. >>> we are only seconds away from fredricka whitfield, joining us near a moment.want to give you an update on the latest political headlines out there. the dominos still falling as the republican takeover of the house. speaker, house speaker nancy pelosi, poised to replace steny hoyer as house democratic leader. hoy already move down to the number two slot, making him the house democratic whip. they say the current whip, james clyburn, has agreed to move to a newly created number three slot. president obama and congressional republicans apparently agree on one thing, earmarks need to go. in a statement released yesterday, house republican leaders called on congress to ban earmarks. in his weekly immediamedia addr today the president said much of the same thing. sarah palin she remains popular among republicans. she appears to be maybe losing favor with other americans. new gallup poll suggests most americans, 52%, have a negative view of palin. as i've said a moment ago, my favorite part of this morning, good to see fredricka whitfield. i wish we could show people

i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> an interesting look at the pope and the catholic church all in a new book called "light of the world: the pope, the church and the signs of the times" written by a german journalist who interviewed the pope extensively and in it, it includes comments the pontiff made on condom use. joining us now by phone from detroit, cnn's senior vatican analyst john allen. what is so eyebrow raising about the pontiff's comments about condoms? why now and why in the form of this book? >> hey, fredricka. the eyebrow raising component, pope benedict 16 some conflict. the catholic's tigs on birth control and condoms is a blanket no. in this interview, what the pope said, in a limited number of cases where the purpose of condoms is to prevent disease and in particular to prevent the transmission of hiv-aids, that they could be morlally accept i aable. this is an informal interview way journalist, not a church document. doesn't make it a binding catholic teaching but suggests the pope is open to it and that is interesting indeed. >> when you talk about limited use, specificall

fredricka whitfield is monitoring that. what's going on, fred? >> hello, everyone.ll isn't going anywhere, at least for now. the supreme court rejected a gay rights' group request to suspend the military's controversial policy. the justices say it should remain in effect temporarily until the full appeals process is done. a lower court found the court unconstitutional but that ruling was appealed. >>> and to san francisco, for the latest in the battle against the happy meal. mayor gavin newsom is set to veto the city's ban on most happy meals with toys. it would require fast food meals with toys to meet certain nutritional standards but the veto doesn't mean much since they have enough votes to override him. mcdonald's is extremely disappointed with the ban. and now that the thousands of passengers from that cruise ship are back on land, it's time to find out what caused that fire. panama officials will lead the investigation and the u.s. coast guard will also participate. the national transportation and safety board says panama will take the lead since that's the c

live this saturday, november 20th, i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> security procedures at the nation's airports are tighter than ever these days. nearly 70 airports have those full-body scanners that you may have heard about. security patdowns are being criticized as too innovative. still, at least one public opinion shows most americans don't mind the new added security measures. cnn's kate bolduan joins us now from washington's reagan national airport. reagan is one of those airports with the full body scanner. so let's go through this. if you clear a metal detector, you're simply clear to fly? >> that's one scenario. as you come to the airport and you go through security, that is one scenario. you can clear the detector and off you go. but today with the new security procedures, there are the additional technologies that have raised a lot of eyebrows and criticism. specifically talking about the enhanced patdowns. not everyone will be subjected to these patdowns. some people are calling them more groping than patdown. but you will be subjected to them if you opt out of the full body scanner,

i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. a look at your top stories right now. are new fears about north korea's nuclear program. a u.s. scientist visited that country's main nuclear research site and he says north korea has a new uranium enrichment facility that could easily be used to produce bomb fuel. a u.s. envoy arrived in south korea today to discuss ways to restart six-party talks with the north. >>> saudi arabia's king abdullah heads to the u.s. tomorrow. a top government official says the 86-year-old needs medical treatment for a blood clot and for back pain. >>> and manhunt is under way in utah after a park ranger was shot. police say the suspect is wounded and is on foot. >>> fareed zakar"fareed zakaria continues right after this. [scraping] [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. d

i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> cnn is your holiday travel headquarters. getting you caught up on the major travel stories heading into this busy holiday season. airport screen ing serious and your weather travel forecast. so what can you expect in terms of security procedures once you get to it airport this holiday season? body scanners, pat doups, which? our cakate bolduan, one of the airports using full body scanners as well. kate what can we expect? >> reporter: hey there, fredricka. we're told there are going to be about 24 million people flying this holiday season. as always, it's going to be a very busy time. leading up to that very busy holiday travel season that starts this week, we're hearing criticisms from private group, civil rights groups, pilots and passengers saying the full body scanners as well as enhanced pat-downs put into place as of november 1st are too intrusive and invasive, but tsa is defending the procedures saying they safe and necessary. we spoke with some people traveling on today to get their thoughts on the new procedures. he

i'm fredricka whitfield. there's so much talk about the full body patdowns. in fact, the president spoke about it in lisbon moments ago saying the tsa is under pressure to keep you safe. there is a lot of confusion about what is fal, what is rumor. to help answer these questions kate bolduan joins us from reagan national airport. what's taking place there and what are the grumblings. what are people saying? >> hey there, fredricka. you set up the debate really well. there's a big question of what's thorough and too thorough. you have everyone from privacy rights, civil rights activist to pilots themselves criticizing security procedures that they are too intrusive and excessive. at the same time tsa has come out to defend the security policies saying they are both necessary and safe. there's been a lot of talk about it. a lot of stories, a lot of headlines. we want to clear up a few questions for viewers as they get ready to head to the airport for this very busy holiday season. one of the things people should know, they ask if everybody is going to encounter

i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> getting home for the holidays might be snarled because of bad weather in some parts of the nation. it's already started in midwestern and western states. in the sierra nevada, drivers are chaining up for an early winter storm that's already dumped two feet of snow. in minnesota, freezing rain and ice are making roads downright impassable. hundreds of spinouts and accidents have already been reported on what's turning out to be a very icy sunday. i talked with eric rosky of the minnesota state patrol earlier about these icy conditions. >> the situation's greatly improved from overnight. temperatures warming now and the ice has been melted by chemical on the roadway. however, from about 10:00 p.m. last night until early this morning, it was very treacherous road conditions. >> so what are you telling people as they set off to hit the road to visit their loved ones this holiday season? >> well, between the snow last weekend and the ice last night, i think most minnesotans are probably in that winter driving mode. but we want to remind people to take extra tim

i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> after 21 years under house arrest the release of a former nobel prize winner. suu kyi is now free. the military junta ruling the country once known at burma allowed her release to a cheering throng of supporters, you see there. myanmar's ruling government has not allowed the rest of the world in to cover their election. we've been talking about today's release and what may be next. we can't identify the journalist for his own safety. >> reporter: many people believe now she's able to get out, she going to be free and take the reins of this opposition party again and try to unite the opposition and make it a strong force again. no one's here believed change will come very quickly, but a lot of key people place a lot of hope in this figure, in suu kyi, she can get a movement going and possibly even some sort of change going. however, this is going to be a very, very difficult task, as i said. this regime is very oppressive. in the past crushed uprisings that have tried to start some sort of democracy or change here in this country. crushed them brutally. it's ve

i'm fredricka whitfield. first up, congress returns to capitol hill tomorrow for a hectic lame duck session. they're jam-packed to do list includes a possible vote on repealing the don't ask don't tell policy on gays in the military. kate baldwin joins us from washington. this is a heated battle, largely along party lines. how likely will it be that there is a vote held this year? >> reporter: the lame duck session is only a few weeks long, and because of that, democrats are not likely to take up many of the more controversial measures that are still out there, that they still haven't dealt with, and that includes the repeal of military's don't ask don't tell policy banning gays from is serving openly in the military. listen to the state of the union today. texas republican senator corwin and they're talking about the chances. >> sounds like a no on don't sg don't tell. >> jonk there's a lot of time and appetite to jam stuff through. the president said he wants to pass a new start treaty in a lame duck sessio

i'm fredricka whitfield. getting home for the holidays might be snarled because of bad weather in some parts of the nation in the sierra nevada drivers are chaining up for an early winter storm that has already dumped two feet of snow there. in minnesota, freezing rain and ice are making roads downright impassible. hundreds of spinouts and accidents have already been reported on what's turning out to be a very icy and nasty sunday. let's go straight to minnesota right now where we have a member of the minnesota state patrol joining me on the phone from st. paul. how bad is the situation? >> temperatures have improved from overnight. temperatures are warm noing now. from 10:00 p.m. last night until early this morning it was a very treacherous road conditions. >> what are you telling people as they set off to hit the road and to visit their loved ones this holiday season? >> well, between the snow last weekend and ice last night, i think most minnesotans are probably in that winter driving mode. we want to remi

i'm fredricka whitfield. "your $$$$$" starts right now. >> do you want a quick fix or a long-term solution? the clock is ticking on a lame duck congress deciding which option to choose to deal with your taxes and millions of unemployed americans. welcome to "your $$$$$." i'm ali velshi. here are numbers that matter. jobless benefits which last for an unprecedented 99 weeks will run out on december 30th. democrats are pushing for another 12.5 billion to extend the deadline to the end of february. this would extend the safety net for 4 million americans by another three months. christine romans joins me now. congress extended this deadline four times in the past year. unemployment still above 9%. what are we supposed to do? what happens in this doesn't pass? what happens if that lifeline to so many millions of americans depending on this unemployment check goes away? >> 4 million people will not have a check every week and that means that money doesn't go into the economy. we know economists say a quick money t

fredricka whitfield is monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room."era has one deadly outbreak in florida and in the dominican republic, and both victims had visited haiti where the death toll has topped 1,100 with more than 18,000 cases reported. the clinton foundation said it is committing $1.5 million to fight the outbreak. >>> pope benedict is calling on kazakhstan to release a woman who was convicted of insulting the prophet muhammad, and in dominantly pakistanis, but they say that death sentences like these are almost always overturned on appeal. >>> and makers of seven caffeinated alcohol drinks have 15 days to change the formula or the food and drug administration may seize the product. they are cracking down on the beverages citing a public health concern, and the maker four loko nicknamed blackout in a can will make a change. >>> and kate middleton and prince william were on the cover of every newspaper today. with all titles like "sealed with a ring." they say that the wedding could increase the economy with over $1 billion in wedding merch

fredricka whitfield is here monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now.at do we know? >> hello again. new york city will reportedly pay hundreds of millions of dollars to ground zero workers exposed to toxic debris after the september 11th attacks. an attorney for the plaintiffs said that they have agreed to a settlement which will end their seven-year fight with the city. 9/11 first responders say they were not properly outfitted and were exposed to toxic dust that later caused respiratory problems. >>> and the mother of a nevada man who had been locked up in the united arab emirates for seven weeks says not enough is being done to get answers about this case. private security contractor nicholas moody was traveling from iraq when he was arrested in abu dhabi on a stop-over. he was allegedly carrying firearms accessories, including a gun cleaning kit, which are illegal there. the u.s. state department says he has been visited by counselor officials. >>> and nasa says the space shuttle "discovery" will remain on the ground for at least another two weeks.