under fire. in their final face-off before the iowa caucuses, they try to knock newt gingrich off his perch. shutdown. nine months after the nuclear cries since chernobyl, japanese the facility. now you can swim like a dolphin. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, december 16th, 2011. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. it was the last debate before the january 3rd iowa caucuses and newt gingrich was

the target. gingrich faced six rivals for the gop presidential nominations last night in sioux city. susan mcginnis is in washington with those details. how did all of this play out? >> reporter: they laid into newt gingrich again last night. not all of them but some of them did trying to stem his rise and each of them trying to stand out themselves as this contest for the republican nomination enters the final stretch. newt gingrich is trying to prove he is presidential material. >> i believe i can debate barack obama and i think in seven three-hour debates, barack obama will not have a leg to stand on. >> reporter: the gop front-runner spent much of last night's debate plugging his conservative record and fending off attacks from his rifle rova >> we can't have somebody who continues to stand for freddie mac and fannie mae.

they need to be shut down, not built up. >> reporter: michele bachmann accused gingrich being a lobbyist for accepting $1.5 million from troubled mortgage lender freddie mac. >> what she said is not true. i never lobbied under any circumstance. >> reporter: gingrich leads the polls in iowa but his support has dropped in recent days leaving him in a tight race with mitt romney and ron paul. >> anybody up here could probably beat obama. >> reporter: like paul, romney kept his attention focused to president obama last night. >> i know what to get this economy going. >> reporter: he steered clear of romney. >> i am very clear not appearing to be zany. >> reporter: many will continue to stump it iowa today to round up last-minute votes from the state caucus next month. a new poll out just showing entering 2012, the president's

chance of re-election at 50/50. it says most americans believe he does deserve to be voted out of office, even though they have concerns about the republican alternatives. >> that's interesting. susan, we understand that mitt romney is actually about to get a big endorsement. tell us about that. >> reporter: the government of south carolina, nikki haley is apparently coming out later this morning with a full endorsement of mitt romney. this is a big win for him. one of the big last republican endorsements are left and it's very important for him with south carolina's primary coming up in january. >> no doubt. susan mcginnis in washington, thank you. congressional leaders have agreed on a last minute trillion dollar budget deal. if ratified, the spending agreement keeps the government from shutting down at midnight. the deal was reached after house republicans dropped restrictions on travel and sending money to cuba. negotiators are still working on an extension of the payroll tax cut but lawmakers expect to reach a deal.

a 662 billion dollar defense bill is ready for president obama's signature. congress passed the measure yesterday with changes that no longer restrict the government's prosecution of terror suspects. overseas, the fukushima daiichi power plant severelily damaged by a tsunami is no longer leaking radiation. the power plant is now stable and has reached a so-called cold shutdown. japan's prime minister made that announcement this morning, but it is expected to take 30 years or more to fully decommission the power plant and a 12-mile zone around the facility is expected to remain off limits for years. meanwhile, the first from degree from japan's earthquake and tsunami has washed away in

washington. >> i'd like beach comers to be humble and treat it with respect, as if it were 9/11 debris. they have lost 20,000 people, ten times 9/11. >> reporter: it may take another year or more for most of the debris to wash up on the west coast. well, a russian fishing ship is in major trouble off the coast of antarctica. the sparta with 32 crew members is taking on water in rough seas. some of the crew has already abandoned ship. ice in the southern ocean is hampering rescue efforts and officials say it could be up to five days before anyone reaches the ship. back in this country, the army private suspected of being behind the largest leak of classified documents in u.s. history makes his first court appearance today. private first class bradley manning could face life in prison. he is suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of

classified documents that eventually were published by the website wikileaks. it included cables and files on the wars in iraq and afghanistan. >> the people what prosecute bradley manning. he is accused of letting the truth out. he should be given appear award for that, not prosecuted. >> the article 32 hearing determines if there is enough evidence to court-martial manning. it's expected to last several days. arizona sheriff joe arpya is known for his crackdown on illegal immigration but the justice department says his department is guilty of racial profiling. he has turned into a national figure. the government says his office committed a wide range of civil rights violations, including the use of excessive force and unlawful stops. >> we are not talking about isolated incidents. we found discriminatory policing

that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department. a culture that breeds a systemic disregard for basic constitutional protections. >> reporter: arapao says this is a political attack. coming up on the "morning news," a piece of history goes on the auction block. plus wall street gets ready for what is the biggest ipo since google. this is the "cbs morning news." this was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

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that's relied on to help bring children holiday joy, and while it doesn't travel by sleigh or reindeer, it does get around... in fact, every year duracell sends loads of batteries to the mattel children's hospital, u.c.l.a. of course, children here and everywhere don't really think about which battery makes their toy run... but, still... you'd never want to disappoint. duracell. trusted everywhere. the key witness in the penn state sexual abuse scandal is expected to testify at a hearing today. tim mcqueary told a grand jury he saw sexual abuse being committed by a former football coach jerry sandusky. he tolls school administrators tim curley and tim schultz about it. author christopher hitchens

was died after a battle with cancer. he was known for his essays in "vanity fair" magazine and he wrote a good for atheist called "god is not great." christopher hitchens died of pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer. he was 62 years old. on the cbs "moneywatch," free shipping. ashley morrison is here with that and so much more. we love the word free, don't we? >> it is a sweet sound. good morning. asian markets were up today on a plan to get the country's finances under control. both tokyo's nikkei and hong kong hang sang gained half a percentage point apiece. on thursday, stocks snapped a three-day slide. the dow was up 45 points, while the nasdaq ticked up almost 2. wall street is bracing for what could be the biggest international ipo since google.

zinga is going public today with farmville, cityville and word with friends, the game that alec baldwin was playing during his flight dispute last week. the company has became a quickly gained powerhouse. it could raise a billion dollars by the end of trading today. if you're still shopping for those holiday gifts, today is a great day. it's the fourth annual free shipping day with guaranteed delivery by christmas. more than 2,500 online merchants will take part. it could surpass ziber monday as the biggest online shopping day of the year. good news to report on the jobs front. the labor department says the number of americans foiling their first-time claim for unemployment benefits last week totaled 366,000, the lowest level in three and a half years. betty, you remember the ruby red slippers worn by judy

garland in "the wizard of oz." she clicked her heels to return to kansas in the famous movie. they are expected to fetch more than $2 million. that would be a conversation piece. >> oh, yeah. i remember as a kid watching that and just wanting a pair of shoes like that! >> so sparkly. >> i still can't afford a pair of shoes like that! ashley morrison in new york, thank you. a teacher in tennessee has been suspended for allegedly writing the word stupid on a student's forehead in permanent marker. the first-year middle school teacher was frustrated because the student did not understand the math lesson. while the school superintendent says the teacher claimed it was a joke. >> we are talking about a middle school-aged child and any age is very impressionable but you don't self-es scheme to all students and even as a joke, you can't do that. >> after an investigation, the superintendent plans to recommend the teacher be fired. at a high school on new

york's long island, several students were suspended for tebow'ing. they were banned one day for taking a knee like the broncos tim tebow does. they say it started out as a joke but got so big the celebration made it unsafe for students trying to get to class. straight ahead, your friday morning weather. and in sports, a tough night for the jaguars. even when they had the ball, they would cough it up.

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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 thick clouds moving out of the southern plains and into the mid-atlantic states. much of the northeast is still cloudy. while the central plains are starting to clear. later today, light rain will soak the southeast. lake effect showers will hit the great lakes region and it promises to be mostly sunny in the midwest. on the canadian border, put on a coat and gloves because the cold is moving in. the northwest can expect a pleasant day on the coast. it wasn't even close in atlanta. the falcons destroyed the jacksonville jaguars scoring every way they could, through the air, recovering a fumble after the sack.

jacksonville's new owner shahid khan must be wondering why he shelled out $41 million for the team. a shocker in chicago. bears wide receiver sam hurd has been arrested. officials say he was caught in an undercover sting operation on monday night. he reportedly agreed to pay some cocaine and a thousand pounds of marijuana a week. bears coach lovie smith was stunned by the news. >> we, just like, i'm sure, quite a few people, are disappointed and what we found out about sam hurd being arrested, whatever charges, the drug charges that came up today, not a whole lot more than i can say about it. we are still gathering information on it. i just note my disappointment right now with our entire football team. >> hurd is expected to be released from custody today. barry bonds finds out today if he is going to jail.

the disgraced slugger will be back in a san francisco courtroom. he faces up to 15 months behind bars for mislead ago jury in 2003 about using steroids. he also could be sentenced to home detention at his mansion in beverly hills. bonds lawyers are appealing the verdict. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and a cable guy runs for his life after making a shocking discovery in an elderly man's basement. what is that? it burns! it's singeing me. it's the sun. get out of the office more often, with chili's $6 lunch break combos, featuring texas toast half sandwiches. chili's lunch break combos. sears one-day sale 7 am saturday! 60% off coats, sweaters and fleece. up to 75% off all fine jewelry. plus, midnight madness! 6 pm to midnight only, extra 30% off all fall clearance clothing. shop preview friday. sears open 'til midnight select stores. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. about an ivenlg of rain will soak the mid-atlantic states. expect lake-effect snow and rain along the great lakes. it will be chilly and brisk over the northern plains and look for sunny skies out in california. here is another look at this morning's top stories. republican presidential candidates held their final debate before the january 3rd

iowa caucuses. front-runner newt gingrich was forced to defend his conservative credentials and post congressional career. a new poll out this morning, puts president obama's chances of re-election at 50/50. army private bradley manning accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of top secret documents makes his first appearance in a military court today. the hearing will determine if there is enough evidence for a trial. a huge bear thought he found the perfect place to spend the winter. the 500-pound beast was found hibernating in new jersey in an elderly man's basement. kathryn brown has the story. >> reporter: 85-year-old frank anacon considers his den quite cozy but never imagined it would be a bear's den. >> could have been lunch for 235 that big guy. >> reporter: he learned about his 550-pound roommate from the

cable guy. >> like like what is that noise jo he turned around and saw this enormous black bear waking up in the corner. >> i freaked out and grabbed my tools and ran out of the basement. >> animal control officers came in to tranquilized the bear but he took off leading them on an hour-long chase. >> that's a big boy! >> reporter: seen video of it for the first time, anacon can't believe his eyes. >> look at the size of that! and he was down there dozing in my basement! >> reporter: ana con doesn't usually lock his basement door. he thinks it was probably slightly ajar and the big bear pushed it aside. this is the only door he comes down to check heating control levels. an uninvited guest who had fashion add little home for himself bringing in twigs and leaves and digging a bear-shaped

layer, presumably, to keep him safe and warm all winter long. >> what chance would i have a 500-pound hungry bear? he could have ended up lunch! >> reporter: luckily that, didn't happen. the bear was caught, tagged, and released back on to state property but anacon went out today and bought a lock for his basement door. i'm kathryn brown for cbs news. >> i think a lock is a good idea. you have heard of swimming with the fishes. how about swimming and leaping like a dolphin? check this out. this is a french jet ski racer known as aquaman. what he has created is a device. it's like a jet pack for water that lets you dive, swim, and jump like the coolest creature in the sea. he calls it a fly board and you can get one for about $6,500. oh, yeah, you get to keep all of the fish you catch.

that is really cool looking. this morning, on "the early show," how to scribe skib yoype your w the north pole with a one-on-one chat with santa. i'm betty nguyen. and this is the "cbs morning news."

good morning and welcome to 9news now. today is friday, yes, friday. december 16th. i'm happy to say that. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck, one more day to the weekend, here's monika samtani, she'll have traffic momentarily. olga breese is in for house.

>> some mild weather this morning. >> mild weather. >> 60-degree temperatures at midnight? >> balmy. >> 65 right now. >> but things are going to be changing and i'm going to pop up a current temperature map and you can see what's coming in our direction. some cooler air. cloud cover right now, not too bad. we have a little bit of a break. however as we get in to the later portions of the morning is front is going to be moving on through and that's definitely going to cool things down for us. in fact our day planner today looks pretty good so far. we are sitting into those 50s at this hour but within the next couple of hours going to start to drop down a little bit prior to sunrise. overall today temperatures right around the middle 40s for i would call the daytime highs. by 9:00 yes, we've been dropping down more to 46 degrees. by noontime we'll rebound a little bit but partly cloudy this morning to mostly cloudy this afternoon and then have an opportunity to see a few of the

isolated showers try to peek in late in the day but most of us are going to stay dry. however, we have some much cooler air on the way particularly as we move into the weekend and into next week. monika is here with your timesaver traffic. olga, thank you so much. we have had a couple of pretty big overnight incidents especially this one on route 50 on the eastbound side right near route 201. i just got off the phone with maryland state police and there were two vehicles involved but eastbound route 50 is blocked at kenilworth avenue and i'm told it may take about another 20 minutes before they can reopen the roadways. use the vw parkway heading outbound or northbound vw parkway, that will be the best bet there. in bowie, an accident on route 198. it's blocked in both directions at old laurel bowie road. use that as the alternate.

198 blocked. traveling on the beltway here's what it looks like at route 4 pennsylvania avenue. no everyones to report as you head south on the beltway here to the wilson bridge and all the way over to 270. southbound side coming down from frederick, down to route 121 and the point where the lanes divide it pretty much looks like this. coming up in my next report, an update on the accidents at 4:39. thank you. today congress is expected to approve a $1 trillion spending measure aimed at preventing a government shutdown. they reached the deal late last night. >> harry reid says lawmakers are also working on plans but preparing for a two month extension in that case. gary nurenberg tells us this tells d. c. government what it can do and can't do with its money. >> reporter: federal employees up in the air, not knowing if they lose their paychecks at

midnight on friday. >> and everyone's scared because they don't know what's going to happen. >> reporter: the leaders talked and the president talked and d. c. watched closely. >> we also want to avoid a government shutdown. not only is that damaging for the whole country but certainly for the district of columbia. >> reporter: but in order to get the deal many republicans insisted d. c.'s government not have the right to spend its own funds on abortion services. >> i've seen this nonsense go on forever. republicans do things in the district they wouldn't do in their home jurisdictions and they have to get off of that. don't use the district as a sacrificial lamb. >> gary nuremberg, 9news now. >> one activist group plans to rally today to stop the deal but the protest isn't expected to change much. leadership says the measure is basically a done deal. the $662 billion defense bill is headed to the president's desk for his signature. >> yesterday the senate approved the measure by a vote of 86-13. and once it's signed