nationwide search now under way for benjamin and henry cleary.heir mother, teresa nash, last heard from them december 22nd. they were on a trip with their father in chattanooga, tennessee and were supposed to return the next day. but they never came back. and teresa nash is here. holding the teddy bears. how are you doing? >> i'm going to keep it together as long as it takes. >> yeah. last time you saw your boys, december 22 -- >> the 19th of december. >> not a good christmas for you. >> no. but it will be soon. >> if your boys, their dad, are listening and watching, say it. what do you want them to hear? >> dan, i just got off the phone with your mother. your family is in full support of this. i spoke with erin. i spoke with your mom for about 45 minutes. the whole drive down. she loves you and she misses you so, so much. she loves the boys and misses them. you -- it is your hand that's taking care of them right now and you know how much they love them. and they're scared. i think they're scared. this vacation has been overdue. it's time to come

. >>> two missing georgia boys, ben and henry cleary, have been found safe in austin, texas.m, has been taken into custody. someone at a hotel recognized the boys from the am bert alert and a cnn report. and contacted police. the brothers had been the subject of a nationwide search after their mother reported them missing just before christmas. those are your headlines this hour. i'm don lemon. keeping you informed. cnn, the most trusted name in news. >>> our time and luck are both running out. let's ask our oddsmakers to place their bets on whether the new year will be coming up aces or going bust. >> i bet that in 2013, america's going to do better than we did in 2012. >> if i was going to place a bet on the united states for 2013, explosive economic growth. we avoid the fiscal cliff. and i cannot wait to see it all. >> movie prices going up, things getting worse before it gets better. >> hopefully hurricane sandy is the cuyahoga river moment of 2012 and that more americans will finally realize that even though one storm can't be connected to climate change, the aggregate o

for six days, theresa nash had no idea where her two sons were, ben and henry cleary on a trip with their father in tennessee. they were supposed to return december 24th. but they never came back. earlier tonight, their mother made a desperate plea on our show. >> children, please call mommy. you know my phone number. i've taught you how to do it. if daddy doesn't have a phone, ask anybody you see, everybody you see has a phone. you can ask anybody. remember my number and call mommy's number. you can ask people at stores. you can ask people at the gas station. you can ask people anywhere you see. you need to call mommy. they will help you. anybody will help you. call mommy. >> just minutes after that interview tonight, the boys called their mother. told her they were safe and that they were in austin, texas. police there tell cnn that someone at a hotel recognized the boys from the amber alert on our program. and contacted police. here's austin police just moments ago. >> the law enforcement community nationwide, we take these amber alerts seriously when it deals with kids, with children.

for six days, theresa nash had no idea where her two sons were, ben and henry cleary on a trip with theirnessee. they were supposed to return december 24th. but they never came back. earlier tonight, their mother made a desperate plea on our show. >> children, please call mommy. you know my phone number. i've taught you how to do it. if daddy doesn't have a phone, ask anybody you see, everybody you see has a phone. you can ask anybody. remember my number and call mommy's number. you can ask people at stores. you can ask people at the gas station. you can ask people anywhere you see. you need to call mommy. they will help you. anybody will help you. call mommy. >> just minutes after that interview tonight, the boys called their mother. told her they were safe and that they were in austin, texas. police there tell cnn that someone at a hotel recognized the boys from the amber alert on our program. and contacted police. here's austin police just moments ago. >> the law enforcement community nationwide, we take these amber alerts seriously when it deals with kids, with children. this is one o

henry and ben were found in austin, texas. police say their father, daniel cleary failed to return them home after a holiday visit. cleary is now in police custody. and who doesn't know the oakridge boys, the group sang for former president george h.w. bush while he's recovering in hospital. we'll talk to one of the band members. >>> let's do this one for you, you'll remember this one. ♪ amazing grace >> those are the oak ridge boys singing "amazing grace." the gospel turned country crooners brightened up the xli president's day. one of the oak ridge boys joins me now from nashville, tennessee. thanks for being with me. >> martin, thanks for having me. >> quite a voice and queerly you've got healing powers, at least the song has healing powers for the president, because soon after you sang to him, he was moved from icu and i believe went into a regular hospital room. how did this connection between you and the president all get started? we have a long, very long, long friendship with the bush family. it started way back when he was vice president. and it's continue

benjamin cleary, he is there on the right, he is nine, and his brother henry is seven years old. vestigators say their father, daniel cleary, abducted them after the boys visited him for christmas. police in austin, texas, described how they arrested the father this a hotel. >> upon their arrival they on searched a -- observed a subject that matched the description along with the two children. that suspect has been taken into custody and is currently in the county jail. heather: the boy's mother says she is looking forward to their return. gregg? gregg: congressional leaders are on the floor right now talking about the fiscal cliff. this after senate majority leader harry reid said, yesterday, a significant distance remains in negotiations on resolving this. notwithstanding then about 48 hours of intense talks about spending and social security. >> i was really gratified to hear the republicans taking their demand for social security benefit cuts off the table. the truth is they should have never been on the table to begin with. there is still significant difference between the tw