nsa leaker, edward snowden, syrian president, bashar assad, edith windsor, who challenged the defense of marriage act, texas senator, ted cruz, and the new pope, francis, the name will be announced tomorrow. >>> the other way you can make news with something promotional is if it is a really good heartwarming idea. well, the canadian-based airline set up 19 hidden cameras and one of santa's helpers dressed in non-traditional blue so he wouldn't be confused with the real santa. they were on hand to ask travellers who they wanted this year, running the gamut to dolls and flat screen tvs to smartphones. while the plane was on its destination, the airline arranged for the 250 gifts to be bought, wrapped and sent around the baggage carousel where they were greeted and opened by the stunned passengers, none more

edward snowden, edith windsor, who was a plaintiff in the case. i had the absolute pleasure of meeting her, an incredible human being. her story is incredible. there is an incredible interview we don't have time to play right now, but we'll put up later. and bashar assad is interesting, it brought up the point that this is a moral designation, stalin won it twice, hitler has won it. but as time has gone on, "time magazine," the pr, in general, the hysterical controversy, is not going to name bashar assad. >> i think the last of the evil picks was the ayatollah after the iranian revolution in the late '70s. so i'm interested to see how did they actually frame these issues back in the day, how did they get the joseph stalin -- >> that is the difference. >> ultimately, when time magazine shows activist of the year, if we're talking about nelson mandela, see, that is what he was about. he said it is about the movements, not about the man, and that is really what makes it -- >> there was a protester in 2011, which is of course the year of the occupied

the lead plaintiff in the case was an 84-year-old edith windsor, hailing the ruling.'m honored and humbled overjoyed to be here today to represent not only the absence of americans whose lives have been adversely impacted the defense of marriage act, but those whose hopes and dreams have been constructed of the same discriminatory law. children born today will grow up in a world without doma. and those same children who happen to be gay will be free to love and get married as thea and i did, but with the same federal benefits, protections, and dignity as everyone else. but that was edith windsor. democracy now! spoke at the supreme court marriage about california. we spoke with two who are the plaintiffs in the california marriage cases that establish the freedom to marry before cop they went into effect. this is stuart gaffney. >> this is a sweet moment. those of us married in 2008 before the passage of proposition eight -- and there are 18,000 couples just like us -- are all celebrating our five year anniversaries right now. what an anniversary gift we have just rec

miley cyrus did not make the final cut. , there wasl five edith windsor, the gay-rights advocate. , theinally, ted cruz republican. miley cyrus did not make the final five. but she was in the list earlier on. >> why pope francis? >> he has been a remarkable figure this year. in nine short months, the pope has done something quite remarkable. he changed the conversation about the catholic church. he changed the focus of the church from passing judgment to offering service. he changed the perception of the church from being this out of touch institution to one that is humble, that is welcoming. sort of goings by back to the roots of the faith and talking about the poor, reaching out to them, offering more transparency. up manyrently, giving of the trappings of his high office. not simply to out 1.2 billion catholics, large though that number is, but using modern communication tools and his charisma, and has been able to include many who are not catholics in the discussion about what the right way to approach property is in our time. and what economics we should be talking about. that you honort

they are in no particular order, nsa leaker edward snowden, syrian president bashar al assad, edith windsor who challenged the defense of marriage act, texas senator ted cruz, and the new pope francis. the name will be announced tomorrow on "today". >>> the other way you can make news with something promotional is if it is a really good heartwarming idea. well, the canadian-based airline west jet set up 19 hidden cameras and one of santa's helpers dressed in non-traditional blue so he wouldn't be confused ffr the real santa. they were on hand to ask travellers who they wanted this year. it ran the gamut from trains to dolls to flat screen tvs and smart phones. while the flight was in the air over canada to its destination, the airline arranged for the 250 gifts to be bought, wrapped, and sent around the baggage carousel where they were greeted and opened by the stunned passengers. none more stunned than the man who didn't take the santa helper seriously and asked for underwear which is what he got. all the while the thing is now a television commercial. but they do get points for christmas

finalists for person of the year and they are in no particular order, nsa laker edward snowden, edith windsoror ted cruz and pope francis. the winner will be revealed this morning on "today." and how about a microchip implanted in your head? oh, yeah, it may not be just a sci-fi fantasy, folks. google's chief engineer says he envisions the brain being able to interact with pieces of technology. wow. >>> another woman shatters a corporate glass ceilingment mary bara started at general motors as an 18-year-old intern where her father was a dye maker for 40 years. today she is the new face of gm and first woman to lead major car company. >> i've worked at general motors for 33 years. i've always known it's a great company. the men and women of general motors are so dedicate the and i truly believe we have the best team on the field. so it's an honor for me to be able to lead this team. >> barra was chosen unanimously by gm's board. she takes over for retiring ceo dan akerson on january 15th. westjet in canada. they set up a virtual santa, 240 passengers traveling to calgary were asked what they

you saw edwardt( snowden come i edith windsor, whoóñ lawsuit led to the repealc of theé@ó[ defens marriagenb!Ñ tpae pope. he has done incredible, amazing things. that oksaid, itqçó is a bit mysterious snowden didn't win. he has caused political riffs between the u.s. and germany, hearings, protested in the street, caused google and yahoo! to fightçót( our own government. glen greenwaldçó said only 1% o the secrets have beenok spilled. is always next year. >>> other news, new data show lots of people are quitting their jobs. becau other jobs. there are job openings to take. in fáfact, job openings now at p five-year high. people moving around the economy is good for all of us. it creates home purchases, jobs so they get biggerw3 salars and that means more spending.#;& in silicon vallcñ most, not some@cmt most job offers come through linked in. e is actually taking a lookfj$pá people's linked-infá resumes an say a vastlpc majority ofb.xdc ourselves responsible. it tops the link in list of overused words. strategic, creative, effective, o five. in a blog this morning, linked in sugg$ms you se

edith windsor was number four.bashir al assad came in at number four april ted crews came in at number five. did "time" make the right choice. >> reporter: it's hard to argue with pope francis. it's hard to argue with the pick of pope francis. but i think a lot of people will see this as a snub of edward snowden because he changed the world in so many ways this year with his leaks. nsa information. glenn greenwald one of the first report towers obtain that information wrote on twitter this morning he was making fun of "time" magazine's choice by saying "time" magazine was being edgy, bold and courageous as ever and he's being sarcastic, saying "time" took tezy choice. as we heard in that sound bite pope francis is also changing the world in his first months as pope and this is maybe one of those years where you could have gone either way. >> well, we were taking bets early this morning. i was bting popans beus i'm with glenn greenwald i didn't think "time" magazine would make the edgy choice of edward snowden. >> t

the filists were ed snowden, ted cruz, pope francis, edith windsor and bashar al assad.nd the winner is -- jorge mario bergoglio or as the world knows him now, pope francis, the first non-european pope in 1,722 years. he shuns the papal palace for a modest apartment. he drives a 1984 renault rather than being chauffeured around in a pope mobile. he's both christlike and likeable, a rare gift among men and women of the cross as a very practicing catholic. i, for one, believe "time" chose the most influential person of the year. let me guess, you like this one, too? >> i do very much. they call him the people's pope for good reason. he's brought the catholic church from way up wherever that thing is where they talk to people. he's not from europe, which is a good thing. the other thing, i'm surprised you like him so much since he's anti-capitalist. >> no, he's not. >> well, that's not really -- look. >> people say he rebukes capitalism. >> not necessarily stinging. he just says don't live for the sake of money. >> that's a christian view. >> yeah, a christian view. >> i th

. >> pope francis beat out four runners-up -- nsa leaker edward snowden, gay rights activist edith windsor senator ted cruz of texas, answering president bashar al-assad. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. the mood in south africa has turned solemn after tuesday's memorial for the late president and anti-apartheid leader nelson mandela. he will lie in state through friday in an open coffin in the capital of pretoria. his body is on view in the eggs was -- exact spot where he sworn in as the country's first black and democratically elected president in 19 years ago. south african police said a line of people waiting to pay their respects stretched nearly four miles long, reminding many of the lines on election day in 1994. earlier wednesday, motorcade transported mandela's coffin from a military hospital to be displayed from a passing the courthouse where he was sentenced to life in prison. >> amon

. >> rose: the four runner-ups were edward snowden, edith windsor, the 84-year-old woman who became a matriarch for the gay rights movement after winning her case. bashar al-assad, president of syria and ted cruz. all of those people were on the list. congratulations. >> thank you. >> rose: for all the reasons, pope francis, "time" magazine's personal of the year for 2013. back in a moment. stay with us. >> the truth is that if we grow and actually accelerate the growth rate the debt will get itself managed. and if we don't we can do all these programs and all these cuts and the debt will not get itself managed. >> rose: larry summers is here. he is the charles w. elliot university professor at harvard. he was harvard's president from 2001 to 2006. he served as treasury secretary under president clinton. he was director of the national economic council for president obama where he was integral in shaping the nation's response to the financial crisis. today the country appears to be on a rebound. the economy gained over 200,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate is 7%. the lowest r

four other finalists, including texas tea party senator ted cruz, syrian president bashar assad, edith windsordward snowden. i'm joined by father dave dwyer and by washington post columnist and msnbc contributor, e.j. dionne. good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. >> good to be with you. >> let me read you a statement from the vatican in response to the pope being named "time's" person of the year. the holy father is not looking to become famous or to receive harps, but if the choice of person of the year helped spread the gospel, the message of god's love for everyone, he will certainly be happy about that. father, that seems to pretty much sum up this pope, doesn't it? >> it does. and one of the reasons why i think his appeal goes beyond the bounds of the catholic church as you just said, the example happened to me just moments ago. one of your crew said to me i'm not catholic but i really like what this guy is doing. it is amazing how quickly and how broadly his appeal, his attraction, but i don't think it's just him. it's not because he's a celebrity. it is his message. >> yeah, i wonde

. >> now, you had other contenders, including edward snowden, ted cruz, bashir al asa assad, edith windsors? >> we had long conversations, particularly about edward snowden. we interviewed him by e-mail. we really tried to understand what motivated him to do what he did. obviously, snowden's a fascinating and important and divisive figure. some people view him as a patriot, as a hero for those who are champions of the need for greater online privacy. and to others, he is a traitor, he's being charged with espionage by the u.s. government. and so he really captures, i think, one of the most important debates that we are having, you know, nationally and globally about the balance between privacy and security. it's not a new debate, but he has certainly pushed it center stage. >> nancy gibbs, can't wait to read the magazine when it's delivered. thank you very much. >> nice to see you, andrea. >> good to see you. and a few people that "time" has called person of the year in the past were all on board air force one this week. president george w. bush, laura bush, former secretary of state hilla

edith windsor. on the list. >> an 85-year-old widow becomes an icon for the gay rights movement. >> it resulted in striking down of the federal defense of marriage act. >> and really she is a symbol of an extraordinarily fast change in attitude to this country. two years ago amajority of people didn't approve of gay marriage. now that number is reversed. >> it leaves us with number two. when we reveal number two people will know who number one is. we have edward snowden at number two and pope francis at number one. >> let's go person of the year, pope francis. time's person of the year was pope francis. it was a very interesting choice this year. he stood out as someone that changed the tone and focus of one of the largest institutions. >> it's not the first time a pope has been person of the year. >> no. >> we got a statement from the vatican this morning. from the pope. and it says this, the holy father is not looking to become famous or to receive honors but if the choice of person of the year he

you may remember edith windsor, she called the ruling a victory.arf outside the supreme court celebrating the decision. now, who can forget amanda berry's chilling call for help? the cleveland house of horrors comes in at viewers' number nine. berry, gina dejesus, and michelle knight were rescued after being held in captivity if years. ariel castro, the man behind the kidnappings and tortures was sentenced to life and later killed himself inside a prison cell. his victims continue to heal. their strength and courage continue to inspire us today. >> and we'll hear a little more from what went on from one of the survivors. >> that's right, we do expect to see a book from michelle knight, the first woman who was kidnapped and the longest to be held at 11 years. prosecutors say knight and her fellow captives each kept a diary during their ordeal. now, to number eight, as chosen by you and the video says it all. these disturbing images of children in the aftermath of what appears to be a chemical weapons attack in syria. this year, the united nations co

>> in second place, edward snowden, the whistle blower, third place, edith windsor. sued the united states and overturned the marriage act. then comes bashar al assad, the president of syria. miley cyrus. she won the popular vote. >> the breaking news of the pope being time magazine's man of the year. we just received this release from the vatican saying the holy father is not looking to become famous or receive ors but in the choice of the person of the year helps spread the message of the gospel, the message of god's love for everyone, he will certainly be happy. >> that will do it for this hour of aljazeera america. we have more news ahead in two and a half minutes. you can check us out 24 hours a day at aljazeera.com. >> from our headquarters in new york, here are the headlines this hour. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> a deal in the senate may be at hand and just in the nick of time. >> thousands of new yorkers are marching in solidarity. >> we're following multiple developments on syria at th

and who could forget plaintiff edith windsor speaking about her landmark victory before reporters inthe spirit of my light spouse okay right here watching and listening and would be very proud and happy of where we've come to. thank you all. >> marriage equality has been sweeping the land. utah being one of the most recent states to get marriage equality. now a federal judge in ohio threw out parts of that state's same-sex marriage ban this month but a judge in michigan and pennsylvania, they are set now to hear cases challenging the gay marriage bans in those states in 2014. here to discuss all of this historic progress as well as the controversies and whether or not the movement can sustain the momentum in the new year is columnist for the daily beast, and executive director of the log cabin republicans gregory angelo. gentlemen it's great to have you here. we're going to close out the hour together here on msnbc and the year for that matter. >> yeah. >> but let's start with dean, because you think we've been able to capitalize on so much progress in 2013 but how do you think that