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cnn's big stories for this friday, january 7th. >> we're free! >> they're yelling, we're free. they were freed on the condition, one, donate the kidney to the other. the governor says it will save the state the cost of dialysis. they were convicted of an $11 armed robbery in 1994. a judge gave each double life sentences for that crime. the u.s. government announced that it is recommending lower flour ide levels in drinking water. officials say the new levels will still prevent tooth decay. too much can cause lacy, white spots on the enamel. and a storm may dump four inches of new snow on the new york city area today. the city has put gps trackers on

some snowplows. officials are dispatching scout teams to get video of the clean-up back to city hall. first, the december jobs report. the unemployment rate took quite a tumble. the u.s. labor department counted 103,000 new jobs for december. for 2010, the economy gained 1.1 million jobs. alison kosik is in new york to help us sort through the numbers. the drop in the unemployment rate seems usually large. what happened? >> and you're priright because was usually large. and that's likely to really be the headline grabber of this jobs report. but you know, here's the reality check for you. this number does not include the more than 1.5 million people who weren't counted in this number. i'm talking about those discouraged workers who weren't

out there looking for work. but here's the silver lining. we have been adding jobs. especially if you look at 2010. i want to show you a chart here. it shows that we've added jobs for the first year since the recession started. we added one million jobs. the biggest annual gain. in 2008 and 2009, we lost anywhere from 3 to 4 million jobs each year, so we are making improvement, but there are other realities behind this. >> will the job improvement continue in 2011? >> analysts are expecting the jobs picture to improve. anywhere from a 2 million jobs to be added into next year. because the fact of the matter is that small business hiring, it is picking up ever so slightly, but even fed chairman ben bernanke is staying grounded about this. he's testifying on capitol hill today and he does see, he sees improvement in consumer and business spending and overall growth, but the fact of the matter is we're going to continue seeing this lagging

indicator of the jobs market. unemployment's likely to stick around 8% for the next two years. we're not going to see normal employment for another four to five years. so that's the reality of the picture. >> so, why aren't we seeing a bigger reaction on wall street? >> because the second headline number, the fact we only added 103,000 jobs, that was another disappointing factor. we were supposed to add 150,000. the dow is down about ten points. analysts say this could just be a speed bump and the markets will shake it off as we continue to get some other good economic data. but today, it looks like the markets honestly, you talk to some traders out here, they're confused about this jobs report because really, the numbers don't really jive all together. fred? >> thanks so much. we'll be talking more about jobs. president obama will be focusing on jobs and the economy in

remarks this hour. he's expected to comment on the december jobs report and announce key members of his team. you'll see it right here live on cnn. to capitol hill. right now, the house is holding a key test vote on a bill republicans call repealing the so-called job killing health care law. they say they're making good on campaign promise, but the bill has little chance of actually becoming law. congressional correspondent brianna keilar is following the story. explain what has happened, what happens next and if the chances are not good, why go forward with it? >> well, republicans said this was a campaign programs they were going to deliver on. a vote to repeal health care reform. it laid the groundwork for next week when we're actually going to see debate, quite a lot of it. the break down was 236-181.

mostly republicans voting for the rule, but there were some democrats including congressman mike ross from arkansas who i'm with now. sir, just explain why. most democrats voted against this, but you voted for it. you have not supported this health care reform package. >> well, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. every time the health care reform bill was ton house of the floor of representatives, i voted no. it makes sense that i would vote to repeal it. i think we need health care reform, but common sense health care reform. this bill was too big, too costly. just wasn't right for arkansas. so hopefully, this will give us the opportunity to start over with some common sense reforms that are greatly needs. >>ed there aren't that many democrats in the position you are in. a lot of moderate democrats like yourself lost re-election in november. so you're kind of part of a

dwindling few i guess you could say. >> a conservative democrat and i put the people of arkansas first and i've listened to the people of arkansas. i go every weekend, i get out and listen to them. the people i represent, they want us to repeal this bill and start over. >> this is one of the things we're hearing from other democrats. the point to this latest number from the nonpartisan congressional budget office that says a repeal of the health care reform overhaul will add $230 billion to the deficit. you are a fiscal conservative. and you have democrats, your fellow democrats who didn't vote the way you did, looking at republicans and saying you're doing something that is fiscally irresponsible. >> look, if you make health care available to everyone available in america and expand health care in america, it can't save money. it's going to cost money.

the question is, how it's paid for. and so i simply don't agree with the congressional budget office on this. you expand the program, it's going to cost money. this repeals the expansion, gives ut the opportunity to start over with something that is paid for. >> mike ross, thank you so much for talking to me live. fredricka, just the bottom line, this is a vote, the procedural vote. clearly, republicans have the votes here. they're in charge of the house of representatives. democrats still have the majority in the senate. president obama still wields the veto pen. this is about as far as it's expected to go. >> thank you. meantime, looking forward, a texas boy is now a hero at his school. >> feels like i'm the king of the world.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kao. welcome back. as we mentioned, the u.s. government just announced that it is recommending lower flouride levels in drinking water now. here to explain, elizabeth cohen. okay, so they put flouride in the water to help our teeth as we go from being kids to adults and now, we're concluding that it's too much flouride? what's the damage? >> here's the concern. the concern is that too much flouride can to two things that aren't good. one, in adults, it may cause

bone fractures and pain and tenderness in bones. the other set of concerns is that it can discolor a child's teeth, give little spots or pits. you're trying to find the perfect amount. it's a good thing. helps to prevent cavities. how much is too much, how much is too little? they've told water systems, you can have between this and this amount, but the proposal is to tell them to stick to the lower number. >> so, is the issue the exposure over a long period of time? >> yes. because you're getting it in drinking water, then kids brush their teeth. but now, basically what they're sighing is that we think this range is safe, but let's try to keep it to the lower end. when i first heard the news, i thought, oh, i bet dentists aren't happy. but the american dental association has come out and said, we like this. we think it will still protect kids' teeth. >> also, potential damage to

your bones as an adult. your bones, a lot more dense than your organs. what about potential damage to organs? any health officials saying anything about that? >> the epa, they're not mentioning that. what i saw was concern about bones, concern about tenderness, about fractures, spots on teeth. >> interesting. and how quickly does this go -- >> this is the government. a committee recommends it then it goes through all these different stages. the first thing i thought of, if the dentists like this lower level, why did you give a range. if the lower level is fine, why were they allowed to put more than that in. >> oh, boy. we'll look for that. appreciate that. all right, meantime, i'd say it's time to go across-country and check stories our affiliates are covering today. a 10-year-old in houston, texas, is now the big man on campus

after saving a schoolmate's life. he was in the cafeteria when he noticed a girl was choking, apparently on a cheeto. the little boy rushed over, forced what he called a hammer move on the girl, a move that he had been watching on wrestling matches on television. so, the heimlich. apparently, it worked. >> i put my hands around her under her arms and i pressed as hard as possible to make sure she was okay. it feels like i'm the king of the world. >> well, he is indeed. a cell phone can save your life as well. just ask this atlanta man. john garber who works as a valet at a lounge. he was helping a customer get into his car and shots rang out and garber was hit.

he's able to tell the story though because his cell phone got the bullet. >> the shots occurred and i actually had one go in through the back left side of my coat. come up through my coat and hit my phone on my left chest. >> and this will make you do a double take. an elderly man in an electric wheelchair driving in the breakdown lane on i-95 in connecticut. is that a legal move? well, police did give the man a ticket, by the way, but thankfully, as we understand, he's fine. his commute was safe and he just wanted to get from point a to point be. a new study says forget bad perfume, the smell that really turns men off. the scent of a woman's tears. that story and the rest of what's trending online, next. whs come from. the best potatoes? idaho.

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freedom for two sisters who have spent 16 years behind bars for a robbery that netted just $11. >> we're free! >> jamie and gladys, you hear them saying, we're free. they left the central mississippi correction facility about two hours ago. they were serving life sentences, but mississippi governor suspended their punishments on the condition that one sister donate her kidney to the other. martin savidge joins us from martin, mississippi. so, they're free, now what? >> reporter: well, that's a good

question. we've set up inside masonic temple where there's expected to be a press conference. it's anticipated that we will hear from jamie and gladys scott as they talked about what it's like to be free after so many years behind bars. how freely they will speak, that remains to be seen. this is a conditional release granted by the governor of mississippi and so in keeping with that, they realize of course that they don't want to be too jubilant. they want to make sure it's low key and they want to make sure nothing jeopardizes their freedom. you saw the emotion or heard it in their voices this morning. that was about 8:00 local time. now, they've gone to get some food. they're also resting. they're wearing civilian clothes for the first time in 16 years. it's a huge moment of transition

and then, there are medical needs. i talked to their attorney about how the medical needs are the most pressing thing they want to take care of. >> we're going to get them to medical facilities where treatment for jamie's going to take place immediately. then the doctors are going to have to tell us it takes to test. we're not absolutely sure. but we don't expect it to take a long time. >> reporter: in fact, jamie has a dialysis appointment in florida tomorrow morning, so that is where they will be headed after the news conference. >> so, even when they get to florida, they still don't know about the real chances of this donation actually taking place, right? in terms of whether they can be a match, whether this can be a healthy, safe medical transaction in which to take place. >> reporter: right. i mean, i think with the conditions that initially were

reported that the governor was saying, you only get out if this kidney donation goes forward, there were a lot of things overlooked. number one, we don't know if gladys and jamie would be a match. that needs to be sorted out. what's going to pay for it? where does the money come from? where does it take place? there are a lot of questions that have to be answered and a lot of steps that have to be followed. that's why step one of freedom is only the beginning. >> martin savidge, thanks so much. the naacp played a major role in getting the release of the sisters. derek johnson is president of the naacp and he, too, is in pearl, mississippi joining us now. mr. johnson, how are the ladies doing and what's your understanding about the real motivation behind this? is this because of the medical

need or is there another reason that the governor made this kind of condition available? the release upon this condition. >> thanks for having me. whatever the reason, we celebrate. we are happy they are finally free after 16 years being incarcerated. our position now is to help them transition to make sure they get their necessary medical attention they deserve and need. as everyone knows, jamie is critically ill in terms of kidney failure, when she was first incarcerated, she had no problems with her kidney. it was a result of the poor medical conditions and the conditions of the prisons that resulted in her coming out in this situation. we celebrate with their family, with their children. with their mother. that finally, they're going to be released after 16 years. >> this release though, it is upon this condition, so what's your understanding as to if there is no match between these

sisters, what could potentially happen? is the governor giving you any kind of assurance or the family, that there is a full pardon that will take place? or is this still up in the air? >> well, we were never consulted nor did we agree to any conditions upon their release. we do not condone the condition of the gifting of body parts to prisoners. i think this sets a bad precedence. it immoral. it is our understanding that there will be no action if gladys is not a match, but we're going to be watching this situation closely as we help them transition. if in fact, the condition that is met that she's not a match and sent back to prison, that's going to raise all types of questions about the constitutionality of the release in the first place. i don't think the state of mississippi or this governor would like to put this state through that skutny for a

condition that should not have been in place in the first place. >> seems like a difficult place to be in because while you're saying the organization doesn't condone this condition and you believe it's immoral, is it not very difficult to be excited ar celebrate their release as the scott sisters are, and their opportunity to help -- help one another medically, but at the same time, this does in effect, does it not, set some precedence? >> well, if you would have seen the jubilants on the face of jamie and gladys, you would be celebrating as well. individuals incarcerated for 16 years being free. >> but on the condition that an organ be donated. >> well, on the condition -- we do not condone that. we will fight any attempt to

return gladys to prison if she is not a match and as a result of that, the governor says she does not meet the condition of release. we do not expect any condition of such nature to be carried out by the state of mississippi because if that had happened, that would set a very dangerous precedence for this country and it is our position that is unconstitutional. >> thanks for your time. >> thank you for having us. all right. we're going to talk nasty weather expected up north. new york, once again bracing for more snow two weeks after the huge blizzard that nearly paralyzed the city. city leaders caught a lot of flak last time. we'll find out what they're saying how and they're planning for this next storm. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar

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you're online and so are we. sandra endo is in washington tracking the stories trending on the web. what do you have for us? >> trending today, ladies, listen up. stop your crying and put those tissues away. remember this famous clip from the movie "a league of their own"? >> are you crying? >> no. >> are you crying? >> are you crying? >> there's no crying in baseball! >> why don't you leave her alone, jimmy. >> oh, you zip it, doris. >> the famous scene from "a league of their own." it turns out tom hanks isn't the only guy that doesn't like to see a lady cry. in fact, a study in the journal of science out says that the scent of a woman's emotional tears is a major turn off.

get this. the testosterone levels in men drop 13% when they smell a female's tears. now, crying doesn't trigger feelings of empathy or sadness in a guy. instead, according to the study, it kills a man's libido. the most important thing, never have a reason to cry. >> i never noticed there was a fragrance to those tears. something interesting about men that they were able to smell the tears. >> they collected women's tears in a little test tube as they were watching really sad movies, so pretty interesting there. >> okay. i will -- with hold comment. any further than that. i'm not going to cry over it either. >> there you go. >> it's huge on facebook. people think they could make a lot of money on this particular stuff, too. like what? >> yeah, they may be able to.

facebook will likely go public next year. that's according to "the wall street journal." the site sent a memo to investors saying it's planning on staging a public offering or disclosing financial information by april of next year after planning to exceed the 500 mark. that would force facebook to report to the securities and exchange commission, to clearly a big step if that happens. >> the next trend involves a big celebrity. somebody that everyone seems to know. lady gaga. what's going on with her. >> she's at it again. her fashion style is trending today. this is a fact accessory. she partnered with polaroid to create sunglasses, but there's a little screen in the glasses, a little over an inch and it shows videos or pictures you could even take with a built-in camera

in the glasses. >> so you're going to be crashing into things as you're watching a video. >> or people are watching your sunglasses, watching a movie. hopefully not a sad one and they're not crying. >> that's right. no crying. thanks so much. appreciate it. let's talk weather in what is apparently imminent for new york city. in fact, you see the flurries already. it's already starting to snow. you remember what it was like over christmas holiday in new york. it was gridlock. it was nasty. people were upset. they couldn't get from point a to b. now, rob marciano says new york city, brace one more time. maybe this time, things will go along more swimmingly. >> they're going to have an easier time, so that live shot depicts the snow falling right now. one of the heavier bands is moving through at the moment, but the overall accumulation is going to be minimal or a

fraction of what we saw the day after christmas snowstorm. the storm itself is larger. it em comp as the great lakes and drives down to the tennessee valley. it is having a hard time focusing on one particular area, which is what the blizzard did. here's that band moving through the big apple. hoboken up through say yonkers. this is moving up towards eastern long island and southern connecticut. what is on the ground now, about an inch, probably another quick inches and it should be pivoting off towards the northeast. so maybe two to five inches. and then further up where we've seen accumulations of four inches, you might see a total of five to ten as this storm moves out. not going to be 20 to 30 inches. lot of cold air coming in behind

this thing and some of that snow on the backside driving down into eastern parts of tennessee, so we could see a couple of inches of snow out of that. travel wise today, we are looking at significant weather delays at the airports. two hours and 40 minutes at laguardia and newark seeing some significant delays as well. tomorrow, that cold that gets all the way down to the gulf coast. what that's going to set up towards sunday and monday is arctic air here and a gulf coast disturbance there. that means moisture getting in. snow changing to freezing rain. potentially down south, doesn't take much. could be a crippling event. sunday night into monday looks to be nasty. >> this is a tough winter. >> keeps us in business. >> look at that tower cam shot one more time. not just flurries anymore. but that's real snow. >> it's coming down. bo >> thanks so much, rob.

president obama getting down to business, the business of the economy, jobs, you name it. right now, you're seeing live pictures. this is going to be a manufacturing plant where the president will be visiting in landover, maryland. it's a family-owned business. they make energy efficient doors, windows and siding and gutters. the president has a lot of announcements to make from that location, including a little bit more about his staffing changes. all that straight ahead right after this. [growl] i met my husband here. i got to know my grandkids here. we've discovered so much here together. but my doctor told me that during that time my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why i'm fighting my cholesterol... with crestor. along with diet, crestor does more than help manage cholesterol, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough. crestor is also proven to slow plaque buildup in arteries. crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease,

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all right, we're going to take you in a moment to landover, maryland, just outside washington, d.c. where president obama will be making an appearance there. he's going to make some announcements. that's the location right there. about the white house staff. he's also going to talk about the day's job numbers. he's at the location because this is a family owned plant where they make energy efficient items for the home. when the president emerges, we'll take him live. and talk a little more on the backside about his staff changes. and his overall look at the jobs scenario for this country. meantime, if you can you have trouble remembering people, imagine not being able to recognize faces at all.

there is such a disorder. in today's "human factor" dr. sanjay gupta introduces us to a brilliant mind that cannot perform a seemingly simple function. >> oliver sax may be a world famous neuroyolgs, but there's something he can barely do at all. that's to recognize a face. even a famous one. >> how about this one? >> the owner of this face is looking tough. but i don't know who it is. sometimes i fail to recognize myself. >> even yourself? >> yes, i've occasionally started apologizing to a clumsy bearded man only to realize that this is a mirror. he's face blind. it's a rare and incurable condition he's had since birth. he suspects its genetic.

he can see each facial feature fine, but putting it together, that's the problem. >> how about this picture? >> that one is very beautiful. a model or an actress. i suppose one thinks of marilyn monroe. >> you're looking at me right now. can you describe what you're seeing? >> you have very beautiful white teeth. so i would recognize you, especially by your teeth. >> you see, he finds a way, a way to adapt. >> now, i've outed myself about face blindness. it makes it easier. >> would you want to be cured of this if you could? >> i think so. i think if i was suddenly presented with thousands of potentially familiar faces, i think this might overwhelm me. >> a doctor of the mind, also looking to see the world with fresh eyes. he's still practicing as a physician, even makes house

calls. >> i want to get the whole picture. not only get a diagnose is of the matter, but how the condition is affecting the person, how they're reacting to it, what i can do, but the whole person is very important for me. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, new york. an actress from new york is accused of kidnapping a baby and police say she went to great lengths to make sure a baby was available for abduction. [ male announcer ] 95% of all americans aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's easier than you think, because general mills big g line of cereals is america's number one source of whole grain at breakfast. there's whole grain in every box... ♪ ...from chex... to cheerios... to lucky charms. so you can get the whole grain you want with the taste you love. get started on the whole grain you're missing

with your favorite big g cereals. make sure to look for the white check. what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go! [ laughs ] if you have high cholesterol you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself.

talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor.

gaue grmatains heyesy.rc g president obama in landover, maryland. he's at a family owned business there called the thompson creek manufacturing plant cht he's talking about the economy, staff changing. >> and technologies that have not only made us the world's largest economy, but also the most innovative economy in the world. making it possible for businesses to succeed is how we ensure that our economy succeeds and all our people succeed. it's how

will be successful. but government can knock down barriers like a lack of affordable -- or high costs for investment or high costs for hiring. we can do something about that. government can remove obstacles in your path. and that's why we cut taxes for small businesses over the last two years. for example, with a tax break for hiring unemployed workers, thompson creek was able to grow its workforce from 200 employees to nearly 300 employees in just one year. and it took advantage of the tax credits that we put into place. we also passed a tax credit for products like energy saving windows. and that led to a 55% boost in the sales at this firm. rick was telling me that when that tax credit got into place, the marketing arm of thompson

creek got busy and that's the right -- that's exactly what we intended. that's exactly what we wanted to see is explaining to the american people, you can save money on your energy bill. this is a smart thing to do. take advantage of it. so, incentives like these are helping companies across america. and the jobs numbers released this morning reflect that growth. the economy added more than 100,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell sharply. we know these numbers can bounce around from month to month, but the trend is clear. we saw 12 straight months of private sector job growth. that's the first time that's been true since 2006. the economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. and each quarter was stronger than the previous quarter, which means that the pace of hiring is beginning to pick up.

we're also seeing more optimistic economic forecasts for the year ahead. in part due to the package of tax cuts i signed last month. including a payroll tax cut for workers and a series of tax cuts to encourage investment and innovation and hiring. and i fought for that package because even though our economy is recovering, we've still got a lot to do. this was a brutal recession that we went through. the worst in our lifetimes. it left a lot of destruction in its wake. more than 8 million jobs were lost. so even though weave created 1.3 million jobs, saved a whole lot of jobs, you've still got a whole bunch of folks who are out there looking. still struggling. we've got a big hole that we're digging ourselves out of. so our mission has to be to

accelerate hiring and growth. that depends on making our economy more competitive so we're fostering new training and workers to fill it. it depends on keeping up the fight for every job and every business and every opportunity to spur growth. and so standing with me here today are men and women who will help america fulfill this mission. let me just introduce each of them. we're joined first of all by gene sperling, who i've appointed director of the national economic council. give gene a big round of applause. gene has been an extraordinary asset to me and this administration over the past two years. he's been working with me. he led our efforts to pass the small business jobs bill to help companies all across america.

he also helped negotiate the tax compromise that we passed at the end of this year. he's a public servant who has devoted his life to making this economy work and making it work specifically for middle class families. now, one of the reasons i've selected gene is he's done this before. this is his second tour of duty heading up the nec and in his tenure in the clinton administration, he helped form late the policies that contributed to turning deficits to survpluses and a time of prosperity and progress for american families in a sustained way. few people bring the level of intelligence and sheer work ethic that gene brings to every assignment. so, gene, we are lucky to have you back at the nec and i know you're going to do a terrific job. part of the reason i know gene

will do a terrific job is because he's going to have jason furman working with him. i'm pleased to elevate jason furman to be principal deputy. give jason a big round of applause. over the past two years, i've relied on jason's advice and expertise on a range of issues. over the steps we took to prevent our economy from sinking into a second depression to most recently working with gene and the economic team to pass the tax cut compromise. i'm confident he will continue to do terrific work in this greater capacity. we're also joined by somebody i've come to rely on as an adviser and friend since my first days. heather higginbottom is currently the director of the domestic policy council and has

been the point person on education as we've pursued some of the most important reforms in decades. i'm proud to appoint heather to the office of management and budget. she understands the relationship between numbers on a ledger and the lives of real people. as we make cuts that are necessary to reign in the deficit, i want to make sure that i've got i've got heather there so we're meeting our fundamental obligations to our people and to our economy as well. give heather a big round of applause. thank you. and, finally, i'm nominating catherine abraham to the counsell of economic advisers. catherine brings a wealth of experience as a commissioner of bureau of labor statistics,

during the clinton administration. i'm confident she provides the kind of unbiased, unvarnished advice to help us develop the policies to strengthen this economy in years to come. now, part of our mission, part of this team's mission in the months ahead, will be to maximize the steps that we've taken to spur the economy. and one of the most important is allowing businesses to immediately deduct the entire costs of certain investments like the new equipment that i was taking a look at. this is a policy, i fought for over the past two years. we were able to pass it, finally, as part of the tax cut compromise. it is going to make a real difference for our economy. so talking to rick, i know tom san creek will help renovate, expand and add another 100 new

employees right here. that's worth applauding. that's good. so, you have companies like this all over the country, and the treasury department estimates that overall, this will accelerate $150 billion of tax cuts for 2 billion businesses over the next 2 years. so i want to urge all businesses with capital needs to take advantage of this temporary expensing provision, because we expect it to lower the average cost of investment by more than 75% for companies like thompson creek. it is a powerful new incentive for businesses. it is a great opportunity for companies to grow and add jobs. now is the time to act. companies who are listening out there, if you are planning, or thinking about making investments, sometime in the

future, make those investments now, and you're going to save money, and that will help us grow the economy. it will help you grow your business. overall, the decline of the unemployment rate is positive new, but it only underscores the importance of us not letting up on our efforts, so i'm looking forward to working with heather and gene and katharine and everybody at the white house, we have one focus and that is making sure we are duplicating the success of thompson creek all across the country. we want businesses to grow, we want this economy to grow and we want to put people back to work. i want to promise everybody at thompson creek and across the country, we will not rest until we have fully recovered from this recession, and we have reached that brighter day. thank you very much, everybody.

president barack obama in landover maryland, outside of washington, d.c. making a nouncements from a few white house staff changes and expressing optimism about the employment prospects, saying that he is hoping that he'll see a due pli indication of the success jobs prospect similar to that of the thompson creek manufacturing plant where he just held this press conference there and announcement. he said he wants bases to grow, just like thompson creek. our white house correspondent, dan lothian, has the inside scoop on the president's rocks and his optimism for this economy for this country. let's go to dan lothian for more on why the president thought it was so important to make these announcements at that small business outside of washington? >> reporter: why? because this is a small family

owned company, they make window, doors and siding. this say company that the administration said has benefits from government tax incentives to not only make additional investments, but also to hire new employees, that's something they expect to do in the coming year as well. the president wants to highlight that company and say there are other companies out there, the same tice, doing the same thing, making the investments because of what this administration has done. secondly the president wants to taut the unemployment numbers have dropped to 9.4%, still high, but certainly what the president pointed out is that the trend lines are showing that the economic picture is improving. and thirdly, the president laying out what this administration has been calling a major retooling, announcing the new members of this administration, in particular, gene sperling, taking over a job vacated by larry summers,

looking forward to try to build the economy, but what's interesting, from not only the sperling apartment but william daley and others, the president is reaching back to the clinton administration, putting together pieces going forward. some critics saying listen, why is the president not taking advantage of this opportunity to perhaps bring in new faces, new voices, but these, nonetheless, high-profile appointments, the president reaching back to the clinton administration which went through similar circumstance, losing both the house and senate at that time, able to have compromise as on a number of different issues, some of them economic and having success and the president hoping for that as well. >> and the president also underscoring that while the government wants to help create jobs, he say, a main priority is going to be to try to knock down barriers, something that he tauts his administration has actually done in the last two year, and that means giving tax

breaks to small businesses. >> reporter: that's right. and small businesses, going back to the beginning of this administration, the president has talked about if you give small businesses the tools that you need, tax incentives, you can help them thrive. that's the major key to turn the economy around. they are the ones to help create a large number of jobs, that's why you've seen the president travel across the country, visit small businesses all around the country, including the one today, because he can taut some of the things that his administration has been doing, he said has led to those investments and hiring of new employees, if more companies can do the same thing that those unemployment numbers will continue to drop. >> all right. dan lothian at the white house as the president getting a lot of handic shaing in in landover maryland about 25, 30 minutes from where dan is at the white house. we'll have much more after this.

tom of the hour. let's check big stories we're following. the nation's unemployment rate fell from 9.8% to 9.4%. here's the president a little bit ago from landover maryland, outside of d.c. >> we saw 12 straight months of private sector job growth. that's the first time that's

been true since 2006. the economy add add 1.3 million jobs last year and each quarter was stronger than the previous quarter, which means that the pace of hiring is beginning to pick up. >> more than 14 million americans were out of work in december. >> they're saying we're free. mississippi freed the scott sisters today, on the condition, one donates the kidney to the other. the governor of that state said the release will save that state the cost of dialysis, the sisters were convicted of an $11 armed robbery back in 1994. a judge gave each double life sentences for that crime. the government's push to clear the health care law cleared the hurdle in the house.

this sets up a final house vote next wednesday on undoing the health care reform, repealing that law. the bill stands little chance of passing the senate and surviving a presidential veto. >> outrage is spreading over the deaths of two people in arizona who were denied organ transplants because of budget cuts. last week, the state legislature slashed 1.2 million dollar in medicaid funding for certain transplants. federal matching funds went away along with it, and hospital officials said, one man died after being denied a liver transplant. the other, needed bone marrow. almost 100 other people have also been taken off the transplant list. cnn's spoke with one of them. >> after a year after i was placed on the transplant list.

i was told this would happen. from the nurse coordinator. she said contact your state legislatures. we're working on our end to get the word out. then i got the official call that i'm officially on the inactive list, and until either funding becomes made aill vaable or i'm able to raise the funding myself, that it's not -- i'm not going to get my heart until then. >> reporter: i know you have two young girl, 13 and 19, a 4-year-old son as well. how much do they know about how potentially deadly your condition is? >> well, they know dad's sick and dad needs a heart. they don't -- my wife and i want them to have as normal of a childhood as they can. we didn't want them involved in the politics of it. we don't want them thinking at any moment, we can come home and dad won't be there. >> reporter: what do you say when you hear we just don't have the money in this state to continue these programs? >> it's obvious, if the state's

broke, it's broke. you know, i can -- excuse me, i can kick and scream all i want, if there's no money for a transplant, then it's not going to happen. >> one state senator is blaming jan brewer for the cuts. dave shapiro said brewer could have taken the money from other parts of the budget that don't involve life and death issue. he plans to issue a bill to restore funding. >> it's a minuscule part of our state's budget. i've offered the governor 10, if not 20 options of things we can cut. i've offered up things we can cutten with the state's program. people's lives are literally at stake and we have to put all this politics aside. there are 90 people on the transplant list who are told they would receive transplants paid for by the state medical program. many were added to the list. had surgery scheduled and sent

denial letters off october 21st. those 96 people are waiting for the slate legislature to come back into session, because the government is not going to act on this prior to monday, although we've been call on her to do so in the last three months now. now, on monday, i've introduced senate bill 1001 which will restore the transplant funding. >> governor brewer said she expects a robust debate over the bill monday. and said the transplant cuts were recommended based on studies on what would affect the fewest people. the governor's spokesman told cnn, quote, this, the minority leader has yet to produce a single proposal to resolve arizona's massive medicate deficit. only the empty rhetoric, despite being asked for over a year to submit a plan that might succeed and garner a report. end quote. that coming from the governor's office. i want to bring in cnn medical

correspondent to talk about this. you're on the list. counting on this. what kind of resource do you have now? i'm wondering if this is happening in arizona, people might be worried it's potentially happening in their state too. >> let's take the first part of that question first. if you're on a transplant list, nothing is working for you and you'll die without a transplant. they don't have many choices left. they can do it as a hospital. to do it as charity care. this is really expensive this procedure. it's not like taking tonsils out. they would cough up a lot of cash to do this. the other thing, go on twitter and say, hey, will someone pay for this for me. one guy did get a wealthy beneficiary to pay. by the time the guy knew about it and said he would pay, he died. i have been racking my brain all morning. god forbid my sister was in arizona, waiting for a heart

transplant, what would i tell her to do? >> those are the only two thins i could could come up with. nobody expects this to happen. if there's this potential benefit available to me. i'll count on it. get my name on the list. supply anything required of me and i just have to wait my turn. >> and these people did do the right things, they went to the list, they were told, okay, wait your turn, then told i'm sorry, there is no turn. >> now, what might be the recourse, what happens if you were on that list in arizona. could you, you know, be a -- in a position where you could go to a neighboring state that says, you know what, this is what's happening to me here. can i get on your list? i've got this very desperate situation. >> first of all, you're sick to begin with. to move to another state to get on their medicaid list. you wouldn't have top priority because there's other people on that list already. speaking of other states, every state is facing medicaid cuts of

some kind. medicate is having a lot of problem, others, i don't know why arizona had chose this. other states manage to cut their budget without killing anyone, they cut hearing aids, homeheld care, things that help people but didn't kim them. they did studies and said they transplants don't hope. they do them every day. no one can figure out how the aboveer in did her medical analysis. >> we know the discussion on this, just the tip of the iceberg, we know we've been trying to reach out to governor brewer for her point of view on this, and as we mentioned next week, there may be an opportunity, if not before hand, where we actually hear from the governor or any other. >> she told anderson cooper, she's busy, busy next week, couldn't be on his show. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks, appreciate that. >> all right.

the promise of the transplant plays a key role in actually setting two sisters free. different state. different circumstance. >> we're free! gladys and jamie stotter released from a mississippi prison after serving 16 years for an armed robbery convict. a live report straight ahead. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness...

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. freedom, finally, for two sisters that spent 16 years behind bars for a problemry that netted $11. >> we're free! >> jamie and glad december scott, you are hear them in the background leaving the mississippi correctional

facility. they were serving life sentences but the mississippi governor suspended their punishments on the condition one sister donates her kidney to the other. we're joined from jackson, mississippi, with more on their release. you heard them in the background. they're very excited and ecstatic, what's next? >> well, fredricka next is a news conference. about three ours from now is when it's anticipated. how much we'll hear from the sister, that's a little bit uppy the air. the attorneys are being extremely guarded in the first few hours of freedom for these two young women. fora number of reasons. primarily because they know this is a conditional release. that's part of the reason why, when you saw them come out of prison at 8:00 local time this morning. yes, you heard their shouts of excitement. but otherwise, it was a very low-key release an the same thing is going to be true of this news conference, whether the sisters actually speak remains to be seen and how much

they actually talk about their time while in prison also remains to be harry. in the meantime. i had a conversation with the president of naacp and was asking him, once they take care of medical issue, first and foremost. jamie needs to be treated. beyond that, will be be looking for a pardon. here's what they had to say? >> we are heartened that this is the first step for this governor, whenever he ultimately gives a pardon. the first thing he does is suspends the sentence and then follows it up sometime later with a pardon. he's in office for one more year. we'll push him hard to make sure that happens. >> reporter: so, the sisters had always maintained they were innocent. they were found guilty of armed robbery, but they maintained they were totally innocent of that crime. what they would like to do is be exonerated. that remains p to be seen and that's another lyle issue that has to be worked upon. meantime, jamie has to go in for

dialysis tomorrow morning and that has to take place in florida. once they finish the news conference they're headed to pensacola to be reunited with their family and begin the serious medical treatment. >> no word from the governor? this was his idea. >> reporter: you're right. the governor stayed very quiet. we're anticipating that the day he was announced he was suspending the sentence its that he might hold a news conference, he did not. there's no news conference with hilly barber today. part of the reason there's many people who ask difficult question, specifically a lot of attention has been paid to this conditional release, of donating the kidney, but in the medical profession, he believed that's totally unethical, and we've already heard from the naacp that also believes that is wrong. >> martin savidge, in jackson, mississippi, thanks so much. time to go cross country with the look at some stories our affiliates of covering as

well. in splendora, texas, a lifesaving move by a good samaritan. a pickup truck hit a hog before hitting a tree and then catching on fire, then entered tom who saw a baby girl before it became engulfed in blame flames. the baby's father heard it earlier. . we were sitting by the barn and heard a large crash, knew their was a wreck on the road. we jumped in the truck and one of the other neighbors said there's a baby still in the truck. i jumped into the back of the truck, cut the car seat straps and pulled the baby out. it's a dream come true for a rescued chilean minor who loves elvis. he was the one singing a lot of elvis tunes. apparently he's in graceland for

presley's birthday celebration. the late king of rock 'n' roll's birthday is tomorrow. how often do you see this? right there if you look closely, it's looking like an orange alligator, right there. it is in a neighborhood in venice, florida. the animal might be albino even though it appear orange to some others, it might be something in the gator's environment, like iron oxide, so still the mystery. the economy added fewer jobs than expected in december. but the unemployment rate did fall to 9.4%, lowest level in 19 months. stephanie elam joins us in new york. if things are looking up, does it mean there's time to ask for a raise for anyone who doesn't have a job? >> fred, i'm sure a lot of people would like to. it might be a little early for that just yet. you might want to hold down the hatches and stay there. the job market is trying to look

a little better. look at what economists are saying, they are saying they expect more than 2 million jobs will be added this year. that might make your current employer worried that you're preparing to bolt. but experts say, you know what, there's a lot of uncertainty out there, and really a lot of competition, because there's more than 14 million americans out of work. so there are plenty of people lined up to take the job you're in. that's one reason why people are feeling pretty pessimistic about the salary outlook. a new survey founds 45% of workers don't expect a raise in the next 12 months. bottom line. even though the job market may show signs of improvement. employers have the upper hand as things stand now. >> don't they always? >> yeah, i think so. we know that companies are sitting on a lot of cash these day, those that are doing very well. might that help out in the salary outlook in any way? >> well, we do see from the surveys that there's a suggestion here that most companies do plan to offer raises this year.

the question everyone wants to know is how much. one sir vey says more than 8.2%. that's a far cry from the yearly raises like 005, 2007 before the recession. of course it does vary by industry. staffing firm has outlined 11 jobs there's growing demand. to name a few, financial analyst. staff accountant, paralegal and senior administrative assistants. they could see a nice bump. prospects are looking better, you should also take time now to research the average pay for your position and experience. go to a site to help you out on that end. that way when the job market is on firmer footing you'll be armed with the information you need to ask so you can get that raise and probably be a little more in line with what the employer wants to hear, fred. thanks so much, stephanie

elam, we appreciate that from new york. >> sure. we'll visit a unique school. every student at this school is homeless. first you'll see the random moment of the day. the softness we need, and an unbeatable lifetime stain warranty for whatever life throws at it. then let's save big on the installation. ♪ we're lowering the cost of going barefoot. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get exclusive martha stewart living and platinum plus installed in your whole house for only 37 bucks.

breaking news, that involves a sexual assault case. it shows men assaulting disabled women. we have the results. casey. >> there's been a major break in the case this morning. i'm at the los angeles county sheriff's department where the videotapes were mailed a few

months ago. they received more than 100 hours of video women of these women, handicapped women in a residential care facility being sexually assaulted by as many as ten men all on videotape. these images were very, very grainy and detectives have spent a long time trying to enhance them. they had no idea who these suspects were. they had no idea where these sexual assaults happened, but they have been able to tell us, they are some of the most horrifying images these detectives have ever seen in their career, and these are secretaries who deal with all kind of violent sexual salassau, some against children and they're floored by the images they've seen. more than 100 hours of videotape. after the case was discussed last night. detectives said they were contacted by the los angeles police department. detectives there in lapd said they recognized two of these suspects on the videotape and they were from cases from 2007

and 2009. according to the lapd. one of the suspects was actually convicted fed due year crimes. the district attorney was not comfortable moving that case forward. but they have identifications of two of these suspects. they are going to meet later today with the los angeles police department to merge these two cases together to see if they can find out who the other eight alleged perpetrators of these horrific crimes are. >> casey, what is being revealed about the suspect is their relationship between working at these facilities or having some sort of regular contact with the people of this facility? >> this information is so fresh, that the detectives here at the sheriff's department don't have

answers to those questions. they don't know the names of the suspects. they are not willing to talk about any of the details right now. they've still got to go over. they just got this tip from the lapd last night. they still got a lot of questions to answer. what we can tell you, these tapes -- they still want to speak with the person who mailed these tapes to them. this is someone who was -- it's really strange how this happened. this was someone who was asked to clean the hard drive of a laptop computer that was bought by someone else, on the streets of englewood p-apparently from a crack head for $25. this person saw those images on that last tptop and was so disgd by them. he copied them on 13 dvds. that person remained anonymous to this date, and asking he come forward to solve the case. fredricka. >> casey wian, thank you so much

for more on the very disturbing story. all right. now, according to the national law center on homelessness and poverty. about 3 million people are likely to experience homelessness in a given year. more than a million will be children. thelma gutierrez reports on a school whose entire student body is made up of homeless children in this week's "what matters" segment. >> i have my mom, little sister, this is my horrible neighborhood. >> my brother's wife have kicked us out of his house. this is where we came to seek shelter. >> i'm michael. >> i'm real tired right now.

>> tired but i have to go to school. get an education for a better life. >> we're in the heart of san diego where monarch school is located. what makes this school so unique, is that the entire student body is homeless. >> historically, we've always hovered at 100 students and we went up to 165 students last december. >> a lot of this due, of course, to the economy. >> yes, absolutely. for the first time ever, our population, the face of the homeless student changed, because we received students that had actually lost their home due to foreclosure. >> how difficult was it to uproot your life, to move here and then become homeless? >> it was very hard, because i had just turned 9. and i had to leave my, like best friend, we don't get to like see each other grow up. >> chase, give me one. >> monarch students are taught by credentialed tee tours, they

also get free tutoring to make up any gaps in education. free medical and dental care. simple things to make life better, new shoes, a place to shower and a laundry room to wash your clothes. >> were you treated differently by other kids when you went to the other schools? >> kind of. >> how? >> by teasing. >> what would they say to you? >> like, bum or something. >> did they actually call you a bum, knowing you were homeless. >> yes. >> that's a terrible thing. that's very mean. >> how did that make you feel? >> sad. mad. >> what did you tell them? >> like if they were in my situation, they wouldn't be saying the same thing. >> so, what do these hopeless children hope for their future? you'll hear from them after this.

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how'd you do that? do what? you made it taste like chocolate. it has 35% of your daily value of fiber. tasty fiber, that's a good one! ok, umm...read her mind. [ male announcer ] fiber one chewy bars. we showed you a report from thelma gutierrez on a california school whose entire student body is made up of homeless children. the enrollment is at an all-time high due to economy or closure rates. let's hear from some students who attend the school. >> that's my mommy. she loves me -- every day we had to wake up about 5:00 in the morning then had to be out of here by 7:00.

weekends we had nowhere to go. and if it's raining, we're sitting una tree, trying to keep dry. >> what do you want to do when you grow up? >> be the president of the united states. >> you want to be the president? >> what do you like studying? what are you good at? >> math, science and handwriting. >> they took them home. she didn't have that. >> do you think kids get embarrassed? >> i'm sure they do. >> did they ever come home and tell you anything? >> no, they would never say anything to me. they knew i was doing what i could to try to make things better. >> some kids go to chuck e. cheese for their birthdays. when i get older i want to get a job and have my mom move in with me and i take care of her. >> what do you want?

i hope he'll remember and see how important it is. half the stuff here, i don't think i would have to go through had i had proper education. >> having experience, so much lost, homes, friends, even family. parents say monarch is giving their children something no one can take away. >> monarch has given me a program, steel bands, i really love it. it's given me a technique and talent. >> thelma gutierrez, cnn, san diego. >> and to read more stories from all of us, pick up an issue of "essence" magazine right now. the nation's jobless rate took a large and unexpected tumble. here's the number. 9.4% down from 9.8% with 103,000 new jobs created. let's talk about the development with georgia tech, economics professor, danny boston. good to see you.

>> very cute. >> you had a chance to hear the president from landover maryland, where he said he's optimistic because of this slight drop. and and you see that there are some areas that have experienced a kind of growth as it pertains to jobs. you say leisure and hospitality is one industry, health care and social assistance. temporary help services and retail trade, durable goods, manufacturing, the president said, by the government knocking down obstacle, such as cutting taxes for small businesses, makes a dent. do you see there's a real correlation here? >> that's where the focus has to be, because small business, even in all of the latest numbers, they had great the lying share of jobs, 85% of new jobs coming from small businesses. it's important to focus on small businesses. the extent to which the barriers for both start-up and growth, and access to capital can be loafered, is the extent to which we reduce this unemployment. >> so, by seeing a tiny drop in

december, can you make a correlation that the seasonal jobs had something to do with that as well, and, if so, does that mean that, you know, once those jobs are kind of given up, say, mid january, which a lot of retailers kind of go back to the norm. that means maybe now a spike? >> well, not really, because what happens is that the numbers, when the labor department releases them offseason, won't adjust it. so they take out -- now, one of the problems with the adp figure is exactly what you said. there was concern that that number was so large, that estimate, that it had not been appropriately adjusted. so, if you look at the last several months, however, there's been a consistent increase in the number of private sector jobs. >> we heard from the president who said, he's very optimistic as it pertains to the private sector jobs that there will be a continual growth. what manner do you see that that would happen? >> well, if you look at broad sectors of the economy, for example, retail trade over the last few months, expenses on

durable goods, business investment and technology. all of those things are increasing, virtually every sector with the exception of construction and housing have turned around. so those things are happening, but, it's still not growing fast enough to have a significant debt, in the high level unemployment. >> it's difficult to measure what's fast, what's slow when you say it's really been 25 years, a pretty nasty pattern of 25 years of, rather, flat employment numbers. prospects have not looked good for a quarter of a century? >> well, for a quarter of a century, we've had two blip, right? we had that blip that came as a result of investment in internet and i.t. technology, then we folded that with the housing bubble. those thins were really unusual periods, if you look at the average rate of gdp growth over that period, it's about 2.5%. now, 2.5%, if we get back to

that even now. won't help us, in terms of reducing the current level of unemployment. so, we need to do better than that. >> professor, danny boston, georgia tech, thanks so much. . my pleasure. >> it's tech head heaven, talking about los angeles, where everything from 3d toys to techie toys shown at the consumer show, all of it on display, we're live, next.

high-tech heavy weights flexing right now. the 2011 consumer electronic show is under way in las vegas. and showcases cutting edge, next generation innovation. makes everybody excited including dan simon who is there at the trade show. what's been your favorite discovery interest? >> well, i'm wearing one of them right now. this is a video name tag from a company called video name tag.com. the recon group. >> that's interesting. >> why would i want to see your name tag when i'm looking at you live? >> i hear you, i think you'll be

seeing these in the future, companies like estee lauder are using these. this is really like disneyland for people who love technology. we're here with the senior writing for "for tune" magazine. one of the big themes are tablets. this is getting a lot of attention, from motorola, the zoom. what do you think consumers want to buy in the tablet space? >> everybody is waiting google to get honey comb software done but i get in the spring they will be humming around. where an droid take on iphone, you'll see that too. >> there's two theme, about tablets and 3d televisions. they were out last year but people didn't really buy one.

did you know anybody who bought one? >> i haven't. i heard the guy say there's 2 million sold last year, there's not a small number but still not quite there yet for everyone to have them in the living room. >> the problem is, a lot of people upgraded to hd, maybe in the last year or two and think why do i want to spend a bunch of money to buy a new tv when the one i have at home is perfectly good. >> it's building up. but there's still not enough to watch. >> i have to say these 3d tvs are fantastic. one of the problems, you have to wear glasses. sometimes they're a bit goofy. but now you can get a pair from lacoste. these are 3d glasses, they are a bit stylish. this is one of the selling points to get people to buy 3d television. get stylish glasses. >> it's all about the accessories, isn't it? >> it really is. >> glasses, name tags.

>> very fun. i got to learn more about that name tag. i'm confused about it. it's very cool. just want to figure out, why i look at you and your name tag, watch your chest when i can look up an look at your face. >> that's a very good point. >> it is cool. i'm not knocking it. it's cool stuff. all right. dan simon, thanks so much, appreciate that from vegas. all right. new york city, this is what it looked like a few weeks ago. maybe in some streets, it kind of still looks like that. new yorkers don't want to see this happen again. guess what, more snow is on the way. chad myers, tracking the system. >> a little bit of snow, 2 to 4 from new york city. on a regular day that paralyzes new york city. here's a shot. the next shot you can see it from time warner center, you can kind of look down. i think this is looking down into the park, there's the reservoir there on the left, and you can kind of see the snow. you can see the visibility is not very good. but after you've lived through a 20-inch snowfall, 2 to 4 seeps

like a literal walk in the park. that's what they're seeing right now. the snow is just about over for the city. it will continue for long island, up into connecticut but the snow, heaviest snow will be in the adirondacks and cat skil skills. the big story will be continuing today, what's going on in the city. looks back order toward rockville, you see all of that move away from the zee about an hour and a half. it's already dried up. that snow is all done. 5 to 10 inches catskills and adirondacks that's the story. the story for the weekend how this changes for the deep south. we'll see significant airport delays in atlanta monday with an ice storm. right now laguardia, jfk, new k newark, an hour or two.

it will move away. the story will be atlanta will not be okay when it comes to monday aren't. you have flights in or out or through atlanta monday, get out and do it sunday, or plan on not getting it out on monday, because we're going to cancel probably close to, i don't know, hundreds of flights in atlanta with an ice storm event. >> oh, no, here we go again. >> yes, i know, for us this time. >> yes. >> but we appreciate the warning, it allows us to all plan. thanks, chad. >> you're welcome. >> all right. well, did you know that tomorrow is elvis presley's birthday? >> yeah. it is. well, one chilean miner is very excited about that. because he's in graceland for the occasion. do you know how old elvis would have been, here are the choices, "a," 65, "b," 76, "c," 80. >> i don't think it's 65 but we'll see.

♪ okay. i hope you have your thinking caps on. elvis' birthday, tomorrow. how old would the king of rock 'n' roll have been if he was living today. the answer, "b," 76. elvis, by the way, was born in tupelo, mississippi back in 1935. thank you very much.

the jobless rate inches down. wolf blitzer is at the politisp desk in washington. what's crossing, wolf? >> the jobless rate went down from 9.8% to 9.4%. that's good though some economists caution fewer people are in the job market. that's one explanation why there's a surprisingly decrease from 9.8%to 9.4%. only 103,000 jobs were created. less than a lot of forecasters were expecting p. 150 thousand jobs. you need 150,000 jobs a month to show you're creating job, not just staying firm because of the increase and people going into the job market. so it was a mixed bag, certainly moving in the right direction to a certain degree but not as impressive as a lot of economists would have hoped and certainly a lot of unemployed

people. millions and millions of unemployed would have hoped. words of caution from ben bernanke, chairman of the federal reserve, he's suggesting the last two years the unemployment rate could remain over 8%. he said it could take four or five more years to get the economy where it should be. he said things moving in the right direction slowly but surely but will take a long time for this economy to completely recover from where it was. those are the words from ben bernanke. all of this happening when the white house continues the shakeup two year into the obama administration. gene sperling will come back, that's a job he had over the clinton administration and timothy geithner over the treasury department so gene sperling will place larry summer, former president of

harvard university, former treasury secretary at the white house as the director of national economic council. this, a day after bill daley. named by the president to become the next white house chief of staff. there's the shakeups that continue. they have a lot of work on their hands but, jobs, jobs, jobs, fred. trying to make sure this economy recover. that's issue number one. >> and the president remaining optimistic while he was speaking from landover, maryland, while he's beefing up the team. he's not going for new faces, he's going for people that have experience at this executive level of government. >> he certainly is, take a look at some key economic position, whether gene sperling will not be director of national economic council or person he named as head of the office of management and budget only a few months ago, jack lu served as the budget director as well.

this president looking for democratic talent. some served clinton, some calling it the clintonization. to a certain degree that's happening, but these people have experience. they worked in the government, did a good job during the clinton administration, now they will do a good job as well. it's a shakeup of shorts. bill daley, for example, the white house chief of staff served as a commerce secretary during the clinton administration earlier, was the point man, getting nafta, north american free trade agreement through congress. he brings a lot of experience. by the way, we'll speak to the chief economist over at the white house, he'll be joining us 5:00 p.m. eastern. >> we look forward to that. thanks, wolf, good to see you. >> thank you. >> for more goes cnn politics.com. ready sensei.

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let's get right into our questions. the first comes who says i'm 40-year-old and my real passion is working on computers. i'm attending a trade school and considering taking money from my 401(k) to lower my tuition payment. >> going back to school is great. but think about it very carefully. not only do you have to pay tax, frequently you have to pay a penalty. although there are some exceptions. real problem you're taking money out that grows tax deferred for decades. >> your next is from an anonymous person, they wrote in, my moowes credit card debt. i'm supporting her, but no way i can pay off her credit card debt. what options do we have?

>> we're seeing this in the baby boomer rate. unemployment rate is rising rapidly. how frequently are you calling on credit card companies to negotiate. sometimes you have to call four, five times to get the right person on the line. settlement could be a good option. debt consolidation, if you do settle a debt it has adverse affect on your credit than if you paid in full. also look at additional income. making jewelry, odd job, free-lance writing, something she can do from home. >> something she may be good at. always good to reach out to credit card companies. of course if you have a question you like to get answered, send us an e-mail at cnn help desk at cnn.com. an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses.

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today's random moment is a backwards half court buzzer beater. let's take a look. no! >> that's ohio high school student, austin groth, what a shot. he gets the ball back, heaves it. as you see right there, makes it. unfortunately for groth, his team lost. no one will forget that moment. so, now, there's the tame to heve