that performance had inspired meryl to start writing songs and he's written thousands of them sense. about 300 or 400 keepers in meryl's opinion. 38 of those songs have been number one on the charts including "hokie from ma scogey," which he performed for richard nixon right here in this room back in 1973. and through meryl true power is from the details about life and love and everything in between. and as he says, the best songs feel like they've always been there. so tonight we honor a man who feels like he's always been here, meryl hag haggard. >> growing up in new jersey jerry herman and his family used to play broadway tunes in the living room. jerry on the piano, his mother on the accordion and his father playing the sax. he never took a music lesson but always had the ability to play anything he heard by ear. then when he was 14, jerry went to see the great ethel merman perform in on annie get your gun." in his words, i got a load of that great lady and was gone. jerry was determined to be a songwriter, even though he didn't think he could ever make a career out of doing some

dozens of harley riders from san mateo drove to the san mateo meryl center for the annual toy run.rrived in an ambulance after they got there filled with toys to put under the christmas tree. the bikers also donated $1000 to the hospital. >>> this holiday season why not give a brand-new blanket. today the bay area sikh community donated about 500 of them to the church. the church will distribute the blankets to the homeless. the sikhs are from india. they want to help the homeless this holiday season. they continue to accept donations. >>> saint anthony's curbside drive got underway tonight. 23rd year the charity has been collecting donations for homeless and low income people. clothing, food and all kinds of household items and grooming aids are needed including toiletries. you can drop them off. hours this weekend are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weekday hours are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. if you're heading about you probably need to listen to jim bernard because we have to dog these storms as they come in. >> we got a bit of a broke today. official canceled the deluge here this morning.

that's what meryl haggard has been doing for more than 40 years.n called the poet of the common man, meryl likes to say he's living proof thing s can go wrong in america but also thinks can go right. in a day and age when so many country singers claim to be rambling, gambling outlaws, meryl is actually one. [applause] he hopped his first freight train at the age of 10. was locked up some 17 times as a boy, pulling off almost as many escapes. later after becoming a bona fide country star, meryl met johnny cash and mentioned that he had seen cash perform years earlier at san quentin prison. that's funny, cash said, because i don't remember you being in the show. and meryl had to explain to the man in black he had not been in the show, he had been in the the show, he had been in the audience.

country singer meryl haggard and gary herman. >> reporter: oprahoprah was honored. >> on behalf of theomen of america we thank you. >> reporter: jones was honored with a dance performance by his company. and herman with a medley of his work. obama sat next to the honorees and toasted them at a reception at the white house earlier in the day. >> it is my greatest privilege as president to honor the five men and women who have given our nation the extraordinary gift of the arts. ♪[ music ] >> reporter: the night closed with performances of several of the beatles greatest hits. hello good-bye. and audience joined in for hey jude. ♪[ music ] >> reporter: the show will be featured on cbc later this month. >> yes, the kennedy center honors will air on december 28th on cbs5. >>> how long a long hair would- be princess took over from harry potter at the box office. >>> coming up on "game day" right after this broadcast. kim coyle was in san diego for a must-win game for the oakland raiders and will take us inside the locker room following that incredible road victory. you won't have to wait to

>>> well, it was a glittering night of stars at the kennedy center, oprah win dri, paul mccartney, meryl haggert were all honored. president and mrs. obama sat among the honorees and our own barbara walters was there. >>> that frigid grip on the nation brings freeze warnings all the way from north florida with upper 20s in tallahassee and gainesville. mountain snow from colorado to idaho. >> 42 in boise, 63 in sacramento. 77 in phoenix. only in the teens from fargo to the twin cities and 20 in chicago. mostly 30s from boston to atlanta. just 50 in new orleans. >>> new developments this morning in the mystery surrounding two american balloonists who have been missing for months. >>> plus, changes coming to 5 million facebook pages. see what you think of the new look. >>> and a popular resort off limits to swimmers after a series of shark attacks. ççççççççççççççççççççççççççñ >>> fed chairman ben bernanke says unemployment looks like it's going to be a persistent problem. he told "60 minutes" it could take four or five years for the unemployment rate to drop to previous levels of around 5%.

i've written essays that could be adapted into meryl streep movies. to get people into the universities of their choice? >> yes. >> reporter: when you talk about cancer, is it a made-up story? >> i would like to think not. >> reporter: there's no moral question that creeps in? >> listen, we all know cheating is wrong and i won't make excuses for it but at the same time, i did this to make a living. >> reporter: what's the most you've been paid to write a paper? >> over the course of four days, 175-page accounting paper, so that paid me $2,000. >> reporter: this year, making more than $60,000. you say you've written towards a ph.d. in sociology? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: business administration, pharmacology, maritime security? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: did you ever go to a public library to do research? >> absolutely not. i google everything. everything is googleable. you know, if i can say this on camera, i'm something of a bull crap artist. >> reporter: what about people who call you worse things for what you've done? >> all the moral outrage will not s

john meryl scored twice to lead them to a win over rifle michigan state. >>> the best player on the bestm in the country so it should come as no surprise that auburn's cam newton was named the heisman trophy winner. >> the winner is cam newton of auburn university [ applause ] >> there you go. newton has done it for auburn, everything for auburn, combined for 49 touchdowns, leading the tigers to their first-ever national game. there's one area of his game that might need work. the cliches. >> i'm also excited that i get to be on the team with unbelievable players that is not selfish, very resilient, and you know, when the goin' gets tough, i mean when the tough get goin', you know what i mean. >> didn't be lurey say that in animal house? something like that. >>> just like toby gerhart last year an true luck came in second but it wasn't close. luck was nearly 1200 points behind newton. miking james from oregon finished third. >>> brett favre will not play tomorrow. here it is. the entire vikings team will not play tomorrow. mother nature is giving brett favre an extra day off. the vikings

. >> well, i encourage -- >> reporter: a ssange could be charged with possessing stolen meryl up to espionageto tom fuentes who directed international operations for the fbi and is now a cnn contributor. >> someone accessed classified data bases or basically confidential systems and, therefore, those communications are property of the u.s. government. and someone stole those from the u.s. government and then provided them to wikileaks. >> reporter: a u.s. army private has been charged with an earlier leak of classified video to wikileaks. assange has appeared only once since this latest document release. for an interview with "time" magazine over skype. why skype? experts say it's heavily encrypted and even the best intelligence can't crack it. and asawn nlg is savvy like that. he routinely changes cell phones, his appearance, his location. some are now suggesting they know he is hiding out in or near london. with police and border agents everywhere on the lookout, the net appears to be tightening around him. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> we'll see. ahead, the nfl player upset with the boo

. >> the smackdown with meryl streep. >> jimmy: yeah, yeah.. russell? >> david o. russel, yeah. >> jimmy: he's amazing. >> he's amazing. he's so much fun to work with. >> jimmy: yeah, the fight scenes are so realistic in this movie. you feel like -- mark wahlberg's getting really punched around. >> he is getting punched around. >> jimmy: oh! >> he is. yeah. he's taking some -- some hits. >> jimmy: oh, really? >> yeah. >> jimmy: is he okay? >> yeah. i think so. >> jimmy: he was bloody. i mean is that real? >> he gave it -- no, the blood isn't real. but -- >> yeah, but, he got smacked around. it was crazy. >> oh, yeah. i wouldn't want to punch mark wahlberg because you'll get it back. i mean he's -- [ laughter ] >> jimmy: oh, no, no, no. i don't want to -- i just want to put that out there. >> he's awesome. >> jimmy: i don't want to punch mark wahlberg. >> yes, don't punch mark wahlberg. [ laughter ] want to shake his hand or dance with him or something -- or anything he wants to do, yeah. >> me, too! yeah. >> jimmy: he seems like a nice guy, th