forces. she comes from a military family. we asked what she thought of the military has been involved in beating women here this past week. she said that the military now isn't like the mill the way it once was. and she believes that basically, a citizen government needs to be put into place as soon as possible. she wants things to change here. she is not very hopeful because of what's going on, because of the broolt brutality that's being practiced. especially against women here this past week. >> thank you for finding her and sharing her story. keep us posted please. now this. here we go, hour two. i'm brooke baldwin. first, president obama making the fight over your money personal this afternoon while republicans seem divided. the u.s. defense officials saying mistakes were made in a deadly attack and anyone

traveling for the holidays, you have to listen up here. chad has some weather news for you. jessica yellin, the senior white house correspondent. we heard from you, the president putting the pressure on house leadership as he is really making this personal, personifying this ill pass to the american people. >> reporter: think about the stalemate the president faced earlier this summer where he was fighting with congress over a vague and confusing issue. the debt ceiling that didn't hit americans in any direct way. contrast that with this issue which hits americans directly in their wallet. if this isn't resolved by january 1, your average american family will see $40 less in their paycheck. it couldn't be more simple and a more clear argument for the president to be making, that congress should get its act together and resolve this one way or another. a very clear fight for the president to be having. not only that, he has both

republicans and democrats in the senate on his side. and it is just republicans in the house who are in opposition to him. so he couldn't be in a sweeter spot for himself. it is a very easy fight for him to have. on the politics and the policy, brooke. >> meantime in a much warmer climate, you have the first lady and the two daughters. too bad you're not there, i guess, in hawaii vacationing. they were hoping the president would be there. he is not. because of this impasse. is there any indication he'll be taking a vacation? >> reporter: the white house isn't saying that the president has any plans to join them. but the last hurdle that was keeping him from going other than this pay roll fight was what's called the omnibus spending bill. the big budget that funds the government through 2012 next year. had not yet arrived at the white house yesterday. it is now here. the president can sign it. so as of the white house has said or administration has said that he will sign it before midnight tomorrow. so we could see a situation

where the president signs it either today or tomorrow. and gets on a plane. could go to join his family for christmas in hawaii. and then in theory, could come back after the weekend to sit here at the white house and once again, urge congress to pass some kind of pay roll extension so the american people's taxes don't go up in the new year. we could see hill going to hawaii for a brief christmas break and then come back if this isn't done. >> we'll see. i'm sure members of congress would like to take vacations as well. some are-stick around washington. speaking of congress, live to capitol hill. senior congressional correspondent. dana bash joins me now. and it's not often you see the number one republican on the senate side. and the president on the same side of something. >> it's not often at all. that's the headline here from capitol hill on this stalemate today. that is, the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell breaking his silence. he hasn't said anything at all.

he's been home and still is in his state of kentucky. he has what he calls a path forward which is effectively siding with the democrats. let's face it. he says that he believes the democrats should appoint the so-called conferrees or the negotiators to start talking about a long term deal to extend the pay roll tax cut for the entire year which is what republicans want. also telling his fellow republicans in the house, you've got to do a short term extension. that is something that they have simply not wanted to do. really dug in against doing that. one little important thing here is that it was a carefully worded statement. and the republican leader did not specifically say that the house republicans should pass what the senate passed, a two-month extension. he said to sentence it. gave them some wiggle room to see if they can save face a little bit and find a compromise maybe a little short, or a little longer than a two-month extension. >> perhaps intentionally nebulous.

i know you've been talking to house republicans. you know them. you have great sources. do you think the house republican there's cave because of this pressure from senator mcconnell? >> reporter: ultimately it's hard to imagine them not giving in. in the short term i'm told from house republican sources, don't look for something today, for example. and probably not until next week. that could change because this is a fast moving story. but why is that? because look, number one, certainly this is a powerful voice, mitch mcconnell saying let's get on with it. but house republicans are really mad at them. they feel like he negotiated this short term deal and it is a bad deal. that he put them in a bad political position. secondly, look, on the fundamentals,le house republicans believe that this is bad policy. to extend this pay roll tax cut for two months. you finally saw them trying to get their message mojo trying to explain why they think it is bad policy. about it being terrible for small businesses. nearly costing small businesses a lot of money to figure out the

paperwork of this. so getting that, turning that ship or getting enough of them to agree to doing this will be pretty tough. and it will be a very, very tough move for the speaker of the house. so many people in his conference are so mad. look, he has to protect his power here and he has to protect his interests. make sure that people don't get extremely mad at him and his leadership. ? dana bash, you picked quite the week to come back from maternity leave. welcome back. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> next, new developments here on this deadly attack. along the afghan bored he. this is an attack that has further complicated the already tenuous relationship between the u.s. and pakistan. let's go to barbara starr. according to the investigation by the defense department, u.s. troops acted in self-defense. that's what we're hearing from them with that air strike that killed 24 pakistani troops. >> they say self-defense but that's like saying, how was the play, mrs. lincoln.

this was a case where back on november 25th, u.s. heir air strikes were called in on that bored where u.s. forces said they were under fire from insurgents. it turned out it was pakistani troop that they did not know were in the area. the pakistanis thought they were under fire. huge firefight ensues. what are we talking about? bad coordination. mistrust between both sides not telling each other the full picture about where they were operating. bad mapping data so that when they were trying to sort it all out, in fact, in people looking at the maps were looking at an area 14 kilometers away from where the firefight was actually happening. all of this the results of a u.s. military investigation saying the u.s. troops are acting under self-defense. look, the pakistanis are furious about this. they remain furious. and relations with this vital ally remain very strained. experts will tell you, there is no sign of it thawing any time soon. >> given the strain, the tenuous

relationship in terms of that, is there any chance the u.s. apologizes? >> this is all very carefully done in diplomatic talk. the u.s. has said it regrets the incident. it is very sorry about it. a full blown apology? the pakistanis would like to see president obama come out and apologize but there may be political ramifications who may not want the republicans to see that picture of him doing that. i think you'll see the u.s. will offer payments to the families of those who were killed. it is very typical in that part of the world. that is what is done. look for that to happen very quietly. but a full blown apology by the united states government, not so soon. >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you. and finally on reporter roulette, a lot of weather to get to. chad myers watching winter storms. tornado warnings. let's start with the tornado

warnings. >> the cold air is trying to push away the warm air. the warm air is here. birmingham to tallahassee, a hot day today. it could be 75 in some spots. the cold air wants to come in from behind it. you get to birmingham and baton rouge all the way to memphis. the temperatures will go down 30 degrees as the cold front goes by. you push the warm air away. it has to go up. it can't just go backwards. the rising air makes tornadoes. now alabama, the biggest threat right now for a tornado on the ground. the biggest tornado warning that i can put my finger on to this point. something else will happen tonight. tens of thousands of people will try to fly through atlanta's hartfield jackson airport. planes come in, planes go out. wherever urg going through, you go through the southeast. with this weather coming through atlanta in the next few hours, some planes won't make it in. some planes are not going to make the out. your plane may make it out but your connection may be gone because your plane is so late.

here's what you need to do if you're connectioning in atlanta tonight. you need to get a blanket and a small pillow in your carry-on. you may be sleeping at the airport tonight. they are expecting it there. this doesn't look bad at all right now. even the haze and the fog that was so thick is all gone. it is what happens when the thor thunderstorms are right over the airport. maybe your connection doesn't even make it in. you don't have a plane to get on and you're waiting for something tomorrow. >> okay. so blanket, pillow and check ahead of time. >> if you can get a different airport, if you can fly through new york instead, that's great. >> not this last minute. >> not for free. thank you. still ahead, this very minute, 6,000 nurses are on strike walking off the job. we'll tell you why when i speak with one of them live and what this means for patients. plus this. from the front to the back of the bus with people just

beating the hell out of you. >> wow! we are now hearing, what killed a florida a & m band member. the question now, who threw the deadly punches? one iraqi leader tells cnn, the u.s. was warned about this. for days, a college student was nowhere to be found. her family begging for her safe return. then all of a sudden, that changed. she is alive. okay. wonderful but where was she for a week? what are her family members saying? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it.

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walmart is recalling some infant formula after a ten-day old baby died in missouri. walmart said it has pulled a batch, it is called enfamil. the child died from an infection. the company is running tests to see if it came from other factors. a series of bombs rocked the capital in iraq. nine car bombs, six roadside bombs exploded during rush hour. at least 63 people are dead. another 200 wounded and all of this comes four days after u.s. troops pulled out of iraq. a woman in california has been charged with sending money to pakistan to help terrorists carry out attacks on american troops. federal official say the 39-year-old woman sent more than $2,000 in wire transfers. she was arrested in august at the los angeles international airport where she was preparing

to get on a one-way flight to turkey. 6,000 nurses in california walking off the job today. this is a one-day strike. to protest working conditions they say in higher health care costs. the hospitals say they have hired replacement nurses to cover the shifts but nurses say this is all about patient safety. the nurses say they're responsible for way too many patients, and that obviously puts the patient at risk. stay with me. in a couple minutes i'll talk to one of the nurses who has walked off the job. and a killer whale blamed in the death of its trainer nearly two years ago may be sick. this is according to seaworld in orlando. trainers noticed a change in tilikum's behavior. the male orca is in a special tank for medical treatment. still ahead, police say parents murdered their tarnlg daughters because in part they were wearing short skirts. new revelation about these so-called honor killings. plus -- >> who were the ones delivering

the blows? the serious blows? was there one person who delivered the most blows that may have caused his death? >> cnn is taking a closer look at this kind of bus they ride on. students beat a fellow band member to death. all part of that hazing ritual. . and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect.

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i certainly hope colleges and high schools around the country are taking a good long look at any hazing rituals their students may be taking part in. if there is anything, anything good to come out of death of a florida a & m drum major, it will be zero tolerance for what that to robert champion during a

school sponsored bus trip. right now investigators are for the specifics of what left this popular drum major dead. watch this report. this is cnn's george howell showing us what investigators are really up against. >> reporter: it hampden on a tour bus parked outside an atlanta hotel november 19. the drum major robert champion died after a vicious beating. investigators say it was a homicide that resulted from hazing. >> reporter: you look at a bus like this. the narrow aisles, the seats so close together. the ceiling. it is such tight confines in here. to have to walk from the front to the back of the bus with people just beating the hell out of you. what must he have gone through? >> reporter: we turn to hln law enforcement analyst mike brooks to take us into the mind of investigators trying to piece together what that to the 26-year-old victim before someone placed this 911 call. >> is he breathing? >> we don't know if he's

breathing or not. but we need to get an ambulance. >> how do you determine a level of culpability? >> that's a great question. as a law enforcement officer, i want to know who were the ones delivering the blows? the serious blows? was there one person who delivered the most blows that may have caused his death? we don't know. were there other people who might not have been involve at all. >> reporter: band members say it may have been the result of a hazing ritual called crossing bus c where the victim walks backward from the front of the bus to the back while being re beaten repeatedly by fellow band members. >> investigators had their boring cut out for them. they have on interview everyone. this bus is a crime scene. what happened? where did it happen on this bus when he was being beaten with fists? maybe with musical instruments. those are things law enforcement has to find out exactly what that. >> reporter: robert champion died of significant rapid blood loss due to blunt force trauma,

according to the autopsy report. the victim of a severe beating. and with so many possible witnesses on the bus -- >> i find it hard to believe if that much was going on inside the bus frg they were beating him so viciously inside that bus, then somebody on the outside did not hear something, didn't see something. >> reporter: brooks says it is a complicated investigation to determine exactly what happened in the moments leading toum robert champion's death. >> did anybody try to stop this? did anybody say he's had enough. he's had enough. did that happen? only the people on the bus know. >> absolutely horrible. and now information that is surfacing today on champion's autopsy. experts who have seen the full autopsy tell cnn that champion had the kind of muscle damage usually seen in victim of car accidents or child abuse or even torture. coming up next, some good and bad news involving the economy and jobs.

plus this. >> we have a spending problem. >> there are a lot of crises in the world that we can't always predict or avoid. this isn't one of those crises. >> sounds familiar. this fight be over the pay roll tax cut but over the debt ceiling. you'll see how the biggest economic debacles of the year unfolded live on our air. everyone believes in keeping their promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. 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. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back.

they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. time for the help desk. joining me this hour, gary is a financial planner and president of objective advice.com.

game cunningham with the national foundation. first question to you. this come from chris in florida. chris writes, my wife has approximately $45,000 in student debt spread out over ten loans. she is a teacher and a low income school and could possibly receive repayment help. what is the best way to simplify and reduce that debt? >> wow, $45,000 spread over ten months. that's a bit complicated for them to keep up with. i do think there may be help available through income based repayment plans. now, we are speaking here of federal loans. so if their loans are private, that may be different. but apply for that. they're going to ask for documentation, of course. such things as previous tax returns, et cetera. but that's okay. it will be well worth it. she may also require some forgiveness along the way. and she would probably qualify for that. having been in the type of job she is and the teaching

profession. sn >> an educator. >> exactly. get the payments started. >> your question comes from jonathan in san diego. jonathan wrote, i'm considering rolling over several 401(k) plans from form he employers into an ira. how do the legal protections for the two differ? >> that's a really good question. from the legal standpoint, you're narly talking about creditor protection or bankruptcy. state by state 401(k)s have greater protections than iras. more importantly, when you roll them over there are great advantages. you have tremendous flexibility. you can get cheaper funds. so unless you're really concerned about credit risk, it often makes a lot of sense. >> thank you so much for your advice. if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail any time to cnn help desk.

how about some very good news? we go to allison live at the new york stock exchange. the number of americans identifying for jobless benefits, way down.

>> reporter: they are way down. these numbers are very encouraging. what they show is a trend that's pointing in the right direct. it is trending lower. meaning the null of people who go out there and file first time claim for unemployment benefits, they fell by 4,000 to 364,000. they haven't been at this level, this low since april of 2008. it is not a one-shot wonderful they've been hovering at or below that crucial 400,000 marg for two months. if you're watching this and you're one of those people looking for a job, can't find one. you're probably screaming at your tv saying thing aren't getting better. but these number show this is a slow and steady improvement. what they show is that there are fewer layoffs now and brook, economists say if this trend continues, it could signal more job creation as the months progress. >> i feel like there is a but here. what's that? >> reporter: of course there's a but. there's a but coming from all those peel who are out of

boring. the but is that the overall economy is still very weak. the number of jobs created actually depends on how well the economy is doing. and the reality is, the economy is still prettying is. look how it grew between july through september. we got this number today. gdp at 1.8 annual pace. that is far below what analysts consider healthy growth. what would be krtd normal is i anywhere between 3% and 3.5%. if the economy is not growing, you're not going to see enough jobs created to put 13 million americans back to boring. i want to show you this. if we can pull up this chart. just this year, the gdp has improved. the first quarter was meager. now we're at 1.8. it is anemic. the fourth quarter is expect to be better. i'm leaving out a bad note. next year's gdp is not expected to be much better. we can only deem our fingers

crossed at this point. >> okay. fingers crossed, thank you so much. if there is one year, speaking of the economy that really lives up to the quote, it's the economy, stupid. 2011, it is. you may be ready to put this year behind you but before we do, we have some highlights or rather, low lights of a year that just can't end soon enough. allison filed this report. >> reporter: the recovery is slow. >> at a rate that is both uneven across sectors -- >> a house cannot pass a bill that raises taxes on job creators. >> all 53 of us have informed the speaker that his legislation was doomed in the senate. >> reporter: europe a mess. and wall street, occupied. the u.s. economy actually grew in 2011, but barely. >> even as economic growth continues, we continue to face very successful economic challenges. >> reporter: challenges like the

housing market, home prices dropped about 4%. and jobs. over 13 million americans are still out of work. politicians and business leaders search for solutions. >> half this bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> i think a balanced approach is what most business people, most ceos would like to see. >> reporter: it has been a frustrating year for the u.s. economy. it could have been worse. it could have been europe. debt troubled greece, italy and others. they are trying to save the common currency and u.s. investors holding their breath. 2011 started with big gains for stocks. the dow soared past 12,000, holding its own while governmented toppled in tune eastern, a egypt and libya. then japan. the devastating nuclear disaster threatened our fragile recovery. and every to summer congress's

debt ceiling stalemate pulled the rug out from under the market. >> we have a spending problem. >> a lot of crises in the world that we can't always predict and avoid. this isn't one of those crises. >> reporter: the dow dropped 512 points on august 4, another 633 on august 8th as s&p downgraded. it left americans angry. some took to the streets. a fight for financial fairness began here in new york's zoo could they park and spread across the country. the dow recovered the summer's losses and has a chance to end the year in positive territory. call it a little christmas cheer at the end of an economic year to forget. cnn, new york. >> let's take a look the a these pictures. live pictures. affiliate in san francisco. look at this. this is a four-alarm fire.

san francisco. this is a four story apartment building. massive flames. all kinds of smoke as firefighters there on the roof tackling this i'm sure on all angles, trying to put the fires out. we've heard so far no reports of any injuries. we'll keep an eye on that fire raging there. coming up next, investigators say parents killed their three teenage daughters because they wore short skirts and flirted with boys. now trial begins in these so-called honor killings. plus, for days, we reported that a college student was missing, disappeared. her family said she had a bizarre and frightening meeting with a man. then she turns up alive and safe and sound. where was she? what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good.

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they were typical teenage girl who sometimes wore short skirts, sometimes flirted with boys. prosecutors say they were killed

by their afghan born parents in what is being called honor killings. we're talk b canada here. bodies of three teenagers found in a canal in 2009. have the father, brother, and father's second wife are on trial for murder. i want to bring in casey jordan. this is complex. if you can, lay out the evidence. what evidence do they have here? >> reporter: the evidence is a little bit week. we have the headlight found at the scene in the car where the car was submerged. most important, there were bruises all over their bodies. they appear to have drowned. the question is were they dead or unconscious when the car went into the canal. only seven feet of water. the drive side window was open. all four bodies birk all accounts, they should have been able to get out if they were alive when the car plunged. >> the girls told school officials in the past they were abused at home. one ran to a woman's shelter. another apparently tried to kill herself. that has to play into the case. >> reporter: absolutely.

we have forensic evidence and then cultural evidence. the father on the stand has said that while he won't admit killing them, that they deserved to die for their behavior. they are out of control. and by all accounts, his attitude as well as tape-recordings that the police have of things that he said to his current wife, his second wife in the car about how they were horrible and basically deserved to die and how he hoped that they would rot forever. all of this is being introduced to show a mindset which is completely conducive to an honor killing. where he believed what he was doing was what his god would expect of him to control his completely unbelievable out of control westernized three teenage daughters and his first wife. >> case number. two we talked about. this it started as as i mg persons case in kansas. today thank goodness for this family. this 19-year-old woman shelf was not abducted. she was not held against her will. we're talking about aisha chan.

police are calling this a personal family matter. the police chief saying this, the most important fact to remember is that she is safe. everything else is now a personal family matter. we respect their privacy. law enforcement officials were able to find and verify that she was not abducted and that no crime occurred. obviously, like i said, thankful she is a-okay. could someone in this family get slapped with a bill from the search? >> reporter: it's entirely possible. it would not be the family. i think the family absolutely believed she was abducted. the question is going to be about aisha khan. what really happened. and why aren't the questions being answered? the why, why, why, it's is why everyone so conflicted. we played the phone calls with her sister. it is really important that people who are willing to search for someone who is missing get some answers so they don't feel like they've been taken for a ride. questions come up like the old runaway bride scam that we had

several years back. was she unhappy with her arranged marriage? attention seeking? or this is the professor in me. was she really just trying to avoid her final exam? >> perhaps we will never know, casey jordan. thank you so much on the case for us today. coming up in 60 seconds, you'll meet a guy who goes through celebrities' trash and what he does makes him a lot of money. my doctor's again ordered me to take aspirin. and i do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ mike ] listen to the doctor. take it seriously. [ mike ] listen to the doctor. everyone believes in keeping their promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. 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. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow.

a quick reminder. this four-alarm fire in the western edition neighborhood of

san francisco. fire clo fear clearly on the scene. meantime, trashy gossip magazines detail all the lives of celebrities. if you want to see the real garbage, here is a san francisco artist who takes trash from celebrities and gives them a whole new look. this is today's "solutions." jason redefines a celebrity junky. >> i make celebrity portraits out of their actual trash and garbage. >> jason matches the celebrity with material that reflects them. >> like florence henderson sent me her junk to do her portrait. then i used like bottles for the background. i try to represent the person as best i can with the objects. >> it can take jason up to 50 hours to finish a piece. >> i try to map it out. i guess the best way to describe it is like a jigsaw puzzle. i'll try a little piece and i'll just see where it will fit. >> choosing subjects is easy.

>> my favorite is more like people who are like cartoon-time people. phyllis diler. i like more cartoony people. >> his dream portrait? >> i would say lake lindsay lohan. she could send me a bag of stuff. or like all her cigarette butts or something. >> up next, more portraits and possibly a coffee table book. coming up in 60 seconds, the last time nurses went on strike in california a patient died because of a mistake by a full-. in right now 6,000 have walked off the job. i'll speak with one who says this will cost the entire country. made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education.

that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ some 6,000 nurses in california are not at work today. they call a one-day strike saying they are furious about

cuts in health care. patient safety also. they're frustrated about salaries, benefits, these demonstrations. here's one example in long beach, california, started this morning in both los angeles and in san francisco. the hospitals say this walk-out will not affect patient care today. in fact they say they have hired temporary nurses to fill in. one of the nurses who walked out of work today joins me from san francisco. he has been an rn for 25 years. thanks for coming on. why are you walking out today? >> thank you, brooke. well, we're doing this, we're working here with a situation where we've already met 30 days, 30 time with sutter health melt center which is in east, in the east bay. and they continue to have 150 takeaways placed on the table. which add up to about $50 million which in out of pocket for rns.

we currently rep in this one hospital 2,000 nurses. now the issue is that sutter medical center made $100 million last year. and the whole corporation as a whole, all of sutter corporate made over $900 million. >> i understand. foregive me for interrupting and i can a lot of this is about facts and figures. and the price, et cetera. what about the patients? because i know you're in this thankless profession will you're there because you want to care for people. how does this affect patients? >> we're frustrated because it is, the,le of these concessions are trying to keep the voice of the nurses silent as far as being able to advocate for safe patient care. there are positions they want to eliminate such as charge nurses who are the persons that control, say, what's happening

on the unit. we do patient care assignments. we ensure the west and the safest care can be given. we advocate on behalf of the patient. and positions such as this are being, sutter wants us to be pulled out of the bargaining unit so we would no longer have that voice. we're being asked to give up all of our sick time. that would force nurses to come in and work sick. because the first seven days of being ill would no longer be paid leave. there are many other issues such as this type of situation that we're facing. >> let me jump in, if i may because i have to get, due diligence here, cnn, sutter. let me just read this. they say we remain committed to providing our nurses competitive wages and benefits while also doing our part to make health care more affordable for our patients. the union demands new costly benefits such as health care for life that will increase costs at our hospitals by tens of

millions of dollars each and every year. what if they don't budge? you've been an rn as i mentioned for more than two decades. do you walk away? >> no. we won't walk away. those are the types of thing that we negotiate for. they're, there's nothing there that's set in stone. what we've asked is, even with this last timering with met on monday and tuesday. and we said if you take your takeaways off the table, we can come to an agreement as far as what we would be willing to remove from our, from the situion where we're on our bargaining. but we're not asking for an increase in wages. the majority of what we're fighting for is current contract language that has been in exist ten for 40 or 50 years. >> i know, you are the voice of 6,000 nurses today. i appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> on the campaign trail. newt gingrich talking about how much he makes for speaking

events. so cnn did a little digging. >> when it colonel to public speaking fees, former presidents make the most. and bill clinton is king. >> wait until you hear how much celebrities and high profile figures make for their speeches. everyone from former presidents to donald trump. that's next. plus, wolf blitzer has an interesting interview coming up in the situation room. find out who. olay challenges . with new olay professional prox clear designed to balance oil and moisture levels and help bring breakouts under control for consistently clear skin. [ female announcer ] under eye circles. pile on the products. or challenge all that effort with olay. simply sweep on the total effects dark circle minimizer. it tightens and helps conceal to beautifully reveal younger-looking eyes. it's a clean sweep. selling fishcakes from the back of his truck, and in 1942, of course, they were sent away. after the war, as a japanese coming back from camp, he started a little store on main street in seattle.

of course they needed some money, and bank of america was the only bank who would talk to my father. and we've stayed with bank of america. we have four stores now, three in the pacific northwest and one in oregon. my parents would not believe how popular it is now.

we are watching this fire spread in the commercial break. it appears the flames have spread from the middle f o the building to the edge as a four story barn building in the western addition neighborhoods in japan town.

so far, no injuries reported, but this has been upgraded from a four alarm fire to a five alarm fire and now expanded to a three story building next door. san francisco there. also, republican presidential candidate newt gingrich has been criticized for his ties to freddie mac, but the former house speaker says he didn't even need to lobby for the mortgage giant because he was paid to generously to give speeches. christine romans takes a look at the speaking circuit so many politicians profit from because they're celebritied. >> newt gingrich this week said he made at least $35,000 for each speech he gave after leaving congress, but when it comes to public speaking fees, form former presidents make the most and bill clinton is king. wanted to show you this. wow, $75 million in speaking fees since leaving office in 2001. in 2008, he made more than half a million dollars for just one speech and in 2010, he was

making about an average of 205 grand. ronald reagan sort of started this. he famsly made $2 million from a japanese company in 1989 for two speeches. since then, they have left their $400,000 a year jobs to make ten times that. the center for public integrity says that president bush has earned $15 million since he left the white house. that comes out to about $107,000 a speech. who pays? it's big corporations, universities, trade associations and often from the same industries they once oversaw. goldman sachs paid larry summers $105,000 a speech. now, it's washington insiders, politicians and sort of politicians. in 2005, donald trump earned $3 million for three real estate seminars and mtv reality show

star snooki, made $32,000 for speeches at rutgers this year. thank you. straight to washington to kate bolduan who's been following this impasse over the payroll tax cut extension. a new development. >> significant. the development we've been waiting for. i've been told by a top democratic source there is expected to be announced at 5:00 this evening, a deal between all the principle players on this payroll tax battle we've been following day by day. i'm told that nothing is certain until speaker boehner speaks with his caucus. that's been a big question and that there is going to be a call, four house republicans, at 5:00. that's when speaker boehner will be b able to speak with his members to see how they feel about this deal. but the short and skinny of it if you will, is that the basic

framework is a two-month extension. a the big headline is i'm told sorry for looking down at my blackberry, that the white house senate majority leader, harry reid, mitch mcconnell and house speaker john boehner and the house minority leader, nancy pelosi, are on board and have signed off on this deal that we will be looking to learn more about. but a significant development here today as we've been seeing a lot of moving parts this afternoon. >> this is huge. as we are ten days away. let's throw that countdown clock up. they have been counting and calling out. stay with me. they have been calling out the house saying if they don't act, ten more days until this expires, so you're saying reid, mcconnell, boehner, pelosi, all on board with this deal. you say it will be announced in about 65 minutes from now. let me clarify.

that is when speaker boehner speaks with his caucus to make sure his caucus is on board. am i right? >> we have to until every vote is cast or brought, that you know, nothing is certain until all members have signed off. not just the leadership, but a significant development this afternoon considering that the sides have been so dug in and the standoff has gotten so bitter and contentious recently that we're now learning according to this senior source that the principle players including the white house and john boehner have signed off on this deal to extend the payroll tax cut for two months and will need to look and obviously, once we learn more details, kind of what all sides are getting out of this deal and what breoke th impasse and long jam. >> to be clear, i know we have wolf standing by. you said specifically that the two mov

two-month extension, do we know that specifically yet? in this possible deal, we're talking specifically two months or it's too early to tell? >> according to this source, the basic framework is a two-month extension. >> wolf blitzer, you and i were talking in the last 60 minutes and you said it is your suspici suspicion, that a deal would be reached. your reaction. >> there was enormous pressure on the house republican leadership, from mitch mcconnell. enormous pressure from republicans outside, including yesterday, a very influential entor yal in the "wall street journal" saying they were giving a gift to the president if they didn't work out at least a temporary deal for two months during which they could negotiate an extension, medicare benefits for doctors.

also, unemployment benefits. they would have two months to negotiate that, but in the meantime, they could not go away for christmas. they couldn't go away certainly for new year's until the end of this year until they worked out a deal. otherwise, the republicans would be hammered. not only the republican presidential candidates, but republican candidates for the house and senate and mitch mcconnell certainly saw a possibility of losing a bunch of close senate races in november of next year. certainly on the surface, it looks like the speaker, the majority leader, they've decided that pressure too strong. they're going to accept this. >> we'll see you in two minutes as you're going to begin the top of your hour with this. kate, let's you and i continue talkingi talking and let's back up. we saw the president speak from the white house, flanked, thousands upon thousands of -- what sacrifices would you

americans be making if you got 40 fewer dollars in your check if this didn't happen and then you have been reporting, not often we see the number one republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell, and so that perhaps could have been part of the catalyst to begin what could be a possible deal. >> you could really see it if you were watching this closely of jus all the pressure that was mounting. for there to be a deal. the president took great pains to go out very publicly. you know, bringing quote unquote real people into his press availability today and then kind of the mounting pressure of rarely do you see on fellow republicans criticizing fellow republicans on such a contentious issue and when you started seeing more and more senate republicans coming out, we want to long-term deal, but we need to push this there. it's irresponsible to not get this