you." you're welcome. hey, hank. [ male announcer ] life insurance you can use while you're still living. you are one lucky lady. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] learn more from your state farm agent today. hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. right to the news now. in the newsroom, this new year begins with more suspicious car fires in the los angeles area. officials said today the number of fires has risen to 39. someone or a group is torching vehicles and in some cases those fires spread to buildings and homes, including one once occupied by singer jim morrison of the doors. >> the acts we have seen over the last 72 hours here in these communities have kept these public safety professionals up at night and working tirelessly. since december 30th, the los angeles fire department alone has responded to over 3,000

calls for service in the city. >> police and fire officials are asking the public for information or surveillance video that may help them catch those responsible. a $60,000 reward is being offered in the case. and four republican presidential candidates left off the virginia primary ballot are joining rick perry by suing the state election board. they're disputing laws they say are unconstitutional. michele bachmann, jon huntsman, rick santorum and newt gingrich joined the suit yesterday. only mitt romney and ron paul are on the virginia ballot. and iranian scientists have reportedly produced and tested a nuclear fuel rod containing natural uranium. that's according to an announcement posted on iran's atomic energy agency website. if true, it is first time iran has progressed so far in its nuclear program. the state-run news service also said today the military test fired medium range anti-radar

missiles today. the arrival the new year did not ease tension on the streets in syria. an activist group says at least ten people died today in violent clashes between riot police and anti-government protester. that's despite the presence of an arab league monitoring mission. people filled public spaces across syria again today, optimistic that this year will mark the fall of president bashar al assad. a huge blow for the handful of owners of the high end hybrid vehicle known as fisker karma. the 239 vehicles on the road have been recalled because of a fire hazard under the hood. the maker fisker automotive wants to replace the batteries. this picture is of an older model. sticker prices start at about $100,000. in two days, first real test of the republican presidential candidates unfolds in iowa. ahead of tuesday's caucuses, the

des moines register's poll has rick santorum in third place behind mitt romney and ron paul in first and second. still, the poll shows a large number of iowa voters undecided. cnn's joe johns is live in atlantic, iowa, with the latest for us right now. so we know that mitt romney and ron paul have to feel pretty galvanized by the latest poll. >> i think so. it is pretty clear that mitt romney is feeling confident. he's no the saying he's going to win here in iowa, but he's expecting to do pretty well. the ron paul campaign certainly very confident too, fred, simply because they know their supporters are very reliable. they expect them to show up. they think their supporters are very fervent and so that makes the difference for them as well. but rick santorum is probably most interesting story happening here in iowa right now. and that's because he's surging.

if you look at that poll you referred to, he's in third place. it is all, you know, fairly tightly bunched, not within the statistical margin of error, fairly tightly bunched. if you look at just the last two days, he is closer to second, maybe one or two points out there. so this is a guy who has been all over this state, you know, he's been here about 100 different days in iowa. he's done something like 350 town halls here in iowa. and he's been to 99, all 99 counties this the state. so people know him and he's a pretty good fit for them as well because of his conservative views. and the way he talks to the voters is a way that they understand, if you will, a lot of social conservatives and evangelicals in this state vote in the iowa caucuses. so there is a lot of hope there, in their campaign, that the

surge means they're going to do very well and that they will in fact get one of the tickets out of here to move on and expect some real momentum going into, say, new hampshire and south carolina. >> and talk about hope, joe. michele bachmann is still talking that she is seeing victory because she says she won that iowa straw poll and despite what the polls are saying overnight, she still feels very confident that iowa is going to bode well for her. >> and, look, i mean, you can have surprises happen here in iowa. this is a very auto authoritative poll. it is very trustworthy and done by great people. that said, there are something like 41% of the people who are expected to go and vote say they could change their minds. so it is not written in stone that they're going to vote for the people who they are supporting at this moment.

four years ago, there is some suggestion that 17% of the caucusgoers actually decided who they were going to choose on the day of the caucuses. so there is room for, you know, some change here, and who knows what is going to happen at the end of the day. it depends a lot of times on the person who shows up and speaks for the individual candidate and, you know, things can happen at these caucuses that don't necessarily happen in a primary, so never say never for michele bachmann or anything else. >> exactly what she wants people to say, right? joe johns, thanks so much in atlantic, iowa. so let's talk more about why iowa is so pivotal in the republican race or is it? carol hunter joining me right now, so, carol, let's begin, you know, with your paper's polling showing a surge for rick santorum in third, mitt romney and ron paul leading one and two. how was that poll conducted?

>> well, we polled independents and republicans and asked if they're going to go to the precincts on caucus night. so it is a poll just of likely republican caucusgoers. we polled 602 individuals, so it is a big sample size. but, still, our pollster will tell you there are all sorts of factors that make polling for the caucuses very tricky. >> there are all sorts of factors that come into whether people show up for that caucus. we can see there, it is extremely windy. there have been some pretty severe winds throughout today. let's look at the forecast. what does tuesday hold and how might the big winds or cold temperatures impact who shows up for the caucuses? >> well, all of a sudden it feels like january in iowa. had some fairly warm weather, but now it does come down to getting those caucusgoers out on

tuesday night. the general rule of thumb is thought that if it is really bad weather, that ron paul might benefit because he has this very loyal group of followers. but you can bet that all of the campaigns are out making their final touches. we liked to have said that the final week here is the sprint. well, this day and caucus day is the launch. it is about touching caucusgoers, calling them, having another iowan call them, and ask them to get there on caucus night. >> we spoke earlier and you talked about how this caucus is one that traditionally whittles the field. is that still the feeling, that this will go as conventional wisdom has gone for iowa caucuses? >> yes, i think it is very tough if you fall out of that top three or especially four to go forward with much confidence. the money drys up for one thing. the money starts flowing to the

people who do the best. so as much as confidence as someone like a michele bachmann does express, and as they say, you don't rule anything out with a caucus until caucus night and the votes are counted, it is hard to foresee her doing well if she comes in sixth place. >> wow, all right. carol hunter, thanks so much for braving the conditions out there from the des moines register. all the best come tuesday for the big caucus day. a dangerous start to the new year. cars are being torched in the los angeles area. who is to blame and why? we talk live to the city's supervisor next. ♪ [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special

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a dangerous arson spree is sweeping the los angeles area. someone or a group is setting parked cars on fire. today city officials said the number of fires has risen to 39 since friday. but not just cars have burned, buildings and homes including one once occupied by singer jim morrison of the doors. >> in a general sense, most of the fires have started as a result of something that ignites, a vehicle fire next to a structure in certain cases. so we are seeing auto fires as one of the primary incendiary items that happens first. so that's what we're looking for. but that doesn't mean that's the only thing out there. just like we're keeping our eyes on these communities there is other communities out there that are watching for us. mostly it has been auto fires that have led or exposed on to

an apartment building. that's where there is a lot of our biggest threat. >> they are working on hundreds of clues, interviewing dozens of witnesses, picking up countless pieces of evidence and working together in a coordinated effort to try to solve this problem and work with the arson investigators who are our lead, to solve this problem and to catch this guy and put him in custody. >> a frightening situation. joining me now, los angeles county supervisor, ze zezeb zeb yurislovsky. is there surveillance video anywhere that might help you find a suspect or two? >> my understanding is there is a surveillance video. i don't know how much it helped. it can't hurt. there are a lot of leads being processed by the arson task force, made up of the county sheriff's office. they're going to catch this guy or these people. there is no question in my mind about it. it is a matter of time. and the sooner the better.

this guy now has been an arsonist, but if somebody gets hurt or killed, suddenly that becomes attempted murder or murder. this arsonist or arsonist would be well advised to knock it off and turn himself in because he's going to do some time, some very hard time. >> is there a common thread here, types of vehicles, the way in which they're parked, the types of neighborhoods? >> well, i don't want to get into any detail, i think it is common knowledge that the most common detail is that these cars are parked, most of them are parked in ground level parking garages with an apartment building that overhangs the garage. so they light the fire in the car and the flames then rise to the second floor and in several cases have engufld the apartment buildings involved. fortunately, no one has been hurt or killed to this point. but i think that's just a matter of luck. people are being very vigilant in the communities and communities in question are very dense communities, apartment houses. not a lot of room.

so the fire gets through the car and into the building and you're in a conflagration. people are being very vigilant and we're asking people to be vigilant. if they see any suspicious activity around a car or parking garage to call 911 immediately. and if anyone has any information that they want to share with law enforcement, the arson task force, to call 1-800-222-8477. it is 222-tips. they'll take your information anonymously and process it. again, i say i think they're making progress. and i have no doubt in my mind that the person or persons involved in this are going to be apprehended soon enough. >> okay. so one more time, that tip line, 1-800-222-8477. are there at least any eyewitnesss that have given you any general descriptions of who may be behind this? >> i'm not aware personally of that. but the arson task force i'm

sure is, i know is processing every lead. they have an unprecedented number of detective and investigators working on this now. the volume of calls from the fire department over the last 72 hours increased 17% over the same period last year. it gives you an idea of what the work load is. they're working 24 hours and they're going to break this case. these are the best in the business. >> all right. los angeles county supervisor, thank you so much for your time and all the best and best of luck in the investigation. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you too. from california to hawaii, the new year begins with new laws that could affect the way all of us vote. we'll highlight some of them next. and taking you to the biggest new year's festivities from new york and other cities around the world. that's coming up next.

you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today. nyquil tylenol: we are?ylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. happy new year. 2012 entered in with a big bang from new york to rio de janeiro.

take a look. >> three, two, one! ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> happy new year. hopefully it was festive. how did you ring in the new year, with a family tradition or perhaps keeping with a superstition or two? some people actually eat certain foods like blacked eyed peas for good luck or make sure to have money in their pocket at midnight. write me at twitter or facebook

and we'll read some of your responses. the first political race of the new year kicking off tuesday. so today, the big push by the candidates on the airwaves.

and this just in to cnn. we want to bring you -- cnn confirmed that a u.s. forest ranger at mt. rainier in washington state has been shot and killed. still unclear the circumstances of what took place. according to the park spokesperson, however, the gunman is still at large. we'll bring you up to date when we get more information about that investigation unfolding right now. meantime, the sunday talk shows where wall to wall with

the republican candidates giving their final pitches before tuesday's iowa caucuses. take a listen and look. >> good to see you. >> what do you think the appeal is there with rick santorum? why is he suddenly become kind of the person to watch? >> maybe it is the people who just got frustrated with the other ones and they're shifting their views. that's one thing you can say about my supporters, they don't shift their views. >> there is no comparison with all of the other candidates and my credentials, no other candidate has current national security experience in the race. i sit on the house intelligence committee. i am daily involved with the issue of national security. no other candidate is. >> why should those voters caucus for you tuesday night and not for rick santorum? >> i'm not just focused on that set of voter. we're reaching out to everyone who wants to see america back

working again i've got a track record of doing it. >> my surge is going to come on january 3rd after they analyze the candidates, figure out where their positions are, find out who is the right leader, who has got what it takes to defeat barack obama and to lead this country. >> i'm wondering if some of these attacks on you that have been out there for the past ten days have given you any pause about staying inside the republican party. >> i haven't even thought about it, but people like you keep asking me about it. i'm essentially tied for first place and why would i even consider doing anything like that? so i don't like absolutes, i don't say i will never do so and so. >> your iowa state chair jumped ship, went to work at -- last wednesday for ron paul. you claim that he told you that

it was about money. but then when your deputy campaign manager said no, that's not true it wasn't about money, he was let go, is your campaign in disarray? >> oh, absolutely not. you know, the other part you failed to report is that there are other people outside of the campaign who said that he also told them that he received money. so this is pretty clear. >> and, remember, this tuesday night the iowa caucuses, watch it all unfold live with the best political team on television. america's choice 2012, coverage of the iowa caucuses beginning tuesday night, january 3rd, 7:00 p.m. eastern time right here on cnn. and as we count down to the iowa caucuses, anderson cooper takes a closer look at what each of the candidates is doing to win last minute support in countdown to iowa, final 48 hours, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern time here on cnn. the number two new year's resolution behind your health, usually number one, your

financial health, eliminating debt. we have got help for you from our financial expert karen lee up next. plus, the new year is ushering in new voter laws that could affect you. we'll run through some of them. it's the little things in life that make me smile.

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a look at our top stories now. a mild earthquake shook eastern ohio yesterday. it registered about 4.0 and struck about a week after a smaller quake rattled the same area. residents said they saw houses moving. state officials are exploring a theory that a large scale well project might be contributing to seismic activity. and despite intense gop opposition, new lightbulb standards are being phased in starting today. conservatives have blasted the rules as a classic case of unnecessary federal regulation. congress passed the 2007 energy law requiring traditional incandescent bulbs to be 30% more efficient in 2012. critics argue that the rules would greatly restrict consumer choices by pushing out traditional incandescent bulbs in favor of more expensive

l.e.d. bulbs. new voter laws are hitting the books this new year. athena jones has a look at some of the new laws taking effect. >> we thought we would give you a sampling of a wide range of laws coming on to the books today. let's start with north carolina. people who live overseas are going to have an easier time registering to vote and voting, whether they're service members or civilians. on to california, interesting new law there, joins the state to the national popular vote compact. that is the agreement among several states to give all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the nationwide popular vote. it doesn't go into effect until states that hold 270 electoral votes, that's what it takes to win the presidency have passed the law. they're halfway there. several more states have to pass before it goes into effect. another interesting california law will allow new citizens to register to vote and to vote all the way up to and through election day. one big thing that has been a trend this past year with state

legislatures has been voter i.d. laws. as of right now, some 31 states require some form of identification to vote, whether a photo or without a photo. starting today, voters in tennessee and kansas will be required to present a photo i.d. in order to vote. i should mention that texas has also passed a voter i.d. law, but under the voting rights act, it has been to be precleared by the department of justice before it can go into effect. and also the doj just denied preclearance to south carolina for its photo i.d. law. one more thing to mention, an interesting new law in tennessee. state officials say the election officials will now be required to go through the state voter roles and compare those to a database to make sure no noncitizens are registered to vote. if there is any evidence that might be the case, those folks will be contacted and asked to prove that they are citizens. so a lot of new laws coming into effect this year. with the voter identification laws, proponents say they're trying to fight fraud, critics on the other hand argue they're

going to end up disenfranchising some voter, poor and minority voters. one thing to be pretty sure of this year is as we approach november, more and more states will begin to roll out more laws affecting the election. >> okay. athena jones, thanks so much for that update. there are a few other unique laws that take effect today. utah is banning happy hour. california and oregon are prohibiting the sale of shark fins. shark fin soup. coming up, staying financially healthy in 2012. reduce your debt, cut spending. we have tips to keep your resolutions in tact in the new year. as long as we're talking about new year's day, it was this day in 1962 that the fab four, the beatles, auditioned for decca records. and they were rejected. decca made one of the biggest mistakes in music history on this day. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us...

in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

♪ i want to fly like an eagle to the sea ♪ ♪ fly like an eagle bye-bye 2011, hello, 2012. it may go down 2011, by the way, as one of the safest years on record for flyers. according to the consulting firm ascend, this year there has been

just one fatality for every 7.1 million passengers worldwide. that's the best safety level on record. the previous best was in 2004. travel experts say better technology and better crew training helped make flying less hazardous. so let's hope 2012 even safer. so it is the number one issue in american homes, getting your financial house in order. today, in our weekly financial fix, how to keep your new year's financial resolutions as it is by tradition the number two resolution that we make, that after taking care of our health matters. let's talk about our financial health and bring in author of "it's just money so why does it cause so many problems," karen lee. good to see you. >> you too. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. >> folks always want to say, i'm going to get myself in shape and also get financially in shape as well. get rid of debt, save more money. let's help us tackle getting rid of debt first. that's the toughest, isn't it? >> it is tough. the first thing i want to talk

about is you got the little bit of debt where you spend a little too much over the holidays or you've got the massive debt from three really tough economic years. let's first tackle the small amount of debt. >> okay. >> so what we want you to do with that is first go back to the budget and figure out how much you actually can pay towards debt monthly. the minimum amount you can pay. and then i'd like to see you set it up as an automatic payment from your online banking right to the credit card. >> that way, no excuses, you know? >> exactly. >> overspending, can't write out the check. >> right, if we wait until the end of the month, there is usually nothing left. if you can automate it and during that time, of course, freeze your credit. do the math, figure out how many months it is going to take, plan a little reward at the end and hopefully -- >> you say freeze your credit, you talking about self-discipline or actually -- >> self-discipline. if you don't have self-discipline, enlist your friend to take your cards away from you. don't add anything more to that. >> okay. >> now let's talk about the big stuff. it has been three really -- >> people have been out of work

so they have borrowed and bor w borrowed and overspent just to survive. >> what i say to those people is if you have massive amounts of weight to lose, let's mack a realistic goal. if this happened over a period of years, don't think you're going to pay it off in six months. the first thing we want to do is go back to the math, figure out how much monthly you can free up to put towards debt and then figure out how long it is going to take and make the goal realistic. if it is going to be a couple of years -- >> that's the hard part. folks trying to figure out how do i calculate, how do i do that? >> for people that have lots of cards, lots of high interest rates, get some help, seek a consumer credit counsel type firm, often they can negotiate with the credit card companies for lower interest rates for you as long as you're partnering with someone like that. >> now you want to save money. and you want to do this simultaneously if you can. >> it would be nice if you could. >> so, say you tackled the debt problem there. not doing it simultaneously. how do you save? >> let's talk about first there is two things people want to

save for, one, just having the emergency money for that stuff that just comes up. let's talk about short-term savings first. again, automate it. if you wait until you've paid your other bills, there will not be anything left at the end of the month. many companies will allow you to set up from your paycheck, just like for your 401(k), an automatic draft into a credit union or money market, whether it is $5, $10, $50 each check, you can't touch it if it is an emergency. do what you can afford initially. you can start with the goal in mind and work back monthly as to what you need to reach that goal. second one is longer term savings. we have talked about this before. but, of course, the easiest way to save lofng-term for retiremet is if your company has 401(k), pretax, before that check even hits your bank and that is a good thing. so if you're not investing in your company's 401(k), start.

if you're already investing but not maxing out, raise that percentage. and keep raising it until you get to that maximum. another fun idea is to buy a stock or a couple of shares of stock in a company that pays dividends. don't take the cash, let it buy more stock and then set it aside and forget about it. >> my goodness. >> 15, 20 years later, it is a big surprise. >> you make it sound so easy. >> it is easy. for those already maxing out their 401(k) but still want to save, and you know i love those people, open up a roth i.r.a. if you're eligible. if you're looking for -- >> isn't everyone eligible now? >> no, there is converting a regular to a roth is where they changed the rules. the other thing is, $ 529s for college savings, automate it. >> all right. >> hopefully 2012, things are look up and it will be a year that people make the financial

goals happen. >> all right, all about being financially fit too. >> yes. >> karen lee, that's what you're all about. thanks so much. appreciate it. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. earlier i asked you to tell me about your new year's day traditions, superstitions, things you to eat or do. >> i make jambalaya every new year's eve. >> that's good. a lot of folks responded. black eyed peas i did that today. angela on facebook writing this, saying my mother's family believes that eating cabbage, turnips, collard greens and black eyed peas on new year's day will bring you good luck for the rest of the year. what about your new year's rituals and superstitions? i want to hear from you. send me via twitter or facebook and we'll share more of your comments coming up.

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a breaking story, involving the shooting of a u.s. forest service ranger at mt. rainier in washington state. want to get more information about this investigation and the circumstances leading to this shooting. lee taylor is a spokesperson with us now. so, lee, tell me what you can about this. >> well, what i can say is that a national park service ranger margaret anderson, 34 years old, was shot today by a gunman in the park. it began as just a normal traffic stop. when he failed to pull over, another ranger radioed ahead and margaret anderson set up a blockade with her patrol vehicle to intercept him and when he arrived at that spot, he got out and shot fatally shot her. he then fled into the woods. so the situation that we have

now is an armed gunman who is in the park somewhere, has not yet been apprehended. >> it is believed this gunman is on foot, when you say fled into the woods? >> that's correct. he's on foot. he left his car behind. and is on foot somewhere in the park. >> okay. and so by way of checking the registration of the car, et cetera, does that any way match up with the identity of who you believe the suspect is? >> well, we have no way of knowing that because we don't know if he is the registered owner of the vehicle. we have information about the owner of the vehicle, but we're not sure if it is the same person or not. we don't have a description of the person since there was nobody else at the scene when he stopped and shot the park ranger. >> and is the park closed? what about other people, members of the public who may be in that park? >> the park is closed. and we have been evacuating visitors but we do still have people in the park, there are

people who are out snowshoeing or skiing who are coming back in from their afternoon and we also have about 85 park visitors who are in our main park visitors center and we're holding them there until we believe that it is safe for them to drive out of the park. >> so typically on a day like this you do have a lot of snowshoers and skiers there? >> yeah, we do. it is a nice day. it is a holiday weekend and we would typically have hundreds of people in the park who would be out enjoying the beautiful scenery and the weather. >> what about searchers in the air by helicopter? what are the weather conditions there for that? >> the weather conditions are good but it is three hours -- it is just a few hours now until darkness. so, you know, the end of daylight will be the limiting factor in terms of being able to continue searching. >> and what more might you be able to tell me about margaret anderson, 34 years old who was shot and killed? >> she is a -- a dedicated public servant, very committed to visitors to the park and to

helping to protect park resources. her husband is also a ranger at mt. rainier. and they have two small children, a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old. so it is a horrible tragedy. it is a terrible loss of life of somebody who had dedicated herself to serving the public. >> terribly sad. our hearts go out to her, her family and entire national park service family. thanks so much, lee taylor, for your time. >> thank you. other stories, we continue to check across country now, some chicago area pizza shops are refusing to deliver to customers ordering by cell phone. that's because of a recent rash of robberies. police say the robbers are using their cell phones to target pizza delivery drivers. the restaurants could see their bottom line suffer since many people don't have land line phones anymore. in a town in western pennsylvania is cracking down on shredding in two local parks. beaver burrough officials are banning it all together in one

park following an accident. in another park, it is still okay to sled, but it is restricted to just residents which means their family and friends cannot take part in that kind of fun if they don't live there. children under 12 must also wear helmets. on the san francisco now, banana sam has been safely returned to the city zoo. police say a passerby spotted the 17-year-old squirrel monkey peeking out through some bushes at a park yesterday, one day after it was allegedly stolen. the man was able to coax the primate into a backpack apparently. the zoo workers say banana sam is doing just fine. >> he looks pretty good. he's -- he was thirsty. he was hungry, trembling a little bit, but we did a quick physical exam on him and he looks pretty good. >> is it easy to coax a monkey into a backpack? >> i would venture to say it is not. a monkey would be placed into a backpack forcibly. >> my goodness.

zoo officials are still trying to figure out how banana sam was stolen and why. that's a strange mystery, isn't it? we're glad banana sam is back home. the "cnn newsroom" continues straight ahead. natalie ailen in for don lemon. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. we're also happy about banana sam. more on the big stories coming up that you've been following today. reports from the iowa caucuses and the sunday analysis. and more fires overnight in los angeles to tell you about. seven suspected arson fires were reported in the l.a. area. that brings the total to 39. a task force continues to investigate. so far no arrests. also, a look back at the big cases this year that changed the legal landscape. holly hughes will be here to talk casey anthony, conrad murray and the connecticut home invasion trial. >> very good. you had a great ringing in of the new year? >> yes, i did. >> some of it was here. >> we were all kind of here, a

lot of us here. i'll ring it institions or traditions? >> i'm going to lose the five pounds. >> that's the number one resolution in america. >> and i'll forget january 8th that that was my resolution. >> okay, hopefully you won't be among the what 51% of americans who break their new year's resolutions within the month of january. >> i will be. i'll be there. >> no, no. we want you to keep that resolution. but you don't need to lose five pounds by the way. >> well, thank you, but -- >> thank you so much. we have much more on people and their resolutions or their traditions as it pertains to the new year. kissing at midnight, that is a very common new year's eve tradition. so what are some of your superstitions? send me some via twitter or facebook and i'll read some of your comments straight ahead.

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all right, a new year brings new expectations in the financial markets. poppy harlow gets us up to speed. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. u.s. markets will be closed monday for the new year's holiday but when they re-open tuesday wall street kicks off 2012 with a host of economic news. key reports on construction spending, car and struck sales, we could desome strength there and factory orders. all leading up to the critical december jobs report. that comes friday morning. investors, of course, eagerly anticipating that number and hoping for an upside surprise.

we'll track it all on cnn money. >> thanks so much. the ball dropping in times square, america's new year's tradition but you probably have some new year's rituals and superstitions of your own. maybe some of which have been passed down through the family. i asked you to send them to me and you did via twitter and facebook. it's supposed to be good luck for a man to be the first to walk through your day on new year's day and black-eyed peas are supposed to be lucky if you put a few dry ones in your purse and melody writes "it's supposed to be bad luck to wash clothes on new year's day. it's said to lead to a death in your family during the year." those are great, aren't they? >> i'll be sure not to do laundry today. >> i'll send a message to my husband. don't do any laundry today. >> i can wait. i've heard about eating

black-eyed peas. i didn't hear about putting them in your purse. we are looking at some snow that's going to be troublesome for travelers. a lot are getting back to it from a long week off or went somewhere for new year's eve. travel conditions across michigan will be dangerous. that's right. we have blizzard warnings that go straight until tomorrow night looking at a radar picture of heavy snow across the great lakes. the numbers are incredible because you can see 12 inches plus across parts of michigan. that includes the travers city area where the blizzard warning is right in the northern part of michigan where we'll see some lake-effect snow bands be fierce and along with the heavy snow comes the gusty winds. and what that means is you'll have blowing and drifting snow. that will create snow drifts that could be higher than the highest snowfall total accumulation. if you can avoid it, i would recommend it.

lake-effect snow into upstate new york. fierce winds, again, that will pile the snow that's falling. even though accumulation might be a burst in some areas and dry in others which is so random the way it is, we are going to see those snow pile up a little more. this is a forecast radar picture, not actual radar over the next 48 hours. it does improve with better conditions but the immediate threat is for danger for michigan and even into parts of upstate new york we have advisories, as well. the heaviest snow, where we are looking at a foot of snow plus, again, it will be even more fierce as we go through the day when we get some more wind blowing in and the reason we're getting so much snow with this lake-effect snow machine is a couple different factors. very cold air coming over warmer waters of the great lakes and the water temperatures are still warm. in the 40s over the lakes. may not seem warm but warmer than the land so really the cold air gathers that moisture, that warm moist air right above the great lakes and as soon as it

rushes back over land, the land is colder and just dumps it heavy and hard across the region. our map shows that lake-effect snow machine. it's been a soggy week and weekend for portland, oregon. more rain in your forecast and scattered showers popping up into florida across a good portion of the region of the state. notice the temperature contrast. there is a cold front that pushed through. highs will still be here 80. tampa, you'll only hit 64. depends where you are in terms of getting the warm weather. 22, that's it for minneapolis and 23 in chicago. atlanta only at 46. i can tell you in the southeast our numbers are going down. we had highs today in the 60s. it was glorious. >> we got spoiled. >> they drop into the teens and 20s in some parts of georgia. it's all changing. winter is here, it's january 2012 and it's cold out there. >> 2011 was an incredible year in weather.

2012 promises to be -- >> we definitely had an extreme weather year in 2011. doesn't mean we'll see another in 2012. important to be prepared and right now our biggest effect is lake-effect snow. >> all the more apropos for your book coming out in 2012. >> yeah, less than a month away. >> happy new year. it's going to be a great year for you and everybody else too. happy new year at home. that's going to do it for me. much more coming up with natalie allen in for don lemon. have a great week. ♪ [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

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