pratt street and part of light street are blocked off. police still occupied the square as they try to move things out. this is as close as we can again. it was around 3:15 this morning when police officers began blocking off those roads around mckeldin square. they walked in and surrounded the camp and began escorting people well. some were expecting to be forced out of mckeldin square at some point. overall, the removal was peaceful. >> there was a couple of problems that was happening. it happens everywhere. we were very peaceful. >> we have been warned of many things in the past. we'll work waiting to see what the mayor would do about this and how the police would act and react. >> we just received a statement from the mayor. it says the city of baltimore is committed to protecting .ndividuals' right to protest camping is prohibited. book and demonstrate within the currently established guidelines. we didn't have any official word from police on this situation. they said there will have more information later today. we're hoping to br

pratt is closed off. we are here at south and pratt street. that is as close as we can get to where the occupy baltimore protesters, where their makeshift camp us. we haven't seen them trickle up this way. we were hoping to grab someone to see what police -- how police conducted the raid. you can see there is a lot of police activity going on down. there it's dark but as you can see, police are in full riot taber, as they moved in to move out the occupy baltimore protesters and moved in like i said, before 3:00 this morning and now we know that pratt is closed and there was a helicopter flying above earlier, that's stopped to ensure everything has been peaceful. the purpose of the whole thing was to call attention to income, inequality among the wealthy and poor in the country. the city has been patient with the baltimore protesters here in downtown at the inner harbor letting them camp out for the past two months. the city did deny their permit extension and we know there have been incidents that have taken place here over the last two months

we found out that the roads re- opened downtown on pratt street. should be able to get through just expect delays as you travel through the area. let's check your drive on 95, south of the city, southbound, maryland 32, moving good there, southbound

police have pratt street closed and light street closed as well. helicopter activity above to ensure everyone was moving out peacefully. there are police lining the inner harbor around mckeldin square where the protesters set up the camp and they have been for two months. this entire occupy movement has spread across several cities. the purpose is to call attention to income and equality among the poor. the city has been patient with the occupy baltimore protesters letting them catch out for two months. -- camp out for two months. their request for permit extension was denied. over the past two months, there have been news making incidents that have taken place, including a stabbing in the city. a few weeks ago, they shut off lek tris toy to the protesters. the major issued a statement, her statement says quote the city of baltimore is committed to protecting individuals rights to protest, public parks and green spaces should not be treated as a permanent campground. the major said my administration is committed to providing outreach and assistance

hailed as a big success at the time and if you were here on labor day you saw the cars speeding along pratt and light, but two monthslater it was revealed that grand prix officials owed millions of dollars not o nly to the city and state but to private vendors."mayor stephanie raalings-blake had imposed a december 31st deedline for the grand prix to repay its debt. but that didn't happen.and in a statement released a shor tiie ago, the mayor says it's with great disappointment that we announce the termination of the city's agreement with

pratt has been re-opened, word now is we are trying to learn where the people in and protesters were taken away to. getting people out of the encampment, stephanie rawlings blake weighed in as well. that's more on abc2news.com. also head to facebook and let us know what you think. several of you giving two cents over what happened. >>> one of the largest retailers made a can feel move pulling commercials rom a reality show about muslims living here in america. what prompted the move and what is said about it. sherrie johnson is here with the story. >> reporter: charlie, lowes home improvement hit a nerve when the company decided to pull the ads from tlc show, all american muslim, set in dearborn, michigan and follows several families, an insides look in to their lives. conservative christian group called florida family association launched a campaign against the show with claims the show hides an islamic agenda. muslims appear to be ordinary folks while excluding islamic believers. >> i would hope people would not be quick to bigotry. there are people with negative perceptions. what

they have pratt street blocked off down here. also there is a helicopter flying above us to ensure everyone will move out peacefully. not sure where the protesters will go. they've been here for two months. police are conducting a raid. we have not been able to get a statement but they will gather something for us today, possibly in the form of a statement to let us know what went on this morning. they are calling this official police business. we will follow the story all morning long. it happened an hour ago. we are follow this and bring you the latest updates as police move in on the protesters here at the inner harbor. kuren redmond, abc2 news. . former penn state assistant football coach, jerry sandusky will appear in court in bell font, p pa. he faces 40 charges of rape, molestation in a child sex abuse scandal that involves 8 victims. he will face the victims this morning. a haiing, the prosecutors must convince a judge there is enough evidence to go to trial. sandusky says he is innocent. >>> it's a snowball effect follow

pratt street is opened behind me. we're at the corner of pratt street and south street. that is back open again. that is good news. 315 this morning police officers made their move. -- 3:15. at one of them surrounded the occupy camp and began escorting people out. -- a line of them surrounded the occupied campus. those at the camp said the removal was peaceful. >> there was a couple problems that was happening, but where, it does not happen. you know, it happens everywhere. but, you know, we were very peaceful. >> we have been warned of many things in the past and it is what it is. we're all kind of waiting to see what the mayor would do about this and how the police would actually act and react. >> the mayor released a statement this morning -- >>"the city of baltimore is committed to protecting individuals' rights to protest. however, our public parks and green spaces should not be treated as permanent campgrounds, and camping is prohibited. individuals are free to peaceably assemble and demonstrate within the currently established guidelines. my administration is also

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: today in new york city it finally feels a lot more like christmas. that's good news for retailers because cold weather is a key ingredient for warming up holiday sales. but here's some more holiday cheer. after a slow start to december, it looks like shoppers are finally starting to spend. so much so that experts are upping their holiday sales forecasts one measure of november-december sales for general, apparel, furniture and other stores, now predicts a 3.8% gain. earlier in the season, the forecast was at only 3%. retail expert mike niemera credits a reduction in inflation for the change. >> you're seeing less pressure even on the apparel pricing side, in fact you may be seeing a little bit more discounting on that side. and, even some of the food price side is a bit more moderate. what that all means is some of the discretionary spend may be a little bit stronger. >> reporter: here at this manhattan mall, they're appears to be plenty of discretionary spending going on, most of these shops are high-end stores, and while they're not teaming with c

police broke p the end campment at the corner of pratt and light. here is mike schuh with the latest. >> reporter: at 5:48 this morning police re-opened pratt street and a 6 to 8 block area closed much of the night. as police descended on mcaileden square, 100, many in full riot gear to clear them out. all along the may insisted this protest was illegal and reserved the right to act. >> we continued to inform them routinely that camping is prohibited and with hopes that we will have some resolution to that issue. >> reporter: with no resolution reached around 3:00 police moved in. the city grew tired with the encampment which was the scene of assaults. >> these were pretty arguments that took place over a cat, over food, an officers assigned swiftly took action. >> protesters maintain that violence was not part of their demonstration. >> we have doctors, nurses, we have two attorneys that stay overnight here. >> it is hard. every day i want to like give up at some point during the day but then i power through. >> with these protests at the square no

>> no, seriously, that is. >> ellen: please welcome chris pratt.ift for you. >> ellen: i see there's something in your hand. what is it? >> i wrapped it in this beautiful bag that you gave me earlier. >> ellen: uh-huh. >> this is a gift -- well, you open it. >> ellen: okay. look at that. fantastic! that is so sweet. >> i got this one for you. >> thanks, chris. >> you're welcome. >> thanks. >> you should see the movie. you're great in it. >> thank you. >> yeah, it has your name on it just in case. >> ellen: i'll put it on. i like it. [cheers and applause] >> it looks real good. >> ellen: that's great. i am so happy to meet you. we haven't met. your first time on the show. i've met your wife before. she's been on the show. anna faris is his wife. anna. anna faris. >> anna, yes. [applause] >> whoo, whoo. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. >> ellen: and i love you in the movie. i love you on "parks and recreation." you're a very funny guy and you're a charming guy and also i like you very much because on the red carpet at the emmys, you were wearing m

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: one place americans weren't shopping at in november- - j.c. penney. the retailer said its sales fell 2%, blaming the drop on its late black friday opening time. the company said, "its decision to respect thanksgiving day for families and open at 4:00 am on friday, as it had in prior years, adversely impacted black friday sales." retail analyst howard davidovitz says it was a big mistake. >> penney's made a terrible blunder. at a time when everybody's fighting for market share and the consumer wants convenience, penney's blew it. it's that simple. and you have to look to the management for that error. they won't do it again next year, and that's what they should have said. >> susie: but davidovitz says penney's did a great job in online sales. the retailer posted a 12% jump in web traffic over the big shopping weekend. >> tom: a crittedical period. how officials describe the days leading up to next week's european summit. the only is she coming up with a big enough solution to europe's growing debt crisis. kathy schwartz joi

suzanne pratt has more on today's market action. >> reporter: stock investors can thank the u.s. consumer as well as europe for today's rally. a widely watched measure of consumer sentiment showed americans are in a suprisingly cheery mood right now, the happiest they've been in six months. on top of that, the eurozone summit resulted in stricter budget rules for the region. it was not the comprehensive deal that the market had hoped to get, but it was good enough for now. nevertheless, floor broker doreen mogavero says retail investors are still on the sidelines and traders are still skeptical about europe. >> when you talk to traders, i think there's definitely an air of caution. traders are saying, "you know what? this is great. we'll buy them this morning and sell them in the afternoon, but we're not going to really say that this is a turning point in the market or in the european situation." >> reporter: u.s. stocks have been volatile since the summer as european headlines injected uncertainty into world markets, but in the last few weeks, equities have risen in anticipation

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: the improved u.s. jobs numbers couldn't ease investors worries that europe is still far from fixing its debt crisis. adding to those worries, german chancellor angela merkel's call for decisive action to fix the debt crisis gripping the euro- zone. she also said the crisis quote, "will not be fixed in one fell swoop." u.s. stocks closed flat. the dow and the s&p 500 fell about half a point, while the nasdaq rose about that much. today's flat performance couldn't take away from a stellar week. the dow surged 788 points or 7% on the week. it's best weekly performance since july of 2009. the nasdaq also rising over 7% with a 185 point gain on the week. the s&p 500 tacked on 85 points or 7% on the week as well. >> susie: still ahead, with american airlines flight into bankruptcy, the company and its workers are still facing a pension crisis. >> tom: a congressional panel today subpoenaed former m.f. global chaob c c senator, governor of new jersey and c.e.o. of goldman sachs. he has also been asked to appe

suzanne pratt has one strategy gaining traction with investors. >> reporter: a whopping 1%-- that's all you get these days when you park your cash in a savings, money market account or even a certificate of deposit. government bonds aren't much better. a 10-year treasury returns only about 2%. so, faced with this yield drought, what's an investor to do? financial planner stacey francis says it's a question she gets all the time. >> clients are searching for yield and it's one of the biggest challenges we have, because there's, to be honest, not a lot of yield out there to be had. the obvious choice for many investors is dividend-paying stocks. after all, the dividend yield for the s&p 500 index is currently higher than that on a 10-year bond. as a result, investors have been swapping the munis and treasuries in their portfolios for dividend stocks. in fact, dividend e.t.f.s have been all the rage this year, with investors pouring billions into them. but experts say people make a big mistake if they think the investments are interchangeable. we still have to appreciate a very simple, a v

suzanne pratt talked with some wall street pros about what they expect in the new year. >> reporter: when it comes to the economy next year, there's good news and bad. the good and perhaps best news is the u.s. is not expected to slide back into a recession. instead, we're likely to keep meandering along, and that's the troubling part. >> the outlook for the u.s. economy heading into 2012 remains one of modest economic activity, below the trend of growth that we saw in prior years. >> actually, we think it's probably going to be a similar year to 11 in the sense that growth is still likely to be quite diinppointg. >> reporter: just how sadiointing?sa most economists predict g.d.p. will probably average only about 2% next year, and the problem is that most of the risks are on the downside. we all know that europe wields the biggest monkey wrench for the u.s. recovery, but it's less about trade and more about our financial ties to the region. >> how much are european banks delivering? how serious are the stresses in terms of funding for banks? if those don't get contained-- and obvious

i'm suzanne pratt.good night, everyone, and go night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

i'm suzanne pratt.good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

i'm suzanne pratt.good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

i'm suzanne pratt. good night everyone and good night to you too, tom. >> tom: i'm tom hudson, thank you for joining us. we'll see you an line and back here tomorrow evening. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org 

i'm suzanne pratt. good night everyone and good night to you too, tom. >> tom: i'm tom hudson, thank you for joining us. we'll see you an line and back here tomorrow evening. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

i'm suzanne pratt. good night everyone and good night to you too, tom. >> tom: i'm tom hudson, thank you for joining us. we'll see you an line and back here tomorrow evening. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, at&t made it official tonight: it's hanging up on its deal to buy t-mobile's cellular network from deutsche telekom. >> suzanne: tom, the early termination fee on this contract is a hefty $3 billion in cash, and another $1 billion worth of wireless spectrum and roaming services. >> tom: the deal began to run into trouble after the justice department sued to stop it this summer. the federal communications commission also opposed the merger. in a statement today, at&t said, "the actions to block this transaction do not change the realities of the u.s. wireless industry," citing the demand for more capacity to serve more and more wireless devices. porter bibb is managing partner with media-tech capital partners. nice to see you again. >> great to be here, tom. >> tom: is this the right decision nine months into this almost $40 billion deal to pay $4 billion to walk away? >> $3 billion in cash and another reputed 4 billion in spectrum and assets and other little door prizes that

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, at&t made it official tonight: it's hanging up on its deal to buy t-mobile's cellular network from deutsche telekom. >> suzanne: tom, the early termination fee on this contract is a hefty $3 billion in cash, and another $1 billion worth of wireless spectrum and roaming services. >> tom: the deal began to run into trouble after the justice department sued to stop it this summer. the federal communications commission also opposed the merger. in a statement today, at&t said, "the actions to block this transaction do not change the realities of the u.s. wireless industry," citing the demand for more capacity to serve more and more wireless devices. porter bibb is managing partner with media-tech capital partners. nice to see you again. >> great to be here, tom. >> tom: is this the right decision nine months into this almost $40 billion deal to pay $4 billion to walk away? >> $3 billion in cash and another reputed 4 billion in spectrum and assets and other little door prizes that

i'm suzanne pratt. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. m tom hudson. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org