night at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. unfortunately that wraps things up for "sgmd." join the conversation on twitter at sanjay gupta, cnn. hope to see you back here next weekend. tore to get are your top stories in the "cnn newsroom." it's going to be hilarious. stay home. deep on cnn.

stay with us. the countdown to the republican caucuses. the first contest over who will face president obama in november. we'll take you live to des moines. and a corporation bows to public pressure. verizon convenience fee, fuhgedaboudit. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we start with iowa and the republican presidential race. there are just three days now until the first votes are cast, which means plenty of action this weekend in places like goblin goat and bloomers. a taste of what potential voters are hearing. >> we are just a few days, you know, before, before an important election. some people say, why does iowa have so much clout? it's a small state, and it has such great meaning, because it's sending a message around the country. >> a week ago we in last place. so right now people are thinking --

>> my whole emphasis on brain science coming in directly from dealing -- see that ambush, dealing with the real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> i'm in a good mood this morning. i feeling happy and upbeat. i love being with mitt, but let me tell you, you people disappoint me on tuesday -- you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back jersey-style, people. i will be back. >> that, of course, is new jersey governor chris christie. a lot of folks hoping he'd be in the running there. cnn political reporter has been following all the action and joins us now from des moines. so where are the candidates today? >> reporter: yeah. i mean who would want to be anyplace other than iowa? the party seems to be here, politically speaking. not all the candidates are here.

who's in new hampshire this morning. mitt romney and jon huntsman. we know jon huntsman has been staking most of his candidacy on doing well in new hampshire. so he's there, and mitt romney is there as well. but back here in iowa, you've got michele bachmann, rick santorum, rick perry, newt gingrich and guess who else? mitt romney. i just mentioned. he's in new hampshire this morning. he's going to be in two cities near iowa here this evening. it's pretty much because all of the candidates know that the stakes are high. just a few days before the caucuses. and mitt romney himself said he really want to do well here in this state. >> he came in second, i believe, in 2008, but, you know, a lot of times they split, iowa and new hampshire. you had had bush winning iowa. reagan winning new hampshire but both clearly very important in narrowing out the field. i saw that video earlier. newt gingrich is choking up, talking about his mom. has anything like that happened to other candidates? >> reporter: yeah.

very tender moment for newt gingrich as he was talking about her mom, her ar before he died in 2003. similar moment for mitt romney. take a listen what happened yesterday in new hampshire. >> my mom and dad were extraordinary people, and they both left this life and moved n on, and, you know--i won't cry. no, i won't. but die bp i do. nothing to be ashamed of in that regard. >> reporter: now, was that a subtle dig at newt gingrich? we want to be clear to viewers, someone in the crowd shouted out, don't cry to mitt romney as he was talking about his parents, but it's maybe being interpreted, was it a subtle dig at newt gingrich? was it not? you heard in the sound bite, mitt romney was very quick to say, i do cry. it's nothing to be ashamed of.

>> you'd have to be pretty callous. anybody has a parent lost, you lose one, you get choked up. i can't criticize anybody there. we'll be able to watch the gop presidential candidates offer closing arguments uninterrupted. not just the sound bites. they're great and all that, but you don't get a sense of what's really going on. what they really believe pup will. you'll hear their own words, the contenders, 2012, today and tomorrow, both times, 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. and then tomorrow night, join anderson cooper and kathy griffin -- sorry. anderson cooper for a last push of the iowa votes. take a look at that. countdown to iowa. the final 48 hours. i was thinking about tonight, of course when anderson is partying in times square with kathy griffin. 11:00 here on cnn. now, move to the international headlines this morning. kim jong-il's funeral is over.

his son, kim jong-un, officially running north korea's military. supreme command was actually transferred in october. north korean officials say the change in leadership will not change relations with south korea. they are reportedly upset that only a few south koreans were aloud to attend kim jong-il's funeral earlier this week. yep. sounds like that peace agreement in syria is working out. no. i am, of course, being facetious here. those are the shots you hear in syria. thousands of syrians taking to the streets. more anti-government protests. the shooting continues. opposition leaders say as many as 35 people were killed yesterday during massive protests, and get this. this is going on as the arab league monitors are there, on the ground right now, determining whether the government is adhering to the agreement to pull its forces from the streets and stop the violence. the u.n. says more than 5,000 people have been killed since the uprising against

president bashar al assad began last march. iran's navy conducting military exercises in the persian gulf this weekend near the strait of hormuz. that strait is a major gateway for oil shipments to the rest of the world. the united arab emirates sits just across from the strait of iran and the pentagon announced a $3.5 billion deal to sell anti-missile defense systems to the uae. they're planning to test a long-range missile in the next few days. a cyclone that roared ashore in eastern india killed at least 19 people. meteorologist reynolds wolf is here with more. >> what a mess. a horrible situation. our viewers wondering when the cyclone happens, same as a hurricane. just the location is different. a hurricane in the atlantic is called a hurricane. gulf of mexico, same thing. in the western pacific, it is called a typhoon, but in the indian ocean, a cyclone. this cyclone made its way

onshore. devastation, a video. again, 19 people lost their lives. the situation with this is that it will become to weaken in terms of the winds. the winds will die down. the problem we'll face, increased precipitation. a lot of rain expect the. some places well over a foot of rain. this is inclined, it normally deals with rain, especially monsoon season, but this great amount that falls in a rapid time the result is always going to be flooding. yes, i would not be surprised unfortunately to see that death toll climb in the coming days, hours and possibly week. the other big story we've been following arranged parts of the pacific, close to the pacific, of course in alaska. that has to do with, of course, the big threat from yesterday. we had originally the possibility of an eruption we believe in parts of alaska. the threat dropped. it's a yellow warning at this point. a little bit of a plume coming out of this actual cinder cone. you see it here. not unusual to see volcanoes in parts of alaska pup may think

it's an odd thing. it's not. one of the seismic areas around the climate. and over towards parts of japan even, all part of the pacific ring of fire. not unusual. we'll watch it carefully. should be interesting to say the very least. >> and we'll chat with you later on the forecast for today's festivities. football and otherwise. >> absolutely. you bet. >> thank you. somebody stole a monkey from the san francisco zoo. the case of banana sam, as we continue next. later, he plays for the new york mets and wants to climb kilimanjaro to raise money. the team says you get hurt, your $4 million contract is kaput. joining us live to find out whether he will climb or not. and australia's just rang in the new year. we'll show you where everyone else is partying right now, because it is 2012 in many areas of the world. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins.

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chase. that woman faces attempted murder and criminal mischief charges after police were calmed to stop this very strange ride. officers fired shots, laid down spike strips, all in an attempt to stop her. no luck, though. finally, they boxed her in with their car, busted out the window and grabbed her, but only after she tried running them down. in pennsylvania a sinkhole is causing massive headaches for about two dozen families. >> a close-knit block to see all of your neighbors distressed, it's upsetting. >> this water main contributed to mass erosion. two homes will likely have to be torn down. 17-year-old banana sam is missing. >> oh. that is so sad. >> banana sam is 12 inches tall and weighs about two pounds. she is a squirrel monkey, stolen from the san francisco zoo. >> i just think it's terrible.

>> reporter: surveillance camera didn't capture anything, but can you follow all the monkey business on twitter. happy new year, everyone. 2012 will no doubt be a make or break year for president obama as he tries to keep his job. a big part of his challenge, making sure the new year brings more jobs for unemployed american. he said it will take everyone working together. >> there's no doubt that 2012 will bring even more change, and as we head into the new year, i'm hopeful that we have what it takes to face that change and come out even stronger, to grow our economy, create more jobs and strengthen the middle class. i'm hopeful because of what we saw right before christmas. when members of congress came together to prevent a tax hike for 160 million americans. >> well, we certainly are hoping that new jobs come with the new year. right now, of course, there's a lot of celebrations around.

just, i think it's very hopeful. everybody is excited about the new year and what it will bring. josh levs is here. >> what we're feeling today. one place in the world that gives times square a run for its money as having the most spectacular new year's eve celebration. it's sydney, australia. amazing what they do there. >> it is. all the lights, crowds, music. >> straight to it. take a look at it. we lost it? oh, just seeing it before. >> lost it? gone? >> apparently lost it. >> i'm going home. >> no. there it is. this is the sydney spectacular. look at this. let me tell you about it while we're watching. they put 15 months of planning into this, 7 tons of pyrotechnic explosives including 11,000 aerial shells, 25,000 shooting comets all being fired from 130 points along the sydney harbor bridge. you got seven barges and the rooftops of seven buildings. they do this and e.d. finding

this interesting. the first time this year the sydney new year's eve sell sbrags doing it all australian sound track. >> good. priscilla queen of the desert and -- >> okay. i was thinking, olivia newton-john and like the bee gees. kiley manon, maybe. >> good music track. i'm not sure about olivia newton-john. love her, but -- >> she's got some good stuff. >> those speciedos. >> absolutely beautiful. >> you know some songs? >> i don't want to fake it. >> you start dancing. >> i can't help it. more video to get me out of this. very beautiful. sky tower. not the best weather but it went nicely. one more place -- yeah, there you go. off to new zealand. auckland and one more place to

mention, interesting, in case you haven't heard about this. going on in samoa. decided to skip a day. now called samoa, it's now at the front of the international dateline instead of at the end of the international date line. they used to have one of last new year's celebration, now one of the first in the world. >> they can just do that? >> they voted to do it. they do a lot of business with australia. they were losing. made the choice to jump ahead. you can just do that, apparently. is allowed. happy new year to folks everywhere. celebrating happy new year. tweet us. the information on facebook, we'll share later. >> all i have a olivia newton-john songs going on in my head. ♪ grease is the word times square. a look from new york where hundreds of thousands of people will fill the streets there. more than a million expected, a billion, i guess, now on tv.

a million on the streets. anderson cooper will be there along with comedian kathy griffin hosting the cnn special new year's eve special starts at 11:00 tonight. tell you what, that is a really fun show to wage. so if you are staying home, i think like many of us, that's what you should be watching. count it down. now, something happened in 2011 that's really never quite happened like this before. the u.s. was hit with one weather disaster after another. >> i would say 2011 was certainly a year for the record books. you know, deadly, destructive and relentless are the words we're using in the national weather service. >> so why was this year so deadly? and what is coming in 2012? that's next. let's go to vegas. alright, let's do it.

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deadly tornadoes damaging droughts and massive wildfires. 2011 are record breaking year for here in the u.s. in all, 650 people here were killed in different storms, and those storms cost more than $50 billion in property damage. so why was it so extreme? reynolds wolf is here to explain these destructive storms. what made them so destructive? we get tornadoes.

we get all this stuff each year, but this year was different. >> i know i'm going to sound like a real estate expect when i say this. it's all about location. every one of these big, major events in terms of the tornadoes took place in places that were relatively well populated. we're not talking about major metropolises -- can't say it. >> metropolises. >> thank you. my mouth stops. >> is that champagne you spilled? >> what was in the eggnog. seriously, tornadoes hit big communities. tuscaloosa, alabama, joplin. what happened, the timing -- >> it's still the scenes from the destruction there and the families there. ah. it chokes you up. >> the number one battlefield. trees, homes from the foundations almost wiped clean. a tremendous mess. the thing so weird about last year is every single season had some kind of catastrophic weather event, and it was just really insane. we're begin with what happened here in the wintertime. of course, record snowfall in parts of new york. a lot of people working overtime with snow blowers, using snow

shovels, trying to move as much. soon as you would move one scoop, more snow fell from the sky. in february, kept up. massive winter storms hit parts ever the midwest and northeast. incredible pictures of cars on lake shore drive in chicago that were basically stacked up motionless due to the incredible snow coming down. we have wind gusts actually tropical storm to hurricane force winds along michigan avenue in parts of chicago. on top of that, widespread power outages across parts of the midwest. fast forward into april. talk about it again. two deadly tornado outbreaks. 367 people killed. one of the bull's eye right near the camps, the university of alabama in tuscaloosa. missed the stadium. changed the lives of people in that community forever. they're still cleaning up parts of the community. insane's in may, the joplin tornadoes that killed 157 people. the deadliest single tornado on record and in mississippi, along the mississippi river. this story was the flooding. from, my goodness, all way from

memphis through the state of mississippi down into louisiana. widespread devastation. farmers lost crops. on top of that, the economy losing their crops for year certainly did not help matters whatsoever. just a destructive time. we go from the excess of rainfall to july where the year-long drought in texas hit its worst month. on top of it, parched landscape. wildfires. over 4 million acres burned. $50 billion worth of losses in terms of agriculture. in august, we shifted gears to the hurricane. hurricane irene, record flooding across the northeast, eastern seaboard. killed 43. billions of dollars in damages. october, it was snow time again. the target was mainly in the northeast. killed 13 people. left 1.6 million without power. many people in connecticut, you remember this, without power for weeks, almost a month in locations. it was basically weather taking people back to the stone age. >> taking them back to their parents' house. i know a lot of folk whose moved

out because they didn't have power for weeks. >> rendered helpless because of the elements, in this day and age, all of this technology, still at the mercy of mother nature. >> tempting to move back home. mom does your laundry. >> some good things. >> that's about it. why do you think 2011 was so bad? just coincidence? the trifecta of conditions, was there something else? >> for places like texas, the weird thing about that, we talked about that the tornadoes, but when it comes to texas, it was one of those years where you had different patterns out in, say, the gulf of mexico, even the atlantic. think about how many times in texas where you have a big tropical stham comes in, stops, drops tons of rain and widespread flooding back in the hill country. talking about towards -- >> the floods there, that drought killed -- we lost 200 of our chickens, because it got so hot, that there was nothing you could do. couldn't set up misting systems because the water was precious. didn't want your well to run dry. a lot of people -- crops. >> and all about the southern

plains. we're hoping this year we'll see a little shift. too early to say what's going to happen. >> thank you very much. you've got game forecast coming up. >> you keep bringing that up. >> i'm excited about this in respect have been phenomenal bowl games. this is the year. games i've been enjoying. >> so true. she knows what she's talking about. coming up, the nation's largest wireless provider changes course after customers said what? you want us to pay more? what 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. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. is all the wrapping a gift needs. wait a minute...i... [ laughs ]

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♪ wait till the sun shines nelly and the clouds go drifting by ♪ >> who says they're all about making money? you know who that is? that's not the barber shop, that's wall street. at the exchange singing out. one year over, the next about to begin and traders traditionally apparently belt out "wait till the sun shines nelly." something to do right before the end of the trading year. a tradition that's going ban several decades. keep your day jobs. not that i'd sing better, but keep your day job.

verizon is obviously hearing its customers now after announcing a new $ 2 paying for the privilege to pay your bill. the nation's largest wireless provider decided, not such a good idea. alison kosik has details. >> reporter: hi. putter in check mark in the win column for angry consumers and this battle, it didn't even last 24 hours. it began thursday afternoon when verizon wireless announced it would impose a $2 fee for every one-time payment made with a credit or debit card whether online or over the phone. this fee sparked immediate consumer outrage on twitter, on facebook, on blogs, and the outrage worked. by friday afternoon, verify rising wireless succumbed to pressure from consumers and a warning from the federal communications commission, and scrapped the fee. in a statement, verify rising wireless said at verizon we take great care to listen to our customers. based on their input we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take

advantage of the best and most efficient options eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time. verizon had said the fee was designed to cover its costs associated with credit card payments, and steer customers away from paying with a credit card add the last minute. customers could have avoided the $2 fee signing up is for automatic bill pay, paying with an electronic check, using a verizon gift card, or old style, putting a check in the mail. even though mows customers would not have been affected, the idea of paying a fee for privilege of paying a bill was enough to set customers off and they spoke out and they won. it's not the first time a company has bowed to pressure from consumers and it probably won't be the last. consumer backlash forced bank of america to retract a $5 debit card fee it tried to impose earlier this year, and outrage from netflix customers over the summer pushed the company to reverse its decision to split its online streaming and mail order services into separate

accounts. netflix kept its pricing the same and it cost them big time. now, no direct connection here, but i can't help but believe that the outrage we witnessed in the occupy movement around the country has encouraged soup cons to band together and protest what they see as unfair. the verizon wireless fee fight is another example of the growing power of u.s. consumers. especially when they take their case to the internet. >> thank you very much. coming up next, we are headed live to new york's times square with tens of thousands of people packing the streets tonight, ringing in 2012. a party review, next. the healing power of touch can be even more powerful. with precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving cream works quickly to activate sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals fast for relief you can feel precisely where you need it most.

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good morning. it is 33 minutes pafr tst the u. thank you for starting your day with us. checking top stories of the first votes in the republican presidential race basically three days away. the iowa caucuses. right now mitt romney, ron paul and a surging rick santorum are headlining the caucus field. a series of arson fires. 21 in all in a couple of hours. people in hollywood, california are are on edge. prompting police to post a $60,000 reward.

nearly all targeted cars and a few spread to nearby buildings. weren't of the worst arson sprees. and could your credit card information and passwords be on the internet? computer hackers say they released information on at least 1 million people who were on stratfor. targeting rich and powerful oppressor but will attack law enforcement tonight. that's right. get your popper, ready. that's going to spread here pretty soon. there it is, new zealand and happy new year there. this is auckland. it's already january 1, 2012. in new york city, police are beefing up security for tonight's big farewell party, but for many folks it's a chance to say good-bye to 2011. up to 1 million people are

expected to watch the ball drop tonight from times square. krn cnn's david joining us. how much planning goes into something that big? >> reporter: the short question, a lot. authorities say expected to be about 1 million people gathering here stretching occupant ut to park. you see police erected some of the first pens. one of 65 pens that will stretch all along this road. once you're in, you can't leave. no going for bathroom breaks. no coffee runs. nothing. you are locked in. no alcohol, no backpacks. authorities are being very strict. this is, of course, new york city is always a terrorist threat but also a big party. a ton of confetti set to be dumped once that ball drops. anderson cooper and kathy griffin ringing in the new year starting at about 11:00.

we spoke to the organizer of the world's biggest party to let us know exactly what goes into this whole process. >> what you see behind me, this is like organizing the super bowl half time show except you've got half a million people every day in a city alive all around you. it's so different from setting up in some empty stadium until the crowd comes in. the crowd is already here. the crowd is in your way. it's great, but it makes it a lot more complicated. >> reporter: now, of course, new york city, like i said, is a terrorist threat. so police have come out in force. about 10,000, part of that task force through the streets. plain clothes police officers, helicopters flying overhead with infrared cameras. you have manhole covers removed. you've got an armada the ships,d seeing fireworks takes place. a heavy security presence here in new york as always. we sat down with commissioner ray kelly to let us know exactly

what they plan to do and what they're concerned about. >> there are no specific threats. as i said, we operate under the assumption that we're at the top of the terrorist target list. we've had 14 attempts here, terrorist-type attacks. they've been thwarted. the combination of good work, nypd, our federal partners, and sheer luck, quite frankly. which we'll take every time. >> reporter: now, of course, it is a party. to give you a sense how diehard some of these revelers are, we spoke to a mother-daughter pair since 7:00 last night, but they're not here for the ball drop. they've got some bieber fever. they're here for justin bieber. he'll be performing tonight. also lady gaga is the mayor's special guest. pushing the button to drop the ball to ring in the new year at 11:59. >> not sure i'll be watching the

ball. i'll be watching to see what she's wearing. always something interesting. thanks so much. >> reporter: fair enough. it is time to say good-bye to 2011. what are your big plans? we have some. ring any the new year with anderson cooper and kathy griffin. the party starts at 11:00 eastern. vikings partying in scotland since yesterday. we'll tell you how some countries celebrate. pretty interesting, next. later on. he plays for the new york mets and want to climb mount kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. the team says, you get hurt, your contract is gone. joining us live to tell us, will he or won't he? ♪ how about now? nope. ♪ [ dog barking ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the chevy silverado. ♪ [ male announcer ] with best-in-class 4x4

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squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. folks around the world gearing up for new year's eve celebrations but already ringing in the new year in new zealand and other western countries. joining me for "morning passport" to share some of the traditions and festivities. >> scotland first. in scotland, quite right, they celebrate and do this by dressing up as vikings, and they celebrate their viking ancestry. as you can see -- >> manly men. >> exactly. they literally make a river of fire with their torches, and this is a four-day celebration. hundreds of thousands of people gather and celebrate this in

schoolland. then scotland. this is the one celebration i would like to be at. the beaches of brazil. we'll take to you copacabana beach in rio de janeiro and hear the fireworks. everybody dresses in white. the idea, to bring in a very peaceful new year, and they light candles and pay homage to the goddess of the sea. >> listening to bar manilow songs. i love it. "copacabana." >> on the exact strike the midnight, everybody gets together. they will have their grapes. some uncover their grapes. >> peel their grapes? >> that's the word. >> who peels grapes? >> some peel grapes, it's taken very seriously and on the strike of midnight, the idea is you have to see how many grapes you can eat in the 12 strikes of the clock. so are you ready --

>> we did this about an hour ago and we tied. we got ten down each. like that hot dog guy, i've been practicing. i spent all of the commercial breaks practicing. >> okay. >> are you ready? >> i'm taking you on. >> let's go for. p tell me when we're ready. one shgs tw, two, three -- >> go! [ bell ] . >> how much do you have left in your mouth, though? you got a lot. >> chipmunk teeth. only a half one. >> as we say -- oh, as people say in japan, happy new year, [ speaking in foreign language ] and you say -- >> thanks. >> had you a brilliant one. you said earlier some somewhere -- [ speaking in foreign language ]. >> happy new year. [ speaking in foreign language ] or just simply [ speaking in foreign language ]. >> clearly you didn't go to a

public university. i did. i don't speak all that stuff. thank you very much, though. the man who tried to shake down david letterman has a new job. when everybody else is having difficulty finding a job, this guy's got one. we'll tell you who hired him, just ahead. plus, new crowds lining up to see the latest "harry potter" film. a lot of other movies weren't too popular. 2011, a big disappointment at the box office. why? that's coming up.

checking your entertainment headlines, 2011 not at good year at the box office. attendance hit a 16-year low. the hollywood reporter said only about 1.2al billion went to the

movies. lowest numbers since 1995. some films like tom cruise's "mission: impossible" drew in the crowds. hoop paying that much money to go to a movie when you can rent a movie! drop the price, we'll come. the news producer who tried to extort millions from late-night host david letterman has a new job. "on the case with paula zahn." served four months behind bars pleading guilty to trying to blackmail letterman. i thought it might last, but, no. katy perry, russell brand, so funny. they're calling it quits. pop star and british ka median citing irreconcilable differences. doesn't everybody? tied the knot in india in october of last year. ♪ at last

my love has come along ♪ >> you know, between patsy, ella and etta, i don't know which one's bet. but go have good news about etta james. representatives saying the 73-year-old singer is now breathing on her own. she has been taken off a respirator and remains in a california hospital, according to one report. james is battling leukemia and dementia and, yeah, who doesn't love that song? gosh, they don't make voices like that. ♪ like a song >> oh. well, best of luck to her, and good health in the new year. a former pro wrestling now calling it quits. it seems his turn at ultimate fighting didn't end so well. and so now, i go backened forth. a former pro. came back, now he says, not doing it. hanging up the gloves for good. three, two, one --

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time for a little sports action. forget the iowa caucuses. both the iowa hawkeyes and cyclones in action. watching that iowa state game, i wanted them to win. what caught your eye?

>> ate of things caught my eye. the great thing about this time of year. a lot of people taking time off work. in terms of the sports world, things ramp up. >> great. >> it's a weird combination. things get ramped up, at the same time able to sit back, relax and take in all the beauty and splendor. a lot of, we're going to get to the bowls coming up in a moment. as you know, say this selfishly, my auburn tigers. >> suspended, how will you do? >> i feel so bad about that. very bad. michael diyer, we're not talkin about violation. this is my facial expression. get it on camera three. there you go. sad face. that's how i'm feeling. talking about the auburn tigers. talk about something eggs. ultimate fighting. brock lesnar used to be a champion. a pro wrestler. the man needs to find something else because he got beaten up, losing in 30 seconds during his big ufc fight last night.

afterwards retired. the guy that beat him was fighting in his very first ufc bout. not a bad arrangement. not saying the fight was arranged. you step in, make a statement immediately. he made a statement with his left fist, right fist, knee, everything. it was bad. brock lesnar was probably ufc's biggest star in pay per view draw. this the end of his career. en can good for him or them for that matter. you want to talk about the pigskin. talk pigskin. the iowa hawkeyes and oklahoma sooners happen to be there, too. sooners all over the place. especially the end zone. the bowl in tempe, arizona. oklahoma jumped out to a 21-point lead and hold on, iowa tried to mount a comeback. this was really a down season of teams. be honest, oklahoma left to texas tech earlier in the season. former tiger guy, we love you, at least this ends on a high note for oklahoma you and i know you're a huge sooner fan.

>> yeah. >> it could have been worse. check this out. this thing pushed across the field. yeah. not one of the running backs. a big camera that passes over the cool, amazing shots. it did not like it high above, it fell and just missed iowa receiver mcknight jr. not senior, jr. >> one blows up the other, it blows apart. >> it sure does. like one of those murderous, nasty transformers out to get a defensive back maybe even a quarterback. thankfully missed everybody. good news. >> ate of games. houston, el paso, memphis, san francisco, san francisco. >> right to the forecast. let's check it out. first, northwestern and texas a&m, in houston. 67 degrees. winds southeast at 10 miles an hour. if we can get my clicker. i can't get it to advance. hopefully the weather producer is here so we can advance the screen. brent, my main man.

how about it? fight hunger bowl, because you can't fight hunger with that. and ucla and bruins. >> taking ucla. everyone else illinois. >> what about the hyundai bowl? >> i take tech. yell jackets, go. >> 64 degrees. >> great rushing. held in beautiful el paso, texas. sun bowl. gra great location. >> vandy, all over it. how exciting for them? they haven't been in many bowl games. face it. >> telling you, the way the schedule is set up for them next year they may be back. easy year for them. and round out here. the love. virginia, auburn chick-fil-a bowl. >> turn it into a smile. good times. >> i like auburn, but -- hate when you got bowl game up, behave. they know the rules. stick to them. good lord, it's not that tough. >> still keeping my mouth shut.

>> still taking auburn? >> i am. absolutely. >> turn to a different game. the political game. just three days away from starting. talking about the iowa caucuses, of course. live in des moines in just a few minutes. plus -- president obama looking ahead to 2012. what it means for those still looking for a job as he tries to keep his own. [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift, shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time.

see your lexus dealer. [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

welcome back. we're taking a live look at hampton, new hampshire. anyone in the crowd look familiar? soon there will be. mitt romney will be there. more with, it's called "breakfast with mitt." he's going to show up. our cnn reporter will join us, tell us what's going on. romney will try to jump from new hampshire to iowa, perhaps later today. looks very festive there. doesn't it? all the lights. so getting ready in. meanwhile, the economy and battles on capitol hill have dominated the discussions in washington this year, but president obama, there has been a completely different narrative when it comes to the international stage. cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin takes a look. >> reporter: 2011 brought some foreign policy successes for president obama.

the hunt for bin laden came to a close. >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden. the leader of al qaeda. >> reporter: and an end to a controversial war, and a campaign promise kept. >> as promised, the rest of our troops in iraq will come home by the end of the year. after nearly nine years, america's war in iraq will be over. >> reporter: but since the december withdrawal, violence has rocked the country and critics have pounced. >> it is clear that this decision of a complete pullout of the united states troops from iraq was dictated by politics and not our national security interests. >> reporter: the same critics decry the president's plans to withdraw the 90,000 troops currently in afghanistan by the end of 2014 as well as his policy towards israel. a speech president obama gave in may prompted israeli prime

minister benjamin netanyahu to lecture president obama in the oval office. >> israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 laws. >> reporter: of course, 2011 was also the year of the arab spring. a democratic protest movement whose goals the president embraced. >> there must be no doubt that the united states of america welcomes change that advances self-determination and opportunity. >> reporter: in some case, the protests turned violent, in march president obama authorized u.s. planes to assist nato's military mission to protect the libyan people from moammar gadhafi. >> left unchecked we have every reason to believe he would commit atrocities against his people. >> reporter: military action mace a difference. months later gadhafi killed, his regime fell. the u.s. took a different approach when violence erupted in egypt and syria.

republicans reserved their sharpest criticism for the president's policy towards iran and some republican presidential candidates have described his posture towards enemies generally as appeasement. that word does not go over well at the white house. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda lead here's have been taken out of the field whether i engage in appeasement. >> reporter: in the year ahead, in are predictable challenges for the president. the uncertainty of a new regime in north korea. rising tensions with pakistan, and broad instability in the middle east. but, remember. it's often the unexpected foreign policy crisis that shapes a president's legacy. jessica yellin, cnn, washington. it is the top of the hour.

federal officials say no link to infants sickened. enfamil, feared it could be responsible for a death in missouri. the fda says, no. the enfamil is safe. unfortunately a lot of you have already thrown it out. you got it, continue using it. three, two, one -- happy new year! >> happy new year, sydney, australia. the city puts on an enormous fireworks display to welcome in the new year. and i think the only scheduled rival to that is times square with the big ball. preparations underway for the huge crowd expected for tonight's celebration. millions may be there. some have already staked out spots. security will be tight. you don't have to go there, though. you've got us. tune it in. 11:00 tonight. kathy griffin, anderson cooper. it's going to be great. we head to the news and

start with iowa and the republican presidential race. three days until the fir votes of cast. plenty of action in places like the giggle and go and bloomers. here's a taste of what potential voters are hearing there. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes indirectly from dealing -- see, i got ambushed. from dealing with the real problems of real people in my family, and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> i'm leer to tell you, you got a choice in this election for the presidency, and i'm this limited government conservative. i'm the only limited government conservative in this race that's going to give washington a complete overhaul. >> cnn political reporter shannon travis has been watching the action in iowa and joins us now from des moines. shannon, where are the candidates today? >> reporter: yeah. the sun is just beginning to

rise here in des moines, and a lot of the candidates rising if not already up and on the campaign trail. talk about who's here in iowa today. rick perry, rick santorum, newt gingrich and michele bachmann, but also interesting enough, mitt romney now. right now he's in new hampshire. we probably have pictures of a live event he's expected to come out and speak at shortly this morning, but tonight, later this evening, he'll be back here in iowa for two events. giving you a good sense of how high the stakes are just a few days before the iowa caucuses and one person we want to mention who's not in iowa this weekend, ron paul. ob ye obviously, one of the front-runners but took time off going back to texas. the texas congressman going back home to spend new years with his wife. can he afford that time off the campaign trail with the numbers so close is anyone's guess? he went home for christmas. back again for new year's. off the campaign trail but will be back with his son on monday,

kentucky senator rand paul, campaigning on monday near iowa. >> that's his problem, though. he's normal. you go home for christmas with your family, when there's an election? no. i don't know. an uphill battle for sure, but i kind of like people being normal. earlier you showed newt gingrich choking up talking about his mom. something happened with mitt romney also. what was that? >> reporter: yeah. that was a powerful moment for newt gingrich, when he was talking about his mom. his mom's death in 2003. she suffered from bipolar disease and depression. sort of a similar moment last night for mitt romney as he was talking about his parents. let's take a listen. >> -- extraordinary people, and they both left this life and moved on and you know -- i won't cry. no, i won't, but i do -- i do, and that's nothing to be ashamed of in that regard. >> reporter: now, you may have heard, actually, in that moment

there someone in the crowd, as mitt romney was talking about his parents, someone shouted out, don't cry. now, it's unclear if the person who was shouting that out or if mitt romney was referencing newt gingrich crying just a few hours earlier in the day, here in iowa, but as you heard, mitt romney say, you know, it's nothing wrong with crying. we all do sometimes when we have those moments. >> take a look. new hampshire live right now. mitt showing up in the room. yeah, pop it up. there is mitt romney coming in. a lot of hugging and kissing. when he talked about crying you know, whether that was a dig at newt or not, a lot of things you can say about romney. but i think he's a nice guy. we all get emotional talking about our parents. >> reporter: absolutely. >> yeah. they're excited there. beautiful scene. he was up there, not that long ago. i have a daughter up in school in new hampshire.

she went to one of those events to get in the political process. it's kind of fun. students definitely up there definitely get very involved with this, and i'm not sure if we can stay on this or not, but taking off his jacket there. that was saying, he had this image of being so buttoned up. you've seen a lot of the places he's gone he's taken the jacket off and just looking a little more -- a little less made up. anyway, shannon, thank you very much. the iowa caucuses are the first test for the republican candidates. and a fair stigs and a community center and the courthouse basement in tipton, iowa. tens of thousands gather to cast caucus votes. here's how it works. as many as 150,000 registered republicans gather at caucus centers. less than 5% of the population in iowa, though. about 800 caucus sites, and then at 7:00 p.m. local time, the fun begins. the speeches, representatives can speak to themselves, sometimes they have folks coming

in and talk for them. anybody can do that, and then after that, in most places, they pass out little chips of paper and people can write down the name of the candidate that they want. and then those get handed in, they tally them up and then goes the phone calls made to the republican director and they tell them. here's who won. however, they are not bound by that, which is kind of interesting. and winners celebrate, losers, there's new hampshire. that's more important, and that continues. a monkey of all things stolen from the san francisco zoo. police are investigating. zookeepers worried. the public entertained by twitter account. sound strange? it is. we'll explain. [ screaming ] a soldier surprise you don't want to miss. that is coming up also.

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bear with me. i know you've seen this kind of scene before. i'll tell you, it's what it's all about. it just makes -- little goose bumps on your arm. take a look. [ scream ] >> i start choking up when i see that stuff. ah. sollier deployed in afghanistan since january surprises his son and daughter at choir practice in virginia. came home a month early, and obviously those little kids, so delighted. baked herad christmas cookies and planned to send them to her dad in afghanistan. instead, thank goodness, he is home to eat them. isn't that wonderful? great. cross-country now for these

stories. a police officer in grand rapids, michigan, saw a burning car and did not hesitate, you can see in his dashcam video. he rescued the man who was drunk and had fallen asleep at the wheel of his burning car. the driver wasn't hurt, but was charged with a second offense for dui. a member ever the flds, fund mentalist children, expelled bawd he had intercourse with his own wife. are we missing something there? no, you're not. that's right. from prison, sect leader warren jeffs forbids church members from having any you know what, while he's behind bars. jeff is serving 20 years for sexually assaulting his 12 and 15-year-old, quote/unquote, spiritual wives. weird stuff. police in arizona say the parents of these, of two small children, those ever the parents, put duct tape around their wrists ankles an mouths and posted them on facebook.

one picture showing the 2-year-old boy hanging upside down from a weight machine. share uf's deputies arrested them and hopefully those kids are in a safer place right now. in tampa, florida, a woman dragged alongside a car when a car drove up, somebody reached out to try to snatch her purse and she didn't let go. i mean, there are things worth fighting for. this is not worth that. you see what happened in the video. wound up with cuts and bruises. police are still looking for the car, though. and we are back now with meteorologist reynolds wolf. he has the information for a lot of you who are going to be traveling today. go and celebrate with folks, or go a bowl game. >> maybe so. or hold on to a nice purse. >> yeah. >> what was up with that? seriously? what was the time? what was the deal? had to be something special about it. >> here's the thing. you can replace the purse. >> yeah. >> i get, if it's -- a kid, or it's something else. it's the purse. let go. >> yeah.

go figure. you know, it's a -- to say, ridiculous. one thing that won't be ridiculous thankfully this new year's the weather in times square. do you want snow on christmas? a nice -- what are you looking for? >> you know what? this summer, i was in a pool, and i was like, oh, it's so cold. it dropped to 93 degrees. so obviously, i like warm weather. >> yeah. everything is relative. you'd be happy i think in new york tonight. spectacular. the live image looks pretty good. expecting clear skies. temperatures into the 40s. a bit breezy and feeling a little cooler. still, well above the freeze point. sensitive to the cold, don't like it like edi, you'll want to we're the scarf, parka, the whole nine yards. >> stay home. watch it on cnn. >> can't lose there. certainly. one thing around the country, backups. san francisco, san diego, backups. marine layer pesky. could give you a delay here and

there, under an hour, maybe as much as 45 minutes. denver, the wind. chicago, wind. backups. minneapolis, combination of the wind and a chance of rain and snow kicking into the afternoon hours. in terms of the heavy snow, heaviest in the northern plains and extreme northern minnesota at this time. something else we're see in the rockies, the very strong winds. some actually approaching hurricane or tropical storm force winds. the snow and highest elevations close to a foot in parts of idaho and into the big sky country. the wind, there it is for you. very, very strong. not just across the north and central rockies but into the central plains. texas once again. sunny for you along the gulf coast, chance of scattered showers. may see showers linger into central florida, otherwise, a mix of sun and clouds. southern california beautiful but, of course, the fog in san diego and san francisco could give you backup, pacific northwest, rain anticipated along the i-5 corridor. and expect a high and 70 high in dallas.

wrap it up in memphis, 6 6 degree, 47 in chicago. 63 atlanta. 5 2, high temperature in new york for the day. there you go. you're up to speed. >> stay right there. >> i'm not going anywhere. remember the cobra that escaped, created an anonymous site. missing from the zoo, banana sam, the monkey. they cut through the fence. they warned he isn't a pet and will bite. anyone guessed it. twitter account, tweeting about the misaddventuresmisadventures. missing monkey. someone is tweeting of his business. had ups and downs. one of the tweets. heading for something called the rain forest cafe. sounds promising. next one. arrived fisherman's wharf. people still wear fanny packs? considering going back to the zoo. next, do you know any stores in

san francisco that sell female squirrel monkeys? asking for a friend, of course. next one, i don't know what this four square thing is, but i'm definitely the mayor of tonga room right now. >> very nice. very nice. >> and still don't know where he is. he's still missing. >> you don't. you laugh about the tweets, but it's not a laughing matter. >> yeah, it is. absolutely. how can you go wrong way monkey tweeting? the greatest thing in the whorld world. >> it is. it's a monkey, sharp teeth. needs to be in the zoo for proper care. as far as the tweets, cut through the fence and made off with the monkey. you deserve a spanking. >> absolutely. i'm not putting those two together, but we're still missing the -- >> naughty people. >> it's cobra's gone, too. remember the cobra? >> yeah. >> they're tweeting together. >> that a like a crime-fighting duo that's gone horribly rye. >> they found the cobra? >> i think they did.

yeah. madagascar and came right back home. >> the more you know. amazing. coming up next, he plays for the new york mets and wants to climb mount kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. the mets warn if he takes that hike, his multimillion dollar contract could be gone. r.a. dickey joins us next to tell us his decision.   

welcome back to c"cnn saturday morning". you might recognize our next guest. here he is. r.a. dickey, pitcher with the new york mets. if you happen to be around his hometown of nashville, tennessee he might be harder to rorgz. here's why. he's running around town wearing this. it's a gas mask. it might sound and look a bit strange. almost like a darth vader gone horribly wrong. for a very, very good cause. next month this wonderful guy will attempt to climb mount kilimanjaro. the highest peak on the african continent. tall es free-standing mountain on earth. his goal, raise money and awareness for a charity. the cherry, teen challenge. joining me from nashville, r.a.,

plain and simple, the question i have, why in the world would you be doing this? >> well, you know, the interest is twofold. one was, i read the snows of kilimanjaro back in eighth grade and stuck with me. a mountain of that majesty, and kind of registered, filed it back in my brain. the opportune moment arose to try to trek up it this past year. so i've been planning for a year. what started as a personal pilgrimage transformed into a partnership with this chafrty and my wife and i are onboard to support a charity that can make a difference in the world. >> obviously, mt. everest, highest free standing mountain is kilimanjaro. what kind of training have you done to prepare for this climb? it certainly won't be easy. >> fortunately, it coincides with the way i train for spring training. the only caveat, i'm running

around town with a ridiculous mask all the time. at the same time, it's an oxygen deprivation mask and certain knobs to represent certain altitudes, give my body an idea of what it will be like. i'll be able to climb better. >> it may have effectiveness, i've heard it's causing neighbor dogs nightmares. tellis about that? >> i'll be running through the trailing at the percy warner park if a dog spots me, one of two reactions, one, lurch up my neck, take me down, the others run away as fast as they can. i've nerve her a dog come up and want to be petted while i've had the mask on, for sure. >>understandably so. as a human being i see you with that, i'm running in the other direction. the highest point in africa, we mentioned. going through jungle-like climate.

through a prairie. an air r arid region and snow at the top. martina navratilova couldn't make it. are you worried about the altitude? >> an inherent risk, but i've weighed those risks and made the determination that it's going to be a worthwhile time to go, and i'm not necessarily worried, because i feel like i've got my bravado in check enough, if i'm starting to have severe symptoms i'm going to stop and turn around. i'm not going to try to push through the symptoms. >> i've got to ask you. a lot of times at work people do things that don't make their bosses too happy. what about you? you still have a $4.5 million deal on your contract with the new york mets. how are they taking this decision for you to climb the mountain? happy or not too supportive? >> you know, i think the mets have been fantastic in my career, supporting me, and this is -- this case is a, kind of

particular in that, you know, 29 other teams would send the same letter that says, you know, we can't necessarily get behind you, because you're one of our assets. if you get hurt on the mountain. you know, obviously, we've supported something that has injured one of our staff and i completely understand that. logically i've weigh sd the risks and decided to go forward with this, but the mets sometimes get bad pubpublicity, the same time, i would have done the same thing and completely empathize. >> you have two other friends, major league baseball players going with you. correct? >> yeah. we have kevin slowey, who is a pitcher for the colorado rockies and a guy maimed dave rackenelo from the mets, bull pen catcher. we have the same belief, stopping human trafficking, what this challenge does in the red light district of mumbai. >> r.a. dickey, thank you for stopping by.

amazing story. best of luck to you, happy new year and thanks so much. >> thank you. going from r.a. to e.d. what do you think? >> certainly doing a great thing to help that cause. so -- i don't know. i wouldn't be doing it. i wouldn't make it. >> ah, come on. you could definitely do that. >> wouldn't make it. do you ever cringe when people say words like ginormous? one of those words on a list of those that should be banished. the most nominated word is next. . [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah

lol, omg what are you doing over there? >> i'm not sure -- looking at the words they're getting rid of. a bunch of words. >> michigan university, an annual list of words and phrasing that should be kicked out of the english language. >> the words became part of the lexicon. talking about, trying to get them shoved out. >> lake superior university puts it together. first one, man cave. do you have a man cave? >> kind of, sort of, not really at all, but sort of. >> i don't know if i want to you answer it it. anything ginormous? >> i have a ginormous man cave. there you go. >> and thank you in advance. thank you in advance. wh