along the way they were confronted by a wolf, bear, snake, and fox. is they tricked that fox, and the bear and got them to the woods. it is a long, long summer and i don't have a contract, i said, maybe i'll try to write something, never written a picture book before. i sat at the word processor, i'll write my grandfather books. all 16 pages. it is usually 6 to 7 pages long. i sent it to my editor anne swarts. she was at thow publishing books. at the time she was at dial. she was right out of college and a reader. she wrote my manuscripts. she said it has possibility. there is a story in there but way too much going on. you have 3 kids, a grandmother, a grandfather, you got a bear, a snake, a wolf, and fox. a dog, cat, and a neighbor, way too much going on. if you'd like to rewrite it and shorten it some what and i'd be glad to look at it again. but that is not my grandfather's story. i can't do that. i thought i don't have a contract. i said i'll get rid of my brother and sister. [laughter]. and i'll keep myself. and i'll get rid of the wolf, bear, an

prestigious to bring home a wolf tied up the three in a war after the day's outdoor training we caught up with our ottoman at the evening meal and he tells us about their history the cossacks originally came from lands far to the west of here but they proved a useful militia force conquering and securing siberia for the czars in return for grants of land. here before and if the idea was to create villages along the country's border so that people are bound to the land they're living on. the cossacks strong independent traditions were disliked by the communists they were suppressed and marginalized since the end of the soviet union they've been trying to rebuild our self-sufficient way of life especially when it comes to resisting the bad habits of the city. it's no easy matter living in the country of course but on the other hand if we're protected from the harm of the city from drugs alcohol smoking would go. but tonight at least the elders of the village who are allowing themselves a few liberties. with me to talk more about life in the siberian villages is alex jude you've been here

they were selected for their speed and anger because they must be able to get the better of a wolf. with gauri is master not just of his hounds but of this whole cost village he's called the atom out and he has to show skill in leadership from solving village disputes down to training dogs to catch hares. although he prefers the larger prey willow was more restrictive likely to root in old times to get the chance of becoming an atom and it was considered prestigious to bring home a wolf tied up. with the ring in a war after the day's outdoor training we caught up with our ottoman at the evening meal where he tells us about the history the cossacks originally came from lamb's far to the west of here but they proved a useful militia force conquering and securing siberia for the czars in return for grants of land. here before and of the idea was to create villages along the country's border so that people are bound to the land they're living on. the cossacks strong independent traditions were disliked by the communists they were suppressed and marginalized since the end of the soviet u

a real drag. some areas got as much as 24 inches of snow and more is expected. wolf you're the powerhouse that you are. die hard. >> they know how to deal with snow. all of the years, from kindergarten through high school, we never missed a school day because of snow and trust me, there was a lot of snow. they cleared the sidewalks, the streets. >> i believe you. >> i tip my hat to all of the folks in buffalo. thanks very much for that. >> that's why you go seven days a week. all year long. >> because i'm a buffalonian through and through. >> that's right. >> potentially a blow to the chairman of their own party? i'll ask her about that. and our strategy session. stand by. this year chevrolet gave us legendary dependability, innovative technology, and inspired design. and now, they want to give as much as they can to as many as possible. your chevy dealer is giving back to the community. come see how chevy is giving more. right now, get no monthly payments till spring plus 0% apr financing and fifteen hundred dollars holiday allowance on most chevy models. see how yo

when everything there was a. wolf but on march twenty seventh one thousand nine hundred sixty eight you got in straining jet takes off from the runway if you color scheme military airfield and heads eastward towards the flight zone the training exercises to last fifteen to twenty minutes the plane includes barrel rolls took turns in vertical loops but only four minutes later flight controller here's good got a report done heading for base. during the third turn i heard a voice. was so quiet. right after i reported to the commanding officer the voice of number six to. enter was not alarmed by the early message. nothing strange about hearing god and not the instructor said yogen over the airwaves. would be his last words that reach the flight command. april twelfth one thousand nine hundred sixty one nine o seven am the first man. takes off from the launch pad. radios back a phrase that would in a few hours would be known around the world as his signature line. the first flight lasted one hundred eighty minutes to space

one republican insists that the 2,000-page billallowed, word for word a task grew dew to begin an hour from from now. >>> wolf blitzer begins an extraordinary visit to the communist north. it is a television exclusive. joochbtder the killings of two congregants, a crime-fighting priest steps out of the pulpit and into the streets. what he is doing to help clean up his city. while wolf is on assignment, i'm suzanne malveaux and you're in "the situation room." >>> there's a deep freeze outside while inside the capital, the following critical issues are frozen. a compromise tax bill is stalled

it's a reasonable thing for people to go do. but i suspect, wolfyear, the new year's celebration will be really profound because the cruise ship industry will say, let's get this year behind us and get into a new one. >> there's been a lot of choppy water out there indeed. thanks, tom. >>> it was the scene of the worst disaster of its kind. now it's about to reopen as a tourist destination. but will they come to the infamous wasteland? >>> and we'll show you why sydney's iconic opera house has been temporarily renamed oprah house. for itchy dry skin. try cortizone 10 intensive healing. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal. >>> sumaamantha hayes is monitog our top stories here in "the situation room." >> federal agents are bound for sweden to help with the investigation of an apparent suicide bombing in stockholming. authorities say they believe a man who died in the blast saturday was the same person who e-mailed a warning to a news agency just before it happened. they believe the bomb deto

i want to go back to wolf for a moment. wolf, what do you make of what barbara's saying here? obviously there are a lot of administration officials, now involved in watching what is taking place right where you are. live, essentially, see what happens over the weekend. i spoke with robert gibbs, the press secretary, and he says clearly they are watching as well to make sure that things don't get out of hand. what are you picking up from where you are? >> reporter: well, i think the north koreans would clearly appreciate it if the south koreans decided to postpone or cancel this planned live fire exercise at this island that was shelled back in november, november 23rd. i think the north koreans would see that as positive gesture on the part of south korea and clearly ease the tensions somewhat. but whether or not south koreans are going to do that, would that appear to be capitulating or show weakness in the face of this situation? that is an issue that would have to be discussed. the north korean, what you clearly get from them is the sense that south korea's fault, they're pro

we have actually flown over area but was a wolf than with 30 will senate. e went just off the coast of northern alaska. we observed a group of talks. when they were disturbed they formed a circle facing outward to protect the females. we go fishing. so i have become quite familiar with the alaska and many of the national parks that i created that there in 1980. and at think that there will be preserved. there is a tremendous pressure from the oil companies i would say to lely bribe members of congress to take this beautiful area and make available for exploration. this was an area that was first set aside by president eisenhower in the 1950's. and i just preserved what eisenhower had first set aside. that's when alaska became a state. when i left office the only way you could do that was if the president and both houses of congress voted to let oil exploration be done. i had never dreamed that we would have presidents in both houses of congress that might do so. president reagan and george h. w. bush and president george w. bush tried and sometimes came with

give us a few examples? >> well, wolft president karzai and the attorney general letting prisoners go. essentially, what they are saying is that they authorized presidential pardons for narco traffickers, and here is what the cable says specifically. they authorized the release of detainees pre-trial, and allowed dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an afghan court. so that is looking like one of the most serious ones, wolf. >> it is possible, fran, to get it going over there when you have a government that the u.s. accuses of being totally corrupt? >> well, wolf, that is the single greatest impediment to american success there, this pervasive corruption. we have made some progress, andly si will say that the president thanked the troops for meeting training goals, and they exceeded t eed the objectives sd they are ahead of schedule, but getting corruption under control is not going the look like a u.s. model, but reducing the corruption, and reducing the corruption on the effic

wolf blitzer is now in beijing, china, with a television exclusive. he's getting ready to go inside north korea. hey, wolf. they will pick up the visas that have already been approved. i'm here with governor bill richardson, the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. there's a lot to discuss. the korean peninsula since the end of the war back in 1953, the shelling that north koreans engaged in on a small island it's a tense, tense situation and people would like to see the situation calm down. what is making it more intense now has been a u.s. scientists, a top u.s. scientist from stanford university, los alamos who says that there is dramatic new developments on the north korean nuclear front and that scientist is going to join us live this hour as well. we have experts covering this story. we're going to be back in a few moments with governor bill richardson suzanne? >> thank you so much. we look forward to all of those developments the next couple of hours. >>> now to dramatic developments happening on capitol hill. that is where the senate h

investigators describe martinez as a lone wolf, with no ties to any known terror group. >>> authorities in a san diego suburb plan to burn a house to the ground today. there are so many explosives in it that it's considered too dangerous to enter. residents for more than 200 nearby homes cleared out yesterday. even though precautions have been taken to contain the fire. nearby interstate 15 will be closed in both directions, too. experts say it is a unique operation because never before has so much of the explosive hmtd been found in one place. >>> a private company is a step closer to taking over some of the duties now performed by the space shuttles. the company called space-x, launched a rocket into space. and for the first time, successfully guided it back to earth. the test flight could pave the way for space-x to supply runs and astronaut rides to the international space station, once nasa retires the shuttles next year. >>> a south florida toddler is back home after taking himself on a solo adventure. surveillance video shows 2-year-old jaquell brown, getting on a city bus all by

we have actually flown over an area there was a wolf in that had 30 wolves, and we went just off the ast of northern alaska on the same trip where we observed a group of oxen and when they were disturbed the form a circle of males facing outward to protect the females and their calves in the middle, so we go fishing in alaska quite often, fly-fishing, so i've become quite familiar with alaska and many of the state of the national parks that there. in 1980, and i think that they will be preserved but there is a tremendous pressure from the oil companies to i would say to legally buy the members of congress to take in more, this beautiful area up there and to get available for exploration from oil. this was an area that was first set aside and it's only alaskan natural wilderness region by president eisenhower in the 1950's, and i just preserved what eisenhower first set aside. that is when alaska became a state. and when i left office, the only way you could do that is of the president and both houses of congress voted to let the oil exploration be done in anwar and i never believed we

and europe at christmas. >>> and a as wolf blitzer travels to north korea on an exclusive assignment l warns that a south korean military exercise could cause a chain reaction leading to all-out war. welcome to our viewers in the united states, and around the world. breaking news, political headlines and jeanne moos are straight ahead. wolf blitzer reports on the north korea trip this hour. i'm suzanne malveaux, and you i'm suzanne malveaux, and you are in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the clock is ticking. the stakes are enormous, but nothing is getting done on capitol hill. now n the house, democratic leaders have pulled the tax cut compromise from consideration, because they are not sure they have enough votes to move it forward. now n the senate, the only thing lawmakers could agree to do was to stop working on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty for now and take up the spending bill to finance the government. that will be happening in the next hour. but one lawmaker, rep senator and tea party favorite jim dement of south carolina is threatening to force a read

and a sexy outfit -- and most importantly, a call of the wolf waker. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause the time of the rock king, before the age of green fire, before the machine rebellion, before the trials of jupiter. the wolves were a proud and peaceful civilization, caring for the small green and blue planet they inherited when the humans left for the stars. [ laughter ] the wolves lived in human cities, practiced human government, and carried on human traditions. [ laughter ] like christmas. but the wolves were not alone. one man stayed behind to care for the wolves, to teach them art and science, to guide them through the birth of a civilization. the wolf waker lived 300 miles above the earth in a vast and lonely orbiting fortress, always watching, always protecting, and every year on christmas day, he descends from the clouds on a sled of fire, waking the wolves of the earth to remind them of their humble beginnings and prepare them for their destiny in the heavens. higgins, who do we have playing cell phone shootout tonight? [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: tonight's contestan

. >> i think i married a wolf. >> i told you that. >> we had a little bit of a crush on each other whichshow ended after five years. but by then van dyke was already making movies. ♪ where nowhere is there a more happier crew than them watching... ♪ > he was personally chosen by walt disney to co-star with julie andrews in 1964's mary poppins. ♪ supercalifragilistic expealidocious even though the sound of it is.... >> reporter: something so magical about it. >> yes, there is. i felt that during the shooting of it, even julie, we would say something is happening here. ♪ supercalifragilisic expealidocious ♪ >> what's happened? >> reporter: then came another classic. chitty-chitty-bang bang. just out on blue ray. van dyke says he'll always remember the first day of shooting. they weren't that happy with your nose. >> i just met the director. i was sitting in the make-up chair. the director calls the make-up man over. i overheard him say, what about the hooter? the guy says i'm not a plastic surgeon. >> reporter: van dyke and his wife margie-- they divorceded in 1984-- had four children. thi

fearing terrorism by a lone wolf or a big group. >> and so we are staying very focused on our ability to detect those types of attacks and stop them whether or not they are by individuals or they are part of a larger organizational effort. >> in subways and the like, local police are on alert. >> looking for people who are doing something unusual. they look like they don't belong. you look for their eyes. are they looking at the crowd or looking at you looking at them. >> reporter: brandon admits a worrisome lapse. director of national intelligence james claerp was caught uninformed yesterday. british police rounded up an alleged team of terrorists. clapper did not know. >> oh, i'm sorry. i didn't. >> should he have been briefed by his staff on those arrests? yes. >> are u.s. officials ready for the extra risk of terror attacks over the holiday. brennan says yes. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> well, now it looks like 2011 will be the year of royal weddings. queen elizabeth's granddaughter just announced her engagement to her longtime live-in boyfriend. nbc's stephanie

. $3 million a year for 300 people. frank wolfs a long-time advocate of teleworking. but he says advances in technology means the centers are no longer necessary. and the goal of the bill is to get workers off the road all together to have them work at home. >> everyone now can telework. again, internet, wifi, laptop, skype. the technology has so revolutionized this, you don't need the telecommute centers. >> reporr: but there is still a need for the facilities. >> currently we do have a few interested parties who want to help us continue to maintainhe telework centers. again, they are a great asset for the local communities. that way these folks don't have to drive up north every day. >> at least two centers have found alternate funding. the fairfax county center and another in winchester will be able t stay open. >>> a group that oversees safety in the metro system has new power. the tristate oversight committee makes regular safety inspections. top officials have now agreed to suspend or cancel their funding of metro's frastructure cost. >>> the man accused of kidn

some drifts taller than me, not quite as talls a reynolds wolf because he's a tall guy.ways and shutting down roads. it is not over yet. part of new york is under a lake-effect snow warning. a nightmare for drivers. some were marooned on i-90 for nearly a full day. >> i just want to be home. they're all home from what snow day and i have been up for like over 24 hours. i want to go home. >> from the official threwway radio, it was saying traffic is heavy, stop and go. and we've been stopped dead for six hours. >> as the weather reporters say, you know, northeast and midwest, hey, it's winter. supposed to snow. a lot of people might say it's all part of december in buffalo. one part of the storm is so rare. it made a group of winter weather vets cringe and curse. >> there's a good situation in everything. >> oh [ bleep ]. >> holy cow! >> that bolt was part of a phenomenon called thunder snow. it's mysterious, doesn't happen very often and it is veally quite scary. >> it really is. one of the neat things about it is when you have thunder snow, it's one thing to have it in

but that's a very, very sensitive moment. >> well, wolf, back to those military drills. it is amazing that weather is playing a part right now. the weather is going to, you know, it's going to go away at some point. do we know yet what's going to happen? and is richardson urging south korea to not go forward with those drills once the weather does subside in the next few days or wherever it may be? >> the fear is that the north koreans would retaliate. the north koreans have publicly said they will retaliate if the south koreans engage in these live fire exercises around this island yeonpyeong, that was the island the north koreans shelled back on november 23rd, killing four south koreans. two military, two civilian. it's a sensitive moment because the north koreans say they were provoked, the south koreans deny that. and the south koreans have been criticized back home for the south korean government not doing enough, especially after the north koreans -- they knocked out this south korean warship. north koreans deny they did it, but almost everybody else accused the nor

a full year. great reporting. we get to check it out tonight. joined by reynolds wolf here, again. anytime you go through, you see a soldier walking through, coming home, people applauding in the airport. now, you see troops all over the place coming home for the holidays. >> we have a lot of new recruits coming through. many people going back for the first time to see their families. they are entering the uso. it's where many people get a chance to have a sense of home, so to speak after being deployed and going through training. they get a chance to get a handshake, a hug, a doughnut, something to eat. when you look at the people at the uso and members of the armed services, we wake up and wonder if we make a difference. these men and women don't have that problem. they make a difference every single day. seeing them reunited is something that if it doesn't tug on your heart strings, you need to check your pulse. every single one of the soldiers is special and everyone is received warmly. we have video of camp pendleton. these men and women going through their training. getting a