from tmz, why is she still in florida? >> the child. >> enjoy your weekend. good morning. good morning, president obuma unveils plans for a leaner military that involves a major reduction in u.s. forces aimed at saving $500 million. we'll get details from the white house. the president's plan includes a new focus in the pacific. we'll speak with retired general wesley clark about the new security challenges the u.s. faces. the new hampshire primary is now only four days away, but the candidates are already looking beyond tuesday and headed south in the race for the nomination. we're tracking them and we'll speak live with former speaker, newt gingrich. one year ago sunday, congresswoman gabrielle giffords was shot in a rampage in tucson that killed six. we'll remember a year that saw

her remarkable progress. a look ahead to her political future. early this friday morning, future. early this friday morning, january 6th, 2012. captioning funded by cbs good morning, from manchester, new hampshire, where we're just starting to see the first flurries this morning. a time honored tradition in manchester. you got to trace through feet of snow if you want to cover the presidential candidate. i'm nancy cordes. >> i'm jim axelrod. we're coming to you from manchester where the gop presidential candidates are ramping up ahead of the first in the nation primary. >> of course, here on "the early show" big changes in store. on monday this show relaunches with a brand-new name "cbs this morning" and a brand-new team. charlie rose, gayle king and erica hill. we hope you'll join for us that. first, president obama's announcement to reshape the

military. the president said yesterday after killing osama bin laden and withdrawing u.s. troops from iraq it's time to turn a page and shrink the military. >> a move some republicans are calling wrong headed. bill plante is live in washington with the details. bill, good morning. >> good morning, nancy, it is controversial. that's why the president went to the pentagon and joins the joint chief of staffs. the new defense strategy which is tailored to major cuts in spending is the product of consultation with the military. >> the question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need long after the wars over the last decade are over. >> reporter: congress has mandated $487 billion in defense spending cuts over the next ten years. there are few specifics, but the number of troops in the army and the marine corps will be reduced, as will the total of u.s. nuclear weapons.

there will be a new focus on the asia pacific area and an emphasis on counterterrorism. >> yes, our military will be leaner, but the world must know the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats. >> reporter: but as defense secretary panetta acknowledged, there is certain to be opposition in congress. >> there are going to be members that will clearly not support some of those decisions. i mean, that's the nature of making hard choices. >> reporter: republican mack thornberry said the devil's in the details. >> if the pentagon suggests big changes, for example, in pay and benefits for our military, i don't think congress will go along with that at all. >> i worry when they talk on and on about reducing the number of people in the military because you can't just reverse that. >> now, this shift in strategy

means that the pentagon will have to move away from its long-held doctrine of being able to fight two ground wars at once. the president, however, points out that the u.s. defense budget is still larger than that of the next ten countries combined. jim, nancy? >> bill plante at the white house, thank you. a program note. both defense secretary leon panetta and max thornberry of the house armed services will be right here on cbs, check your local listing. joining us now retired general wesley clark and also a senior fellow at ucla center and also a former presidential candidate. good morning, general. >> good morning. >> let me start off by asking you about president obama. we just heard him talk about a leaner military. what kind of message does a leaner military send not only to our allies around the world, but to our militaries? >> to our allies, it means they have to step up and do more,

particularly to our allies in europe. but to the allies in asia, this is a strong message. he's saying we're strengthening our capabilities in asia. we're going to provide an important strategic counterweight to a growing chinese military. we're emphasizing diplomacy and stability, but we do have military muscle. so, this is a strong message. >> but you know very well, as the former top guy at nato that asking allies to step up is sometimes a bit of a challenge they don't meet. >> it's a tough message for nato, but we'll still have forces in europe. we'll still have the structure of nato there. and the truth is that nations and alliances must evolve their forces and strategy as conditions change. we're out of iraq. we're coming out of afghanistan. we built the force structure that we have right now to deal with those two problems and i don't think there are that many americans who would say, hey, let's keep those forces in

afghanistan and in iraq indefini indefinitely. they'd say, take the resources we have and use them to best meet america's security needs. those needs are in asia, cybersecurity, space. >> this isn't just a question of our allies, as we've said at the top, but also a question of message sent to our enemies. so, what kind of message do you think is being communicated there with this call for a leaner force? >> well, i think as far as the iranians are concerned, they very woel understand that the u.s. can totally dominate the gulf and totally suppress attack, destroy any effort by iran to block the gulf shipments. no change in the message to iran. to china, which is not an adversary, but it is a strategic competitor, there is a message that the united states is and will remain a strong power in the western pacific. and maybe even an increasingly

strong power in the western pacific. so, this is a strong message. >> general, the top republican on the house arms reserve committee said about the plan, i want to run this by you. the president has packaged our retreat from the world in the guise of a new strategy to mask the disvestment. republican mckeon saying this is too severe. is the there a point to be made, it's just too much? >> i don't think yet. i think it's appropriate when requirements change that strategy and resources are rebalanced to most effectively put those resources to work against the greatest challengers. that's what's happening here. of course, we're all concerned about the men and women in the armed forces, but i think we also have to keep this in perspective, jim. at the end of the gulf war, 1991, '92, under the bush administration, the united

states cut back its cold war armed forces. we reduced the army from 18 divisions to 12 divisions to 10 divisions. we rebalanced the force. that's the force we carried through the 1990s. that's the force that did so well when we had to go into afghanistan in 2001 and into iraq in 2003. so, we can effectively adjust for size. not by a wholesale whacking, but 5% and 10% here and there and shrinking and growing. it can be done. and it better distributes scarce defense resources to meet the most pressing challenges. >> general clark, we're going to have to leave it there. listen, i want to thank you very much for joining us this morning. wesley clark. >> thank you very much. now, on to the new hampshire primary. the chase is on to cut into mitt romney's commanding lead in the polls. >> he's being attacked on all sides, but so far romney is brushing off those criticisms and splitting his time between this state and south carolina.

cbs news chief political correspondent jan crawford is tracking all the candidates. good morning, jan. >> good morning. i mean, romney does have that big lead and that's becase he has spent so much time here over the years. so, he can kind of expand his focus and look else where into some of those other states. but, of course, he is still campaigning hard here, too. he's joined by senator john mccain who won new hampshire in 2008 on his way to the republican nomination. mitt romney started his day in new hampshire, greeting voters and attacking president obama. >> capitalism, free enterprise works. crony capitalism, does not. this president is engaged and is engaging in crony capitalism. >> in the afternoon he and senator john mccain were in south carolina, joined by nikki haley, the state tea party leaning governor. romney can spend time outside of new hampshire because he's more than 20 points ahead here, thanks to the time he spent with voters and his focus on issues

they care about most, jobs and the economy. and unlike the other candidates, he has the money and organization to run a national campaign. >> how are you? >> reporter: by contrast, rick santorum has run a bare bones campaign and is now trying to broaden his appeal beyond iowa, telling voters he'll bring jobs back to america. >> i don't know jobs we'll create, but we will create jobs. >> reporter: but his brand of social conservatives will not work as well in new hampshire. evangelicals in iowa. thursday, santorum got into an argument with voters about gay marriage. >> public purpose. i'm going to ask you and people will respond and i'll be happy to talk. >> reporter: santorum is getting crimpicism from newt gingrich who has completely abandoned his pledge to run a positive campaign and unleashes vicious and at times personal attacks on his rivals, especially romney and ron paul. talking about santorum, gingrich

was outright dismissive. >> if you think of us as partners, he would clearly in historical experience be the junior partner. >> gingrich for months had been warning that these negative attacks would only help president obama, but after he was hit with negative ads, he is not only answering back, guys, he is just using a flame thrower and scorching this field. so, tomorrow night, they're all going to be on stage for that debate, get ready, it's going to be fireworks, i think. >> we'll ask him about that coming up in a few minutes on "the early show." hard on the heels on the primary here in new hampshire the republican primary in south carolina. the gop contenders are already lining up to get the endorsement of congressman tim scott who joins us now from charleston. good morning, congressman. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> the reason the candidates want your endorsement, you held these highly publicized town hall meetings each one of them introducing to south carolina

voters. mitt romney who has a very formidable lead here in new hampshire, what is he going to encount whr he gets to south carolina? >> first and foremost, important for him to spend time in south carolina. happy to see him there yesterday and plans to be here earlier next week, as well. what he needs to do, as well, have a strong presence. he has a strong organization in many states and he needs to have one in south carolina and with nikki haley on his side, making a lot of progress. and great hope and optimism and santorum is surging and gingrich had the lead in south carolina about 30 days ago. a very interesting race to the finish. i look forward to see which candidate really puts together coalesces the troops, particularly the conservative base that we have in south carolina for a victory. >> well, i want to ask you about speak eer gingrich, congressman because he made some comments that raised some eyebrows yesterday. i'd like to get your take. stirring up controversy about his comment about food stamps. take a listen and then i'll get you to comment. >> no neighborhood that i know

of in america where if you want to run and ask people, would you rather your children have food stamps or paychecks, you wouldn't end up with the majority saying they would rather have a paycheck. so, i'm prepared, if the naacp invites me, i'll go to their convention and talk about why the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. >> do you think the african-american community is satisfied with food stamps? >> let me ask a perposturous comment as relates to what the african-american community would have. the focus should really be on education. one of the things that our country is set strong for is the education opportunities and the greatest civil rights issue of the 21st century will be educational choice. that's why we ought to be focusing our attention on finding ways to bring in good schools in poor neighborhoods which means public, private or

charter schools. we need school choice as a part of the apparatus to move our communities forward, all over this country. >> but as you said, speaker gingrich has had a lead in south carolina. do you think comments like that are going to hurt him, particularly with the african-american community in south carolina? >> certainly in a general election, i think a lot more, i think when you look at the conservative base and the republican party, we're paying attention to not only what you do, but what you say. we need a candidate who beats barack obama. so, we're going to take a look at everything from what santorum says, what newt gingrich says, what mitt romney says and, more importantly, what they're doing and where their focus should be, which is on the economy. when we talk about the economy, we need to bring our country together and not look for ways to decide. >> very quickly, all the other candidates are looking to stop mittny

romney's momentum in south carolina. do you think that will change in south carolina? >> i think november 10th in new hampshire will be a very important date. the other part of the equation that is very important, what mitt romney does in south carolina. three candidates focused on the conservative base and now you throw a fourth person into the pile, you'll see we'll have a very difficult time making a decision and that's why half of the republican voters in south carolina are still looking for their candidate. there is a race to the finish. i'm glad to see all these folks spending time and focusing on these states that pick republican nominees. >> congressman tim scott, thank you so much. still ahead this morning, newt gingrich will be here fighting back against the negative ads that sank him in iowa. we'll talk with him. plus, a year after gabrielle giffords was shot, she's recovering. what about her political career? and kate middleton takes on charitable causes in her new role as the duchess of cambridge. you're watching "the early show"

on cbs. [ female announcer ] fashion or food, it's all about taste. so get your fabulous, food-loving self ready. the chefs at lean cuisine are going culinary chic with fresh, exciting flavor. tempting lemon tarragon, peppery poblano, sweet butternut. we're tossing it, roasting it, and grilling it. and we want you to be the first to devour it. at lean cuisine, we're designing delicious must-have meals with no preservatives. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. nestle. good food. good life.

watch your step, folks. keep movin', please. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. [ announcer ] to do a job well, you need the right tools. [ thuds ] that's not gonna work. so if you're filing your taxes online, make sure you pick the best software available... with h&r block at home. nobody knows taxes like h&r block. we guarantee no other tax software... will get you more money back. file for free with the very best tool for the job at hrblock.com. h&r block. never settle for less. can boldly satisfy any craving. share an appetizer, then choose two chili's entrees, like our classic bacon burger or our famous slow-smoked baby back ribs. chili's $20 dinner for two. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food

is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

and welcome back to "the early show." i'm nancy cordess along with jim axelrod here in new hampshire as we cover the runp to the new hampshire primary. >> debbye turner bell at the news desk with a check of the other headlines. good morning, debbye. >> good morning, guys. good morning to you. the labor department says 200,000 jobs were added in december, up from 120,000 jobs added in november. that dropped the unemployment rate to 8.5%. the lowest it's been in nearly three years. the unemployment rate has now dropped for four straight months. the nato reports that tw roadside bombings in southern afghanistan today killed five nato service members. that brings the number of u.s. led coalition troops killed so

far this year to 9. in syria this morning, a suicide bombing attack on a suicide bus in damascus killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more. syrian tv said most of the casualties were civilians and calls it the work of terrorists. two key elements of winter are missing across much of the nation this morning. snow and fridged temperatures. in bismarck, north dakota, fishermen are enjoying flowing rivers that normally

coming up on yaet "the early show." newt gingrich fighting to put his campaign back on track after taking a beating in iowa. >> we'll talk with the former house speaker right here in new hampshire when we come back. of tax problems. one thing has never changed: people want to know their taxes have been done right.

to help, you can get free, one-on-one tax advice. if you have a question, just call or do an online chat with one of us. we even guarantee that all turbotax calculations are accurate. i'm rhonda collins, and i'm a turbotax cpa. man: go to turbotax.com. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm

[ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. new pronamel iso-active is a toothpaste in a can. the gel transforms into a foam and surrounds your teeth. pronamel iso-active helps protect against the effects of acid erosion. you can always do something better for yourself. and better is so easy with benefiber. the fiber that's taste-free and grit-free... so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber.

we're getting back in shape. oh! try these. i sprinted here... wow! from your house?! from the car. unh! ooh. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart.

san francisco poli n they think fired sho good morning, everybody. it's 7:25. get you caught up with some of the bay area headlines. i'm frank mallicoat. san francisco police holding two men they think fired shots from a south of market building late last night. nobody was injured. but police stopped traffic and moved people out of the area until the suspect finally came off a roof. san francisco police are investigating sheriff elect ross mirkarimi for possible domestic violence. "the examiner" reports a neighbor reported seeing an incident involving mirkarimi and his wife. but his wife says he has never been abusive. ford motor company will open a research lab in palo alto to form partnerships with the silicon valley tech innovators. the ford lab will investigate ways to better integrate phones and other personal devices into

cars and improve safety systems, as well. traffic and weather coming up.

good morning. northbound 680 right by eastbound 80 there is a box truck that actually went down the embankment. chp is waiting for tow crews. it is off to the right shoulder

of that ramp. again, this is northbound 680 approaching eastbound 380. that ramp. there was an accident there. all the activity though is off to the right shoulder. so no lanes are blocked. elsewhere at the bay bridge, outside a gray day. no major delays this morning at the bay bridge toll plaza. metering lights are on but not too bad a ride into san francisco. we do still have this dense fog advisory in effect over across the golden gate bridge. earlier visibility was down to a mile or less. that is traffic. for your forecast, here's lawrence. >> yeah, low clouds and fog moved onshore and looks like some cooler temperatures on tap for the bay area today. going to be a little longer for the fog to break up and over the bay bridge now, you have cloudy skies there and some dense fog showing up in the valleys down to half mile in the napa area. this afternoon, 64 degrees and mostly sunny though in mountain view, about 63 in livermore, 63 and sunny in santa rosa. 50s at the coast with patchy fog. the weekend is look great. high pressure building in very nicely. those offshore winds going to start to blow. temperatures heating up around the bay area near 70 degrees

the warmer spots by sunday, cooling off on monday.

♪ welcome back to "early show" i'm jim axelrod along with nancy cordes. we have been having so much fun the last couple days. >> i'm sad it's coming to an end. the first primary here set for next tuesday. >> one candidate fighting for votes is newt gingrich. after being hit with a series of negative ads that derailed him in iowa, mr. gingrich launched a counteroffensive in south carolina, as well as here in new hampshire. >> he joins us now from concord, new hampshire. good morning, mr. speaker, how are you? >> good morning. i'm doing great, how are you? >> i'm great, thanks. i want to ask you first about those comments you made yesterday about food stamps because a lot of people want to

know exactly what you meant. you said the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. what did you mean by that? 59% of americans who receive food stamps are white. >> of course. but i was saying that unlike most republican candidates, i would welcome a request, an opportunity to go speak to the naacp convention because i thought there ought to be a conversation. teenage unemployment is unacceptable as an american future. obviously, i'm happy to go and talk to anybody in america and went on to say i would talk to any latino group or any other group that was interested in having paychecks rather than food stamps. the fact is, president obama has been the most effective food stamp president in the american history. >> mr. speaker, let me interrupt you for one second. we just spoke to representative tim scott who knows you well and he said your comments were p

preposturous. did you misspeak? >> i said they shouldn't be. i didn't say they were satisfied. you just reversed what i said. that would be -- i agree with tim scott. you just reversed what i said. >> but the critique is saying that you seemed to have singled out african-americans and poor americans saying that poor children don't have a work ethic or that they should work as janit janitors. you've accused president obama of trying to start a class war. aren't you doing the same thing? >> no. i'm doing just the opposite. i'm saying, we should reach out to every american, but you had to take that and take that totally out of context to distort it this much. i agree with tim scott. if you called me and asked me about the same thing, i would have agreed with you. every american of every background have been endowed with by their creator to pursue

happiness. every american have have an opportunity to get a job and not be dependent on food stamps. go to a school where they get educated. conservatives going into the poorest neighborhood of every ethnic group in america and having every american pursue happiness. i think it takes a lot on the part of the elite media to distort that into some kind of attack. i'm actually saying, shouldn't poor children have a better xhans for a better future? shouldn't every community have a better chance to have jobs? when reagan was president, we created a 1,3 million jobs in a month. when i was speaker, we created 11 million jobs in four years. my overall -- let me finish, jim. you guys have distorted what i said and i want to finish this. >> i know you want to, i know you want to talk about the race here in new hampshire. >> but i just want to finish this because it's important for the country. president obama has left this

country in an economic mess. you watch today's job report and compare it with reagan 300,000 new jobs in august of 1993 and you tell me who is doing a better job of creating jobs for all americans. >> a bit of a challenge in new hampshire with moving the needle. so, sketch out for me a credible narrative where fourth in new hapshire and how does newt gingrich end up with the nomination at this point? >> i think we have to do dramatically better in south carolina. new hampshire is one of mitt romney's three best states along with utah and massachusetts. if he doesn't come in first in new hampshire, he couldn't stay in the race. so, the question is not whether he'll come in first, the question is, how well do each of us do and the choice that new hampshire has between a massachusetts moderate who raised taxes, appointed liberal judges, favored gun control and a reagan conservative, and i think that we'll see what happens over the next weekend. this is a state where people take the primary very seriously.

the crowds i have been talking to are very enthusiastic and i have amcouraged as i go across the state talking to people. >> are you concerned at all calling rick santorum the junior partner. are you concerned that you're going to employ a scorched earth strategy and leave whoever emerges as a badly injured frontrunner? >> well, what i've described governor romney as a massachusetts moderate is because he is. you think that barack obama is going to let him get by with somehow pretending to be something he isn't? and rick is a good friend of mine. we could have debates about history. all i said is historically as speaker of the house, developer of the contract with america that i played a larger role than the junior senator. that's all i'm saying. that's not in any way d denigrating what rick has done in his career. scheduling reform refair three

times and getting clinton to sign welfare reforms and getting him to sign the first tax cut in 16 years and getting him to sign four straight balance budgets it's fair to say the speaker of the house had an opportunity to do that. let's look at the choice here. reagan conservative that's a very big choice. as we have this debate over the next few days, we'll see how things evolve. this is the first time that romney has been challenged. >> mr. speaker, thank you for joining us here on "the early show" this morning. still ahead with the new hampshire primary four days away, a big picture analysis of how the republican campaign is shaking out. this is "the early show" on cbs. with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ...could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you... ...with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra,...

...humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, blood, liver, and nervous system problems,... ...serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist how you can defend against... ...and help stop further joint damage with humira.

well, it's not gonna clean itself. want me to get dad? no thank you. viva's all i need. look at that! still in one piece. yeah, so's the towel. [ female announcer ] grab a roll and try it on your toughest mess.

yeahsometimes life can be, well, a little uncomfortable, but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go... it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. and welcome back to "the welcome back to "the early show." we're here in new hampshire this morning for the new hampshire primary. >> before we get the latest on the primary here and in south carolina. let's go to new york and debbye

turner bell. >> good morning, jim, and good morning to all of you. in ogden, utah, hundreds of people gathered to honor a police officer shot dead during a drug raid. a candlelight vigil was held last night for officer francom. >> one of the more experienced agents in our unit and he will be missed. >> five other officers were injured in the same shootout wednesday night. investigators are trying to determine if he was killed by friendly fire. here in new york, an emotional farewell to three young girls killed in a tragic christmas fire in stanford, connecticut. their mother was overwhelmed, but eulogized what she called her

up next, from mitt romney's change of fortune to rick santorum's passion. >> what's next in the race for the republican presidential nomination?

but, first, this is "the early show" on cbs. early sh show" on cbs. ♪ [ woman ] i was ready for my trip, but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment

for a transformation that's hard to believe. ♪ wow, that's you? [ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. and try 3d white toothpaste and rinse. from crest. life opens up when you do. but you've got a meat and potatoes guy? pour chunky sirloin burger soup over those mashed potatoes and dinner is served. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky -- it's amazing what soup can do. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day,

with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno. thrilled. wait. we can have shakes? and boston cream pie. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.

welcome back to manchester, new hampshire. the winds of politics can change in a heartbeat. just look at mitt romney. one month he has been on the cover of "time" magazine twice from why don't you like me, which was the first cover story you'll see in a moment. so so you like me now? joining us is joe klein, a columnist for "time" magazine who wrote the story on the right. and cbs news political director john dickerson. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> have his fortunes really changed, joe? do they like him now? >> no. no. the bottom line on mitt romney and on the republican party and on this race is the number of people who showed up in iowa. it was the same as -- in 2008, the republican party was completely demoralized after eight years of george bush. the democratic race was

exciting. 120,000 republicans showed up in 2008. this time, the republicans are all head up about getting rid of obama and 120,000 people showed up for the republican primaries and only 75% of those were republicans. so there isn't much excitement there. this is a big long-term problem for mitt romney. >> so if the polling continues to hold steady, it's not so much next tuesday here in new hampshire of how much romney wins by. i guess the real number, joe, that you're saying we need to pay attention to is how many people show up? >> well, yeah. it's part of. i think that is a big deal. >> what should we look for this weekend? a couple of big debates coming up. and i would imagine there has been enough sparks being thrown around so far we should see some fireworks on stage, john? >> sure. you have a number of candidates that have to either knock mitt romney down or present themselves as the plausible alternative to mitt romney. the trick is when you go into these debates, the problem with

going after mitt romney is sometimes you can hurt yourself and help other candidates who look sort of overmodulated. what the candidates try to do is present themselves as pleasant candidates. it's a very difficult balancing act in these debates which are, you know, where you only get a minute to talk. >> i want to ask you about newt gingrich. you saw him a few minutes ago he "the early show" saying his comments about food stamps and african-americans is being misinterpreted. why keep going there? race is such a sensitive issue. does this really play well? >> he really believes it. i've known newt for 25 years, and he has -- especially when he was the speaker, he really -- he really involved himself in the politics of washington, d.c. majority black city. he thought his eyes about eliminatie ining poverty were b. i think we can overreact as members of the media to statements that are made by

these candidates. newt has a way of looking at poverty. it is a very legitimate way to look at it and it really has worked in terms of welfare reform. so we have to be allot more disserdi discerning about newt about people with ideas about this how to oversimplify them. >> look ahead to south carolina. obviously, things seem to be somewhat solidifying here in new hampshire. but i can't imagine the run for the republican nomination ends in new hampshire next tuesday. give me some -- we have been talking about the credible narrative, what could happen here. >> well, i think that -- i don't know much of anything is going to happen here. the debates are going happen here. >> south carolina moving forward? is there something that happens where romney gets derailed? >> i think what has to happen & before this race begins to really solidify is the anti-romney has to be chosen and i think that will happen in

south carolina. you'll have three candidates going forward from there, which will be romney, ron paul, and the anti-romney. but we don't know that other person is going to be yet. >> what romney hopes is basically south carolina version of what happened in iowa that it's a muddle that there is no anti. romney and it's a santorum and gingrich split their vote and there is no plausible alternative to him and that question can't get worked out. a lot of people are trying to figure out who the alternative is. but it doesn't get worked out and then all of those candidas essentially run out of mope. >> got it. john dickerson and joe klein, thank you so much for helping us sort it out this morning. appreciate it. coming up, almost one year after shot in the head in tur tucson, does congresswoman gabrielle giffords have a political future? we will be right back.

is this your normal? jamie lee curtis?? oh, hi, yes...wow, you really went all out on the decorations, huh?! yeah, but i'm so slow taking them down after all the fatty holiday food. but that's normal. what do you mean that's normal? it doesn't have to be. to me, normal, means feeling good inside. not slow. try some activia. activia helps with occasional irregularity, when eaten 3 times a day. keep a video diary and let me know about your new normal. love your new normal or it's free.

mid grade

dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. v8 v-fusion. you could get money that's both fast and free on an emerald card. just bring in your tax information... and get a refund anticipation check in 7-14 days, for up to $9,999. call 1-800-hrblock to make an appointment.

ford mot good morning, i'm frank mallicoat. get you caught up with some of the bay area headlines now. ford motor company is about to open a research lab in the silicon valley. the lab in palo alto will investigate ways to better integrate phones and other personal devices in their cars. ford also wants to develop safety systems that alert drivers when they are approaching another car. an antistadium group now collecting settings in santa clara hoping to block part of the financial plan for the stadium the 49ers are planning to build. the group santa clara plays fair needs to get 4500 valid signatures by january 17. meanwhile, the city's attorney's office is looking into whether the petition drive is even legal. san jose is the healthiest metro area in the country. that's according to a new study by the magazine, the atlantic.

criteria includes the percentage of people who smoke, that's just 9.8% in the san jose area. it also looked at the percentage of people who are obese. just 19.1% in the silicon valley. other california regions in the top 5, santa cruz number 2, napa coming in at number 4. california good place to live. we'll have your traffic and weather coming right up. so stay right there.

good morning. well, it is definitely "friday light" out there. we doesn't have many problems

any big problems on the roads right now. here's a live look at the nimitz. 880 starting to get busy especially in the northbound lanes right there as you pass the coliseum but your drive time is actually looking great. so far in the green, 19 minutes between 238 and the maze. elsewhere san mateo bridge, traffic lighter than normal across the deck in either direction westbound and eastbound 92. and check the bay bridge. metering lights remain on but obviously there is no delay right now heading into san francisco behind the pay gates. we still have a dense fog advisory in effect across the golden gate but it looks like conditions have improved a bit in the last hour or so. with more on that, let's go over to lawrence with a check of your forecast. >> a lot of the fog and low clouds making their way onshore today. out the door cooler outside, the fog should lift as we look toward the pleasanton area. we can see lots of sunshine there toward the afternoon. highs will be a little cooler today, mainly into the 60s in the valleys. you will see plenty of 60s inside the bay. at the coastline, patchy fog likely to linger and that will keep highs only in the 50s. the weekend though, the wind switches directions becoming more offshore. that should crank up the

temperatures with some down slope winds. warm through sunday.

♪ welcome back to "the early and welcome back to "the early show." i'm nancy cordes with jim axelrod. and viewers of the show are going to find a big change on monday. that's when cbs this morning makes its debut with charlie rose, gayle king and erica hill which makes this the very last day of "the early show." >> meantime, here in new hampshire, we're looking ahead to tuesday's first in the nation primary right here. for many voters, the economy remains the biggest issue. ahead, we'll look at new signs that the economy appears to be improving. starting with this week's jobless numbers. let's not forget the record holiday shopping season we saw

that surprised absolutely everyone. that's right. first, it's hard to believe that the one-year anniversary of the deadly shooting in tucson, arizona, is just two days away. six were killed and 13 others wounded in that attack including gabrielle giffords. >> on sunday, she and her husband, mark kelly, will attend a memorial service. what about representative giffords' political future? here's ben tracy. >> reporter: it was a stunning moment, just seven months after being shot in the head, congresswoman gabrielle giffords walked into the capitol and cast her vote to raise the nation's debt limit. >> it's a day none of us will ever forget. it was really emotional, watching the reaction of the most conservative members of the house to the most liberal members of the house, equally as moved, seeing her there was really something. >> reporter: it was the only vote giffords has made in the past year. >> let's see what the list looks like. >> reporter: but nothing is on hold in her office except phone calls. they just keep coming. >> congresswoman giffords' office. this is isabella. >> the caseload has increased

quite dramatically since the shooting. we had a 23% increase in constituent requests in the first month. and that's continued. >> i need to report back to gabby on this. i don't have all the details. >> reporter: in washington, giffords' staff is working on border security and solar issues. priority giffords made just before the shooting. >> there's never been a moment that we've sort of wondered, you know, how should we handle this? >> gabby, how do you do. >> reporter: and giffords' recovery has been so remarkable that she now carries on a weekly videoconference call with her staff from houston where she is in rehab. her husband, mark kelly, says giffords struggles to speak but understands everything. >> she's constantly updated on what's going on in the district and in washington and in her office. >> reporter: was there ever a moment where the two of you thought maybe she should give up her seat? maybe someone else should do that work who could be there full time? >> no. no. not yet. she is motivated to get better and return to her job serving

the people of southern arizona. >> reporter: giffords has been back to tucson three times this year. >> hello, this is gabby giffords. i miss you. >> reporter: she recorded a message for her constituents this fall. >> i'm getting stronger. i'm getting better. there is a lot to say. i will speak better. i want to get back to work. >> reporter: giffords will decide by may whether or not to seek re-election. what do you think will be the deciding factors in that decision? >> well, you know, she's going to decide whether or not she feels she could do the job. it's going to be based on, you know, her ability to commute with her constituents and whether or not she has the stamina to do that amount of work. >> reporter: she's already shown she has the will to overcome just about anything. ben tracy, cbs news, tucson. >> very inspiring. and now to new york and debbye turner bell. >> she's at the news desk with a

check of the morning's other headlines. >> good morning, guys. december employment numbers are out this morning, and they're better than expected. the labor department says 200,000 jobs were added last month which lowered the unemployment rate to 8.5%. and in campaign 2012, jon huntsman has won the endorsement of "the boston globe." mitt romney's hometown paper. "the globe" said huntsman articulates goals and ideas and called his priorities far-sighted. this is the second time that "the globe" has snubbed romney. in 2008 it endorsed john mccain. meanwhile, there are claims that the reported vote count in tuesday's close iowa caucuses was inaccurate. republican party officials said mitt romney beat rick santorum by eight votes. but one vote counter says romney was credited for 20 more votes than he should have been. santorum says he considers it a tie either way. and joran van der sloot goes

on trial for murder in peru this morning. at a court in lima, van der sloot will face chanchs he

>> ancer this weather report sponsors by viva. viva towels are tough when wet. try them on your toughest mess. there's renewed optimism this morning about the economy. >> new numbers show that the jobs market may be on the rebound. joining us now from philadelphia with a look ahead to the rest of the year is mark sandy, chief economist of moody's analytics. good morning, mark. and when i say happy new year, i guess it's more of a question. is it a happy new year as far as our economy goes? >> well, it's happier. i think the economy's been performing much better in the last several months. the year ended -- last year ended on a pretty high note. holiday sales were pretty good. auto dealers sold more cars. as you pointed out, the job

market's feeling better. even the housing mark has a better tone to it. i think things are looking up as we move into 2012. >> you mentioned, mark, holiday sales. and there's a new report out that finds that sales at major retail chains were up 3.4% which was a little better than expected. but it isn't all good news, correct? >> no. you're right. it's not gangbusters. i mean, i'll take it. at least we're growing, and retailers are enjoying better sales. of course, they had to aggressively cut prices and be very aggressive in their other kinds of promotions to get people in the stores and buying. but all in all, sales were okay, pretty good. lays a pretty good foundation for 2012. >> cautious optimism also we're seeing in the manufacturing sector which i know is a crucial component to any sort of recovery. what are we seeing there specifically with auto manufacturing? >> yeah, that's the key. the auto sector is coming back. vehicle sales have been steadily improving over the past couple of years. sales are about as high as

they've been in five, six years. in the vehicle sector, it's very important to manufacturing broadly. a lot of manufactured products, everything from steel and textiles and carpets and chemicals and paints and machinery go into making a car. so when the vehicle sector is doing well, manufacturing more broadly is doing better. and that's been one of the key sources of growth in the economic recovery. it is a very positive sign going forward. >> and what do you see in the housing sector this year, mark? >> with, i think we're coming to the end of the crash. as you know, the housing market's been in a long slide. six years and counting. and i think there are some signs of stabilization. home sales are beginning to improve a bit. housing construction is up particularly for apartment buildings. while i think we'll probably see a bit more price declines this year, we still have a lot of property in the foreclosure process that will have to be worked through. i think the price declines will be over by this time next year. and by 2013, i think housing will be a source of growth and

not the drag it has been in recent years. >> forgive the skepticism, but i've heard this a couple of times over the last several years, we're poised, especially with housing to see this sort of bottom of the market and begin to turn up. anything specific as you drill down that's giving you any more confidence now about the housing market than we've seen in the sort of false alarms of the last couple of years? >> yeah, a good point. we've heard this before. but there are some increasingly positive developments. of course, fixed mortgage rates are as low as they've ever been. if you have a ream credit score and have a reasonable down payment and job, you can get a fixed mortgage loan for less than 4%. and that's as low as it's ever been. we've also made significant progress reducing the number of vacant homes out there. that, of course, has been a very significant drag on the housing market. as we've absorbed those housing units, that lays the foundation for a better housing market. there are some things that have brooufed. but you're right. it could be another false step.

it may take longer than i'm anticipating. >> mark, in the past few weeks, we've seen these better than expected first-time unemployment numbers. how encouraging is that? because, of course, at the end of the day, what people really care about is jobs. >> yeah, you're right. very encouraging. what that means is that businesses are curtailing their layoffs. and that's very, very key to the job market and getting the job market moving in the right direction. of course, now we need to see businesses begin to hire again. and we are seeing some small improvement in the rate of hiring. but it's still very low by historical standards. so the first step is seeing those layoffs get curtailed. and i think we've taken that step. we now need to see businesses step up, get their groove back and really start to hire. we're not quite there yet. and that's why, even though i'm feeling better about the economy, i'm not entirely enthusiastic. i don't think we're off and running yet. >> big question because we're here in new hampshire. very quickly, by november, time of the presidential election, are we going to be in good shape? better shape?

>> i'd say better. i think the economy certainly has been a headwind for the president and the other incumbents. i don't think it will be quite the headwind that it has been by election day, but it won't be a tailwind either. >> mark sandy, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. coming up next, politics is serious business. seriously funny business for some, and nobody knows that better than p.j. o'rourke. his take on republicans, caucuses and primaries when we return. caucuses and primaries when we return. this is the "early show" on cbs. . want me to get dad? no thank you. viva's all i need. look at that! still in one piece. yeah, so's the towel. [ female announcer ] grab a roll and try it on your toughest mess.

[ woman ] we didn't know where to go next with eric's adhd. his stimulant medicine was helping, but some symptoms were still in his way. so the doctor kept eric on his current medicine and added nonstimulant intuniv to his treatment plan. [ male announcer ] for some children like eric, adding once-daily nonstimulant intuniv to their stimulant has been shown to provide additional adhd symptom improvement. don't take if allergic to intuniv, its ingredients, or taking other medicines with guanfacine, like tenex. intuniv may cause serious side effects, such as low blood pressure, low heart rate, fainting, and sleepiness. intuniv may affect the ability to drive or use machinery. other side effects include nausea, tiredness, trouble sleeping, stomach pain, and dizziness. tell the doctor about your child's medicines and medical conditions, including heart, liver, or kidney problems. [ woman ] adding intuniv helped eric. [ male announcer ] ask the doctor about once-daily nonstimulant intuniv.

[ male announcer ] ask the doctor is this your normal?

jamie lee curtis?? oh, hi, yes...wow, you really went all out on the decorations, huh?! yeah, but i'm so slow taking them down after all the fatty holiday food. but that's normal. what do you mean that's normal? it doesn't have to be. to me, normal, means feeling good inside. not slow. try some activia. activia helps with occasional irregularity, when eaten 3 times a day. keep a video diary and let me know about your new normal. love your new normal or it's free. as the republican candidates range across new hampshire tearing each other to shreds, we felt the need this morning for a different perspective on the campaign. >> so we asked best-selling author p.j. o'rourke to join us this morning. good morning. i've got to think a pack of presidential candidates running around your home state is like an all-you-can-eat buffet for a guy like you. >> you spend half the time how

lucky, i don't have to chase them, they're chasing me. and the other half butting out the d-con like bait traps. because it's a pest infestation, let's face it. >> is that what you think of this current crop of candidates? >> yes, absolutely. i'm a republican to the core, kind of a libertarian republican, and i feel like the varsity team got food poisoning in the school cafeteria and we have got the waterboy, the equipment manager, the cheerleader, i guess she's gone. out there on the field playing our biggest rival. and i'm not happy. >> okay. but still, somebody's got to be at least giving you material. who's been your best source, the most fertile source of stuff? >> they keep dropping out. you know, you've got to love them all. ron paul who is so libertarian that you will -- he gets elected, you'll not only get to do what you want to do, you will have to do what you want to do. it will be like a half gallon of

ice cream and a pack of marlboros for lunch every day. >> and doing drugs. >> yeah. >> but mitt romney, of all the candidates, you don't think he's got a serious chance against president obama? >> bob dole without the sparkle? >> oh. >> look, he's got a serious chance. in the first place, we can all go home. mitt romney. mitt romney is going to be the republican nominee, which means that when we get to november, it's just going to be a thumbs up, thumbs down from the electorate about the economy. which is dumb. i mean, there are big issues here. there are important things, i guess. but it's just going to be if the economy does well, the last month before the election, obama will be re-elected. if the economy does poorly, he won't. >> what do you think about a newt gingrich? he was way up there in the polls. he was mr. nice guy, but not so much anymore. >> newt is -- if you watched the debates, newt's the smartest man in the room, there's no doubt about that. but we just came off the 2008 financial crisis, and we know what it's like having the

smartest guys in the room run the country, right? not pretty. the other thing with newt is, he has so many ideas that his head exploded. ideas, you know, splattered on the walls and all over the ceiling and the floor. and you just can't keep up with him. i know what he was trying to say this morning. i saw the clip about food stamps. but boy, he had his foot in his mouth up to the middle of his thigh in his way of saying it. >> have you been watching jon huntsman run around here? he's the only one who hasn't gotten any minute in the spotlight. >> no. and worse than that, he got endorsed by "the boston globe." if you want to poison somebody's character in new hampshire, just have "the boston globe" endorse them. that's that. he gets six votes. i actually -- i think i might vote for huntsman just to sort of show romney that, you know, there are other romneys out there. p>> right.

what about rick santorum? you think he's got a shot here in new hampshire after his big showing? >> no. new hampshire -- we -- we're not social conservative. well, i shouldn't say that. we are social conservatives in new hampshire, but we don't pry. we don't peek in people's windows. we like to leave people alone. we might drive by their house real slow to see if they're sleeping in separate bedrooms, but we don't peek into windows. >> he actually got into it with some voters yesterday talking about gay marriage. >> at a college going on about right to life, what if a guy wants to lead his life in a dress? right to that life. good point, really, as far as i'm concerned, you know. i'm with him on abortion. but when it comes to gay marriage, i'm a republican. married people turn into republicans. i want everybody to get married. >> p.j. o'rourke, always rooting for chaos. thanks for being with us. and coming up, a look at the important charitable work of britain's newest royal. the former kate middleton. >> this is "the early show" on cbs.

cbs. u don't get audited. [ man announcing ] protect yourself with h&r block at home. the only software with free audit support and free tax pro representation. [ male singer ] h&r block. ♪ never settle for less to stay healthy. but did you know fiber choice can help support your overall well-being? every tasty tablet has prebiotic fiber from fruits and veggies... that lets your good bacteria thrive and helps support your immune system. fiber choice. an easy way to defend your health everyday. learn more about prebiotics and get a free sample at fiberchoice.com.

eight months after her royal wedding to britain's prince william, indicate middleton is beginning an important new chapter in her life. >> she announced four chaerts that will receive her high profile support. elizabeth palmer reports from london. >> reporter: wherever the duchess of cambridge goes these days, an army of media follow. this celebrity buzz that english charities compete for. now the duchess has announced she will become the royal patron of four organizations. a group of children's hoss businesses in the east of england, an addiction treatment group, an art project for troubled young people, and the national portrait gallery in london. >> she showed a wonderfully integrity and engaged interest in our work and we knew that she was studying art history and been a part of a gap here in florence, she has a real interest in the arts and that was clearly being expressed.

>> reporter: this summer she was walking into a job when she married prince william in the powerful fund-raising machine of the royal family. princess diana, prince william's mother, had raised royal patronage to a art form choosing edgy campaigns like the landmines campaign and aids patients and played to the camera with a powerful mixture of passion and glamour. her son william, second in line to the throne, is currently a patron of the task trust which works for conservation and development in africa. >> undoubtedly having a role of patron just really raises the bar in terms of the profile that you can get. >> reporter: in her new role, the former kate middleton, now duchess of cambridge, will quite literally be worth her weight in gold and then some. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. the duchess of cambridge, a former brownie, also chose to

volunteer in the scout organization. a sure, pulling the mold, mildew, and grime from

out of the porous caverns of grout takes the right tools, but it also takes a gentle, caring touch. before you can deep clean, you learn to get a feel for its trouble spots. and hey, if you can't listen to grout, you can't truly know its wants...its needs...its dreams. ♪call 1-800-steemer.

police are holding two men they that prompted good friday morning. it's 8:25. let's get you some news headlines? police are holding two men they believe fired shots which prompted the closure of a san francisco freeway overnight. some surface streets were closed in the south of market area, all open now. at least three shots were heard near ninth and harrison. men were detained after climbing down from a building. san jose police are looking into the city's first homicide of the year. a man was shot last night off alexander avenue. he was rushed to regional medical center where he died. so far, there are no suspects and no clear motive. investigators say that this could be gang-related. ford motor company is about to open a research lab in silicon valley hoping to partner with tech innovators. ford wants to better integrate phones and other personal

devices inside their cars. it also wants to develop safety systems that alert drivers when they are approaching another car. we'll have an update on roads and your weekend forecast coming up. sweetheart. we need to talk.

i've seen your stunts online. i can explain... jumping a ramp in a shopping cart. so 2005. wait, what? and only 3 likes? honey, it's embarrassing. carol's son got over 12 million views on that dancing squirrel video. don't you want that? i...i suppose. now go make your dad and me proud. try something funny. [ male announcer ] now everyone's up to speed. get high speed internet for $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one year term. at&t. good morning. it is still really foggy across the golden gate. chp just issued another fog advisory so one for the golden gate bridge and a new one for the richmond/san rafael bridge, as well. out towards the bay bridge, where around 8:00 this morning,

they actually turned the metering lights off because traffic is light as you can see, right now there is no delay heading into san francisco. looks great all across the upper deck. so extra "friday light" this friday. and a new accident just coming in looks like it was already cleared to the right shoulder. northbound 101 ralston and belmont again just small delays right behind that accident scene. that is traffic. for your foggy forecast, here's lawrence. >> elizabeth, more clouds around the bay area today trying to break up in some spots right now. let's check san francisco. you see some blue trying to show up between the clouds now. we'll see more of that into the afternoon but some cooler temperatures around the bay area today. more of a sea breeze. 50s, patchy fog at the coast. you will find some hazy inside the bay, temperatures mainly into the 60s. the next couple of days i think working out very nicely. lots of sunshine coming our way, high pressure building in over the weekend. the offshore wind is going to blow, warmer temperatures through sunday. cooling off it looks like on monday and tuesday:a few more clouds coming our way, but right now no rain in sight.

we are all new with tom selleck. and do you hate exercising? >> how to lose weight while watching our show. i can't wait to see this one. "the talk" all new on cbs. that's pretty. welcome back to "the early show." on this friday morning. i'm nancy cordes. >> and i'm jim axelrod. we're here in new hampshire where the republican canned dates are headed into the final stretch before tuesday's big primary. coming up, we'll learn about a new mtv campaign to encourage young voters 18 to 29 years old

to make up a huge voting bloc. an estimated 45 million people. we'll hear from some of them and find out what they're looking for when they're deciding which candidate to support. first, we talk about football in the big easy. new orleans will be hopping on monday night. the city is hosting the final bowl game in college football, the bcs championship. this year it's been number one ranked lsu and number two alabama. >> some say the system is seriously flawed. joining us is bruce feldman, cbs writer and author of "swing your sword." good morning, bruce. >> hi, guys. how are you doing this morning? >> doing well. i suppose it's easy, we have a number one versus number two, but that's not the case every year. why does college football continue to be the only ncaa sport which does not have a national championship game? >> well, i think you have to get back to the original premise of this is, it's really the people who run the sport. they simply didn't -- the power brokers simply did not want a

playoff because as long as they had their bowls and in some of the connections and the tie-ins that they had, this was kind of their featdom, and they weren't ready that give up that even for more money. they created the bcs system about 15 years ago. and the bcs basically is to ensure one versus two matchup, which we didn't have every year before. but the structure around it is very murky. and there's always a lot of frustration. and this year is no different. >> it's beyond frustration. i mean, sometimes we've heard the president get involved. you hear congresspeople calling for investigations. i suppose that has to do with interstate commerce, but isn't this just an argument best left for the bar stool? why such a high-profile national conversation about college football? >> because i think fans get really worked up about how their school or their team in their state got left out by of the

structure because they did not either play in the right league or did not have some kind of allegiance somewhere or the other. and, you know, this is -- people look at it, as you said, this is the only sport where you do not have an actual playoff to decide the champion. and there are teams out there that just completely really have no realistic shot of playing for a national title. even though they may be as good as some of these other programs. >> bruce, you've got lawmakers from states like utah who feel like they always get shut out, railing against the system, but is there anything that washington can do about it? >> i really don't think so. i think that's being unrealistic. quite frankly, i think washington and people over there have a lot more issues that are more pertinent to deal with than college football. you know, ultimately, i think we will get some change going forward where we could have maybe a plus one in the next couple years, which would be a mini-playoff. but you're still going to have -- no matter how you turn

it, there's still going to be a lot of people frustrated about how they are left out of the system or how it's unfair. but the reality is, you know, nothing in life is fair, and i just think people are always going to be upset or feel like they're getting screwed out of something. >> not with the boise state fans want to hear for sure. tell me how a plus one or something like that could work. >> what you're talking about basically is the best four teams or the designated best four teams getting into it at the end of the year. it's still got to be hashed out to see if the people who run the sport, the power brokers atop the conferences and the major conferences, the s.e.c., the big ten, the pac-12, if they're going to decide we're going to go with a plus one model when the contract is up and people start looking at that in the off-season. and that's something that potentially could come together in two years and basically it would be in january i think of 2015 could be the first time we have a plus one which would be a

significant change from anything we've had in college football. but, you know, how they decide who's in those, you know, whether it's used in the bowl system, where the games are played, all of that stuff, there's a lot of things that need to be hashed out and all the power brokers at this level with the conferences still feel like they need to discuss it and really kind of weigh it in on both sides of this. >> one-word answer, 'bama or lsu? >> 'bama. but i picked them the first time and they lost then, too. >> bruce feldman, senior writer for "sports illustrated" thank you so much. >> thank you. let's go to new york now and debbye turner bell at the news desk with a check of the rest of the headlines. >> good morning again. you know, we're more than two weeks into wirchnter, but the o snow falling in wisconsin is from a machine at the ski resort. the state has only had a few inches of snow so far. normally it would have had a foot of snow by now.

nationwide temperatures are 10 to 30 degrees above normal and it will for at least another week. this morning the government announced the unemployment rate fell to 8.5%. that is the lowest it's been this nearly three years. the labor department says 200,000 jobs were created last month. 50,000 more than economists had estimated. that compares to the 120,000 jobs created in november. and new figures from the irs show your odds of being audited are far greater if you earn $1 million or more. but if you earn $200,000 or less, you don't have much to worry about. in 2011, 12% of millionaire earners were audited, up from 8% in 2010. but for those making $200,000 or less, the rate was just 1%. at the vatican this morning pope benedict named 22 new cardinals. the list includes two americans, archbishop timothy dolan of new york and former archbishop of

baltimore, edwin o'brien. they'll be installed at a vatican ceremony next month. and conventional wisdom tells us that memory loss is something that happens to people when they're of advanced age. but a new study by british researchers found that moderate loss of memory and other brain functions can begin as early as 45. just something to remember. for the first time since the wreck of the "titanic" was found, items from it will be sold at an auction in april. it will take place on the 100th anniversary of the sinking. more than 5,000 artifacts have been recovered, estimated to be worth nearly $200 million. a judge ord

well, it's no secret that young voters were one of the keys to president obama's election triumph in 2008. but will they be there for him this year? >> that's right.

the economy's still limping along. and though there are signs of recovery, the young are feeling the effects of the downturn more than most. karen brown joins us this morning with more. morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, nancy and jim. i want to make sure you guys are warm in that studio. yeah? >> we're doing okay. probably not as warm as you in that big coat. >> reporter: there you go. and i hope the folks in the new york control booth are warm, too, because it's 22 degrees out here. you know, even in a state where the economy is healthy, in fact, young people are struggling with double-digit unemployment figures, you know, everywhere we went, it was story after story of i sent out 200, 300 resumes, and i can't find a job in my field. so i'm working at the desk at my hotel. i'm also working on the ski slopes. april duchesne isn't snowboarding just for fun. her hometown slopes are the only place she could get a job. >> it's kind of just like that kick in the face. >> reporter: a long way from her

graphic design degree. you actually did this? >> yep. you look at that. i get really happy. >> reporter: at 23, she lives at home and handles social media for the ski resort, earning about half what she expected. phillip karen is in a similar situation. >> i wouldn't have ever got in this place if i didn't know my dad. >> reporter: he's expected to work in this mill with his father, as his grandfather and great-grandfather had done before him. the recent graduate now keeps the place up and hopes someone will buy it. >> most of my family has been through this mill in the past 100 years. >> reporter: even in new hampshire, where unemployment is low, the rate for young people is twice the state average at 12.2%. here as in the rest of america, the youth are watching the candidates carefully. to see if they can get a break. >> with the money that i've spent to go to school, that's the part that's more frustrating because you spend all this money. and six months after you graduate, you're paying for it.

>> reporter: student debt is a big issue. on average, it's $24,000. a recent harvard survey found over half of all so-called millennials 18 to 29-year-olds think the u.s. is headed in the wrong direction. >> the youth vote is going to be a very important for the general election. >> reporter: republican political strategist chuck rund. >> republicans in addressing economic issues are probably going to direct an awful lot of the concerns that you have. >> the first time i've really actually felt invested and interested in politics in my life. i've felt more compelled to be a part of it. >> reporter: why? >> i'm a mother and i'm, of course, interested in my son's future. you want a juice? >> reporter: 29-year-old melissa hilton has a 7-year-old son with autism. >> i want to work in a field where my son will be proud of me that i'm making a difference. and now i'm just working in a machine shop. >> what is it that you'd like to be doing? >> well, my bachelor's is in

criminal justice. a lot of the budget cuts have been resulting in a lot of jobs in that area being cut. you're pro-life, i understand? >> yes. >> reporter: she's attending political events for the first time to see if any candidate can change her life. >> it gave me a sense of empowerment. >> reporter: however, she's still undecided and not alone. in 2012, 45 million millennials could make up the largest potential voting bloc in the nation. if they vote. will you take part in the republican primary? >> i'll consider it. >> reporter: phillip karen is pretty sure about what he'll do. >> i did vote for obama. he made it so i'd still have health insurance through my parents. i'm 21 now. and my job doesn't offer it, so i can have it till i'm 27. and, you know, it will also benefit me in the fact that college was a little cheaper. >> reporter: yeah, in fact, the republicans may have an uphill battle to secure the youth vote. the health care insurance extended to them by the president's health care plan is something that is popular. it's also something that, in

fact, most republican candidates do not support except for mitt romney, and he is leading here in the polls among young people. jim and nancy? >> karen brown, thank you so much. now get inside. mtv is actually zeroing in on young voters with a campaign called the power of 12. >> and here with more on this effort is mtv news correspondent sway calloway. >> good morning to you guys. >> so potentially, this is the largest bloc of voters potentially that could come out in november. >> absolutely. 45 million potential voters between the ages of 18 and 29 can help set the agenda. it's about the individual vote, and collectively, they could change the whole entire election. we've seen this in the past. just four years ago. that's what the power of 12 is all about. mtv through choose or lose has helped drive some of the largest turnouts of young voters in history. we want to continue that. and we created this hub. power of 12.org so people could get information about the

election. the politicians, the agendas, so on and so forth. >> so how does power of 12 differ from choose or lose which is this sort of iconic tradition at mtv? >> it's just a continuation of our political legacy. the power of 12 is about now. it's about 2012. it's about this generation. we're experiencing a different economic climate as well as political climate. a lot of young americans are feeling disillusioned, but they're not disengaged with the political process. we saw the turnout with occupy wall street. but when i go out in the streets and i talk to young potential voters, some of their concerns is student loan. student loans, how to pay for college and coming out of college and not having jobs. so they want to be heard. >> so what have you been seeing here in hnew hampshire? are young voters lining up behind any of these candidates this week in the republican primary? >> we saw in iowa the young voters came out, most of them supported ron paul. but only 4% of those voters

under 30 actually came out to vote. so they're definitely watching. we'll see what happens in new hampshire. that's why we're here. >> what do you think it is about ron paul that appeals so much to younger voters? >> i think his -- well, he's a libertarian, you know. and i think he speaks directly to the young audience. he's not so much for the two-party system. and i think that resonates well with young americans. >> do you think young voters will be the crucial difference in november? will they support president obama the way they did four years ago? >> well, i think president obama right now has the highest approval rate of young voters. ron paul in terms of the republican party has the highest approval rate of young voters. i think young voters will definitely set the agenda. and the candidates are wide, it would behoove them to tap into this power of 12 and utilize this power and talk to this young vote. >> they came out in such huge numbers. they were so energized four years ago. this time around they've got a lot of concerns. they're looking for a job.

you heard in karen's piece, sending out 15, 30 resumes, getting nothing in return. do you think they'll be that energized this time? >> absolutely. absolutely. i think that's the reason why. because, you know, the condition that the country is in now. when you look at student loan debt, it's the first time in america that student loan debt supersedes credit card debt. so something has to change. and for those reasons, i think you'll see a high turnout. but i definitely think the candidates definitely need to pay attention to the power of 12. we're doing a lot of different programs to engage this generation. we have a campaign we're launching called fantasy election 12. and it's like fantasy football, fantasy baseball. >> going to have to leave it there. >> sway calloway of mtv. that's it. >> oh! >> i know, it

we end this broadcast with a promise of a new beginning. next monday morning, cbs begins a new era of morning programming. the debut of cbs "this morning" is an event that has been months in the making. >> charlie rose and gayle king and erica hill will be the team. it is part of the debut, gayle king will be interviewing first lady michell michelle obama. >> we like to thank all of our colleagues with their hard work in iowa and here in new hampshire. it would be impossible to note and mention all of the people whose hands have carried this broadcast for a dozen years. >> we do thank those who brought it to its true and its fitting end. thanks for watching. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

good friday morning, it's 8:55. i'm grace lee this morning. the woman accused of killing nursing student michelle li is scheduled to enter a plea. giselle esteban was apparently convinced her ex-boyfriend was having an affair with le. there are transcripts that esteban allegedly made against her former boyfriend as well as against le. a 5-year-old guy shot and killed in oakland will be laid to rest today. the funeral for gabriel martinez jr. happened this morning at st. elizabeth church. he was shot last week at his father's truck. so far police haven't made any arrests and not established any kind of motive. also scheduled today for a fremont mayor bob wasesserman. he died last week at the age of 77. he had served the people of

fremont since 1976 when he was appointed chief of police. he had been mayor for the past seven years. and an update on the roads and weather, it's all coming up.

good morning, well, it is a pretty slow ride heading into sunnyvale right now and northbound 85 they have two lanes blocked off because of an accident there off fremont avenue. pretty much jammed solid in those northbound lanes. totally different story at the bay bridge taking you outside and you can see the traffic is just cruising right along.

before the pay gates, we don't often see this at the sort of the morning -- start of the morning. in fact they turned the lights off rather around 8:00 because traffic was to extra light on the freeway. we have a couple of fog advisories in effect. one on the golden gate bridge can the bridge as well. visibility is a little bit of an issue this morning. for more on that to the forecast. seeing more of a sea breeze and more moisture in the atmosphere and cloudy skies. across much of the bay area and the beach. you got a lot of clouds there. high surf advisory, 13 to 16- foot waves moving on shore. by the afternoon patchy fog still out to the coast, 50s there. some sunshine inside the bay. 60s in toward mountain view and san jose and plenty of 60s in the valleys. i think the weekend is looking spectacular. high pressure building in offshore winds going to be blowing. that means we are going to tee the temperatures soaring into the -- see the temperatures soaring into the 60s. mondays and tuesday with a few more clouds. ,,,,