hala? >> he's taking it from all sides, right, mark? is this hurting them and is going negative also hurting them if he vowed not to go negative? >> well, it's a saying here in iowa that iowa voters do not like to see negative ads, but, in fact, negative ads do work. what we're seeing is these independent groups are the ones that are really doing a lot of the damage to newt gingrich. that's what it appears to be in recent polling that newt gingrich came out of no where. we thought his campaign was all done and he came out of no where in the beginning of december when herman cain fell and he left the race and that was the rise of newt gingrich. however, these negative ads do seem to be working, hala. >> all right, let's talk about gingrich. the virginia ballot. he's not the only one not to have made that virginia ballot. what is going to happen there with all these candidates who haven't made, who haven't gotten their name on the virginia ballot in time? >> yeah. let's just continue on the w

hala? >> alison kosik, thanks very much. >>> we're going to talk about that now. iran senior command er says the u.s. has no business telling the u.s. what to do. a senior official has since responded saying the saber rattling is really all on the iranian side. we've been committed to gulf security for decades. we'll do what we must to ensure the strait remains open. discussing the most important oil shipping artery in the world. >>> well, violence is erupting in another syrian city just as peace monitors arrive. government forces reportedly fired on protesters in the city. critics are now questioning the credibility of this arab league team on the ground because of the surge of violence. take a look at this video. >> it shows people reacting to gunfire on wednesday. these observers sent by the arab league traveled through homs. cnn can't confirm if the video is authentic. foreign reporters are not allow und ed into syria. one journalist did not get in. >>> over the next few days, cnn is sh

but hala, this is indeed amazing. live pictures and we saw that gate close and we saw all of the convoy vehicles come out, look at this. halah, let's listen and you can pick it up after we listen to this. >> yeah. >> all right. a few claps there, but you heard some cheers from the soldiers, the u.s. soldiers, the last american troops to leave iraq. chris lawrence, you're seeing these images, as well. you're the pentagon correspondent. this is the end of a chapter for the united states in iraq. what lessons were learned as far as the pentagon is concerned? >> yeah, hala, it's more than the end of a chapter. it was the career defining event for so many in the military. this was also, this war was the defining issue for so many families, military families. i mean all in all, more than a million americans served in iraq at one time or another. so when you look at the impact of this, it's not going to be felt just today or tomorrow. it's going to be felt for years to come. you know, when you look back at the lessons that h

look, hala, even i managed to slip away. i bought this little cassette case here, which is actually my iphone cover. and then, hal, a got this very exciting new telephone. what do you think? >> i love it. i think we should anchor the show from now on with that instead of an earpiece. >> yeah. >> very retro. where were these people running to? i like when you open the doors and everybody just goes in different directions. you need to map out where you're going, because otherwise you're kind of running around like a headless chicken. hello? can you not hear me? >> hello? hello? can you hear me now? >> i can hear you now. we're good. >> what about now? i think it was the louie vuitton section there, but i can't be sure. i'll call if i find out. >> zain, we'll talk to you later for more on the holiday madness and other news out of the uk and europe. >>> now, guess who won't be on the virginia's primary ballot in march? rick perry and newt gingrich. they are both out. what's worse is that gingrich lives in virginia. and was consi

i'm hala garani in washington.yra phillips has the day off and we begin with the latest out of the united states in terms of politics this morning. let's get you straight to iowa and expecting any minute now, by the way, the new jersey governor chris christie will join mitt romney in iowa. christie is a rising star and many republicans wanted in this presidential race. he endorsed romney back in october and this will be their first joint appearance since then. just four days before the iowa caucuses. and mitt romney is going into this confident, according to the polls, still leading four days as we said before these iowa caucuses. cnn political reporter jim acosta is awaiting the event. he's in west des moines this morning. hi, there, jim. what can we expect today and how much might this appearance bice chris christie help mitt romney? >> well, it will help him a lot. chris christie, as you know, a very popular figure inside the republican party when these two get out on the campaign trail together it gets all kind

wos realize this and growths to regret their decision to back the prime minister, hala. >> hala, you have a unique perspective here on what arwa was talking about. arwa is there now and clearly knows what's happening on the ground very well. being here in the united states and having been there and listening to what arwa was saying, what does that mean for the government there and for our troops and for the american people when she talks about what's going on there? >> the big fear as far as iraqis are concerned and i think as far as western powers are concerned as well because once this develops in the way that some fear inside of iraq, in other words, that nuri al malaki is just waiting for this u.s. troop presence to leave his country in order to consolidate his power there, the question is, is iraq on its way to democracy or not? and arwa, you're in baghdad there. i mean, that's going to be the question after nine years of war and all these lives lost. in the end, what emerged from all this politically, anything resembling a democracy? we should go to jill dougherty at the state

gibson. >> oh, hala, yes, very expensive.s could be the most costly divorce in hollywood history. over the weekend, mel gibson finalized his divorce from his wife, robin. it looks like she's walking away with half of mel's net worth. that's around $425 million, it's not even my money and it hurts me saying it. they didn't have a prenup because they got together before melreally hit it big in hollywood. the pair had been married for almost 30 years and they have seven kids together. >> seven kids, 30 years, there you go. you should be entitled to half. how about arnold schwarzenegger and maria shriver. they spent the holidays together. so, what's that about? >> well, you know what, there's a lot of buzz around hollywood that they actually could get back together. i mean, there's this talk out there, but i don't think anyone knows what's coming for these two. now, "people" magazine says they spent christmas together with their four children and they went to the l.a. lakers season opener and maria filed for divorce back in july

arwa and hala, you were recently there.t to watch what hala had to say about her experience there. >> i was hiding in the back of a white van with to activists who were absolutely terrified, who i'd never met before in my entire life and they were taking me through the damascus suburbs to link up with a young doctor who had set up a secret underground clinic, part of a network of doctors trying to save wounded demonstrators' lives. they were taking this incredible risk because they wanted us to see some of their patients. people who had gunshot wounds, that weren't able to go to hospitals, and a young boy, a teenager. the doctor didn't have the medical equipment to be able to fully understand the scope of his injuries. so he said, this little boy was partially paralyzed from the waist down. the doctor was a young man. he said it was so difficult for him to have people die in his hands, because he quite simply couldn't save them. >> for months, the syrian government has been lying publicly. they're saying, the ambassadors ar

. >> ben wedeman join me with arwa damon, nic robertson, hala gorani. what was it about what was happening on that bridge that made you realize, this is really it. >> it was the sheer number of people. i have seen demonstrations against mubarak and others. it was a handful, maybe 100 or maybe 200. the bridge was full. we are taking thousands and thousands of people. and i think what became apparent that day, the regime was outnumbered by the people. i think that realization spread so quickly that three days later, basically the regime gave up and handed over the country to the army. >> people died on the bridge. you were beat up, pushed around near that bridge, weren't you? >> that was on the 28th. >> on the 2th. >> in cairo you get shoved around quite a lot by the security forces. >> be more specific which day. >> okay, yeah. yeah, on the 28th, we were filming and this was clearly the day when it was all going to come down and sort of with finality. we were with tommy evans and mary rogers. we were surrounded by plainclothed policemen and hired thugs.

hala, you have been to iraq and know the place.ported on it. >> right, and it's really within the context of what's going on this year that i look at iraq, as well, don because it's indistinguishable as an arab nation from every other arab nation that has gone over the last year or so. today is the one-year anniversary of the self-immolation of that young tunisian fruit vendor who set off the arab spring. you look eric at a country that's carbon through more than nine years of war. more than 100,000 iraqi deaths, the destruction to the from structure and a government now having a very hard time functioning as a democracy. the question is as i saw several years ago at the height of the insurgency, what is the security situation going to be, and importantly, don, this is a big question for western nations as well, the iraq of saddam hussein was a counter weight to iran. that is now removed. so now what is the new picture going to be? what influence will iran have with its allies? syria, for instance? and i think we have to look at it

back with hala, arwa and ben. you live in cairo, your family was there. the same time this was all happening, you are concerned about your family and their well-being. >> i was completely split, ripped in two. on one hand, i wanted to cover the revolution. my neighborhood was an armed camp. my neighbors put barricades on the roads. they pulled out weapons i didn't know they had. shotguns, machine guns, samurai swords. my 17-year-old son was out with a baseball bat and german shepherd. we live in a nice neighborhood surrounded by slums. next to egypt's largest prison. >> we snuck from the hotel to the bureau for a better satellite feed. moments before we went on the air, security saw people coming from the back alley. the bureau is open. anybody can get into the building. that's when we decided to turn off all the lights, get down on the floor. the security guy suddenly jammed the couch in front of the door. and i was like that's our high-tech security? are you kidding me? jammed the couch in front of the door. we went ahead with the broadcast on the floor

calling with profile the rise of russia's top heavy weight box i would sound upon that in as his sixty's hala grayle a world title by the way it was in her klitschko. so let's start with biathlon where all those odds of a has won her second gold at the third stage of the world cup in hot fields and austria russian won the women's pursuit race in style leading from start to finish and never looking back she needed thirty one minutes and fifty two seconds to complete the ten kilometer distance of a joint at the so-called club zero as she was perfect for shooting ranges then i had called of sweden finish second time tonight seconds behind the winner while belorussian diary completed the porter. over to the ice now where russia suffered the thirst defeat under new head coach into liability at the home stage of the euro haka to the channel one cup the hosts consider it forgoes to sweden while managing to score only twice because in the but up of was to get for us. russia and sweden started the question cautiously however isn't it a lovely lady most men didn't seem to be as solid in defense is they

club is expected to bring both benefits for business and investment as well as some tough competition hala pull domestic production since. let's get some perspective on that from the e.u. trade commissioner who talks to our team. you trade commissioner called the goodies in geneva to welcome russia into the world trade organization he warns it comes at a time when the euro crisis threaten the world with recession mr de gucht leaders are insulting each of the euro's fall into new lows how worried are you about this stage of the euro debt crisis i see that. people some people continue to fing that . sooner or later we will have serious problems with the euro and that's obviously influencing the debate but this is simply not true i mean the euro is going to continue your is there to stay and europe will do everything that's a see to preserve the european monetary union it's not a matter of choice you know it's not a matter of having different turn of this that is one very clear cut political decision you know is there to say full stop nicolas sarkozy's just call david cameron an obstinate kid

but this is the last of the last coming up behind me right now, hala. certainly after nearly nine years, 4,500 u.s. military deaths, 30,000-plus wounded and, of course, nearly a trillion dollars, this is now the very end as these guys come across. until they are about 800 meters away from here, everything was on the quiet. we weren't allowed to report anything. but now these guys are considered safe. and they are considered now crossing into kuwaiti territory. there's a bit of a no man's land. an iraqi checkpoint about 800 meters on the other side of that gate. and the actual border is about -- i suppose about ten meters or so inside that gate. so once they were past the iraqi end, one of the generals, general buchanan came over and said embargo is lifted and we were able to come to you. you can see the vehicles coming across now. the massive strykers who have been covering this war for so many years. we spent a lot of time in those vehicles themselves. and you can see them coming across. >> just earlier in the month there were 12,000 people at camp ada

know if i think it's with perspective in the future just because it's most and this is the last of it hala just so here because this is what i told these at the. team of famous golf took part in his seven matches for denver this year but has still not had a chance to display his full potential on the court as he has not been in the starting line up yet however he has. been more prominent during his time with the new york knicks averaging thirteen point five minutes per game in his thirty four appearances so if all goes well with his scoring club we could possibly see the sensor in different colors when his contract expires we're going to talk about him a bit. and have. the free agent i'm absolutely sure that the obit a lot of the weasel was human and i have an issue that needs no one to receive him back because he did a good job and needs some of you the fans of nice was a bit of a loner now the form a thing can number twenty five is dedicated to his new club the n.b.a.'s denver nuggets same in-close so much during the lockout his mind is now probably already in colorado where it's hoped h

illusion people have that the situation will improve there for as long as the military remains and hala nothing in egypt will change and so the rallying point among the demonstrators is tell here has not changed and that is that the military would step down immediately. right now quarter past the hour here and last word. last near the entrance to a nato military base in afghanistan has reportedly injured more than seventy people mainly civilians the attack occurred just south of the capital kabul a suicide bomber is said to have used a truck packed with explosives but taliban has already claimed responsibility for the bombing now it comes at a time of growing concern over stability in the country with corn and combat troops are due to leave by the end of two thousand and fourteen however a substantial presence is expected to remain to train the local security forces. the u.s. senate has unanimously approved sanctions on iran's central bank despite warnings that move could destruct markets all across the world the measure still needs the approval of the house of representatives and presi

indonesian people heard that the situation will improve there for as long as the retrieval days and hala nothing in egypt will change until the rally in corn among the demonstrators the turn here has not changed and that is that the military would skip down immediately that is right there. maybe entrance to. a nato military base in afghanistan now reportedly injuring more than seventy people mainly civilians the attack occurred just south of the capital kabul a suicide bomber is said to have packed a truck with explosives the taliban has already claimed responsibility for this bombing this comes at a time of growing concern over stability in the region foreign contract troops due to leave by the end of two thousand and fourteen however a substantial presence is expected to remain to train the local security forces. let's get some more world news for you briefly on this friday first to yemen where heavy shelling between the army and tribesmen in the country's second largest city of tire years left thirteen people dead including civilians dozens more were injured it happened when troops lo

little low a little punk and curry in the white house what do you think about that i mean right after hala we want to vomit classic axelrod pumpkin's grown in iowa a clear message the i will voters you think about the republicans but don't forget about me i'm still the president i'm going to serve your soup really got a two thumbs up and we're going to be a little different this time they're really getting in there they're going to it's no more mr nice guy everyone's been talking about you know how the gloves are off and i think they really make that statement with the spices in the curry in the pocket and not to mention harkening back to the obama's you know no blue america no red america orange america orange orange america yeah all right i think that's the new america here goes orange let's move on to another little issue here if we're going to talk about pumpkins really take the gloves off it's this issue of loyalty when it comes to your state and so somebody compiled a few numbers out there and they took a look at every debate that rick perry has participated in this far so it turns o

record from natural disasters caused by global warming that all of these votes will exacerbate so hala how many how many americans are going to die before republicans wake up and say hey wait a minute maybe we should you know get to the end here today and go back to the values that richard nixon is president in the name of environmentalism is been a job killer he won't allow any drilling in the gulf of mexico he won't allow the x.l. pipeline actually doing licensing those things i'm asking about the republicans in the house yet what a their vote you're saying that their votes are causing global warming and causing the deaths of americans there's no evidence that if the federal government were to pass any of these global warming initiatives that you support like you know funneling money to. fisker automotive and all these wasteful energy companies that that's going to change the environment at all it's not going to do anything how is it when ninety nine out of one hundred scientists i mean i don't know how many you have to put out there but it's literally i mean that's on it's like it's

injuries and now this story today arrest of chicago bears receiver sam hurd sent shockwaves through halash week. huge operation sam hurd failed to show up for team meetings chicago bears track him down arrest most players found out by watching television during a lunch break still sam hurd a member of chicago bears but it will cut him as soon as possible. out: with the media friendly to teammates and coaches >> i am in shock never saw it coming at a gatt without responding a lot to this dealing with sam3 hurd here as most of you will say the same things has all been good. a guy that showed up every day ready to go to work a great character down to earth always joking surprised as you are >> cecil well in the hallway walking by 10 times a day in the hallway at smiling everytime >> tough for me just because i am not into drugs or anything like that so has to be tough for him as a family a choice that he made and there are consequences@h choices that you make @i>> news about sam hurd took a marion barber off the front page marion barber finally spoke today only to 18 website at sideline repo

literally have an army out here walking side by side across the entire 500,000 acres of the nata ha halaand you could walk right over him. i have seen places you can hide and army in these type of situations. we realized this is like nothing we have done before. >> adding to the difficulty of the terrain, some residents of rural north carolina seem unsure about playing host to hundreds of federal agents. >> we had s.w.a.t. and srt guys from new york city and chicago and detroit. did we stand out sxwlrchlt obviously, we stood out. these people had lived there all their life and they knew who was from here and who wasn't. >> it's just changed things. there's not as much privacy as there used to be. >> fear is something we have here. >> people aren't used to be bothered, particularly not used to being bothered by horsed of quote federal agents. people simply didn't want to see fed is in the woods. we had at least two dozen, federal, state and local. we had at any one time 200 people working in the mountains of north carolina. it literally looked like a traveling road show. >> adding to thei

. >> reporter: hala gorani, cnn, washington. >> don't forget, on air or online, we've got regular updates on the cnn freedom project including the incredible story of the young haitian boy known as miguel who was saved from a life of slavery after being found basically buried alive. take a look, go to cnn.com/freedom. extraordinary story. nina. >>> andrew, now for something completely different. all-american muslim is a reality television show that's being promoted as an intimate look at the customs and misconceptions about 5 million families living in michigan. and, of course, they're muslim families. but a conservative christian group insists that the show has a sinister purpose. as john vause reports, when a national home improvement chain pulled its ads from the show, a controversy quickly developed. >> reporter: there's a growing consumer backlash against the u.s. home improvement chain lowe's after the retailer pulled ads from the reality tv show "all-american muslim." a series about lebanese families living in dearborn, michigan. >> i had a woman sitting behind me saying, see that

and a lot of the hala ba about the statute of limitations are people who are trying to do something that the supreme court has already said you cannot do. i just -- >> let me talk about one practical example. a case i had. i get a call, a catholic priest in his 50s. gets a telephone call from someone who says, i was with you in a camp 30 years ago and you sexually abused me. and the priest says, you know, son, i don't know what you're talking about. you know, if this is true, report it to the police. now we investigated it subsequently. and the person making this claim, it was, in my view, a totally false claim. but you know something? but if that statute had been extended, he could have been arrested on that charge. now is that fair after 30 years? the camp had burned down. there were no records of the camp as to whether they had even been there together. how do we reconstruct it? there has to be basic fairness in the system. >> and if the claims are untrue, it is something in a horrible way ruin the person being accused. appreciate it. >>> still out front, the body of a 7-year-old foun

hala? >> thanks, mark preston live in des moines, iowa. this reminder for you, tuesday night join us for the country's first real votes and a true test for gop candidates. america's choice 2012 live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, 7:00 p.m. on cnn. that's going to do it for me. let's go to studio seven live, i let's go to studio seven live, i should say with randi kaye. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hi. live from studio seven, i'm randi kaye. the political landscape is shifting for the republican presidential candidates. just five days before the iowa caucuses. a new cnn time orc poll shows rick santorum's political fortunes rising while support for newt gingrich is falling. mitt romney leads the poll 25% of likely caucus goers say they support him. he's followed by ron paul at 22%. rick santorum is now third with 16%. newt gingrich is at 14%. >>> michele bachmann is on the campaign trail in des moines right now, a day after one of her high profile advisers defected. bachmann is likely to face questions abou

troops are moving across the border into kuwait now, hala. >> this is the last, last, last anything youterms of the military is crossing into kuwait. >> reporter: december 17. the final american combat troops in iraq depart, ending america's long war there. joe johns, cnn, washington. >>> and we're at the half hour. let's check some top stories. a winter storm has shut down highways in the west and midwest, blizzard conditions still smacking the southern blanz, and as much as two feet of snow fell in northern new mexico. the death toll is reaching nearly 1,000 in the phillipines and tens of thousands are homeless. >>> the senate don't want to pass a two-month-long extension and now want a conference committee to make a year-long pact. >>> right now the north korean's leader's body is lying in state in pyongyang. his son and successor, kim jong un, viewed his father's body today along with other officials and dig dignitaries. they're asking them to refrain from lighting christmas trees. they consider the structures psychological warfare. >>> american jr.iournalist laur ling was being hel

earlier today my colleague hala gorani spoke with the head of the national iranian-american council who doesn't like what he sees. >> as we are kind of sleep walking towards the military confrontation, i don't believe the obama administration has the intent for war, nor do i think necessarily that the iranians are looking for war. but the policies that we are pursuing nevertheless are increasing the risk of a military confrontation. >>> tehran is up in arms over new western sanctions it may face over its nuclear program. >>> amid a growing turf war over immigration law, the feds are reaching out directly to detainees facing deportation in local jails. immigration and customs enforcement is setting up a hotline for detainee questions or complaints and it's reminding all concerned that police can hold undocumented suspects for 48 hours at most. after that, the feds are supposed to take over or the detainees released. >> three, two, one -- happy new year! >> don't worry, no one's jumping the gun. this was just a test of the ball drop in "new york times" square last year. of course the real