i'm going to miss it, but looking forward to the drunk mails and texts from you guys later. >> leave your cell phones at the door. i'm kiran chet ry. a done deal, a tax cut extension on the way to the oval office this morning. it was a deal hammered out between the white house and republicans. in the end, more democrats actually ended up voting for the bill. we'll have more on a wild day on capitol hill. >> and some folks just cannot catch a break from the weather we're talking about. mid-atlantic states digging out right now, trying to stay warm after they got that blast of cold weather. but there's another big storm rolling in that's going to cause some problems for a lot of you folks if you're trying to travel this weekend. yes, it's coming just in time for this busy weekend. well, we're paying tribute to the king this morning. larry king, final show in his familiar 9:00 p.m. cnn slot. you will not believe how many newsmakers and stars showed up to say good-bye. and we have the highlights ahead. >> i wasn't able to stay up and

see it last night. but i saw some of the highlights this morning. hard to believe 25 years. >> what a career. >> what a career. we're going to get started now. this is the important thing you need to know. your taxes are not going to go up at the beginning of the year. there was a threat they might, but they are not. we've called these the bush-era tax cuts, a lot of people can now call them the obama tax cuts. extending them for another two years now on the way to the oval office. this morning, avoiding an income tax hike for millions on new year's day. also this bill renews some benefits for the unemployed. >> many say it was a christmas miracle, show of bipartisanship, something we haven't seen in a while. 139 democrats voted for it as well as 138 republicans. more stunning and notable, this was hammered out by the president and the senate, and yet there were just as many democrats who did not support it. >> that's right. all we were missing on the house floor was tiny tim saying and god bless us everyone.

yeah, no, this was sort of a christmas miracle. and you get the sense the members of congress want to get home for the holidays. while everybody was sleeping last night or most everybody was sleeping, the tax cut package passed the house last night by a pretty whopping margin. 277 to 148. but as you know, as we were all following the news yesterday, this thing almost got derailed. there was some quarreling up on capitol hill over some of the rules governing the debate over these tax cuts, but they ended up passing in the end and now they're on the way to president obama's desk. what does it all mean? well, as t.j. mentioned, the bush tax cuts stay the same. everybody's income tax rates stay the same. unemployment benefits will continue for another 13 months. there is a break for middle class -- a lot of middle class taxpayers out there because the payroll tax, the tax you pay into social security, a 2% cut there, that could add up to hundreds of dollars for tax savings for americans all over the country over the next year.

so that's a big boom to taxpayers. and at this point, they've got basically one of their big logjams out of the way. there's no timetable at this point as to when it's going to pass. but as we saw last night, it passed on the house floor. >> all right. this was supposed to be the big thing that had to get done before the end of the year so now that they've passed these tax cuts, does that mean they're going to wash their hands, hop on a flight and go back home? >> not exactly. there's one other big thing, and that's keeping the lights on in washington. this big spending bill, which we talked about yesterday, everybody outside of the beltway has no idea what that means. but basically it's the spending bill that keeps all the federal agencies or most of the federal agencies of the government operating. have they not passed that by the 18th as in tomorrow, we would have been in serious trouble here. technically the government would've run out of money. so here's what happened. as we talked about yesterday and as everybody's been talking about the last 24 hours, that

$1.1 trillion spending bill was larded up with like 6,000 earmarks totaling $8 billion, all of this pork in there. tea partiers were calling their republican members of congress going crazy. and essentially what happened yesterday is a lot of the republicans who were backing this deal in the end told harry reid, the senate majority leader that they could no longer support it. even though as we pointed out, many of those republicans had earmarks in the bill they put in there themselves, but they were planning to vote against it. so senator reid did not have the votes. and here's what he had to say last night announcing the news that he was pulling this bill off the table. >> in the last 24 hours, they've walked away from the ability for us to complete this legislation. i was told within the last 24 hours that we had bipartisan support to pass this bill.

many told -- i shouldn't say that, many is a word that's too large. but a number of republican senators told me they'd like to see it pass. and they couldn't vote for it. >> so now they're talking about passing a continuing resolution, that's more washington jargon for basically a bill that will keep the government functioning for another couple of months and then they can have this fight all over again in the new year. how does that sound, guys? >> yeah, and the don't ask, don't tell issue. they have to tackle that, as well. >> that's what's so significant about what happened in the last 24 hours. this really clears the field for something that a lot of people did not think was going to happen. the repeal of don't ask, don't tell as we know it passed the house. now harry reid is saying that he's going to start having some votes on this over the weekend. and let's put this up on screen. because this is very significant. four republican senators have come out and said they're going to support the repeal of don't

ask, don't tell in the military. olympia snowe, susan collins, scott brown, and lisa murkowski. this is essentially, as we all know, once this passes, if it passes, will allow gays and lesbians who are currently serving in the armed services to serve openly. this would be a historic, historic bill signing if this happened. >> all right. looks like we lost jim there for a second. thank you. good thing he was winding down. >> yeah. you got the bulk of it. >> that was an abrupt ending. >> we appreciate jim this morning. again, a lot happening in d.c. also some weather in d.c. take a look at this picture. extreme weather all over the place. you know how this goes when the roads get icy, snowy, and some people don't slow down like they should. fender benders that took place. that was the order of the day yesterday. dozens of accidents were reported in a four-hour period in parts of maryland. >> yeah, we used to have a

saying. 1 inch of snow in the d.c. metropolitan area is like a foot in other places because people go crazy. hard to drive in. >> not used to it. more dangerous driving down south, slush made for sloppy roads in tennessee. ice-caked power lines buckling under the weight causing tens of thousands of outages. the ice was very devastating in this latest storm, especially for the south. we also appreciate, as well, helping us tell these weather stories, one of our i-reporters sent this in, spotted hundreds of manatees huddled together trying to get warm. this coming out of the power plant doing all they could, as well. everyone trying to stay warm, manatees, as well. >> so cute. well, it's seven minutes past the hour. a check of the morning headlines now, we'll see if it's getting any better. >> good morning kiran and t.j. we've still got bitterly cold air across the northeast. a little bit of snowfall.

but this is primarily confined into the eastern. the long range forecast for new york, it does look like all the way to christmas temperatures aren't going to budge out of the 30s. take a look at these temperatures now still only holding into the 20s all across the northeast. buffalo's 26, new york is 23, portland, maine, reporting 14 degrees right now. and in washington, d.c., 26. well, those temperatures wrapped around the great lakes only into the teens. and nashville reporting 30 degrees. yesterday, nashville had cancellations at the airport because it was so icy there. icy all the way down into atlanta and birmingham as well as huntsville, alabama. but right now, temperatures are reasonably mild. now i'll be back in about 30 to 40 minutes and let you know how

the rest of the weekend is shaping up elsewhere. back to you, kiran. >> all right. thank you. some emotional words coming from the security officer hailed are hero for stopping a gunman at a florida school board meeting. we are going to show the video again. earlier this week, a man named clay duke did this, opened fire on school board members, missed all of them as board members dove for cover, mike jones, the school district's chief of security and retired police officer is the one who shot the gunman, wounded him, and then the gunman later turned the gun on himself. >> and honestly, i shot the man in the back the first time and i was thinking i was going to jail. and there was so many things that go through your mind. but it was the instinct and the training and -- i'm just glad that they're all here and alive. i'm not a hero, folks, i just done my job. >> jones says he wasn't even

supposed to be at the school board meeting, but because of the bitterly cold weather, his boss asked if he could stop by to make sure there were no problems with the building. well, did you see this last night? hope you did, a lot of people did. i wasn't able to. did you watch this live show? >> at 9:00? no. >> you missed two presidents, four network anchors, and an endless cast of stars all paying tribute to the star of the night, really the star of the past 25 years here at this network. larry king, his last show, final show on cnn. he has had some 6,000 of them over the past 25 years. in case you missed it, here are some of the highlights from last night. >> and instead of good-bye, how about so long? >> thank you, larry. and best of luck. >> thank you, barbara. >> so missed. so missed. >> thank you, larry, and thank you for all the years. you were great! ♪ you ain't seen nothing yet

♪ the best is yet to come and babe won't that be fine ♪ >> tony bennett. >> a standing ovation, come on, everybody. >> how 'bout them apples? >> thanks for the great interviews, larry. >> that was one of the most emotional poignant visuals we saw last night was just seeing that microphone there last night. he is -- yeah, he said so long last night. he's not going away necessarily from cnn. he'll be part of our family here for a while. hosting several specials throughout the year. but special night to wrap that thing up after 25 years. >> so cute too, he was sitting with his two youngest sons. i think they pulled out a larry king imitation of their dad. also, there's a new show coming to cnn in the new year, it's piers morgan tonight. an event you don't want to miss.

>> we moved right on, didn't we? sorry, larry. well, coming up. it's that time of year. a lot of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters coming home after serving in the war zone. yes, you're going to see a lot of scenes like this playing out in airports and bases really around the country. we're live along one stop on their journey home for the holiday. stick around for that. and he's not even out of school, but he's already helping other kids get the education they deserve. our big stars, big giving series continues one-on-one the biebs, justin bieber. >> is that really what they call him? >> yeah, the biebs! video you have to see. i was told about it this morning then i saw it, and yes, it lives up to the hype. we'll explain what you're seeing on the screen here. but this is the viral video of the day. and it might be the greatest accomplishment in marching band history. it's 12 minutes past the hour.

i'm off to the post office... ok. uh, a little help... oh! you know shipping is a lot easier with priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus, you can print and pay for postage online. and i can pick them up for free with package pickup. perfect! cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought my sleigh. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

try cortizone 10 intensive healing. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal. 15 minutes past the hour. new this morning, it's the end of a long journey for some u.s. soldiers.

300 troops return home to cheers from family and friends in burlington, vermont. this is yesterday and we got video of the poignant moments getting reunited with family after being deployed for so long. soldiers from the vermont national guard finished up a nine-month deployment in afghanistan. >> we are going to see a lot of scenes like this over the holidays. a lot of families are waiting for their loved ones to get home in time for the holidays. let's turn to hartsfield/jackson. reynolds, good morning to you. and that airport we fly through all the time. and even on a down time, no matter what time of year, you always see those scenes play out in atlanta. but especially right now. >> reporter: absolutely. it's always a touching scene, a beautiful thing, and it's a chance for these servicemen and women to actually come back and get a sense of normalcy. many of these people just days ago were out on the combat lines and coming back and returning to in many sense, the real world.

the men and women in the uso at this point, most of these had just come from ft. jackson and going through basic training, going to have a little bit of a christmas break and then they head back to return their training and might be deployed at certain places around the globe, possibly the middle east, maybe even afghanistan. but when they come through the airport, they're going to head to the uso. let's show you what they expect when they walk in. some of them get a thing like -- we've got rudolph over here, candy canes, they get a chance to sign in, and then, thankfully, they get a chance to get a bite to eat, something different from the military grub they're normally used to. and they get a chance to relax a bit. just calm down, just grab a chair, nice recliner, and enjoy a meal. let's step over here and meet some of the troops we've got. we've got one great lady we were speaking to a while ago. our photo journalist has been weaving through here. >> good morning. my name is anna.

i'm specialist and my rank is four. and i'm coming for jackson for my christmas -- we had about more than three weeks of basic. >> when you've been in basic and away from friends and family, there are things you have to miss, i'm sure. what is the first thing you're going to do when you get back to san francisco? >> well, i'm going to have enough rest and sleep, first thing to do. and all in our battalion got really sick because of the weather. it was like about 24 degrees outside and we have to stand just in one t-shirt and one shirt all the time. so i'll make sure i will get some time to rejuvenate. >> well, thanks so much for your service. welcome back. so glad you're going to get a chance to go back to california.

she mentioned the idea of not having enough rest and good food sounds sometimes like the news industry, doesn't it, t.j.? coming up in a bit. around 9:00, 9:30, we'll have troops coming in from kuwait. people who have been on the combat line, coming in, reunited with families, something you won't want to miss. send it back to you in new york. >> reynolds, we appreciate that. always enjoy seeing those scenes at the airport. we'll chat with you here in a little bit. >> the uso is invaluable for the troops and their families. congratulations. he's on the shelf. he has a shoulder injury, now he's also off the market. you were sad about this this morning. >> i'm not sad about tony romo. >> because you can't believe he's settling down. cowboys' quarterback tony romo pops the question to his girlfriend. we have details coming up. and you often hear -- let's talk about viral video that you've got to see. okay. we're going to deliver, no doubt this morning -- you have got to see this and i'm going on record calling this the greatest

accomplishment in the history of marching band. you do not want to miss it. it's 19 minutes past the hour. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf. oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday.

all right. 22 minutes past the hour now.

this is one a lot of people are talking about. it's always interesting people getting married, celebrities, including this guy, tony romo has proposed to that woman. you need to look closer, that is not jessica simpson even though it might look like her. candace crawford is her name. he apparently proposed to her last night she was celebrating her 24th birthday. he popped the question, and they're getting married. and this comes how long after jessica simpson announced she was engaged to a former player. >> look at chase crawford, that is the famous brother from "gossip girl." >> i had to be schooled on gossip girl this morning. i wasn't familiar. you loved this. >> love this. >> this is university of hawaii's marching band. they formed a giant stick figure. can you imagine how hard this is to pull off? they formed it on the field. there he is.

and he is a field goal kicker. they run down the field in formation, and let's check it out. there he goes -- there he goes, it's up, it's up -- >> did we deliver or not? i told you you were going to love it. >> and it's good! that's amazing. >> we've been told about it all morning. i didn't believe it was as great as everyone was saying, but it is. >> congratulations to hawaii. >> i don't know how they did in the game, but at least the marching band won. let's show this picture. can we show this, first of all, and then get people to figure out exactly what it is? can you make out what that is? does that look like anything to you? the image on there, kiran? >> no, it doesn't. >> well, some people are saying that is an image on the piece of candy of the virgin mary. we say all the time people see what they want to see. he thinks that's the virgin mary

and baby jesus on a piece of holiday candy. he's not sure if he's going to sell it. >> this is why these stories annoy me -- >> because they put it on ebay? >> yeah. the grilled cheese, come on. if, you know, the lord wanted to come to you in an edible food item, would he then want you to sell it for your own profit? i don't know. >> the lord speaks to people in different ways. >> you're right. julian assange out on bail today but not completely free. we have an update coming up. during its first year, the humpback calf and its mother are almost inseparable. she lifts her calf to its first breath of air, then protects it on the long journey to their feeding grounds. one of the most important things you can do is help the next generation. at pacific life, we offer financial solutions

to accomplish just that. ask a financial professional about pacific life. the power to help you succeed. with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter. and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual action listerine® whitening® rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth.

27 minutes past the hour now. wikileaks founder julian assange staying in a mansion outside of london this morning. a condition of his bail. he's also been ordered to wear an electronic monitor. the man who exposed thousands of sensitive u.s. diplomatic cables remains defiant after nine days behind bars. >> being in a situation of physical isolation in solitary confinement has allowed me to consider the philosophy that i have espoused in this project and actions. and has not altered my position, rather it has confirmed to me personally that we are on the right path and has given me enough anger about the situation to last me 100 years. >> assange is fighting

extradition to sweden where he is wanted for questioning about alleged sex crimes. >> meanwhile, he does have supporters. and some of those supporters showed up for a snowy anti-war protest in front of the white house. pretty noisy, but peaceful demonstration. police had to move in to clear the crowds. those who refused were hauled away in handcuffs. among those arrested, daniel elsburg, he leaked the pentagon papers back in 1971. a tax cut extension on the way to the oval office for the president's signature. it's a deal hammered out between the white house and republicans that will, teextend the bush-er tax cuts for two years. >> you heard all the back and forth, the fighting, debate in washington, but this is a big bill, $858 billion. jim, people want to know what's in there for them. >> exactly. yeah. people think those guys in washington, they don't do anything for me. well, if they had allowed these

tax cuts to expire and everybody's taxes had gone up, i think people would've noticed what was going on in washington, d.c. let's break it down. what does this mean for you? if you're sitting at home, what does it all mean? well, your income taxes are going to stay the same. that's the good news for those of you who like paying income taxes, which is none of us. but at least they don't go up. and here's something interesting that folks are not probably, you know, totally aware of. and that's there's going to be a 2 percentage point in the payroll tax. and if we flip to the other screen, essentially workers now pay 6.2% on the first $106,800 that they make every year. this deal reduces that to 4.2%. so this is going to potentially, t.j. and kiran, put hundreds of dollars into the pockets of millions of americans. >> and so, you know, the interesting thing is, part of it is that you wouldn't realize you were missing something unless this didn't go through.

so by now most people have gotten used to seeing their paychecks the way that they are. so who would you say the biggest winners and losers are in all of this? >> democrats, the reason they were howling because they felt like the poorest of americans were getting the shaft on this. and let me tell you what i mean by that. the making work pay tax credit. this is sounding kind of jargony. but this was in the stimulus. people might not be aware of this. but for individuals who were making less than $75,000, that tax credit put $400 in their pockets. as a result of that, this new tax cut deal does away with that tax credit. so $400 being lost for income earners up to $75,000, $800 for couples making up to $150,000. who were the winners? well, this is why a lot of republicans were very much onboard with this deal. the estate tax cut. had that expired, estate taxes would've gone up big time. the first -- basically up to $1

million would have been exempt from the tax, but after $1 million, you would have been taxed at 55%. now estates up to $5 million taxed at 35%. that's a significant change, which is why some people feel like that estate tax cut is going to be a boon to a lot of wealthy americans out there. so that's why the republicans were feeling pretty good about this. who are the losers? perhaps in the end of all of this, all of this, guys, goes on to the credit card. $850 billion, essentially children who are being born now, they're going to have to be paying off this public debt when they're adults because it's very unlikely that this -- any of this is going to get paid off by the time they become adults. so it is a mixed bag. but, you know, the reason why they -- the president was so eager to have this passed was because a lot of economists saying this is going to inject money into the economy, get the economy going. and kiran and t.j., you've talked to mark zandy before, he said this could potentially

reduce the unemployment rate in the country to 8.5% by the end of next year. which tells you why the white house is so interested in this. >> in some ways it's a gamble, but we'll have to see how it works out. thanks, jim. an a.m. original for you. the hottest music star on the planet and he's only 16 years old. >> you know who we're talking about. at least you know the hair if you don't know anything else. justin bieber. he's a huge star who is now taking that stardom and doing something with it. trying to make a good impression, trying to do some good out there. a charity, a priority. alina cho here. the bieb? >> the bieb bieber fever. >> do you have it? >> she does now. >> i most certainly do. good morning. justin bieber, listen to this, he is up for two grammys, he recently swept the american music awards, no question. he is a huge star. but what was most surprising to us is that even at the ripe old age of 16, backstage, he's already building a history of giving back.

>> reporter: justin bieber, he's hot, hot, hot. so hot the hysteria surrounding him has a name. bieber fever. the hair, the music, the moves. ♪ baby, baby, baby oh >> reporter: and he's all of 16, with a passion for giving back. >> you think to yourself, he's 16 years old. >> yeah. >> reporter: how does he know what charity is? >> for me, i grew up -- i didn't have a lot of money. and for me it's about helping people out that haven't had opportunity. >> reporter: in fact, it wasn't just that bieber didn't have a lot of money. four years ago, he and his mother -- a single mom -- were broke living in poverty. then his mom uploaded videos of him singing on youtube. little did she know they'd go viral and catch the eye of a record producer.

the rest is now bieber fever history. >> for me, i'm inspired by children and other kids. and i think that charities that are involved, involve kids -- it's just important to me. >> reporter: so bieber is giving back. one cd at a time. a portion of his new cd sales benefit the children's miracle network, money for children's hospitals. and $1 from every concert ticket sold goes to pencils of promise, which builds schools in the third world. >> that's a lot of money. >> yeah. >> why? >> i just think that for me it just goes past money. >> reporter: perhaps most at concerts bieber meets personally with a child from the make a wish foundation. >> it's definitely hard on me.

gets me a little teary eyed. and it's -- it's just crazy to know that, you know, that i'm the wish. ♪ i close my eyes >> reporter: what inspired you to write those words? >> there's so many people in this world that go without? and so many people that need someone to just help them. >> reporter: it was nice to talk about something other than your hair and the girls, right, for a change? >> i do love talking about girls, though. >> reporter: and that's when you remember all this giving back from a star who's just a kid. >> i have such a big platform. and it would be silly if i didn't do something with it. >> what a kid, and what a talent doing great things in the world. for behind the scene photos, go to cnn.com/amfix.

and for more on how you can make a difference in the world, cnn.com/impact. our partners in this project this year. the interesting thing, justin bieber says he was inspired by michael jackson. he also, of course, is inspired by his music. he said if i could just give 1/10 of what michael jackson did, i would be happy, and you know, it's really heart warming to see someone that young already sort of have that social conscience and that feeling of responsibility. and he wants to inspire his fans. and we certainly hope he is. >> well, i can't believe it all started with his mom uploading videos on youtube. their life changed forever. >> it did change forever. they didn't do it hoping for stardom. they did it because they wanted their extended family to see those videos. could you imagine getting that phone call and have usher and justin timberlake fighting over signing you? the rest is bieber fever history. >> well, we appreciate it. i'm going to get onboard now

because it's good -- it really is good to see somebody that young actually making a difference like that. >> t.j., his music's legitimately good. i think you ought to put it on your ipod. >> clearly it is. >> you're looking for a new do in 2011. >> i don't think i can pull that off. >> you can pull anything off. >> i miss you too. alina's one-hour special airs christmas eve 7:00 eastern on christmas day also at 8:00 eastern. a lot of people worry they might be losing their job. you worried about your boss firing you? well, how about this? fire your boss first. coming up, the secrets to building your own business with just a few bucks? really? ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary.

all right. a lot of people out there looking for a job right now. other people are worried about their own job right now. you thought about maybe ditching the job hunt, maybe ditching the boss? how about starting your own business. it sounds easy sometimes when you hear from somebody who's done it. it's not easy, but it can be done. scott did it.

he's the founder of the young entrepreneur council. started his first successful business with just $700. the book is "never get a real job." how to dump your boss, build a business, and not go broke. sounds impossible, scott. now, first of all, you talk about ditching your boss. this isn't for everybody, though. entrepreneurship, is it? >> i think it has to be. >> it has to be? >> for young people especially. now more than ever. 40% of us have been unemployed or underemployed since the end of 2007. all of these things are working against us. so we need to have a create a job to keep a job mentality. >> that's one thing if you're out of a job and need to come up with something. and you do come up with an idea. would you be an advocate for if you have a job right now try to get out of that job or even quit that job to start your own thing? >> 100%. i think -- >> come on, that sounds crazy. >> you are actively not -- in most cases again, especially in

gen y, every hour you put into something is not for you, not for your growth. with recession, with layoffs, there is no job security anymore. it is not a safe environment to have a 9:00 to 5:00 social norm-oriented job. >> isn't that scary for folks with 15 million out of a job, if you have a job, a lot of people want to hold on to it. that sounds like a risk. >> you have to look at what risk is now. risk to me is something different than what risk used to be. going back to job seekers, you have folks passively trying to send resumes. you have folks in jobs, there are studies out there that show that people are afraid of doing anything wrong because they're afraid they're going to get canned at any time. i think it's time we move toward a entrepreneurial mind set, because we'll be able to take control of our own lives. >> excuse me on the cough here. take a look, we've got a screen to put up to show some of these

things people need to do. dump the boss, you say build something simple and unoriginal. people think they need to have some great idea nobody's thought of. >> i always say this is not the time to start trying to build facebook. you need to build something that is unoriginal, not reinventing the wheel. if you try to reinvent the wheel, you're doomed to be run over by it. make sure it's capable of generating immediate revenue now. >> how are people supposed to finance these deals? >> i always advocate that you are not going to get financing. every business i've ever started has been as boot strapped as it possibly could have been. so with me, you know, you don't need office space. i'm living proof of that. i had a madison avenue address for less than $500 a year. things that got me in the market immediately to allow me to be productive and faked it until i make it. >> there is a stress and risk involved with entrepreneurship. and that's the beginning. is it not for everybody?

isn't it? i know people, friends who have to live month-to-month doing it on their own. there's a stress involved here. >> there's no question there's a stress involved. but we are headed toward that major paradigm shift we're starting to see. the effects of globalization, automation, and the recession have changed the way our reality is going to be in the u.s. job force and internationally. frankly, if we don't start to move to that next generational thinking, we could become a lost generation. >> last thing here, do colleges maybe need to shift and maybe get some curriculum in there to teach people entrepreneurship versus getting that b.a. in whatever it may be, a viable option needs to be -- and college kids need to be thinking about entrepreneurship. >> i think we need to start at the grammar school level. with don't teach people how to be self-efficiency experts. and that's a big problem on the new economy. we need to have people understand what it takes to build a real solid business with a real foundation that is not built on a mind set of being a

billionaire. that's the way we will move forward as a society. >> scott, we appreciate you. you're telling me, i need to put my two weeks in here today. >> i think it's time you take control, man. >> take control. all right, scott gerber, you heard it here first. i'm out of here. >> good luck with that. >> yeah. keep in touch. still to come this morning, karen maginnis along with the morning travel forecast right after the break. it's going to be a tough weekend because of the ice, snow, and the cold in many parts of the country. 46 minutes past the hour. ooh, a brainteaser. how can expedia now save me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one.

and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia.

48 minutes past the hour right now. time to get a check of the weather. this morning karen maginnis is checking on things. syracuse got more snow than justin bieber is tall? >> yes. >> that's something everyone can understand. >> yeah, you wouldn't even see the sweep of the hair. already syracuse has picked up

close to 70 inches of snowfall for the season already. and they're looking at another snow event in the next couple of days. but, yeah, their all-time snowfall record 70.3 inches. they've seen 69.3 inches. so, yeah, more than justin bieber is tall. all right. how about some of the delays at the airports? well, for the most part, a storm system is going the to slam into the west coast. so san francisco starts to pick up the rain and the low clouds so those delays are going to add up to maybe an hour later on in the day. we could see minor delays across the northeast as the weather system begins to pull away. however, we did see some snowfall records. cincinnati, nothing dramatic as far as cincinnati is concerned. but just under 4 inches recorded there. and that was a record snowfall total that we were looking at. yesterday, charlottesville, fairfax, washington, d.c. we were anticipating between 1 and 3 inches of snow. generally 1 to 2 inches for some of the common amounts that we did see.

but what a slick morning. there were cars just kind of spread out all over some of the interstates and highways because the roads were so incredibly slippery. all the way from atlanta, georgia, all the way into the northeast and new england. we did see a weather system that moved through. but now it is dramatically warmer across the southeast. as we head toward the weekend, this area of low pressure is actually going to develop off the mid-atlantic coast. will it be a big nor'easter over the next several days? well, right now the national weather service is telling us, we don't know how much is going to develop, but it could impact, perhaps, some sections of new england as we head into sunday. but more so into monday. temperatures only into the 30s in denver, lots of rain expected for this weekend for the west coast. and we'll keep you updated. t.j., kiran, back to you. >> kiran, thanks. this morning's top stories minutes away, including pay now or pay for it later. taxes will stand -- be the same

in the new year, but it's another $1 trillion on the tab. we're going to debate whether it's worth it for you and your kids and grand kids down the line. actor morgan freeman is alive. and yes, that's actually a viable news story this morning. we'll explaexplain. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf. thank you for calling usprime cred.my pey, yes, i'd for a gift card.points ll points please? 000. ll caating...ase? ooh! 000.

sw: five fifty! 550 bucks?! do50ents.fifty! minus redeeming char leavin50 cents. say wh? happy time! what kind of pgram is this? ter rerds? itcho over. america'number 1 cash rds progr. it pays to discover.

we asked people all over america where the best potatoes come the best potatoes? idaho. idaho! idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that.

i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal. okay. seven minutes -- >> we're getting fired up over this a.m. original. >> yes, it is an a.m. original. something you're going to see right here for the past year. we have been tracking the lines of military recruits, literally from the basic training to the battlefield. >> and their struggles have become ours. and this morning we're focusing on three soldiers, all of them answering the p president's call for service at great personal sacrifice. jason carroll with a soldier's story. >> i know you've been following along, kiran has that particular favorite and i know you do, as well. we really appreciate that. but in order to tell a soldier's story, we wanted to focus on people from different backgrounds to give a better perspective of what it's like to be in the army during the time of war.

we've turned their stories and the series into a one-hour documentary. here's a brief look. >> reporter: in the fading light of a cold december evening barely one full year ago, the president of the united states forged marine one. and then air force one for a trip to west point, new york. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> reporter: the 33-minute speech he is about to deliver will affect the lives of every cadet in eisenhower hall. >> and as commander in chief, i have determined to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. >> along with every man and woman serving or about to serve in the united states military.

>> reporter: for more than a year, cnn has followed three of these soldiers. together, they tell a story of how the president's decision to expand the war in afghanistan affects the people most directly in harm's way. >> one, two, three -- come on, you got it. you got it. >> latrisha rose joins the army, leaving behind a 2-year-old daughter with a husband wondering how he can do it alone. >> here we go. almost done. >> reporter: sergeant randy shorter is a husband and father of two, just 32 years old, he's already a veteran of two combat tours. now he's about to return to afghanistan to an area the military calls hell on earth. and then there's 18-year-old will mclean who may find himself carrying out the president's mission into the very heart of afghanistan.

randy shorter, latrisha rose and mclean, continuing to make sacrifices every day. their stories are outlined in this one-hour documentary. >> will mclean, i remember his family and the weight he lost, the struggles he went through. >> i can't wait for you to see how things turned out for will. and i know -- >> you had to feel for her. first of all, the emotion of trying to say good-bye to her 2-year-old who didn't understand. and she sort of had the husband who was supposed to, you know, pull his own weight. and he had some struggles. >> and we got the most mail, actually, about latrisha rose about the three of them. but again, all of their stories -- >> we want to know how it all ends. and cnn's going to be airing this one-hour documentary airs saturday, december 18th, tomorrow night, 8:00, and sunday, december 19th, 8:00 p.m.

eastern. we'll be right back. 57 minutes after the hour. have an old 401k? no matter how the market changes, your retirement savings need care and attention from year to year. open a t.rowe price smartchoice rollover ira, and let our professionals manage it for you. just choose the retirement fund closest to your expected retirement date. our fund managers will adjust the investment mix over time to become more conservative as your retirement date nears. all with no loads, sales charges or commissions. visit our website, or call our investment guidance specialists at 1800-681-2294 and consider a move that could make all the difference in your retirement. the t. rowe price smartchoice rollover 1800-681-2294

request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. you need the patch. (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.

well, hello there, everybody. good morning, welcome to this "american morning" for this friday, december 17th. i'm sitting in for john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. glad you're with us. time is flying, and seems we're further into the season than we are because of all of the bitter weather across the country. >> i don't think it's officially winter even yet, right? >> we have a few more days to go. but it certainly feels like winter's got a grip on us. an icy grip. a dangerous glaze still leaving roads from the latest rounds of storms impassable in some cases. and there's word of another winter storm creeping up the east coast, unfortunately, timing out for hitting during the weekend. also, after all of that hooting and hollering on capitol hill, it got done anyway. no, your taxes will not be going up at the beginning of the year.

they got this done, that tax cut extension now on its way to the oval office. the deal was hammered out between the white house and republicans. in tenhe end, more democrats end up voting for the bill. it was a wild day on capitol hill. men and women in uniform traveling around the world getting furloughed for the holiday. all with one destination in mind, home for the holidays. we have some of the heart-warming reunions this morning. and also, what kiran was just mentioning at the top. wherever you are this weekend, could have some problems with the roads. body shops are busy all over the country, especially in maryland. got a couple inches of snow, but that's all they needed. dozens and dozens of fender benders. >> people don't slow down, that's the problem. they drive exactly the same,

unfortunately, this is what happens. >> do they do that? >> i grew up outside the beltway and notorious for just a couple inches of snow or one inch of snow causing a lot of headaches. the snowplows couldn't keep up in west virginia. steady snowfall turned everything from driveways to interstates sloppy. sleet, freezing rain, making a bad situation worse. >> let's turn to kiran maginnis in atlanta. we talked about what people already got. but are some other places under the gun with bad weather right now? >> well, we went from ice and snow now to some lake effect snows right across lakes erie and ontario. buffalo you may remember a week or so ago got socked with 1 to 6 feet of snowfall. right now it's cleveland, extending up towards syracuse. i think this particular lake-effect snow event is going to be mild to moderate, 2 to 4 inches possible. but temperatures still are in the deep freeze, will be as we head towards the weekend. there is a developing system off

the eastern sea board. we'll have to see just how close that comes to the eastern sea board as we go through the next 24 hours. but right now, computer models are suggesting perhaps southern new england will be affected for the most part. now, temperatures are expected only to be in the 30s across the interior west. temperatures in the 20s as we go into the afternoon in chicago. but if you're looking for some warmer temperatures, yes, it's florida. with readings in the 70s. we're not the only place seeing the deep freeze. across europe, it is a siberian blast. and coming up in the 8:00 hour, we'll tell you about some of the airports affected there. t.j., kiran, back to you. >> we appreciate you. we'll check in with you again shortly. the headline this morning, your taxes won't go up on new year's day. they finally got it done in the house. a bill extending the bush-era tax cuts for another two years is on its way to the oval office this morning. avoiding an income tax hike on

new year's day, and those relying on unemployment benefits, those will be renewed, as well. 139 democrats voted for this package along with 138 republicans. jim acosta in washington. the new bipartisan washington. is this a new washington? or is this just an anomaly? >> i think they want to go home for the holidays, t.j. but it is feeling a little warmer and fuzzier up on capitol hill this morning after they passed this tax cut deal last night. i want you to know i heard from the white house a few moments ago, it is likely we're going to see some kind of signing from the president today, perhaps a statement on this tax cut package that was passed last night. it wasn't even close. the final vote was 277 to 148. we can show you some of the video. this happened in the wee hours of the morning when most of us were sleeping. who says they don't burn the midnight oil here in washington? but in the end, these tax cuts

had to pass, as you said, because had these tax rates gone up at the first of the year, there wouldn't have been enough coal to go around for all of the stockings up on capitol hill. so they had to get this done, guys. >> sorry, jim, people were talking to me, as well at the same time. i was listening to you. the tax cut bill, now that that's done, this is by no means the end for this congress. they have a lot of other things to take up. >> reporter: that's right, and that is because, you know, you have to keep the lights on in washington. as much as everybody would like to turn the lights off. you still have to run the federal government and this massive spending bill we've been talking about the last 24 hours, they call it the omnivous spending bill. and senator reid, the senate majority leader pulled that bill off of the table last night. it was a shocking development in all of this because essentially what happened was the republicans that initially indicated they would support

this deal backed away. there was a big cry over these earmarks. 6,000 earmarks in that bill worth $8 trillion on a $1 trillion spending bill. it was too much for tea party activists to take. they flooded the phones on capitol hill, calling their republican congressmen, angrily saying don't you dare vote for this spending package. so in the end, harry reid pulled the deal off the table. and john mccain, one of the -- one of the republicans leading the charge against this spending bill because of those earmarks took a victory lap last night. here he is. >> well, i'd like to extend my gratitude to the american people, the tea partiers. those who have aligned themselves with the cause to stop the spending and the mortgaging of our children and grandchildren's future. we've amassed a $40,000 debt for every man, woman, and child in america. the latest commission that

reported out clearly indicated that we are on a collision course that could bring down the very economy of this country. >> so what's going to happen now? basically republicans and democrats are going to start working together, t.j. they're going to craft what is essentially a continuing resolution. more washington speak for a bill that will keep the government running for another couple of months. all of this clears the runway for the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. it has already passed the house, it may pass the senate this weekend. and senator reid is working on that right now. >> all right. jim acosta for us this morning. thanks. >> you bet. new this morning, north korea with a warning for the south. it is promising a military strike if seoul goes ahead with live firing drills planned near a disputed island over the next five days. this three weeks after north korea shelled that island. a warning from homeland security officials as well as the fbi.

terrorists could be targeting large crowds at holiday gatherings. officials say they don't have any specific or credible information about the planned attacks, but they are issuing the warning to keep everyone alert. also, director blake edwards has died. he is best known for the pink panther films and "breakfast at tiffany's." he died from complications of pneumonia. his wife julie andrews was by his side. well, an endless cast of stars paying tribute to the king, our king, larry king, his final show on cnn after 6,000 shows. can you imagine that? over 1/4 of a century. even his sons got a turn at the mike. take a look. >> yeah. they were just going crazy at the larry king show last night,

weren't they? >> 63,000 teddy bears all thrown at larry at the same time. video mix-up. >> yeah, little video mix-up. he's been here 25 years, we're honoring the guy. use the wrong video. sorry, larry. he's going to stay a part of the cnn family, however. he's not going too far away. he's going to be doing some specials here at cnn. and i'm sure somebody gave him a teddy bear for his going away yesterday. >> yeah, with suspenders on. we need to let you know that larry is leaving that chair, somebody else is going to get in that chair at 9:00 eastern time. that guy. piers morgan is going to be starting up at the beginning of the year coming your way in january. an event you do not want to miss. piers morgan. but first, your taxes we told you not going to go up. also, we're still -- because the taxes aren't going up, we're going to throw another huge amount on this country's credit

card. the big debate. should we pay for it now or later? we're talking to two lawmakers next. also, they're serving our country and now headed back to their families. troops getting to be home for the holidays. also, teddy bears. we told you we were going to get to this. it was raining teddy bears. this was not the way you should normally treat a teddy bear. but this was a good cause. we're going to explain that at about 10 minutes past the hour. ♪

oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday.

back to our top story this morning. we're talking about the tax cut deal that passed the senate last night. your income taxes will not go up next year because late last night the house passed an extension of the bush-era tax cuts for the next two years. president obama could sign the bill as soon as today. the price tag for all of this has been estimated at $860 billion. the cost that several democrats including congressman peter difasio said was too high. >> every other nation is talking about buckle down a little bit, austerity measures and having a sustained recovery. no, not here. we got out the credit card, $1 trillion, well, no, it's only $858 billion. and guess what? our kids and grand kids will be paying that bill for 30 years. >> well, we've got two congress people on the show to debate the deal first. first a democrat from texas, he's against it, and also

congressman blackburn who supported the deal. i want to ask you, congressman, if we take a look at how the vote went down, you had nearly as many democrats vote against it as those who supported it. why could you not support this? >> well, the moment of truth was the appropriately entitled name of the president's bipartisan debt commission. it took barely a moment before that commission's report came out about the problems of our national debt before he blew right through another $1 trillion in this side deal with the senate republicans. i think you can talk about cutting taxes and that's great. we all like less taxes, but this came at an immense cost and with the efficiency of our -- essentially having stood at the front of the capitol and shoving cash out.

>> congressman doggett, though, are average americans better off today because this passed? >> well, i think that average americans -- i think about it in my area in central the texas. the average central texas family, the median income of the central texas family for an entire year is less than what the top 1% will get in a tax cut here. that won't produce jobs, but it will add an immense amount of debt with our borrowing from the chinese and others that we'll eventually have to pay. and we say it's our money, it certainly is, but it's also our debt. and now we have much more of it. i think if you increase the debt, that's a problem. and the serious problem of social security. a major step was taken yesterday to undermine social security, that's why the national committee to preserve social security said this bill was a

disaster. and social security, unfortunately, it is. >> congressman blackburn, i want to get your take. we know it cost about $860 billion. the $60 billion is extending unemployment benefits as well as other things. when are we going to see budget cuts that offset some of this? because right now we have the sweeteners but not necessarily the pain. >> kiran, i think it is important we realize this. this is the american taxpayers' money. yesterday what we did was to extend the bush-era tax cuts. and you know and as you have said, this is letting taxpayers keep their money. this is money they are not going to send to washington. if you send the money to washington, they're going to spend that money. now, what we have seen, the democrats is up that spending. when she took the gavel, the federal debt was about $8.5 trillion, and now it is about $13 trillion. so what we're going to do come january 5th is reset those spending levels back to the 2008

spending levels and then begin a process of across the board spending reductions. the american people have spoken, they want their taxes reduced, they want the spending reduced, the federal government does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem, and, yes, indeed, we are going to put this nation on the road to fiscal health. and i hope that mr. doggett joins me. >> on wednesday blue dog coalition passed this legislation that would've called for pay as you go or pay/go, meaning that unless you have the money set aside, you can't spend it. and you voted against that, but you've been in favor of pay/go measures in the past. why didn't you support it wednesday? >> because we need to implement cut and go. you need to be cutting things. and that is an important step for us to take. now, sometimes these pay/go provisions, which many in the house under democrat leadership have wanted to do. they want to raise your taxes in order to pay for it.

we had an election 45 days ago. the american people have spoken. and, kiran, what they have said time and again is we do not want our taxes to go up. the measures we passed yesterday will keep the american people from seeing a tax increase when they get that first paycheck. our next step has to be to make these tax reductions permanent and implement across the board spending reductions. it is what the american people are demanding. and you're going to see us do that and you're going to see us begin to make these cuts. you know what? we have bureaucrats that sit in these buildings in washington, d.c. and they spend their hours every day figuring out new ways to spend your money. it is time for us to change that. we have to make certain that our government is more efficient and that it is spending less and the american people are going to hold us accountable for taking those steps. >> well, we'll have to see what happens because as both of you acknowledged, the deficit is

huge. and as we know, we still don't necessarily have a budget for next year either yet. so a lot of work to do still ahead. congressman lloyd doggett and marcia blackburn, thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. are you a hockey fan? >> if there are teddy bears there. >> a hat trick, they throw hats out when the player scores the three goals. that's what you're supposed to do. what would a hockey player have to do to get 23,000 people to toss teddy bears on to the ice? we'll explain. guilt-free christmas tree for the environmentally conscious. why cut one down when you can rent a nice little tree and then give it back. >> stop it. >> give it back, and it doesn't have to die. i'll tell you more about that coming up.

i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben.

all right. breaking news. morgan freeman is alive. that seems like an odd thing to

have to tell people that you're alive. but yesterday, you know how things get started on the web. yesterday there was a report out that, in fact, he had died. now, allegedly, this had started on a cnn twitter account. that is not true. this was some kind of a huge hoax that cnn's name was attached to. we did not put that out. we were not the source of that information. but again, morgan freeman is alive and well. >> one of my favorite actors. well, those are not hats flying on to the ice. they're teddy bears. a swarm of 23,096. they counted each and every one. the it's a holiday tradition. after the game, the players gather them up and deliver them to a local children's hospital for the holidays. but actually, it wasn't after the game. they had to pause the game for 40 minutes to get these -- usually after the first goal everybody throws them down there, they had so many this time the game was paused for 40 minutes while they got them off the ice. >> you don't see something like

this -- that's a cool thing to do. >> yeah. >> don't usually treat a teddy bear like that, but there's good reason. oh, she couldn't make it. >> they're in plastic bags so they don't get messed up. >> that is a nice holiday tradition. another holiday tradition i'm not about to get onboard, renting your holiday tree. renting the christmas tree. >> i do feel bad we cut down so many trees. but a lot of tree farms they plant one, seven years later, boom, new tree. but we have a new idea. >> yes, they are doing this in canada, though. you can rent a real tree. i don't know if they're all going to be this size. they kind of like potted plants i was saying earlier. but there it is. why are you laughing at the tree? >> it's cute. >> but this will cost you about $80 to $100. that ain't cheap, necessarily to rent it. and you can buy one certainly less expensive than that. but still, like you said, some people want to help the environment. >> and some people have small apartments and that's all they want. so there you go, environmentally

friendly, give it back at the end. what better place to see decorations than in beverly hills, california? charles sending us this picture of a christmas tree decked out with $12,000 worth of lights. it's not just the tree, the house, the yard, if you see something to show the world, shoot it, send it to us. cnn.com -- what are they diamonds? >> i bet he ain't renting no christmas tree at that house in beverly hills. yes, maybe you do have $12,000 to use to decorate that christmas tree. however, operation santa. you may have heard of this. it's a little different this year. they've been getting a lot of letters from young people, of course, with their christmas wishes for santa, but they don't just want toys. they don't just want money, a football, they want their families to be okay. we're going to be sharing some of the letters. they're taking on a different tone this time around. stay here.

the song's called one headlight. has that ever happened to you? >> i'm sorry? you lost me there. what are we listening to? >> anyway. almost one year ago today, a carefully crafted image of tiger woods came crashing down. it's hard to imagine it was a year ago. >> thanksgiving night. >> to understand the man, you have to understand his family. >> and a lot of people when i was putting this series together that's going to be airing this weekend.

i said i'm going out to talk to tiger woods' brother. first response, he has a brother? a lot of people don't realize that. he does have siblings. it's a half brother, earl woods jr., he gave us insight into the life of his billion dollar sibling. >> reporter: earl woods jr. is the oldest of three children from his father's previous marriage. >> they had a conversation with tiger when he was little. and we said you're either all or not at all. so he loved that. >> just as tiger's career began to skyrocket, his older brother noticed a change. >> when he turned pro, it became more difficult to have time with him. and since then, it's like -- it's almost as though we don't measure up. i haven't spoken to tiger since 2006. we've sent him a couple of letters. and i've tried to call a couple of times just to update him on, you know, what's going on with the family because we are

family. and i've gotten no response. >> you haven't talked to your brother, your blood since 2006. now, there has to be something else going on. was there some tension of some kind? why would he just cut the family off? >> there were reports i'd borrowed money from him and not paid him back. there was a family argument that split the family up. and none of that's true. >> reporter: in fact, the last time he says he saw his little brother was at their father's funeral. >> he was gracious enough to allow us to join him on the jet to take my dad to kansas to bury his remains. and i remember we came off the jet, walked down the runway, hugged, hey, how you doing? and he went that way with the entourage and we went this way. and that was the last i ever saw him. >> reporter: earl woods jr. says their father's death had a major impact on tiger. >> what i saw was that he lost a part of himself.

i think that our father was a part of tiger so much that when he passed, tiger became lost. that he didn't know how to fill that void. >> and it was really quite sad. a lot of people think his brother speaking out now because he has, you know, some hard feelings or something towards tiger. he absolutely defended tiger, defended -- not necessarily defended the actions, but says that's not the guy at the core you've been seeing the past year. he just wants to reach out to his brother. >> and there was no resentment. so much has been made about the father/son relationship between tiger and earl and how much energy and time he poured into tiger. no resentment? he says no. you never know for sure, but didn't get the impression at all. they were older than tiger was and they were getting older, tiger was the little one in the house that got so much attention. we did reach out to tiger woods' management company for some type of comment. no comment made. a whole lot more on this. again, going back, it's been a

heck of a year for tiger woods. downfall, tiger woods scandal right here on cnn. >> we'll be watching. meanwhile, we're crossing the half hour. time for a look at our top stories. and a new warning coming from u.s. security officials that terrorists could target large crowds at holiday gatherings. they don't have any specific or credible information on any planned attacks, the department of homeland security and the fbi want to issue this intelligence bulletin to law enforcement urging everyone to stay alert. your taxes will not be going up on january the 1st. yes, the bill passed by the house yesterday now headed to the oval office. of course, it's the extension of the bush-era tax cuts. just need the president's signature now. it will extend the bush-era tax cuts for two years, also extend jobless benefits for the unemployed for some 13 months. anxious families are anticipating the return of servicemen and women, their loved ones heading home for the holidays.

and we had a chance to catch up with one soldier earlier in atlanta heading home to his family in arkansas. >> it's an amazing feeling to be able to go see family. you know, you think about them all the time when you're gone and you miss the little things. and you really miss the people that you love, that you take for granted them being there all the time. >> they're all passing through the uso airport centers, which are operating around the clock at airports and, of course, many places. but this one specifically was in atlanta. they're trying to accommodate the thousands of troops on the road home. what a fantastic sight to see. >> it is. and right around the holidays. a lot of them will have to go back out after the holidays. at least they get this time with the family. well, this incredible scene that played out in florida this week had so many people talking. the security guard here that says he was just doing his job, however, those words from that security officer. he was the one that stopped that gunman at the florida school

board meeting. going to give you a reminder here. we need to warn you, though, the video is quite disturbing. need to let you know none of the school board members were shot. earlier this week, clay duke opened fire on the school board members in panama city. >> yeah, amazingly he didn't hit anyone. but off camera he was shot. that was by mike jones. a retired police officer. he wounded the gunman. the gunman later turned the gun on himself. here's mike jones telling what went down in his words. >> well, i know the first three rounds i fired hit what i was aiming for. but he wouldn't go down. and he started shooting at the board members again. so i kept shooting, but he was moving a lot, he fell, then his arm came up, he was still shooting at me and you just get tunnel vision. you don't know they're coming right at you, but know he's shooting in my direction. so i laid a couple of rounds, trying to get to the aisle he

was laying at. i was trying to keep him pinned down so i could get to him and engage him again. and i couldn't stand back up because the bullets were coming my way. and i think they said the gun battle lasted 13 seconds, but seemed like forever. and i can't -- i think they said i fired seven rounds he fired at 11 at me. i don't know. it was a bunch, i know that. when i got to the aisle, i actually saw him laying there. and i thought he was already dead. first thing that came to mind, you know, what's the community going to think of me? i'm known as this nice guy and now taking somebody's life. and, you know, my parishioners what they would think. and then honestly, i shot the man in the back the first time, i was going to jail. there are so many things that go through your mind. but it was 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 done my job.

>> he is just so humble about it. i've just done my job. he saved lives. >> we often hear that. everybody's coming. how in the world did he miss the school board members? his wife comes out and says he probably wasn't aiming for them. the guy has some training in this. if he was aiming for them, he would've hit them. >> the fact that mike jones wasn't even supposed to be there was because of the icy weather they told him to show up and make sure everything was okay at the building and he ended up being responsible for saving lives. >> incredible. well, eight days until christmas and the letters to santa are pouring in. but this year, it's really bothering the people who are in charge of operation santa. they're seeing kids not asking for toys or games, but asking for things like a warm coat for their mother or in some cases actually sending the cut off notice of their electric bill. some of those requests and how you can help and how others are helping coming up. 36 minutes past the hour.

if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil.

♪

39 minutes past the hour. santa's helpers are in high gear this morning. especially those who help get messages to the big guy. we're talking about the elves who work in the post office and help sort santa's mail. unfortunately they say this year in particular they're seeing a different kind of wish list. >> we have a high school student from queens, new york, who is also takinging part in this effort. he's been doing this over the past several years with his school. gentlemen, good morning to you both. pete, i will start with you out there. i guess, what do you do? you've been doing this for a while with this operation santa. what happens with these letters once you get them? >> well, these letters get sorted, and we open them and we make them available for the public to come in here and read and play santa claus. so people come in here and read the letters. and they go out and buy the

gifts and come back here to mail them and we put the address information in later and it's just a wonderful thing that people do during the holiday season. >> it is absolutely wonderful. and, un, in years past, you expect to hear kids writing to santa asking for toys, asking for, you know, games, and you gave some examples that really reflect the times people asking for just a coat for my mom. not asking anything for themselves. or saying this is a shut off notice from our electric company. how has this changed in the past year in terms of letters? >> the letters have gone up considerably and the requests as you've mentioned have changed from, you know, being the greedy and switching over to the needy. the kids asking for things for their mother, like a winter coat for mom or we can't pay the bills and they don't have anything to buy toys or anything for christmas. so that's going to be the first thing that gets eliminated during the holidays are the frills. so these kids are reaching out

to santa for help. and the amount of helpers that come in here -- those are the people that come in here, read the letters and sponsor them has dropped considerably. but since we've been getting all of this media attention within the last few days or so, it has picked up considerably. so it was cloudy, but now there's sunshine. >> let's give people a general idea here -- or specific idea as i get ready to bring in keith who is in studios with us. i think we have these made into a graphic. we can put up on the screen to show you. couple examples of these letters. here's one that says, santa, i recently lost my job and i am unable to buy my children toys and clothes this winter. now, clearly that comes from a parent there, but you've been doing this, and again, you're a high school student. other of your fellow students are being a part of this. what's it like for you guys to see letters coming in like that? >> it's heartbreaking. we are inspired by -- the human

rights campaign. but since then we realized there are thousands of -- hundreds of thousands of kids and families in new york city who are not affording food more or less gifts and toys this holiday season. >> you got another letter that said santa, my mom lost her job and is losing a lot of weight. can you please send my mom a winter coat, i don't want her to get sick? just heartbreaking. >> absolutely. our community has been great in supporting the drive for the past few years. we have collected hundreds and hundreds of gifts and clothing and coats. >> let me bring you back in. you made the point a moment ago that it was kind of down. you're starting to get media attention now. but you said -- it was down. people coming in, requesting these letters trying to make wishes come true. is that a reflection, as well, as the tough economic times we're in? >> i would say absolutely. the number of letters have gone

up considerably where the number of people that sponsor the letters has gone down. but now that trend seems to be reversing. but definitely increase in the number of needy letters. >> well, we're going to give people contact information if they want to take part. i know there's some who say what can i do? but you'as you've said, you've this for year. why is it important for people to help christmas to make sure these kids have gifts and clothing? >> i grew up in south america. and we embrace all holidays. it was not as divided as it is in the united states. every celebrated everything. there's no, you know, divide. but no, it's something -- and the first year we found the families are not just christian, they're all religious backgrounds. you find living in new york city

everyone is very diverse. and while the students regardless if they are christian or muslim or hindu or buddhists, they go to public school and their friends are getting gifts, this idea has become universal. >> well, we appreciate you guys both being here. glad we can get the message out a little bit here, as well. gentlemen, thank you, both. congratulations on what you're both doing right now. for a lot of folks out there, you want to know how to get in touch. operation santa is what it's called. contact your local post office. they will be able to get information to you to help out. gentlemen, thank you again. >> you're doing a great thing, you know. and you guys -- you high school kids showing you care, it's wonderful. thanks so much. we've got a nasty storm that is forming off the east coast. is it going to stay offshore? are some people going to get slammed by this thing? you need to stick around to see what your weekend is going to look like. it's 45 minutes past the hour.

i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can

and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben. the rate board seems to be acting funny. watch. [dramatic soundtrack plays] wasn't me. you think i could do something... that awesome? adding a little fun to auto insurance. now, that's progressive. see "tron: legacy" in theaters december 17th. this film is rated pg.

♪ beautiful shot of a cold washington, d.c. but things might be warming up. after they reach the tax cut compromise and passed it, they're all warm and fuzzy up there and bipartisan there in washington, d.c., at least for the day. 26 degrees, though, that way right now. supposed to get up to 37. good morning, washington. >> yeah, it'll be at least better for them than yesterday where they got a little coating of snow and it messed things up pretty badly. karen maginnis in the extreme weather center. are they getting a bit of a reprieve? or are we looking at more snow? >> they say on the order of 1 to 2 inches, it wasn't bad. >> but that's all it takes in the nation's capital. >> absolutely. and what we've got for today is

a quieter weather picture. however, i will mention this lake effect snow. places like erie, pennsylvania, and cleveland and akron. some have seen twice as much snowfall as they would normally see for this time of year. in some cases, a foot of snow already. when a typical amount in cleveland would be 4, 5, 6 inches typical for this time of year. yeah, a little bit of snow falling around buffalo, also into syracuse. probably the snowfall totals will add up to maybe 2 or 3 inches, certainly possible. but it does look like all of the northeast remains into the deep freeze. all the way until christmas eve. we're not expecting those temperatures to rise terribly much at all. however, we did see the temperatures rise across the southeast. good news considering yesterday we had icy roads, icy interstates, accidents all over the place from northern alabama and mississippi into tennessee, they closed the nashville airport for a time because it was so icy out there. and numerous accidents in

atlanta over 1,000 accidents reported due to the icy roads. well, there's a strong weather system moving in across the west coast. and that'll also bring another wave of stormy weather across the south central u.s. this weekend, as well. >> thanks. well, coming up in the next hour, he's not out of school, but already helping the other children get an education they deserve. big stars, big giving, we're one-on-one with justin bieber. also, we're following three soldiers from boot camp to soldiers from boot camp to the battlefield a. preview of a special documentary. santa busts a move. old st. nick so jolly this time of year that he's dancing in the streets.

♪ phil hard at work. i think the food delivery just came in. the fda wants avastin to be

fazed out for women being treated for breast cancer. this announcement came yesterday after an advisory panel made an initial recommendation. >> in europe, women there can continue to use it with their chemotherapy. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta following this story since july. what are we supposed to make of the fda finding? >> i'm following the story since 2008 in some ways when the whole process started to fast track the medication. i can tell you what's happening now will come as a disappointment to some women counting on this as a therapy and sometimes last resort therapy if the breast cancer had spread. what's happened here? they looked at four big studies, the fda did to come to conclusions. trying to answer two questions. first is does this medication prolong survival? and number two, do the benefits outweight the risks? the answer to both of those questions came back no at least according to the fda. the risk they're talking about

here are significant ones. potential heart failure, heart attacks, potential development of perforations or holes in your intestines or stomach. significant risks for women with breast cancer that spread. again, back there was a lot of interest and enthusiasm around the medication in 2008 so that the fda fast tracked it after the company provided data showing, look, it is going to lead to progression-free survivsu surviv survival. for that, with that information, the fda said that's enough to fast track the drug. the deal is, we need to see more studies. the studies came back and they say it's not matching up and making the move to take it off for this particular population of patients, patients with breast cancer that's spread. >> all right. so what do you do if you're taking it? for the women out there using it right now. and the fact you're still allowed to in europe is interesting. >> yeah. with regard to the europe thing,

you know, we read that very closely, talked to regulators, as well. they're looking at the same data saying this medication can still be used conjunction with another chemo medication. in the united states, this medication will be able to be used for other forms of cancer. and for now, you know, nothing's going to happen right away. never does with the fda and some period of time before they can actually make any moves. for women right now on it is probably nothing different. they will have the conversations with the doctors but there's probably about 15,000 women in any given year eligible for the medication and they will have to look at the risks and benefits specifically and also in 10case if the doctor think it necessary, they'll use it off label. they've made a strong recommendation on the longevity of the medication for women with breast cancer specifically. >> all right. sanjay gupta for us this morning, thanks for the update. appreciate it. >> you got it, guys.

we'll take a quick break and then the top stories including checking in with peter bergen regarding the potential alert of homeland security officials about a christmas threat for the holidays. 56 minutes past the hour. this is america, man. home of the highway... last minute detours and spontaneous acts of freedom. ♪ we're wanderers. wayfarers. even nomads. so doesn't it just make sense that we build an electric car... that goes...far. really far. ♪ this is my band from the 80's, looker. hair and mascara, a lethal combo. 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 and musicians to come play them. rock n roll will never die. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is putting more music in more people's hands.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning on this friday, december 17th. >> good to have you here. we have a warning first from terrorists could be targeting large gatherings. peter bergen will join us to talk more about what's behind this warning. an it's all done but the signature. the income taxes will not be going up on january 1st. tax cut extension on its way to the oval office this morning. the deal hammered out between the white house and republicans gone through now and in the end more democrats ended up voting for the bill. we'll have more on a wild day on capitol hill and the work ahead. and most holiday gifts are

easy enough to return but a dog or cat, you have to do your homework. a pet needs a home and could be back in the shelter by new year's. this morning, what you should know before you decide to bring home a furry friend for the holidays. everybody remembers last christmas with your family and then breaking news, trying to blow up an airliner over detroit. well, the fbi, homeland security officials once again warning everybody you need to stay alert this holiday season. especially if you're planning to attend an event with a large crowd. >> hard when they make that type of statement. you don't know what are you supposed to do besides be aware? they insist they don't have a specific threat of a terrorist attack but they want law enforcement and all of us to be more on the lookout for suspicious activity. cnn national security analyst peter bergen here this morning. when you have this broad type of warning, i understand they have to put it out there and not have

to say we didn't warn people but what should we do? >> well, i think, you know, a little bit of heightened alertness is probably a good idea. i think that if it was an attack it's more likely to be in europe because there's still an alert for mostly germans trained in pakistan that -- the state of -- you may recall, kiran, doesn't expire until january but they have attacked at christmas. you may recall, kiran, christmas of 1999 during that christmas holiday season a guy was arrested at the border in seattle. and he was planning to blow up a bomb in lax airport in the middle of the christmas travel season so -- and then of course we had the underwear bomber last christmas and if you go overseas, indonesia, attacks at christmas in christian churches and a group of the iraqi

insurgent to attack christian sites, around christmas 2000. and so, for the groups -- these groups, you know, they do regard christians at infidels and an attack at christmas means, also, that you are going to have people concentrated in particular places. and so, you know, i think that this alert is not, you know, it's -- it's perhaps an abundance of caution. i don't think it's much opportunity for a terrorist to do an attack right now in the united states. but perhaps overseas that's more plausible. >> peter, we know this is just a popular time, a favorite time. we often hear about the plots or this chatter around the holidays. this just takes -- even if they're not successful, it's a deep psychological toll on us all. >> yeah. i think that's terrorist if they don't work and terrorize us and just say, well, we should go about the business as usual and not freak out. i mean, they don't win if we're

not terrorized and so, you know, our best panic is not a good response to this warning. i think this is just a typical kind of warning. >> right. >> and there is some intelligence that is based on a group of iraqi insurgents told their interrogators there were plans for attacks over christmas in europe or the united states and i think europe is a lot more likely because the groups have more reach there. >> so, the question then in practical terms, i mean, you have increased traveling, obviously. airports are a top target. what is it going to be like traveling this holiday season? will we see more changes, increased security at airports? >> well, i just flew from dubai to washington earlier this week and it was very intense security on the united flight. everybody's bags were double checked, handbag and was searched very carefully going on the plane, so clearly, certain airlines coming from certain destinations are taking stronger measures than is perhaps typical.

>> gotcha. peter bergen for us this morning, thank you. >> thank you. developing story now and a sign that the hunt for terrorists may be expanding this morning. pakistani officials say there were two u.s. drone strikes today that killed at least ten suspected militants taking place in pakistan's northern tribal regions. believed that militants pushed there because of the increased drone strikes along the afghan-pakistan border. another unmanned drone where it wasn't supposed to be in somebody's backyard along the u.s.-mexico border. it was not a u.s. drone. the national transportation safety board says a mexican drone crashed in the yard in el paso, trying to find out why it was operating in u.s. air space in the first place. headline is your tax won't go up on new year's day and finally got it done. a bill extending the bush era tax cuts for two years is on the way to the oval office this morning. avoiding an income tax hike for

americans and renewing the unemployed benefits. >> some calling ate christmas miracle, not just because they got it done but a bipartisan way. jim acosta live for us in the new and improved and bipartisan washington, d.c. this morning. good morning to you. >> don't you feel it? >> reporter: i do. all that was missing is tiny tim on the house floor saying and god bless us every one. you are right. this did pass and a little news from the white house. two administration officials confirming that the president will sign this into law and make a statement this afternoon. so this is going to be official, folks. are not going to see the taxes come up come january and that is essentially why this deal passed. the vote wasn't close. 277 in favor. 148 against. this got derailed temporarily yesterday afternoon but all of that is sort of water under the bridge at this point because essentially they had to get this

done and as you're mentioning there are some breaks in this tax cut package, most notably that payroll tax cut of two percentage points for all americans, that's a tax break that could be worth up to $2,000 for a lot of people out there so this is pretty significant. >> they ought to tackle other issues, as well. one of them trying to get out of the senate is the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, kiran. this could be the biggest vote of lame duck session. the tax cut deal is a big deal but, i mean, just imagine all of those soldiers who have been serving as gay and lesbians, you know, privately, not being able to come out and talk about that openly in the ranks of the armed services, essentially passed the house earlier in week as we know and four republicans just in the last 24 hours in the senate have indicated they're going to vote for this and so senate majority leader harry reid indicated there will be votes on this this weekend to push it through and

could be another signing for the president that will work for a core constituency of the democratic party. they like the news at the white house, as well. i just -- since we are in the holiday spirit right now, guys, i just wanted to show you one of the hottest gifts in washington this holiday season. kiran, i can send it up to you for the kids. republican and democrat marshmallow shooters. there it is right there. the donkey for the democrats. and here's the one for the republicans. this is what they're -- at least not using live ammunition up on capitol hill. >> filiblaster? >> reporter: yep. you know -- >> you have two kids. you got to figure out which one gets the democratic and one gets the republican one and good to go. >> reporter: exactly. i'm not touching that one. but you know what? in the spirit of bipartisanship as t.j. was mentioning, i'll send them up to you. >> we appreciate you, jim. jim acosta for us this morning, thanks so much. >> reporter: merry christmas,

guys. >> you, too. larry king's final show on cnn after 6,000 shows over 25 years. >> you know final one was a big deal, a big show. a long list of newsmakers and stars showed up to say good-bye. his son was there, a turn on the mike and tony bennett. here's a preview if you missed a final show last night. ♪ the best is yet to come and babe won't that be fine ♪ ♪ you think you've seen the sun but you ain't seen it shine ♪ ♪ wait until the warm months wait until our lips have met ♪ ♪ wait until you see that sunshine day you ain't seen nothing yet ♪ >> where's shawn? get in the car. i'm too old for this. i done this for 50 years.

>> larry: i am -- i don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. and instead of good-bye, how about so long? >> he's not going too far. and this was the cool moment here as they faded out. with the microphone, very cool last night. the son was hilarious. can you believe larry king after 25 years here, 50 years in the business finally saying good-bye? he is not leaving the family, however. going to stick around here. we'll see him on specials throughout the year. >> that's somebody who has, you know, all the energy and curiosity of somebody 50 years younger and a piece of add vase. he says be yourself. you can't be anything else and be successful. >> that's pretty good advice. i wish he told me that years ago. i would have gotten further in the business probably. coming cnn is new show

"piers morgan tonight" here on cnn. be yourself, t.j. we look forward to that, as well. another event to miss. extreme weather. karen mcginnis keeping an eye on things for us. >> we are watching what could potentially be the nor'easter for the weekend. now the computer models are not exactly sure what's going to happen with this system. but we do know it develops further off the coast of the carolinas we think by late in the weekend to brush by the northeast and new england. right now, it appears that the windy and snowy weather will most materialize across southern new england. boston, you might expect wind gusts. maybe along the range of 40 to 50 miles per hour. when i come back in 30 minutes, we'll tell you what happens in the rest of the forecast and we're watching several weather systems as they move in from the west and we'll see what happens as we close in towards

christmas. back to you. >> all right. thanks so much, karen. well, they're coming home. we're live along one stop. >> he's got a little bit of a cold. we are all dealing with it. what we're doing is sharing the solders' stories. coming home for the holidays and a stop on the journey just ahead. ten minutes past the hour. ♪ [ ted ] for years, i was just a brewer. until one of the guys brought in some fresh bread that he'd made from our pale ale. and from that first bite, i knew my business would never be the same. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity to grow, the hartford is there. protecting their property and helping them plan their employees' retirement. ♪ beer or bread? [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com.

hey tough guy, that cold needs alka seltzer plus! it has the cold-fighting power of an effervescent packed in a liquid-gel for all over relief! hiyah! dude! hiyah! three. two. one. ♪ don't cha wish your work phone was hot like me?... ♪ the droid pro by motorola knows you need business on the go.

with its powerful 1 gigahertz processor... ♪ da da da don't cha... ♪ its globetrotting wi-fi hotspotting swagger... it knows you want a rich web experience with adobe flash and access to over 100,000 android apps. finally a work phone worth taking home. princess of the powerpoint. your core competency... is competency. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] indeed, business pro. indeed. go national. go like a pro.

we have some breaking news this morning out of north korea. the tensions ratcheted up between the north and the south. north korea threatening more live fire exercises this morning. >> it was not too long that north korea shelled that south korean island killing four. governor bill richardson with experience in the area has gone to take a trip to try to ease the engs thes between the north and the south and along for that trip invited is wolf blitzer. he is on the line for us now. wolf, hello to you. what are the developments there? what can you tell us? >> reporter: richardson wrapped up a full day today, trying to cool the temperatures although it's a rough, rough period. arguably, the most serious tension on the korean peninsula since 1953 and the armistice that ended the war. because of what's going on, there's enormous concern. richardson's been meeting with top north korean officials

including the vice chairman in charge of foreign affairs. i covered that. they later had a dinner that just wrapped up tonight. it sets the stage for what is probably more important meeting to have tomorrow with kim gai gwan in charge of the nuclear negotiations. what they're trying to do is try to find a way to lower the temperature, lower the tensions right now, but it looks like with these exercises that the south koreans are engaged in, the north koreans see that as a provocation and probably do something themselves and could be a miscalculation which nobody wants but apparently could certainly happen and that's what everybody is worried about. richardson especially worried about it. been here many times over the years. a former u.n. ambassador. good contacts here.

but he's doing what he can. it's unclear to achieve much but we'll see where he goes. he's going to be here tomorrow. he's going to be here saturday and sunday and goes back to beijing on monday. >> so is a lot of this saber rattling on the part of north korea just posturing? one of the things they want is to control the waters off of the islands that you were referring to that have been under south korean control. is this an economic decision or to just try to flex the country's military might? >> reporter: look, it is unclear what's behind all of this. there's speculation about the succession after kim jong-il and maybe his youngest son and part of that process. i don't think anybody really knows for sure what's going on. but what is clear is that the crisis is a real crisis right now and there's enormous concern not only to north and south korea but the u.s. and china and japan and russia. six parties that have been really involved.

and the recent u.s. delegations that have come over including some private american experts on north korea have come back to the united states with pretty alarming reports about the advanced stage of north korea's nuclear program development. a professor of stanford university, he came back and said he was stunned by the sophisticated technology and uranium enrichment for the first time at their nuclear facility. and a similar report from jack pritchard of the korea institute. a former expert for the clinton administration came back with a similar dire warning and now a third trip by a u.s. former official, private visit by a secretary -- governor richardson which is causing -- which is really causing a lot of concern. no doubt they're trying to send a message and using richardson to do so to send a message to

washington. what that message will be isn't clear and first round of meetings he told me he didn't get it yet and there's going to be more. >> all right. our wolf blitzer, again, traveling along with governor bill richardson right now in north korea trying to calm things down a bit as we head into more military exercises and the threat of possibly more tensions, more violence on the korean peninsula. wolf blitzer, we appreciate you as always and checking in with him as often as we can. >> thanks. still ahead, on the shelf with a shoulder injure and now off the market, as well. cowboys quarterback tony romo popping the question. some details coming up. a bit of viral video i will make you a promise about this morning. this is going to be the greatest display you have ever seen in the history of marching bands.

♪ about 20 minutes past the hour now. you like to have time shows, football games, marching bands? >> yeah. they put on quite a show. but after this video, marching bands around the country will have to step up their game. >> you have to step it up. see if you can make it out on your own. this is the university of hawaii. they're performing at halftime. can you tell what they're doing here. a stick figure with a helmet on, he's a kicker and they actually kick a football. he kicks and he scores a field goal.

you can't tell me you have seen anything like this before. it was described. >> they continue to follow through. nice. >> very nice. congratulations to them on pulling that off. other marching bands on notice. step it up. >> see something out of you this year. you know, i always feel bad like the ones holding the tuba. it's harder than on the clari t clarinet. >> better shape. >> i guess so. hard to see around that thing. they pulled it off. those aren't hats on to the ice but teddy bears. 26,900. a holiday tradition. a 40-minute delay of game and then after the game, the players deliver them to local charities. the local children's hospital for the holidays. >> very nice tradition going on there. >> here's another tradition. what does your santa claus look like? does he look like this santa claus? do you want your santa claus to look like this? let's take a listen for a

second. just take it in. ♪ i don't know about you but i don't want my santa at the club. that's just me. drop my stuff off. get on out of here. don't turn my stereo on. >> eat the cookies and milk. >> don't touch the sound system. get out of here. >> must be someone playing santa claus, t.j. not the one. >> i'm guessing. >> he does have nice moves. >> are you sure? if he does the duggy ie, i'm done. this is in detroit. not sure who he is or what he's doing. just dancing and went on youtube, of course, and that star is born. >> look at justin bieber. maybe him. tony romo took a knee and not what you think. he popped the question to his girlfriend, the dallas cowboys quarterback and she's a tv reporter by the way. candace crawford. celebrating her 24th birthday at

wolfgang puck's restaurant and a picture of the couple and chase crawford, her brother star of "gossip girl." >> tony romo's ex jessica simpson just got engaged and his ex nick lachey just got married. >> congratulations to them all and mariah carey and expecting twins, of course. revealed this on a news show -- on a radio show on thursday. we knew she was pregnant. didn't know she would have twins. she told the secret to who first? president and first lady earlier this week at a tree lighting ceremony. the babies and she are doing just fine. >> she referred to the babies as they at one point and somebody said, no, i don't want to call it an it. hot party hoegsed by daddy

out of control in new york. had the producers cracking up this morning. here you go. a lot of ladies sitting around with, you know, with the man. some of them in the hot tub surrounded by candles when, guess what happens. wow. is it a little not here for me? poor girl's hair is on fire. thank god she was in fire. >> get the camera off! >> so mean. they're laughing that hard about it. >> nobody went to her rescue. everybody ran from her. who's on the microphone? >> i don't know. but the poor thing, the hair -- good thing in a tub. >> pepsi commercial moment there for just a moment. again, she was not hurt. she is doing just fine but not exactly sure that party was and what was going on there. another superstar, i'm learning about this morning, justin bieber. know a couple of songs. kind of like them but now after you see what we have to bring you this morning, you might become a really big fan of his

to hear what he's doing behind the scenes on things you probably never knew about. alina cho is talking to him in her special next. pets, people say i went a pet for the holidays. this is a live picture right now of some adorable pups up for adoption and while they're so cute, sometimes they end up back at the shelters by new years. what to avoid and how to avoid the mistakes deciding to take home one of these animals. ♪

oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday.

28 minutes past the hour. time for a look at top stories. terrorists could target large crowds. that is the latest warning from the fbi and homeland security officials. they say that they don't have any specific or credible information about planned attacks. they're using the intelligence bulletin to law enforcement to make sure everyone stays alert. have you gotten the word yet? it happened. we now know your income taxes are not going to go up next year. that tax cut extension on its way to the white house this morning. all it needs is the president's signature. the deal between the president and republicans will extend the bush era tax cuts for two years and jobless benefits for the unemployed. on wall street, stocks open at two-year highs. two of the three major indexes hitting their highest levels since september 2008 yesterday. this morning, futures are flat. investors wait to see what kind of reaction there will be to the president's tax cut extension. all over the country today

beautiful scenes playing out in airports around the country. families holding up the service men. >> reynolds wolf is there to witness it this morning. the u.s.o. trying to make the comforts of home available to returning service members. hi there. >> reporter: hi. you're right, guys. this is if first step of normalcy for so many of the guys. most of people walking through left basic training, home for a couple of weeks an enthen they have to go right back. when they come here up to the uso, they come up here, this path and the desks and then the twin doors and these twin doors leading into the uso, we're not the only ones through here, about half a million come through each and every year and when they do, they're treated with a little bit of home. they stop by past these desks, we have the christmas tree set up. the flowers. if you look over here, a couple

of people, a couple of service members asleep, been traveling for a good part of the last 24 hours or so. you see them out here just getting some catching up on magazines, listening to music. step over here on this side, photo journalists to share with us, a bite to eat over here and a couple of muffins, cookies, chips, this kind of thing and i have a feeling they want more than that. what they want is good home cooking. we'll talk to guys here, sir, how are you doing this morning? >> good, sir. >> reporter: what is your name? >> private enson. >> reporter: where is home for you? >> georgia. >> reporter: you're close to home. where have you been? >> virginia, sir very. >> reporter: very nice. i'm sure there's things you miss. when you get home, what are you looking forward? >> looking for my grandma cooking macaroni, chicken. some cornbread. i want some good home cooking and i want to go to sleep in my

bed. >> reporter: what was the toughest thing of basic and what you have been dealing with? >> really, just getting to meet new people. taking my time with that. and cold. that's it. other than that, i get through it. >> reporter: now, what -- what's next for you? you have two weeks at home. an you get the short two weeks and then where are you heading? >> fort lee, sir. >> reporter: most the most of the pim. thank you for the service to the country. we have seen so many guys like this, they'll have 2,000 coming through here just today. another 2,000 tomorrow. and then, on sunday, about 5,000. 5,000 men and women coming through to be reunited with their families. amazing day. touching thing to see the scenes play out. if you're not struck a little bit in your heart, check your pulse. great things happen here. seeing families hopefully reunited within the next couple of hours. sit tight for that. for now, back to you in new york. >> wonderful, wonderful times. a lot of anticipated home comings, for sure.

thanks so much. we have a "a.m. original" for you right now. the hottest music star on the planet and he is 16 years old. >> you can guess who it is. the biebs. right? >> you got it down. >> biebs. >> all right. justin bieber, alina cho with us. mad talented. making money and picking up awards. >> mad talented? >> yes. >> yes, he is. yes, he is. and you're right. i just found him to be incredible. cute as a button, first of all. but, yeah, he does have a social conscious at 16. there's no question that justin beeber is a huge star, so early in his career. already up for two grammys and swept the american music awards. all incredible. but what was most surprising to us is even at the ripe old age of 16 he is building a history of giving back. justin bieber. ♪ oh

he is hot, hot, hot. so hot that hysteria around him has a name. bieber fever. the hair. the music. the movinging. ♪ baby baby baby oh and he's all of 16. with a passion for giving back. you know, you think to yourself, he's 16 years old. >> yeah. >> reporter: how does he know what charity is? >> for me, i grew up really not having a lot of money and for me, it's about helping people out that haven't had opportunity. >> reporter: in fact, it wasn't just that bieber didn't have a lot of money, four years ago he and his mother, a single mom, were broke. living in poverty. then, his mom uploaded videos of him singing on youtube. little did she know they'd go viral and catch the eye of a record producer. ♪ oh >> reporter: the rest is now bieber fever history. >> for me, i'm inspired by, you

know, by children and other kids, and i think that charities that are involved involve kids are just, i don't know. it's just important to me. >> reporter: so bieber is giving back. one cd at a time. a portion of his new cd sales benefit the children's miracle network, money for children's hospitals. and one dollar from every concert ticket sold goes to pencils of promise which builds schools in the third world. that's a lot of money. >> yeah. >> reporter: why? >> i just think that for me it just goes past, you know, money. ♪ >> reporter: perhaps most touching at concerts, bieber meets personally with a child from the make a wish foundation. >> it's definitely hard on me, definitely gets me teary-eyed and it's -- it's just crazy to know that, you know, i'm a wish.

♪ i close my eyes ♪ an i can see a better day >> reporter: what inspired you to write those words? >> there's so many people in this world that go without and there's so many people that just need someone to just help them. >> reporter: it was nice to talk about something other than your hair and girls far change? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. i do love talking about girls, though. >> reporter: that's when you remember all this giving back from a star who's just a kid. >> i have such a big platform and it would be silly if i didn't do something good with it. >> it's so great that he recognizes that he does have a big platform and he's using that voice to give back. for behind the scenes photos of the shoot with justin bieber, go to cnn.com/amfix. and for more on how you can make a difference, cnn.com/impact. all of the stories from big

stars big giving will live there and partners in the project and you mentioned when he sang, he sounds like michael jackson as a young man and it's michael jackson that inspires him, not just the music but the philanthropy. he said if i could give back a tenth of what michael jackson gave back to people around the world and better the lives and make them smile, i would be happy. you know, michael jackson certainly did that in life. >> he was justin bieber discovered and brought up along the way by usher and justin timberlake, too. all young stars that have seen -- >> great role models. great, positive role models an he knows at this age, you know, i have a responsibility. not just i have a responsibility but it makes me feel good to make people smile and meets with the make a wish foundation girls at concerts, every other concert meeting with a make a wish foundation girl.

>> nice to see. 16 years old. you have a week-long series and you can see a one-hour special about big stars and big giving with alina cho on christmas and christmas eve right here on cnn. great stuff. good to see you. >> thank you. well, how about a puppy for christmas? what a cute surprise, right? best present ever or worst idea in the world? there's a puppy. getting along. tails are wagging in the studio. we'll tell you how you can help. [ female announcer ] it's red lobster's ultimate surf and turf event. with three seafood-and-steak combinations, all under $20! like succulent lobster and wood-grilled sirloin, or new chardonnay shrimp and sirloin. ends soon at red lobster.

come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf.

♪ hi, guys. we are back. we are back with a couple of friends this morning. >> a little funky all of a sudden in the studio. no. george here just having a rough morning apparently. >> stop. >> no. he's a cute little guy. >> come on. >> every year at the holidays adoptions spike and every year many of the pets end up right back in the shelters because many people with the hearts in the right place don't know how to choose a pet. not the best thing for the

family sometimes. >> we are joined by the wife of goalie rick dipietro. it's a world's no-kill rescue and adoption center. cassandra, thank you for being with us. >> this morning. >> thank you for having us. >> one of the things and you hear kids say i want a puppy for christmas or the holidays and it seems like a good idea at the time. you want to fulfill that wish but you don't know if it fits in the household and then end up back at the shelter. >> we don't recommend animals as a gift. if everyone's not included in the decision, it magt not be the right decision and we really strive to tell people to go out there and make sure you get the right animal. go to the shelter, counselors there they have to support your decision to make sure that the animals going to the right people. >> you don't recommend as a gift ever? >> no. well no. if it's a surprise, you don't know if it's a right animal that

person wanted and then it ends up back at the shelter. >> you see that, right? >> yeah. post holiday. definitely an increase at the shelters, the animals are because you don't know, you know, if the people wanted it or can take care of a puppy. it is difficult. >> let me just tell a little bit about each one of them. start with your guy george over here. >> george, 2-week-old. what's a mutt -- >> they're mixed and very, very good dogs and george is 10 weeks old. >> do they all smell like this? >> stop. >> just unique to george? >> no, no. >> no. >> but you know, nothing a little soap and water can't cure. bessie is a 10 weekend black lab mutt and really adorable from tennessee unfortunately. humane relocation program. >> both of them from tennessee. >> and labs are just wonderful. in fact, i think the most popular. >> they're great family dog. >> any family. very sweet. trainable and adorable.

shed a lot from experience but very sweet. this is bessie and then who do you have over here? >> i have ruby. she is a 3-year-old pomeranian and special and came to us from a missouri puppy mill rescue and different. take more work because she is not socialized but so sweet and we have had her playing with the dogs all day and lovely. >> all right. we are going to bring cats in here next. >> don't think we forgot about the cat people. >> i know people here who want these dogs already. >> listen. an idea, people said they end up back in the shelters do you have numbers? how many end up back in shelters? >> increases and 4 million pets a year euthanized in shelters from overpopulation. a high number. >> this is farah, a 1-year-old. >> smells better, right? >> yes. very nice. >> he's a cat guy anyway. >> i have two cats. i'm okay here. >> she is a short-haired

domestic cat, perfect for a family. >> adorable. >> she is 1. you have the kitten lucy. she is so cute. >> i took the kitten. i'm sorry. i'm sorry. i have such a soft spot. 10 weeks old, lou i can. >> yes. so sweet. >> cats are easier. don't need to be walked constantly and learn how to house train themselves faster than dogs. >> good for people in apartments or don't have the time to, you know, give to a dog. cats are a good way to go. >> oftentimes you said sometimes you don't know how they get along with the pet. to go with one, do cats oftentimes -- one easier than another to adjust if you give a surprise gift? >> cats are easier as far as maintenance goes for sure but, you know, they're both unbelievable companions. if you have the time to train and do a dog, it is great. but if you don't, cats are easier option, i think. >> well, we are linking up the website to adopt any of the animals today.

animalleague.org and find out north shore animal league where you have these and the no-kill shelter, i mean, it is really heartbreaking to think of how many animals perfectly healthy euthanized because they don't have a home. >> it is terrible. >> cassandra, thank you so much for joining us this morning. and thank you for bringing these little guys. i can't stop looking that the one. >> thank you guys so much. >> thank you so much. well, we'll try to give this phone number out to you, as well. 516-883-7900. if you're interested in the ones you see in particular and also for others across the country. go to the animalleague.org. thanks so much for bringing the little guys in. >> lucy didn't say a word. falling asleep right now. so cute. >> all right. well, we have to go. >> yeah. >> we are going to take a quick break and when we come back, what is it like this weekend? unfortunately, traveling nasty weather on the horizon.

[piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

♪ all right. a little shot of new york city this morning. i think the dogs taking off in the cabs this morning. sunny and 26. later, 34 degrees and we -- >> yeah. >> we're still working the lint brush this morning. cats shed. we know that. >> dogs shed a little bit, as well. good to put the pet segment at the end of the broadcast. we're about ten minutes to the top of the hour.

karen maginnis in the extreme weather center. good morning to you. >> good morning. we have a lot to tell you about. eastern great lakes, some lake-effect snows affecting this region. two to four inches in most areas and the snowfall in syracuse, taller than justin bieber already so far for the season. they have seen 69-plus inches of snow. only surpassed by the knowfall falling in 2000. area of low pressure develops off the eastern seaboard, off the carolinas. just how much to impact the northeast and new england, uncertain. the computer models not suggesting to be a huge system and looks like southern new england could be most affected. storm system in the four corners. snowfall into the mountains and also for the panhandles of oklahoma, also for texas. a huge storm system making the way and across the west coast.

its impact felt today all the way through the weekend. we're going to see significant snowfall accumulations in the mountains. we could see as much as three feet. yosemite could see wind gusts as high as 90 miles per hour. we did see a little bit of snowfall across the mid-atlantic yesterday. nothing that is outstanding but nonetheless as kiran told you we did see a numerous car accidents, especially right around the washington, d.c. metro area between one and about three inches of snowfall occurred there but generally speaking one and two inches were common. highs coming up for tomorrow, dallas only 54 degrees. for new york city, 36. las vegas will see 60 degrees. and we are looking at back to back storm systems for the west coast that will lower the snow levels, bring significant rainfall to the southern valleys. so much so there could be mud or landslides to talk about over

the next five to seven days. so big story could be developing for the west coast as we head towards the next week or so. back to you. >> all right. karen, we appreciate you as always. thanks so much. up next, a tori that caught our attention this morning. why children near busy roads have twice the risk of autism. 52 minutes past the hour. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own.

celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf.

tracking santa this morning. looking at a christmas tree or a

game. 54 minutes past the hour. stories about your health. the fda calling for avastin to be fazed out. recent studies show the drug did not extend the lives of breast cancer victims taking it and also potentially dangerous side effects but there is still wide disagreement about the drug. european regulators are not making the same recommendations as the u.s. regulators. also listen to this, a study says autism risks jump for children born to mothers who live close to freeways. researchers say certain environmental exposure could play a role in the development of a disorder. children living within 1,000 feet of a freeway at birth had twice the risk of developing autism. also, looking for the keys to happiness, pay close to attention to this story. according to new research, the more focused a person is, the happier he or she is. researchers at harvard say those

whose minds wander feel less happy. the task that people had did least trouble focusing on was sex. >> was what? >> intercourse. >> okay. >> do you want me to say it in another way? >> got really -- okay. we're going to take a break. 55 minutes past the hour. we'll be right back.

i'm starting to itch a little it bit. maybe the cats. >> starting to smell a little like the animals, as well. >> hey, i washed my hands. >> not your fault. >> like a zoo around here. the greatest marching band video to see. you love this. >> love this video. take a look. >> t.j.'s calling on bands to step up the band after this university of hawaii band morphed into a giant stick figure football player. there you see it. helmet and all. what did they do next? >> they put this sucker into motion and he kicks a field goal. i don't know how -- i don't know the first time getting to look at this or doing this for years. i don't know. this is the first we're seeing it. viral now. the follow through, everything. kicks the football. that is unreal to me. >> looks great. i don't know how they -- the precise movements to get it to look the way it does.