>> axelrod: tonight down to the wire. with just hours to go, shoppers crowd stores across the country in search of last minute bargains. tony guida has the christmas eve wrap-up. help wanted at long last in california. bill whitiker looks at why the golden state leads the country in job creation. tens of thousands of russians take to the streets once again to protest the rule of vladimir putin. and operation gratitude. tracy smith talks to the housewife and mother who wants no american in uniform to be forgotten during the holidays. >> a lot of it has to be the belief that someone at home cares. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening, i'm jim axelrod. for even the most hardened of procrastinators time is running out. just two days after a consumer report poll found that 25% of americans had not started their shopping yet, it appears most of the last-minute shoppers were jamming the stores today. tony guida is on the front lines. >> found it! >> reporter: 'twas the night before

love you, mom. >> axelrod: it's one of our iconic images-- washington crossing the delaware. but a new painting fixes some inaccuracies. it was at night, not in the afternoon. forget the rowboat. they probably used a ferry big enough for horses and cannons. and there was no stars and stripes. that flag wouldn't be used for a year. now to california and a story of resilience. bill whitaker with a magnificent sight high in the western sky. >> reporter: of all the sights to see in california, this is one of the rarest-- a california condor gliding 15,000 feet in the air. with a wingspan of ten feet and weighing up to 30 pounds, these high-flying scavengers once ruled the western skies. in the '80s, the numbers poaching and pollution and lead poisoning. just 22 birds remained. conservationists used breeding programs to keep them wild in captivity and to keep them from growing reliant on humans, they used puppets to feed the chicks. the program is working-- by next year, the population is set to soar past the 400 mark. >> we have saved the species genetically and demographically.

axelrod insists he would rather see this tax cut pass and inner energize the economy.next breath he did make it clear if republicans want to block it, the white house is very much ready to blame republicans and fit it into this 2012 narrative. take a listen. >> you have to wonder whether some folks over there think somehow screwing up the economy, throwing a wrench in the works is a good political strategy for them. that somehow if they can slow the recovery down, if they can -- if they can cost a half million or delay half a million or a million jobs that that will hurt the president. >> shepard: now, house republic leaders like eric cantor insist they are not trying to hurt the president. they just don't believe that a two month extension of the payroll tax cut provides enough certainty to the economy. they would rather see a one year extension, shep. >> shepard: what did david axelrod say about the republic frontrunners? >> it's interesting because back at the white house in washington aides say the president doesn't have time, they don't have time with all this end

david axelrod, hey, it's not us, it's you. you are being disloyal. you are deliberately screwing up the economy for political gain, the exact opposite of the truth. we have a failed administration that spends money like a drunken sailor, runs up a stimulus bill and ended up with no new jobs and massive debt. look at what they want to do. they want to extend the payroll tax holiday and bring in a whole new bunch of unemployment benefits at a cost of quarter trillion dollars of extra debt. this will fix our economy? this will create jobs? the exact opposite. >> so what do you make of it. most did he say pick kli that the republicans wanted to keep the economy bad to be able to win in 2012. >> this is what happens when you can't run on your own record, you have to run on somebody else's record. we didn't have a chance to talk before the show. right here i said, the house has passed 24 bills and they go over to the senate side and they don't go anywhere. if you are going to make a charge like that, i would like to have specifics. what specifically are th

obama's senior campaign adviser david axelrod. then the gop's top party chairman of the national committee reince prebus. axelrod and priebus debate the obama presidency and the 2012 campaign. then it's our political roundtable, breaking down the gop primary battle. herman cain is out. suspending his presidential campaign, after a rough few weeks, including allegations monday of a longtime extramarital affair. >> the false accusations about me continue. they have sidetracked and distracted my ability to present solutions to the american people. >> so what does it mean for the rest of the field? also, mitt romney's press about his changing positions and his record about massachusetts governor. >> this is an unusual interview. all right let's do it again. >> meantime, newt gingrich predicts he will win the nomination. >> i'm clearly the more conservative candidate by any rational standard. >> will the fight for the right come down to romney, versus gingrich? joining us, the publisher of the "union leader," new hampshire's largest ne

obama's senior campaign adviser david axelrod and then the gop's top party official reince priebus, axelrod and priebus debate the obama presidency and the 2012 campaign. then our political round table breaking down the gop primary battle. herman cain is out. suspending his presidential campaign after a rough few weeks, including allegations monday of a long-time extramarital affair. >> false accusations about me continue. they have sidetracked and distracted my ability to present solutions to the american people. what does it mean for the rest of the field? so mitt romney pressed again about his changes positions and record as massachusetts governor. >> it is an unusual interview. all right. let's do it again. >> meantime newt gingrich predicts he will win the nomination. >> clearly more conservative candidate by any rationale standard. >> will the fight for the right come down to romney versus gingrich. joining us the author of the paper's endorsementoe mcquaid. anchor of bbc world news america, katy kay. former democratic congressman, harold ford jr. and "time" magazine's mark halperin.

convoy leaves iraq and jim axelrod is in it. blizzard warnings are up from new mexico to kansas. and dozens of students may have taken part in the deadly hazing at florida a&m when the "cbs evening news" continues. ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazing what soup can do [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. sears last minute gift sale is on now. use you 15% off savings pass for amazing deals 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. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer

david axelrod, thank you very much, as always. turn to the chair of the republican national committee, reince priebus. welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning, david. >> i want to pick up on this point, on this comparative nature of this campaign. >> sure. >> campaigns are tough, already gotten tough. how do you respond to mr. axelrod on the moral core question for mitt romney? >> for the first time, i've seen david tongue tied. i tnk he's living an alternative universe here. what this race is going to come down to are a couple things. one, the president made some promises. he made some pretty big promises and you talked about them, in regard to the debt, big promises in regard to the deficit. he said he cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. what did he do? he put forward the biggest structural deficit in the history of america. he's to your point, what i think is going to be the bigger problem for this president. people in this country don't think that this president's real anymore. he's not genuine anym

our jim axelrod traveled with the convoy. house speaker boehner changes course on the payroll tax cut battle. and house republicans rebel against the plan passed by the senate yesterday. whit johnson has details. more violent clashes in cairo as the egyptian military continues the crack down on civilian demonstrators. we'll get the latest from allen pizzey. and tebow time. the broncos' colorful, controversial quarterback is the talk of the nfl. tony guida takes a look at his memorable season. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. it was a quiet end to a long, divisive and costly war. the last u.s. combat troops left iraq without incident today, leaving the country to continue its own course towards democracy. the american convoy left camp adder south of baghdad during the night bound for kuwait, and our jim axelrod traveled with them. >> reporter: for the first time in eight years, eight months and 28 days, the u.s. has no troops fighting in iraq tonight.

david axelrod, good luck in the campaign. i mean, that thank you, sir. >> joe kleine covers politics for "time" magazine and one of the great reporters in the country and i'm always fascinated by his thinking. look at the polling. i understand through the grapevine, you don't think newt has this locked. polling is showing that newt has problems in the general but we look at our polling at the "wall street journal" and nbc. he looks really good for the nomination. >> we've reached a stage in the campaign that i really love because every day you have a week's worth of events happening, and today you -- you're beginning to feel a little bit of ron paul boom. you had that one outlier poll yesterday that had paul one point back of -- of gingrich. you have the romney attacks, the zany stuff and so on now, and -- and also in the gallup tracking polls over the last week nought's been, you know, sinking a little bit. if -- if he's not increasing, you know, the fever may be abating just a little bit at this point. it's not that romney

chief white house correspondent ed henry spoke with axelrod today in chicago. >> he insists he is notivating over the latest dust-up. >> don't you want to run against a do-nothing congress? >> i have choice of extenting tax cut for a year and energizing the economy and having an issue to run on, i'd rather energize the economy. >> you have to wonder if some folks think screwing up economy and throwing wrench in the works is a good political strategy. >> dozens work today in the headquarters for obama 2012. across town at his firm's offices lined with political memorabilia. axelrod mused this race is more exciting than 2008. >> the most peculiar race, unusual race i've seen. on both sides because of how unpredictable it's been. he is no longer sure that mitt romney will win war of attrition to capture nomination, he trained the buyer on him. he says i'm not a politician, i'm a businessman. when you spend $52 million on your own campaign, you qualify as politician. >> he used old adage to mock newt gingrich. >> the higher a monkey climb on a pole, the more you can see his butt. meaning

interesting axelrod took a shot at newt gingrich.go -- who once said the further the monkey goes up the pole david axelrod said the more you see of his butt. right now newt gingrich is pretty high up on the poll. we will see what the american people think axelrod said about the view. >> shepard: ed henry with a nice view of the white house. thanks very much. recovery with retail sales on the rise for the sixth month in a row. not a lot but it's a rise. americans spent nearly $400 billion in november pushing up purchases by .2%. while lower than october's gain still better than what we saw last year. take this to fox business network gerri willis. good news for the economy you have to spend because it is the economy. >> you and me what it boils down to. consumers spent some $52 billion a record over the thanksgiving week. that was good news for retailers. i will tell you the big question is can they keep it up. the federal reserve is saying a lot of the spend something actually coming from credit cards. you have got to think there is

is jim axelrod is in iraq where the war that began with shock and awe officially ended today with quiet reflection. >> it's a bittersweet moment. >> reporter: erin moriarty is following a murder mystery on long island where the discovery of the remains of nearly a dozen people set off a hunt for a serial killer. and the thousands of pictures that are worth one incredible story. anthony mason with the artist no one knew until now. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. just when you thought washington was hopelessly deadlocked, a conservative republican and a liberal democrat have net the middle with a proposal to save medicare. 49 million americans are on the government health plan, but it can't survive in its current state. it's projected that medicare will be bankrupt in 12 years. today's proposal would be a major change and we asked congressional correspondent nabsy cordes to sort it out for us. nancy? >> reporter: scott it's something we haven't seen in quite some time: an influential republican and a democrat coming to

jim axelrod on homeowners already underwater now falling victim to scams. and michelle miller on a small town transformed after sacrificing so much. >> they came together in a way i hadn't mean? a long time. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> glor: good evening, i'm jeff glor. scott is off tonight, one week from tonight republicans in iowa will cast the first votes of campaign 2012 and reshape where this race goes next. today candidates begin their final push with bus tours. at least two candidates-- michele bachmann and rick santorum-- have pledged to visit all 99 counties in iowa. we have two reports tonight. jan crawford is following mitt romney but we begin with dean reynolds with the gingrich campaign. dean? >> reporter: jeff, the news for newt gingrich hasn't been good for more than a week and now with only seven days to go he's chose an traditional way to turn the tide. newt gingrich brought his campaign bus to iowa determined to regain the momentum polls say he apparently misplaced somewhere in this stat

. >> pelley: and jim axelrod on a legacy of the war in iraq. the simple tool that saved thousands of american lives. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. tonight, a u.s. official tells cbs news there is "high confidence" that a captured american aircraft shown on iranian television is, in fact, one of this country's most sophisticated spy planes. the pentagon declined to comment but the american official says analysis of the video now confirms the r. areq.-170 unmanned drone was captured. we asked bob orr to bring us up to date. >> reporter: the aircraft presented as the unmanned u.s. surveillance drone appeared to be nearly intact, though the undercarriage was obscured by propropaganda banners draped bew the wings. the message on the left proclaimed "america cannot do any harm to us" and on the right, against a background of american flags and skulls, the message read "we have trampled on america." u.s. officials still studying the video convinced the aircraft is the stealth dro

>> glor: jim axelrod, thank you. there's one more sign the economy is moving in the right direction tonight. the national association of realtors said its measure of home sales near completion jumped more than 7% last month to the highest level in a year and a half. still, some homeowners looking to sell are getting tripped up by red tape from banks and we're going to tell you about one couple's two-year ordeal later in the broadcast. five days before the iowa caucuses, the ever-changing republican race saw more movement today. two candidates in particular continued rising a renewed surge. dean reynolds is with rick santorum. but we begin with jan crawford who is following mitt romney. jan? >> reporter: well, good evening, jeff. iowa wasn't so kind to mitt romney four years ago, but this time he's run a very different campaign and he's been encouraged by the reception he's getting from voters and how he's stacking up against the other candidates. >> i get the impression that you've by and large decided i'm a pretty g

by ron york joins us, do you think david axelrod is playing politics?> i think he is playing politics. he has said things like this before. it's not the first time. i think the fact it's a deep and fundamental difference between republicans and democrats over what to do about the economy. go back to the fight over the stimulus in february of 2009. i mean republicans wanted less spending and tax cuts. democrats wanted more spending and no tax cuts. that essentially their same positions right now. >> greta: there is a lot of difference between saying, look, you have a different from my idea to saying you want to deliberate to stall the economy. there is a big difference. >> of course it is. this the political guy saying this. go back to republicans who accused democrats of actually wanting to see the united states lose in iraq because they felt would it to their political advantage. now you have democrats, axelrod accusing of republicans want to sabotage the economy, to leave people out of work for their political advantage. >> greta: people sit and home

convoy leaves iraq and jim axelrod is in it. blizzard warnings are up from new mexico to kansas. and dozens of students may have taken part in the deadly hazing at florida a&m when the "cbs evening news" continues. ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazing what soup can do [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. sears last minute gift sale is on now. use you 15% off savings pass for amazing deals 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. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer

. >>> the godfather of gridlock, that's what president obama's top strategist david axelrod is calling gop presidential front-runner newt gingrich. on "piers morgan tonight" he slam his tv ad saying the republicans' theme of working together to solve problems will be a hard sell given his past. >> i don't think there's any single person in this country who did more to create the kind of discord in washington that we see today than newt gingrich. he is the godfather of gridlock. he was the one that created an environment in which people started treating each other as enemies and not as opponents here in washington and shut the government down three times when he was trying to close the department of education and to defund the epa and to cut medicare in order to give tax cuts to the wealthy. he was the one who led to the impeachment of a press and now he's offering himself as someone who can bring the country together. that will be a hard sell. >> but gingrich continues his rise to the top of the polls and the former house speaker says he is ready to take on all contenders. jim acosta h

>> bob: axelrod is right. you need another visit on this thing.e a look at what is happening with the payroll tax cut. tea party people in the house -- wait a second. before you cut me off when i jump on your favorite tea party, they are stopping the payroll tax cut. boehner cannot control them. they're out of control. a lot of them will lose. >> greg: who wants the economy to fail? >> bob: republicans. >> greg: the tea party isn't occupying zuccotti park. progressive left wants them to fail. it learn this in psychoclass. it's called transference when you accuse somebody of doing something that you are guilty of. left did it with iraq. they wanted us to lose in iraq for eight years. they feel guilty over it. the guilt is causing them -- >> bob: the fact of the matter is did you think there are not people on capitol hill who could not leave it unequivocally -- >> andrea: the fact that republicans -- >> bob: wait a second. >> greg: some people are happy when obama fails. >> bob: right. i got you on that. >> greg: but the majority of the left wanted

that's what david axelrod had to say.olls a month out from the iowa caucus, with gingrich surging to the front. romney is still the focus of the fire. that tells you about what democrats and the white house is going to be the ultimate outcome of that. meanwhile, priebus, he is the chairman of the republican national committee, he was sitting next to david axelrod today on meet the press and david gregory asked him, what about this back and forth, this volatility in the republican field, who wha will it mean? will it weaken the republican victor? here's what he had to say. >> this idea that somehow competitive primaries is somehow bad for a party, this president, hillary clinton and barack obama nearly gouged each other's eyes out through the end of june before a national convention and guess ha? barack obama won pretty easily. >> so we had the surrogates attacking mitt romney watching this republican race unfold. meanwhile the president is staying above it all. he's got more travel plans this week, tuesday going to kansas