after nine long years of war and mixed results, the u.s. formally ends the war in iraq. spending showdown. capital gridlock pushes the country to the verge of yet another government shutdown. and say cheese. a grizzly gets bearishly friendly. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 15th, 2011. good morning, everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell round. we begin with a historic ending. after nearly nine years of the u.s. war in iraq, the war officially ends today. jim axelrod is in baghdad with

more. >> this is the end of the mission ceremony here in iraq. the closing of the u.s. headquarters for the u.s. forces. it really marks the beginning of the -- the end of the draw down rather. the next few days as we're told, the final troops will be exiting iraq, the final u.s. troops. now, remember they have gone from a high of 170,000 troops at one point. there are now fewer than 4,000 troops remaining in the country and, remember, 92 bases at one point, even as late as september of 2010, now down to two bases. so really this is the ceremonial closing of the headquarters and in the days to come, certainly by the end of the year, the final u.s. troops will be leaving iraq. >> we haven't heard a lot about this, jim. you've been on the ground with u.s. troops there in iraq. what is their reaction to their withdrawal? >> reporter: well, as far as what the feeling may be among the troops, really there is a sense now of those who are

remaining in the country of getting to the kuwait border safely. these coninvoices that will be moving from the remaining bases in iraq to kuwait, obviously, make very attractive targets, especially to the iranian-backed militias that are work in the south of iraq. right now, a lot of focus still about getting to kuwait safely and then, at that point, a sense of being able to take in what they have done and what their mission here has meant. president obama was at ft. bragg, north carolina, yesterday to mark the end of the war. more than 200 soldiers from ft. bragg were killed in the war. the president saluted the returning troops and applauded what he called their extraordinary achievement. >> as your commander in chief and on behalf of a grateful nation, i'm proud to finally say these two words -- and i know your families agree -- welcome

home. welcome home! welcome home! >> critics contend the president is leaving behind an unstable country. the president called iraq self-reliant with a self-elected government elected by the iraqi people. for the third time this year, partisan politics has pushed the government to almost a shutdown. the government won't be able to payity bills by friday. the republican controlled house passed a bill. but the house and senate have been unable to agree on a final measure. senate minority leader harry reid won't allow a vote until the payroll issue is resolved. republicans say they have had enough. >> it's pretty clear to all of us that president obama and senator reid want to threaten the government shutdown so that

they can get leverage on a jobs bill that -- because the united states senate can't pass one. >> late lat nist, the white house called on congress to pass another short-term spending bill until the lawmakers can work out their difference. 662 billion dollar measure passed the house and scheduled for a final senate vote today. despite the concerns of handling of terrorism suspects, the white house says the president will sign the measure. nearly half of americans are classified as low income according to a just released census report. 97 million americans fell into the category last year. 49 million fall below the poverty line. 4 million more than than in 2009. children are most likely to be poor or low income, about 57%, followed by those over 65. republican race now for the white house. the gop candidates will be in sioux city, iowa, tonight.

susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest on that. susan, good morning. >> good morning, terrell. >> reporter: this is all about undecided voters. this is the last chance for this group to debate together for each of them to stand out among them before this first crucial vote in iowa. final preparations are under way for tonight's debate in iowa. but the fireworks have already begun. >> he's a wealthy man, a very wealthy man. if you have $500,000 purchase from tiffany's, you're not a middle class american. >> reporter: mitt romney bashed front-runner newt gingrich wednesday, calling the house speaker zany and questioning his dedication to the republican party. >> newt gingrich has been an unreliable leader in the conservative movement. >> reporter: gingrich was quick to fire back. >> i have a 90% conservative record for 20 years. . i'm the only person in your lifetime to help balance the budget four straight years. >> reporter: romney wasn't the only one on the attack.

what is wrong? >> reporter: for nearly three minutes, protesters drowned out gingrich during a speech some iowa calling him arrogant among the poor. it still appears to be anybody's race. gingrich currently holds the lead, but polls show most voters in the state are still undecided or at least willing to change their minds. ron paul is hoping to do just that, support for the texas congressman is slowly growing. >> in political terms, it means that we're probably peaking at the right time. >> reporter: as for the back of the gop pack. >> is this your place? >> reporter: candidates including rick perry hope a little face time will give them a major breakthrough. perry kicked off a bus tour through western iowa wednesday. michele bachmann starts crisscrossing the state tomorrow. so the pressure is really on this one, especially for mitt romney to try to stand out and stem the rise of newt gingrich. a lot of voters really tune out during christmas to new year's during those holidays, so this

is really one big last chance for them to have an impact. >> we will certainly be watching. susan mcginnis in washington this morning, thank you. take a quick break. coming up on a thursday a brand-new list of the safest vehicles, plus why it's better to have a female boss. but first, scott pelley with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." she spent a lifetime taking pickets that never saw the light of day until they were rescued from the trash. the twist of faith that uncovered a remarkable talent, tonight on the "cbs evening news." coats 65% off. rs and plus, midnight madness! 6 pm to midnight, extra 10% off all game room. shop preview friday. sears open 'til midnight select stores. 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,

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highest at 89%. the new list of the safest vehicles is out this morning and there are a lot more of them this year. from suvs to hybrids. manuel gallegus has the story. >> reporter: the insurance institute for highway safety conducted dozens of crash tests to come up with its top 2012 safety picks. and for the first time, the best selling toyota camry and honda accord are among the 115 winners. >> the accord and the camry are vehicles that families choose, that parents choose to take their families around in, and it shows that you can have good, safe vehicles for that purpose. >> reporter: the award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting passengers in a variety of crashes from the front, side, and rear, and in rollovers. one of the biggest reasons there are so many models on the new list is because cars' roofs are getting stronger.

companies are redesigning their vehicles to better withstand rollovers. drivers say safety is important. >> if you get in an accident, safety, you got to think about safety then so you might as well think about it when you're buying the car. >> reporter: every major manufacturer has at least one vehicle on the list. but subaru is the only automaker that has a winner in every model it builds. toyota, which includes its lexus and scion brands have 15 wins and general motors is next with 14 and followed by volkswagen, audi with 13. ford, lincoln and honda acura have 12 awards each. several large pickup trucks are also included but not one small pickup was considered safe enough to make the cut. manuel gallegus, cbs news, new jersey. "time" magazine has announced their person of the year and it is the protest. from the middle east to wall street, the magazine says the protesters of the arab spring and out wall street have been the driving force between political and economic change.

in the u.s. and all around the world. cbs "moneywatch" time to a thursday. foreclosures continue to rise. ashley morrison has more in this morning's cbs news "moneywatch." >> asian markets fell again today on worries about europe debt. japan's nikkei down 1.5% and hong kong agency hang seng off closer to 2%. on wednesday, stocks slipped again. the dow lost 131 points. while the nasdaq fell 40. the number of foreclosures homes about to be auction has hit a nine-month high. because of a spike three months ago of homes just entering the foreclosure process but right now borrowers receiving that first default notice is down. 'tis the season of buyer's remorse. holiday shoppers have been quick to buy and quick to return. return rates are spiking. retailers will have to give back nearly 10 cents on every dollar

they take in this season. the in the retail federation expects 459 billion dollars in sales from november to december, that's a record. the traditional of the year in bonus appears to be fading. more than 40% of companies polled say they do not expect to hand out bonuses this year. and for those that do, only 17% pl plan on increases. if you haven't realized it yet, it's better to have a female boss. turns out more female bosses are aware of and more seympathetic that employees may be having in their imply's life. the research was done for a british telecommunications firm. terrell, that is one more reason why women are better! i can't resist. >> i agree with that. do you agree? >> you know, it seems women can be a little more sympathetic. i think it depends on the person. >> you could have a crazy male

boss or a crazy female boss. >> we've had all them. coming up next on this thursday morning, we will have your weather forecast. in sports, nba all-star chris paul gets traded to lah-lah land but not the team that you think. we will talk about it coming up. we will be right back. [ female announcer ] there's a fiber that goes with everything. all-natural benefiber, the fiber supplement that's taste-free and dissolves completely. so you can put it in whatever you like, even water. benefiber. makes taking fiber easier.

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time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows a large storm system on the move throughout the mississippi river valley. scattered clouds over the northern plains. the southwest is relatively clear. and the northwest, there is rain along the coast and snow in the mountains. later today, rain bands will crisscross the country from the southern plains to the northeast. the southeast will be warm with highs near the 80s. cold air is flowing into the northern plains. the northwest will see scattered showers in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon. in sports this morning, los angeles clippers got a nice christmas present. they acquired all-star point guard chris paul in a megadeal with new orleans. nba commissioner david stern approved this deal. last week, he nixed a trade that would have sent paul to the lakers. preseason games start this friday and the lockout shortened season gets under way on christmas day. the magic decided not to

trade dwight howard. the team believes it can win with howard at center despite claims he'll be a free agent at the end of the season. in college ball, ohio state stomped south carolina upstate. the number two buckeyes took home court to a whole new level jamming, slamming, dunking all over the place! 82-58. this was ohio state's 31st straight victory at home. and baylor's own robert griffin iv, rg-3 as we call him trotted out the heisman trophy last night at wake woe. baylor now winners of its first eight games under coach scott drew. the nfl has its first minority owner. pakistani born businessman shahid khan is about to own the jacksonville jaguars. team owner approved the sale yesterday. he owns bumper works. the company makes bumpers for

trucks and suvs. sales last year topped $3 billion. he reportedly bought the jaguars for $760 million. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and this horse walks into a bar, but wait until you hear what police did when the cowboy refused to put down his reins! only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. have asked yours truly to teach you about treating frequent heartburn. 'cause i know a thing or two about eatin'. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... well that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. block the acid with prilosec otc, and don't get heartburn in the first place.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. storm system moving into the northeast. a few strong storms could pop up in the southern plains. bitterly cold temperatures will ice the northern plains. the southeast is much warmer than average and the northwest starts off stormy and then will see sunshine. here is another look at this morning's top stories. the war in iraq officially ends today. defense secretary leon panetta takes part in a ceremony to close u.s. operations this morning. 4,500 americans lost their lives in the war and another 32,000 were wounded.

panetta set the war was worth the sacrifice to set iraq on the path to democracy. in lawmakers in washington can't groagree on a spending de shutdown will start tomorrow. seven miners in idaho rescued late last night. officials they were underground a mile knew mullen when a blast happened. the lucky friday mine is one of the nation's deepest underground mines. earlier this year, two minors died in separate incidents. the company who runs the mine has gotten four citations and faces nearly $1 million in penalties. a horrible accident on madison avenue in new york city. an advertising executive died in a bizarre elevator accident. officials say suzanne hart's foot got caught in the door and was crushed to death when the elevator suddenly went up. two other people in that elevator and not hurt. cowboys were horsing around in colorado and steamboat

springs, guys on horseback decided to ride through several downtown businesses on sunday. did i say they were on horseback, by the way? they were on horses. first, they walked into a bar and tried to get some drinks but the owner told them to get out and showed them the door. then the cowboys went galloping into a safeway grocery store. one of the guys got some stuff and left carrying a plastic bag. police later tased one of the writers for ignoring their orders. he was then arrested. i can't make this stuff up! i'm telling you! to a grizzly bear that is smarter than your average bear. home video from washington state a girl waving outside a car window saying hi to the bear. what? he apparently waves back! the video was shot last year but just went viral the last couple of days. that would freak me out! the farm is home to retired show animals from tv parks and film so the bear may have been used to hamming it up for the camera. don't try that at home, kids.

this morning, on "the early show," the live announcement of the golden globe awards. i'm terrell brown. and this is the "cbs morning news."

good morning and welcome to 9news now. today is thursday, december 15th. 10 days until christmas. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm almost there. not to christmas but to the weekend. here's monika samtani with traffic momentarily. mr. bernstein has the forecast. >> good morning.

rain here today. it will get wet later. no problems this morning. not even chilly outside. >> nice. >> in the 40s right now. we've had a nice warm-up from earlier in the week when we had the teens and 20s. low 50s by noon. upper 50s at 5:00. some spots are going to get up to the 50 degree mark. we'll have rain developing by midday and into the early evening hours. breezy, too. winds out of the southwest will gust to over 20 miles per hour. the rain we're expecting later, you can see it across ohio and into northwestern pennsylvania and western new york state, it will be moving off toward the east and the southeast while the actual showers themselves move northeasterly on that line. our temps that we talked about, how mild they are. 45 in town. we've got 40 in martinsburg, one of the cold spots. petersburg in the valley at 32. oakland, 50 degrees. they're planning on opening it this weekend. some of the ski areas have been making snow. upper 40s in annapolis. a very mild start.

our highs today will be in the upper 50s to some low 60s south of town. monika samtani, we've got 4:26. how you doing so far? >> i'm doing very well so far. how are you doing, howard? thank you so much. with the weather being good this morning, the traffic is good as well. there are no problems to report all around the beltway, all of these triangles that you see are construction spots and also, a water main break. work continues on that . l street is closed. 24th street is affected between k and m. otherwise, like i said, pretty much good to go around the area. let's take a live look on the east side of town near route 201. we're fine between i-95 and greenbelt. we'll take a look at the northbound of i-95 north of the rest area. 95 is fine from fredericksburg to springfield on to 395 and across the 14th street bridge. coming up, we'll take a closer

look into virginia at 4:39. andrea and mike? >> thank you, monika. a new government study says nearly one in every five women will now -- you know will suffer rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. >> we're learning, however, fewer women are suffering in silence as gary nurenberg found out, more and more are reaching out for help now. >> reporter: it started when she was 3. >> i was sexually molested by my stepfather for most of my childhood. >> it makes her wonder. >> who knows what i would have been like without having that past. >> a government study released wednesday concludes one in four women are beaten by their partners. one in five, the victim of a rape or attempted rape. >> we've learned that the assault is a lot more dramatic and traumatic than we've ever thought. >> santa molina of the rape crisis center. >> the survivors are a lot more affected by the trauma. that it affects their way of viewing the rest of their life, viewing the world, their issues of safety, their issues of

trust, their ability to relate to people in a way in which they cope within society. >> a society where this kids in this university circulated a questionnaire who would you like to rape? >> it is not scene as a crime. it is seen as a private relational issue. domestic violence, it happens in marital affairs and we shouldn't get involved. we're not addressing it. >> even as help for victims becomes more effective. >> i think i can see it -- myself before and after going to get help. i think that i'm increasingly happy every day. i think that -- what is the happiest point of my life? it is right now. if you need help, there is a 24 hour hot line for d.c. rape crisis center. the number is 202-333-rape. that uvm frat house is suspended