kyra? >> i'm curious, martin, you have spent a lot of time in country and now, you know, these men and women are coming home for good and it's been a controversial eight years. what have you noticed? what have you heard just in all the conversations you had that is really sticking with you right now as you seen it from the beginning until now the end? >> well, i think, kyra, it is a sense of realism that these soldiers have. they have done an excellent job to the best of their abilities and the best of their trainings. they leave behind a nation that still faces a gravely uncertain future. a nation divided and the next door neighbor is iran. you have now, as the u.s. leaves, this great potential for a vacuum of problems. so, these soldiers are aware of that, but most of them know that they invested a lot of times and most of them have done multiple chores. they believe the time is right for the u.s. soldiers to leave and the iraqis have been trained and time for iraq to stand up and the peo

kyra?> just remind our viewers how this happened in the first place, and where does this situation go from here? >> well, this happened back in july. he was on vacation with his mother, and i believe another cousin of theirs, and then they were confronted by these rebels that kidnapped him and stuck him on a boat, and he wasn't seen again after that. so from here, he's going to be reunite td again back in the u.. i believe his family is from virginia. so they are going to have a fabulous christmas. and definitely he's been seen as a hero. and we'll get more details of his story and his time in captivity. but for now, his family is saying they are just happy to have him home. >>> straight ahead, occupy wall street protesters planning shutdowns of several ports in the u.s. we'll tell you where next. >>> and a big thumbs down for the company holiday party. we'll tell you what employees really say. >>> checking stories across the country now, bizarre shooting ram payabpage in hollywood. in this

kyra? >> kate bolduan on the hill for us, kate, thanks. >>> so, there's a grim warning for eurozone countries today. standard & poor's says it may downgrade the credit ratings of the 15 of the 17 eurozone nations. european leaders are scheduled to meet on friday. now, german chancellor angela merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy want amendments to european treaties to deal with the fls crisis. our zain verjee is in london and she has a look at what european newspapers are saying about all this. good morning, zain. >> good morning to you, kyra. great to see you. let's go straight to the papers and see what the headlines are. "the scotsman" says this. implementing treaty changes could take months but a commitment to tighter coordination could open the way for further emergency aid from the european central bank or the international monetary fund or some combination of the two. "the wall street journal" says what's berlin and paris wroth. get a good look at whether the continents two la

what do you think, kyra? >> i just had visions of donald trump in a robe, you know, putting his hands on these candidates, yeah. ok. well, it's definitely going to be interesting to watch for sure. paul, thanks so much. >>> for all the latest political news, you can also go to our website 24/7, cnnpolitics.com. >>> another big story, iran claiming it shot down a u.s. drone. pentagon confirming that a drone is missing. what have you heard so far, barbara? >> well, no surprise, conflicting accounts from iran and the united states. over the weekend, iranian authorities said they shot down a drone, and it was an rq-170 drone. why is that important? this is a stealth drone. one of the most secret weapons in the u.s. arsenal, developed for the u.s. air force. it can fly undetected by radars, and pick up targeting and intelligence information. the iranians say they shot it down. the u.s. has a bit of a different story. it says it was flying a drone over that border region, but on the afghan side. the u.s. issued a s

kyra? but in the next half an hour, we should see the senate come into session and this deal could pass within maybe one or two minutes. it could be that short as both the senate and the house are expected to pass this legislation. this payroll tax extension deal using a procedural move that basically allows them to pass legislation without having to call all of the members back into town. so, according to both democratic and republican leadership aides on the senate side, they do expect that things are moving towards a passage on the senate side and then, of course, all eyes turn to the house where the house expected to follow up with a vote and at the top of the next hour and, according to a house republican leadership aide, leaders do expect that this bill will go through, which means that both the house and senate both chambers of congress will have passed this two-month exteng, but, again, we caution with this procedure it only requires one member to stand up in the chamber and object

kyra? >> rob, thank you so much. we'll keep talking. >> sounds good. >>> well, it's just two weeks to go until the iowa caucuses and the republican race is too close to call. cnn's latest poll shows that newt gingrich's double-digit lead pull into a tie with ron paul in third and paul steinhauser has some reasons why gingrich is slipping. what do you know, paul? >> when you break down the numbers in the new national poll, which candidate is most likable? take a look at this. well, you can see why romney is on the rise and gingrich is dropping by a 2-1 margin. also, mo trustworthy, same thing. romney a 2-1 advantage over gingrich. look at there at the bottom. 42% of republicans say gingrich would be the strongest leader. only 26% said the former massachusetts governor would be the strongest leader. gloria bordure caught up with newt gingrich yesterday and asked why his numbers were dropping nationally and, of course, in iowa, which is just two weeks away. take a listen to what he said. >> your numbers have been headin

today as he was speaking on the senate floor even going as far to call it a useless partisan charade, kyra. there is likely to be a vote on this house-passed measure in the senate today.

hi, alison. >> hi, kyra, yeah.t the dow to rise about 60 points when the opening bell rings in four minutes. this comes from yesterday's selloff that was partly europe related. investors feeling more optimistic this morning. retail sales came in for november and they edged up slightly, though. they came in worse than expected, though. october's number was revised up sharply. it shows that consumers are continuing to spend their hard-earned cash. anticipation headed the federal reserve is also going to play into the market action today. the federal reserve coming out with the decision later this afternoon. now, the central bank is not expected to make any policy changes, but investors are really going to be reading the tea leaves and look at that policy statement very closely to see if there is any indication of more stimulus on the way. kyra? >> well, you mentioned hard-earned cash. this is the time of year we have to not forget to tip those who work very hard in various areas for us within our country, right? >> e

cnn's kyra phillips covered the war extensively.tly she sat down with iraq veterans to talk about life after the war. >> our mission objectives, hit the target. >> reporter: seven aircrafts did drop bombs over iraq. >> reporter: eight years ago i was there when the iraq war began. from the air. >> you've got it in your sights. >> reporter: land. >> the number of threats that ground troops are dealing with. >> reporter: and sea. >> there are five weapon stations on this special operations staff. >> reporter: i met some of the bravest men and women i've ever known. bravery that came at a physical and mental price. in one word, how would you describe the war in iraq. >> sacrifice. >> bittersweet. >> mistake. >> reporter: these are veterans of operation iraqi freedom from the army, air force, marines. all impacted in some way by this war. >> reporter: was the war worth it to you. >> as an infantryman i was on the ground a lot. i talked to a lot of families and individuals in the iraqi populus. >> reporter: staff sergeant josh aguilar wa

the protesters massing in kyra, syria, russia? richard engel was in kyra -- cairo. >> when they thought that the cell phone messages weren't safe, they would switch to twitter. then when the twitter messages they thought were being compromised, they would switch to facebook the chris: great reporting there. or was it apple become the -- becoming the world's biggest company? and the sfeeve jobs story in or more and more people paying to get newspapers online rather than in their driveways? or was it emple mail -- email taking over the post office? rick? >> last month, chris, i went to egypt and tunisia and to this tiny little town outside tunis where a man set himself on fire. this place is in the back of the back of beyond. you don't think anything could start there, much less a world historical movement. you know how it happened? somebody took a cell phone video of the protest after he i am 0 lated himself and -- imolated himself and that was sent all through the middle east. an amazing phenomenon. chris: social networking? >> so

momentous predictions let's discuss that now with a correspondent like our entire odd shape hi there kyra no no you're only is three so central moscow tonight. these were the biggest protests today in the russian the ministry take kids through the rallies it. was a very happy new year to everybody were here in red square it's very loud very noisy fireworks going off of course this year seeing some of the biggest protests in russia in the past two decades the past united russia winning two hundred thirty eight seats all the foreigners fifty in the parliament those results of the summer for at the elections bringing out some many people onto the streets december tenth on both lists where you had protests there results showing about twenty five thousand people showing of course opposition claiming that there are about fifty thousand people again on december twenty eighth another result of the protest about fifty thousand thirty thousand people excuse me showing up their opposition claiming one hundred twenty thousand people calling for fair and free elections a mate's claims of ballot box st

. >> reporter: kyra is about to send her sweet little girl into battle. what's your gear?key helmet and sandals. >> yeah. >> reporter: all right. >> we weren't planning on mutton busting. >> reporter: wouldn't you know it? little ellaoe ellaoned that sh had one of the best rides of the day and that's saying something because as we watched toddler after toddler after toddler wound up face down in a pile of dirt most with the same stunned expression. this little girl lost a shoe. >> you did it. >> that's what the real cowboys do. >> reporter: tommy giadone is the man behind it. >> i'm like thomas edison. he invented the light bulb but ge made it better. we have four arenas giving the kids times of their lives. here we go. come on. >> reporter: tommy travels the country putting on these shows and says he'll launch 10,000 kids into the ring alone. up from 2,500 a few years ago. you're on the road, you and your sheep. >> yeah, me and the girls. >> reporter: he talks like he's been hanging around sheep a little too long. >> it's the toughest sport on wolf. no fluff is too tough.

general, and please, the honorable hydra mendoza, president of our board of education, and of course, kyra rodriguez from our filipino channel. please take this problematic -- proclamation declaring this is a filipino-american history month in san francisco. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the highest ranking and only filipino-american elected official in the city and county of san francisco, president of the board of education and education adviser to mayor edwin lee, honorable hydra mendoza. [applause] thank you. it still saddens me when you saw the only in the first filipino ever elected in san francisco, but it is always such an honor to be here with my community, and i want to thank you all for this celebration. we really have so much to celebrate, and i wanted to make sure we acknowledge this month alone and some of the things we have been able to accomplish. as the council general mentioned, ab 199 finally acknowledges the work and the tremendous bravery of our soldiers in world war ii, who will be written into our history books. we're going to make sure that happ

. >> kyra gyden is in charge of reading the mail at holman.as just intercepted one of parker's unauthorized letters containing insulting language about warden colliver. >> he wrote, "colliver --" and i'm not gonna read all of that because it's a lot of cussing in it. "he's an idiot, treats everyone like inferiors or children. i cannot stand that, and he's a supercilious jackass." steven parker is a weirdo, anyway. very weird. that's why he stays locked up in the back. >> coming up -- >> i don't think there is any good way to have to take a life. the sidebar to that, of course, is the individual is being put to death took a life. >> inside alabama's only execution chamber. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. sure. cake or pie? pie. apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. >>> this is the execution chamber of the holman correctional facility. in alabama, death row inmates are executed on this gurney. the sentences are always carried out at 6:00 in

. >> kyra phillips, had whwhat a . i just respect you and i respect that the four times you went, the fact that it speaks volumes that you kept up with these people, that they were willing to sit back down with you. so many questions on that. i do want to ask you -- >> pretty amazing individuals. i saw a lot of very young kids, and i'm talking teenagers, early 20s. i mean, i know -- they grew up really fast. >> you watched them grow up. >> absolutely. >> you did. you were also -- one of your trips over there, you got the exclusive inside saddam hussein's cell? >> yes. this was interesting. from the start of the war and spending so many months there and going back a number of times, one of the generals i told him i really want to get inside saddam's cell. i know there was a diary he wrote poetry. >> i imagine that wasn't easy getting in there. >> no, it wasn't. and let me tell you it was fascinating from a number of perspectives. nobody knew this until we broke the story. saddam was actually -- he was being held as a pr

. >> kyra gyden is in charge of reading the mail at holman.as just intercepted one of parker's unauthorized letters containing insulting language about warden culliver. >> he wrote "culliver," i'm not going to read all of that because it's a lot of cussing in it. "he's an idiot, treats everyone like inferiors or children. i cannot stand that, and he's a supercilious jackass." steven parker is a weirdo, anyway. very weird. that's why he stays locked up in the back. >> coming up -- >> i don't think there is any good way to have to take a life. the sidebar to that, of course, is the individual is being put to death took a life. >> inside alabama's only execution chamber. l, you can't use something as abrasive as a toothpaste because it will cause scratches. as a result of those scratches, bacteria will get lodged in that denture and as they multiply in the mouth the odor can get stronger. i always advise my patients to use polident. it has specific agents in it that can kill bacteria. using polident daily, you definitely will not be creating the

kyra simmon has the story of sweetie and sunshine. >> reporter: worldwide, pandas are few and far betweenor two to arrive in scotland in one day was a rare event indeed. equally uncommon, a diplomatic visit that gained so much attention when the vips themselves seem more interested in bamboo chutes. they were greeted by bagpipes, costumes and kilts, after an eight-hour journey from china, inflight meals on a plane adapted, dubbed the panda express. >> we monitored the pandas throughout the entire trip between eating the panda cakes and the carrots and the apples, they were just as happy as they could be. >> reporter: they have left their home to spend a decade in scotland. the female called sweetie is shy compared to her male traveling companion, sunshine. so shy, perhaps, that it will be months before they share a cage, and get to know each other a little better. it is notoriously difficult to breed pandas, but the hope is that sweetie and sunshine will not be the last new arrivals. once they become friends, they provide new links between china and the outside world. >> the pandas are a

welcome back to spotlight i'm angry love and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is see you kyra and he's the first deputy chairman of the russian central bank and we're discussing the financial results after two thousand and eleven and maybe what it's awaiting in two thousand and twelve mr lukash. the. i.m.f. and i would say mr brett he was interviewed by spotlight couple of weeks ago and he said that russia has the potential to grow six percent per year he said that sitting in your chair would you agree with this assessment from the i.m.f. or. are honestly not so optimistic about the potential i believe in you know. future and global prosperity is not so high and russian prosperous are not so high because well very much dependent on the global demand demand for commodities the month while i export and the demand pretty much dependence of the rate of growth in the parts of the world very much believe that the general rate of growth will go on down i mean in developed countries will be something around one point half to two percent and even in emerging markets where will go down

>> cnn's kyra phillips sits down with veterans of "operation iraqi freedom." might be surprised what they say. >>> and, we're watching a live event happening right now at arlington national cemetery. president obama, vice president biden, and iraqi prime minister al maliki all in attendance. we'll bring it to you when it gets under way. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. >>> looking at a live picture right now at arlington national cemetery right across the river from washington, d.c. this is where momentarily we're expecting president obama with the iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki, expected to have a traditional wreath laying there, a ceremony very much like the type of ceremony you might see on memorial day at arlington national cemetery. of course, the united states and iraq having so much to sh

holmes in for kyra phillips and it's time to vote almost. three weeks away from the all-important iowa caucuses. no surprise last night that the frontrunner got beat up quite a bit. of course, newt gingrich at the presidential debates and the rivals, they exchanged jabs, engineer jeers and some jokes last night. even though there had been 723 presidential debates you always get something out of these things. maybe the line of the night. listen to who rick perry decided to compare himself to. >> there are a lot of people out there, i understand it. a lot of folks who said tim tebow wasn't going to be a very good nfl quarterback and people stood up and said, well, he doesn't have the right throwing mechanisms or he's not playing the game right. and, you know, he won two national championships and that looked pretty good. we're the national champions in job creation back in texas. but i'm all ready for the next level. let me tell you, i hope i am the tim tebow of the iowa caucuses. >> all right, i'm going to try to get jim acosta to be honest w

life and kyra thank you. on a lighter note a car will meet the new year two hours after moscow stay with us our coverage from the russian capital staying with the arab spring and now let's get some more analysis and insight from a journalist author. of excuse me william life and frankly i think of it coming on the program today of course we are aware you are the author of the book full spectrum dominance totalitarian democracy in the new world order let's start with two news here we just heard from a really go to. touch down on the issue of tunisia many twelve months since president ben ali was forced to flee the country after the revolt that what has been achieved since then all the tunisians happy with the revolution and the results forthwith. quite obviously the tunisians are not happy the economy is a disaster since the operations a year ago the tunisia was picked as the first in a series of dominoes in a very carefully planned destabilization strategy that was planned out more than a decade ago in the pe

mean getting progressively more diplomatic and that's one of the themes being discussed in today for kyra report coming your way next hour. better to the french the british says french finance minister and really this childlike behavior going on as the last resort when all else fails you throw mud pies at each other on the playground right it's a roast beef versus the frogs going on of course any sane person would rather be french and british just look at a recent study that came out about facebook users seventy five percent of british facebook users feature photos of themselves drunk so that should tell you something about that country all the policy makers are drunk mervyn king is mostly in the bag all the people who are trying to do business over there the city of london are for the most part in the. now police in denver dispersed thousands of demonstrators who set fire to their shelters following attempts to victim it comes after protests as recently marked three months since the start of the movement against corporate greed in the us artie's anasazi chicken reports from where it all

in cairo egyptian soldiers raided the offices of ten n.g.o.s camos getting computers and documents kyra suspects that some of the groups receive illegal funding from countries including america and could be using the cash to store up under arrest in egypt the country's military rulers have promised to end the crackdown and return home a skate of material egypt is in the middle of a three stage parliamentary election which has been marred by violent protests the military's been in control since president hosni mubarak stepped down in february some observers suspect the generals are reluctant to relinquish power. element is the most adamant element when it comes to the egyptian army turning over power to a civilian government at least so far they're the most adamant and the egyptian army. does not want to do that it has a great prestige stake in this it has agreed economics that it can use the officer corps and i don't see turning over complete control to this government and my guess is that the islamists groups. that somehow made an accommodation with that reality that present reality an

since a government decision last month to speed up construction in response to palestine joining us kyra. i do stay with us here on r.t. now it's a. business update. my. welcome to our business update this hour four and high tech firms are getting funding from russia state knowledge technology corporation recent months was not only has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into chinese israeli and american forums the head of the corporation says acquiring foreign technology is the quickest way to develop russia's innovation sector. we need the best and that's why you find the burst in china move. you for in the burst africa movies in africa you're going to burst and you notice this when we think you know the stories which we were doing but. not to the country we're committed to transfer to russia the best we were book was to launch what will be the shero foreign projects in the us now the portfolio will be here for a parameter of twenty five percent so in the four percent of the us from base to hold a printer for some of the cost of commuters were one hundred thirty for a project the

so far it's been quiet but capitol hill is big, kyra. we'll be taking a look to see how things develop throughout the day. >> all right. we'll stay in touch, kate. thanks. that does it for us. we'll be back tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. suzanne malveaux ready to kick things off. happy tuesday. >> happy tuesday. thanks, kyra. i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed for this tuesday, december 6th. the future of europe's economy is now in jeopardy. today a stern warning that something has to happen fast to actually save it. the credit rating agency standard & poor's says it may down grade 15 european countries unless there is strong action to fix the debt crisis there. well, right now on wall street, what are we watching here? traders closely watching how european heeders are taking on this challenge. the dow is currently up by 38 points. going to take a hard look at what this means for your finances as well as your retirement. what are we watching here? suicide bombers struck two cities in afghanistan today killing at least 58

just this past weekend, kyra holmes was gunned down. she was turning 2 around christmas.amily members spoke about this little girl who never got to see her first birthday. >> i will never see her go to church, nothing. i have toys under my christmas tree. i have stockings in my house. i don't even want to have christmas this year. now my baby is gone. >> they have a conscience and do what they have to do. because that's my grand baby. and i love her. they just need to turn themselves in. do it for me, have a conscience. please, have a heart, and turn yourselves in. >> i want to bring in louisiana state representative austin who joins me live from new orleans. he's one of the officials who wants to bring the national guard in just as they did after hurricane katrina. i have heard you say that your city is at war. why can't the local police do the job? >> well, we have done a lot after the storms of 2005 but this is totally unacceptable behavior. the local police need help. we've been able to do a lot of different things that are rebuilding our city and infrastructure and w