t.j.?owlands. much more in the next hour. former district attorney, looking at the prosecution's strategy in the case. >>> up next, something i want you to stick around for. there was a great, great moment at the beginning of last night's rangers/rays baseball game. a little boy and his hero got to meet, but, you know what? i bet they wish it was under better circumstances. >>> quick break. i'm right back. i habe a cohd. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! the nascar nationwide series, thank you! i know pleasing fans is a top priority, 'cause without the fans, there'd be no nascar. just like if it weren't for customers, there'd be no nationwide. that's why they serve their customers' needs, not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide

where you are t.j. and there's a lot to talk about. >> this venetian hotel will be the sight of the republican debate that with him be hosting next week. but already, one of the candidates is boycotting the cnn debate and several others of the candidates are actually going to be boycotting the nevada caucuses. we'll get into that more in just a moment. but if i just ask you to take a moment right now, folks b, and what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of las vegas? there's a couple of landmarks, and that famous vegas sign that says welcome to the fabulous las vegas that's not the first thing they're thinking about here in this area. metro areas with at least a million people and unemployment rates. 14.2%, the state of nevada, 13.4% unemployment. and the foreclosure rates right here in the las vegas area, highest in the country. it's been that way for the past four years. now, i can spit out numbers and statistics to you, but there's another reality that you can hear from the peop

t.j.? >> thank you, alison kosik. obama is offering help for the college students out there drowning in debt. in denver, next hour, the president will promote two new measures to help college graduates repay the loans. and student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt, and it is the most issue worrying students now. >> we hope to come to college to pay off our debts and have a better life, but we are drowning before we start. >> if you don't go to school, you can't get good job and make good money, so they have to balance it out and bring down the tuition costs. >> well, it is a a problem, because i don't have the money to go to school. i want to get the education i need to succeed. >> one of president obama's proposals involves a loan repayment program based on the college graduate's income. starting in 2014, loan payments will be based on 10% of the discretionary income down from the current 15%. the president plans to move up the start date for the new lower terms. the other proposal encourages graduates with di

our t.j. holmes found out to talk to a cab driver is to get the pulse of a community. >> living here, locals, we don't, you know, we don't go up to the strip. we don't bother with it. >> reporter: what was your heyday as far as driving a cab here. nine heyears here. >> 2004, '05 '06. >> reporter: which it's good in vegas it's so good. >> oh, yeah. i gave my daughter a debt free education on a bachelor's and masters, bought her a brand new car and paid it off in 19 months. and plus paid my regular bills and still saved money. that's how good it was. >> reporter: you did all that driving a cab here in -- >> that's how good it was. >> reporter: you think a lot of people outside of las vegas and maybe even some people in vegas, we have this impression that, oh, that's america's playground. people go out there and just blow money. surely they got to be awash in cash. >> 60% to 65% of the job market is strip and local construction. the strip was slow and laid off thousands. these thousands couldn't

i'm t.j. holmes on the las vegas strip. this is where the republicans who want president obama's current job that are going to be facing off in just a few days, next tuesday, for the cnn republican debate. let me say good morning to my good friend and colleague, alina cho. >> and i must say, t.j., that's a spectacular back drop. i'm jealous you're out there. good morning, everybody. i'm alina cho at the cnn headquarters in atlanta. i know you, t.j., and there's a lot to talk about there. >> there is a lot to talk about. and many in the republican gop are giving us even more to talk about. now, of course, you think nevada and you're sthig about fabulous nevada, you're thinking about fabulous las vegas and the las vegas strip and what happens in vegas stays in veg crass. you know what they're thinking about here, know? they're thinking about the unmroit rate, one of the highest in the country. 147 of 2% unemployment. we are hearing from a lot of people here who are hurting. they have a message for you. annoy, i can give you s

i'm t.j. holmes. let's start with new information and a new warning with about the killing of a leading al qaeda figure. the cia use add drone to kill an nwar al awlaki in yemen. they had been tracking him with drones for two weeks, much like they did with osama bin laden. al awlaki is blamed for inspiring the underwear bomber in 2009. the fbi and the department of homeland security warning about possible retaliation in the u.s. they say his death could provide motivation for so-called lone wolf attackers. another part of the story this morning, the question whether it's l it's legal to target a u.s. citizen. he was born in new mexico. that's a question erin burnett asked cia director leon panetta. >> this individual was clearly a terrorist, and, yes, he was a citizen. but if you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist. and that means that we have the ability to go after those who would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there's no question that the authority and the ability to go aft

i'm t.j. holmes. >>> let's start at the top of the hour with the news that we got from the president, the war in iraq has a date to be over. the end of one of the most controversial wars in u.s. history comes after almost nine years. you'll remember the shock and awe, you'll remember the surge, this all started in march of 2003. the department of defense estimates they spent more than $700 billion just on "operation iraqi freedom" and "operation new dawn" in iraq and 4,400 u.s. service members have died in the war, another 30,000 have been wounded. listen now to the president making the announcement -- >> after nearly nine years, america's war in iraq will be over. over the next two months our troops in iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home. >> athena we showed a part of what the president had to say. he had a whole lot more to say. >> reporter: well, that's right, and one of the points the president made over and over, at least twice i

t.j. >> thanks to our ted rollins. coming up next hour, stick around to hear some of our legal experts, sonny and lenny are taking on the view of the girlfriend. kyra philips is coming up at the top of the hour, as well. >>> the next time you go shopping, it could be today. whatever you do when you walk into that store, do not turn to the right. our financial analyst, collide anderson, is long to explain some of the shopping trips that you are -- or tricks that you are falling tore. >>> 20 minutes past the hour. your favorite retailer is studying you, literally, watching you when they're shopping. they're figuring out what you're going to do and collecting that data and using it against you, trying to get you to spend even more money. earlier, i spoke with collide anderson and he tells us how to recognize some of these retail secrets. >> how much time, energy and effort and money do they put into this research snch. >> millions of dollars. it's a big game. we have to realize the game .play it like it's a game. we don't

i'm t.j. holmes. >>> let's talk about the big story from yesterday, the president, president obama coming out and saying, yes, u.s. troops are coming home for the holidays and the war in iraq will be over. about 40,000 troops still left in iraq will be coming home. athena jones joins me from the white house. this is news a lot of people had been waiting to hear and are happy to hear. >> absolute lit. democrats are saying this is a victory for our troops, a victory for taxpayers. our polls have shown that the opposition to the war in iraq has grown dramatically since 2003 when it all began. as far as the white house and the president are concerned, this is a promise kept. the president ran on his opposition to the war in iraq. back in 2002, he called it a dumb war, a rash war. and he believed it was taking our eyes off the ball in afghanistan. from his remarks yesterday in the briefing room, he talked about having pledged as a candidate to bring the war in iraq tour responsible and he made refe

i'm t.j. holmes." wegme segment and danny wuerffel, a name sounds familiar, heisman trophy winner, player in the nfl, now executive director of the ministries through his faith. his faith is being tested right now because he's been diagnosed with a disorder known as guillon-barre studio and he's in studio with me now. good to have you here, florida gator, i'm a former razorback, it's difficult at times but no. thank you for being here. explain to me what the syndrome is and how you found out how you had a problem. >> what it is, you get some sort of thing happening in your body and your immune system gets mixed messages and instead of fighting that, which was a stomach bug it attacks your nervous system. legs and arms numb and really scary and difficult thing. >> that would be duff for anybody but for a guy who competed at the levels you competed on, been an athlete all your life, even though you've been out of the game, i assume you're still active and stayed in shape. what's it like to have somethin

t.j.?s is going to be symbolic, what we're going to see today, but as a practical matter, does this mark a transition as well? >> reporter: absolutely. i mean, i think there is going to begin a domestic political fight for power. mustafa jaleel giving the speech. there is going to be severe immediate challenges for the interim government here, many wounded to deal with, large members of men in military uniforms, rebel fighters around me who are still armed who need to be assimilated into the security forces, or found work elsewhere. and then that big task of rebuilding a city after the damage of this war, using those billions of dollars held abroad and the billions of dollars available from the oil this country can sell on a daily basis to bring the country into some kind of improved future. so people see the strife and sacrifice of the past few months translating into better lives in the immediate future. t.j.? >> one last thing on benghazi, we know tripoli is the capital, but benghazi, a

i'm t.j. holmes,xd 9:00 a.m. he inlp atlanta. let's start at the top of the season.player in the battle against u.s. troops inlo afghanistan, his name is hajee malee kahn. he's said to have been behind the attack on the u.s. embassy in kabul next month. troops guarding the embassy battles these insurgent attackers for almost 20 hours straight. let me bring inok ourq nick pey loss. or me int( w3kabul. can you start with who this guy is and why he is a big deal. >>e1 this is the operational leader forq a group in afghanistan, we're told. that's a very sophisticated part of the insurgency in the east of the country and based inlp pakistan. this man is uncle to that network's leader. so a key player arrested on t5"cdaqxm we're told, it may hae taken this long to confirm his identity. but nato saying this is welcome t.j.÷dg here, >> and just how relevant is the3 hakani network? that's not a word our cnn crewers are used to seeing. the relevance op of this network >> in some ways, haqqani hasok become some of the most sophisticated agencies. they're well organized, certai

you'll remember that, t.j.nd brian fisher, i just heard a few moments of his speech just a little bit ago where he said that -- he basically said that the country needs a true christian in the white house again, taking a dig at mitt romney, saying mitt romney is not a true christian. i want to say mitt romney did sort of address this controversy in his speech. i don't know if you saw that or heard that at the beginning of the speech, t.j. mitt romney said bill bennet, the speaker before romney, bill bennet went after that pastor in that speech, strongly condemning those remarks and reminded the voters here at this summit that george washington believed in religious freedom. so bill bennet went right after this contcontroversy. and when romney got up to give his speech, he said, quote, i think bill bennet hit it out of the park. it's no accident that he used those words because rick perry, yedz, when he was giving his speech said that pastor jeffres hit it out of the park when he gave his remarks introducing the

let's kick it off with abc's t.j.ick who is in one of the hardest hit spots, windsor, connecticut. t.j., good morning to you. >> reporter: dan, good morning. hard to believe, but december 22nd, that is the first day of winter, still seven weeks away, but you wouldn't know it. taking a look around, it actually quite pretty, like a norman rockwell painting. here in windsor, we have about 8 or 9 inches of snow, but it is heavy and hard to walk in. down here on the street you can see the downed trees and power lines, hundreds in each town. and up there, you can see the top of a power line actually sheared clean off. things got so bad here in connecticut yesterday, at one point it's believed in only two nument municipalities in the entire state there were no businesses or homes without power. across the northeast, near white-out conditions. roads completely shut down. and when this wet, heavy snow fell atop trees still carrying leaves, many simply collapsed. in new jersey where a tree was uprooted, it smashed into a house

>> all right, t.j., we thank you very much.et's head north with adam harding. >> let me show you how much snow this historic storm dumped on this small new england town. 14 inches here in peterborough between last night and early this morning. snow falling 3 inches per hour. look at all of this snow. it comes up to my knee in some spots. the big concern is power outages here in the state. we're talking about 30,000 waking up this morning without power. lara, we'll send things to you. >> let's go to reporter norman in auburn maine. norm? >> reporter: lara, a steady snow here in auburn, maine, for the most part, a half a foot here in auburn. problem is, all of the slush the issue along the main turnpike. the speed limit is down to about 45 miles per hour because of a heavy, wet snow, it's weighing down on power lines. this line is down for example. we have seen some branches on roads as well. we're used to this. maybe in december or january. i have lived in maine all my life. i have never seen this kind of snow before entering no

i'm t.j. holmes. we're glad you are right here. let's start at the top of the hour with republican presidential candidate mitt romney. he's facing criticism and questions for being a mormon. this time it's coming from the pastor of a mega church in dallas. his name is reverend robert jeffress. you may recognize that name and face. jeffress introduced governor rick perry at the conservative values voter summit in washington, d.c. he was critical of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and told our jim acosta and others that morm ononism is cult. >> you created a stir because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong plain language what you think of mormonism. you describe it as a cult. and you say that if a republican votes for mitt romney, they're giving credibility to a cult. to you stand fwby that comment? >> absolutely. that is the historic position of evangelical christianity. we have officially labelled mormonism as a couple. i think those born again followers of christ should prefer a competent christian t

t.j.? >> thanks to chris lawrence. >>> a lot of families, families of those troops still overseas, some had deployments planned that are being canceled now. you can imagine how some of the families of those service members are reacting to this news. >> means not only might my son come home safe and sound to us as a family, our family is whole again, i'm thankful for the job him and his fellow soldiers have done for us. >> time to bring our boys home. it's time for them to come home to their families. >> especially coming home around the holiday times, it's going to be great. >> let's take a look back at the iraq war. this all started in march of 2003. president bush went on television, live national television to declare the u.s. was attacking in iraq. then it was the shock and awe bombings in baghdad. on april 9th of this year, we saw that iconic toppling of the hussein statue in baghdad. in september of 2003, saddam hussein was captured. september 2004, the death toll for u.s. troops tops

so these are some of the criticisms we're hearing, t.j. >> thank you so much.nd over the years, the war in iraq has steadily lost support from americans. a new cnn opinion research poll, one-third of the respondents favor the war. 69% against it. when the war started, more than half favored it and in a few research polls, just over a third of the respondents says the war has been worth fighting. 357% say it has not been. also a cbs news poll, only 4% say things are going as well for the u.s. in iraq. just over half say somewhat well. 25% say they're going badly. >>> reacting to the troop withdrawal from iraq, the iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad. he's a relative outsider in the international community. we scored an exclusive interview with ahmadinejad. >> president obama said all american troops will be out of iraq by the end of the year. in light of this announcement, will your government increase its efforts to train the iraqi army, since there will be a need in iraq for training and support? will the iranian government be providing greater support in t

t.j. holmes. >>> from cnn's world headquarters -- bringing you news and analyst from across the nation and around the globe -- live from stewed y0udio 7, this sunday morning with t.j. holmes. >> good sunday morning. we could just be a day away from finding out if american amanda knox will get to come home. the appeal of her murder conviction, she'll plead her case herself tomorrow. we're live in perugia. >>> also in new york, protesters shut down the brooklyn bridge? all part of a growing grassroots movement against wall street. >>> and also i want you to take a look at this guy. he was kick out of the cleveland brown football stadium for what? he refused to sit down. he is standing by. a live conversation with a member of the dog pound coming up next. >>> but here's the top of the hour. what would you say if you had just 20 minutes to defend your life? that is the question of american student amanda knox and she will have to answer that question because tomorrow she's on. she takes the st

>> t.j. winick leading off us. t.j., thank you so much. i want to bring in jeff smith, meteorologist with wabc here in new york. seems awfully weird we are talking snow already. driving route 81 myself today in new york and in pennsylvania, and you could see the snow, a lot of it, on the side of the highway. >> yeah, david, it was really the higher elevations that got the jackpot in terms of totals. west milford, 19 inches and berkshires, plainfield checking in with a staggering 30.8 inches. >> incredible numbers, not even halloween yet. what does it mean for the winter to come? >> doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a big winter along the east coast, however, the pattern that produced this storm is the la nina pattern and produced such a nasty winter last year and continues into this winter. >> the pattern that caused last year already set up not even halloween. >> unfortunately, yes. >> all right, jeff smith tonight, thank you. >>> hundreds spent the worst of the storm outside and by choice. occupy wall street protesters braved the

t.j. holmes is standing by live in vegas for us right now. so, t.j., first of all, let's talk about these occupy movement demonstrators today in las vegas. >> reporter: well, we were here, as you know, we have the debate coming up next tuesday and we started hearing rumblings about occupy las vegas, and they were going to be doing something today, and also we found out they have a plan to do a demonstration at our debate next tuesday. today they focused on downtown las vegas today. still a local area, more so with locals than tourists. you get some tourists down there, but they were loud, they made their voices heard, and just like a lot of the demonstrators around the country, they have a lot of anger directed toward the federal government, but hala we know a lot of anger and local problems to be upset about, given the unemployment rate here at 14.2% and the vegas metro area, number one in the country among areas with at least 1 million people, and this state, nevada, 13.4%. it is the highest of the 50 states. so i -- it's very peaceful stil

t.j. holmes in las vegas, nevada, live. thanks very much. so who will be the big winner in this cnn republican presidential debate? join us tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. cnn's anderson cooper will be asking the questions. >>> coming up next, actor samuel jackson takes on history, playing a less flattering side of dr. martin luther king jr. critics say he's wrong for being too real. and ahead, why some people can't get enough of zombies. secrets from the set of "the walking dead." for cotibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. (phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield. lysol disinfectant spray and...a toy drum. hiya folks, so the other day i tried to buy some camouflage pants but i

t.j. winick. >> reporter: they are hundreds strong. protestors calling themselves occupy wall street, came to speak for millions. >> it is about democracy. anybody here has an opportunity to speak and be heard. >> reporter: their causes -- everything from global warming to gasoline prices to corporate greed. but all here are united by their anger over what they say is a broken system. that serves the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the rest. >> i don't care if you are rich, poor, black, white, where you live. everyone's got a financial inequity system. >> reporter: protesters getting backing of prominent celebrities and powerful labor unions. sympathetic protestors popping up in other cities including l.a., boston, and washington. >> eight out of ten americans think the country is on the wrong track. they're expressing what people have been feeling for at least a decade. >> reporter: the protesters are getting word out through social media and their own newspaper. the majority are u

t.j.and filed this report. >> the thing that we have lacked in las vegas is a place that feels like our hub, our home, that is ours to control and not really designed to necessarily just make money. i think there is a disconnect between the sense of community, the strip is designed to bring you in and in a lot of ways make money and entertain you. the rest of the las vegas valley is home to nearly 1.6 million people who crave connecting with other people. this is fremont street, the original strip. we have a vision for creating a very vibrant, connected community in downtown las vegas. >> reporter: what is in it for you all? >> we had an opportunity when we were thinking about where we were going to move our company, we needed more space, and we had an opportunity to create a an area that has everything to offer our employees. we wanted a chance to move into a community and help invest in the same things, but manage by people who are passionate about things like yoga. frankly if we run a y

t.j., thanks. t.j. holmes in las vegas. >> good to see you. >> the question, of course, who is as we were asking t.j. there is going to come out on top of this debate. join cnn live from las vegas on tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. anderson cooper will be asking the questions. we'll take a short break. when we come back, as we all know, cancer is a killer, but turns out it is more of a killer if you are single. details in two minutes. - ♪ ai, ai, ai - ♪ bum-bum - ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum - ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ] ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] ♪ [ vocalizing up-tempo heavy metal song ] ♪ [ vocalizing continues ] ♪ [ all singing ] from honda. >>> well, youtube video shows customers out of line leading to a cashier going out of control. it happened wednesday when a surveyor at mcdonald's questioned a $50 bill two women gave him. one of the woman slaps him, jumps the counter, her friend follows her. now, the server reacts grabbing some sort of metal pipe. >> stop! stop! stop

t.j. holmes in las vegas, nevada, live. thanks very much. so who will be the big winner in this cnn republican presidential debate? join us tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. cnn's anderson cooper will be asking the questions. >>> coming up next, actor samuel jackson takes on history, playing a less flattering side of dr. martin luther king jr. critics say he's wrong for being too real. and ahead, why some people can't get enough of zombies. secrets from the set of "the walking dead." and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made

t.j. holm is on assignment. >>> a month into the protests and thousands are taking up the cause of occupy wall street. in new york the demonstrator are moving to times square. >>> hurricane irene postponed the martin luther king dedication but today the dream is realized. among our guests, the reverend jesse jackson and designer tommy hilfiger. >>> and the price of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is about to go through the roof. we thought times were tough already -- we'll explain. >>> and a special welcome to the service men and women watching on the armed forces network. we're so glad you're with us. >>> first, this is the 30th day of the occupy wall street movement, and wow, what a month. what began with a small demonstration against big banks and corporate greed has exploded across the globe. the central web site for the movement united for global change says protests are happening in hundreds of cities in 82 countries. among them, berlin, rome, hong kong, and london. many of the pr

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