tonight's ridiculist. >> anderson will have number four on our countdown tomorrow night. that does on the countdown tomo night. thanks for watching. "american morning" starts right now. one week to go. five republicans who want to be president will be making their case face-to-face with iowa voters today. we're live in the hawkeye state, where the politics is now turning personal. just bring her home to us. i want my baby home. >> a family's desperate search intensifies. maine police now offering a reward hoping to find a missing toddler who vanished from her bed only days before christmas. syria under siege. the bloody crackdown intensified. the army shelling its own people as the arab world steps in to try to end the slaughter of civilians. and an all-out brawl at the

mall. police with guns drawn, shoppers scrambling for exits. chaos after christmas on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it's tuesday, december 27th. this is "american morning." i'm alina cho along with ali velshi. good morning. >> good morning to you. >> we're so glad you're with us today. >> there's a lot going on. let's get right to it. starting in iowa. it's the place to be this morning. five top republicans plan to visits hawkeye state today. not going for the corn. seven day rees main until the iowa caucuses. the first in the nation, a nomination is up for grabs. cnn political director mark preston is live in des moines this morning. mark, the week begins with newt gingrich trying to distance himself once again, not from someone else, but from his own past. >> reporter: yeah. from his own past, ali. no question about that. new documents unearthed by cnn just in the past week show that

newt gingrich, in fact, served his first wife with divorce papers. now, the story goes that newt gingrich had served his wife jackie with these papers while she was recovering from cancer, after having some surgery. newt gingrich, however, in the past year or so has said it was his wife who, in fact, had asked for that divorce. now, these divorce proceedings had been under a lock and key, so to speak, put away to be kept safe. however, cnn was able to get a copy of them. our own alan duke was able to look at them, and it shows that, in fact, it was newt gingrich who had given his wife the papers. newt gingrich responded, ali, and, in fact, that his wife did want the divorce, but he is the one who had filed it. not something that he certainly wants to deal with as we're heading into the iowa caucuses. >> the newt gingrich issue with his marriages, with questions about his fidelity. these are big issues, particularly with conservative voters who tend to be the ones who show up at these caucuses and primaries.

meanwhile, speaking of conservative voters, rick santorum, the one who's trying hardest to appeal to those conservatives, was the only candidate in iowa yesterday, and here's how he broke down the race. listen. >> this libertarian primary, which ron paul's going to win, and you've got it's moderate primary, which gingrich and romney are scrambling for and three folks running at strong conservatives, and i think if we win that primary, we're in very good shape as the non-newt, mitt and -- newt-romney. >> interesting how he's broken it down. ron paul will get that, he's right. calling it the three people running for the conservative vote. himself, rick perry and michele bachmann. does santorum have a chance, a, of winning that conservative part of the vote? and, b, what does that do for him anyway? >> reporter: well, you know, no question, rick santorum, ali, is

trying to court that evangelical born-again christian vote, very important here in the iowa caucuses. the entrance polls in 2008 show that 60% of the nearly 119,000 people who participated in the caucuses back in 2008 describe themselves as evangelical, as born-again. rick santorum needs a strong showing on january 3rd, caucus night, needs to place in the top three, at least the top four, if he wants his campaign to move on. as you said, all of the candidates who are here in iowa are courting that all-important vote, including mitt romney, who has downplayed his chances near iowa. the fact of the matter is, if he blans to have plans to have a strong showing he meets iowa. >> and jon huntsman, polling ahead of him in iowa and dentally in new hampshire. is huntsman at all in this equation? >> reporter: not. not here in iowa.

jon huntsman stand is in virginia. january 10th. jon huntsman has not campaigned here in iowa, spent no time here in iowa, he has no staff here in iowa. jon huntsman, regardless what happens on january 3rd here in iowa will not be any kind of a factor. however, if jon huntsman does not do very well in new hampshire, we could see the end of jon huntsman campaign, ali. >> always good to see you. hope to see you a lot out there on the campaign trail. mark preston from des moines. in order to capture the republican nomination they first have to capture the hearts and mind of social conservatives. with just a week to go before the iowa caucuses, that battle is being fought in a very public way and it's getting personal. here's mary snow. >> reporter: newt gingrich's wife calista is a central part of newt gingrich the campaign. campaigning in iowa even appearing in a recent ad. >> from our christmas to yours, merry chris mitt and happy new year. i'm calista gingrich.

>> reporter: a reporter in iowa says among caucus goers, it's questions about gingrich's two previous marriages that have come up. >> for instance, mitt romney had a telephone town hall meeting and one woman from mason city, iowa, made a point of thanking him for being married to the same woman for 42 years. >> reporter: this recent ad featuring mitt romney's wife ann entitled character, seems to be a not so subtle dig at newt gingrich's multiple marriages. >> if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life. >> reporter: in this ad anita perry tells about her texas high school sweethearse, rick perry. >> i said up front openly i've made mistakes at times. i've had to go to god for forgiveness, seek reconciliation, but i'm also a 68-year-old grandfather and i think people have to measure who i am now and whether i'm a person they can trust. >> reporter: in a conservative

state of iowa, political watchers say personal is political. >> the personal history does matter, at least in 2008, 60% of participants in the iowa caucus were evangelical christians. >> reporter: but a strong tenet for evangelical christians is forgiveness. making a direct appeal to them earlier this month, gingrich signed a pledge to defend and strengthen the family. the evangelical family association endorsed it. how significant is gingrich of marital history? an abc "washington post" poll found 72% said it is not a major factor. according to an american opinion research poll, 24% of republicans found mitt romney was most honest and trustworthy compared to 12% for gingrich. these are national polls, but the question remains whether personal traits will be more of a factor in iowa. mary snow, cnn, new york. stay with cnn for the best

political coverage on television. today at 4:00 p.m. eastern time, newt gingrich live in "the situation room" with out of wolf blitzer. that's only on cnn. now reports of carnage in syria even as arab league monitors arrive to see whether the government is making good on a commitment to stop the bloody crackdown. these new pictures may tell us the picture. shelling homes. 42 people killed in homes yesterday. act vicivists say the army has neighborhood surrounded to keep observers away from the real story. mohammed jamjoom has been monitoring developments closely from cairo. he's there this morning. mohammed, what has happened in the last 24 hours? >> reporter: well, ali, i mean, yesterday we just heard one horrific tale after another. so many residents and activists and opposition groups in homes saying that a carnage, a massacre was happening, even on the same day that members of

this arab league team, this monitoring team were arriving. it really begs the question. if this were happening on the same day this delegation was arriving, is the syrian government actually going to end this crackdown? peer told today tank was in the city. hidden in neighboring buildings. we've spoken to members of the arab league in homes now. they said they were taken in by security forces. once there, they have free access to go wherever they want in the city and the people on the ground can contact them as freely as they want to. more and more activists and opposition group members say the violence there continues. that the dead bodies keep piling up, and we keep hearing these pleas for help from the international community. many people concerned that the arab league just isn't going to be effective enough to really stop this crackdown, despite the mission statement that they syr. more and more from syria say if something doesn't happen soon to end the violence a group that

can stop this, they're afraid a genocide is going to happen. ali? >> obviously, we don't have a sense yet as to how effective this arab league delegation will be but whether or not they can even get the access necessary to see what's going on. i know you're keeping a close eye on it for us, mohammed. we'll check in with you again. mohammed jamjoom watching the situation from cairo. also new this morning, pakistan is blasting a u.s. report on the nato air strikes that killed 24 pakistani troops back in november. pakistan's government says nato fired first. it claims nato knew its helicopters were firing on troops but continued shooting for more than an hour. that contradicts the pentagon report claiming pakistani troops fired first at u.s. forces stationed near the border. the u.s. blames the incident on a breakdown in communication. and expanding military cooperation between these two countries. this after a week after u.s. troops pulled out of iraq. iran calling the iraq war, a

humiliating defeat for the united states. and saints quarterback drew brees owns the nfl record for most passing yards in a season passing dan marino last night on monday night football. the saints clobber the the fall cannes 45-16. brees has 5,087 passing yards on the year and there's still one more game to go. >> just tweeted out. celebrating with my teammates. such a special night. thanks for making this possible. who dat nation, i love you. coming up after this -- listen to this. >> is she okay? is she laying somewhere dead? is she safe? is she cold? is she being fed? is someone watching her? >> new details about the disappearance of a toddler from maine. why police are confident that it is an abduction and they're offering a big reward. we have dramatic pictures on the day after christmas. police with guns drawn at the mall. how this day after christmas

shopping turned to mayhem in minnesota. and you probably saw this picture. president obama getting a mouthful. check that out. not from rive's candidates or congress but from a kid who couldn't keep his hands to himself. other baby bloopers on the campaign trail when we come back.

welcome back. 15 minutes after the hour. miss stepping up their search for a missing toddler from maine. a $30,000 reward for any information about the disappearance of 20-month-old ayla reynolds, last seen in her bed days before christmas. police are now confident that that little girl was abducted. our deb feyerick reports. >> reporter: it's friday night, december 16th. 20-month-old ayla reynolds is ready for bed wearing her green polka dots pajamas with the words "daddy's princess" on the front. her father, justin dipietro puts her to sleep. he says it's the last time he saw his daughter. the next morning, ayla was gone. vanished sometime during the night. dipietro had been caring for baby ayla for weeks after her

mother, trista reynolds, checked herself into a ten-day rehab program. after completing rehab, reynolds filed court papers to regain custody of her daughter. the papers were filed the day before ayla was last seen. police say both parents are fully cooperating in the case, and say they have not suspects yet, but they are certain ayla was taken from her home on that friday night. >> we believe that someone was involved in taking her out of the house, and that's where the focus of this investigation has turned. >> reporter: two days after ayla's disappearance, trista reynolds tells various media outlets including hln's nancy grace she worried ayla was not safe with her father. the day after ayla gives these interviews, justin dipietro writes a letter to law enforcement saying he has no idea what happened to his daughter, nor does he know who's responsible for her disappearance, adding, i will

not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until police have been able to prove who's responsible for this. meanwhile, the search for ayla widens. police receive nearly 200 tips. the volunteers joined local, state volunteers searching the area, including a nearby river, a pond and several hiking trails. cadaver dogs are brought in. still, no sign of the missing girl. >> is she okay? is she laying somewhere dead? is she safe? is she cold? is she being fed? is someone watching her? >> bring her home. just bring her home to us. i want my baby home. i want her home. >> reporter: and on christmas day, prayers instead of presents for ayla. it's been over a week since the blond haired blue eyed toddler was last seen.

in these cases, time is the enemy, but police continue their search, hoping a new $30,000 reward will bring them closer to finding little ayla. deborah feyerick, cnn, new york. heartbreaking. >> it really was. hope they find that little girl. on the morning after christmas, sheer mayhem at the mall of america in minnesota. take a look at this. police say nine people arrested during a melee yesterday. dozens of teenagers brawling in the food court and swarming through the mall. a scary scene that sent many shopper, scrambling for the exits. >> some people running. some staying. people confronting each other in the middle -- people just walking. nobody was even around. they were just going at t. all of a sudden stores started closing down. the gates going up. we didn't know what was going on and the cops were pushing us all away from nordstrom's. >> you know i'm not afraid to go to the mall. in a is not a scene i want to be

in the middle of. >> cops pushing me away from nordstrom? that was tragic. pushed away from nordstrom. rob marciano, can you imagine such a horror? standing in front of nordstrom and, sorry, ma'am. get going. >> the malls are rough these days. especially the day after christmas. maybe just got out of the movies. the last scene of the "chipmunk's" movie is pretty -- good morning, folks. two days after christmas. grink-like hangovers happening across the country, mostly in the west. in the way of cold rain, a little snow. anywhere for the most part a east of the mississippi, especially across the appalachians now is where you're going to experience moft st of nasty pz's in atlanta through the tennessee valley, cold rain awind. the back side of it, a little snow from chicago back through st. louis. minor accumulations expected in those two spots. how the storm will track along

the appalachians. a warm track. that's the pattern we've been on. i don't have to tell you that. that means coastal areas will see nothing but rain and it will be a cold, nasty rain at that and again the back side of this, the spine of the western up slopes of the appalachians will see a little snow. a few inches of snow expected. here's what our computer models saying. parts of ohio will actually see some as well. maybe detroit and through the snowbelt of western pa and new york. the front side may see afternoon thundershowers that could produce damaging winds and/or tornadoes along the mid-atlantic coastline and we do have windy conditions right now. wind advisories and gusts of 40 to 50 miles an hour potentially with this. slowing down travel. detroit for the most part, d.c. rain. new york rain as well and philadelphia will be some rain. here's your mild air. 52 degrees in d.c. 56 in new york. not many folks saw a white christmas. even some places in idaho where

you would think you'd see a white christmas. this man, took matters into his own hands and made his own snow. come on. he said he'd been working on it since aught. wanted a rail park in the backyard. get something for the kids, here in the holiday week. he tried to make a snow machine, guys, by googling. that didn't work out well. he went out and bought one. and pumping out the snow for a couple of months. >> ms this? >> emmitt, idaho, just northwest of boise. >> he's not doing this in some place that -- you know -- >> it's not hawaii. >> exactly. >> all right. >> good for him. looks like he did a good job there. >> grab your board and head to -- >> you don't have one of those things, rob, surprised. you're a snow lover. >> i'm too cheap. >> making snow in atlanta other than that a few weeks -- >> he's a new father. he doesn't have time for that anyway. >> snow or ski. still ahead, the richest man in the race. so far mitt romney is refusing

to release his tax returns. critics are starting to demand to see where all that cash is coming from. we'll update you on that. >> where do they think it's coming from? the guy's been making money all of his life. and ticket sales are down at the box office. we'll tell you why. it's 22 minutes after the hour. [ jill strange ] osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand.

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25 minutes after the hour. "minding your business" this morning, this just in. sears saying it will close 100 to 120 sears and kmart stores. the company is trying to reduce expenses after disappointing sales for big ticket items this year. the locations of the store closures have not been announced. u.s. markets in open in just over three hours and stock

futures point to a higher open with four trading days remains in 2011, the dow up, and the s&p 500 up half a percent and the nasdaq down about 1.3%. that's for the entire year. two economic reports due out this morning at 9:00 eastern. the case schiller home price index released and the consumer confidence number come out. expecting consumer confidence to hit a five-month high and expect home priceless have declined but at a slower pace. loyalty programs. you've seen them in hotels, airlines, rental car agencies offering incentives to attract customers. airports are getting into the game. more than 30 airports across the country joined "thanks again" program awarding fliers air miles for parking, shopping or eating at airports. a bust at the box office for 2011. there are only a few more days left until the new year and ticket sales in the u.s. are running about $500 million lower than last year. the reason behind the drop --

experts blame the poor economy, too many family flicks and not enough star power. ticket revenue is expected to be about $10 billion. "american morning" back, right after the break. what is it about taking a first step that we find so compelling? is it because taking a step represents hope? or triumph? at genworth, we believe in taking small steps every day to keep your promises, protect what matters, and prepare for a secure financial future. no matter where you want to go, one step at a time is the only way to get there. go to genworth.com/promises.

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place your bets. a u.s. company wants to make it legal for to you wager on the 2012 presidential race and get paid, on this "american morning." good morning. half an hour after the hour, 30 minutes after the hour. whatever you call it. 6:30 where i am. that makes it time for this morning's top stories. >> right. on top republican candidates plan to get up close and personal with iowa voters today. seven days to go from the iowa caucuses begin. mitt romney and rick perry are running ads touting their long marriages in an attempt to win

over social conservatives. and shelling civilians even at arab league monitors head to the site of the worse violence in the city of homs. the opposition says 42 people were killed yesterday alone. and nine people arrested in minnesota for a brawl at the mall of america. it started with dozens of teens fighting in a food court and then swarming from store to store. police say no shoppers were hurt. iran now says it wants to expand military ties with iraq. just a week after u.s. forces pulled out of the country. iran is calling the iraq war a humiliating defeat for the united states. you'll remember that iran and iraq went to war with one another back in the 1980s. now that the shia muslims have taken power in iraq, including prime minister muirie al maliki, the countries have grown closer, with iran even calling iraq a "friendly and brotherly nation." what does this new-found friendship mean for the u.s.? joining us now is cnn international correspondent arwa

damon. arwa, good morning to you. i mean, is this new-found friendship for real? >> reporter: well, it depends on how that friendship is actually being defined. you'll remember that iran and iraq were at war back in the 1980s. that, of course, has been put aside by both nations ever since saddam hussein came tumbleal down, than thanks to the u.s. invasion. many questions when it comes to iran and iraq. some military cooperation given they do share an incredibly lengthen border and infiltration, people crossing the border illegally is, of course, a big problem. then the big question. that is the shia-backed militias in iraq. the militias backed directly according to the u.s. military by the kutz force themselves.

they've caused a lot of problems for the u.s. military. so it's very much of a wait and see game. is this new-found military cooperation really going to be between two friendly nations or going to have yet another darker level to it, and what is going to happen to these iranian-backed shia militias in iraq? >> also getting word al qaeda in iraq says it was behind a recent rash of bombings in the capital. what do you know about that? >> reporter: that's right. al qaeda and iraq came out, claimed responsibility for that attack. very much saying that they were behind it. they were sending a message to the shia dominated government and also a message to iran and they were coming to the aid of their sunni brethren. that said it is not entirely surprising al qaeda would launch this type of attack. the u.s. military warned it would be taking place if only for the insurgent group to send out a message that it is still active in iraq. of course, the great concern when it comes to these types of

attacks especially these types's statements coming from organizations like al qaeda where they appear to be clearly siding with the sunni population, it is serve to reopen these sectarian divides. the vast majority of sunni governments firmly reject all forms of violence and it makes their job much more challenging. then they have to try to calm it down. at the end of the day when it comes to trying to manage the situation in iraq, political instability does tend to lend itself to even more violence. >> that's right. all right. arwa damon live for us in baghdad. arwa, thank you very much. mitt romney caught a lot of heat from critics who said he was out of touch when he tried to make that $10,000 bet with rick perry during a debate. remember that? that romney is und are fire again for keeping secrets about his immense wealth and his campaign cash. here's joe johns. >> reporter: mitt romney is worth up to a quarter of a billion dollars, according to a campaign estimate. that makes him by far the

wealthiest candidate on the trail this cycle. and while running for president, he says he plans to keep his tax returns secret, at least for now. >> i can tell you we follow the tax laws, and if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we, like anybody else in this country, will follow that opportunity, but we don't have any current plans to release tax returns but never say never. we'll see what the future holds. we've released, of course, all the information required by law, which is a pretty extensive release, but down the road we'll see what happens. if i'm the nominee. >> reporter: he doesn't plan to release names of fund-raising bunglers either, high campaign dollars. he says he discloses all information required by law. true. it does not require release of bungler names or tax returns but campaigns often do it anyway in the interests of transparency. not disclosing this kind of information back in the old days was less of a big deal, but the last two general election

campaigns for president didn't, at a time when issues like wealth and inequity, revising the tax code and whether the rich should pay more in tax code are already part of the national debate. romney's decision is starting to attract a lot of attention. asked if romney can play by a different set of rules. one watchdog says it raises a question whether the romney campaign has something to hide. >> with congress debating whether millionaires or billionaires should pay higher tax rates, and if income earned from capital -- income sweat -- those issue, central too the congressional debate. a presidential candidates is going to be asked about those. >> reporter: we know a little about the bunglers who work wore romney. during the third quarter, six romney bunglers brought in about $679 thoish

$679,000. the only ones that he's in disclosed are the ones registered as lobbyists. joe johns, cnn, iowa. also new this morning, a medical helicopter crashes in florida killing everybody onboard, including the pilot. the chopper was carrying a two-person team from the mayo clinic, a surgeon and medical technician. the team was traveling to the university of florida to harvest organs for medical transplants. the chopper crashed just 45 miles east of gainesville. a soldier who survived a suicide bomb attack in afghanistan is in critical condition this morning after being shot and critically wounded at his own homecoming party in southern california. doctors say 22-year-old chris sullivan was shot twice friday night and is paralyzed from the neck down. police have a 19-year-old suspect in custody. an 18-member delegation from south korea has returned home after a two-day condolence visit to the north. the group paid respects to fallen leader kim jong-il and had an opportunity to meet with his son and chosing successor

kim jong un. south korea approved the visit by the civilian group, though it is not an official delegation. he's in "good spirits." prince philip is out of hospital this morning, joining husband wife and the rest of the royal family where they usually spend christmas. the duke of edinboro underwaent a heart operation it treat a blocked artery on friday. aaron mclaughlin live in london. out of that shopping met were you in yesterday and into this story where the prince was taken to hospital over christmas. missed sort of christmas with his family but now back in the game? >> reporter: that's right, ali. prince philip is home, safer and sound. that's after following that four-day hospital stay. the 90-year-old was hospitalized as you mentioned on friday when complaining of chest pains. later tests showed he had a blockage in one of his arteries and underwent what buckingham palace called a minimally invasive stenting procedure that

was successful in relieving that blockage, however, he remained in a hospital there for a number of days under observation. he didn't have to spend christmas alone, though, ali. he had several high-profile visitors including the queen who came to visit him on saturday by helicopter, joined by some of her children including prince charles and prince andrew. the next day, on christmas day, prince william and prince harry drove to see their grandfather with some of the other grandchildren. so at least, ali he wasn't alone for the holiday. >> all right, erin. keep a close eye on that. erin become glock lyn erin mclaughlin. and how america can soon be able to bet on candidates and actually collect if they win. and kids do the darndest things. like shove their hand in the mouth of the leader of the free world. check this out. a presidential photo op going viral, and we have other baby bloopers on the campaign trail coming up ahead. it's 40 minutes after the hour.

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it's 43 minutes after the hour. an age-old on the campaign trail. politicians kissing babies. >> sometimes the photo op with a tot doesn't go the way planned as president obama found out in hawaii when he got a mouthful from a kid. here's brianna keilar. >> reporter: it's rare to get this close to president obama. and even rarer to get away with this. 8-month-old cooper wagner sticking his whole hand right in the president's mouth. but then again, we're heading into an election year, and babies are a mainstay on the campaign trail, just like in politics, the reception isn't always warm. >> give me a hug? >> reporter: this kid didn't even want to be seen with the president as he and first lady michelle obama visited military families in hawaii christmas day. as the obama first enter the chow hall, the president went straight for a new born who didn't seem too impressed.

perhaps it's no surprise, the president gravitates towards his youngest constituents. he does well with them. back in june, as the obama worked a rope line at the white house during the congressional picnic, a baby that could not be consoled by the first lady -- was immediately won over by the president. in comparison, these visits in hawaii weren't quite at successful. but, hey, on the campaign trail, at least this wasn't a foot. brianna keilar, cnn, honolulu. >> great shot. you know, some girls like superheroes. some boys like princesses. that's just the way it is sometimes. >> this little girl from upstate new york is taking a stand against toymakers and retailers and unethical marketing and gender stereotypes. check out riley's toy rant. >> all the girls to buy princesses and all the boys to

buy superheroes. girls want superheroes and the boys want superheroes. the companies who make these try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff instead of stuff that boys want to buy. right? yeah. so then why do the girls have to buy princesses? some girls like superheroes. some girls like princesses. some boys like superheroes. some boys like princesses. >> absolutely. >> yeah. i think all the girls -- by do girls have to buy pink stuff and boys have to buy different colored stuff? >> they should be able to buy -- don't trick us. >> into making us buy the pink stuff. that is hilarious. good for you, riley. >> that's right. >> some boys like -- she's mad that they steer the girls to pink stuff and boys get to choose whatever they want. >> exactly. they shouldn't be like that. it's the season of shopping

and the season of giving. some celebs are giving back in a really big way. dosomething.org released its celebs done good list. on the top, lady gaga, launched an anti-bullying campaign, and set up a foundation, born this way, to help empower kids. the name coming from one of her songs. also tied for first place. justin bieber, donated time and hundreds of thousands of dollars, actually close to $1 million for pencils of promise. they have built 45 schools just this year. i interviewed him last year and since then, 45 schools around the world in a third world, actually built. incredible stuff of a kid helping kids. >> helped a lot of hairdressers with kids coming in wanting to mimic his haircut. everywhere you walk, everyone looks like justin bieber. do i sound like a grandfather?

wagering on political races and win big money. you'll be placing bets on who will be president? good question. the story's up ahead. i'm elvis duran from the morning show here in new york. i'm on the road. calling me a wacky morning deejay is just an insult. there's your wacky. if we were 9:00 to five-ers we'd be boring. five hours of sleep make us say stupid things. >> you could be kate middleton. >> we can do radio shows anywhere. when the show travels we have a big family. i mean, it's twice the size of the brady bunch. it takes a lot of planning. it takes a lot of begging for discounts at hotels. we're taking the show to london. >> i'm so excited. >> i love taking the show on the road. gets you out of the routine. i can't believe people take sometimes days to pack for a

trip. i can get packed in and out, boom, boom, in five minutes. it's so good to get out of your comfort zone and travel somewhere and learn about someone else and what they're doing during their lives. it really enhances your life when you get back home. >> thanks a lot for joining me today. safe travels. >> peace out, everybody! [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro.

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ten minutes before the top of the hour. what you need to know to start your day. five top republican candidates plan to get up close and personal with iowa voters today with seven days to go before the caucuses begin. mitt romney and rick perry are running ads touting long marriages in an attempt to win over conservatives and as a dig to newt gingrich. and heading to the site of the war spot in the city of homs. the opposition says 42 people were killed yesterday alone. nine people arrested in minnesota for a brawl at the mall of america on the day after christmas. it started with dozens of teens fighting in a food court, then swarming from store to store. incredibly, police say no shoppers were hurt. it's the largest reward ever for a missing persons case in

maine. police are offering $30,000 for information about the disappearance of 20-month-old ayla reynolds. she was last seen in her bed more than a week ago. police do believe she was abducted. new this hour, sears saying it will close as many as 120 sears and kmart stores after s disappointing sales for big ticket items. the locations of the closures have not been announced. and new orleans saints quarterback drew bees is the all-time passer. he broke dan marino's record for passing yards in a year last night in a win that clinched the division for the saints. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this.

were back. th theysay politics is a gamble, but could we soon mean that literally? >> a u.s. company is actually asking federal regulators to let americans place bets on political contests. it could happen in time for the 2012 presidential race. cnn's lisa sylvester explains. >> reporter: you can bet on your favorite team. you can bet if you think the price of oil is going to rise or fall. you can even bet if you think the unemployment rate is going to go up or down, and in the near future, you may be able to win big if you accurately predict who will win the next presidential race. the north american derivatives exchange in chicago filed an application with federal

regulators to offer trading on political events. saying the trading would be similar to the way a farmer might trade for the future price of wheat or corn. >> you're talking tax policy, or health care costs or energy policy, elections matter and can have a really significant economic impact on people. so we think that these types of contractses fit squarely with the traditional functions performeded by futures exchange. >> reporter: you can place political bets currently through the iowa electronics markets and an exchange in ireland called intrade. the big difference here is you could have big money on the line. these markets can be a good predictor of not only who sits in the white house but also which party controls the house and the senate. so here's how this would work, and this is just a hypothetical example. say you have a buyer who predicts president obama will win the next election. he puts up $50. you have a sell here says, no, not president obama who wins. actually mitt romney. he puts up $50.

if the buyer is correct, the buyer pockets $100. the seller gets zero. on the other hand, if the seller is correct, then it's the seller who pockets $100, and the buyer ends up with zero. the value of contracts would rise and fall before the election, as a candidate's fortunes ebb and flow. the commodity futures trading commission, which regulates futures trading can reject the application and at least one of the five commissioners opposes the proposal. bart chilton notes that federal law prohibits contracts on other events like terrorism acts or political assassinations. >> i'm not sure we want to throw our political process into the trading pits where just a few well-healed speculators to theoretically wager on the outcome of an election, and thereby, take away the power of actually people who vote. so even in vegas they don't allow gambling on elections and they know something about

election gambling. >> reporter: and public merit and it hopes to have the options list january 4th. if the cotc doesn't act by january 4th then the application is automatically approved. three of the five commissioners would have to vote to stop the trading from going forward. another option is the commissioners could ask for more time to review the proposal. lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. okay. ahead next hour, where is ayla reynolds? police offering a five-figure reward for helping to find a missing 20-month-old from maine. the latest on the case, straight ahead. and five top republicans campaigning in iowa today, just seven days to go before the iowa caucuses. we will talk you there live, next. ♪

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sevgsen days and counting until the iowa caucuses. it's looks like a tight three-way race. all heading to the hawkeye state trying to do whatever it takes to put them over the top. please bring her home to us. i want my baby home. >> ten days and still no sign of little ayla reynolds. police are stepping up their

search for the missing toddler from maine, and now are offering a big reward. and happening right now, cries for help from a city under siege. thousands of protesters marching in homs, syria as the arab world steps in to try to end the slaughter of civilians. and an all-out brawl at the mall. police rushing in. shoppers scrambling out. chaos after christmas, on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it's tuesday, december 27th. welcome to "american morning." we're so glad you're joining us, two days after christmas. i'm alina cho along with ali velshi. >> the iowa invasion. five top republicans plan to visit the state with serve deigns remaining until the iowa caucuses. it's shaping up to be a tight three-way race. mark preston is live in des

moines this morning with our team. mark, the week begins with newt gingrich trying once again to distance himself, not from someone else, not from someone else's comments, but from his own past. >> reporter: from his own past. yeah. the story all along has been that newt gingrich, who has been married three times, has had some personal shortcomings, his first divorce was back in 1980, and the story surrounding that is that he had served his wife jackie with the divorce papers while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery. however, earlier this year, his daughter, their daughter, wrote a column that said, in fact, that it was her mother who had asked for the divorce. now, cnn has been able to review the divorce proceedings in the past week or so and has seen that, in fact, according to these documents from alan duke, one of our reporter, that in fact it was newt gingrich who had asked for the divorce. now, the gingrich campaign is

saying in fact, they stand by their story, that in fact it was newt gingrich who filed the paperwork, but it was his first wife jackie who had asked for it. why is this important? it's important because as we stand here in iowa, the first state to kick off the republican presidential nomination race, the state is dominated by social conservatives. back in 2008, ali, 60% of the republican iowa caucusgoers described themselves as evangelical christians. so newt gingrich, not something he wants to deal with certainly as we are heading into january 3rd. >> add to the flavor. you've been spending nim time is moines. it's not just the candidates' ground game, for everybody else, an onslaught of tv and radio ads going on? >> reporter: there is. this is the paper from this morning's "des moines register." look at the headline. $10 million ad list. what we're seeing if the

candidates from rick perry to ron paul to newt gingrich to mitt romney, all trying to get their message out in these closing days. in fact, we're even seeing outside groups come in to try to influence the race. last night, turn on my tv, ali, within two minutes, ad from rick perry. three minutes later, an ad from newt gingrich. put it in perspective. back in 2008, a race for the republican presidential nomination, a race for the democratic nomination, ad spending in iowa, $27 million. so it is certainly dialed back from what we're seeing this year, and that's due in part to the fact this has been more of a national race. we've seen all of these presidential debates take place, four on cnn. >> right. >> reporter: the candidate now, though, are focusing on their ground game. they're focusing on iowa and that's where we are, ali. >> we'll keep a close eye on it and full coverage through next tuesday night and beyond. mark preston good to see you. and if the polls are right,

ron paul, mitt romney and newt gingrich are in a statistical dead heat in the hawkeye state. a lot can change. joining us is robert zimmerman with me on the couch and jim garrity of the national review online live in washington. good morning to both of you. so, jim, i want to begin with you. rick santorum is the one candidate who was out in on the trail yesterday in iowa. he was joined by his friend, iowa representative steve king, who is largely considered to be a king maker in that state. it's interesting what king is saying. he's saying that he's having a hard time getting his head and heart together to make an endorsement. in fact, having such a hard time that he may not endorse anyone at all. i mean what does this say, jim, about the republican field? that an insider can't make a pick? >> as you mentioned earlier, three guys right at the top of the race. folks like rick santorum who

visited all 99 counties. rick santorum has probably spent more nim iowa than any other candidate. as you say, day after christmas, most folks worried about returning gifts from the day before, he was throughout trying to get the last bit of support. >> but rick santorum is polling at the bottom, i believe there. >> exactly, to be honest. >> and steve king cannot make a decision who to endorsendorse? >> steve king doesn't want to make enemies. rick santorum out the day after christm christmas. you have a hard time believes one day is going to make a difference. >> santorum's at the bottom. ron paul, maybe not so surprisingly, in our latest poll that we see here from the american research group shows that paul is at the top. 21% of the vote. romney right behind at 20% and gingrich at 19%. if ron paul, i mean, who famously has a fantastic ground

game in iowa, really hasn't stopped campaigning in five years. if he wins and pulls off a win in iowa, what does it mean for the race? >> it's a victory for mitt romney. let's cut to it. end of the day, the challenges to make sure that there's not going to be, from mitt romney's perspecti perspective, someone who can converge on the anti-romney -- rick perry might consolidate the sentiment. ron paul, a boutique candidate. a mixed market. he's not going to grow. the other candidates have potential to grow. >> you see all the negative ads running in iowa. not so subtle ads against newt gingrich and his in fidelity, especially the ones from romney touting his 40-some odd year marriage to his wife. historically, do those work? >> the issue in iowa, 60% of your voting electorate are

evangelical, christian conservative community. no question. these issues of family values matter. issues of fidelity matter. about newt gingrich, not just the scandals and baggage, he's emerged the louis vuitton of luggage. a shout out to the your fashion coverage. the point is it's not just the scandal. it's the way he explained them. for example, he cheated on his wife because of his love of country. or references to being a historian for freddie mac. these kinds of ways trying to explain scandals comparing problems in virginia getting on the ballot with being, you know, comparing it to pearl harbor. >> talk to you more about that. newt gingrich is in the news again. cnn has found court documents that show that gingrich divorced his first wife, you know, his first wife did not divorce him, as he had claimed earlier. i mean, are we splitting hairs here? i mean should, we care about this, and do voters care about this?

>> i think one demographic cares about this. speaking a ing anecdotically. women care about it. men not so much. the issue of the three marriages, whether he was less than fully honest about what happened in all of them is priced in. i don't think too many are voting because they think he's a swell husband. i'm dying to see the exit gaps at the polls. not surprised to see newt gingrich doing significantly much worse among women than he does amongst men. >> if you're going to hold yourselves out at a strategist, kwp to get on the ballots. describe yourself as an historian you can't engage in references wear itting democrats to nazis or compares his campaign to pearl harbor, that kind of issue. the bottom line is, to the political community, the donor community, it's an issue of credibility. so i think that's what's impacting his campaign enormously. >> we should say the gingrich campaign responded to our findings saying, "court documents accurately show newt

gingrich filed for a divorce from his wife jackie but it was jackie who requested the divorce. gingrich obtained legal counsel and filed the divorce papers initiating the legal proceedings." and do you mention credibility. i mean -- >> sure. >> -- this is less an a divorce. >> it's about character. it's about whether in fact you trust this person's integrity to lead. and throughout his campaign you've seen one misstep after another, he's had to explain, his claims a historian for freddie mac. >> polling also shows that voters look at him as being the strongest leader in the pack? >> it's interesting. a very good point. there's an old argument that republicans would rather be tough than be right. tough and strong than weak and right. so i think he plays to that angry republican field, but at one point the voters are going to decide in this process who do

they think is credible enough to be president, who's the person you really want there in the oval office? mitt romney right now in the republican process is demonstrating i think a certain stability, which i think ultimately matter. >> still seen as the strongest general election candidate. >> no question. >> robert zimmerman, always great to see you. enjoy the rest of your holiday and jim garrity, to you as well. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> ali. >> great conversation. happening right now in syria, thousands of protesters are hitting the streets and putting their lives on the line. this is in homs, syria. look at these pictures. chanting for natural protection as arab league monitors are heading to the scene. the opposition says 42 people were killed in homs yesterday alone, as government tanks pounded the city. iran wants to strengthen its ties with iraq offering to expand military cooperation between the countries. this just a week after u.s. troops pulled out of iraq. iran calling the iraq war a "humiliating defeat for the united states." a 9-year-old indiana girl

who vanished just two days before christmas was found dead last night. her neighbor now accused of murder. 39-year-old michael plumadore appears in court charged with the murder of this little girl. a close family friend baby sit eigg her and her two sisters while her mother recovered from the flu. police in detroit uncover new details in the disturbing case of four dead bodies found stuffed in abandoned cars. three of the victims are now linked to ads for adult dating services posted on backpage.com. all of the victims black women in their 20s. two found christmas day inside a burning car. the other two discovered less than a week before in a car outside a vacant home. and saints quarterback drew brees now owns the nfl record for most passing yards in a season. he passed dan marino last night on monday night football and new orleans clobbered the atlanta falcons 45-16. brees now has 5,087 passing

yards on the year and there's still one more game to go. >> coming up, the mother of a missing toddler is speaking out. >> is she okay? is she laying somewhere dead? is she safe? is she cold? is she being fed? is someone watching her? >> we're learning new details about the disappearance of ayla reynolds. why police are now confident it is a case of abduction and are now offering a big reward. a moving brawl inside a minnesota mall. terrified shoppers. police called in. guns drawn. we'll tell you what happened and how it all turned out. and more than 130 years later, scientists have actually found a way to listen to some of the earliest audio recordings in history. we'll have the details ahead. it's 13 minutes after the hour. , so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning...

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15 minutes after the hour. welcome back. police are stepping up their search for a missing toddler from maine. a $30,000 reward, a record in that state, for any information about the disappearance of

20-month-old ayla reynolds. she was last seen in other bed just days before christmas. police are confident that the little girl was aboducted. deb feyerick has the story. >> reporter: it's friday night, december 16th. 20-month-old ayla reynolds is ready for bed wearing her green polka dots pajamas with the words "daddy's princess" on the front. her father, justin dipietro puts her to sleep. he says it's the last time he saw his daughter. the next morning, ayla was gone. vanished sometime during the night. dipietro had been caring for baby ayla for weeks after her mother, trista reynolds, checked herself into a ten-day rehab program. after completing rehab, reynolds filed court papers to regain custody of her daughter. the papers were filed the day before ayla was last seen. police say both parents are fully cooperating in the case, and say they have no suspects yet, but they are certain ayla was taken from her home on that

friday night. >> we believe that someone was involved in taking her out of the house, and that's where the focus ever this investigation has turned. >> reporter: two days after ayla's disappearance, trista reynolds tells various media outlets, including hln's nancy grace that she worried her daughter was not safe with her father. the day after ayla's mother gives these interviews, justin dipietro writes a letter to law enforcement. he says he has no idea what happened to his daughter, nor does he no who's responsible for her disappearance, adding, i will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until police have been able it prove who's responsible for this. meanwhile, the search for ayla widens. police receive nearly 200 tips. civilian volunteers join state, local and federal authorities in over 80 searches of the area, including a nearby river, a pond and several hiking trails.

cadaver dogs are brought in. still, no sign of the missing girl. >> is she okay? is she laying somewhere dead? is she safe? is she cold? is she being fed? is someone watching her? >> bring her home. just bring her home to us. i want my baby home. i want her home. >> reporter: and on christmas day, prayers instead of presents for ayla. it's been over a week since the blond haired blue-eyed toddler was last seen. in these cases, time is the enemy. police continue their search, hoping a new $30,000 reward will bring them closer to finding little ayla. deborah feyerick, cnn, new york. absolute mayhem at the mall of america in minnesota. take a look, the day after

christmas. police say nine people were arrested during what they call a moving melee yesterday. dozens of teens brawling in a food court. then they swarmed through the mall, a scary scene that sent many shoppers scrambling for the exits. >> some people are running. some people are just staying. people are like confronting each other in the middle. people just walking. like nobody was even around. they were just going at it. >> all of a sudden stores started closing down and gates were going up and so we didn't know what was going on and the cops are pushing all away from, like, nordstrom. >> i feel i need to hold you. cops were pushing us away from nordstrom. can you imagine? i just picture thru, trying -- i'm sorry. i just need to get into nordstrom. >> nothing to see here. keep moving, lady. >> 70% off in the shoe store. >> devastating. rob marciano? >> you know, the name of the place is the mall of america.

you know that's shown all over the world, propagating the stereotype. >> a crazy, and the nut shoppers swarming malls. >> oh, the infidels. good morning again, guys. looking at rain moving up the seaboard. snow across much of the eastern third of the country. a combination of two storms. one dropping from canada, one coming up from the gulf of mexico. getting into d.c. and new york eventually. all rain for bigger cities. starting to see changeover to snow, lower michigan, parts of independents ind, illinois and some snow as far south as the midsouth. very little accumulation. maybe one to four inches in places like northwest ohio back through western new york, upstate new york. here's the snowfall expected here over the next couple of days. notice the i-95 corridor stays dry as far as the snow goes, but it will be wet, and the rain will be heavy at times. and across parts of the south including the southern part of the mid-atlantic, we'll see some

rough and tumble thunderstorms this afternoon. potentially some damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, and straight line winds with the storm that's intensifying, 40 to 50 mile-an-hour gust it's potentially across parts of the ohio highway and tennessee valleys. slowing down air travel, traveling through atlanta, new york, boston, d.c. a little wind and philadelphia, chicago, windy on the back side of this and minneapolis also a bit breezy. the only spot really, 32 degrees up there, minneapolis. 56, mild in new york. imagine this. you're in salt lake city. it's christmas eve and you here the clicker clatter of hooves on the roof. >> no way. >> that's right. an eight-point buck, crushing the gifts. eventually wildlife management was able to scoop the deer out of the home, but that's quite a story. maybe they were telling -- >> timing for that deer, impeccable. i must say. >> exactly. >> maybe dad was telling the story of "the night before christmas." >> he seems okay.

like he's not crazy panicked in there. i'd be worried the deer would be tearing the place up. >> just looking for a little eggnog. no big deal. >> that's it. working hard all season. >> exactly. >> poor people. scared to -- >> this is the thing. it wouldn't occur to me. i'm not of the generation it would occur to me to put the recorder on your phone. i'd have to figure how to do it. recorded the entire thing. kind of neat. >> merry christmas. >> rob good to see you, buddy. still to come this morning, airports trying out a new strategy to court fliers. loyalty rewards. we'll tell you about it next. is 22 minutes after the hour. is in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. 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

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it is 26 minutes after the hour. we're "minding your business" this morning. u.s. markets opening just over two hour. stock futures pointing to a lower open right now. in are four trading days left in 2011. right now, for the year, the dow is up 6.2%. the s&p 500, which may reflect some of the mutual funds you own is up just about a half percent and the nasdaq is down about 1.3%. that's for the whole year. two key economic reports due out this morning at 9:00 eastern. the case schiller home price index for october is coming up. one hour later the consumer confidence numbers are released. most analysts expect consumer confidence to hit a five-month high. they also expect home prices will have declined, but at a slower pace. if countrywide handled your mortgage you might have money coming to you. the justice department is trying to track down more than 200,000 alleged victims of countrywide's bad practices. last week bank of america agreed to addses 335. settlement, the result, charges

that its countrywide unit discriminated against hispanic and african-american borrowers. new this morning, sears says it will close as many as 120 sears and kmart stores. the ceo says the company is trying to reduce expenses after disappointing sales for big ticket items this year. the locations of the store closures have not been announced yet. loyalty programs. you see them at hotels, airlines, rent car agencies, offering incentives to across customers. now airports are getting into the game. "usa today" says more than 30 airports across the country have joined the thanks again program. it awards fliers air line miles for parking, shopping and eating at the airports. don't effect, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" back, right after this break. t do you got? restrained driver in a motor vehicle. sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine.

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i want to know what happened to my dad. >> with kim jong-il gone, a

north korean pastor is hoping his prayers will be answered after a 60-year wait on this "american morning." welcome back to "american morning." time now for your top stories. 31 minutes after the hour. happening right now in syria, look at this. thousands of protesters hitting the streets, defying the tanks and putting their lives on the line in homs, syria. they're chanting for international protection as arab league monitors led to the scene today. the opposition says 42 people were killed in homs yesterday alone. look at this. it says government tanks pounded the city. pakistan is blasting a u.s. report on a nato air strike that killed 24 pakistani troops back in november. pakistan's government says nato fired first. it claims nato knew its helicopters were firing on troops but continued shooting for more than an hour. this contradicts the pentagon report that claims pakistani troops fired first at u.s.

forces stationed near the border. pakistan is calling on an apology from the pentagon. the embattle the president of yemen may be coming to new york for medical treatment. the obama administration agreed in principle to allow ali abdul al saleh if concern conditions are met. cnn confirms the funeral for north korean leader kim jong-il will take place tomorrow with a memorial service planned for thursday. hundreds of thousands of north koreans are expected to pay tribute to their fallen dictator. pyongyang state media has given no more information about this. and kim jong-il's death sparked both hope and concern. cnn's casey wian spoke with a north korean-born pastor who fled the communist regime six

decades ago and has been searching for answers ever ins. >> reporter: retired pastor chang zhu lee fled north korea in 1950 as his homeland was ripped in half by the korean war. at age 15, lee's family also was torn apart. >> because of my dad was a minister, i saw my daddy was persecuted. >> reporter: lee eventually emigrated to the united states where he led a methodist congregation but never forgot his homeland. he's returned half a dozen times on humanitarian missions bringing tons of food to orphanages and building noodle factories in north korea, where millions of people reportedly starve to death in the 1990s. >> showing our love for them. we love you. you are all brothers and sisters. >> reporter: during his missions, north korean authorities never allowed lee to visit places from his childhood, which still haunts him six

decades later. >> i can tell that you still have a connection, or still feel a connection. >> yes. >> reporter: what is that connection? >> i want to know what happened to my dad. whether he lived or died, how? >> reporter: as north korea's new leader, kim jong un mourns the death of his father, lee hopes he will work towards opening to south korea and western democracies. >> there must be change, or we don't know the change worse or better. hopefully, the young leader wise enough. >> reporter: now retired at 76, lee says south korea and the united states also have a responsibility to promote peace. >> we have to give them confidence or trust that we are n not -- we support you.

>> reporter: and perhaps, lee hopes that will lead to answers about his father. >> i want to know what happened to him. >> reporter: casey wian, cnn, roland heights, california. later today, police are expected to release the names of seven family members found shot to death in a suburban dallas apartment that happened on christmas day. there are reports that gunman dressed at santa claus may have been relate the to the family by marriage. police are investigating whether divorce may have played a part in the mass shooting. police in detroit uncover new details in the disturben case of four dead bodies found stuffed in abandoned cared. three of the victims are now linked to ads for adult dating services posted on backpage.com. all of the victims are black women in their 20s. two found christmas day inside a burning car. the other two were discovered less than a week before in a car outside a vacant home. new developments in the penn state child sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky's wife dottie

expressed concerns about her husband's behavior long before a grand jury investigation was launched. that's according to a radio host and family friend. hearing her husband has boundary issues that could lead to accusations against him. still ahead, britain's prince philip is out of hospital. we'll talk you live to london, tell you what he's up to next. and alexander graham bell, the inventor of the telephone, was also behind some of the earliest audio recording experiments ever. now 130 years later, we're hearing those recordings for the very first time. and a look ahead to 2012. could solar storms sweep the globe causing widespread blackouts and $1 trillion in damage? we're going to speak to a top physicist to get his real predictions on what lies ahead in the new year. it's 37 minutes after the hour.

39 minutes after the hour. a developing story, involving substandard breast implants sold

to nearly 1,000 women in the netherlands, made by a now defunct french company and sold in the netherlands under a different name. that's what fooled some people. now health officials fearing it could actually affect 300,000 women worldwide. the implants are apparently filled with an industrial grade silicone instead of a surgical silicone means the implants are more likely to rupture or leak. britain's prince philip is out of hospital this morning. he'll be joining his wife queen elizabeth and the rest of the royal family where they usually spend christmas. the duke underwent a heart operation, they put a stent in to treat a blocked artery on friday. let's go right to erin mclaughlin live in london with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ali. we understand prince philip waved to onlookers as he left the hospital this morning. he thanked hospital staff before he left for the care he received. he was admitted complaining of

chest pains. tests later showed a blocked artery for which he underwent a minimally invasive coronary stent procedure which was successful. as a precaution, he was kept for the christmas period under observation. he wasn't without visitors, ali. the queen visited him on saturday. she flew in by helicopter. joined by their children, including prince andrew and prince charles. that visit was followed up by a christmas day visit from his grandchildren, prince william and prince harry. they drove to the hospital. drove some of the other grandchildren as well. we understand the duke was very eager to get back to sandraham and happy to be home. >> he's down right cheerful, received tweets. hope they get to pick up where they left off. they went ahead without him and had to start celebrating. i guess they'll repeat christmas for him. that's what you get when you're

the duke. good to see you. >> they should. a man finds a couple of envelopes at the las vegas airport. what would you think would be inside them at a las vegas airport? >> i'm guessing, a lot of cash. >> $10,000. jackpot. turns out mitch gilbert is a real saint in sin city. tracked down the money's owner, who was all the way in texas. he won the money gambling but dropped it on the way back home. he reported it missing but never believed someone would return it. gilbert says giving it back was the right thing to do. >> i wanted to show my kids the right thing to do. if it happened to me, i sure would want that back. you think about all the bills you could pay. it felt go to be able to give it back to the guy. >> good for him. now, did the guy -- i guess, i wonder how that process went -- >> exactly. >> someone found an envelope -- >> name on the envelope? anyway -- >> always fascinating. people carry that kind of cash around. it's exciting when you win, have that wad of cash.

good on that guy for giving it back. >> no kidding. $10,000. he's right. he'll be able to pay a lot of bills with that money. meanwhile, alexander graham bell on the cutting edge of technology way back in the 1800s. recovered and restored, the smithsonian institution has the earliest packed away and now being revealed. our brian todd reports. >> reporter: the audio clips among the earliest ever reported have been eventually unplayable over a century. in the past year, scientists have found a way to listen to them. >> whew! >> reporter: after thomas edison invented the phone graf in 1877 there was a rush of competition among scientists to make sound recording commercially viable. >> edison and the bells had settled on the cylinder as the format. >> reporter: alexander graham bell, inventor of the telephone, was part of the competition.

he sent several sealed tin boxes to the smithsonian institution with early prototypes of recordings to protect himself in case of a future patent challenge. stored since the earl 1880s. with no device to play them they sat on the shelf. enter carl haber of lawrence brookings laboratory. >> use this camera to take a large number of pictures of the item and create a very, very detailed digital representation of the structure of the surface. i'm going to rotate the record now and you'll see this starting to move up and down, as it the needle was riding up and down in it. >> reporter: around 18,000 optical images taken of the disc, then the computer does its work to play back sounds from the image. >> this kind of bowl is the groove that the stylist would sit in. >> reporter: the reading from shakespeare "hamlet." >> to be or not to be.

>> reporter: and "mary had a little lamb." >> mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white at snow. >> at that point the first part of the record ends. something apparently went wrong. it's probably the first recorded example of somebody being disappointed. >> reporter: the digital images system is ideal for archivists trying to restore the dick because the disc. about 200 early recorders from alexander graham bell's laboratory. so far used optical imaging to decipher six of the recordings. can you listen to them on americanhistory.si.edu. morning headlines are next. plus, could 2012 be the year we find life out there on one of earth's twins? ali's going to speak with a top fizz sichlt and one of the greatest minds of our time. wow. how about that?

to hear his predictions for the new year. it's 46 minutes after the hour. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...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. 47 minutes after the hour. here are your morning headlines. the final week of trading for 2011 begins in less than two hours and all signs point to a lower open. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 futures all down right now. thousands of protesters

marching in syria, tanks have pounded the city for days. they are demanding international help. apparently monitors head to the scene today. the opposition says 42 people were killed in homs yesterday alone. the funeral for north korean leader kim jong-il takes place tomorrow with a memorial planned for thursday. hundreds of thousands of north koreans are expected to pay homage to the leader. britain's prince philip released from the hospital. he spent four nights recovering from a heart operation to treat a blocked coronary artery. he joins his family where they typically spend christmas. prince philip is 90 years old. searching for a missinged to fluhrer maine, police offering $30,000 for information leading to finding the 20-month-old. police believe she was abducted.

nine people arrested in minnesota for a brawl at the mall of america that started with dozens of teens fighting in a food court then swarming from store to store. police aincredibly nobody was injured. one week to go before the iowa caucuses. planning to visit the state today. join cnn tuesday night january 3rd for the knt's first real votes and the candidates' first true tests in the iowa caucuses. that's one week from today at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. a quick programming note, our wolf blitzer will interview newt gingrich today at 4:00 p.m. eastern in iowa. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this.

a year from now, december 21st, 2012 if the mian calendar is correct. we're not going to rely on primitive astronomy. if you want to make decisions based off of what could actually happen next year you're in the right place. a child prodgy who became one of the greatest minds of our time. he's a top physicist and picked up where einstein left off.

he wrote "physics of the future" talking to hundreds of other scientists to piece together what our lives will look like in the next century and joins us with a glimpse into 2012 and the future. glad to have you here. if people watch, this you are definitely some smartest tern they hear from today. let me ask you, first of all, recently we reported on the finding of a few planets that are sort of earth-like, but too hot. you're thinking that we may soon find an earth twin somewhere in the galaxy. >> that's right. the holy grail of planetary astronomy is to find a twin of the earth in outer space. came very close in 2011. planets that have the right distance from the sun and the right size and the wrong distance from the sun. i think in 2012 we will find an earth-like twin in space and that's going to change our understanding of our control in the universe. >> and we wondered when we heard about these discovers what the

implications were and most scientists saying it's not relevant that these weren't right, but the idea we're better able to look for and better able to hone in on what we're looking for. >> e.t. will phone home as a consequence because these planets are planets that perhaps have liquid ocean and makes possible dna. >> let's talk about the weather. weird weather all over the place. we had these storms through america, these tornados and we have snow in different places and what is happening with the weather? >> the weather has been whacky in part because the earth is heating up. we can debate how much human activity drives the global warming, but the earth is warming up, which means more energy. more energy means more swings. droughts in one area like texas and snow storms and flooding in other areas. we might have to get used to it. >> when you talk about getting warmer, let's talk about solar storms. >> that's right. every 11 years the sun has a

temper tantrum and throws radiation at the earth. so far, we've dodged the bullet. but we're very young in the space age. not used to having our satellites get knocked out because of a solar flare, but it could happen. >> what are the implications of that? >> internet, gps, weather satellites is all on the internet and telecommunications on the earth could also be disrupted. in quebec, they had a blackout once because a solar flair hit the planet. >> back in 1989. >> power plants are not reinforced. we physicists have asked congress to reinforce our power plants and make redunddant satellite systems because at some point, it is going to happen. >> we think about other things in politics these days. we're not necessarily thinking about grids and electricity, we probably should be. here is the big one. people who think on december 21st, 2012, the ancient mayans predicted the world will end. will we be here a year from now?

>> you'll be around on december 22nd, 2012. the mayan calendar is cyclical. one cycle ends and the next cycle begins. there's no tenth planet out there that will come barreling down to knock the earth out of its orbit and no black hole will eat up the planet earth and we'll be around to see january 2013. >> makes for good movies and books, but not for planning. >> makes for best sellers, but not science. >> people who are out there watching and planning, how do i make money or prepare? what do i do best? what is the change that you'll see in 2012 that you could prepare for? >> i think all you can prepare for is the fact that change accelerates and get used to it. you will get used to the fact that computer power doubles every 18 months and get used to the fact that our appliances more smart and 3rxd television without glasses and watch for it in your living room.

you can watch full blown three dimension. >> some people's big complaint. i don't want to wear those glasses. more computers to buy for your kids. michio, pleasure to see you. thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure. a live report from des moines where republicans are making a big push for votes in the final week before the iowa caucuses. it is 57 minutes after the hour. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse. britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson.

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i'm alina cho. right now in syria people asking the world for help. thousands marching as arab league monitors head to the scene of an alleged slaughter. now that the u.s. is out, iran is moving in. iran planning to forge a military partnership with iraq. what will that mean for the u.s.? we'll talk about it in a live report on this "american morning." good morning. it's tuesday december 27th. welcome to "american morning." i'm alina cho along with ali velshi. >> busy morning for us. a lot going on in syria. they pour under to the streets in syria, as many as 20,000 protesters pleading for international help. government tanks reportedly killed 42 people yesterday and, apparently, have a neighborhood surrounded. now, arab league monitors will

be there today, but there's some feeling that this area that has been cordoned off may be cordoned off so they can't get to it. mohamm mohammed, what do you know about what's going on in homs? >> the airing league delegation said they're there and they're able to reach out to the arab league members. you are talking about that spectacular video that we saw of 20,000 people demonstrating there and we spoke to residents there and they said because the tanks had stopped the shelling today in homs and because protesters weren't being shot at, what started out as a small demonstration grew and the arab league is there, that they weren't going to be harassed today and be slaughtered, as they said. in that video that we saw, people were calling for international protection. calling for international help against what they're saying is a

massacre that has been occurring the past few days. the syrian government maintains that they are going to let these observers go to any area that they want to, but opposition activists we spoke with earlier in the day said that the tanks that had been surrounding homs and neighborhoods of homs, they're alleging these tanks have been hidden in government buildings so that the observers won't see them there. ali? >> we'll keep a close eye on it. in many cases through you. mohamm mohammed, thanks very much. we're also watching another developing story this morning. iran. strengthening its ties with iraq just a week after u.s. troops left. so, what would an iran/iraq defense partnership mean for the u.s.? cnn international correspondent arwa damon is live from baghdad with more on that part of the story. arwa, good morning. good to see you. how significant is this partnership? >> well, it depends on what kind of a nature it ends up taking.

it is quite natural that the two countries on the one hand should forge some sort of a military partnership given that they share a very lengthy border. there are, however, great concerns, as well, because many will tell you that iran already has a military presence in iraq through the iraniantia militant groups that are still operating here. these are the groups that until the last moment were still carrying out attacks ge s againe u.s. military and groups unless they lay down their weapons are going to continue to pose a challenge, not just for the u.s., but for the iraqi government itself perhaps down the line, depending, again, how the relationship between the two countries end up playing out. added to this military cooperation. we also have these war games that are taking place close to the persian gulf. the iranian navy out there conducting these war games and one member of parliament has said that these maneuvers are a clear sign to the west, to the united states, that iran and,

i'm quoting here, th should be seen as a serious warning about iran's capability. this, of course, is a critical area when it comes to the exports of oil from the persian gulf. >> all right, cnn's arwa damon live from baghdad with that part of the story. arwa, thank you very much. pakistan wants an apology from the pentagon on the air strike that killed 24 pakistani troops. nato shot first and claimed nato knew its helicopters were firing on troops, but attacked for more than an hour. the pentagon claims pakistani troops fired first at u.s. forces stationed near the border. u.s. officials blame the incident on a breakdown on communication. the funeral for kim jong-il will take place tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of north koreans are expected to pay tribute to the fallen dictator.

pyongyang state media has given no details. britain's prince philip is out of the hospital and back with his family. spent the past four nights recovering and this after a heart operation to treat a blocked artery. he first complained of chest pains on friday. he's joining his family where they typically spend christmas and a spokesman says he's in good spirits. the iowa invasion is under way this morning. the hawkeye state, the place to be for aspiring presidents this week with seven days remaining until the iowa caucuses begin. shaping up to be a tight and unpredictable three-way race. cnn's joe johns live in des moines this morning with more on that. hey, joe, good morning to you. hard to believe it's just a week away. >> hey, alina. >> it sure is. the funny thing is, one of the people we have been talking so much about through this whole campaign season. mitt romney is actually not here in iowa, at least this morning. he starts out the day in new hampshire, but by later this afternoon, he like so many of the other candidates are

expected to be here in the hawkeye state traveling from place to place. i guess probably the first thing i have to say about him is that he's got some type of a speech later today and he's also got a bus tour that is going to start on wednesday that would be tomorrow morning. bus tours are very big right now. michele bachmann seems to be just all over the state, as it were. there's another candidate we're watching very closely that would be rick santorum, who actually gave us a very good photo-op yesterday on what would be a slow news day in iowa. he went pheasant hunting with congressman steve kipg, the very conservative congressman from this very state looking, perhaps, to try to get the endorsement of steve king, though steve king hasn't said who he's going to support in this race, at least right now. the one notable exception to the group here in the state is ron paul. congressman who is in the statistical dead heat with newt

gingrich. and mitt romney. he's expected here in the state tomorrow. the one person, of course, we're watching closely here on cnn will be the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich, who is expected to appear on "the situation room" with wolf blitzer some time this afternoon. a lot of oquestions have now surfaced about newt gingrich and one of his divorces. some new papers that cnn has unearthed have raised questions about who filed and when. so, all of that coming up here from iowa and we'll be watching all of it for you, alina. >> all right, joe johns, waking up early for us. thank you so much, joe. in order to get the republican nomination, the candidates have to first capture the hearts and minds of social conservatives with a week to go before the iowa caucuses, that battle is being fought in a very public way and it's getting personal. here's mary snow. >> reporter: newt gingrich's wife, calista, a part of his campaign.

campaigning in iowa to appearing in a recent ad. >> from our family to yours, merry christmas and happy new year. >> reporter: but among caucus goers, it's questions about gingrich's two previous marriages that have come up. >> for instance, mitt romney had a telephone, town hall meeting and one woman from mason city, iowa, made a point of thanking him for being married to the same woman for 42 years. >> reporter: this recent ad featuring ann entitled character seems to be a not so subtle dig at gingrich's multiple marriages. >> if you want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life. >> reporter: and in this ad, anita perry touts her marriage to her high school sweetheart, texas governor rick perry. gingrich hasn't shied away from addressing his three marriages and past infidelities on his website and in public. >> i said up front publicly i made mistakes at time and seek

reconciliation and i'm also a 68-year-old grandfather. people have to measure i am now and whether i'm a person they can trust. >> reporter: political watchers say, personal is political. >> the personal history does matter. at least in 2008, 60% of the participants in the iowa caucus were evangelical christians. >> reporter: but a strong tenant for evangelical christians is forgiveness. making a direct appeal to them earlier this month, gingrich signed a written pledge to defend and strengthsen the family. evangelical american family association endorsed it. how significant is gingrich's marital history? an abc/"washington post" pole of republicans nationwide found 72% said it's not a madger factor. according to a cnn research poll, 24% of americans found mitt romney was most honest and trustworthy compared to 12% for gingrich. these are national polls, but the question remains whether personal traits will be more of

a factor in iowa. mary snow, cnn, new york. and stay with cnn for the best political coverage on television. today at 4:00 p.m. eastern, newt gingrich live in "the situation room" with our own wolf blitzer. >> tomorrow same time, same place. be sure to join cnn on tuesday night, january 3rd for the country's real first votes and the candidates' real first test in the iowa caucuses. one week from today, 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. still ahead, an all-out brawl at the mall. chaos after christmas at the mall of america. what is going on? >> we're going to tell you about that. it's incredible. meanwhile, the lasting images of 2011. the royal couple emerges. they went in as will and kate and came out as the duke and duchess of cambridge. what other defining moments made the list?

the most incredible pictures from the last year. the weather is about to get all kind of nasty in some parts of the country. severe storms on the move. we'll give you your forecast for the final week of the year. ten minutes after the hour. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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good morning, chicago. showers and 36 degrees. more rain even a little snow going up to a balmy high of 38. >> not cold. rob was pointing out earlier that i think, minneapolis, rob, are you there? >> yeah, hi. >> minneapolis, cold, 32. >> for minneapolis, they're wearing bikinis now. >> you joining the weather center now? >> i don't know what the future holds. >> i like that. you're welcome to join in, as well.

you guys are welcome by any time. it is rolling up the east coast with a lot of heavy rain and certainly some wind and threat for severe weather and we're starting to see the change over lower michigan and does include chicago and the back edge of the precip is moving out of there and through st. louis and maybe one to four inches of stuff across parts of indiana, illinois and even northwestern ohio. that's the track of the system. notice all the brighter colors, the blues and the yellows and the greens. rain, boston back through d.c. and the rain heavy at times and the rain will fall as far north as far as upstate new york and western parts across the lake-enhanced snow expected in the typical spots, although this year, it's been pretty quit for lake-effect snow. thunderstorms could be severe across parts of the carolinas, at least the low country across the coastland and possibly seeing tornadoes later this afternoon. windy with this storm as it continues to amplify or

intensify and could gust and that will slow down air travel and delays at the atlanta airport because of the wind and the rain right now and d.c. we'll see delays to a lesser extent and afternoon rain in philadelphia and chicago and minneapolis where the high temperature will be 32 degrees will be breezy at times. 39 the high temperature in chicago. mild air, 56 in new york city and little bit cooler once this thing rolls through and still above average. 51 degrees, that's chilly for atlanta. cold in idaho. many folks didn't see a white christmas. this guy northwest of boise, he was destined to make it for his kids and the entire street. he began making snow in october and had enough to build his own little terrain park there. he opened it up to the entire community. that's a feel-good story. this is just video we have to show you, again. salt lake city, there you go, eight pointer. up on the rooftop, click, click, click. christmas eve and a deer comes

crashing through the window into the fire side chat and low and behold, venison for christmas dinner. >> he has been working hard and he wanted a warm, you know -- >> a rough week for them. >> he heard free cookies and milk. >> looks relatively calm but he's having trouble getting out of there. >> wildlife officials came in and escorted him out peacefully. >> they were taping this whole thing. >> i love how he cracks open the door enough to get his camera in there, but he wants to stay safe. i don't blame him. >> am i too early in my weather forecasting career to say the back end of the precip like you did? >> if you say it that way, it's questionable. >> because that's chicago. chicago is getting the back end of the precip. >> you can say that because you've worked there. i can't get away with that. >> you don't want to put ali in front of a map. >> really not his back end. >> that's right.

is that ali's back end in the precip? all right, rob, good to see you, my friend. boxing day turning ugly in the uk. a teenager was stabbed to death in a crowd of shoppers when a fight erupted between rival gangs over what to steal from a sporting good store. police recovered several weapons from the scene, including a knife and arrested 11 people. and there was more chaos on the morning after christmas here at home, too. take a look at this. police say nine people were arrested during what they call a moving melee yesterday. it happened at the mall of america yesterday. the largest mall in america. dozens of teens at the food court and then fanned out going from store to store. witnesses told local reporters that the fights started after there were reports that rappers lil' wayne and drake were in the building. that's what sparked it all. now, police are not commenting

about that just yet, but scared shoppers, they have plenty of to say. >> some people are running. some people are just staying and people are like confronting each other like in the middle of people just walking and like nobody was even around. they were just going at it. >> stores just started closing down and the gates were going up and, so, we just didn't know what was going on and the cops were push us away from nordstrom. >> so, listen, the police aren't commenting on this, but maybe those two rappers were there and not the 70% off shoes at nordstrom. >> but that would have been, that sounded upsetting to them that they just wanted to go to nordstrom. >> i could understand how that might spark a melee. early morning markets, next. new battery technology that could make your iphone or ipad last days or weeks without a recharge. the most searched for term online this year. what about the most searched for

person? is it ali velshi? minding your business is next. 18 minutes after the hour. [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪

♪

22 minutes past the hour. "minding your business" sears says it will close as many as 120 sears and kmart stores. the ceo says the company is trying to reduce expenses after disappointing sales for big-ticket items. the final week of trading for 2011 begins in just over an hour. the dow and the s&p 500 are trading lower right now and nasdaq futures are up slightly. two key economic reports are due

out this morning at 9:00 a.m. the case schiller home price index for october is released. most analysts are expecting consumer confidence to hit a five-month high and home prices to be declining at a slower rate. if countrywide handled your mortgage, you might have money coming to you. the justice department is trying to track down more than 200,000 victims of countrywide's bad practices. last week bank of america agreed to a $335 million settlement to resolve charges that its countrywide unit discriminated against hispanic and african-american borrowers. the wealth gap between americans and their congressman is growing. the "washington post" reports that house members' net worth doubled between 1984 to 2009 to $725,000. over the same time period, the net worth of the average american family dropped about $100 to less than $21,000. loyalty programs, we've seen

hotels, airlines and car rental agencies offering them as incentives to attract customers but now airports are adopting the strategy, too. "usa today" says more than 30 airports across the country joined the thanks, again, program. it awards flyers airline miles for shopping or eating at the airport. apple working on smartphones or laptops that would be powered by hydrogen fuel cells and not batteries. the company has already submitted documents to the u.s. patent and trademark office. they convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and electrical energy and they could last weeks before they need recharging. most searched term on the internet in 2011? facebook now for the third year in a row. the social media site dominated with terms like facebook login and facebook.com making the top ten. 2011 also the year of bieber. the young singer was the number

one public figure searched for online. still ahead, a $30,000 reward for a missing maine toddler. the largest in the state's history for a missing person's case. "american morning" is back after the break. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro.

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>> i want to know what happened to my dad. kim jong-il gone a north korean pastor is hoping his prayers will be answered after a 60-year wait on this "american morning." welcome back to "american morning." time now for your top stories happening right now in syria. thousands of protesters you can see here hitting the streets, defying the tanks, putting their lives on the line. they're chanting for international protection as the arab league monitors head to the scene today. the opposition in syria says 42

people were killed yesterday alone as government tanks pouned the city. pakistan wants an apology from the pentagon. pakistan is blaming a u.s. report on the november air strike that killed 24 pakistani troops. pakistan says nato shot first and claims nato knew its helicopters were firing on troops, but attacked for more than an hour. the pentagon claims that pakistani troops fired first at u.s. forces stationed near the border. the embattled president of yemen may be coming to new york later this week for medical treatment. "the new york times" reports the obama administration has agreed in principal to agree to allow him to enter the country if certain conditions are met including receiving a proposed itinerary for his visit. he was injured in a near fatal bomb blast in june near his complex. the funeral for kim jong-il will take some time tonight new york time in north korea with a

memorial service planned for wednesday. hundreds of thousands of north koreans are expected to pay t b tribute to their fallen dictator. they have given no other details about the event and foreign guests are banned. korean americans are keeping a cles eye on their homeland this week. sparked optimism and concern. cnn's casey wian spoke with a north korean born pastor who fled the communist regime six decades ago and looking for answers ever since. >> reporter: chang su lee fled in 1960. at age 15, lee's family also was torn apart. >> because of my dad was a minister, i saw my daddy was prosecuted. >> reporter: lee eventually emigrated to the united states. where he led a methodist congregation. he's returned half a dozen times on humanitarian missions, bringing tons of food to

orphanages and building noodle factories in north korea, where millions of people reportedly starve to death in the 1990s. >> a kind of symbolic showing our love for them. we love you, you are all brothers and sisters. >> reporter: during his missions, north korean authorities visited places from his childhood, which still haunts him six decades later. >> i can tell you still have a connection or still feel a connection. >> yes. >> what is that connection? >> i want to know what happened to my dad. whether he lives or dies, how? >> reporter: as north korea's new leader, kim jong-um mourns the death of his father, lee hopes he works towards open towards north korean democracies. >> there must be change, but we

don't know if the change is worse or better. hopefully the young leader. >> reporter: now retired at 76, lee says south crea and the united states also have a responsibility to promote peace. >> we have to give them confidence or trust that we are not taking you. we support you and work together for the better world. >> reporter: perhaps lee hopes that will lead to answers about his father. >> i want to know what happened to him. >> reporter: casey wian, cnn, roland heights, california. >> later today, police are expected to release the names of the seven family members found shot to death in a suburban dallas apartment on christmas day. there are reports that the gunman, dressed as santa claus, may have been related to the family by marriage. police are investigating whether a divorce may have played a part in the shooting. police in detroit have uncovered new details in the disturbing case of four dead bodies found stuffed in abandon

cars. three of the victims are now linked to ads for adult dating services posted on backpage.com. all of the victims are black women in their 20s. two were found christmas day inside a burning car. the other two were discovered less than a week before in a car outside of the vacant homes. developments in the penn state child sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky's wife, dotty, expressed concerns about her husband's behavior long before a grand jury investigation was launched. that is according to family friend jeff buyers. buyers telling cnn contributor that dotty sandusky feared he had boundy issues that could lead to accusations against him. a $30,000 reward for a missing toddler from maine about any information about ayla reynolds. she was last seen in her bed just days before christmas. they're confident the little

girl was abducted. our deb feyerick reports. >> reporter: it's friday night, december 16ths. 20-month-old ayla reynolds is ready for bed, wearing her green polka dots pajamas with daddy's princess on the front. her father puts her to sleep. the last time he saw his daughter. the next morning, ayla was gone. vanished some time during the night. caring for baby ayla for weeks after her mother checked herself into a then-day rehab program. after completing rehab, reynolds filed court papers to regain custody of her daughter. the papers were filed the day before ayla was last seen. police say both parents are fully cooperating in the case and say they have no suspects yet. but they are certain ayla was taken from her home on that friday night. >> we believe that someone was involved in taking her out of the house and that's where the

focus of this investigation has turned. >> reporter: two days after ayla's disappearance, trysta reynolds tells various media outlets, including hln's nancy grace that she worried her daughter was not safe with her father. the day after ayla's mother gives these interviews, justin writes a letter to law enforcement. he says he has no idea what happened to his daughter, nor does he know who is responsible for her disappearance. adding, "i will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until police have been able to prove who is responsible for this." meanwhile, the search for ayla widens. police received nearly 200 tips. civilian volunteers join state, local and federal authorities in over 80 searches of the area, including a nearby river, a pond and several hiking trails. cadaver dogs are brought in. still, no sign of the missing girl. >> is she okay? is she laying somewhere dead? is she safe?

is she cold? is she being fed? is someone watching her? >> bring her home. just bring her home to us. i want my baby home. i want her home. >> reporter: and on christmas day, prayers instead of presents for ayla. it's been over a week since the blonde hair, blue eyed toddler was last seen. in these cases, time is the enemy. the police continue their search hoping a new $30,000 reward will bring them closer to finding little ayla. deborah feyerick, cnn, new york. coming up, something i'm really looking forward to. we're going to be looking back on some of the most powerful and iconic images of 2011. what photos best captured the photos that mattered most. tense moments in the situation room on the raid on osama bin

laden's compond or something lighter. was it the royal couple and that gorgeous wedding dress? we'll talk about it with the founder of one of the biggest photo agencies in the world, next. it's 37 minutes after the hour.

8:39.

time to wake up, atlanta, georgia, where it is cloudy and 46 degrees. high winds expected there later with a high of 49. welcome back. the power of photographs that capture our most memorable moments. moments of fear, love, life and laughter. right now we want to relive some of the most powerful moments of 2011 through the year's best images and here to talk about that is jonathan klein. the co-founder of getty images. one of the largest stock photos in the world. thank you for joining us. good morning. one of the biggest stories this year, of course, was the arab spring that led to the fall of moammar gadhafi and forced hosni mubarak to step down in egypt. two photos you selected as some of the best of 2011. the first one is from egypt and it's a compelling one. it is from egypt. i want to talk about it. >> yes, absolutely. good morning. that photo was taken by one of our long-term and great staff photographers who was

unfortunately killed by progadhafi forces in libya. but chris took that photo and chris has been in many, many war zones and he said he never imagined that he would be charged by a man on a camel and it shows you quite how unusual and unexpected the arab spring was and then moved across the region. very powerful photo and i think it captures the energy and, as i said a moment ago, the very unusual nature of the events. >> that's right. i think a lot of people were struck by people riding camels through the streets of tahrir square. it was really remarkable. meanwhile, the other photo that was taken by the same photographer, who, you mentioned, died in the crossfire in libya. was taken just about a week before he died in libya. this image also became instantly iconic and it was on the cover of "washington the post" and other publications all over the world, really. a rebel rocket launch. talk about this photo.

>> it says a lot of things. these photo journalists get way too close to the action. they take all the precautions, but they have to be very, very close. and, as you can see, chris was right in the middle of it. i think media image also captures almost the fire behind it. behind the whole arab spring. they seem to be so much pent up emotion and people were getting their hands on whatever weapons they could to take on long-term repressive regimes and in the case of, of course, both egypt and libya, proved successful in removing dictators who would be in power for a very long time. i think the photo has a lot of energy. i like the colors in it and it shows, to me, what a revolt looks like. and it comes across very well. >> one of the things, we have the photo up right now. one of the things you're able to do at getty is really get places and get inside places that

americans can't get inside of. like the situation room of the white house and this one, i remember seeing this for the first time and it just took my breath away. it is the moments that led to the death of osama bin laden and it was taken, you see, secretary of state hillary clinton. this photo did become instantly iconic. you see barack obama and joe biden there. you know, you do sort of look at this and you wonder what is going through the minds of all these people, don't you? >> well, you look at their faces and, as you said a moment ago, there is no way we can get into "the s the situation room, ever, yet alone at such a key moment. the white house photographer allowed pete suzza to be in there with them and at that point in time pete was the last thing they were thinking about. you look at everybody's faces in there and it's become the image of getting osama bin laden after

a decade, largely because we don't have any others. of course, had there been images of the burial at sea or the body or anything around the compound in realtime, those might have become the images of that moment. but this one in the situation room will always be the moment we got osama bin laden. >> so, instantly iconic that it's been parodied all over the place. meanwhile, this year, also, saw a lot of devastating natural disasters. obviously, one of them being joplin, missouri. and one photo here, i find so poignant and really incredible, do you know the story behind this photo? >> well, that case we had long-time photographer who had just come back from libya and he spent some time over there and it's really harks back to two very famous photos. flag at iwojimi and the flag

after 9/11, and i think it shows people in the midst of devastation turn to symbols and emotions where they feel they can get some strength and accomplish. >> also that people are resilient. >> the resilience is extraordinary. over 130 people died at joplin and people carried on. it was a dreadful year for natural disasters. and there were earthquakes in new zealand and the tsunami and the earthquake in japan. people have forgotten about some of these other events, which were all over the world. australia, too, suffered natural disasters seem to hit pretty much every month during the first half of the year. >> they did. >> and that was a very powerful moment. >> we want to end with something a little bit more uplifting and what is more uplifting than the royal wedding? probably the most uplifting story of the year. look at that photo there of prince william and his bride,

catherine. i mean, one look at that dress and it kind of says it all. it was the dress that the world was waiting to see. and the world didn't seem to be disappointed with the dress, the bride or the groom or frankly the wedding. for us to cover the wedding was a massive logistical exercise. we had about 100 photographers. we had to make sure we got the iconic images. one we're showing now and another one was the kiss. he didn't kiss her for long enough, so the photographers really had to be very, very ready. >> no do over on that, is there? >> no do over. you can shout as much as you want to the balcony, do it again and he either will or won't. we were very pleased to get those images. also extraordinary in the amount of interest. it was the most watched television event, perhaps ever. you would know better than i and the story keeps running. i think i bury pick up a magazine these days without kate

or her sister on the cover. it's a lovely story and it's nice story to end. >> it may have brought, that's right, they brought renewed interest to the royal family and lots of warm feelings towards the royal family because of that wedding. so, it was extraordinary and 100 photographers covering it, just incredible. just goes to show you what getty has in terms of an operation. jonathan klein, i thank you for joining us. happy holidays. >> and to you. i'm most welcome. >> thank you. thank you for bringing us those iconic images from the last year. your morning headlines are next. 47 minutes after the hour.rder online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh,

oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world.

♪ 49 minutes after the hour. here are your morning headlines. protests swelling in syria as we speak. tens of thousands are marching in the city of homs. police reportedly firing tear gas at them. they are demanding international help as arab league monitors head to the scene today. 42 people were killed in homs alone yesterday. the funeral for kim jong-il will take place in north korea with a memorial service planned for wednesday. pyongyang state media has given no other detail about the event. looks like the final trading week of 2011 will get off to a sluggish start. dow and s&p 500 futures are down right now and nasdaq futures are

trading slightly higher. nine people arrested in minnesota for a brawl at the mall of america. dozens of teens fighting in a food court and then swarming from store to store. no shoppers were hurt. one week to go before the iowa caucuses and ron paul, newt gingrich and mitt romney are in a tie. tuesday the first true test, one week from today, 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. saints quarterback drew brees now owns the nfl record for the most passing yards in a season. he passed dan marino last night as they clobbered the atlanta falcons. brees has 5,000 passing yards.

welcome back. a developing story now about substandard breast implants sold to nearly 1,000 women in the netherlands. these dangerous implants now remain by a defunked french company and sold under a different name. now, health officials are fearing that it could actually affect 300,000 women worldwide. the implants are filled with an industrial grade silicone instead of a surgical silicone and that means those implant are more likely to rupture or leak. prince philip released from hospital overnight. a palace spokeswoman says he's in good spirits and he is joining his family where they typically spend christmas. he's 90 years old. looks pretty good for 90.

>> they'll be able to enjoy new year's now with the family. that will be great. on human factor, one came home from iraq and one afghanistan both overcoming trauma and find unexpected support in one another. but there is a huge twist here. sanjay gupta has the story of a soldier and his best friend. >> reporter: the story begins a long time ago with a boy and his mother. >> you never expect to have a child and send them to war. >> reporter: the boy becomes a man and then comes 9/11 and the army is calling his name. >> i do remember crying, pleading, begging then it got to the point where you have to support what they want to do. >> reporter: jeff rolled through baghdad in 2003. he did two tours of duty, fighting in the desert. when he comes home, there are violent outbursts.

heavy drinking, a stay in rehab and, finally, a diagnosis. severe post traumatic stress disorder. >> i never left my room. drinking the entire time i was awake. so, there wasn't a whole lot there. >> reporter: but here it gets better. you see, this story has a girl. jeff gets involved with a group called paws for vets and he meets tazzie. she had been picked up running wild in afghanistan. she was a psychological wreck. >> there's six to eight guys and probably eight dogs. the first thing that she did was find a corner and get as far into that corner as she could. i could sit here and pet a dog all day. >> reporter: as you could see, in nine months, tazzie has come a long way. jeff, too. it's obvious he's still on edge, but tazzie makes his life

easier. when the dark thoughts start to cascade, tazzie is there to stem the flow. >> it will be something just as simple as her coming over to me and whatever else may be going through my mind, just, you know, gets knocked down a notch or two. >> reporter: it may not sound like much, but with tazzie, jeff gets out of the house. even to public events like this one with paws for vets. >> you think about all that modern medicine has to offer and in jeff's case, it wasn't enough, it sounds like. >> right. >> but then this dog comes into his life and seems to help a lot. >> oh, more than a lot. she has saved him. she absolutely has -- >> you believe that? >> absolutely know that she has saved him. >> you done showing off? >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, brazelton, georgia. >> great story.

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perfeblthfect. let's get the party started. get out of bed. i am usually sympathetic. it is almost 9:00 in the morning. you will miss whatever sunny is left because it is going to be rainy and breezy. >> i hope there is no rain today, but it will probably happen. >> the weather gods aren't supporting you. this saturday as ali mentioned is new year's eve. are your plans set yet? why not grab a bottle of champagne and pull up a chair because the big party kicks off this saturday night right here on cnn. our anderson cooper and cathy griffin back at it. they'll, again, be cohosting live from times square. get ready cnn