julian assange this hour. back here at home we'll see rahm emanuel in a chicago courtroom fighting for his political future. the president and vice president are getting ready for a critical meeting on afghanistan less than 24 hours after the sudden death of the key player in the war strategy. ambassador richard holbrooke. that's before we even talk about what happens next after a judge rejected obama's health care reform law. first, let me show you what is going on outside of our studio. weather, a huge story all around the country. here in new york, we woke up to bitter cold and a coating of snow. but look at what people are facing else where. >> this is a little bit unexpected and unwelcomed. >> looks like it's all clear and all of a sudden you try to step on the brakes and you're all over the road. >> we were stuck inside yesterday and we refuse it be

stuck today. >> they're still closed right now. so, i'm going to have to go back home and stay warm. >> nice and fun and cold. >> the cold is definitely the operative word. bone chilling cold temperatures, record snowfall, huge delays on the ground and in the air. we have reporters blanketing the country and let's start with the weather channel's mike sidel in austinburg, ohio, good morning, mike. >> hey, chris. it is still snowing here in ashtabula county, ohio. it's still blowing, too. these gusts 30 to 35 miles per hour. we're getting the drifting snow and the snow coming down is not as hard as it was yesterday. we're trying to find interstate 90, but when the wind picks up, it becomes almost a whiteout again. these wind chill down around zero and the temperature now in the mid teens and probably not even get to 20 today. over in cleveland, the snow has backed off, but, again, more

lake effect from here to western pennsylvania and western and central new york today, tonight and even into tomorrow around the syracuse area. chris? >> thank you, mike. well, the effects of the cold may last long after the sun has warmed south florida because growers there are really worried about what it's going to do to their citrus crops and their strawberry crops. weather channel meteorologist paul goodloe is following that story from plant city. paul? >> we're not subzero, but we have been subzero. the farmer that planted this field with strawberries and temperatures still not above freezing. that's why the sprinklers are still going. he is coating his fruit, his crop, his blossoms in ice to protect the fruit. now, after the ice forms or the water, it keeps that fruit at 32 degrees and energy is released to form the ice and that's why the sprinklers are still going on. we dropped down to 26 degrees here in this field and that is considered a hard freeze and the concern now is to protect the fruit, not only the

strawberries, but also the citrus crop. that entire industry, strawberry and citrus, $1.5 billion. it sounds like a lot, but, also, if you go to the grocery store after a hard freeze, this moiths co might cost you a lot more money. this is a way the weather could affect you and your pocketbook back at home. >> as if all that isn't enough, let's check out what's to come. meteorologist bill karins over in the weather center. it is a mess across a lot of the country. >> it's amazing the airports aren't more of a mess. some delays out of newark and laguardia. right now at one-hour delays and they have to deice the planes and lot of freezing areas like atlanta and boston are doing just fine and even chicago is doing just fine at this hour. you're mentioning the snow, if you're driving around the great lakes, heavy snow through downtown buffalo currently. to the south, pick up more snow in cleveland, right now very light but you could get at least another six inches there.

let's talk about the temperatures. the wind chill is really what catches your attention. 14 in raleigh and it's not just the midwest, it is actually very cold all the way down to miami and this morning it was down to 36 degrees. let's talk about what's going to happen tonight. one more night of damaging, freezing temperatures in florida and also one more night of bitterly cold temperatures for the ohio valley. let's go in tight here and talk about florida itself. looking tonight, 28 in orlando, even ft. myers is expected to get down to 28 degrees. a very, very rare two-day event down in florida, chris. we will feel the effects in the markets in the days ahead. this was a damaging freeze last night. >> thanks so much, bill. we'll keep you all posted on the weather, including in our next half hour we'll check in with nbc john yang who is in a very snowy michigan city, indiana. we'll keep our eye on the weather for you. lots of other news going on, including the story of the key arct tect of america's strategy in afghanistan who has died.

reportedly his final words before going into emergency heart surgery, you've got to stop this war in afghanistan. now, one hour before a war strategy meeting between the president and vice president, richard holbrooke's death has left a gaping hole in u.s. diplomacy in that region. this was the president and secretary of state hillary clinton just before they learned of holbrooke's death. >> he is simply one of the giants of american foreign policy. >> there's nobody tougher than richard holbrooke. he's a fierce negotiator, i'm sure there are some shoulders here tonight that are still a lilt little bit sore from his arm twisting. but he is a fiercer friend and a beloved mentor. >> joining me now, general wesley clark, formernato commander. >> good morning. >> you just heard hillary clinton's very affectiont description of richard holbrooke and i think it would be

difficult to overstate his career from vietnam to china to negotiating the end of the war in bosnia. talk from your perspective about what kind of diplomat richard holbrooke was. his significance in american modern history. >> he had a vision of america. he was the essence of the second half of 20th century america, america's a great power. america is the triumphant power of the cold war. america is the leader on the world stage and he had a great sense for human rights and justice. and, so, from his earliest times all the way through, he had a special place, he went to countries on his own expense, when he wasn't in office to try to look at the issues and work the issues that were around development and modernization and especially anything that impacted the way people are treated and the injustices in the world. i think he had a great heart and

great charisma, but, most of all, he had a great vision and tremendous force to push that vision through, year after year. >> let's talk about what happens now, general. obviously, having been in the diplomatic world for so very long. he had a depth of knowledge and he had built relationships over years and over decades. we have vice president biden and president obama going in to meet with the national security team to talk about afghanistan and pakistan and this big report is coming out thursday on afghanistan. how does richard holbrooke's death affect that? how does it change things? >> well, i think that ambassador holbrooke was somebody who really could look at the big picture. he could stand apart from the political of washington and look at america's long-term interest and his absence will be missed.

richard holbrooke was a mix it up dipmatic and he would fight and work every issue and he knew the details and he worked it, but also had a big picture. i think he just had a tremendous role to play in the future in america and i think his absence is going to be a tremendous, tremendous loss. >> one of the things that he apparently was very, very specific about was he was constantly trying to put the pressure on afghan president hamid karzai, especially about some of the corruption that was going on in the government and whatever military strides are made in afghanistan without a stable government, very difficult to see the way ahead. that personality and the fact that he wasn't afraid to push hard, how much will that play into all of this, general? >> well, i think his pressure is going to be missed. ambassador holbrooke knew from our experiences in vietnam and what we did in the dayton negotiations, you can't kill your way into success in this

kind of a conflict. yes, you have to use military force, but you basically have to get people to agree. and he was a tremendous, he was a tremendous advocate all the way in every conflict for trying to bring opposing parties together. people of different viewpoints and i think this was, perhaps, the most difficult challenge yet that he'd face between afghanistan and pakistan and india that we can't quite reach and, yet, is a key part of the strategic equation on the ground in afghanistan and, certainly, in the minds of the pakistanis. so, he knew that he couldn't quite get his hands on all the required variables. at the same time he was acutely conscious of the same time at home. our president is doing the best he can for america in the strategy, but he also knows that from the right flank, he's always vulnerable to the charges of not being strong enough on national security. so, i think what ambassador

holbrooke brought to the table was a key understanding of international realities and domestic realities. >> general wesley clark, always good to see you, sir, thank you for joining us. the future of landmark health care reform is in question today after that ruling that tosses out key parts of the obama law and sets the stage potentially for years of lawsuits. the president had to be disappointed, but he said he wasn't surprised. >> that's the nature of these things. when social security was passed, there were all kinds of lawsuits. when the civil rights act was passed and the voting rights act was passed, all kinds of lawsuits. >> now, republicans have their pr machine going full bore against what they call obama care. john boehner, more soon to be speaker, called the decision an encouraging sign for families and small business owners who have revolted against president obama's job killing health care law. the company is here. republican strategist boris

episteen and washington bureau chief susan paige. susan, let me start with you. what are you hearing on the hill about this? >> not a surprise that the judge would rule this way but still a jolt to democrats and to the white house. we know that this case is going to go, this case and similar ones are going to end up at the supreme court. and there is a sense, i think, that that triumphant moment when president obama signed the health care bill was not the end of this fight, it was the middle of this fight that will be going on for a couple more years. >> and for all these millions of people, literally, boris and, you know, we'll say again, you're coming at this from the republican perspective who thought this was settled and who thought they were going to get health care that they didn't have before, how do you feel about this war right now that throws everything into the air for years to come. >> it's not everything, right. the individual mandate forcing individuals to have health care and then punishing them through taxes and other fines if they

don't. i think constitutionally from the legal perspective, he was right. politically, though, as individuals look at this, barack obama spent a year of capital on this, obviously, it's very problematic. >> susan, you wonder if it's a political question or constitutional question and i don't know if we answered this here, but this has been looked at two different times with two california clinton employees and now with george w. bush appointee, he sides against the obama administration. >> i'm not a lawyer, i don't know where the constitutional provisions will come down. but this idea was originally a republican idea. an idea that republicans came up with at the time of clinton care. it was when it became part of this democratic proposal that it became so politically polarizing. that's one thing to remember. you know, the other thing that i think is important to notice that the white house and democratic supporters of this legislation haven't yet really

made the case with americans. we have two polls out yesterday. two national polls. the kaiser poll and an abc/"washington post" poll down in the low 40s and i think there was some expectation that at this point after some of the popular provisions of the law had gone into effect that that number would be higher than it is today. >> the americans in general are happy about the decision because they overwhelmingly don't like this as a law. >> the question is, is this the messaging problem or is this the real problem? that will be decided both in the courts and as the polls continue to be taken. boris, susan, you'll stay with us throughout this hour. in a couple of moments, we'll talk about the health care shake up you can call it with ed schultz, you know he has some stuff to say about this. we are also watching the continuing drama unfolding over the tax cut compromise. the stage is now set for a final vote in the senate after a test vote passed 83-15 yesterday.

now, that's greater support than they expected. "the washington post" described it as the most bipartisan vote since president obabush took office. progressives may still try to fight the extension of tax cuts for the wealthy, cut to state taxes and other measures that they vehemently oppose in this bill and that's something we're following very closely. two breaking court hearings both here in the u.s. and overseas. wikileaks founder is in a london courtroom right now and fighting extradition to sweden and you will not believe what his defense is offering. plus, in chicago, this hour, rahm emanuel is testifying and he is fighting a residency question that could force him to drop out of the race for chicago mayor. hear rahm in his own words, next. ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual!

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we may now be minutes away from finding out what is next for julian assange. right now inside a london courthouse he is fighting for bail as his lawyers continue to fight extradition to sweden where he is facing raing rape c. his mother visited him in jail. let me read it to you, "my convictions are unfaltering. i remain true to the ideals i have expressed. this circumstance shall not shake them. if anything this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct." jenny is live in london and, jenny, i know peter alexander is inside that courtroom and has been texting information from there. what did we find out about what's going on? >> today's hearing is primarily a bail hearing.

julian assange's lawyers argue that he needs to be released from prison and he can fight his extradition to sweden. so far today some of $300,000 has been offered as assurety that he won't escape from his bail. he's also being offered a place to stay that is within one mile of the police station that has been offered by the owner of a journalist here in london and, also, i understand that they're arguing that another reason that he really should be released is because his face has become so well known all around the world now that it would be almost impossible for him to escape without being recognized. and i could also go on to tell you that his mother has flown in from australia. she flew in last night and she was able to talk to her son, julian assange, before the hearing today. >> have people all over the world and all sorts of countries

were standing up to scream out for his freedom and justice and he was very heartened by that. i'm asking the world to stand up for my brave son. >> well, there's certainly a lot of support here. you can probably see behind me all the press that have gathered outside today, but what you can't see is there are several hundred campaigners waiting demanding that he be released from prison so he can fight his extradition. >> jenny, thanks so much. we'll continue to keep our eye on what's happening and peter will continue to let us know exactly what's happening inside that courtroom. a nightmare cruise in the eastern ped terrainian is over for hundreds of american passengers this morning. "brilliance of the seas" docked in malta after a violent storm battered the ship over the weekend. we heard from some passengers just this morning saying they were terrified and feared for their lives. >> the thing went like this, okay. >> and she flew out of bed.

>> i was out of bed. i hit the door and then came back and then hit the door again. >> really scary. really scary, yeah. we had our feet against the wind sxoe holding the bed back and we thought we were done for. we thought that was it. >> photos taken by passengers show destruction all over the ship and royal caribbean, which had downplayed the incident, now calls it serious and they are offering refunds. "the new york post" is calling it madoff final insult. bernie madoff saying he will not attend the funeral for his son, mark. madoff's attorney said out of concern for the family, madoff will stay behind bars in north carolina and hold his own private memorial. he hanged himself using a dog leash in his new york apartment on saturday. the embattled chairman of the rnc, michael steele is not going down without a fight. he decided to seek a second term to the surprise of a lot of

republicans who were frankly hoping he'd step down. steele two years in his post as head of the republican party have been marked by allegations of financial mismanagement and multiple verbal gab aal jabs. let the hollywood award season begin. the nominations for the golden globes were announced this morning. the king's speech leads all film nominations with seven including best motion picture drama. it's up against "black swan" "the fighter" "inception" and "the social network." comedy are "alice in wonderland," "burlesque" "the kids are all right," "red" and "the tourist." "boardwalk empire," "dexter,"

"the good wife." the golden globes will be handed out on january 16th and you can see it live on nbc. it's a ruling that will keep the president's health care law tangled up in the courts for years. msnbc's ed schultz who has been all over the country hosting health care clinics joins me next to talk about what it means for the middle class. nobody in my family ever had a heart attack. if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart.

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we are just getting confirmation from inside the courtroom. you're watching the scene outside. julian assange has been granted bail. peter alexander confirming that from inside the courtroom. a lot of contributors have come to his aid, $300,000 they had raised and they also said that they are willing to give him a place to stay very near the

courthouse and his lawyer had argued that he so recognizable now all around the world that the chances of him being able to flee are slim and none. the judge bought that, he is going to be free on bail and we're going to continue to follow that story as soon as peter is able to come outside of that courtroom, we will find out exactly what the reaction was in there and what this means going forward. we're following that breaking news out of london for you. also, president obama's health care law is in for a big legal headache that could be throbbing for years. federal judge henry hudson who was appointed by george bush decided that requiring every american to have health care is beyond the government's reach. two other rulings by clinton appointees this year upheld the president's reform. the republicans were very happy with what happened yesterday. >> people have the right to insurance whether they buy health insurance they should not have it imposed upon them by

government. >> joining me now the host of "the ed show" ed schultz. you spent so much time this year talking to average americans and going to these health cares and what does it mean to these folks? >> it would have brought health care cost down because you would have had more americans in the pool. i don't think the insurance industry would like this ruling at all. they would have had more customers. this, in the big picture, if this ruling is upheld by the supreme court, is going to change the congressional budget office numbers. they're going to have to go back and recalculate. >> that's a huge deal. >> well, it is, but it's still the pre-existing condition, the provision to cover more americans, the insurance company can't drop you, there's a lot of tremendous stuff and a lot of forward thinking provisions in the health care law that was passed. >> well, let me ask you about what the judge had to say, this is judge hudson. he said the health care law could lead to boundless government authority to force americans and i'm quoting here, to buy an automobile to join a

gym and to eat asparagus. >> that's overreaching. that judge is politically motivated. that's way over the top legally and i think you'll find a lot of legal scholars that will say that. this isn't about automobiles. more people driving automobiles is not going to bring our national debt down. more people having health insurance certainly will because we will have better outcomes, better healthy outcomes and the preventative care and all the great stuff that's in this health care bill still stands. the mandate is not totally crucial for us to be a healthier society but it will change the numbers and i'm not sure that the american people are really against having a mandate. i think it's fair for all of us to have health insurance in this country to make us a healthier nation. so, it's not going to kill the health care bill, it's not going to take some tremendous stuff out of the bill. this is a provision that is going to be fought in the courts and very political in my opinion. >> all right, we are going to watch ed and hear what you have to say about that, about the

developments, the vote and the tax debate. a lot going on. the ed show right here on msnbc. we're taking you live inside the courtroom in chicago. this, of course, is rahm emanuel, former chief of staff to president obama, who left the white house because he wanted to run for mayor of chicago. here's the rub. his critics have said he can't run. he has not been a resident of chicago for the last year, which is the requirement. he not only, of course, was living in washington, but he was renting his house. his argument is, look, this is a part of government service. this is the way it is. he moved to washington, you serve but i still went back there. my family is still there, i was still voting there, my voter registration was still there, so, this is a critical hearing for rahm emanuel who for his whole adult life said his goal is, his desire is to be mayor of chicago and now he is fighting for that. here's the scene outside of

a british courtroom. so much going on this morning. london julian assange is going to get out of jail. the judge has just granted bail. peter alexander was inside that courtroom when that decision was made. we'll have him coming up. keep it right here. of vitamins, fiber, or minerals. and who brings you more natural colors than campbell's condensed soups? campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal.

bail for julian assange. this story just breaking out of london. nbc jenny is outside the courthouse for us. tell us what happened, jenny. >> i was speaking to peter alaxeneder who is still inside the courtroom, but we have heard that julian assange is going to be given bail and given with a number of conditions. the judge is still speaking as i speak to you and he's setting those conditions. but we do know that more than $300,000 is being offered in assureties and he's also being offered a permanent place to stay that is within one mile of

a police station. >> jenny wivell, give us a sense, if you will, of the scene outside and what we know about where this help for julian assange is coming from. >> absloutly. i mean, if you have a look behind me, you can see all the press that have gathered outside. the media is here because this case is juch so high profile. if we have a look down the road here, we can see that there are hundreds of supporters who have gathered outside and a huge cheer went up from those supporters when they heard that julian assange was going to be released on bail. and, really, as i say, this is just a huge amount of support for him. there have been a number of high-profile figures who have come forward to offer money as assurety for him and a high-profile figure who owns a journalism club in london is who offered him a place to stay. >> all right, thank you so much, jenny wivell, we are waiting for

peter alexander to come out and we'll get more with him. but i want to bring in our company to talk a little bit more about this. boris and susan, boris epshteyn and susan page from "usa today." let me britang you in joy-ann. he has been on the vote for "time" magazine person of the year and international media has absolutely swarmed london where he has been in jail and now, as we just reported, is getting bail. what do you make of all this? >> julian assange strikes, is a sort of strange guy. the more we learn about him. but i think it does show a democratization and that a guy like this could be so important in exposing government secrets. i've been a built skeptical about these sexual assault charges. it did seem like an attempt to railroad him into custody. i think bail is a good thing. it has been democratization of

journalism even though people are saying he's not really a journalist. >> i disagree with that. i think the bail is a bad thing. they should keep him in jail as long as they can. i think this man is bad for the world. not just for america as a country, but putting out as much information as he is. >> i am not going to pretend to know the british legal system and i'm not a lawyer here in the united states, but this is about a rape case and extradition to sweden and that really shouldn't play into it, should it? however you feel about what he's doing in terms of being the founder of wikileaks. >> in international law such a provision as overarching crime. and if they arrested him on the specific crime, which may be rape charge or sexual harassment, they should keep him on all the other crimes he committed. i think he has been an awful, awful player in national politics over the last year. he's cost people's lives and there shouldn't be one person out there who supports what he's doing. if they look down and see that julian assange is really out there murdering individuals and

he's not just maybe not putting bank of america out there to pasture. what he's doing is costing people's lives and putting our men and women in uniform in harm's way and i really, really despise him for that. >> peter alexander has made his way to the microphone coming out of the courtroom where that decision about bail was made. tell us what's going on. >> chris, i was sitting inside that courtroom literally right next to the glass and this window defendant's box where julian assange was seated. his head was up and he was listening intently throughout the course of this. after the judge made it very clear that bail would be set at 200,000 pounds, roughly $320,000. that assange would be forced to surrender his passport and stay at a wealthy britain's man's home, he is the head of the front line club here. it is a british club, an exclusive club set up largely for foreign and domestic international correspondents.

this is an estate that is said to be on 600 acres with ten bedrooms. assange will have to check in with police once every evening. he will have to be with electronic monitoring and also within the property during two four-hour periods during lunch and then overnight. i literally was sitting right next to julian assange and we made eye contact. we made eye contact immediately after the judge said that and as his attorneys and his supporters in the room came over to him, he gave a smile and a thumbs up. this is great british theater instd this courthouse for was the course of, what was that, more than an hour and 40 minutes in total before julian assange finally left, he was wearing a suit and why this is significant, as soon as that money is handed over, chris. julian assange the controversial and complicated figure could very easily walk out the front doors of this courthouse. >> peter alexander, keep up the

great work. we'll check back with you later on. thank you, peter. we're following the developing story that is mother nature and what a mess. the big winter whiteout caused nearly 100 cars and trucks to get stuck for hours on covered highways and that is just in indiana. gusts up to 30 miles an hour delayed rescue efforts there. and it has been a dangerous storm, at least 16 people around the country have died. nbc's john yang joins us now from michigan city, indiana. john, looked pretty rough out there. >> it is cold. i know, chris, you grew up on lake erie in northeastern, ohio. you may have seen this before, i certainly have and this is a frozen piece of a beach. sand mixed with water frozen into a sheet like this. there is a coating of ice on this beach, you can see the water had frozen as it was going back and the waves going back into lake michigan.

the big story now is the temperature. it has been falling all morning. the high was before sunrise about 25 degrees and it's now about 16 degrees. and you look out on to these waves, chris, believe it or not in the past couple of days, the harbor master here in michigan city, indiana, has had to chase surfers out of the water. chris? >> unbelievable. take care out there. i know how cold it gets with that wind whipping off the lake, thank you, john. here's a fascinating question. who's better at reading the emotions of others? the rich or those who don't have big bank accounts? there's actually a scientific study on that. things are looking up if you're searching for a job in 2011. richard lui checking out a brand-new report. >> yes, chris, finally, some good news that we all can put our arms around. the best in four years when it comes to jobs. what kind of jobs you might want to get yourself ready for the next year and has something to do with all of this back here.

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the death rate from congenital heart defect among americans continues to drop. congenital heart defects, which are present at birth, can lead to an increased risk for irregular heart beats, congestive heart failure and high blood pressure. according to researchers from the cdc, the death rate from these defects dropped by nearly a quarter from 1999 to 2006. breaking news right now. rahm emanuel is on the stand in a chicago courtroom. he's answering questions about his bid for chicago mayor. and here's the key question. he has lived in chicago for a year or hasn't he? because if the answer is, no, he hasn't lived in chicago for over

a year, he can't run. in the city known for boisterous politics, this hearing could get interesting. jim warren is an msnbc contributor. give us the lay of the land here, jim. what is going to happen? >> well, little less momentum than the julian assange hearing. i never thought there would be a common denominator between ramm and julian assange. the fact is that even though the state municipal code says you have to have lived there for a year before the election and only gives you an exemption for military service, the much broader and i think more relevant legal matter happens to be the state election code, which gives a broad exemption for government service quote/unquote. he pays taxes here, he votes here, he owns a house here and, perhaps most important of all, the intent. past history suggests that the board of elections counts that as most important and everybody and his mother knew, chris, that

rahm emanuel was coming back to town and going to live in that house on the north side of chicago. >> jim warren, always good to see you, thanks so much. >> pleasure, chris. we don't normally do a whole lot of sports here on this show, but one of the most prized pitchers in all of baseball has a new job and it is a surprise. free agent cliff lee stiffed both the new york yankees and the texas rangers to re-sign with the folks that kicked him out, essentially. the phillies in philadelphia. and proving it's not always about the money, lee turned down 50 million more dollars he would have gotten from the yanks. lee helped lead the phillies to the 2009 world series before they traded him. brett favre's remarkable streak from being the starting quarterback in 297 consecutive nfl games is over. his 41-year-old body just wouldn't cooperate this time and sat out last night's game with a shoulder injury. without him the vikings lost to the giants and his future in football, frankly, is a big question mark this morning. that new york jets assistant

coach who was accused of tripping a miami dolphins player during a game will sit out the rest of the season. some called for salalosi to be fired but the nfl suspended him and fined him $25,000. >> my actions were inexcusable and irresponsible. i wasn't thinking. if i could go back and do it again, i sure as heck would take a step back. just a situation where i just wasn't thinking. >> alosi's suspension is effective immediately. cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben.

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george w. bush showed reflexes two years ago today. remember that an iraqi journalist throwing shoes at him. it became an internet sensation brushed off by president bush and then watch bide a couple million people online.

two years ago today. well, if you're among the 15 million americans looking for a job, 2011 might just be your year. a new survey out this morning shows the men and women with the money, chief financial officers, plan to boost hiring by 2%. that's the best we've seen in four years. richard lui is here with what all of this could mean for all of you folks who are job hunting. hey, richard. >> it's been tough so far as we know, chris. when we looked through the 200-page survey, what you all want to hear is this. there will be an addition of 3 million jobs by their estimate and that is opposite of last year. just look at the data as it's changed over that time period. here's who's expecting to do the hiring next year. on the stuff in the rooms that we walk by we never look into. rooms like this. technicians, engineers, support staff, research and development and technology spending in the next 12 months will be up nearly

5%. now, other places that some of those 3 million jobs might come from consulting analysts and others. folks that sit in desk, come on in and help businesses all around the country. also part of these jobs, the energy sector. they'll get more jobs. oil, electric and gas and you can see this one. the survey told me earlier that they see retail and whole sale jobs going up when we go into those jobs and go shopping, all those folks mean that they will have more to ring up on those cash registers. also good news. they say it is easier to borrow money for those businesses, which many businesses were having trouble with earlier saying if they couldn't borrow money, they couldn't make any money. interesting thing here, though, to watch how much these businesses have in their pockets. how much they have in the bank. $2 trillion here, chris. that is the most amount of money since 1959. this survey is different, as well, because it's the view of those in charge of long-term

investments. they kind of look in that hour glass and look forward into the business cycles. they look at what they're going to be doing, business and governments and they say their estimates here, chris, are a quarter ahead of other estimates and 60% of the time they're pretty much right on and you and i both know given the job situation, we hope they are. >> we hope they do, richard, thank you. that survey on hiring in the new year comes a day before president obama plans to meet with the nation's ceos at a day-long summit at the white house. kate o'sullivan senior editor joann rej joy-ann reid is back with us, as well. i'm curious what kind of people are likely to get these jobs. i saw a survey labor department recently and someone who has been out of a job for a year or more. your chances go down the longer you're out of a job. is this good news for those folks? >> well, i think the fact that

cfos are telling us that they do plan to increase their hiring by 1 2% in the next 12 months. probably larly in the tech sector because there's concern that their skills will be rusty. but this number, this 2% increase is the greatest increase we've seen from cfos since 2006. we've seen some negative numbers certainly during the worst of the recession, so, we're just pleased that they're planning to hire. >> while it is expected to increase, companies are sitting on nearly $2 trillion in cash money that isn't yet being pumped into the economy. is there a sign that cfos are going to start to loosen those purse strings pretty significantly? >> there is. we asked cfos about their cash situation and about 50% of them said they do have plans to put some money to work in this coming year. they'll make accusations and spending on capital expenditures like new plants and heavy equipment and things like that.

they actually expect to increase their capital spending by about 9% in the next 12 months and i think you also mentioned that they're going to be spending more on technology. that number is 4% to 5% on tech spending. and to a lesser extent advertising and marketing, as well. >> a lot of folks out there watching this trying to get reemployed and they're breathing a sigh of relief and maybe hopeful for the first time in a long time, but what about the white house? this has got to be at least a little bit of good news after what's really been a string of really bad reports on the economy. >> yeah, it's been a really rough two years for the white house, but i think that not only this report, but also that the tax deal. the tax compromise has in it direct stimulus that will feed into holiday. give working americans a 2% raise will go right back into the economy and spending as well

as unemployment insurance being extended for 13 months. this is good for the economy in terms of people being able to spend. what we're seeing with all the ipad revolutions and ereaders, you're have old media convert to new media. you're having a lot of businesses try to adapt themselves to the tech future, so, there is a lot of need to spend on tech and then, of course, in that tax deal there is also expensing that will let people do it and spend money on their taxes and provide more incentives. a good thing overall and i'm sure they're very happy. >> joy-ann reid, kate o'sullivan, thanks to both of you. want to take you back outside that london courthouse. the latest person to come to the microphone. one of the former wives of mick, one of the people who we believe has been supporting julian assange who got enough money from his supporters about 200,000 pounds to be able to be granted bail. we should say we're just getting word from the swedish prosecutor that they will appeal that decision to grant bail to julian

assange. meantime, take a look at what's going on in charlotte, north carolina. firefighters at the scene of a two alarm fire, big apartment complex there ablaze for about an hour now. heavy smoke, flames, everybody has been evacuated and we'll keep you posted on that developing story. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. - sure, cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? - cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream.

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