"cnn newsroom" continues with the one and only fredricka whitfield. >> have a great day. tomorrow morning. >>> shock and outrage now from palestinians following remarks from a republican presidential candidate newt gingrich. he said, quoting now, palestinians are, quote, an invented people. the remarks came during an interview on the jewish channel. >> i believe that the jewish people have the right to have a state and i believe that the commitments made at a time, remember, there were -- there was no palestine as a state. part of the empire. and i think that we have had an invented palestinian people who -- arabs and historically part of the arab community. >> gingrich went on to say it is

i'm fredricka whitfield. let's get you up to speed for friday, december 30th. the race to the iowa caucuses heads into the home stretch. the first votes of the 2012 presidential race are just four days away now. a new poll shows that a cnn survey found earlier this week, mitt romney is in first place neck in neck with ron paul in the second spot. a re-energized rick santorum is in third. more on the race straight ahead live. >>> newt gingrich is starting his day in iowa meeting with moms at a coffee shop. newt gingrich has seen his support among likely caucus goers plunge. part of the reason is negative ads targeting him. analysis finds almost half of all the political ads in iowa have been attack ads against gingrich. >>> crowds defy danger and took to the streets in syria today. opposition groups call the rallies the crawl to freedom square. they urge demonstrators to defy sniper attacks to make their way to public gathering places. the opposition says 32 people were killed by security forces today. the upr

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin in the philippines where at least 436 people are dead after a tropical storm slammed into the island nation. hundreds more are still missing. the storm dumped as much as eight inches of rain in just 24 hours. journalist maria ressa told me a short time ago the focus is now on search and rescue. >> the storm is supposed to exit this evening, but it's no longer the storm itself. it's aftermath. we're turning to the aid and rescue workers who are looking for the hundreds missing. they're trying to supply drinking water. they're asking for volunteers to try to get food and clothes. friday night the flood waters rose alarmingly fast reaching roof level while residents were sleeping. >> the government estimates some 100,000 people have been displaced by the storm. >>> and some technical problems today as army pfc bradley manning's pretrial hearing continued in maryland. an army investigator's attempt to testify by phone from hawaii was delayed. manning supporters held a rally today

i'm frld fr i'm fredricka whitfield. first an update on some of the top stories of the day. ♪ bangkok, thailand, rings in 2012. we're bringing you new year's celebrations from around the world for new year's eve. bangkok holds out all the stops. it's a new year's eve tradition in thailand to set aside this night for total indulgence, they say. >>> and quite the opposite in syria. huge protest crowds are turning out across the country again today. and the death toll has grown. earlier today an activist network reported nine deaths in clashes with security forces. it has now changed the number of dead to at least 13. the united nations says more than 5,000 syrians have died since mid march. two opposition groups have reached a deal on a plan for democracy in case syria's president steps down. >>> back in this country, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake has rattled ohio near the urban centers of youngstown and warren. this same area has been the center of a lot of controversy over fracking, a method of getting natural gas out of sh

i'm fredricka whitfield. on update on some of today's top stories. iran's state media is reporting an unmanned american spy plane was shot down. state television is citing military sources as saying the u.s. drone was seized after minimum damage. nato just released a statement saying they lost contact with an unmanned aircraft a few days ago, and that may be what the iranians are talking about. >>> megachurch pastor eddie long faced his congregation to announce he's taking time off to work on his family. this comes three days after his wife filed for divorce. the atlanta-based pastor gained national attention last spring after he settled a lawsuit with four young men who said he pressured them into sexual relationships with him. >>> and celebrations get out of hand after a big college game in oklahoma. 13 people were hurt. the chaos broke out when fans stormed the field after oklahoma state beat arch rival oklahoma. two people fell or jumped from a high retaining wall and are in critical condition. several ot

i'm fredricka whitfield. a look at the stories we're covering. the morning after the gop debate in iowa, six of the seven republican candidates squared off about being a career politician, infidelity and knowing the facts. >> you're for individual mandates my friend. >> you know what, you've raised that before, rick, and you're simply wrong. >> no. it's true now. >> rick, i'll tell you what -- $10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> who were last night's winners and losers. cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser joins us live from des moines in a few moments. former leader manuel noriega is on a flight right now destination, panama, to face jail time tore the killings two of political opponents in the 1980s. noriega spent 22 years in prison in the united states and france for drug trafficking and money laundering. today france turned noriega over to panamanian authorities before boarding the plane. >>> los angeles police have identified the man in this terrifying video. it shows 26-year-old tyler brehm shootin

i'm fredricka whitfield. topping our news, iran state media reporting an unmanned american spy plane has been shot down. state television is citing military sources as saying the u.s. drone was seized after minimum damage, but since that announcement we've gotten a response from nato with a possible explanation. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us right now on the phone from washington. barbara, what is this news about the unmanned plane? >> well, here's the latest we know, fredricka. nato authorities and u.s. authorities in afghanistan have issued a statement saying that, indeed, a drone went missing late last week over the afghan/iran border. so that, of course, eastern iran, western afghanistan. this drone, as all drones are, on an intelligence gathering mission. what the u.s. and nato will not say is that it was shot down by iran. they say it has gone policing, they believe it has gone down. they believe this may well be the drone that the iranians are talking about, but they also say t

i'm fredricka whitfield. a look at our top stories, nearly nine-year war in iraq is officially over. just after dawn today, 110 armored vehicles and supply trucks crossed a line in the sand from iraq to kuwait. there, they were the last remaining combat units in iraq. cnn's martin severe vaj is at camp virginia in kuwait. >> reporter: fredricka, camp virginia has been one of the primary staging areas for troops that have been coming out of iraq. here is where they drop their equipment. it's where they board the planes and head back to the united states. in between they get a little r and r. right now on the stage, you've got the cheerleaders for the washington redskins, two days ago the cheerleaders from the philadelphia eagles. they've had rock bands. it's a chance for those soldiers coming out of iraq to decompress a bit before they go home. there isn't a lot to do while they wait for their flights. they have been able to speed up protein ses. a couple weeks ago, this place was slammed and you might wait fi

i'm fredricka whitfield in today for randi kaye. it's 1:00. let's get straight to the news. >>> even if you've never seen or held a euro in your hand, you have a stake in the european debt agreement hammered out today in brussels. eu leaders signed on to a plan that would force their country to balance their budget or pay a steep price. the goal is avoiding unsustainable debt that puts a drag on the whole group potentially undermining the common currency and threatening global recession. but one eu member, the uk, is refusing to give up any of its budget powers. we'll get details from our own richard quest just moments from now. >>> and still no agreement in washington on the future of payroll tax cuts. both parties say they want to prevent what amounts to a tabs hike on 160 million americans come january 1st. but they differ on how to pay for it. democrats want a surtax on millionaires. republicans want spending cuts. >>> well, now republicans in the house want to tie a tax cut extension to approval of a controversial oil pipeline. if nothing

and here's fredricka whitfield. >> don't miss our hour of political power.ut the presidential landscape post herman cain. and about who could inherit cain st supporters. cain's supporters. >>> the sky is falling. really, it is. it fell the other day through the roof of a warehouse in new england. but what is it? jacqui jeras is here with -- >> wasn't the sky. >> was it blue ice. >> it wasn't blue ice. >> you know what blue ice was. thank goodness it wasn't blue ice. it was mystery metal. a big hunk of metal. it happened in plymouth, massachusetts at furniture warehouse and it weighed 3 1/2 pounds. it blew a hole through the roof and caused a mess throughout much of the warehouse. there's an airport nearby so they thought could it be a piece of the plane, the faa did an investigation and they say no, it is not of a piece of plane. >> space junk. >> they don't know what it is for sure. our local affiliate wbz from boston aired the story and some man from texas says he knows what it is because the same thing happened to him at his funeral home in texas and he s

fredricka whitfield has a preview. >> don, newt gingrich is at the top of the political polls and thethe 2012 republican presidential nomination. that means he's also the target of many attacks from the other contenders. he's accused of having three marriages and is accused of flip-flopping. he converted to catholicism a few years ago. tomorrow we'll take an in depth look at gingrich's faith. join us sunday in the cnn newsroom. >> thank you. we'll be watching. >>> the 24 hour news cycle is full of analysts and commentators. so-called experts giving their two cents on everything from politics and sports to scandals and entertainment. now i want you to listen to a new voice who is saying what i think a lot of people may be thinking. >> to the government. the united states government, yo, $14.6 trillion? all my credit cards would have been cut off. i'm just asking you to balance the [ bleep ] budget. that's all you got to do. we voted for you all because we were worried about gay rights, marijuana getting legalized. all these other things we were concerned about. how can we get roads, mo

i'm fredricka whitfield. new child sex abuse allegations involving a sports figure. this time against the head of the amateur athletic union. two men say robert bobby dod molested them back in the 1980 whz they were playing on dod's aau team. one of the men says dod drugged him and offered him $1,000 for oral sex. no comment from dodd who is battling colon cancer. >>> the fight over payroll tax cut is facing a new year's deadline. each party has a different idea on how to achieve it. with an interview with cbs, president barack obama admits there's no quick fix for the american economy. >> did you over promise? did you underestimate how difficult this was going to be? >> i didn't over promise and i didn't underestimate how tough this was going to be. i always believed that this was a long term project. this wasn't a short term project. and, you know, for individual americans who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. reversing structural problems in our economy that had been building up for two decades. that's going to take time. it's going

i'm fredricka whitfield. is. >> the number of american combat troops now in iraq, zero.ts deployed to iraq, drove across the border into kuwait in a convoy. that ended the largest u.s. military withdraw since vietnam. >>> no end to the payroll tax debate. the u.s. senate passed a two month extension yesterday, but don't expect a rubber stamp from the u.s. house. speaker john boehner accuses the senate of kicking the can down the road and he says he's holding out for full year extension. the house takes up the senate bill tomorrow. >>> and a major snowstorm is brewing in the southwest just in time for the holidays. travel will become dangerous if not impossible across much of the region tomorrow. some plas

. >>> newsroom continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield. what do you have for us?hing like that. just as it's been an incredible year for social media and youtube, it's been an incredible year for legal cases as well. our legal guys avery and richard always join us and kind of tell us how to think about or what to consider with the many cases throughout the year. what we decided to do this year was a countdown, top five cases. some of these cases are household names like lindsay lohan, rod blagojevich and casey anthony. why they are tops in their view. >>> it's already 2012 in some cases, hong kong, china, australia, josh levs will be along to take us overseas to see how folks are bringing in or have already running in the new year. beginning at 2:00 today usually folks join me and others in the newsroom. not today. we're going to be focusing on the contenders, 2012. three days away from iowa caucuses, crisscrossing the state going to places like des moines, boone, knoxville, atlantic. all these are cities in iowa which a lot of folks adopt know about. we'll go to

i'm fredricka whitfield. topping the news this hour, herman cain has suspended his presidential campaign. that means he can continue to raise money but he is effectively out of the race. cain has been battling serious image problems. he's accused of sexual misconduct and have a 13-year extramarital affair. here is how cain ended his campaign. >> so as of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, i am suspended my presidential campaign. >> given the recent accusations of extramarital affairs, was this cain's best recourse? cnn's wolf blitzer joining us now on the phone from hollywood, florida. wolf, was this cain's best option? >> you know, under the circumstances, he really didn't have any other choice. his poll numbers had really gone down over the past few weeks since the first allegations of sexual harassment by four separate women came forward and when this other woman alleged a 13-year extramarital affair. the money was drying up, the poll numbers were going down. in october, he was in the mid-20s

i'm fredricka whitfield. we'll look at the 2012 presidential contenders in this hour. first an update on some of the day's top stories. manuel noriega is on a flight now, destination panama. he spent 22 years in prison in the united states and france. today he's being extradited from france back to his home land to face kidnapping and murder charges. >>> and los angeles police have identified the man in this terrifying video. it shows 26-year-old tyler brem shooting into cars on sunset boulevard in hollywood friday. apparently at random. they still don't know what motivated this rampage in which brem wounded three people. responding police officers shot brem. he later died at a hospital. >>> across town rivalry in cincinnati turns violent on the court with just seconds left in the game. a huge brawl breaks out in the basketball game between the university of cincinnati and xavier university. a cincinnati player threw a punch at a xavier player. that drew blood and then there was this statement coming from a xavier player after the game. >> you know, that's what you're

. >>> i'm fredricka whitfield, have a great evening. on my phone, i got internet!ple! lance? lance? yes, yes you are next. all right. dave, i'm in. ♪ katie! what are you doing, sweetheart? supplementing my allowance. how long have we been gone? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the latest 4g phones, starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart.

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i'm fredricka whitfield. we'll look at 2the 2012 presidential contenders. no more combat troops in iraq this morning. the remaining u.s. units there convoyed across the border into kuwait that ind nded the larges military withdrawal since vietnam. >>> still no end to the payroll tax debate. the u.s. senate passed a two-month extension yesterday, but don't expect a rubber stamp from the u.s. house. speaker john boehner accuses the senate of kicking the can down the road and says he's holding out for a full year extension. the house takes up the senate bill tomorrow. >>> a major snowstorm is brewing in the southwest. travel will become dangerous if not impossible across much of the region tomorrow. texas and oklahoma are expecting up to 15 inches of snow. >>> so we begin our political hour with some key endorsements for republican presidential candidate mitt romney. the latest comes from former gop presidential nominee bob dole. dole announced his choice in an advertisement in today's des moines register. he says he's the best candidate suited to beat preside

i'm going to bow out and leave you in the capable hands of fredricka whitfield in atlanta. fred. >> thanks so much, candy. all eyes have been on the political scene there with the headquarters of herman cain in the "cnn newsroom" where the news unfolds live this saturday december 3rd. we're watching that, of course, and many other items beginning with the headquarters of herman cain's campaign, now former republican presidential hopeful herman cain. he's spending his campaign. he spoke in atlanta a short time ago. he blasted what he called false accusations about his personal life. he's battling serious image problems. this after a woman said she had a 13-year extramarital affair with cain. he's also been dogged after weeks of allegations of sexual misconduct. cain made the announcement several moments ago. >> becoming president was plan a. before you get discouraged, today i want to describe plan b. so as of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> the decision means cain can still raise funds to retire any debt his campa

. >>> just a few minutes away, fredricka whitfield is going to take over in a moment.who used ticketmaster in the past could see a refund. this is part of a settlement to a class action lawsuit filed in 2003. fredricka, have you used ticketmaster in the past three years? >> yes, of course. >> you have among coming back. the company wrongly collected fees. the check you can expect in the mail, fredricka? >> really? i don't have to file any papers, fill out forms? >> probably. >> you are going to get a whopping $1.50 back. >> for each event, each ticket. >> no, just $1.50. you can get up to $5. >> okay. pay for a beverage, candy bar. >> you're not excited. >> i am excited. it's the holiday season, every penny counts. the list is long. >> on the issue of tickets, listen to this one. snakes on the plane. you ever see that one? >> no. >> you didn't? >> i didn't see the movie. >> how it didn't win an oscar is beyond me. real live snakes in the tax office. this happened in india. a farmer, snake charmer left them in protest. she stopped by to explain what's happened here. >>

i'm fredricka whitfield. right now, time for "your $$$$$." >>> your house, budget, retirement, investments, if you cannot speak money you're lost. welcome to a special edition of "your $$$$$," christine romans host and author of the new book. we're not married but we certainly disagree on money and have for the last 10 years. what would you say -- i've never asked you this, what is your key. >> live below our means and put away to build wealth for the future. that's going to give cushion and allow us to have a less stressful life. >> this is why we've been fighting for years. >> you don't put money away. >> money is something to get more money. take measured risk. >> he likes took risk his money to grow more. i like to save mine because i don't want to lose it. that's frankly the way a lot of men and women are, saefrs and spending. >> she has a min issues van. >> he has a motorcycle. perfect metaphor. in our relationships or dealing with this economy our goal for you for this hour, by the end of the hour you

i'm fredricka whitfield. first an update on some of today's top stories. >> three, two, one, happy new year! >> it's already 2012 in some parts of the world. this is sidney, australia where a million people watched a massive fireworks display. in new zealand revelers turned out in auckland but heavy rain forced other cities to cancel outdoor celebrations. in syria, huge crowds are turning out across the country again today, an activist network based in syria says at least nine protesters died today killed in clashing with security forces. two opposition groups there reached a deal a few hours ago making a plan that charts a course for democracy in case syria's president steps down. >>> back in this country, customer complaints pushed verizon to drop its plan to start charging that $2 fee to pay bills. the nation's largest wireless company wanted to charge the extra couple bucks for one time payments online or by phone, but customers raised a stink and it didn't take long for verizon to listen up and drop the

i'm fredricka whitfield see you then. "your $$$$$" starts now. >> i'm ali velshi welcome to a special edition of "your $$$$$." in chicago at c mulch e, the floor of the chicago board of trade where all sorts of things are traded, real money changes hands. i'm joined by great guests. terry savage, personal finance editor of the chicago sun times. diane swonk, old friend, chief of messere, aux financial. >>> we're talking about the middle class. who represents the middle class in this country. the democrats are trying to make the point with speeches by president obama in the last couple of weeks. democrats are the party of the middle class. republicans are the party of the rich. republicans obviously are struggling with that themselves. david, what's your sense of how republicans are thinksing themselves and who in this country represents the vast majority of people, the middle class. >> i don't think anybody is doing a very good job of it of the president gave a speech in kansas a week ago in which he tried to stake out th