wicked weather. the winter-like storm that blasted the southwest heads east, threatening to make a mess from north carolina to maine. attack mode. mitt romney promises a more aggressive campaign as he loses ground in the polls. and smart alec. find out why actor alec baldwin is booted from a cross-country flight. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, december 7th, 2011. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. this morning, the prewinter storm that hit parts of the southwest is moving east and some areas could get up to 6 inches of snow, with others getting a lot of heavy rain. winter weather advisories are posted along the virginia and

west virginia border and also for parts of pennsylvania and new york. this is the same system that hit new mexico where near zero temperatures are expected today. as the storm moved east, there was rough weather in texas, arkansas, and illinois. the snow, ice and strong winds made highway travel dangerous. >> lots of wrecks. lots of sliding into curves and breaking the tires off their beads, cars rolling over on their tops. >> little rock, arkansas, and nashville, tennessee, could get an inch or so of wet snow today. now to politics. after being overtaken in the polls by newt gingrich, mitt romney has unveiled what he calls his closing argument, promising a more aggressive campaign. and president obama is also on the attack, making it a pitch to the middle class. tara mergener is in washington with more on all of this. good morning, tara. >> good morning to you, betty. republicans are trying to keep the president on the defensive over the weak u.s. economy. in the meantime, mitt romney is

ramping up his campaign as newt gingrich surges in the polls. mitt romney is battling to take back his lead in the gop race. >> now it's time to make our case to the american people and to the people in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina and florida. >> reporter: in arizona tuesday, he promised a more aggressive campaign ahead of next month's iowa caucuses, including a new wave of tv ads and appearances. the former massachusetts governor is trying to catch up to newt gingrich who now holds a double digit lead in iowa in a cbs news/"the new york times" poll. >> this election is really going to be a fundamental choice about what path america is going to take during this century. >> reporter: today, romney will join his rivals in washington for the republican jewish conference. he'll argument he is the best candidate to beat president obama. the president himself has been hitting the campaign trail this week. yesterday in kansas, he laid out his case for re-election. >> the philosophy is simple. we are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves

and play by their own rules. i am here to say they are wrong. >> reporter: the president blamed republicans for the growing gap between the rich and poor and promised to continue fighting for ordinary americans. >> this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. >> reporter: republicans fired back, insisting the speech was just another attempt to distract from the president's failed economic policies. and mitt romney is the latest candidate to decline a debate moderated by donald trump. so far, newt gingrich and rick santorum are the only ones who have agreed to participate. apparently there is concern donald trump will make the debate all about him. >> tara mergener in washington, thank you. i'll stay away from that one. by moving to the front of the republican pact, newt gingrich has made himself a target. recently, mitt romney said gingrich has spent 40 years as a washington insider and ron paul is airing this hard-hitting commercial in iowa. take a look.

>> newt gingrich renewed his support for an individual mandate a key tentative president obama law. >> support for an individual mandate? folks, don't ask me to explain this! >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in the house, he went the other way when he got paid to go the other way! >> he is demonstrating to be the very essence of the washington insiders. >> it's about serial hypocrisy. >> now to a surprise turn in congress. unnamed republican sources say house republicans will propose an increase in medicare premiums for wealthy seniors to pay for the cost of renewing the payroll tax cut. president obama is pushing hard for the extension. most republicans have refused to pay for it by raising any texas. by the way, today is the last day to join, switch, or drop your medicare part d, the drug prescription plan. former illinois governor rod blagojevich today will give what may be the most important speech

of his life, a plea for mercy. he will speak on his own behalf at his sentencing hearing. he was convicted of 18 counts of corruption after being caught in a federal wiretap. in one recording, blagojevich appeared to offer the senate seat vacated by president obama. prosecutors want him to serve 15 to 20 years in prison. faa administrator randy babbitt has resigned. bab itbabbitt was arrested saturday night in virginia on drunk driving charges. babbitt says he doesn't want anything to cast a shadow on the work done by the faa. iran says the u.s. spy drone it claims to have shot down was flying deep inside the country, not over western afghanistan as u.s. officials said previously. unnamed u.s. official say the top secret drone was part of a cia fleet of aircraft that has been spying on iran for years. on the cbs "moneywatch," upswing for stocks on asian markets. ashley morrison is here in new

york with more on that. asian markets got a jolt today on more optimism the eu will get a handle on its debt crisis. both tokyo's nikkei and hong ko kong's hang sang both closed up close to 2%. today, wall street gets the latest on consumer debt. tuesday, stocks were stuck in neutral most of the day before a late day rally. the dow gained 52 points, while the nasdaq was down six. citigroup is slashing 4,500 jobs worldwide, that's about 1.5% of its work force. the bank says it's all part of its effort to trim costs. the cuts will be made over the next few quarters. bank of america will pay $3.15 million to settle claims by merrill lynch customers that they were misled by investments and mortgage-backed securities. ba acquired merrill lynch during the financial meltdown in 2008. it's the second such settlement in a week. analysts predict more to come. gm thinks it knows why fires

have been breaking out in its electric they have chevy volts. the auto maker says coolant leaks may be the cause. the government is investigating, but the transportation department says the vehicle is safe to drive. gm is offering refunds to dissatisfied customers. verizon is about to take on netflix. the telecom giant is planning to launch a new service that lets customers stream movies and tv shows over the internet. the new service could be rolled out as soon as next year. netflix shares fell almost 5% on the news. and if you think your tweets just die in cyberspace, well, think again. the library of congress has struck a deal with twitter to archive every public tweet, that is billions and billions. betty, that means getting a cool tour of an animal e.r. just saw a dog get a huge tooth pulled or checking out the dallas world aquarium. who knew they had a tropical rain forest? those will live forever.

you'll be happy to know only public tweets are included. nothing protected or private will be archived. i hope you don't tweet any of our conversations. >> if those are the best you can find, i'm in trouble. i better step up my tweet game. are you on twitter? >> i am not. no tweeting for me. >> settle to being facebook friends then. thank you, ashley morrison, in new york. coming up on the morning news, a not so sweet study of kids' breakfast cereal. plus a cannonball run using a real cannon in california. l. plus a a real cannon. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections.

serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing

for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. yet another alleged victim has come forward in the penn state sexual abuse scandal. the man says that former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky abused him at the age of 12. a preliminary hearing for sandusky will be held next tuesday. at least six of sandusky's ten accusers are expected to testify a new study out this

morning, says many cereals for kids are loaded with more sugar than dessert snacks. the report says the biggest offender is kellogg's honey smacks with one cup containing more sugar than a twinkie! and a cup of quaker oats cap'n crunch had more sugar than three chips ahoy cookies. that was one of my favorite ones. well, only 1 out of 4 careerealt the federal guidelines. oops. the popular myth busters tv show had an accident, shall we say, while firing a cannon for an episode of the show. it happened in dublin, california. they hit a cannon ball but it was a bit off. it smashed all the way through a nearby house leaving holes in the door, the walls, and then through the window of a minivan outside. luckily, no one was hurt. well, actor alec baldwin got

in a dispute with a flight attendant on tuesday and kicked off an american airlines plane. according to fellow passengers before takeoff from los angeles, baldwin refused to stop playing a word game on a cell phone. melissa mccarty of our station kcbs in los angeles has more. >> reporter: on the same flight alec baldwin was kicked off, oscar de la hoya. >> alec baldwin was turning off his devices. i don't know. he got a little angry. that's about it. >> reporter: in new york, passengers on the flight tonight react to their celebrity-caused delay. >> who was that? >> alec baldwin. he looked a little bit intoxicated to me. >> reporter: actor alec baldwin says he is addicted to his favorite word game. after being removed from an american airline flight, he took to his twitter account to say a flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing "friends" while we sat at the gate not moving. they say he made a raucous.

the actor's rep says he left his seat to ask for the attendant's name to file a complaint. it was then the crew asked him to leave. baldwin then unleashed an all-out rant, tweeting about the airline's bankruptcy status, saying it will be the last american flight he will take, tweeting there is always united. in a calmer tweet, he says, now on the 3:00 american flight, the flight attendants already look smarter. passengers on board join the twitter game. michael wolf from mtv said on an american airlines flight at lax, alec baldwin removed from the plane. we had to go back to the gate. terrible that everyone had to wait. the actor's rep released this statement. he loves "words with friends" so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it. >> that was melissa mccarty of kcbs tv reporting. the rock 'n' roll hall of fame class of 2012 is out. ♪ >> oh, yeah. guns n' roses lead the pack.

the l.a. rock band who found the greatest success in the late '80s made it on their first nomination. also on the class is the beastie boys and red hot chili peppers and laura nyro. they will all be inducted next april. congratulations. straight ahead, your wednesday morning weather. and in sports, the competition heats up over free agent albert pujols who may become baseball's 200 million dollar man. ed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol 200 million dollar man. and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows cloudy skies and showers in the east. light snow is falling in the lower mississippi valley and it's clear on the west coast, but later today, there will be rain showers from new england to the southeast. it will stay muggy and warm along the coast. behind the system is colder air. the rest of the nation has mostly sunny skies except for a few snow showers in the northern rockies. in sports, number three syracuse remains unbeaten in college basketball. playing at home, the orange got 15 points from dion waders and hung on against marshall. syracuse got its ninth win, 62-56 over the thundering herd.

and in chapel hill, barnes had 17 points as the tar heels more than doubled the score against evansville in a 97-48 victory. in baseball, big papi david ortiz is expected to stay with boston. the red sox slugger didn't find many suitors in the free agent market. espn reports he will accept salary arbitration for next year, a deal likely to be in the 14 to $15 million range. and the miami marlins are trying to make their big off-season splash bigger by signing number one free agent albert pujols. speculation is the deal for the three-time national league mvp could be worth, get this, a whopping $200 million or more over ten years. the marlins have already signed two other all-stars, shortstop jose reyes and closer heath bell. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and remembering pearl harbor 70 years on.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. a slow moving storm system will keep things muggy and warmer than normal along the east coast. the northern rockies and parts of the mississippi valley are getting some wet snow and stagnant air is in the northwest. here is another look at this morning's top stories. the winter-like storm that hit the southwest is headed east. snow is expected today at higher elevations from virginia to parts of maine. former illinois governor rod blagojevich is expected to speaking at his corruption sentencing hearing today. prosecutors are asking for a 15 to 20-year prison term. this is the 70th anniversary of the day that thrust this country into world war ii, pearl harbor day.

on december 7th, 1941, japan launched a surprise air attack on the u.s. navy base in hawaii it sank morning a dozen ships, including four battle ships and killed more than 2,400 americans. today, the ranks of pearl harbor survivors are dwindling fast. sandra hughes has one man's story. >> reporter: survivors of the "uss arizona" were given a hero's welcome at the pearl harbor memorial. here to commemorate the 70th anniversary, four generations of don stratton's family. back then, he was a fresh face 19-year-old sailor on board the "uss arizona." >> i headed from my battle station which was about five ladders up. >> reporter: but he couldn't do much against the onslaught of bombs. then the "arizona" exploded. >> the ball of fire went about 600 to 700 feet in the air. i was burned over 65% of my body. it's been a long time. rest in peace, ship mates.

>> reporter: more than 1,100 men were killed and many still entombed below this memorial. of the 334 "uss arizona" survivors, only 35 are known to still be alive. there are more who survived on other battle ships but one by one, they are passing away. the remains of a sailor who survived the attack on the "uss utah" and died this year, were interred under water. the dwindling number of survivors make this an important anniversary. >> the first time i came out here, i was 19, knowing that he was 19 at that time, being there, same age. i mean, it's a life changing experience. >> reporter: it took a year for don stratton's burns to heal, but he didn't lose his fight. he reenlisted and went back to war. what do you say when people call you a hero? >> they are still out there. >> reporter: they sacrificed something he'll never forget.

sandra hughes, cbs news, honolulu. >> they are all heroes. this morning, on "the early show," how to protect your smart phone from a hack attack. i'm betty nguyen. and this is the "cbs morning news." through the night. prevacid®24hr prevents the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. go to prevacid24hour.com for a $4 coupon. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] yes, it is. [ growling ] captain, one step at a time.keep going! come on, snowy. look! did you ever see a more beautiful sight? captain! it's just a mirage. - snowy? what is it, boy? - [ barks ] what do you see? [ yipping ] [ woman announcing ] just like snowy, your dog's one of a kind. overactive imagination and all. [ barking ] long live your buddy. long live your dog.

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