in just a couple minutes. it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is!

secretary clinton secretary gates and highlighting -- but the president warning the gains are fragile and significant challenges remain. our senior international correspondent nic robertson joins us from kabul. knick, good to talk with you. the report says the gains against al qaeda are fragile and reversible.

what does that say about the situation on the ground? >> reporter: it says that there's much that the united states and its allies in nato and the afghan government here still doesn't kro control. >> reporter: that's the real conundrum. we have spent time in kandahar, and people in that city are much

happier and feel safer. they're not sure if the taliban are going to come back, but the brigade commander is frustrated because the afghan security forces aren't getting what they need. they're not seeing the support from the central commander. and get them to take on the taliban where there are other areas in the south. that's before you look at the east or north of the country. now taliban are getting much stronger. there are no surge troops to send into those areas, so they remain very, very troubling, tony. >> nic robertson for us in kabul, afghanistan. cnn national security analyst peter bergen has been going over the report in some detail. he joins us now from washington. let me start with a pretty bask one. any surprises for you, peter? >> no, i mean, the contents of this report have been dribbling out over time, general petraeus

in afghanistan and the white house have sort of been saying for some period of time that, you know, this is not going to mark some huge change in strategy. they used the word "diagnostic" in a briefing i attended today with senior administration officials, meaning that this is a status report, somebody in the meeting described it as an annual report, this is not, you know, a change of direction, more of an assessment of where we are. i don't think there are any big surprises in the report, but in the briefing, there's some -- some of the things that came out which i think are important, tony, a recognition that the pakistanis have done little to go after the haqqani network that's housing the taliban. they have done nothing to go after the group which has killed 200 approximately sillance in mumbai back in '08. they have done little against the afghan fall ban, which is head quartered in pakistan.

the februariless and corrupt afghan government is another problem they identify going forward. i think the other headline, tony, is while it's being reported that we're not -- that we're going to be in afghanistan until 201, i don't think this has been absorbed in a way -- this is a huge strategic shift. imagine a republican president announcing we would be in afghanistan another four years potentially with 100,000 soldiers. i think the liberal on the left would be up in arms, because this doesn't fit with the narrative of a nobel peace prizewinning president and the soft on national security democratic party. we haven't heard that.

this is a seismic shift. i was in afghanistan two days ago, you talk to everything in the region, the fact we're not going to be leaving in substantial numbers, which was the presumption, that is a game changer. the taliban are in the unfortunate position of having to tell their folks, hey, we were wrong, you've not got to hang on for another four years. in the south as knick was reporting just now, they're taking a tremendous beating, the taliban mid level commanders. hundreds have been killed by u.s. special forces. so by putting more tile to the lock, that is the big headline. >> stand by, peter. let's dip back into the white house briefing on this matter. secretary gates is speaking now, and then peter and perhaps knick as well, i've got a couple other questions for you. >> -- to take on a degraded taliban. in terms of when the troops come out, the president has made clear it will be conditions

based. the hope is that as we progress that those drawdowns will be able to accelerate. >> right now does it indicate a commitment well into 2013? well into what -- what does it tell you? of arriving in a particular area. for example, the campaign in december has taken longer and been more difficult than we anticipated. but the reality is we have made significant progress at this

point. if you look at marjah in terms of next summer so six months from now, we think we'll be in a good place. our troops already have thinned out in marjah itself and are moving to other areas beyond marjah. so this is a process. >> reporter: can you win this if militants continue to have free passage into pakistan, finding a safe haven there? can you crack down in a stronger way with the pakistani government? >> well, first of all, they don't have a free pass at this point. there is a -- there are a lot of, as we say in our building kinetic actions taking place along that border in terms of people coming across. one of the areas of progress has been not only the 140,000 pakistani troops working some of these safe havens, in swat and

south waziristan and elsewhere, but there is increasing cooperation on both sides of the border in coordinating the military operations. so the pakistanis come in behind the insurgents from the pakistani side, and coordinating with us and the afghans, we're on the other side. so they're the meat in the sandwich. we expect to see more of that in the cooperation is increasing between the afghans and pakistanis. everybody knows that failure to deal with the safe harchs does present a real challenge, but i would argue that we are in the pros of dealing with those safe havens, the pakistanists on their side of the border. >> reporter: on the omnibus, this is legislation that contains about $8 billion in pet congressional projects. these are the types of earmarks that the president said he would oppose. why didn't he simply tell congress that he would not sign a bill that contained pork

barrel projects. how can the white house urge passage of this with things in it that the president stood against. >> i want to go to secretary gates on this. i know they've had conversations about this, then i'll come back to this in particular. >> i don't much like the earmarks either. i consider the second engine the poster child of earmarks. but what i want to look at is the alternative to the omnibus, a year-long continuing resolution would -- let's do this, bring in cnn national security analyst peter bergen. i think we jumped in on the point you were making, that with the administration and nato announcing last month that trarnz session strategy that you spoke of, which includes a major western military presence in afghanistan into 2014, you were mentioning that is a major change in strategy, maybe explain that point again for

folks who might have missed it. >> well, you know, when the president gave his speech at westpoint back in december of 2009 announcing the new afghan policy, everybody, including cnn picked up on the fact that there was this july 2011 withdrawal date. but there was an enormous caveat in that, which secretary gates just mentioned. he mentioned it was concerns based. everybody knows the conditions in afghanistan are not at the point where you'll have a lot of provinces transferring authority of the afghan police and army by july of 2011. right now of the 34 provinces only one which is kabul city and the surrounding neighborhoods, is under the control of the afghan security forces. so by having this conditions-based caveat in there, it was pretty clear that 2011 wasn't going to be significant. what has changed is the administration at lisbon with the nato conference there in

november, you know, was able to come out and say publicly that, you know, 2014 is going to be -- that's -- december 2014 is a withdrawal date and nato has also said that there will be a nato mission that goes past that. it won't be necessarily combat troops, but it will be continuing. i think this has sent an important signal to the taliban, the afghan government, which was very concerned about us withdrawing, to the pakistanis, that they can continue playing footsie with the taliban, but the united states will be in the region for a long time. that may change some of their calculations. >> peter, let me ask you one other question here. we -- we talked to a lot of folks here in our day-to-day lives that talk about afghanistan, and who consider it a lost cause, a lost cause now and that it will always be a lost cause. and that we should go. talk to us about the

ramifications of staying and of leaving. because i've heard you publicly take on this question of whether afghanistan is a lost cause. >> yes, it's certainly not a lost cause. afghans continue to have a 62% favorable view of international forces. can you think of a muslim country with a favorable view of the u.s. military. the afghans are hopeful. why shouldn't we be? the president said we finally resourced this effort, have -- we've drawn more troops, more resources, more presidential attention and we're finally getting it right here. so afghans think we're kind of, you know, showing the right kind of approach. that's why i don't think we should conclude it's a lost cause, but i would point to you, "the washington post" had an interesting poll.

60% of americans think the afghan war was a bad idea or mistake, which is the highest level ever, so the american public is certainly losing patience and it's costing billions to do this, and taxpayers certainly have a reason to think they have to have a return on their investment. if there isn't real progress by the summer, i think a lot of people, including myself, will say, well, a vanityian effort was made, but this didn't work out. right now it's an open question. >> peter, thank you. so what does this mean for u.s. troops in afghanistan? let's make it really personal here. let's bring in pentagon correspondent barbara starr. the report says the u.s. is on course to begin pulling troops out next year. do you hear that sentiment echoed in the has of the pentagon? >> you know, this is the stated policy. july 2011, troops will start coming home, but by all indications, it is going to be a

very modest, small number at this point. i think the president, secretary gates, you just heard them at the white house, listen to some of the key words they said. the progress is fragile and reversib reversible. is the progress real? everyone during? temporary? come springtime, willed taliban come back full blast, regroup and start attacking again? u.s. troops can't leave an area unless they can turn it over to the afghans. that's the equation that has everybody concerned. sure it's progress, but is it real? and is it enough? underlying all of that is the question that the president and secretary gates brought up, more progress against the safe

havens, because unless you can deal with that you'll still have them coming across the border and attacks u.s. troops. it's that six months between now and july that's going to be so critical, tony. >> and you'll be watching it for us. barba farr, thank you. president obama highlights progress in the fight against al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan, but a new assessment warns the gains are fragile. here are some of the highlights. despite the challenges it's set to begin a responsible reduction in july of 2011, but the president says there are more difficult days ahead. >> i want to be clear, this continues to be a very difficult endeavor. but i can report that thanks to

the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. it's important to remember why we remain in afghanistan. it was afghanistan where al qaeda plotted the 9/11 attacks that murdered 3,000 innocent people. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ 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.

wick i leaks founder julian asang hopes to get out of jail soon. his bail has been upheld by a judge in london. assange will stay at a friend's mansion, wearing an electronic tag. he's fighting extradition to sweden on charge that he says are politically motivated. the former u.n. ambassador says the north koreans invited him to talk.

wolf blitzer is traveling with richardson. >> my objective is to try to bring down the temperature in the korean peninsula by trying to persuade the north koreans to curtail their aggressive behavior, to see if there's a basis for negotiations, to get them to stop uranium enrichment, to return to the 2005 commitment they made. you can watch that interview in its entire later today in "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. it starts at 5:00 p.m. the report calls for greater cooperation from pakistan in tracking down insurgents operating from safe havens along the afghan border. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us from islamabad. when it comes to rooting out terrorists, the report says the relationship has been uneven. what does that mean?

>> reporter: that's a clean, easy way of saying the u.s. hasn't gotten everything from pakistan that it wanted. the minister say, quote, we will do more whenever we can, but we have to look at our own interests first. what are those interests? some u.s. intelligence officials say there are still elements of pakistan security forces who are sympathetic to the militants along the border. even putting that aside, you have a pakistani army tied up with flood relief. suv elements of the government that still believe that india is the primary threat and resources need to be devoted to the eastern side. pakistan has put about 10,000 troops on that border with afghanistan. that's more troops than the united states has in afternoon.

they've also taken some very -- some pakistani officials feel like they already are doing a lot, and they have the feeling that there are other extremists in the country in different parts of pakistan that are more directly targeting the pakistani government and the pakistani state, whereas some officials look at those extremists in north waziristan saying they're only going into afghanistan, yes, they're a big problem in afc, but they're they're not a big problem here, and to stir that hornet's nest and turn those people against the government could cause major problems. in a way you have diverging interests with the u.s. here and pakistan here. >> chris lawrence for us in islamabad, pakistan, thank you. and later we're giving you an up-close look from the eyes of one young soldier. [ male announcer ] don't let aches and pains in the morning

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nothing like they picked up in electricic ton and evansville. traffic has slowed. this is more snow than ice. there's paul brown, the stadium, you go over the bridge down toward the north side there of kentucky. the snow continues and the ice continues, depending on where you are. look at the warnings, tony. all the way from new jersey to north carolina back to minneapolis, all part of the same system that's swinging in. in case you're traveling, navtechtraffic.com will give you the details of the traffic.

here's d.c., baltimore. every dot, those are accidents. >> but warming temperatures. they're up to 50 now. cnn is giving you an unprecedented look at the war through the eye of of one new recruit. randy shorter has been deployed to one of the most dangerous regions. jason carroll with part 2 of "a soldier's story." >> on the move again. >> you anticipate the worst, everybody tracking.

>> right now sergeant shorter, you can see that's frank wharton right there, are about to head outside the wire for their first time on foot patrol. so we'll be going along with them. >> if you haven't done so, lock and load. it's gametime now. >> right up here. >> there's some guys that way. >> reporter: our first stop outside the wire is a meeting with the village elders but secure is such that you really have to have troops surrounding you in order just to get to the location. >> i need shooters on this side, you need eyes on every possible direction. >> reporter: inside, shorter's superior officers are trying to build bridges with afghan elders. some are taliban sympathizers, demanding the release of afghan prisoners. >> we have six prisoners. >> i know you guys are all vouching that they are innocent.

>> we don't randomly arrest, usually there's a reason. that doesn't mean we're right all the time. >> searching more cycles. >> jason, if you would, tell us more about this young man you featured and his mission. >> sergeant randy shorter, they're reaching out. the other is working with the afghan police and army trying to get them up to speed to deal with the insurgents. it's interesting to hear about this talk about 2011 and possible drawback, because sergeant randy shorter is scheduled to come out july 2011. it's interesting to see if that will end of happening. >> i can't wait to see your entire documentary. jason, good to see you, as

always. thank you. you can watch the entire documentary "a soldier's story" this saturday and sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, only on cnn. back in a moment.

mike jones is praising god for saving his life and the lives of the panama city school board members during tuesday's terrifying incident. jones became emotional about what was going through his mind. >> when i was planning my engagement, i saw that first shot and i knew the superintendent fell backwards and all the board members fell

backwards, he and i engaged in the battle that i had let the superintendent down. i love him and the board, and i love the school system. that was the only thing that came to my mind. when the superintendent came up from behind that counter and franklin harrison, and he came and hugged my neck, that's when i lost it, and i was crying. i cry as chick flicks too, y'all. but just to see him, it was like seeing a newborn baby for the first time, that i knew -- i'm not lying to you, and i can't get that out of my mind. that's the pictures i see the most. i don't see the shots being fired or the bullets. i see him coming from behind that desk, and i knew that it was okay. >> jones says his heart goes out to the family of the shooter who, as you know killed himself during the incident. unono veheay

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pictures t. information, insiding you won't find anywhere else. let's look at the big board, new york stock exchange, we are just past three hours into the trading day. stocks are up. we were up 40 points, nasdaq was up last check as well. we'll continue to follow the numbers throughout the day. important product recall. walmart has issued a recall of

several types of electric heaters because of a fire and burn hazard. they include no-pro, air tech, aloha breeze, and comfort essentials heaters. consumers should immediately stop using the heaters and return them to walmart for a full refund. [ laughs ] that's so dumb. [ laughter ] nice. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it first with at&t. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network. period. rethink possible. oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. ♪

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tonight is the night, after 25 years larry king says good night and good-bye. he hands over the talk show crown to piers morgan from "britain's got talent." now details who will replace

morgan as a judge is a.j. hammer. let's talk about david arquette and hi confession, please. >> he's had several public confessions, talking about a separation from courteney cox, and had a few wild weekends of post-breakup partying. now he's admitting he has a drinking problem. he went on the howard stern show. he's heartbroken and using alcohol to cope. it was a fascinating interview and he admitted i've been drinking a lot. it's really a personal traumatic thing. when i drink i become a maniac. ever since they announced their trial separation, he's been regularly seen out drinking, and he twittered pictures. arquette did tell stern he's

going to be laying off the drinking for a long time. let's get to the larry king/piers morgan effect. and it leads us to david hasselhoff. his brand-new reality show was canceled after just two episodes, but i'm happy to report he's lined up a new job. he has a new gig on "britain's got talent" there was a vacancy after piers morgan left that show. remember, the huff's got experience in the talent show judging arena. along with simon cowell. simon's actually the guy who excited hoff to join in. we wish him the best. i was disappointed to see his reality show. the ratings were terrible. a & e just yanked it off. >> thank you, sir.

if you want information on everything and anything breaking in the entertainment world, that's at 5:00 at 11:00 eastern. as maeve spending bill to keep the government running, one senator threatens to read the entire thing out loud. i'm jon haber of alto music. i've been around music my entire life. this is the first alto music i opened when i was 24. my business is all about getting music into people's hands. letting someone discover how great music is, is just an awesome thing. and the plum card from american express open helps me do that. i use it for as much inventory as i possibly can. from picks...to maracas... to drums... to dj equipment... you name it, i can buy it. and the savings that we get from the early pay discount on those purchases has given us money to reinvest back into our business and help quadruple the size of our floor space. and the more we expand, the more space we have for instruments

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for five to seven years until, and then selling it on craigslist. i paid off my most recent car in march with 130,000 miles and just had a $1400 repair bill. is there a formula for deciding how long to keep a car, lynette? >> this is a great question, and no, i don't think there's a formula. if there is, i haven't heard of it. in general, i think the good advice would be to keep it as long as possible. i love the fact that they had this car with 130,000 miles on it. they said they paid a $1400 repair bill. if you look at that over the cost of a year, that's like $100 a month or a little more. if you thought about buying a new car and the cost of what that would entail, it's so much greater. keep the car as long as possible, you know until it's on its last legs. >> if it's working, stick with it. >> just stick with it. >> keep going with the car. >> i think that's a good idea. >> the next one is from kim in

ohio. my brother told me he signed over some h & r stock to me several years ago. how do i find out if i own the stock and how much i own? >> very nice of the brother. it's relatively easy to track down whether you own shares or not. you track down the transfer agent for the stock. call up h & r block's investor relations department or maybe even look it up on the website. once you get in touch with the transfer agent, they're going to track down the stock certificate, but they want some insurance that nobody else has taken it. it's 1% to 3% of the cost of the shares. once you put up that money, they'll issue a new stock certificate. >> and then you can track it and know what's going on with it. thank you so much for helping us out today. do you have a question you want to get answered? go ahead and send us around e-mail anytime. impressive resume. thank you.

you know what, tell me, what makes peter, peter ? well, i'm an avid catamaran sailor. i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and i really love my bank's raise your rate cd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap ? uh, actually, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spent 8 days lost at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love our raise your rate cd that offers a one-time rate increase if our current rates go up. ally. do you love your bank ? to london starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. [ exclaims ] ...with...stage presence.

♪ now get an htc surround for $199.99, and get one free. only from at&t. rethink possible. gloria, great to see you. is the tax cut compromise becoming the first big issue of the upcoming battle for the republican nomination? or am i too far afield? >> sure. why not. it involves taxes, tax cuts of money. when you're standing outside and

don't have the responsibility to say this costs too much, and we shouldn't do it. and that's what a lot are say, inclusive sarah palin, including mine percent who ace now in the house, but there are some, like senator john thune who has said, i know this costs a lot, but would you rather that people's taxes go up? or the mick daniels says it's not a great deal, but you know what? they have to do it. >> i'm one for you. jim demint threatening to read the entire spending bill on the floor of the senate, what is going on here? >> guess what?

other, jim demint says he hades the spending bill he wants to spend four days reading it aloud. jim demint doesn't want to pass don't ask/don't tell, a lot of republicans don't want the s.t.a.r. treaty right now. it makes all of them like kind of childish, wouldn't you say? >> absolutely. gloria great toss you. >> good to see you. your next political update or go to cnnpolitics.com. a new story trending on the internet.

we're following the big story -- sandra endo is tracking it. good to see you again, sandy. >> hay there, tony, yeah, this is big on social network sites, facebook getting into the realm

of facial recognition technology. this will be a feature that launches next week. basically it will suggest the names of your friends of photo albums that you download, basically making it easier to tag them in their pictures and facebook says this is all a way to make it easier for people to tag each other in pictures and be more addicted to the site. so i don't know if we need all that, but certainly they're going to try it out. >> nice. >> also trending on cnn.com's ireport, it's so beautiful. take a look at these pictures submitted from a couple in tennessee. these are beautiful picture perfect snowflakes. they were sent to us by kristin and david cook. basically they saw all the snow out there on their driveway, they ran outside, had a close-up lens and took some shots before freezing too much. here's one reason why not to curse the snow, right? >> that's very cool.

very nice. you be careful in the mid-atlantic, because you've got a system moving your say. see you tomorrow. >> it's snowing right now. we're back in a moment. you're in cnn nuri al malaki. rid ends december 31st. now is the time to find the plan that best meets your needs. here's a plan that could give you the benefits and stability you're looking for, an aarp medicarecomplete plan from securehorizons. what makes it complete? this plan combines medicare parts a and b, which is your hospital and doctor coverage, with part d prescription drug coverage, and more... all in one simple plan starting at a zero dollar monthly premium beyond what you pay for medicare part b. this plan offers you benefits like annual preventive screenings and immunizations for just a $0 copay. you'll also have the flexibility to change doctors from a network of providers dedicated to helping you stay healthy. there's more.

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don't wait. call now. is this a live view? or just moments ago? great, great, live pictures right now. julian assange is about to be released from jail. he's been there for nine days, as you know. bond was set. there was some dispute to whether or not he would be able to raise the money, the money has been posted. he is being released on bail. we expect that to happen any moment now. he will wear an electronic tag and report to police daily. as you know, he is fighting extradition to sweden on sex crimes allegations, which he says are politically motivated. so we are expecting to see him walk through those doors.