snow bound. a powerful storm slams denver on the first day of winter. is this the start of a holiday weekend mess? bombs in baghdad. more than 50 killed in coordinated terror tacks just days after u.s. forces pull out. and pucker up. a welcome home sailor's kiss makes military history. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 22nd, 2011. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm drew levinson. welcome to winter. it's solstice, the shortest day of the year and first day of

winter. parts of the state in colorado along with wyoming and new mexico could get up to a foot of snow and that is on top of the big storm earlier this week. some highways have already been shut down and airline passengers are trying to get out before they really get blasted. >> going to miss the big snowstorm? >> yeah, that will be true. it's a good thing. we like the idea of being on the ground somewhere else when the snow comes. >> airports around the country are bracing for the big holiday rush. today is one of the busiest travel days of the year. aaa says more than 90 million americans will travel at least 50 miles from home during the christmas/new year's holiday. a 1.4% increase over last year. and there is good news on the weather front. that storm in colorado should break up later today. and fears that a different system could hit the northeast over the holiday weekend has eased. if you are looking for a white christmas the plains, rockies and southwest are your best bet. we are learning about an incredible rescue of a family

that had been buried in a ten-foot snow drift for two days. a couple and their 5-year-old daughter got stuck on a new mexico highway on monday. the snow kept piling up and before they knew it, their suv was buried. authorities went out looking after getting a distress call. they are hospitalized this morning but doing just fine. now to the fight in washington over extending the payroll tax cut beyond the first of the year. president obama plans a white house news conference later today to discuss the standoff with house republicans. but as chief white house correspondent norah o'donnell reports, mr. obama is sticking to his guns. >> the ball is in the house's court. there is a compromise available. an avenue out of this blind alley, if you will, that they have driven themselves into, and it is the senate bill. >> reporter: the white house believe they have the upper hand now and felt emboldened when the conservative editorial page of

"wall street journal" wondered if republicans might end up reelecting the president before the 2012 campaign even begins. having permitted mr. obama to position himself as the election year tax cutter. >> merry christmas to you. >> reporter: the president was in such a good mood, he went christmas shopping with his dog bo in toe, he bought gifts for business two daughters who were waiting to join him in hawaii. with the clock ticking the website asked americans to share their story. if the tax cut is not extended, the average family would have $40 less to spend or save for each paycheck. so the white house asks what does $40 mean to you? more than 20,000 responses were received via e-mail or on twitter. $40 is the gas i need to get to work each week. it's also two weeks' lunch money for my kids read one. $40 is my student loan bill read

another. one tweet concluded not having $40 is unacceptable in my home. make no mistake, this is a stalemate. i am told there are no talks going on, no negotiations going on. the senior white house official saying the president is willing to stay in town, even if congress has gone home, to try to keep the pressure on. norah o'donnell, cbs news, the white house. in the race for the republican presidential nomination, newt gingrich is trying to put some pressure on mitt romney, but he is hampered by a late start to his campaign playing catch-up in virginia, while his rivals focus on iowa and new hampshire. tara mergener is in washington with more this morning. good morning, tara. >> good morning to you, drew. >> reporter: newt gingrich admits his campaign is pretty far behind, but he says that does not mean romney is a more viable candidate. newt gingrich is scrambling to meet virginia's filing deadline. >> with your help, we are going to get in the ballot. >> reporter: he fired up voters at a last-minute rally wednesday

night and will continue campaigning in the state today. the former house speaker must turn in 10,000 voters signatures to qualify for virginia's primary. he says he'll have more than enough. instead, he is staying focused on his biggest rival. >> i've challenged governor romney to meet me for 90 minutes in iowa next week, anywhere, any time, timekeeper, no moderator. >> reporter: gingrich dared romney to a one-on-one debate hours after the former massachusetts governor slammed him in new hampshire for complaining about negative ads. >> you know, if you can't stand the relatively modest heat in the kitchen right now, wait until obama's kitchen shows up. >> reporter: romney has already turned in 16,000 signatures to get on the virginia ballot in march, but he and fellow contenders are hoping to knock out gingrich well before then. >> this election is rather important. as a matter of fact, this election in iowa is significant. >> reporter: ron paul is emerging as a wild card who could take the iowa caucuses

in less than two weeks. the latest poll shows him leading the gop pact, but with gingrich and romney close behind, it's still anybody's race. virginia is among the super tuesday primaries. failure to compete would be a big blow to any contender who hasn't locked up the nomination by then. drew? >> tara mergener in washington, thank you, this morning. the faa has issued new rules aimed at keeping fatigued airline pilots out of the air, prompted by a deadly 2009 crash near buffalo, new york. the rules require pilots to get more sleep and less flight time, especially at night. the airlines had fought the new rules as too costly, but the pilots union for u.p.s. says they don't go far enough because cargo carriers are not covered by the new rules. in iraq this morning, terrorists went on the attack just days after the last u.s. troops left the country. a dozen bombs exploded in a coordinated attack in baghdad. iraq's headlight ministry says upwards of 60 people killed and

180 wounded. it's unclear who launched the attacks, but tension between the iraqi shiites and sunnis are up sharply since the americans left. eight u.s. army soldiers stand charged with the related hazing death of a fellow soldier in afghanistan. the victim's family says he had been bullied and taunted and abused because of his race. here is justice correspondent bob orr. >> reporter: the body of danny chen was found october 3rd in a guard tower in kandahar, another casualty of the war in afghanistan. the army says the 19-year-old soldier died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, but military prosecutors accused eight of chen's fellow soldiers of contributing to his death. chen's platoon leader is charged with eight counts of dereliction of duty and charges among the other seven soldiers range from making false statements to negligent homicide and

involunteer voluntary -- involuntary manslaughter. he was mocked, called jackie chen, and he reportedly had rocks thrown at him while being dragged across the barrack's floor. the military charges came after chen's former classmates, friends, and his father launched an online request for justice. >> my son wanted to be a policeman. >> reporter: this youtube video entitled, "what happened to private danny chen," pushed the military for answers. >> what happened to danny? >> reporter: beyond the charges the army provided no details as to what led to chen's death and pentagon spokesman captain john kirby. >> any case of hazing or inappropriate conduct to a fellow soldier, airman, maine, sailor, coast guardsman is inappropriate. >> reporter: but chen's family want to know exactly what happened right before he died. they will get their chance to ask military investigators in a face-to-face meeting on january 4th. bob orr, cbs news, washington.

coming up on the morning news, walmart pulls a suspect baby formula off its shelves. we will tell you why. plus shock on a railway platform as a woman falls from the train to the tracks below. this is the "cbs morning news." i'd race down that hill without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor.

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look out! a woman staggers off a train and rolls between the gap between the car and the platform. british police release this video to illustrate the dangers of drinking too much. it really happened earlier this year, but amazingly, the woman was not seriously injured. walmart has stopped selling a brand of infant formula after a child in missouri died from an infection possibly linked to the product. the store pulled enfamil formula

off the shelves. the lot number is z1j7g. for now, the government has not issued a recall. on the cbs "moneywatch," stocks slipped in asia's trading. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. >> asian markets slipped today with investors spooked by the european central bank. to hold down the debt crisis. tokyo's nikkei fell almost 1% while hong kong's hang sang edged down. on wednesday, the tech sector dragged stocks lower. the dow managed a four-point gain but the nasdaq was off almost 26. bank of america is paying a record fine to settle race discrimination claims against its countrywide unit. they will pay $335 million to resolve justice department claims that countrywide engaged in a widespread pattern of discrimination in against black and hispanic borrowers. the money will be used to compensate victims from 2004 through 2007. how much does a chevy volt cost? it depends on who you ask. according to a new report, every

car sold so far has cost taxpayers as much assess -- $250,000. the car officially retails for a little over 40 grand. volt sales are expected to miss chevy's 2011 sales targets by at least 4,000 vehicles. verizon's high speed 4g network is having big problems. service went out for the second time this month affecting customers from coast-to-coast. verizon didn't say what caused the issue but says all service should already be restored. you could soon get a beer with your slider. the white castle fast food chain is considering selling alcohol along with its bite-sized burgen and testing it in a location in indiana. other fast food restaurants are also trying out alcohol sales. burger king opened the whopper bar south beach in miami this year, and starbucks is testing beer and wine at a few sites.

drew, nothing says fine dining like a beer and a slider! >> as i like to say, tasty! >> they are going somewhere fancy. >> ashley morrison here in new york, thank you so much. straight ahead, your thursday morning weather. and in sports, the heat's lebron james crashes to the floor as tempers flare in orlando. >> just like he did the other night. 9 for 14 shooting. 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. here's a look at the weather in some cities arothe in some cities around the country.

time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows clouds heading through the rockies, while another system is on the move from texas to the mid-atlantic state. later today, parts of the southwest will get another round of snow and the southeast will be rainy with a chance of strong thunderstorms. now to sports. a dramatic end to the annual poinsettia bowl game in san diego. with the score tied and under five minutes left, tcu's quarterback connected on a 42-yard touchdown pass. tcu held on to beat louisiana tech 31-24. in college basketball, a win for fifth ranked north carolina. at home in chapel hill against texas. the heels got a season high 26 points from harrison barnes.

john henson added 14, as carolina cruised to an 82-63 victory. in the nba, things got a little overheated between the heat and the magic in orlando. miami's lebron james was shoved to the floor and he fell and nothing was called on magic's quinton richardson. later, james made a jumper and richardson bumped him with a shoulder drawing a technical foul. orlando hung on to win the game 104-100. in another nba preseason game, the los angeles lakers kobe bryant did not play because of a torn ligament in his right wrist and the clippers blake griffin scored 30 points, leading the way to a victory in a cross-town rivalry 108-103. in the netherlands, a goalkeeper strikes back. in amsterdam, the goalie was attacked by a fan who ran onto the field but he saw the man coming, tripped him up and kicked him several times. alvardo was kicked out and had to leave the field. the game might have to be replayed. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories.

and a memorable welcome home kiss for a sailor in virginia. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve.

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bigger because we're better. on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. damaging thunderstorms are likely today in the east as a storm system moves rapidly out of the southern plains. showers will spread from louisiana to pennsylvania and then into new england late in the evening. p here is another look at ths morning's top stories. winter opens with a blast in the rockies. up to a foot of snow in denver as the storm reaches from wyoming to new mexico. it's a real mess for air and highway travelers. and just days after american forces left, a major terror attack in baghdad. scores are dead and upwards 200 are wounded in a coordinated series of bombings raising new questions about iraq's ability to handle its own security. it's one of those romantic

moments americans have come to cherish, the welcome home kiss. for soldiers and sailors returning from deployment overseas. it got a modern twist yesterday as a navy ship arrived in virginia beach, virginia, and a sailor from california disembarked. tony lopez of cbs affiliate kovr-tv has our story. >> reporter: it's a big-time kiss from a small town girl. that small town -- placerville. that big kiss making history as the first openly gay first kiss from a member of the military to their significant other upon return. petty officer second class marisa gatea planted that peck on her girlfriend of two years. and snell also a member of the u.s. navy after gala's return from 80 days at sea. both beamed with pride after the sailor-to-sailor smooch. >> i feel good about it. it's nice to be able to be myself. it's been a long time coming. been there for two and a half years and very recent to changes coming into effect and it's been

nothing but positive, so it's been pretty awesome to say the least. >> reporter: outside of placerville, marisa's mom was happy to talk to cbs news. in this interview, kim gatea says she couldn't be more proud. >> i was overwhelmed with proudness of my daughter. wow. i just couldn't believe it. >> reporter: the kiss got reaction from some of marisa's hometown. >> i think it's cool. you know? >> i think that you should do whatever you want to do and i hope all of the love and goodness for her, whether or not she is gay or not. >> reporter: others who didn't like it didn't talk on cameras. >> i know there's haters out there. there's always going to be haters out there. i'm very proud of my daughter has done, stood up for her own rights. >> reporter: marisa's mom hopes this first in the don't ask, don't tell military world opens the doors. while this military twist with a kiss comes with differing reactions, most in this fine town of placerville had the same underlying reaction, thanking her for her service, regardless of sexual orientation. >> that was tony lopez of

kovr-tv. this morning, on "the early show," the political standoff over the payroll tax cut. i'm drew levinson. and this is the "cbs morning news." son. and this is the "cbs morning news." can be a gold mine for identity thieves. ♪ we don't believe your garbage should be used against you. [ alarm blares ] we're lifelock. go to lifelock.com and join the fight against one of the fastest growing crimes in america. lifelock. relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1 (800) lifelock today.

in florida, santa news." florida, santa in florida, santa is using his scuba gear this holiday season. in the waters off key largo. this santa's helper went diving to check out fish in the florida keys national marine sang we're. he'll also help raise money for a local children's charity by posing for underwater photographers. in texas, an old debt has been paid. dale crawford paid off a parking ticket he got 58 years ago, one he never knew existed. he got the ticket in 1953, that is the day he went into the army. crawford only found about it recently and volunteered to pay the fine. it was for $1. >> i am going to pay the mayor in cold, hard cash.

>> we are so impressed with him coming forward that we have waived the penalties in interest. >> crawford says people have to take care of their own responsibilities and a debt is a debt and it is a debt now paid. for fans of big budget hollywood action movies, this is the most wonderful time of the year. and one of the biggest franchises is back with tom cruise starring and performing some amazing stunts in "mission impossible ghost protocol." alexis christoforous has more. >> reporter: that's not spiderman. it's tom cruise scaling the world's tallest building in dubai. it's one of the many stunts the actor performs himself in the latest "mission impossible ghost protocol." >> it was moments pretty intense, pretty exhilarating. >> reporter: tom cruise is back for the fourth time as secret agent ethan hunt and at nearly 50, cruise says he is yet to see a stunt he won't try.

>> you know, whenever i can, i just want to entertain an audience and there was no way i was going to let anyone else do it. >> reporter: cruise wasn't the only risk-taker. paula patton did all of her own stunts too as hunt's new super agent and love interest jane. >> i think it's that much more compelling when you know that the actor is doing their own stunts. so i really want to take on that challenge. >> we all have our secrets. >> reporter: jeremy renner joins as the high octane agent to go rogue in the body of the krem n kremlin. and there's some comic relief. simon pegg reprises his role as the techie. >> it's lovely to be asked back, you know? it means any steal anything the last time and they trust me. >> reporter: whether his feet are on the ground or miles above it, tom cruise is proving it's mission possible. alexis christoforous, cbs news. coming up a little later on "the early show," arizona senator john mccain discusses the ongoing payroll tax battle in congress.

then campaign 2012 and more sparring between newt gingrich and mitt romney as polls indicate gingrich's support is slipping. plus a celebration with recent kennedy center honoree yo-yo ma. all that and much more coming up on "the early show." that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday, the first day of winter! i'm drew levinson. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com