good morning. baghdad is rocked by more than a dozen bombings this morning. dozens are dead and many more injured in a direct challenge to iraqi authorities just days after the final withdrawal of u.s. combat troops. we will have the very latest. president obama pushes house republicans to accept a senate are talking compromise. gop senator mccain tells us how the impasse is taking a toll. you're love this. the government believes in santa claus. we will tell you how congress approves billions for questionable projects like the history of video games and the sex drive of quails. on the first day of winter, a snowstorm hits the rockies and new mexico is bracing for its second winter blast of the week.

find out who is next "early" this thursday morning, december 22nd, 2011. captioning funded by cbs good morning. welcome to "the early show." a beautiful start of the day here on a thursday morning. i'm chris wragge. >> looks like a painting out there. i'm rebecca jarvis. erica hill is off this morning. lots to get to. let's begin this morning with the worst violence baghdad has seen in months coming just a few days after the last u.s. combat troops left iraq. >> more than a dozen bombs went off this morning killing at least 57 people and officials believe it was a coordinated series of attacks as charlie d'agata reports from london. >> reporter: the first explosion after dawn and then came another and another. iraqi officials counted at least 14 blasts across baghdad throughout the morning rush hour. the targets were indiscriminate.

roadside bombs and car bombs struck everything from neighborhood markets to police stations. a suicide bomber and an ambulance killed 18 people in one attack alone. militants unleashed a coordinated string of bombings days after the last of the u.s. troops pulled out. they also come at a time of bitter political fighting between iraq's sunni and shiite factions. prime minister nuri al maliki ordered the arrest for running death squads. this is a criminal case, he says. a case of blood and souls so myself and the relatives of victims will not allow this case to be politicized. sunnis may not seen it that way. raising the worry of bloody sectarian violence in a violence that cost the lives of 01 thousa -- 10,000 iraqis and trillion of

dollars. on capitol hill no compromise over extending the payroll tax cut for 160 million americans. >> president obama and house speaker john boehner are talking but no one seems to be budging. congressional correspondent nancy cordes has the latest. good morning to you, nancy. the president called up the speaker said and said take the two months deal and we will come back to the table early next year and fight out a longer term deal. what did the speaker say in response? >> reporter: essentially, he said no dice. house republicans are all in on this one. speaker boehner continuing to insist that actually this is something congress could easily work out on its own and could come to an agreement on a one-year deal if senate democrats would just come back to the negotiating table. here is how he put it when he was sitting at that negotiating table alone yesterday. >> all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us to resolve our differences so we can do what

everybody wants to do, extend the payroll tax benefit for the next year. >> reporter: he said he knows that the timing isn't good for anyone coming so close to christmas, but this is something that the american people deserve. >> what are you hearing from senate democrats today? >> reporter: absolutely nothing, except that they are not coming back. they feel that they have got the upper hand politically right now, and they say, look, we already negotiated this with senate republicans. we thought we had your sign off and that actually it isn't that easy to come up with a one-year deal. if it had been, we would have done it. as usual, senate republicans and democrats couldn't agree on how to pay for that entire year's worth of tax cuts. they could only agree on two months and they feel like they should just pass the two months right now, come back in january and figure out how to pay for the rest of it. >> so we can play groundhog all over again. nancy cordes on capitol hill, thanks. joining us now to weigh in

senator john mccain, the republican presidential nominee in 2008. senator, good to have you with us. >> we are paying a very heavy price in baghdad because of our failure to have a residual force there. it's unraveling and i'm deeply disturbed about events but not surprised. >> we will talk about the payroll tax in a second. we needed the residual force there.

>> how big of a mistake do you see this for the president? i don't know about the president, but i know the iraqi people may be subject to the news reports that you just quoted this morning and it's tragic for them, and, of course, they have -- we, as general keen said, we won the war and we are losing the peace. >> now i want to shift here and pivot to the payroll tax showdown which you think is down to haunt the republicans >> first of all, we have a

i think what should happen, the house should pass the same bill the senate did, only put a year the american people and i would say that next november, no incumbent is safe, nor should they be. >> let me ask you this in regards to what you're just saying there. in that "wall street journal"

op-ed that i just mentioned, there was mention that republicans, by botching this and like you said the democrats will pin this on the democrats you're raising taxes here, obama his re-election bid here >> i don't think there is any again, i understand the the oval office and say let's hammer this out, instead of going shopping.

>> i want to talk about the gop campaign right now and back and forth between newt gingrich and mitt romney right now. you've been in a couple of street fights as far as campaigns go. right now, mitt romney giving the old, if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen and newt saying if you want to debate, you and me, 90 minutes, no moderator and we will sit down at the table and let the american people decide. what do you think about the negativity that comes along with but, you know, these things worst supreme court decision and

appreciate you taking the time and happy holidays. >> thanks for having me on. >> you touched on this one. the gop presidential race. more tough talk from front runners romney and gingrich. the polls the former house speaker support is slipping. >> wyatt andrews is covering the campaign from new hampshire this morning. >> reporter: this all started when gingrich began demanding an end to what he says is false political advertising running against him in iowa. romney responded by questioning if gingrich was folding under pressure. >> that's the nature of a campaign to point at distinctions with one another. >> reporter: romney not only

declined to swear off negative ads, he challenged gingrich to simply deal with them. >> if you can't stand the relatively modest heat in the kitchen right now, wait until obama's kitchen shows up. >> i can take the heat plenty well. >> reporter: that reference to standing the heat, heated up gingrich. >> mr. romney, would he like to and play in the kitchen? i don't think so. i don't think he wants to do anything but hide over here it's not his fault and flooding the people of iowa with falsehooded. >> reporter: the ad that ignited the back and forth was done by a super pact that supports but is not controlled by romney and among the falsehoods was this. >> gingrich even supported taxpayer funding of some abortions. >> reporter: which is a distortion of gingrich's support only in the case of rape or ince incest. he was asked how the ad has hurt him. >> they have helped my feelings. >> reporter: outside of the war of words, gingrich was earning two key endorsements. one from the sperp of the house in iowa, a crucial state for

gingrich, another from the speaker of the house in new hampshire, a must win state for romney. romney was on his nine-stop bus tour in new hampshire trying to keep his focus on president obama. >> we have a president who is a nice guy, but doesn't understand america! >> reporter: in one of romney's lighter moments, he served lunch to the traveling press and made fun of a former candidate for president, one multimillionaire to another. >> billy minion, what is going on here? that is the john kerry bus back there. sorry. >> reporter: aside from that advertising controversy, romney hasn't even mentioned his rivals here in new hampshire. political experts say when you have the kind of lead that romney seems to have here in new hampshire, there's no need to attack anyone. chris? >> cbs' wyatt andrews in littleton, new hampshire for us, thank you. we turn to debbye turner bell who is in for jeff glor at

the news desk. a major snowstorm is blasting parts of the west this morning. heavy snow is falling in denver and from colorado's border with wyoming to new mexico. drivers are facing a difficult commute and plenty of snow, eye, and strong winds. up to 16 inches of snow could fall in some areas. >> i just came off of the road too fast and the tires kind of grip anything and slid right off, and now i'm trying to undo it. >> reporter: the snow has forced the cancellation of more than three dozen flights out of denver international this morning. a family is recovering after being stranded in their car by a blizzard for nearly two days. a couple and their 5-year-old daughter got buried in their suv monday near a snowstorm near springer, new mexico. rescuers had to dig through four feet of snow to get to their car. they are in the hospital but doing okay. and this thursday, before christmas is one of the busiest

travel days of the year and the rush is just getting started. aaa says almost 92 million americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday week. up 1.4% from last year. by the way, we can officially say it's winter. today is solstice, the shortest day of the year. the season arrived fine countdown is on. >> yeah. >> christmas, three days away.

many people expecting some presents on sunday, but a new report says the federal government has been playing santa all year long. >> wait until you see this list and wait until you hear some of the gifts that have been handed out. investigative correspondent sharyl attkisson is in washington with this story. >> reporter: as congress battles over how to fix a ballooning debt problem a new report from capitol hill shed light on why the problem exists. meanings billions of your tax dollars going to questionable programs at a time when there is no extra money. ever wonder if cocaine enhances the sex drive of quail? maybe not. but the national institutes of health does. it gave the university of kentucky more than $356,000 to study just that. how about lending a little help to china? the country that holds more than a trillion dollars in u.s. debt, we sent 18 million dollars back in foreign aid. >> nothing is being done to eliminate wasteful spending. >> reporter: the waste book is

put out by senator tom coburn. it identifies programs we can't afford with $15 trillion debt. there's the $3 billion the pentagon spent on alternative engines for the s-35 only to have is later decided the engines weren't needed. 113,000 to preserve the history of video games. 500,000 of your hard earned money went to researching why chimps fling their fee sees. >> when people read about this, i think they understand why congress' reputation is also in the toilet. >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll shows congress' approval at 11%, up a tad from last month's all-time low. the agencies that received the money defended the spending that watchdogs call paswasteful spending. as for chimps throwing poo and

other such research funded by the national institutes of health, they say pure scientists determine those are important questions for study. chris? >> very important. >> yeah, i tell you. the democracy, the fabric of our society, i agree with all of those. thank you very much. interesting when you see it. >> it really is. i guess that is the right word for it, amazing. still ahead this morning, china is the world's fastest growing economy and american brands like our cars are big sellers there. we will take a look back at a fascinating trip we took to china this year. we will look at the life and death of private danny chen coming up. this is "the early show" on cbs.

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also by all accounts an all-around nice guy. this month he was named a kennedy center honoree for his lifetime of achievement in the music world. >> he came down with us to talk about that honor, the importance of making music and what instrument he really wanted to play as a 4-year-old before he took up the cello. to think he could be this talented playing a different instrument. >> maybe it was the electric guitar? we will find out. julie chen sat down with yo-yo ma and we will find out when we come back on "the early show." a little treat for you, a little yo-yo ma. stay with us. we will be right back. announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by hallmark. life is a special occasion. would you like me to read you a story? you can't read. [ grandma ] 'twas the night before christmas, and all through the house... whoa, that's grandma. [ grandma ] nothing was stirring, not kara, not maya. how does she do that? magic. [ grandma ] ...grandma loves you. goodnight, grandma. goodnight, grandma. [ female announcer ] be there to read them a story every night.

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welcome back to "the early show." chris wragge along with rebecca jarvis. troops are returning home just in time for holiday with their families. >> coming up, in ft. hood, texas, they have been waiting for their family to come home. first, a sad story. eight u.s. army soldiers in afghanistan face a possible corporate marshal in a disturbing hazing case. >> they are suspected badgering a fellow soldier about his chinese american background and justice correspondent bob orr has the story use the body of u.s. private danny chen was found october 3rd in a guard tower in kandahar, another

casualty of the war in afghanistan. the army says the 19-year-old soldier died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot but military prosecutors accused eight of chen's fellow soldiers of contributing to his death. chen's platoon leader is charged with eight counts of dereliction of duty. charges against the other seven soldiers range from making false statements to negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter. chen's family said he was vim timized by relent less bullying and mocked and called jackie chen and reportedly had rocks thrown at him while being dragged across the barrack's floor. >> danny chen died after this harsh treatment and whether it's suicide or homicide, what they did to him caused his death. >> reporter: the military

charges after classmates and father launched an online request for justice. >> my son wanted to be a policeman. >> reporter: this youtube video titled "what happened to frist danny chen," pushed the military for answers. >> what happened to danny? >> reporter: beyond the charges, the army provided no details as to what led to chen's death. pentagon spokesman captain john kirby. >> any single case of hazing or inappropriate conduct to a fellow soldier, airman, marine, sailor, coast guardsman is inappropriate, and not acceptable. >> reporter: bob orr, cbs news, washington. the eight suspects have been transferred to another base inside afghanistan. the most serious charge involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of ten years. >> such a sad, sad story. debbye turner bell is at the news desk with another check of the headlines. a string of deadly attacks

across baghdad this morning. at least 14 bonks killed at least 60 people and injured upwards of 200. the attacks come days after u.s. forces pulled out of the country. it's feared the bombings will trigger a new round of tensions between iraq sunni and shiite factions. in washington, president obama plans a white house appearance today to press house republicans on extending the payroll tax cut. he is urging house speaker john boehner to allow a vote on the compromise deal approved by both parties in the senate. it would extend the tax cut for two months, giving time for further negotiations. on the campaign trail, newt gingrich was interrupted by 99% protesters at an appearance in iowa. [ screaming ] >> reporter: startle the at first but then gingrich shrugged off the incident. in amsterdam an angry soccer fan got more than he bargained for. a fan tried to attack the goalie

but the goalie tripped him up and the goalie was thrown out so his team left the field the one guy on the field can use his hands and he was just kicking. coming up next, the future of the u.s. auto industry may be in china. >> chinese consumers are big gm american auto fans as we found out this year on a trip it to

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this morning, we continue our look at the most meaningful stories of the year on "the early show" oochlt. >> a few months ago we traveled to china and figure out what the american brands are to the chinese consumer. at this show room in shanghai you'll find plenty of chevy fans. what do you think about this camaro? and they are moving things fast. >> we are doing things five times faster. >> kevin wail is the president and ceo of gm's operations in china where the economy grew by a robust 9.1% in the third quarter. and is fueling demand for cars. how important is china to general motors? >> oh, i think it's tremendously important. china is the largest market in the world and it's the fastest growing market in the world. over a hundred cities with more

than a million people. >> last year, 16.6 million cars were sold here in china. that's 5 million more than sold in the entire united states. and that's a key reason why general motors believe it must do business here in shanghai in order to remain competitive throughout the world. gm produces three brands in china -- buick, chevrolet, and cadillac. most popular is the buick excel. gm sold more than 200,000 of them last year. but as gm's business in china continues to grow, that doesn't necessarily mean more jobs will be created at home in the united states. >> the philosophy with general motors we largely build where we sell so we have excellent production facilities in the united states and in europe and in china, in korea. we try to ship in those countries on a normal strategy. >> china isn't just an attractive market because ofity

size. local demographics and social norms have played a key role. car buying is done mostly with cash. you'll use your debit card to buy this camaro? >> yeah. >> reporter: another difference between the u.s. and chinese markets? let's say this isn't your father's or even your grandfather's buick. >> the average age for someone buying a buick, for instance is around 30 in china compared to 60 in the u.s. >> a lot of them have a buick. >> reporter: niles wang brought his buick lacrosse three years ago for about $33,000. >> i rely on gm because they produce cars in u.s. longer than other producers. >> reporter: would you ever buy a chinese-made car? >> i don't know! not right now. >> reporter: chinese consumers like niles have helped make gm the top selling carmaker in its country. with 13% of the market here, gm is back in the driver's seat

heading towards the more profitable future. and joining us now to talk more about china and its economy is david sanger, the chief washington correspondent for "the new york times." good morning, david. thanks for being with us. >> good morning, rebecca. >> we laid out the importance of china to general motors but, clearly, it's an important country for multiple businesses here in the united states. how sustainable do you think is china's growth, given it's been so explosive over the last handful of years? >> well, rebecca, it's been a remarkable growth period and i think almost anybody who looks at the chinese economy will tell you that it's probably been the most effective anti-poverty program in the world in history. when you just think about the past 30 years. the growth as you say has been explosive, 8% or 9%. the chinese government say they need that growth level in order to keep creating the number of jobs that any need to keep social peace in the country and a lot of reason to doubt whether

or not they can keep that growth going. this year you've seen significant inflation in china and significant concern that growth levels could drop down to 6%, 7%. the united states will take those numbers happily, but in china, it would be a big problem. >> yeah. what would that problem then mean for the united states if they were to slow to that degree? >> well, right now, china is the main growth market in the world economy and that is something of a remarkable statement, when you think about all of the paths financial crises we have gone through since, say, world war ii forward, where either the united states or japan or europe was the main engine of growth. and so everybody is sort of depending on china right now to be that one big engine and if they slowed, that would radiate throughout the economy. as you saw, while it may not amount for many jobs for american workers because chinese government officials want those cars built in china just as

american government want american cars built in the united states, it is an increasing export market for the united states at a time when we don't have many fast growing export markets. >> china has also played an important role in north korea's economy. they are clearly a benefactor of north korea and played a fairly hands-off approach in terms of north korea's regime. what do you think their role will be now in the change, given that the united states would like to see an eventual turnover in the leadership there? >> well, the turnover in leadership is happening with the death of kim jong-il last weekend and the question is does that turnover happen to his son kim jong-un or some military group or something that would emerge from the north korean leadership? right now, the chinese are sort of the best window the u.s. has into that and in the past years, they have done a lot to

reestablish their relationships with north korea. as you say, they are north korea's biggest benefactor, about owl% of north korea's trade, almost all of their energy comes from china. but the oddity is we're not that certain that the chinese have as much influence over north korean decision-making as many here would like to chicago. of course, the chinese just want stability on that border. >> absolutely. stability is name of the game and they are making money as well as being a benefactor of north korea. david sanger, thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up next, the latest on monica redman, an american woman murdered in mexico. >> her husband may be sent back there to face charges of killing her. we will have that story when we come back right here on "the early show." that aren't on your list.s jumper cables, camo anything, a power drill -- ooh! [ male announcer ] the only place to go for every guy on your christmas list with great deals throughout the store. walmart.

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cancun, mexico. >> a judge is saying no to his latest appeal meaning he soon could be charged with murder. bill whitaker has more. >> reporter: he has been the sole suspect in the wife of his death monica and late wednesday a federal judge ruled that bruce redman should be sent back to mexico to stand trial. citing pages upon pages of competentent evidence that he committed the crime. a representative for his defense team released this statement to cbs news. a federal judge has denied their challenge to the extradition order. they are weighing their options with mr. redman regarding the future. in 2010, monica barris-redman was found strangled and dumped in a tank. in the days before her death, hotel guests saw the couple arguing and heard screaming from their room. mexican authorities zeroed in on bruce and confiscated his

passport but he fled the country returning to his young children in california. in issuing his ruling, the judge gutierrez wrote all of this evidence points to homicide committed by the fugitive. redman has been held in a los angeles bail without bail for the past year. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> the suspect may ask a federal appeals court to review the judge's decision. if that fails, secretary of state clinton will have to decide if readman should be sent back to mexico. still ahead the day that many families have waited for years. we will show you families across america having their loved ones come home from iraq just in time for the holidays. amazing deals vings pass for like up to 65% off sweaters, coats and pajamas for the whole family. and 35% off fragrance gifts sets for him and her. shop sears now for great deals for everyone on your list. sears.

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♪ welcome back to "the early show." it's a great backdrop. >> very soothing. >> what a way to wake up. good to have you with us here. coming up the man who may be the most famous classic musician in the world yo-yo ma has played the cello all over the glob and won 16 grammy awards and one of the this year's kennedy center honorees. he talks to us about his incredible music career. played his first concert when he was just 5 years old. if you've ever done anything in your life at home and you think you're really great, guess what? not even in his --

>> he is a megatalent. also ahead another notable name in the arts. author jonathan safran foer is with us and based on his best selling novel, he will be here to talk about us. we thought if he thought about tom hanks and sandra bullock being in a movie about his book. thousands of military families across the country are celebrating the return of their loved ones who have been serving in iraq and anna werner met some of them in ft. hood, texas. >> reporter: brittany hampton has waited ten months for this day. how are you feeling today? >> excited. really excited. >> reporter: wednesday morning, brittany hangs a welcome sign on the front dorp of the family's home at ft. hood. she dressed 4-month-old aub bri

audrey and her 2 month y-month- their sunday's best. erika thomas has been raising two boys while her husband was away on his fourth tour of iraq. the end of the war brought him home two months early. >> so this is kind of an early christmas present for you? >> it sure is. it's an early christmas present for my entire family. my 3-year-old son is excited that his daddy is coming home. >> darren jr. knows his father but erika says 18 month joel joshua may not. his father has just been home three months in the past two years. what is that like? >> it's tough at times. he chose the army and i chose him, so i deal with it. >> i'm so proud of what he is doing but, at the same time, it leaves me and the girls alone so much that i don't want him growing apart from us. >> scary. >> very scary. >> do you think the mission, this particular mission in iraq

has been worth it? >> i think i'm going to take the politically correct standpoint on that one since my husband is an officer and just say, he did the job he was supposed to do. >> but now the job for these soldiers is over and after ten months, the moment is here. together at last. anna werner, cbs news, ft. hood, texas. i think it goes without saying we love those stories to hear about the homecomings and some of the best stories we are able to broadcast and you lose sight of the familict the famil are split up for so long. >> they pay the price so all of us can have what we have here in the united states and we thank them. >> we are so grateful. exactly. debbye turner bell is at the news desk with a look at the headlines. days after the u.s. mission ended in iraq there was a deadly wave of bombings this morning. at least 14 bombings apparently coordinated struck the capitol.

at least 60 have been killed and scores injured. the attacks come amid heightened attention between sunni and shiite factions. the pentagon this morning is admitted mistakes were made in last month's air strike in pakistan. 20 pakistanis were killed. the result of an investigation released today blames the attack on inadequate coordination by u.s. and pakistani officers and incorrect mapping information. closing arguments are scheduled today at a preliminary hearing for army private bradley manning in the wikileaks case. he is accused of aiding the enemy by giving thousands of classified documents to wikileaks. if convict at court-martial, he could face life in prison. a major snowstorm is hammering parts of the midwest this morning. denver is getting hit with heavy snow. some places could get up to 16 inches. more than three dozen flights out of denver international were canceled this morning.

winter storm warnings are also up for wyoming and new mexico. president obama plans a white house appearance later today to press house republicans to vote on extending the payroll tax cut. a compromise deal passed the senate but house speaker john boehner is calling for a longer one-year extension of the payroll tax. >> all we are asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us to resolve our differences. >> but boehner is getting no support from the senate republicans who mostly support the compromise. most senators of both parties are already home for the holidays. and a newborn baby abandoned on a philadelphia sidewalk is said to be in good condition this morning. the baby girl was found yesterday in a cardboard box on the sidewalk near a daycare center. police say they was only a few hours old and very fortunate to have been found when she was.

a nice story for the holidays. time for t announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by big lots. big savings. up next, yo-yo ma performed for the president while president kennedy when he was 7. 50 years later he is a kennedy center honoree. >> my how things come around. julie chen profiles the best

known cello player when "the early show" continues. [ male announcer ] whether over a cup of maxwell house, or a can of paint, you turned millions of votes, and hundreds of volunteer hours, into a real difference for over 100,000 people. what's next? tell us on facebook. ♪ it rides in limos. it has a crew.

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this morning, we continue our series of the winners of this year's kennedy center honors. >> our subject today has been creating beautiful music for nearly his entire life. julie chen sat down with yo-yo ma. >> he is perhaps the most recognized classical performer there is today. captivating the world with his talent, heart, and joy. would it be an accurate statement to say you love playing the cello? >> i think that would be an accurate statement. yes, your honor. ♪ >> what i love about being a musician is that, you know, you never stop learning and you're trying to take something that is internal, a feeling, a memory, a thought, and making it live in somebody else. ♪ >> reporter: yo-yo ma first picked up the cello at age 4.

even though the violin was his parent's first choice. >> i think the way i sounded on the violin was the way that fingernails on a chalkboard sound. didn't like it, didn't take it. so the kid is not talented. and then my big mistake was -- or my big opportunity was i saw a double bass when i was 4. like this huge thing. i want that. you can't have that because it's too big. i want the next biggest thing. that was the cello. >> reporter: you settled on the cello? >> exactly. it was a compromise, you know, for a kid's imagination to want to play something large. >> reporter: his father was his first teacher. at 5, he had given his first concert. a year later, his family moved from paris to new york. at age 7, he played for president kennedy. this musical prodigy's life was

his music. >> i had a very focused childhood, you know? it was music, languages, there was theory, harmony. ♪ >> reporter: but he wanted more. so he eventually left the conservatory and headed to harvard. >> college was the place to kind of go and explore. >> reporter: and the exploring hasn't stopped since. ♪ >> reporter: at age 56, yo-yo ma continues traveling the world as its musical ambassador. ♪ >> reporter: how old were you when you realized playing the cello is what i want to do with my life, my career, and it's no longer what my parents wish for me? >> probably when i was about 49.

>> reporter: why so late in life? >> i'm a slow learner. >> reporter: again, you start -- you get wiser as you get older. >> yeah. >> reporter: was it a certain success or just maturing? >> i think it's when i realized that all of the things i loved about life outside of music had to do with people, my interest in cultures and education and an thorou anthropology in the world could be fulfilled through music. >> reporter: he already created the a silk road ensemble bringing together music from ancient routes which inspired the silk road project to promote innovation and learning through the arts. ♪ >> reporter: through the years, he has also shown an incredible

versatility of music style. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: your music is your ultimate goal to bring people together in this ever-shrinking world that we have? >> well, it's really strange. in so many ways, we have -- people have so much more in common that separate them. for some reason -- >> reporter: they don't realize it. >> -- we are always focused on the little tiny differences and we blow it up to unbelievably huge proportions. ♪ >> i think. so if there is a mechanism that we have that's coded either genetically or we could do to bring people together, i would go for that. ♪ little darling seems like it's been years

since here sn♪ >> reporter: that mechanism has become yo-yo ma's life work. this united nations messenger of peace is also a 16-time grammy winner and now kennedy center honoree. >> you know, this honor is bigger than what i can try and encapsulate. it's just something i can't e n even, you know, wrap my brain around. >> reporter: julie chen, cbs news, washington. this was not the first time that yo-yo ma was honored at the white house this year. back in february, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom so it's a great year for him. >> a great year and incredible track record and i love the uncommon duets that he does. you can see the kennedy center

honors this next tuesday on cbs. coming up next, we will ask jonathan safran foer if "extremely loud and inincredibly close" gets the question right. and 35% off fragrance gifts sets for him and her. incredibly close" gets the question right. close" gets the question right.

♪ welcome back to the broadcast. the new movie "extremely loud and incredibly close" tells a powerful story of a young boy in new york city. >> he comes to terms with death of his father on september 11th. >> people told me i'm all the time. i got tested once to see if i asked for disease. dad said it's for people who are smarter than everybody else but can't run straight. the tests were definitive. are you sure you didn't know him? thomas shell? >> he was in the building. 9/11.

i'm trying to find a lock for this key that was in the envelope that once belonged to my father. >> the film is based on the best selling novel by jonathan safran foer and he is with us this morning. it's a touchy subject. was it difficult to go down this road knowing that it's still an open wound for a lot of people with anything that is 9/11 related? >> every road for a novelist is a difficult road to go down. i wouldn't write about something unless i cared about it so much that there was -- that i feared getting it wrong. so this, obviously, had its own set of challenges and risks because ts it's an open wound a the temptation to read any story about 9/11 is definitive, which i very much wanted to avoid, and because i wanted to say something truthful about an event that is so dependent on perspective. so it was very hard. >> yeah. >> it started as your book. now it's a movie. tom hanks and sandra bullock are

in the movie. is it tough as an author to give up some of that initial power and then see it come to fruition through someone else's eyes and work? >> i don't remember ever having power. >> really? >> that word doesn't come right to mind. >> who has power over you? >> the segment is too short, i think. no, listen. a lot of things are hard about being an author and having your book adapted by an amazing director and screenwriter is a wonderful problem to have and no problem at all. so i never felt anything but excited about it. >> you have a wonderful cast. is that something that piqued your interest even more, wait, we have sandra bullock signed on and tom hanks and the young boy who is incredible in it. it's quite the cast. >> they are amazing and the list goes on. i mean, jeffrey wright and viola davis and i was honored they wanted to be a part of it. to be honest, it was the furthest thing from my mind when i was working on the book or

once the book went out into the world. when the project started to come together, i find it more surreal than anything else but it was really quite a thrill. >> along the lines that rebecca was talking about. you give up creative control when you've got a director and you've got a screen play that kind of alters your words to a degree. when you see the movie, is it -- i don't want to say it's by the letter to what you wrote, but is it a close facsimile or were you afraid they may go a different route and change things that were inherently not yours? >> i think a film adaptation writer ties to adapt not just a book but what the book is about. i think this film did that. i never once felt uncomfortable about divergence from the book as it was written. i just hoped that the film would do what i was trying to do as a writer, which i said in the beginning is say something truthful about a very difficult subject matter. >> you've achieved such a great deal of success for your age and

i'm sure maybe in the back of your mind you think about what you'll be doing next. if there is something you'd love to do in the future, what would it be? i mean, in terms of covering an area. >> hang on. >> yeah, yeah. there are a lot of things i would like to do. i would like to continue to feel happy about what i do. i'm much more concerned, i think, about the process than the results and i've been very lucky as a novelist not to have a boss. we were joking about that in the beginning but i can't think of anything in life that offers as much freedom as being a writer and i hope to take full advantage of that. >> jonathan safran foer, thank you for being with us.

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♪ welcome back to "the early show." i'm rebecca jarvis in for erica hill and along with chris wragge. coming up important news for krichlt procrastinators. not only time to shop but you also have time to ship. we will check in with fedex to find out when you must send your presents by in order to have them arrive before christmas morning so they can go under the tree in time. >> you don't have much time. >> you don't have much time, but you might have a few more hours. >> we are heading down to nashville to meet a true local legend. a clothing designer who is so famous he only needs one name, manu manuel. people call him the rhinestone rembrandt. we will meet him and find out when many stars go to him when

they need the special help. i would say a bedazzler. >> there is one because of this guy. >> there you go. you learn something new every morning on "the early show." not too early to make new year's resolutions if losing weight is one of them and it usually is. we will have new gadgets to help out. one monitors your heart rate and sends it to your smart phone and you can share the data online. >> just what you want to do. millions of americans will be packing up and heading to the airort. you may not think about what kind of behavior can get you thrown off the plain, mr. baldwin? >> "travel" editor peter greenberg thinks about that and here with some advice. what is this like having travel wardrobe? >> it's a backlash long time in the making. people used to dress like i do with a suit and jacket and tie.

now you see people thrown off the plane wearing baggy pants below their butt or not wearing thongs or wearing thongs. there is no dress code and supreme court tried to define pornography they can't define it but know it when they see it. right now a little bit of a movement to come up with a uniform dress code. i don't think it's going to happen and the problem it's up to individual flight crews or gate agents to determine if it's appropriate. >> that kind of enforcement you have so many different employees having to look at that, not easy for any company to do. >> not at all. >> however there are things happening this year not happy for people. one of the things is we have all seen all of the checked luggage kne fees? right? one airline after another you will see they will start weighing the carry-on bags! and one airline hawaiian says if it weighs more than 25 pounds they will charge you. you have spirit charging for

carry-on bags. now no matter how large or small it is, they will charge you. >> where will they weigh it? at the gate. >> i would like to have breathalyzers at the gate! >> for the flight attendants? >> or the pilots! >> talk about the rights that passengers have. what are -- let's review some of the rights that paerges do. >> we have one last april which is the tar mark delay rule if you're stuck on the plane for more than three hours the airlines are up to a fine per passenger. you pay when you buy your ticket. no big surprises. they want transparency. the airlines have been lobbying for three-month delay, six-month delay and now want another year delay in terms of conforming to that. i don't know why they need a delay. it's either tell the truth or not tell the truth.

it's not a difficult concept but you'll see it this year. >> what are some of the things you think will change next year, peter? what are some of the things people have to keep in mind as they are traveling over the holidays? >> you heard about the 25-pound fee? that is a biggie. now another thing in your carriage of contract on your ticket that people don't know about. you can actually get thrown off the plane for being too fat, you can get thrown off the plane for body odor. >>? really? >> yes. what do you determine is too fast? another problem like the dress code. if you read the fine print, united airlines says if you can't lower the arm rest, you either buy a second seat or you're off the plane and using it as a safety issue. >> they will have a manual on every plane they can bring out to a passenger? >> they have it now. they already have it now. the question is will they enforce it. the body odor part is a real gray area because the question is what determines significant amount of body odor and maybe we don't want to go there right now. the bottom line it's in the books and people have been thrown off the plane for that.

>> etiquette is also an issue. >> how about just like being nice? >> being nice, i like that. keeping the holiday spirit. >> and smell good, for heaven's sake! >> you get one out of two. >> right. >> debbye turner bell is at the news desk with one more check of the headlines. good morning to you. walmart is pulling a popular brand of infant formula from its shelves after a child in missouri died from infection possibly linked to the product. walmart has stopped selling infa mi -- enfamil infant formula. as of right now, the government has not issued a recall. southwest airlines is apologizing to losing track of a young girl who got caught. in a flight mix-up. 9-year-old chloe boyce was flying alone from nashville to visit her grandparents in connecticut but she didn't arrive at new york's laguardia

airport. weather problems had force add stop in baltimore but for an hour and a half, nobody seemed to know where she was. thankfully, all turned out fine and chloe made it to grandma's in plenty of time for christmas. the u.s. population has grown at its slowest rate in 65 years. the census bureau reports that the u.s. grew by 2.8 million people from april 2010 to july 2011. that was the smallest increase since 1945 when the population fell in the last year of world war ii. the poor economy and slowing immigration were blamed. in london, prince william and his wife kate spread some holiday cheer. they stopped by a homeless shelter and helped prepare some traditional christmas minced pies. in a surprise move, william broke into a dance with a young girl. bust a move, prince! quickly dubbed the swag dance. no word on whether kate was too pleased about her husband's

. so you're a little bit behind in sending out your presents this year. can they still make it in time for christmas? mike glenn of federal express is good morning to you, mike. >> good morning. >> so let's say you haven't sent anything out or maybe you sent a few things but a few left to send. how much longer can you procrastinate? >> you have plenty of time. you can wait until tomorrow and mark saturday deliver iry on the

box and we will get it there on time. >> you will? guaranteed? >> positively. absolutely positively. >> how busy have you been this holiday? >> well, on december the 12th, it was our busiest day of the year. we delivered approximately 17 million packages that day. which is about 70% more than we did in 2005 and 10% more than we did last year. so it was a very busy season for us driven primarily e-commerce sales. >> like amazon or walmart or target.com shipping out more products this year than in the past because so many people are shopping online. >> that's right. about half the people did some of their shopping online and e-commerce sales are projected to grow 15% year over year so more and more people are accustomed to shopping online. >> that is good for your business. >> very good. >> also good for people employed by your business. you hired 20,000 seasonal workers and upped the hours for your full-time employees. what are the chances with that surge in e-commerce that some of

these jobs, these seasonal jobs will become full-time throughout next year? >> well, we did hire 20,000 more people this year during the peak season about 17,000 last year. so it was an increase. but most of these jobs are seasonal jobs and we will go back to our full-time work force after the peak season is over. >> you will? but it's a great opportunity, i've heard a seasonal job is a great opportunity to show a company what you're made of. so there is a chance perhaps that some of these people would end up with full-time employment? >> there is no question about it. we pay a lot of attention to the seasonal workers and the job they do and their dedication and we appreciate that very much. they play a very important role in the peak season and making sure we get everything there on time. so it is a great opportunity for us to get to know them and them to get to know us and it might provide some opportunities down the road. >> from your perspective, this growth in fedex business clearly is being driven somewhat by the e-commerce site. do you think it's also being driven by perhaps an uptick in

the economy? do you feel that in your business? >> well, consumer sentiment is not where we would like to see it. our gdp forecast for the year 2012 is 2.2% so moderate growth. but clearly we see the economy improving. we see some positive signs, but, again, just moderate growth in the economy. >> moderate growth in the economy. for you're estimating moderate growth. do you think fedex will hire in 2012? >> we will be hiring in 2012. our business is driven a lot by industrial production which is expected to grow 3.9% for the year. consumer spending about 2.2% so we will be adding team members throughout the year. >> glad to hear it. mike glenn, happy holidays. >> you can still ship fedex? >> mark saturday delivery and we will get it it there absolutely, positively. >> good deal. thanks so much. appreciate it. when it comes to christmas symbols most of us know what to expect, nativity scenes and

santa and reindeer. what about a two-foot talking egg? this year in new york state santa is getting help whether he likes it or not. >> my name is eggbert. turn around and look at the camera. you're fascinated by me, aren't you? hee hee hee! >> we have hosted eggbert since 1971. >> you came to see eggbert today? can i ask you why? >> located in new engine new york, 60 miles north of new york city. >> welcome back. >> thank you. it's good to be back, believe me, you don't know how good it is! >> reporter: eggbert was actually developed by cornell as a program for marketing eggs. >> he was around for about three generations and then took a little rest for about 12 years. >> your first christmas. it's your first eggbert experience. >> we felt that the hudson valley could really use him back because he brought so much happiness to all of the people

that come here. >> he is the coolest thing in the world. an electronic egg. you can't get better than that. >> take another one. i blinked on that one! >> there is always something that you did as a family. p>> it's always nice to be able to carry on family tradition. >> you don't have to be afraid of me. i'm a good egg. >> reporter: i wasn't good at promoting eggs but he has been good at promoting christmas. >> well, well, well, who do we have here? >> some special power that eggbert has. he knows their name. >> ryan, what would you like for christmas? i'm not in charge of presents but i know someone who is and he respects my opinion. >> eggbert is where santa comes to get his picture taken. >> this is what christmas is all about, families and big smiles. >> i think eggbert thinks it's going to be a great christmas this year. >> eggbert is back, baby! hee hee hee hee! >> sorry, santa, but you got yourself some competition. >> great eggexpectations for

eggbert. he is about as big as the kids are. >> terrible. expectations. >> lowered egg expectations? >> holidays is a time for egg nog and fattening food. when it's time to lose weight after the holidays, new technology is out there that can help you. >> bridget carey has brought us great gadgets to keep you healthy. i'm still laughing in my head over little eggbert. these health gadgets, what are the big trends in healthy lifestyle gadgets? we are seeing more gadgets that kind of become your own personal trainer. it's not new that things can track your heart rate when you're running but we see a big flood of them the past two months and see more in january at the consumer electronics show because they are getting cheaper and detecting more things and putting easily into charts on your smart phone or you can even upload it to facebook to share with your friends. >> do people want that constant reminder? >> if you have a workout buddy, perhaps you're more apt to work out. if you have a social media

workout buddy. >> like going to the gym. it's social. >> yeah. >> i know nothing. >> we will talk about it after the show. let's talk about the items that we have here. what do we have? >> starters, this is a brand-new monitor -- it's rolling away from us. it straps on your chest and you run. that's not a new technology necessarily but what makes it interesting they have it just for the iphone, just for a specific model and now a new chip in here where any future smart phone coming out with a you some type of bluechip will work with it and people can buy more devices for it. there are things you can strap to your arm. it talks in your ear you have a half more mile to go or speed up. >> slow. coming up on your right. >> also if you don't have a smart phone because the past two i just said you have to have your smart phone with you when you're running and not so great when you're outside.

here is one. body media fit and it's a little more expensive but you keep it on around you all day and it's tracking every activity whether you're picking up your kids or the groceries. you plug it into your -- >> healthy lifestyle plays a role and gadget now can track how well you're sleeping? >> we are seeing hybrids of your activity and your sleeping because sleep is part of health to. so if you don't want to wear big strap all day, check this out. here is a stick you can stick in your pocket. it's a pedometer but at night slap it on your wrist and it will tell you in the morning how many times you're waking up or how restless you are. if you want something more accurate, the lark here is something you put on your wrist and when you wake up in the morning and you go to your iphone and a chart how much you slept and different stages of sleep and i think what is interesting if you pay a little more, it kind of becomes this coach and takes the data and send you text messages throughout the day saying, chris, it's 7:00, you should probably start winding down.

that is the interesting part here. it's the fact that it's not just taking this out of charts because what are you going to do with charts? it's calculating it into something useful. >> is it tough to have a blue tooth on while you're sleeping? is it safe? >> you think you have all of these electrodes all over your body. i talked to the ceo of lark. it's really only send ago message to your phone one minute a night. >> how about gadgets targeting kids for rewards and things like that? >> it's making exercising game more than an outside kind of game where you get free stuff. pedometers now. these are $25 but you put them our belt and has characters on it or put it on your shoe. you count the steps and go with mom and dad to the computer and calculate how many steps do i do? eventually you get points to get frisbees and water bottles and fun rewards like that. older crowd and teens and adults switch to health step and another pedometer and makes you

think you take the stairs than the elevator.

we continue our series on local legends this morning with a tailor in nashville who knows a thing or two about rhinestone cowboys. >> manuel is truly one of a kind. his signature style cowboy couture worn by biggest music stars. >> for kid rock. ♪ i was born free >> his born free shirt. this is going to be a ladies jacket. beautiful. i love that bag. roses and leather leaves. >> that is so pretty. >> anything concerning the entertainment industry, you can pretty well find in nashville. there is only one tailor that has ever been here and that is manuel. >> when issed the par the party

start around here. >> he is like a part of history. ♪ like a rhinestone cowboy >> what size is it? glen campbell side. i made this about 3,000 years ago for you. look how it looks on you. ♪ like a rhinestone cowboy >> you got to have some rhinestones for a rhinestone cowboy. >> nobody makes it like mine. >> manuel will make it it not necessarily as you specify. >> i don't deal with other people's ideas because they just don't work for me. what i want to do for you is something that you always thought that you could have but you don't know how to identify it. it's so much past in here. johnny cash's jacket.

♪ i fell into a burning ring of fire ♪ >> this is brother, i finally think i am going to go on the road. i have 52 shirts to make. i would like to have like nine outfits. ♪ you wonder why i always dress in black ♪ >> i made them and he gets on the phone. i got these suits. i said good. how come they are all black? three months later, i get on the phone again. he says, brother, i want many suits now from now on. i said just tell me what you want. i will never tell you what i want. ♪ up front there ought to be a man in black ♪ >> put on those costumes and they become the characters that, you know, they have invented, we invented for ourselves. ♪ throw down the guns and hide they throw down the guns

and hide ♪ >> i see kids upstairs learning how to sew and cut and learning how to design. i never met tommy hilfiger in los angeles. >> you look so handsome. >> thank you. something you just noticed? >> when you come to nashville you have to meet manuel. >> nashville is the center of the united states. i promise you that. >> and he is always right. >> yeah. >> but you are. >> most of the times i'm right. i'm just a tailor, you know? oh, my goodness! woo! >> the only thing i disagree with is that comment he just made. >> nashville? >> just a tailor. >> oh, yeah. not just a tailor. definitely not. >> nashville could easily become the fashion capital of the world. great stuff. >> which jacket was your favorite? >> i like the whole johnny cash thing. black. >> you wear it well. >> thank you very much. >> i like the purple one. >> yeah? manuel, if you're watching, send her a little something!

>> deck it out. >> christmas can right around the corner. have a great day, yeah, i'm married. does it matter? you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪