do not shoot in your neighbor's yard if he's not home and do not steal your neighbor's mickey mouse on a because 'tis the season to be jailed on the ridiculist. "american morning" starts now. shake-up in prime time. the newt gingrich campaign suffers another loss in iowa after a staffer take as shot at an opponent's religion. texting, tweeting, talking, all the why swerving. the fed now urging a nationwide crackdown on cell phones behind the wheel. even if you don't use your hands. trying to shake-up washington in 2010. christine o'donnell is here to make her endorsement for 2012, live, on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, december 14th. i'm christine romans along with carol costello on this "american morning." good morning.

>> good morning, good morning to all of you. good and bad news this morning for the gop front-runner newt gingrich. with less than thee weeks until the iowa caucuses his political director in the state stepped down after calling mormonism a cult. two gop candidates, mitt romney and jon huntsman are mormons. gingrich is already working with a bare bones staff in this state and meantime, gingrich opened a commanding lead nationally over mitt romney, but head-to-head with the president, well, that's another story. cnn political director paul steinhauser -- got your title wrong, paul. >> it's all good. >> you're the best guy at cnn. paul steinhauser, and you're here on this "american morning." okay. let's talk about these polls. >> reporter: yeah. starpt with t staff with the numbers. brand new from nbc "wall street journal" numbers. the battle for the republican nomination. newt gingrich way ahead. 17 points ahead of mitt romney, the former massachusetts governor. everybody else in the poll, people likely to vote in the

primary, single digits. a pew poll had the same numbers. next poll. tricky. hypotheticals between obama. this indicates the president ahead by 11 points over newt gingrich but basically dead even with mitt romney. looks like gingrich, according to the poll, sailing in the battle for the nomination but would have trouble next year in the general election. we've seen it in our own polling and others. troubling numbers for newt gingrich at least looking ahead to 2012. carol? >> back to gingrich's political director in iowa. for the moment, he's stepping down. why? tell us why. >> reporter: yeah, because yesterday morning, newt gingrich put out an e-mail to campaign staffers and surrogates who go on television and talk about. we're not going negative, going on the attack and staying positive. that's the way we're going to win this. well, problem.

reporting yesterday in iowa indicated that the man you mentioned, craig bergman, before he joined the campaign earlier this week in a focus group, as you said, called mormonism a cult and two of the candidates, huntsman and romney, are mormon. he agreed to step away from his role. made a statement prior to becoming an employee inconsistent with newt's to run a problem and solutions orientation program. spokesman for the campaign. we saw gingrich and romney going at it the last couple of days. gingrich will stay positive now, he says. he wants his staffers to do the same. >> picked up an endorsement today. tell us about it. >> some are snickering. christine o'donnell. flash back, rerack to 2010. remember. she was the former "witch" who ran for the senate delaware.

knocked out opponents in the primaries but did not win in the general election. lost to the democrat in the senate run. now an endorsement of romney. does it really matter? she does have support among the tea party movement. he needs it when it comes to tea party supporters and a dig when it comes to newt gingrich saying, america needs a pra president that is not a washington insider. i think she's referring to newt gingrich. >> i was just chatting with her in the "newsroom." she's going to be here, too. paul steinhauser, stick around for that. the former senate candidate christine oh doi'donnell will js live. and under attack, newt gingrich's personal life popping up, how this will impact iowa conservatives with dr. richard land, and news reporter mckay coppins will join us. and out as moderator of the

gop debate scheduled for later this month. what did you tweet? trump fired himself. only two republican candidates, newt gingrich and rick santorum were committed anyway. how did the donald spin this one? being moderator may have been a conflict of interests. here she on a radio show. >> they were concerned i would run and didn't want me hosts a debate where iened up running against them. the chances of my running aren't that great, other than if they pick the wrong candidate. if the economy continues to be bad and if the republicans pick the wrong candidate which is a possibility, i would very seriously think about running. >> trump had flirted running for president earlier in the year and was a gop runsma ning mate a very short time. and politics as usual on capitol hill. the house pass add republican plan to extend the payroll tax

cut, it's virtually dead on arrival of a democratic controlled senate, and the president isn't going to sign it, because it speeds up the process for government approval of the keystone oil pipeline. here's house majority leader eric cantor with the gop perspective. >> harry reid has in his lap a bill that will stave off tax increases for everyone that has a job in this country, and will make sure that we get back on the path to job creation. it's time for the rhetoric that has come from senate democrats as well as the white house to start matching reality. >> so here's the reality. democrats are not budging, and the white house wants the payroll tax cut extension and an new spending plan passed quickly without all the politics. >> what the president is not willing to do is leave town or allow congress to leave town without ensuring that 160 million americans do not see

their taxes go up next year. >> congress has until friday to pass a new federal budget or we face a possible -- yeah -- we face a possible government shutdown -- again. this morning we're learning more about deadly attack in belgium. it happened at packed christmas market in the city of liege yesterday. police say the attacker launched three grenades and gunned down holiday shoppers from a nearby roof. nic robertson is live there. nic, what's the number of the latest victims in this case? >> reporter: 124 people according to prosecutor were taken to hospital for treatment. some of those with serious injuries and some of them also with psychological trauma. five people including the attacker died in the attack, and the police also saying they found the body of the attacker's cleaner at his house in a shed that he used for growing cannabis, large quantities of

cannabis he used to sell, that body found overnight. if you look down over my shoulder here, you can see the bus shelters, the windows blown out, the scene of the attack yesterday. crowds gathered around. a lot of journalists and camera crews but in the middle there, flowers laid in tribute. i talked to one lady here who was a witness to the attack yesterday. she was still shaking. she had her young children with her and said she was absolutely horrified, shocked at what she had seen. she said for her, in this quiet city here, known for its trang quilt tranquility, this felt like for her, the 9/11 in liege. shocking, people here deeply traumatiz traumatized, christine. >> what are prosecutors saying about the attacker? >> reporter: he has a criminal record. he spent 40 months in jail on charges of cultivating and selling cannabis. of racketeering with weapons.

also told to report to the police station here just hours indeed after he perpetrated his attack on questions of sexual harassment and possible rape, but the prosecutors saying and the police haven't discovered yet any kind of suicide note from him. they are saying he committed suicide at the end of the attack by shooting himself. then say they have no indication what sent this hardened criminal, he spent time in jail, into a ruthless psychopathic killer. no one has that answer. >> that kind of violence is so, so rare in those cities in belgium. thank you so much, nic robertson. jerry sandusky lawyer says the disgraced former penn state coach is ready for the fight of his life. sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday and also waived a scheduled arraignment date in january clearing the way for a jury trial. sandusky faces more than 50 counts related to allegations of

sexual molestation revealed in a grand jury report last month. prosecutors were prepared to put some accuse ers on the stand yesterday. and an attorney for sandusky's, one of the alleged victims. his client set to testify yet. we'll get his reaction to sandusky waiving his preliminary hearing. two men who say syracuse's former coach bernie fine molested them, and filing a suit against jim boeheim. alleged victim mike lang says the comments made him sick to his stomach and s morgan says he wants to encourage others to step up. and calling for a full nationwide ban on cell phones and electronics devices while behind the wheel, and it applies to hands-free devices, too.

the recommendation came after several investigation caused texting to the cause of deadly accidents. 3,000 people died in distraction-related crashes last year. and speaking with debbie hersman. is this going too far? chairman of thene ntsb. and the u.s. postal service, delaying shutting down processing centers until the middle of may. gives congress more time to help the agency avoid bankruptcy. the postal service is expected to lose more thanes $14 billion next year. it's a long time coming, but finally after almost four years, a crackdown on those annoying, loud commercials. the federal communications commission will require broadcasters to maintain a constant volume level for programs and commercials. the new rule takes effect next

december. it take as year? oh. >> i'm so excited, too. >> giving programmers time to smooth the differences in the audio levels. the agency received almost 6,000 complaints since -- not counting all of us have screamed at our television. >> stopped to watch the needle, make sure it's in the right place? >> apparently take as whole year to smooth out the differences. >> uh-huh. all righty then. still to come, former mf global ceo jon corzine under fire on capitol hill. lawmakers demanding to know what happened to more than a billion dollars in customer money from this bankrupt brokerage firm. and testifying he was unaware ever the phone hacking scandal that erupted. a new e-mail suggests otherwise. details ahead. almost named the sexiest man alive. but nick nolte is more well known for that shot. sad it keeps popping up. he's setting the record straight about this very unimportant

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>> still dark. a live look at new york city this morning. it's 15 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "american morning." police are investigating a possible serial killer near new york city, and we're waiting for the results of forensic tests to determine if remains discovered yesterday on long island are those are shannon guilford. >> a young woman whose disappearance led to the unexpected discovery of more than a dozen bodies on long island. the search for her is what uncovered what could very well be a serial killer in the new york area. >> it began with her in the spring of 2010 and now this long later we're finally, maybe, finally, seeing what has happened to her. the announcement that cops found what they say they believe ever the remains of shannon guilford comes one year after police acknowledge they may have a serial killer on their hands. she went missing more than a year and a half ago. her purse, jeans and other personal items were found last

week in oak beach. that's when police redoubled search efforts and yesterday morning in thick muck in bramble, police discovered the new remains. >> we have this day at approximately 9:14 a.m. located a set of skeletal remains we believe at this time to belong to the missing shannon gilbert. the body was found approximately one quarter mile northeast of where her personal belongings were located last week. >> the exhaustive search for gilbert eventually led to the discovery of ten bodies along that barren part of long island. to date, not all identified and all with ties to the sex industry, and police say that even though gilbert's body, or suspected body, was found near those other remain, until the autopsy is completed, they'll continue to believe that gilbert's death was an

accidental drowning. not part of that serial killer's streak. now, gilbert's mother, she's not convinced. >> well, this sick bastard, until she caught, they are going to find more bodies out here in these woods. >> the last person who apparently had seen gilbert alive told cnn earlier this year, he, too, was doubtful she was murdered. the case continues. all the other victims were found wrapped in burlap. that doesn't seem to be what was found here. at least they haven't said that. >> can't think of a gentle way to put it, there's not much left of her body. would there be a way to determine cause of death? >> i can't tell you. they're saying flat out, there are skeletal remains. not a lot to work with. cause of death might be a little more difficult in this case as it was with the others. >> the theory of investigators, she was running, screaming from

someone's home. people heard her running and screaming. she disappears in a very barren, very bruschi arhbrushy area and drowned? >> spring time. very marshy, you have pockets of low-lying water, and even deeper pools out there. sort of sits on the strip of land in between, you know, two bodies of water. she wasn't a swimmer. so this is the theory that police say they're operating with right now. >> and it was dark. >> exactly. middle of the night. >> chris knowles, thanks so much. show me the money. that demanned directed over and over at mf global ceo, former ceo, jon corzine. on capitol hill flanked by two former colleagues from his bankrupt brokerage firm. the senate agriculture committee is trying to get to the bottom of more than a billion dollars of missing customers funds from the former new jersey governor's

company. they didn't get far. >> cfo, where's the money? >> senator, unfortunately, i do not know where the money is. >> where's the money? >> senator, as i said in my statement, i do not know where the money is. >> it's clear that something was amiss, and that needs to be discovered, what that was. >> corzine insists he never directed anyone at mf global to misuse customer funds, but those claims didn't fly with a minnesota hog farmer who says he lost $200,000 with corzine's company. >> a lot of people, moms and pops out there, probably have their whole life savings tied up here and lost. it's important to realize this effects a lot more people across the whole country. >> corzine isn't done yet. he faces another hearing thursday. this time the house financial services committee will be trying to find the money.

>> something was amiss. >> not what you want to hear from your ceo. >> rob marciano, in the extreme weather center. where is the money? >> i don't know. i've lost a million here. totals racking up out west. the snow in flagstaff, arizona. right near the grandi canyon piling up in spots. traffic, no doubt about it. this intense winter storm is beginning to inject into the plains and will cause problems for some other people. some of the snow totals, two feet in forest lakes. there's flagstaff at 15 inches and spots in utah see you a foot or more of snow. colorado seeing more in the way of snow. to a lesser extent. and dallas down through houghton,houghtoauft austin seeing damaging winds and large hail later in the day. that energy, moisture ahead of

the main piece bringing rain. some of it heavy. chicago, especially westward towards milwaukee and streaming into detroit as well. lower great lakes, and east coast, not shabby. temperatures on the mild side. traveling today to chicago and dallas, at the airports, an issue. ali comes back one day and flies the coop? >> he's delicate. a delicate -- >> a delicate talent. i've known that for a while. >> i don't even know how to respond to that. >> thank you, rob. >> all right, see ya. just ahead on "american morning," hess hez militants. [ male announcer ] an lg smart tv, lg optimus cell phone

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"minding your business" this morning. the federal reserve holding off on any new steps to boost the economy, and that announcement yesterday leaving stocks lower. the dow dropped about 70 points in the last hour to close down 66 points. stock futures trading pretty flat so far this morning. turns out the housing bust was even worse than the housing industry told us it was. the national association of realtors reports the number of existing homes sold over the past five years is less than they estimated. that's because some properties were listed more than once, and in some cases new home sales were also counted. the industry will give its revised figures one week from today. again, the housing bust, worst than the national home retailers first admitted. more jobs two words we'd all like to hear.

according to the federation of new businesses the number of companies planning to hire new workers is at its highest level in 38 months. but number is well below prerecession levels is shows improvements. chrysler, the once troubled automaker is trurning things around. the company's ceo tells the "wall street journal" right now they're on track to make $3 billion in profit because of rising u.s. sales. and southwest airlines inking a record $19 billion deal to buy 208 boeing 737s jets. the largest aircraft order every placed an the first to include boeing's more fuel-efficient model. "american morning" will be right back after the break. ♪

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she tried to shake up washington in 2010. who does christine o'donnell think should lead the nation in 2012? she is here to make her

endorsement live on this "american morning." and welcome back. it is about 31 minutes past the hour. time for the morning's top stories. newt gingrich's political director in iowa is out after calling mormonism a cult. two gop candidates, mitt romney and jon huntsman, are mormons. gingrich is already working with a lean staff in iowa. this, as new national poll shows he's blowing away romney but who weak numbers against president obama. and facing a $1,000 payroll tax increase in 17 day, the house passed a payroll tax cut extension that also includes provisions to speed up the approval process for the keystone excel oil pipeline. democrats and the president say it's a deal breaker and won't pass the senate. congress needs to get a spending plan passed by friday or we face

a federal shuftdown. here we go again. and cracking down on annoying lloyd commercials. starting next december, broadcasters are required to maintain constant volume levels for programs and commercials. the agency says it received almost 6,000 complaints since 2008, carol. she took on the established gop candidate in delaware and won the 2010 gop primary. tea party favorite christine o'donnell even though she lost in the general election turned a lot of heads in that senate race. who she is picking in 2012. welcome. >> thank for having me. >> who gets your endorsement? >> i like mitt romney. this is something i gave a lot of thought to. i like all of the candidates, but there are certainly things, like executive experience, consistency, that are deal breakers or tie breakers for me. >> yeah. >> and i think especially in such an unstable economic environment what people

criticized him for in 2008, his consistency, the fact that he was so strong and -- i think people will find that appealing going into the 2012 -- >> some people say that mitt romney isn't the most consistent candidate, because he's changed his mind about big, important issues over the years. >> that's one of the things that i like about him, because he's been consistent since he changed his mind. and i think that he's humble enough to say, i don't always have the right answers. and he's open to other viewpoints, and if it doesn't betray his core convictions, he'll make the necessary changes, and you saw him lead in massachusetts with that. he vetoed legislation that, you know, he had a lot of opposition about, and i think that if -- if people who are opposed to him right now took a close are look at his record, and took a look at the fact that, you know, people are trying to paint newt gingrich as the anti-establishment candidate, which i think is funny, because in a lot of the tea party versus

establishment campaigns in 2010, newt gingrich was on the side -- >> talk about mitt romney. >> and got involved in marco rubio and my race, a lot of people aren't giving him credit for that. >> talk about newt gingrich. polling is out supporting newt gingrich overwhelmingly against mitt romney and one of the reasons might be, you know, universal health care that he instituted in massachusetts. is that it, or is it something else about mitt romney? >> honestly, i think it's that newt gingrich is courting the tea party and that's actually why, i love michele bachmann, love rick santorum, but because so many tea partiers are flocking behind newt gingrich, i decided to come out and say, hey, this is who, between newt and romney, the tea party i don't think should be behind newt at all. i would understand if they're flocking behind michele bachmann, but newt gingrich has supported a federal mandate. newt gingrich has been

inconsistent and unreliable all the way down from cozying up on a couch with nancy pelosi to getting behind relentlessly in new york 23. so i think if, especially tea party candidates. if you want to -- or tea party members. if you want to get behind michele bachmann, get behind rick santorum, ron paul instead of romney, okay, i can understand that. but not newt gingrich, and i'm really hoping that my endorsement will cause people to give him a second look. >> it certainly has shaken some members of the tea party because you went on listening tour in iowa and wanted to sit down with tea party members to talk about what candidate the tea party should support. >> right. >> they kind of rejected you. i just wanted to read you a bit of a letter they sent out, and this is of your yearning to support mitt romney. right, okay? >> right. >> so the letter says, specifically of concern, ms. o'donnell's statements that tea partiers should unite regardless of which candidates win. statements peeg 70% in mitt

romney and statements about her personal donations to his campaign and an official stance is and always, and has always been that the tea party should not endorse candidates. >> well, i'm making my endorsement as personal. as christine o'donnell. not on behalf of the tea party, not on behalf of christine -- this is a personal endorsement. as i've said before, the passion that motivated the tea party and gives them the energy to ge forward and to be a force in the political process could be the very undoing, if we're, you know, so rigid about you know, once there is a nominee if they refuse to unite behind whoever the front-runner is, then it's going to fracture the base of the party and it's going to make sure that barack obama is, you know, gets re-elected, and i'm really hoping that, again, i'm not so arrogant to think that my endorsement's going to make or break mitt romney, but i hope

might bona fide someone who's gone against the establishment, people that have read my book, they know that over and over i have sacrificed for what i believe is right, and i want them to know that that same level of sacrifice is going into my endorsement of mitt romney, and i genuinely trust him and am hoping, again, that -- that that gives some weight. >> let me ask you one last question about the intense dislike that members of the tea party have nor for barack obama. some say this dislike is tainting choice s when it comes to the republican primary candidates. do you think that's so? >> if so, i think we'd be more united. i think right now we'd have a clear front-runner. i hope that their intense dislike for barack obama's policies, that's the thing. people are frustrated with what he's doing to the country and the fact that he says, oh, you

know, barack obama's campaign slogan is more like a campaign whine. you know, i just need more time, but you have to look at what ronald reagan did. ronald reagan in harriherited a bad economy from jimmy carter. gas rationing that didn't belong in america. >> it seems the tea party centers on one candidate, becomes disenfranchised. first michele bachmann, then rick perry. now it seems to be newt gingrich. why all of this searching around for a candidate? >> in the primary process that's okay. you can do that, but we cannot get so emotional behind it that we're, you know, not willing to unite afterwards, because, again, right now what we're doing is we're giving barack obama a free pass to campaign from the oval office. dishonestly. saying there's nothing he can do, when ronald reagan was able to fix the economy so quickly, he campaigned on, it's morning in america again. so there is something that barack obama can do, but he is

so far to the left that he's not willing to do what president clinton did, when he had a republican congress, when he saw that it wasn't working. he started governing from the center, and barack obama is continuing to move our country so far to the left, and i really hope that the republican party can unite around mitt romney. >> thank you so much for coming in this morning. >> thank you, carol. >> we appreciate it. and a program note, ron paul will be a guest on "the situation room" live from new hampshire. that starts at 4:00 eastern time and at 6:00 p.m. eastern, michele bachmann will be a guest on "john king usa." and coming up, the ntsb cracking down on distracted driving calling for a full nationwide ban on the use of cell phones in the car, even those hands-free devices. the chairman of the ntsb joins us live next.

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welcome back. just hang up and drive. safety experts are calling for a nationwide ban on using cell phones to talk and text message while driving.

and now the ntsb wants to take it a step further banning all electronic devices in the car, even hands-free devices. according to the national highway traffic safety administration, more than 3,000 people died last year because of distracted drive. joinings you live from washington is debbie hersman, chairman of the ntsb. welcome to the program. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> we've known for a long time talking and texting while driving is more dangerous than just driving the car, but what prompted you to propose this ban now? >> you know, the ntsb has been investigating accidents really for a decade involving distraction, and yesterday we had a board meeting, in which we evaluated an accident we investigated where a driver had been sending receiving texts 11 times in the 11 minutes prior to the crash. this isn't the first time we've invest gated an accident like this, but this is the most comprehensive ban we've recommended. we've recommended bans for novice drivers, teen drivers,

commercial drivers, but yesterday recommend add ban for all drivers. >> and we just had seen video of the 2010 missouri crash a driver and a 15-year-old on a school bus killed. 38 people hurt. frankly, i'm getting a lot of e-mail from people saying, what about fumbling with the radio? what about passing back a bottle to the kids? what about having someone else in the car? a lot of different distractions, and libertarian groups say it's orwellian, goes too far. there are other things that can be done than a ban on cell phone use? >> well i think you're absolutely right. there are a lot of distractions and frankly they've been around as long as the model-t has been around, people are distracted. but this is a new type of distraction. what we see, people are bringing more and more electronic devices into the car. there's devices that are in the car as part of their infotainment and they really are creating more distractions. we're seeing more people texting behind the wleem and people

distracted by the cognitive conversations they're having with people where it's taking their attention away from the driving tasks. >> research shows talking to someone sitting next to you in the car is different from someone talking on the phone who isn't next to you? >> it is. the person next to you in the car is like a copilot. they're aware of the traffic, the environment, stops, aware of situations that might been complicated and don't always expecting to respond. but the person on the other end of the phone, they weren't helping you and they don't know that. >> some state lawmakers, debbie, have already come out against this. georgia said that lawmakers would oppose it saying it's government pushing its nose too far into people's lives. how do you respond to those critics, this is big brother trying to fix a bad habit with a new law? >> what we do in our business at the ntsb is investigate accidents, learn from them and make recommendations.

i know this isn't the popular thing, but it is the safe thing, and it's the right thing to do. we fully respect that everyone else has different views about this, but no call, no text, no post is worth a human life. >> and in are those e-mailing saying this is like the old days when you thought it was sacrilegious to final drive 50 miles an hour but ended up saving lives. >> same with drunk driving, putting your children in child restraints, with wearing your seat belt or even smoking. all things that were societal norms that took some time to chanchts interesting. the university of utah stat i saw here, using a cell phone while driving whether hand-held or hands-free delays a driver's reaction as much as having a blood kmol concentration o of .08%. i think people when using the phone or when they're texting, they don't they think are

impaired. >> well, you're right, and i know how difficult this is, because i used to talk on my phone as well until i understand stood the dangers of it, and two years ago we put a ban on all of our employees from talking or texting hands-free or not. when i hung up my phone it was like becoming sober and seeing that everyone around you was drinking. you notice the people who are distracted. they're not keeping up with traffic. therapy not maintaining their speed. they're driving erratically, not holding their lane position. it is distracting, and i any people recognize that, but they think, do as i say, not as i do. they don't want other people doing it, but they don't want to stop themselves. >> it's your job, debbie, to research the accidents and make recommendati recommendations. will states follow? >> 35 states have texting bans. a number of states have hand-held bans. there are also states that have bans for teen drivers. so i think we're on our way to

understanding that this is a challenge, but it will take some time, and we understand that, but we think the dialogue and the education and communication about this issue is a very good beginning. >> all right. debbie hersman, chairman of ntsb, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> i'm telling you, a lot of e-mail, libertarian groups and think tanks, when we saw we were going to interview, this goes too far. hysterical. over the top. nanny state stuff. this is different than talking to somebody in the car? how's it different than using a gps? a lot of distractions, none good, but this one is particularly insidious. i'm sure the debate will rage on from here. >> i'm sure, too. just about 49 past the hour. ahead on "american morning," the illinois gold rush. investors are flocking to the rural midwest, buying up farmland awicke ewith acres of potential. is this investment as safe as it seems? the employee of the month isss...

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and tax cut extension including a provision to speed up the approval process for the keystone oil pipeline. democrats and the president said that add-on is a deal breaker and it won't pass the senate. today marks the second round of egypt's parliamentary elections. egypt's islamists claimed winning in the first round. first since the uprising that toppled longtime leader hosni mubarak. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after this.

welcome back to "american morning." mark twain said it buy land. i hear they're not making it

anymore. many are taking that statement to heart. taking a grab in the midwest. >> farm prices going up, up, up, hoping to reap reap wards, the invest could be risky. does it look like a bubble? poppy harlow has the story from cnn. >> there's actually nobody buying land, and so i put on my jeans and i put on my boots and started, you know, just driving the countryside. >> reporter: after deck kalds of trading stocks and fighting the wild swings of the markets, dave erickson saw something he liked a whole lot better. >> plainfield, illinois. southwest of chicago. >> reporter: farmland. >> it's something that you can hold on to and it's real. >> reporter: this year he and his partner spent $11 million buying 735 acres of farmland right outside chicago. >> we're looking at it as an inveft investment with the future growth and the builders returning. this one is slated for single family homes and town homes.

>> reporter: brokers like keith or pinsky sold lant like this to developers at steep prices during the housing boom. >> land in the 50s, 60s, 70s acre range four, five, six years ago. now prices are so depressed you're buying land for $10,000,s 15ds,000 per acre. >> this property was close to $100,000 an acre. >> reporter: $100,000? >> yes. >> reporter: when? >> five years ago. >> we bought this for $17,000. >> reporter: they may have been hurt in the financial meltdown but land for farming is in real demand. farmland prices here in illinois are up 23% in just the last year. >> some of the best in the world, right here. central illinois. >> reporter: dave klein sells farmland in rural illinois. who's calling you saying, hey, dave, i'm interested in investing in farmland? >> people calling from chicago, new york, california, and across the world.

>> reporter: high commodity prices and low interest rates are feeding demand, but so is fear. >> there's not a lot of other things out in people really trust. they know if they buy a farm it's going to be there. >> reporter: but buyer beware. >> you have to plan for these worst case scenarios. >> reporter: bill isaac was chair of the fdic when the farmland bubble burst in the '80s. does this feel like we're on the cusp of something similar? >> i think quo be. we're not there yet but got to get interest rates up significantly higher and people buying land, which is ill-liquid, need to take that into account and agriculture prices may come down and they have to factor that into their equation. >> reporter: but whether to grow or to build, land is back in fashion. >> we can invest in a blue chip piece of ground that some day, somebody will realize its value. >> so when you look at the numbers, farmland, especially in the midwest, outperformed the

s&p 500 handedly over the last ten years. compare it to the 1980s. in the '80s, interest rates had raised 120%. you heard in the piece, rates aren't going up. not likely to 120%. the fallout was so fast in the 1980s, people lost so much money. you saw land values in many of thing a states fell like 50% in a few years and i thought this was staggering. the necessary value of farmland fall from $9 billi2 billion to billion in two years. >> a population growing, and need that. like the black gold, the dirt in the midwest is incredibly rich. the richest and most productive land in the world really. >> and 7 billion people, projected 93 billion in the

world by 2050 it is. >> buying up farmland but they're putting houses on it. >> it's twofold in ruring parts of illinois they're goal to farm it. outside chicago, of course, they think people will keep moving out. that land that you heard the guy, 100 grand five years ago, he bought it for $17,000. he think it's it's going up 50,000 or 60,000. the investor is making money from what the farmer is producing. getting 3%, 4% a year, better than a lot of things and thinking it's going back up. the investors said human nature is human nature. thing are cyclical. we'll see this in farmland like the housing bust. it's expensive to get into farmland and beware, it could fall off as quickly as it rose. >> and pay big taxes. >> but ate of subsidies. that's the other. >> may ar may nor may not go aw >> i hope the hometown farmers are getting lots of money.

>> that's the u.s. >> i want people to retire on a high if they can. thanks, poppy. >> sure. we'll be back. just about 7:00 a.m. eastern. [ mom ] scooter? your father loves your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you.

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ten days until christmas. 17 days until a $1,000 tax hike. the measure that could kill another effort to extend the payroll tax holiday. shake-up in prime time. the new gingrich campaign suffers after a staffer take as shot at an opponent's religion. and alec baldwin in the room allowing ipads for pilots but not passengers? made in america. sold in china. you heard it right.

how one american business is able to put the shoe on the other foot, on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and good morning. is wednesday, december 14th. i'm carol costello along with christine romans on this "american morning." >> you said it's only ten days until christmas. i got shopping to do carol. thanks for the warning. first this hour, 160 million americans more than half the country, just 17 days away from $1,000 tax hike. congress is playing politics. the house passed a republican payroll tax cut extension. it's hardly progress. senate democrats plan to kill it, because republicans tacked on a measure that speeds up ate proval process for the controversial keystone oil pipeline. here's the spin from both sides of the aisle. >> now senate democrats must act. the senate can take up our bill, they pass it, they can amend it and they can move their own bill, but it is time for the senate to act. >> what the president is not

willing to do is leave town or allow congress to leave town without ensuring that 160 million americans do not see their taxes go up next year. >> cnn athena jones is live at the white house. explain to me what my payroll taxes have to do with an oil pipeline? >> reporter: that's really the issue that republicans are raising as well. if you really listen closely to what jay karn hey becarney has in white house briefings and the administration policy the white house put out, focusing how the gop bill would lead to cuts in veterans programs, clean energy and education and not spending as much time citing this keystone pipeline. the fact of the martyr is republicans added that provision to try to win votes from their side. people on their side opposed to extending the payroll tax cut

saying it didn't do anything to boost the economy. something economists disagree with. the whole keystone pipeline issue republicans say it would create thousands of jobs. the state department says about 5,000. the issue, they want more time to study issues of concerns to environmentists along the path of this pipeline coming from canada down to texas. so the state department wants until 2013 to decide on that and republicans want to attach a provision to this payroll tax cut bill, this extension, saying let's speed up ate proval process and get this thing going to create jobs. that's the issue. a little complicated like so many issues are here. >> that's how it works in washington. tack on something in a sweepingly unrelated measure to try to win support and get through's how is the white house going to win this argument? >> reporter: that's really the question here. i mean, you have one side saying the other side is playing -- both sides accusing of other of playing politics. not uncommon. not uncommon see a ranksmanship. we know reid in the senate,

majority lead has said this house passed bill is dead on arrival. dead before it even got to the senate. we can predict they're try to vote to show it's not going to pass and then have to get down and do real dealing. if you talk to administration officials they say it's going to get done. can we lay on the -- yes, twists and turns, hairy in the end but it will get done. of course, the kind of line you can say about many of the legislative accomplishments in the last six months. we'll see what happens. it's unclear whether the white house can say even though they gave a chance to pass it we're going to veto it, because of the pipeline. it's unclear if they'll win that argument with the american public. we'll have to wait and see. >> athena jones in washington, thanks. good and bad news for gop front-runner newt gingrich with less than three weeks until item wa caucuses his political director in that state stepped down after calling mormonism a cult. two gop candidates, mitt romney and jon huntsman are mormon.

gingrich is already working with a bare bones staff in the state. meantime a new poll shows gingrich opened up a a commanding lead over mitt romney. head-to-head with the president is another story. paul steinhauser is here to break down the latest numbers. good morning, paul. >> good morning, carol. let's get right to it. an nbc/"wall street journal" poll of people likely to take part in the republican prime ears. newt gingrich at the top. seen him there two, three weeks saying they would support him for the nomination. romney, 17 points back and everybody else in single digits. a pew poll out yesterday showed the same thing pretty much. alluded to this. electability problem probably for gingrich. this poll suggests that. hypothetical head-to-heads next november. there's president obama 11 points ahead of gingrich in this poll from nbc "wall street journal" but look at romney and obama. basically all knotted up. gingrich that the add vac vanta

the primaries but not in the presidential election. and remember newt gingrich and mitt romney, that debate, squabbling continue add couple days. yesterday morning gingrich puts on a message to his campaign saying no more. we're not going on the attack anymore against any of the other candidates, other than the president. and that's to both his staffers and to his surrogates, but, okay. this new guy, just hired, name craig bergman, hired this week. earlier this week and in front of a focus group he called mormonism a cult. the statement yesterday. craig bergman agreed to step away from his role making a commitment, a comment to a group prying to becoming an employee inconsistent with the pledge to run a positive and solutions-oriented campaign. from r.c. hammond. i visited the other day, pretty

small and just lost one of their top guys. >> we can't let a day go by without talking about donald trump. he fired himself at debate moderator. >> yeah. all because donald trump doesn't want it give up the possibility, he says, of running as an independent candidate next year if he doesn't like who the republican nominee ends up being. supposed to have a debate. only two candidates said they would attend, but trump saying, no, we're not going it because i don't want to give up a chance, a possibility of returning as an independent. stay tuned. always something with donald trump. isn't there? >> who does he think the right candidate is? >> maybe himself. i don't know. >> i don't know either. paul steinhauser, thanks. coming up at 8:40 eastern with mitt romney's mormon faith under attack anew, and newt gingrich's personal life popping up again, how all of this will impact iowa conservatives with d richard land, president of the southern baptist convention and

with news reporter mckay coppins. texting and driving don't mix. the ntsb calling for a full nationwide ban on using cell phones behind the wheel, and it applies to hands-free devices, too. this recommendations came after several investigations found texting to be the cause of deadly accidents. now some lawmakers are already opposing this pan saying the government shouldn't push too far into people's lives. we spoke with ntsb chairman debbie hersman last hour. here's what she said. >> i know that this isn't the popular thing, but it is the safe thing, and it's the right thing to do. we fully respect that everyone else has different views about this, but no call, no text, no post is worth a human life. >> 3,000 people died in distraction-related crashes last year. ipads. ipads cleared for takeoff. really? beginning on friday, american airlines pilots will be the first pilots allowed to use ipads in place of paper flight

manuals in the cockpit, even during takeoffs and landings. passengers, though, will still have to shut down their electronics from the moment the plane leaves the gate until it reaches 10,000 feet. you're saying what? and still thinking about alec baldwin, how they won't make him happy, you're wondering, hmm. is it really dangerous if you don't turn out your electronic device during takeoff? >> okay for the front of the plane to do it but i don't want to test it with 300 others texting. i'll follow the rules. >> confusing. also making news this morning a new and potentially damaging hit to the credibility of top news executive james murdoch. a new e-mail suggesting he was informed about the damaging allegations against his news of the world newspaper back in 2008. this revelation coming just weeks after murdoch testified he was unaware of illegal ease dropping. in a letter, he concedes he

replied to the e-mail but does not admit reading it. and 4,000 local post offices and 250 mail processing centers set to shut down in april. agreed to delay that to mid-may to give congress time to save the debt ridden company from bankruptcy. it will lose $14 billion next year. the federal communications commission will now require broadcasters to maintain constant volume levels for programs and commercials. this new rule takes effect next december. it gives them time to come up with waves to smooth the differences in the audio levels. isn't that annoying? 6,000 complaints. i can't believe it was only 6,000. >> i can't believe it's as simple as turning down a dial somewhere, but apparently it is not. millions could soon lose a vital life line. unemployment benefits. but how long should we help the

unemployed and what would happen to the economy if we don't have those who have fallen on hard times. spy versus spy. hezbollah and iran, it may have take an giant hit. and products made here in the united states, and sold in china. we'll tell you who's doing it and how they're doing. you're watching "american morning." it's 11 minutes past the hour. ll and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year.

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a live look at the capitol in washington. 14 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "american morning." right now lawmakers have a few weeks to hammer out differences when it comes to two important money matters. payroll tax holiday, matters to every working american and jobless unem ploim benefits. the benefits a critical safety net for millions who have fallen through the cracks. if congress fails to extend the coverage, 5 million people benefits expire by the end of the year. senior economic writer for the editorial page and a

distinguished fellow and both of you, you and i, both of you, we've talked about this before, about what impact extending and extending and extending unemployment benefits has on people's willingness and desire to go out and get a job. you say that all of these unemployment benefits extensions and 99 weeks of being on jobless checks, it is discouraging to get to work. why? >> you're essentially sending a check to people who aren't working and the condition, that they not find a job. look, i'm an economist, christine. i do believe incentives matter. when you pay people not to work, you're going to find that they're not going to be as eager to find a job. by the way, that's not just my opinion. the vast majority of the economic evidence shows that. that people who are unemployed, christine, they find jobs right about the time when their unemployment insurance runs out. so what i'm saying, i guess, is, look, i don't have a problem

with giving people three moss or six months, even nine months of benefits, if they lose their jobs. this is a tough job market. no question. but you have to ask, is two years of benefits too long? and my answer to that is, yes. >> and bob i want to ask you this. unemployment, 8.3%. a senior economist at the federal reserve bank of philadelphia who earlier this year said the unemployment rate for men is probably 1.2% points higher, because of the fact that they have these extended unemployment benefits. so is that -- is that evidence that we should get rid of those benefits and the unemployment rate will fall? >> no, it's not. i think extended unemployment benefits has a modest effect on the jobless rate. people do, to some extent, hold off on accepting jobs if they're getting extended benefits, but it's very modest. i would not characterize it as paying people not to work. pt point of unemployment

benefits is to help out people struggling in an economy that has been atrocious for a long time. so you have to decide on which way the balance sheet goes. >> where that money goes, goes right at the economy too, right? >> right at the economy. modest benefits for the economy. the question become, do you want to help these people who are hurting so badly? i would say, yes. >> could we do a little better on doing retraining? modifying the program? if we have people on unem ploipt 99 weeks, a different program when putting people -- the president's talked about georgia works plan. people get the jobless check but are working in an office to get it. >> i'm in favor of retraining, but look at the reality of the job market and it's awful. let's say you had 1,000 men who suddenly do not have unemployment checks. you send them into the job market, they are not going to get jobs right away. there are about four people applying for every available job. >> and that's true, steven. a lot of economists even as they

tell me that, well, it adds .4 to unemployment rate, or the unemployment rate 8.3%. it's still 8.3%. you're still not creating enough jobs. au almost as if, what's the symptom and what's the disease here? >> i agree with that. i think i got a little minor concession there out of bob for the first time on this. that there are some, at least minor adverse consequences on people looking for jobs. >> that is my understanding. that's what economists have been telling me. >> that's what i'm saying. we're arguing how big it is. christine, i travel the country and talk to employers. i talked to a ceo of a major trucking company. what's your biggest problem? we can't find drivers. wait, 8% unemployment. a lot of the drivers who took unmany employment during the height ever the recession, they're waiting out until their unemployment benefits run out until they find a job. so i do think there's negative consequences here. when we passed welfare wee form

in the 1990s we put time limits on how long people could get welfare benefits and did find, christine, people moved back into work. that's what we all want to see. by the way, the worst thing you could do for somebody who lose as job, the longer they stay unemployed they lose their skills. it's less likely they'll pay a good job. we do a disservice to unemployed giving them benefits a long time. >> even people who, for humanitarian and social network, social safety ned reasons need to extend these, at some point we can't pay people not to work forever? >> i believe we agree but then need a discussion to say what are we going to do about large numbers of people who are unemployed in a terrible job market who no longer qualify for jobless benefits? if there's one more quick point to make, i was talking to do about architect. >> he'll take your trucker and raise you about ark trect. >> receiving extended unemployment benefits in

connecticut, and he had an opportunity to get a job at home depot and he said to me, bob, i'm an architect. i don't want to work at home depot. so he did not take that job ultimately and quite a bit later he did get another job. >> that's my point. you just made my point. that's what happens. if people have unemployment they won't take the first job that ums. >> i acknowledge it happens sometimes, but i do not think that that is the norm. most people out of work desperately want a job. >> and i'll tell you something, take both of those stories, multiply it by 14 million, that's what you got. everyone's got a slightly different -- >> christine what we don't have is a real jobs program to create jobs. i think bob and i agree, this is a lousy jobs market. we might disagree on why, but maybe this is an indication that the stimulus and these other programs don't work so well. >> oh, no. that's another discussion for another time. cull on. a whole other seven-minute discussion. nice try. nice try. thank you both. nice to see you both.

carol? >> great. thank you. let's head to atlanta to check in with rob marciano. any travel delays? >> dallas later on today and chicago maybe this morning. detroit as well. we have rain heading in those two spots. and one will be more rough than the other. east coast, though, not so bad and mild actually. temperatures well above average across much of the eastern third of the country, because this storm is going to be pumping up moisture and heat. it's the one that was bringing all the snow and nasty weather across parts of the south wfrt and now some of that moisture stretches into the lower great lakes. chicago, rain, heavy at times this morning stretching into parts of detroit, cleveland as well. then the southern part of this has energy with it, too, and the afternoon and evening, the threat for severe weather exists throughout much of north texas including dallas and austin. damaging winds, hail and maybe an isolated tornado. snow totals from yesterday across parts of arizona. as much as two feet in spots. several more inches across southern colorado and new mexico today.

winter storm warnings posted. chicago and dallas, delays expected. the west coast, get outside and check out the meteor shorers happening now and come right back in and watch "american morning." 21 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's another reason more investors are saying... where they grow america's favorite wpotatoes. idaho, everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they're good for you too?

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were back. "minding your business" this morning. the federal reserve holding off on steps to boost the economy. that announcement pushing stocks lower. the dow dropping 66 points yesterday. stock futures now trading slightly low are now. why? because of the euro. also lower this morning as the european currency right now one euro is worth less than $1.30. the lowest level in nearly a year against the dollar. that means if you're headed to europe over the holidays you're getting a better exchange rate

but shows p s pessimism about t european movement. and china is announcing it will now slap what it calls an anti-dumping tax on all u.s. sedans and suv imports. the new tariff started yesterday, ranging from 2% to 21%. ford recalling certain models of its fusian and mercury milan. the wheels could fall off. the models affected those with 17-inch steel wheels built in 2009 and 2010. so far ford is not aware of crashes or injuries caused by the problem. americans love to share only it's about themself. according to add this analytic, 52% of all online sharing occurred on facebook. nearly 14% took place on twitter. that's, by the way, up 577% from last year. if you're hoping for a kiss under the mistletoe, plan b.

a mistletoe shortage because of the drought in texas. most florists didn't realize it was a problem until they tried to place holiday orders and found out the crop has been hurt by all of that dry weather. "american morning" will be right back after this break. i've had surgery, and yes, i have occasional constipation. that's why i take doctor recommended colace capsules. i have hemorrhoids and yes, i have constipation. that's why i take colace. [ male announcer ] for occasional constipation associated with certain medical conditions there's colace capsules.

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ip think the iranians really always have the upper hand in any type of covert engainingment, because they do it all the time. the cia's covert war, not so covert anymore, on this "american morning."

this morning it's already 30 minutes past the hour. welcome back. top stories. with 160 million americans facing a $1,000 payroll tax hike in 17 days, the house passioned passed a payroll tax intervens speeding up approval for the keystone oil pipeline democrats say is a deal breaker. and new poll showing newt gingrich is blowing away mitt romney but has electability issues against president obama. this comes at gingrich's iowa campaign takes another hit. his director in iowa is out after calling mormonism a cult. hang up and drive. safety experts calling for a nationwide ban on using cell phones to talk and text message while driving. the ntsb wants to take it one step farther banning all electronics devices in the car, even hands-free devices. more than 3,000 people died last year because of distracted driving. if you're not sure, your

shoes may be made in china. an american shoemaker is opening up stores in china and selling shoes that aren't made in china. they're made here in the u.s. ed to roted rowlands in live in washington. a man bites dog story, quite frankly. any resistant? to opening stores in china? >> reporter: no. because making a difference, took them a while to make the deal to sell in china, but the amazing thing about this, as you mentioned, 90-plus percent of the shoes blocked in the united states, worn in the united states, are made somewhere else. the bulk are made in china, but here they do it all. a classic made in america story. they literally start with this and crank out shoes. 330-plus people working on the production floor here in port washington, about 30 miles north of milwaukee. a lot of these folks have been here many, many years including

eileen, 8 ye28 years. she tried to quick a few years ago but did back. >> i enjoy working with all the people. they give you a fair wage. i enjoy what i'm doing. so -- >> reporter: you're still here. >> i'm still here. >> reporter: a lot of the people we've been talking to have the same story and the company says part of their success here in the united states is because of the made in america philosophy. they have a flag up ton here in the factory floor. it's definitely part of the mantra here at allen edmonds and that not only helped sales in the united states but is part ever the reason they've been able to get into china, because people in china want american-made products. >> i do think this made in america, the american ethos and mystique is going to be very impactful as we open up in chine nanchts we're definitely need poor people to make the shoes.

we're tapped out right now. we'll be hiring more people to stock their stores even next year. >> have the barriers been broke be down in terms of getting into the chinese market? >> some were broken down. these shoes will cost 70% more to the chinese than they cost here in the united states with all the tariffs and everything, but western are able to garner that higher price. >> reporter: basically, christine, the answer to your question, have all the barriers been broken down? it's not easy to get into china because of the tariff, not for every company, that allen edmonds found the niche. crankingous 2,000 shoes just today. junior married his wife, she's at the other end of the production line, 30 years ago. a classic american production story, made in america, and -- >> is this a luxury shoe? is this a high-end shoe? >> reporter: 120 to 600 dollar

price range. a higher end shoe. that's attractive to the chinese market and doing well here in the united states. part of the reason, people are loyal to the company because it's made in america. a huge part of their success. >> a growing middle class paunts high quality, not mass produced low quality, kind of the made in china label. they like the european, the italian and anything that is american made, that has to be top, top quality. interesting. that particular company. ted rowlands, thank you. >> reporter: you bet. a surprise legal move yesterday in the penn state sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky in and out of court in minutes waiving a preliminary hearing and keeping accusers from taking the stand. afterwards we heard a few hints about his defense strategy. joining us now is jerry sandusky's attorney joe amendola. thank you for joining us this

morning. >> good morning, carol. thank you. >> i think a lot of people are still confused about why you decided to waive the preliminary hearing. so tell us why. >> the answer is simple. monday night the attorney for the commonwealth contacted me to discuss details about the preliminary hearing. during those conversations i had with him, he indicated he would ask the judge following the preliminary hearing to increase bail. i've always been concerned that jerry might wind up in jail pending his trial, which would really impede our efforts to adequately and properly prepare his defense. it's very difficult to work with a defendant when he's incarcerated. so we began discussions about making concessions. us waiving the preliminary hearing in return from the commonwealth saying to us, guaranteeing, they would not seek increased bail pending trial, as well as give us pretrial discovery teerms earlier than that are later. the commonwealth attorney advised me he would agree to that, we then agreed to waive the preliminary hearing.

we told him that on monday night. i advised him help could call off his witnesses. he chose not to because there was aistic, albeit very small, jerry sandusky could have shown up tuesday morning, could have shown up and said, i want a hearing. had that happened, i would not have objected to a continuance, if the witnesses had been called off, but nerve are the less, the commonwealth attorney wanted to be safer and kept all witnesses available for tuesday morning. all we gave up -- >> why show up physically in court? couldn't this have been decided before? surely you knew the workings of the preliminary hearing before going into this thing. so why go through all of these maneuvers when you could have just said we're going to waive the preliminary hearing and all of these alleged victims swroun had to gather in the courtroom? waiting to see if they would testify or not. >> very simple. we got a major concession on monday night that which we didn't have prior to monday night from the commonwealth not

to seek a bail increase pending trial. that was a major concession for us, to keep jerry sandusky out on bail so that he can work with his defense team in preparing his defense. we did not have that until about 9:30 or 10:00 on monday night. that's the reason we waited until the last minute to waive the hearing. we did not have that concession prior to late monday evening. >> everybody's wondering whether this means, really means, underneath is all, that your strategy is towards a plea deal instead of a full-out trial. would you settle for a plea deal right now? >> no. as a matter of fact, there has never been a discussion about a plea. jerry has indicated from the outset of these allegations in 2008 with accuser one that he's incident as to the charges filed against him. he's maintained his innocence. and we are ready and we're preparing to go to trial. as i said yesterday, this is to battle -- this is a battle to

the death in jerry. if convicted or pleads guilty, essentially he'll be facing a life prison sentence. at 67 years old, he would never see the light of day. more importantly, carol, he has always maintained his innocence. and under our great legal system, he's pru zoesumed to be innocent. we're asking the public and media give him a fair way to prove his innocence in trial. the jur are jury will be told that by a trial judge and the jury will not be able to consider his innocence until all the evidence is in and the judge instructed the jury about allegations at the end of the trial. >> we heard from one of your colleagues last night on piers morgan, carl rummi inminrumming. sandusky is more like a teenager than a 60-year-old. is that true? >> well, it is. as a matter of fact, if you talk to all of his friends and his

family, they all describe him, if were you to ask them separately, individually, out of the hearing range of someone else, they would all say to a person, jerry has always been nothing more than an overgrown kid. if you look at some of the videos that were made years ago, going back 5, 10, 15, 20 years, jerry's interaction with kids, has always been, always been that of another kid playing with kids. he's just an overgrown kid, and everyone who knows him and loves him has always said that about him. >> is that the strategy you're going to take if this case goes to trial? >> well, that's part ever the strategy. part of what we've been trying to do is show you folks in the media as well as the public, that jerry is not an articulate, experienced speaker. he's bashful. he contemplates questions before he answers. he pauses. oftentimes as you've seen in interviews, he'll repeat the question. many times you have to really

drag answers out of him. one of the frustrating things i run into when i just sit down with jerry individually and ask him questions is it takes so long for him to answer. not because he's lying. not because he's fabricating. that's just his mannerisms. i think as we expose him more to the public and to the media, i think people and i think you folks in the media will start understanding, that's just the way jerry sandusky is. that's the way he responds. >> when you say expose him more to the media, does that mean that jerry sandusky will continue to see him giving interviews? >> he may, under certain circumstances. we're contemplating that now. we haven't made a final decision. but not an open-ended situation where he's exposed to what i was exposed to, for example, yesterday followingwaiver of his hearing. in the form of an interview with an established fair-minded even-handed journalist who would ask fair questions and give him

a fair opportunity to respond. again, we haven't made any definite decision as that how and if and when we're going to do that. >> some attorneys say that's exactly the wrong tactic. that the more jerry sandusky speaks publicly, the worse it becomes for him? >> well, and i would say this to those attorneys who make those comments. nobody knows my case the way i do. just as i don't know the cases in which other attorneys represent their clients. this case started off so badly for jerry sandusky. november 5th, when charges were filed, with the first 24 to 48 hours, the media and the general public had convicted him of these offenses. all of you folks almost to a person were referring to the accusers as victims, and therapy not victims until and such time as a judge or a jury determines after a trial or after a guilty plea that jerry sandra cantu committed the sandusky commit these acts. i've compared it to climbing

mount everest from the bottom of a hill. >> isn't this like trying the case in public? in essence, that's what it is. >> isn't that what the commonwealth did? you may recall after the attorney general filed charges, the attorney general held a press conference and referred to jerry sandusky as all kinds of names, including pedophile and monster, ant of serial pedophile. what worse, what worse information could have been put out there to poison the public's mind? all we're trying to do, level out the playing field. i don't know if we'll be able to level it out because of so much prejudicial information given to the public lie the other side in this case, including when jerry was arrested on new charges. the commonwealth knew darn well we would have turned ourselves in. jerry presented himself at the judge's office to face new charges. instead they chose to have the media outside his home, have them show up, take him out in handcuffs, which connotes to

most people the principle that the person must be guilty when he's handcuffed and taken out of his home and aiken to a court and put in jail. what worse in the way of prejudice could have have been than the commonwealth doing something like that. all they had to do, bring him out, hey, joe, why don't you bring him to the judge's office? we have new charges. i didn't eve's get a courtesy call from the commonwealth. i found out he was arrested from the media and that's a terrible situation to put him in and certainly poisons the public's mind's in answer to your question, all we're trying to do let the public know there are two sides to this case and despite what the commonwealth alleged and what the attorney, the civil attorneys, might add for accuser are saying, we are and jerry maintained his innocence. we're preparing for trial and anticipate an even-handed trial and 12 independent objective jurors will listen to the evidence and make a decision after the trial. >> mr. amendola, thank you for being with us this morning. we appreciate it.

this just in this morning -- the protester is "time" magazine the person of the year. that's right. the person of the year is the protester. the announcement just made moments ago with an emphasis on middle east protesters behind the arab spring uprising. the choice, thousand was made when joined by bobby gosch, "time" magazine's international editor. we guessed right this morning, then. >> the protester. >> did you guess right? >> yeah. >> you did? >> yeah. >> carol, you're so smart. >> i don't know about that. closing in on the god particle. after years of research using the largest and most scientific instrument ever built, physicists say they're closer than ever to seeing the tiniest building blocks of the university. we'll get an explanation. so all of us can kind of understand that. it's 45 minutes past the hour. the next big sound. they sound awesome tonight. and when i do find it, i share it with the world. you landed the u.s. tour ?

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48 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "american morning." who would think a group of physicists could get so darn excited? physicists are people, too. the news out of the world's largest particle physics lab

near geneva, scientists announcing closer than ever to finding the so-called god particle, what might have built the universe after the big bang. it's the dean elegant theory of mathematics, to be specific, explaining how tiny particles interact to form your coffee mug or the tree in your backyard or you for that matter. scientists think they've spotted hints of this illusive particle in their experiments. to help us better understand this announcement we're joined by brian green, a physicist as columbia university and acclaimed author of "the elegant universe: the hidden ready." good morning. >> good morning. >> so physicists in the united states woke up early yesterday to watch that webcast from geneva and. so excited about this announ announcement. why is this such a big deal? >> for about 40, 50 years we've been developing a theory to describe the basic constituents of matter, how they interact,

the forces by which they evolve, and we have been able to test every piece of that and that ingredient is this so-called higgs particle. finally, we think we may be on the heels of getting that particle in the laboratory, being able to confirm that it really exists. >> let's talk about this so-called god particle. easy way to explain to people exactly what it is? >> well, one of the big questions that we have faced for a long time is, why do the familiar particles that make up you and me, electrons and corks, why do they have mass? mass is the resistance to being mov moved. if you push on a truck, it has a lot of mass and you can feel that because it doesn't let you push it. why do particles similarly have a resistance to being moved? the answer that people have come to, peter higgs that we are

emersed in a bath of a molasses-like substance that is around you and everybody in space and particles as they try to move through the molasses experience a sticky, drag force which is why it's hard to move through this environment. to prove this, we need to chip off a little piece of that field, that molass and the little piece will be the higgs field, the higgs particle and we hope we have found it in these experiments. >> you say hope. let's talk about how exactly they're trying to find it. so, talk about this incredible piece of machinery they're using to determine or to find the god particle. >> this is the biggest experiment that's really ever been built. it's a 17-mile-long tunnel that winds its way under geneva across the french border and back again. what happens is protons are sent cycling around this tunnel near

the speed of light and they are directed into head-on collisions and the hope is that in the power of those collisions, a little piece of this field can be chipped off and it can be produced and now circumstantial evidence, not definitive yet, that that may have happened. >> okay, circumstantial evidence. but, what if the circumstantial evidence is wrong? what if there is no god particle? what if it doesn't exist? >> well, we'll know for sure in roughly a year or so. we just need to collect more data. that's what the experimenters are doing. the signal so far are suggesting that this particle is where we think it may be in terms of the mass that it has, but if it doesn't exist, i have to tell you, there would be a way in which would be even more exciting. we live for surprises. we have been developing this theory for decades and it's great for the mathematics to be

confirmed by experiment. how spectacular is that. you do equations on a piece of paper and it describes what happens in the real world. thrilling. that's why everyone is so excited. if it's not there and we're sent back to the drawing board, in a way, more thrilling, still. >> it would change everything. i can't even imagine. i mean, i know you would be fascinated and it would probably produce another fabulous book. >> yeah, well, books or no books, our goal is to understand the nature of reality. and when we get a surprise and that forces us to rethink what we've thought was true about reality, well, that is extremely exciting. we don't know if that will happen. maybe the hilgs particle is real and maybe this data is solid, but we'll know roughly by summer. it's something that you should just keep your eyes open and we'll see what happens. >> brian greene, thank you so much for joining "american morning." >> my pleasure, thank you. ahead next hour, playing politics with a $1,000 tax cut . many families have been relying on. this measure could kill another

effort to extend the payroll tax holiday. "time" magazine announcing its 2011 person of the year. it is the protester. we'll talk about that choice and how it was made at the top of the hour. "time" magazine's international editor. allow natural gas producerss to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today.

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here's what you need to know to start your day. democrats say a house bill that extends the payroll tax holiday won't pass the senate because it includes provisions to speed up the approval process for the keystone oil pipeline from canada to the gulf of mexico. just 17 days to go before 160 million americans face a $1,000 payroll tax hike especially if this holiday is not extended. the ntsb calling for a full nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving. get this, it includes those hands-free devices, too. 3,000 people died in distraction-related crashes last year. a shakeup to go. newt gingrich political director in the state is out after calling mormonism a cult. two candidates mitt romney and

jon huntsman are mormons. four people in belgium died during that attack before police said the attacker turned the gun on himself. more than 120 others were hurt. 120 others hurt. police say the suspect also killed his cleaning woman before embarking on the rampage. today marks the second round of egypt's parliamentary elections. claimed victory in the first round last week. these are the first elections since they toppled hosni mubarak. the sale of elizabeth taylor's world renowned jewels smashing records at christie's auction house sold for $12 million. more than five times its estimated value. you're caught up on the headlines.

cracking down on deadly driving distractions. i'm carol costello. the nstb urging drivers to hang up their cell phones for good. good morning, i'm christine romans. "time" magazine's person of the year, the protester. how it was decided on this "american morning."

good morning to you. it is wednesday, december 14th. i'm carol costello along with christine romans. >> good morning, carol. the feds working to combat distracted driving. the ntsb calling for a full nationwide ban on cell phones behind the wheel and some lawmakers are opposing this ban saying the government shouldn't push too far into people's lives. we spoke with debbie last hour and here's what she said about it. >> i know this isn't the popular thing, but it is the safe thing and it's the right thing to do. we fully respect that everyone else has different views about this, but no call, no text, no post is worth a human life. >> quieting those annoying, loud commercials. the federal communications commission will require broadcasters to maintain constant volume levels for programs and commercials. the new rule doesn't take effect until last december. that gives programmers ways to

smooth difference in audio le l leveleve levels. millions of americans and the house just passed a republican plan to extend this payroll tax holiday, but it's virtually dead on arrival in the democratic-controlled senate and the president won't sign it. why? because it contains a measure that would speed up the process for government approval of the controversial keystone oil pipeline. that's a pipeline that would connect canada with the refineries along the gulf of mexico. here's house majority leader eric cantor with the house perspective. >> harry reid has a bill that would save off tax increases for everyone who has a job in this country and will make sure that we get back on the path to job creation. it's time for the rhetoric that has come the senate democrats, as well as the white house, to start matching reality. >> here's reality. democrats aren't budging and the white house wants the payroll

tax holiday extended and new spending passed fast without all these politics. >> what the president is not willing to do is leave town or allow congress to leave town without ensuring that 160 million americans do not see their taxes go up next year. >> congress has until friday to pass a new federal budget or we face possible government shutdown, carol. >> we're used to that. good news and bad news this morning for the gop frontrunner newt gingrich. a new poll shows gingrich is blowing out mitt romney nationally. 40% to 23%, but the polls also reveal some electability issues for the frontrunner. in a general election, president obama has an 11-point lead over gingrich. mitt romney trails by two points, that's within the poll's margin of error. with less than three weeks to go before the iowa caucuses,

newt gingrich's political director is out. two gop candidates are mormons, as you know. gingrich is working with a lean staff in iowa. earlier on "american morning," tea party favorite christine o'donnell told me she's endorsing mitt romney in 2012. she talked about romney's leadership ability and consistency, even though critics have accused him of flip-flopping on big issues. o'donnell said it came down to romney being the anti-newt. >> because so many tea partiers are flocking behind newt gingrich, i decided to come out and say, hey, between newt and romney, the tea party, i don't think, should be behind newt at all. newt gingrich supported a federal mandate and inconsistent and unreliable all the way down from cozying up on a couch with nancy pelosi. >> mitt romney is in new york today to raise money for his campaign, but he may not want to gaze up at the skyscrapers because the dnc has hired a

plane to fly over the big apple with a banner that reads, bet you 10k romney's out of touch. needling romney over the bet that he tried to make with rick perry at last saturday's debate. they also have a crisp $10 billion bill with romney's face on it on their blog. today live from new hampshire starting at 4:00 p.m. eastern. at 6:00 p.m. eastern michele bachmann will be a guest on "john king usa." let's talk about "time" magazine. just announced the person of the year for 2011. and the winner is -- this is my drumroll. >> the protester. the magazine says even in a face of tear gas or hail of bullets, the protester prevailed that it could bring collective colossal change. let's find out more about this winner. deputy international editor for "time" magazine bobby ghosh. >> i'm just relieved it wasn't kim kardashian. >> she was right up there, i'm

told. is this the arab spring protester or the protester in lower manhattan and seattle. which protester is this or all of them? >> all of them. the average protester but the year that began with the arab spring is beginning with protests in syria or russia or protests in downtown new york and protests around the world. so, the arab spring protester inspired protests around the world and so we decided in the end that rather than pick on individual or even anyone small group, we would go for the larger. >> have those larger come in colossal change or the arab spring the only colossal change? >> a lot are still in progress so we could see colossal change in russia. there's mounting pressure on vladimir putin to make changes. even where the changes have not

been colossal, they've still been quite significant. the protesters have changed the way we think of some of the big issues of our time. they've changed the national, international discussion around the economy and around dictatorship and around whether stability is more important than the people's right to choose. they've forced us to think of the world in profoundly new ways. and for that reason, we decided that the protester had to be the first. >> which is interesting because usually it's a person of the year and, you know, it's some huge name out there, but this is really a celebration of the common man. >> yes, it is. and it was the year in which, if you like the common man did remarkably uncommon things. they rose up in the middle east and in europe and in places like india. they rose up from years of accepting the realities as they were, accepting the certainties as they were and they changed it.

so, there are no certainties any more in our world and in a good way because people won't take it any more. >> power of the people. i really like to hear. >> was it a tough decision or did you just clearly knowing the flews flow of the year this was a person or people, i guess, this was their year, this was their time. >> it is never an easy decision. >> can you tell us who were the other contenders? >> we have, actually, for the past several years, we have not only announced the person of the year, but a series of runners up. merrill mcgraven who is in charge of the special ops and led, if you like the hunt for bin laden is one of them. the chinese painter who was arrested this year for standing up to the chinese authorities. paul rudd of the republican party and the lady called kate middleton. >> kate middleton. really? >> at least it wasn't pippa. >> she's made, she's become a style icon and millions of

people around the world look to her for how they should look and behave. >> she's modernized the monarchy. >> she has, indeed. >> i'm not buying it, but that's okay. an interesting online poll -- >> she didn't win, carol. >> i'm just glad she didn't win and kim kardashian didn't win. you had an online poll where you asked readers to register a vote who they who they think the person of the year should be and there was some surprisers because coming in first place was turkey's prime minister and then second place was the 24-year-old argentinian soccer player. did that surprise you? >> not really because the time.com poll is an expression of popularity and, by the way, we take it seriously and it informed our discussions. prime minister of turkey remarkably was the most popular and also the least popular. so, you have the maximum number of votes for him to be person of the year and the maximum number

of votes against. that tells you that he is a polarizing but very interesting figure. the soccer player that you talked about is just the greater player and some people would argue, maybe greater. i certainly would think that. i'm not surprised. >> i'm just surprised that being an american, as you are. i was just surprised that an american didn't come in first or second. >> it is an international poll and i think the american population being smaller than let's say the populations of china and india -- >> oh, we are not. stop. i want to just look at some past winners. 1995 newt gingrich. 1969 middle americans. two people, two groups, two persons of the year that are right back in the middle of the fray today. so, interesting full circle. >> all right, so nice to see you and thanks for bringing your person of the year to us. the protester. >> yeah, bobby ghosh. thank you so much. coming up, former penn state

coach jerry sandusky's surprise move waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. tom klein, the attorney for one of sandusky's victims reacts. he'll join us live, next. we are live in kuwait as the few final thousand troops arrive. what are they leaving behind and what are they headed for? brad, where we going? just a second. just, just one second. ♪

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beautiful morning in chicago. more rain later today. good morning, chicago. beautiful, wet morning. >> such a lovely city. a stunning move by the defense in the penn state sex abuse scandal. former football coach jerry sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday avoiding a dramatic conferen confrontation with his accusers. earlier we spoke to joe amendola on why we were all blindsided by this decision. >> we got a major concession on

monday night at which we didn't have prior to monday night from the common wealth not to seek a bail increase pending trial. that is a major concession for us to keep jerry sandusky out on bail so that he could work with his defense team in preparing his defense. we did not have that until about 9:30 or 10:00 on monday night. that's the reason we waited until the last minute to waive the hearing. we did not have that concession prior to late monday evening. >> sandusky, as you know, charged with more than 50 counts with the molestation of young boys. joining us now is joe klein, he is an attorney for one of sandusky's alleged victims. how are you? >> good morning. >> how surprised were you when this hearing was suddenly called off yesterday? >> i was in the first row behind the prosecutor's table and i saw a court reporter, a defense lawyer, a prosecutor all ahead with mr. sandusky into the back

chambers and i've been around courtrooms a long time, over 30 years, i thought something was up. >> well, amendola, sandusky's defense attorney. he waived it in exchange for keeping sandusky out of jail and he waived it because he wouldn't be able to question the credibility of the witnesses. why do you think he called it off? >> mr. amendola over the past day shifted the emphasis of his story and shifted the reasons for why he did it. it's clear to me that what happened here was a premeditated and calculated press conference. he wanted to try the case before the national and international press corps on the steps of the bellefonte courthouse yesterday. he had no intention, in my view, of ever having this preliminary hearing go forward. >> we talked to mr. amendola a

short time ago and he makes no bones about it. he is prepared to try this case in public. he said that jerry sandusky would agree to more interviews, televised interviews. he could get his side of the story out there. >> i think what's going on here, carol, is that along the way they are testing just about every water that they can test. we have mr. amendola saying that mr. sandusky is going to do more interviews. we hear his co-counsel last night on this station on cnn say that mr. sandusky is more like a teenager than like an adult. they're rolling out various defenses and seeing what reaction they have. the fact of the matter is that yesterday was a net loss for them. the prosecution had all of its evidence ready to go. i was a first-mahand witness to

see a lot of this going forward and they had eight young men who were prepared to come into a courtroom if needed and tell their stories. these young men were some of them held together. they are reacquainted with each other. there's a commonality, a united purpose here. and i believe that as a net loss or a net gain as to what really happened yesterday, put aside the public face of it and the public relations aspect of it, it's clear to me that it was a net loss for the defense, no matter how they spin it or how they want to characterize it. >> these alleged victims, these eight alleged victims who came to the courthouse, they were all in one room. was there conversation? >> well, i wasn't in that room and when they were being called yesterday, they were, to my understanding, split up into various groups. they were going to come down in various groups and be staged and then sequestered individually to come into the courtroom. so, there was, from what i

understand, an opportunity for some of these young men, many of whom knew each other as youngsters and many of whom knew each other as second milers, they were reunited. and i don't put anything in the fact that they were in the same room because undoubtedly, i'm quite sure they were told, don't talk about the specifics of your case. and i'm sure that they abided by the prosecutors' advice to them and counsel to them. but you have sex crime victims here. and young victims here. and they were given an opportunity to see that they were not alone. and that is a major advantage for the prosecution. to be able to get these young men together, to see they're not alone and to know that they're all going to come to court, if needed. as i said many times, necessity of citizenship to do these kind of things. we had an interesting thing that happened here, which mr. amendola wants to lose in the

shuffle. these are not young men who sought this out. they are young men who do not want any part of the public light being shined so brightly on them and their lives with people knocking on their doors. but the fact of the matter is they received, literally, phone calls and knocks on the door when the investigation of this sorted mess led to them and, then, of course, they told the truth. and here we do not have a situation where we have one or two witnesses, i should say two witnesses or three witnesses saying whether the assailant had a gun or not. there's a credibility issue. here we have ten now, ten, count them, individual stories which match up in similarity, in circumstance and in factual pattern, which are going to be told in a courtroom some day absent of plea bargain.

>> tom kline, thank you for joining us this morning. >> my pleasure, nice to be here. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center for us this morning. 20 minutes past the hour. good morning, rob. >> rain stretching into the lower great lakes from the system that was across the southwest with the rain and snow. it's kind of elongating itself and reaching for the northeast, which it will get to, but not until tomorrow. meanwhile, chicago up through milwaukee and back through detroit, cleveland, light to moderate precip with this and down to the south, an additional chunk of energy. 20-minute delays right now at o'hare, that's good. about 20 minutes ago, about over an hour for delays. there's your severe threat. does include dallas back through austin and a possibility of seeing a tornado and/or hail and damaging winds is there in the forecast. storm prediction center issuing a slight chance of seeing this happen. now, back to the west where all this came from in arizona over two feet of snow in spots and flagstaff seeing over a foot of

snow. here's the video from flagstaff just to the south of the grand canyon. and, boy, this is trouble getting around town, wasn't it? they get snow, but not this kind of snow, certainly not this early in the season and this is the second round of intense winter weather that the southwest has seen and the snow totals go all the way down into mexico. winter storm warnings posted now for parts of new mexico and southern colorado with several inches of snow expected there. chicago and dallas are your spots if you're traveling today. minneapolis, cleveland, to a lesser extent and the remarkable bounce back in temperatures. 70 degrees expected for the high temperature in atlanta. 47 in new york and enjoy today, rain and colder weather coming up over the next couple. >> i'll take you up on that. thank you, rob. just ahead on "american morning," they are real and they are spectacular. elizabeth day taylor's collection of pearls and gems and they are breaking records at

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minding your business this morning. investors on hold. stock futures flat right now a little apprehensive after the federal reserve refrained from taking further action to bolster the economy yesterday. fear about the debt crisis in europe and how they're going to implement their new treaty all of that still overhanging the markets. one stock to watch this morning, avon. the cauosmetic giant looking foa new ceo. andrea joan will continue to

serve as executive chairwoman for that company. james murdoch was informed about the damaging hacking allegations against his "news of the world" newspaper back in 2008. this revelation coming just weeks after murdoch testified he was unaware of the illegal eavesdroppi eavesdropping. he concedes he replied to that e-mail, but he doesn't admit that he read it. $50 million, that's how much the government will save now that it stopped minting the special presidential $1 coins. the treasury says that there are about a decade worth of those extra coins because no one wants them. of course, $50 million is, what, 0.004% of the deficit. the pieces of paper that created apple, one of the world's most valuable companies hit the auction block. the founding documents sold for $1.3 million. they were sold to a firm in miami. those documents, by the way, were signed on april 1st, 1976 by steve jobs, steve wosniak and

steve wayne who backed out of the agreement two weeks later. up next, leaving iraq, only a few thousand troops remain. we're live in kuwait as a war comes to a close. "american morning" back right after this break.arri . does it matter? you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees.

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welcome back to "american morning." 30 minutes past the hour and time for your top stories. a young woman thrown in prison for adultery in afghanistan has now been freed. the woman known as gulnaz was taken to a woman's shelter somewhere in kabul with her daughter. she was sentenced to 12 years in prison after reporting that her cousin's husband raped her two years ago. safety experts are calling for a nationwide ban on using cell phones to talk and text message while driving. and, now, the ntsb wants to take it further. banning all electronic devices

in the car, even hands-free devices. according to the national highway traffic safety administration, thousands of people die every year from distracted drivers and a good chunk of those are from people using cell phones. "time" magazine's person of the year from 2011 is the protester. the magazine says that even the face of tear gas or hail of bullets the protesters embody the idea that individual action can bring collective, colossal change. president obama traveling to ft. bragg, north carolina, today to thank the troops and mark the end of the iraq war. as of this morning, 5,500 u.s. troops remain in iraq. the president saying the remaining soldiers can leave with their heads held high. cnn's martin savidge has been with the troops on the long and dangerous road out of the country. he joins us live from camp virginia, kuwait. really something to see the end of the war, isn't it, martin? >> it is. you know, there's something

about, well, naturally you want to see the end of the war, not like you want to see the beginning of them and we've seen both in this particular story. camp virginia, we were here a couple weeks ago and at this point it is extremely quiet. but that is a good thing because it means that the troops, which are continuing to come out of iraq, are now transitting that much quicker to get back to the united states. we got a bit of a game going on back here and just in case their moms are watching, i promised we'd name them. ken tarpley and robert allen all recently, just a couple days ago, out of iraq. here now at camp virginia and in a couple days they'll head back to the united states. the only other changes we've seen on the base, they put up a christmas tree and a couple other decorations most of which these soldiers have not seen in this part of the world because that's the way it is. they will soon be immersed in

that when they get home. for these soldiers it is a trifecta. they are headed home and, three, they'll be home in time for the holidays. it works out really well. >> almost hate to ask you this next question, then. as u.s. troops are leaving the country, iraq's deputy prime minister comes out and says the united states is leaving iraq with a dictator prime minister in place and there are fears of a civil war. so, is there a chance that those troops in kuwait could be called back to iraq? >> well, first and foremost, you know, it depends on who you talk to in the streets of baghdad and the streets of iraq as to the kind of opinions, but just like in america, talk to 100 people, you'll get 100 different points of view. that is a bit extreme. although there are some that will support what was said. as far as these soldiers here, once they come out, they know they leave behind a country that has a questionable future. they also say, look, it is time for u.s. forces to leave and they have done the best they can

to prepare the iraqi police and military and plant the seeds of democracy but from now on the iraqi people that need to be in charge of their own destiny and that's the way it should be. should they go back if something goes wrong in iraq? i don't know what the u.s. military's plan is on that. i think right now, probably not, unless it really were to turn upside down. >> we hope so. martin savidge reporting live from kuwait this morning. all right, newt gingrich trying to make up for his past, admitting to his family mistakes, even pledging personal fidelity, but is this enough to win over evangelical christians? we'll speak with leading evangelical voice and religion reporter, next. reporter, next. 34 minutes after the hour. people save. i likg time, hassle, and the big one -- money. hundreds, in fact, if you're a progressive customer, like me. next hundred cars, they're on the messenger.

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good morning, denver. 29 degrees with cloudy skies but later today, pretty darn nice day. 43 with partly cloudy skies. >> it is beautiful, isn't it, carol? married three times and has admitted to adultery, now gop presidential frontrunner newt gingrich is stepping up efforts to improve his past.

gingrich has even pledged personal fidelity. here's what he had to say about it this past weekend. >> i have made mistakes at times and i had to go to god for forgiveness and seek reconciliation and also a 68-year-old grandfather and people have to measure who i am now and whether i'm a person they can trust. >> that, of course, is his wife you see there as you hear newt gingrich on the stand. dr. richard land commission of the southern baptist commission and a reporter from "newsweek" and "daily beast." dr. land, let me start with you and talk about this discussion that is being had about evangelical christians and leaders in the country about whether newt gingrich is sorry enough, whether he should be, you know, forgiven, as is the evangelical tradition or whether he needs to do more to appeal to women, in particular, who aren't quite so ready to forgive this in their political leader. >> well, first of all, i think he's taking the right steps.

i think the ledder to the iowa family group where he pledged personal fidelity and endorsed virtually everything in the pro-family platform helps him a lot. the question of forgiveness, you know, forgiveness and redemption and second and third chances are in the genetic code of evangelicals spiritually. that is part of our thelogical dna. so, i think most evangelicals are ready to forgive newt gingrich. the question is, whether they're willing to trust him with the presidency. and there i think there is a gender gap. i think, what i find is i talk to evangelicals around the country is that men are more willing to let bygones be bygones and give him the benefit of the doubt and women want to hear more before they're willing to trust him with the presidency. >> what do they want to hear from him? we hear ronald reagan, for example, he stood up and said that his marriage was a failure and it wasn't of his choice. his wife left him, there have

been other leaders who have had to come up and get through this and then have been able to appeal evangelical women. >> well, i think something along the lines of what john mccain said would help. you know, john mccain told pastor rick warren, he said, the greatest regret of my life was the failure of my first marriage and it was my fault. >> and that was -- >> i know that impacted my 85-year-old mother for the first time felt comfortable voting for mccain. >> so, has newt gingrich done that well enough to suit your 5 85-year-old mother, for example? >> well, i think so. i think so. look, i think that he has, he still has some ground to plow and some work to do with evangelical women and i personally think if he's going to be president, he's going to need all their votes and, so, i would encourage him to, you know, not do but signing this statement and when asked making

the kind of statements that mccain made and the kind of statements that he's been making will do a lot to help restore trust and make people comfortable trusting him with the presidency. >> i want to bring in mckay because what sounds like for evangelical voters in iowa, their choice mccain is between a catholic, well-known catholic thrice married, admitted adultery and a mormon who has been married to his wife for 69 years and has never by any stretch of the imagination strayed in his marriage. those are their two choices and this is what they're struggling with. >> it's interesting because if you're looking for family values mitt romney is a poster boy, but at the same time his mormonism is viewed with some suspicion because it is so unfamiliar to so many people. >> you are a mormon. >> i am a practicing mormon myself and we're used to having people kind of view us through

kind of asking, what is this religion because people don't know that much about it. so, whereas everyone kind of knows somebody who has had marital problems in the past, so, that's sort of a known quantity. mormonism is not so much, right? >> so, this e-mail, this e-mail chain that is going on around evangelical leaders where they want to feel he has repented enough, do you think he has repented enough for the evangelical voters? >> i'm no minister, but i think politically speaker dr. land is right on. he has to, you know, prove to the voters that he is a changed man. i think by all accounts his marriage is very good now and he's doing a good job of kind of putting forth this very wholesome, in love image and it's just a matter of whether evangelical voters think he is enough of an embodment of their values to deserve the presidency, right? >> he swiftly dismissed a

campaign staffer in iowa for a comment made apparently he worked for him that mormonism is a cult. that is something that still pops up and resonates. i don't know if resonates, but it pops up in evangelical circles. >> a certain subset of evangelical christians. to mormons, it's just baffling. this worldwide religion of 14 million diverse mormons. the label of cult is a very bizarre, we're not cultests, right? >> dr. land, do you think that was the right approach for the gingrich approach around that remark? does it resonate among some evangelicals that this idea of mormonism is a cult? >> it does. but i don't think it's the right way to describe mormonism. we need to use words to communicate. when you say the word cult, you think branch davidians and jones town. mormons are your children's little league soccer coach, the president of the rotary club.

as an evangelical christian i would describe mormonism as another religion. i would describe it as the fourth abrahamic religion with joseph smith playing the role of mohammed and the book of mormon playing the role of the koran. it is an american religion. >> is it christian? would an evangelical say it takes the lord jesus christ as his savior as a christian? >> the jesus christ of mormonism is not the jesus christ of orthodox christianity. they would not accept the mormon definition of god the father, god the son or god the holy spirit. >> accept a mormon to be their br president? >> this evangelical thinks that being a mormon should not disqualify a person from running for president and actually the irony here is that one of the problems that mitt romney is having with evangelical voters

is that perhaps he's not mormon enough on the issues that matter most to them. because if he had consistently during his political career been as pro-life as mormons are and as pro-traditional family and traditional marriage on the same-sex marriage issue as mormons are, they would have less doubts about whether he's really the conservative. >> that's sort of politics and religion all mixed up in one. mckay, i want to give you the last word there because you are sort of nodding when he was talking about it as a fourth religion, not christianity. >> i understand the argument, although mormons will fiercely defend their right to be called christians. it's the name of the church, the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and they believe jesus christ as their savior and we want to hold on. we certainly have different beliefs than some evangelicals but we want to hold on to that christian title as much as our baptist friends and methodist friends do.

>> these are conversations people are having in iowa i will tell you because they're looking at two candidates and decide who they are going to support. who they are going to support when they head to the caucus. dr. richard land, thank you for joining me, mckay coppins, just a wonderful conversation. thank you. back in the day she was hollywood's queen of bling. now, liz taylor's collection of jewels is hitting the auction blocks. it's 46 minutes after the hour. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. but my nose is still runny.

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47 minutes past the hour. here are your morning headlines. markets open in 45 minutes and right now u.s. stock futures are down slightly lower after the federal reserve refrained from taking further action to bolster the u.s. economy yesterday. democrats say a house bill that extends the payroll tax cut will not pass the senate because it includes provisions to speed up the approval process for the keystone oil pipeline. just 17 days to go before the 160 million americans face a payroll tax hike. the ntsb calling for a full nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving. that includes hands-free devices, too. according to the national highway traffic safety administration, more than 3,000 people died last year because of distracted driving. "time" magazine's person of the year for 2011 is the protester. it honored the protester for capturing and highlighting a

global sense of restless promise. for upending governments and conventional wisdom and steering the planet on a sometimes more dangerous path for the 21st century. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" back after a break.

unless, of course, someone steals them. welcome back to "american morning." it's 50 minutes past the hour. some of elizabeth taylor's best friends were on display last night at christie's auction

house in new york. the collection of diamonds and pearls and jewelry up for sale and the results, rock solid. >> pretty good investment. richard roth is here to tell us more about all of her very expensive, very -- >> i mean, the diamonds are forever songs there. can we talk about bomb films. >> she didn't do any bond films. >> no, but she should have. her whole life was -- >> she was too big for bond, i think. >> i think now, these days, if she was alive and younger, i think she would be in one. >> we haven't even said her name yet. elizabeth taylor. >> she passed away earlier this year and christie's auction house was saying it was set. glamour and history on display last night in new york city. $115 million in pearls, diamonds, rubies, other bobbles brought in.

elizabeth taylor's collection auctioned off. $11.8 million pearl -- that was a late auction. i was bedazzled by the jewels. richard burton bought her that in 1968. a record setter for pearl jewelry at an aucti. original estimate for the sale, $2 million to $3 million. the success of the entire auction. >> we've seen records in various fields for pearls for diamonds, for tiaras and all sorts of things. >> we valued every item for its intrinsic value. for the value it would bring in an auction, had it not been for elizabeth taylor. we wanted to let the market decide which premium it would pay over the value of the stone or the value of the jewels. >> diamond tiara given by taylor by another one of her husbands

brought in $4.2 million. taylor is sitting by a swimming pool bidding for jewelry by phone and someone off screen tells her it's $120,000 do you want to bid for it, holding a cigarette, taylor says, yes. it seems like desirable items are going for ten times what is expected. the man on the phone says, that's the way it works. that's what bidders were muttering last night. record shattering prices. three more days of the auction and clothing today and there was a road show around the world in various global cities showing off these jewels. taylor wanted that to happen and then a lot of the proceeds will go to the taylor estate or her aids foundation. >> so, who's buying? >> a lot of these were anonymous bidders. about 400 bidders there. one of the more expensive items, we believe, went to a korean company and it's all very under hush, hush. sometimes bidders surface later.

but it was quite an event. i think it recalls an era that sadly may not be around in some ways. >> some beautiful pieces and she really enjoyed her diamonds and jewels. >> didn't i get you that last night. >> thank you, thank you. it's pure plastic. only the best you get me. >> richard burton, you know. >> all right, richard, thanks so much. >> that is one thing elizabeth taylor was -- >> that was definitely not. >> thanks, richard rauloth. just ahead, a long-acting career, but like it or not, this is nick nolte. still, we don't know the real story behind the mug shot until now, that is. jeanne moos is on the case. six minutes until the top of the eir promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them eir every single day.ear. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most.

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...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. oh, good morning, dallas. little cloudy there. but it's 61 kgrees and later today it will be 71, but there will be some thunderstorms. >> welcome back. his mug shot will live in infamy. it certainly will. like the ugliest mug shot. >> it happened, what, ten years ago. whenever you hear nick nolte. that's what you think about. ten years ago and it resulted from a dui arrest and we're hearing paul harvey used to say, the rest of the story this morning from jeanne moos. >> reporter: it is the mona lisa of mugshots enshrined on

t-shir t-shirts. so famous, all it takes to recognize it is the outline. ridiculed in song. imitated. >> put your hair like this, nick. >> reporter: worn as a halloween costume, as seen here in "people." someone put it on his credit card. almost a decade after its release, letterman still making jokes about nick nolte, like about how the u.s. didn't release a death photo of osama bin laden. >> didn't release any pictures. so the white house released this instead. take a look at that. >> reporter: to mugshots connoisseurses at the smoking gun. >> probably the best celebrity mugshot ever taken. >> reporter: nick nolte is talking. a mugshot it was not. in an interview with "gq" he was high on liquid ectaes when he swerved off the pacific coast highway. at the hospital where nolte was taken for a drug test a young

officer asked him if he could take a polaroid. i said, come on, you don't really want to ask that, do you? if he posed, the young officer would share any proceeds with his colleagues and i let him shoot the polaroid. the rest is history. it's the gold standard against which mothers compare their baby's hair. >> which reminds me a lot of nick nolte mugshot hair. >> he was 1992s sexiest man and look at him now, still sexy. >> reporter: one guy posted on his local tv weather forecast. when we are expecting heavy wind, this picture of nolte is what they use for bad hair day. but police may be tearing out their hair because the california highway patrol spokesman who originally released this picture says it is a mugshot. one of several that they took, not a polaroid taken at the hospital. >> maybe that's how he perceived it on ghb, that maybe they were saying please stand there for the picture. here's a fan that wants a