athena jones. hey, athena, when did they erect this. this is mcpherson square park.hey erect this overnight? i would imagine to build something like this would take quite some time. police have told them to take it down, they said, no, they're not leaving. when did they put this up? >> reporter: they put it up overnight. we talked to several demonstrators here, they said it only took them about an hour. it's some sort of prefab construction, it's unclear sin we didn't see them do it overnight in the middle of the night. they erected it in about an hour. it's materials donated by a family in annapolis, maryland, not too far from here. we've also been told they've brought in some of these pieces under a tarp earlier in the week, kind of so that people wouldn't notice what was about to happen. and of course, they erected it overnight so people wouldn't see them in this long building process. so it's unclear all the, just how they were able to do it, or how it's constructed, but they did it pretty quickly. that's part of their argument, too, don. they say it's part of a

is this a standoff now, athena? athena, are you there? so athena's not there.can hear them doing, as they all do at the occupy, mic check, then the other person starts repeating what the other person said. here's what they're chanting about. let's listen for a second. okay. so, here we go. occupy protesters in washington and a standoff with police over this structure. we'll continue to follow it here on cnn. more at the top of the hour. >>> let's talk a little college football right now. my lsu tigers headed to the national championship game, but who will they play? who will they play? will it be alabama? why? they already beat them. or oklahoma state? no, why, they're much better. john wortheim ways on which team has the advantage. but first this, john, trystan eden is a self-described skateboarding punk who had several run-ins with the law as a youth, including painting graffiti on school property. but judges gave him a second chance to improve his life. and he did, eventually designing a toy for fisher price at the age of 18. now his artwork is part of a per

so the question, athena, here is, proposal stuff. so when will the house take this up and when will house -- and will house republicans go along with it? >> reporter: that's the question here. it's not at all clear. we know that one of the provision that was added to this bill, this keystone pipeline provision, about this pipeline that's going to be built from canada bringing oil from canada down to the gulf coast, that's something that the obama administration had wanted to put off a final commitment of that whole project until 2013, because of some concerns environmental ifrts brought up. republicans say it's going to add a lot of jobs. so house republicans added this pro stroigs their bill. their year extension of the payroll tax cut and ended up sending it to the senate. the house added that provision to get republicans onboard. the real question is, yes, they kept that provision in. the white house says it doesn't change too much. but still you're going to -- we're hearing from the few people who have been on this, that we're he

athena jones. >> reporter: after more than nine hours and at times tense standoffs, it has come to an end with 31 arrests. it began when police ordered demonstrators to take down a structure they erected overnight. there were safety concerns with the structure and it hadn't gone through the proper permitting process. demonstrators refused to take the down. several occupying it itself and others climbing on to the roof while holding on to the rafters for several hours and led chants with the crowd of demonstrators who have been in this park occupying it since early october. this is a park that is only a few blocks from the white house. so the standoff lasted all day. you had demonstrators throwing food and water. demonstrators throwing food and water to the occupiers who were on the structure itself. ultimately the police used ray cherry picker, a giant inflatable cushion, two ladders, various ropes and harnesses in order to get the occupiers off of the structure. it was at times a dangerous operation because the structure itself, we saw it swaying a little bit. there were concern at o

thank you so much, athena jones. appreciate it. >>> they are handing out two nobel peace prize awards today. actually, they're handing out three of them. the ceremony is going on as we speak. the winners being honored for their commitment to women and their safety in the region. and let me introduce you to them. lema boley, a leading peace and women's rights activist. ellen johnson surlis and talafel herman. >> i'm particularly honored to be a successor to several sons and one daughter of africa who have stood on this stage. kofi annan, an war al sa dat, mohammed albarati as well as barack obama, martin luther king jr. and ralph bunch, americans of african dissent. >> a lot of grace in that woman, couldn't you tell? protests, meanwhile, as we switch gears here, are under way in russia this morning. demonstrators are angry over alleged voter fraud in last week's parliamentary elections. the anger aims squarely at vladimir putt in. so phil black is with us now. and i'm sure, phil, we're wondering how peaceful the prote

athena jones joins us from the campus with the latest.terday there was a lot of concern during this four-hour lockdown. people in their dorms or in the cafeteria studying for finals. there were questions that had gone unanswered. the college newspaper reported there was one dorm near the scene of the first shooting of the officer which is just on the other side of this stadium behind me here. people were going to one person's window and looking out to see what was going on. there was a lot of concern during those four hours but the campus did a good job of keeping people posted on all of the developments as as they unfolded over the course of the day this time around. >> going back to the shooting itself, it is just so strange. so this officer made a traffic stop. but police believe the person in the car did not fire the shot that killed the police officer and then they found a man's body a short distance away an he was dead with a gunshot wound. >> exactly. details are still emerging here. we still don't know. the police haven't identifi

athena joins us now with more.ena. >> power houses like google and facebook have been getting more and more involved in politics in recent years. now facebook's path appears to be gearing up for 2012. this year they updated their pack filing to show its headquarters had moved to nearby menlo park, california. and so we thought we'd take a look back at their activities this year. >> my name is barack obama and i'm the guy who got mark to wear a jacket and tie. >> as a company facebook is no stranger to the political scene. in april mark zuckerberg hosted a town hall with the president at the company's headquarters. he joined yahoo! and google among others for an intimate dinner with the president. they've also sponsored events with the republicans including new jersey governor chris christie and three top house republicans. the center for response v politics says facebook spent $910,000 on lobbying this year, more than twice as much as in 2010. >> they're getting ahead of the curve. they have a strong watch on the l

our athena jones is there at the white house. let's go straight to you, athena.he president offering some real assurances there. he's glad the u.s. congress has gotten down to business there. it's not over yet, is it? >> no, it's not over. the white house has been pushing for this as a key provision of the president's jobs bill. they have been pushing to make sure 160 million americans don't see taxes go up in january. on some levels that's a victory. it's just a two-month extension. it kind of kicks the can down the road. they will have to return to this in a couple months. the president expressed his confidence this is going to be passed by the congress next year. it must be done, not hard to do. it's something we should agree on. he's coming out trying to declare a little bit of a victory. he didn't mention keystone pipeline, didn't answer any questions. he's also keeping the pressure on saying he's confident when the house comes in on monday they will pass this bill the senate passed, he'll be able to sign it. americans starting the first of the year will get

this next year of extended benefits from the federal government unless congress takes action. >> athenain washington, thank you. >>> a silent film is making a whole lot of oscar noise and it's now open in a few selected cities. your sneak peek "the artist." beauty, huh? it's dependable. long-lasting, too. yeah, i could really use this silverado. i'm a big hunter. oh, what do you hunt? deer. fish. fantastic. ♪ this holiday, chevy's giving more. now qualified buyers can get 0% apr for 72 months on a 2011 chevy silverado. or 0% apr financing for 60 months plus no monthly payments until spring. ♪ >>> perhaps you're planning on going to the movies this week. we have a couple of flicks for you. our movie critic gray drake joins us. a few limited releases we're looking at that could be oscar contenders. you're giving a big nod on "the artist." what's it about? >> it's so wonderful. it's similar to the real-life story of john gilbert who was talented but had a lot of horrible addictions. and his career kind of went downhill and it's a heartbreaking story. although the movie's not his biography

let's bring in on the phone from blacksburg, virginia, cnn's athena jones. what more can you tell us about the officer who was killed? >> reporter: i can tell you, i mentioned, he is 39 years old, father of five children and stepchildren and from nearby christiansburg it is interesting to note he joined the police department just a few months after that last big shooting back in april of 2007. he joined in october. and that was, of course, a shooting where a young, troubled student ends up kill 33 people, including himself. >> talk us through the video and the images what we know about them and their significance. >> reporter: this is particularly interesting because of the details we have learned late in the day. the lockdown ended about 4:30 and the second man found dead was found after officer was shot, around 1:00. so details trickling out during the course of the day and learned a while ago the video camera mounted inside the police car of derek krause, derek krause's police car this virginia tech officer, showed a man with a weapon who authorities say

let's get to cnn's athena jones. athena? >> hi, don. you know, this ended just a little while ago with the police finally being able to take down the last protester who was on top of the structure that occupy d.c. protesters erected overnight. police came in late this morning and told them they needed to take the structure down. they said there were safety concerns, that the structure hadn't gone through the proper inspections. but protesters refused to leave. and so they occupied the building itself which has now been torn down. as you can see behind me. several of them climbed on top of it. at one point there were about a dozen of these demonstrators on top of the building. and they stayed there for hours. throughout the day they led chants. demonstrators here in the crowd away from the structure who were throwing them food and water. this is a camp here in mcpherson square, they've been camping out here since the beginning of october. we're only a few blocks from the white house. protesters and police have both said that they haven't

let's bring if our athena jones. how big of a deal is this? big deal for gingrich and perry. as you mentioned, this is the state where gingrich lives. he lives in a suburb just outside of d.c. the deadline was thursday, he told a gop fund-raising breakfast in the state that he would have 12,000 to 14,000 signatures. so, clearly his campaign thought that he was in the clear. but it turns out he isn't. we learned this, incidentally, overnight on twitter. that's where the virginia republican party first made this known. it's interesting stuff. virginia has stringent rules compared to other states. a candidate needs 10,000 signatures as well as 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. it's a bit more complicated. recent polls have shown gingrich was ahead of romney in the state by five points. it's not looking good for him. this is a state he could have done well in. and 49 delegates are at stake there. >> who did qualify? >> well, right now it's just romney and ron paul. only four candidates even put in the petition. so, santorum,

athena jones, thank you so much for bringing us the story.e always, of course, remember the men and women who have fought for us and their families, as well. thanks, athen ma. >>> you've probably heard a lot of times this year, didn't you, did you hear what they said? we're going to run down the year's most memorable quotes from some pretty memorable newsmakers, like that guy, charlie sheen. >>> what was the top quote of 2011, you wonder? we're talking about the most powerful, most meaningful, maybe just most memorable words spoken by people in the news this year, words that in a lot of ways shape what the year was about, right? josh levs is here with the countdown. i say meaningful and i know one you're going to quote. and there was nothing meaningful about it, but it was comical. >> it was comical. here is why i like these. they help us stop and take stock. we look back at some of the big stories for the year. the first quote is really hard to guess. here is the quote. it has been a really tough weekend. and the person who said it is harold

athena, we understand that they didn't know each other. any sense of a motive here behind this? >> well, that's the question everyone was asking at the press conference a little while ago. authorities are still investigating the motive. they say that this suspect was not a virginia tech university student, appeared to have no connection whatsoever to the university. they say that he may have been involved in a car theft earlier in the day in a town nearby but they're still looking into that. that's not yet proven. so there is still a lot of questions to be answered. they're still carrying out toxicology an other tests and of course they haven't released the name because the medical examiner is still examining the body and they have to contact the family members as well. motive, that question is still unanswered. >> athena, how is the campus reacting to this incident given what happened back in 2007, the tragedy of so many people killed on that campus? >> well, certainly given that massive shooting rampage back then 4 1/2 years ago that lef

athena jones joins us from washington. athen ark, how did this happen? >> a lot of supporters of these two candidates are asking that question, alina. we have gotten a response from both campaigns. the perry campaign says they will closely review the facts and law to determine whether an appeal or challenge is warranted. newt gingrich called it the whole way virginia figures out to be on the ballot, said it was a failed system and they are going to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure all the voters of virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice. this is very important in this case for newt gingrich because recent polls showed him leading in virginia. he was five points ahead of mitt romney. if you're not on the ballot that doesn't mei matter in the end. virginia has pretty stringent requirements for getting on the primary ballot, more stringent than other states. they needed 10,000 signatures stayed wide, at least 10,000, including 400 in each electoral districts. these campaigns fell short. it raises questions about their

let's go now to cnn's athena jones.he is there and has been watching this volunteer action in place all morning long. why did so many people volunteer and who are these volunteers? >> well, i suppose with a lot of people. have you veterans, you have a lot of service members, people in uniform. marines. people in the military. there are a lot of kids and at least one boy scout troop. you also had a lot of people who came -- lost people, whether it was a son or daughter or partner. i spoke with a lot of people here who said they wanted to come out. one man told me he had a relative who died in world war ii who was very -- buried somewhere here. i said are you going to try to lay a wreath on that grave? he said no, i wanted to come anywhere, it didn't matter where i came. i wanted to give back because they have given so much and i have given so little. the idea here was for i people to come together and honor the troops. this group's mission wreaths across america is remember, honor, teach. it is the 20th anniversary of la

athena jones from the white house today. athena, the white house at least happy to know that the taxes for a lot of folks in this country will not go up january 1? >> well, yes, they say they are. they say this deal meets the test that the president set out. he's been saying for days and weeks, really, that the important thing is that taxes for 160 million americans don't go up on january 1st and even though they'll have to return to this whole issue in another two months, for now this is a significant step and it's a significant provision of the american jobs that the president put forward. i'll read part of the statement from the white house communications director regarding this vote that's coming up and the deal is a significant victory for the people and the economy because independent analysts have said failing to extend this tax cut have had a damaging effect on the recovery and job growth. they've been arguing this point that before the average family they'll get an extra $1,000 in their pockets and they'll keep the

athena, everybody is wondering, how in the world if you're a serious candidate for the nomination, can you, i don't know, just forget to get your name on the ballot? they didn't forget, but still, how can this happen? >> i mean, it's really baffling to a lot of observers here. people were surprised, especially about newt gingerich. but we have gotten a statement from each of these campaigns. the perry campaign says in part, they're going to closely review the facts and law to determine whether an appeal and challenge is warranted. now, gingerich's campaign called the whole way virginia handles its ballot requirement process, they said it's a failed system and they said they're going to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure all the voters of virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice. this is interesting because, you know, gingerich lives in virginia. he lives in the d.c. suburb. he also is on top of the polls in the latest poll showed him five points ahead of mitt romney. but none of that matters if you can't get on the ballot. and it's interesting, even

so athena, what have you seen there so far this morning?> reporter: it's been a pretty remarkable day. i mean, there's 10,000 volunteers descending here on arlington's national cemetery to lay 100,000 wreaths on the headstones here. over the last several lours, we've seen what was before a sea of white headstones. now you see wreaths laid at all of them. you have boy scout troops, women pushing strollers, people in uniform, people in wheelchairs who were injured, service members. we've had a chance to talk to a lot of people here, some of them just volunteers who wanted to come out and do something. one man told us, they've given so much, i've given so little. a 16-year-old woman who came out with her father and served said she wanted to be here on this day. i also talked to a woman who flew up center florida. the organization wreaths across america which is behind this event, they've been laying wreaths here for 20 years. it's an event that expanded to more than 500 cemeteries all across america in all 50 states. this organization flew the

. >> athena jones joining us live from washington. what's next?, really it is anyone's guess. we know there could be votes as early as tomorrow night, monday night in the house. possibly a vote on tuesday as well, that's what eric cantor's office has said. we don't know what is going to happen, there has been a real war of words. a lot of people battling back and forth on the sunday talk shows and a lot of statements flying around. you have republicans who say that this creates uncertainty, going ahead and voting for the two-month extension creates a lot more uncertainty. there are also concerns as i mentioned that the president will have another issue to talk about next year if they continue to be able to talk about -- ttach cuts for working families. you have democrats who say, go ahead and pass this two-month extension, we'll keep talking about the year long extension. you have people like nancy pelosi, representative pelosi, saying -- calling this a republican tea party blocking this move and so they're trying to show the republicans will be b

athena jones for us this weekend in washington.turn back to one of the candidates who is on the ballot in virginia. we talked about ron paul. and a problem, an old problem just won't seem to go away for him. old newsletters being deemed racist and homophobic. our brian todd looks at the letters and the issues that continue to haunt this republican presidential candidate. >> reporter: as he surges in the polls before iowa, ron paul is again having to defend himself over language in a letter written on his behalf. we've reported recently and in previous campaigns how ron paul has disavowed newsletters with his name on them, newsletters from the 1980s and '90s with racial insults toward african-americans and others. with those newsletters paul said he didn't write them, didn't know who did, and that he rarely read them. now we're learning of a solicitation letter for those newsletters not only written on paul's behalf but with what appears to be his signature on them. theincindiary. in the direct mail tay'ler warns of, quote, the comi

athena, i've got kids. i know what you're saying. [laughter] anyway. i think all's well that ends well. i wish you good luck. look. here is $50. [applause] good night, everybody. . >>> right now a developing story on a deadly metro accident. we'll update the condition of victims and what sent that bus barreling off the road. >>> also, windy and cold today. but we're tracking a warmup in your forecast. >>> plus, the showdown. iran makes threats to cripple the world's oil trade. >>> rockville pike still closed northbound just past the nashville institute of health following a frightening fatal car accident this afternoon which killed one person and sent 8 others to the hospital. >> the crash involved a pickup truck and a metro bus heading to lake forest mall. matt jablow has been covering the story all afternoon, and tonight he joins us live from the scene with the latest information. matt. >> reporter: anita, it sure was a frightening crash this afternoon. nearly seven hours later, police are still trying to figure out exactly what or who caused it. >>

athena jones takes a look. >> i never thought i would be in this situation. >> reporter: if congressle who are out of work could lose federal unemployment benefits next year. people like marcello virnlgle. >> if i lose my benefits it is going to be rough. i have three kids to take care of here. i have five kids total. so if i don't find work soon, i have no idea what i'm going to do. >> reporter: he lost his job at a hospital last year. his wife has been out of work for more than two virgil found work as a landscaper but just for two months. his state unemployment benefits run out in february. federal government supplements the 26 weeks of benefits provided by most states. allowing people up to 99 weeks of aid, as long as they are looking for work. the average weekly benefit is about $300. under current law people must file for extended benefits by the end of the year. president obama wants to push back that deadline for another year. >> congress needs to renew unemployment insurance for americans who are still out there pounding the pavement looking for work. >> reporter: without an

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athena, i've got kids. i know what you're saying. [laughter] anyway. i think all's well that ends well. i wish you good luck. look. here is $50. [applause] good night, everybody. captioned by the natio [ male announcer ] citibank's new app for ipad makes it easy for anne to view her finances from anywhere. like gate d12 for the next three hours. citibank for ipad. easier banking. standard at citibank. [ beep ] hi. dave here. [ male announcer ] for dave, using citibank's online bill pay is as easy as setting up voicemail. hi, it's dave. [ male announcer ] actually, it's easier. hi, it's dave. i'm out of the office. [ male announcer ] online bill pay. easier banking. standard at citibank. . >>> you're watching cbs5 eyewitness news. >> force from their homes by a fast moving fire, witnesses describe the flames that moved through the berkeley hills tonight. >> it's happening right here in our nature loving bay area. pesticide use is up. why farmers say they don't have a choice. >> you hurt us, we will hurt you. iran's threat aimed at the gas pump and what