facebook, when i saw that picture. and colombia is right there to the side, where you are shows up on facebook. and it had colombia there. so i started looking it up. >> reporter: is this a colombian newspaper? >> no, facebook. >> facebook, on the computer. but i had a detective to check it for me. it wasn't her regular detective. it's the one that came to the shop and they checked it. and she was in colombia. i knew it all the time. but i just wanted to prove to other people that she was there. >> the teenager's family says they intend to sue the u.s. government agencies that mistakenly deported her to south america. iranian officials say the u.s. navy did a humanitarian act by rescuing 13 iranian sailors from pirates in the arabe ban sea. troops responded to a distress call from an iranian fishing vessel on thursday. they captured 15 pirates. the american naval men did and most of them, somalis. and freed the iranians being held captive. one year ago tomorrow, a deadly shooting in tucson left six people dead and 13 injured, including congresswoman gabi giffords. giffords made her first appearance at her tucson office since the shooting. she presented a plaque which honors her aide, gabe zimmerman, who was killed in the shooting. tomorrow, there will be a candlelight vigil at the university of arizona which giffords is scheduled to attend. and there are less than two weeks until the south carolina primary and a new cnn/"time" orc poll shows mitt romney with a solid lead there, well ahead of rick santorum and newt gingrich. going into tuesday's primary in new hampshire, romney leads the field with 44%. that's according to the latest poll from wmur and the university of new hampshire. that's more than double ron paul's 20%. we'll have a live update from new hampshire in just a few minutes. penn state university is welcoming its new football coach, bill o'brien is replacing former coach joe paterno who was fired amid a scandal over alleged child sex abuse by a former coach. the team says they are looking forward to a new start. >> we're very excited about it. we heard the news late last night. i talked to a couple of my buddies on the team. they're excited as well. it's a fresh start for the penn state program and i'm anxious to get going. >> o'brien is the outgoing new england patriots' offensive coordinator. encouraging job numbers. the december job report is out, and the unemployment rate is down to 8.5%. 200,000 jobs were created in december. 150,000 were expected. president obama says it's the highest number of private sector jobs added since 2005. but he added, that's not nearly enough. more now on that south carolina couple desperately trying to regain custody of their adopted daughter. a judge ordered the child be returned to her biological father, citing a law that makes it illegal to break up a native american family. cnn's george howell has been following all the developments. george, this is certainly generating a lot of controversy. the family, the south carolina family is trying aggressively to get the child back. how will they do that? >> basically, right now, they are looking to file an appeal to the state supreme court to see if they can get their daughter back. at this point, we're talking about a family, matt and melanie, who raised this daughter -- their daughter, rather, since she was born, 2-year-old girl. they say this was an open adoption. but her biological father has stepped back into the picture, dustin brown, and because he is enrolled in a cherokee nation, his daughter then being native american, under the indian child welfare act, he was able to get his daughter back in court. so on new year's eve, this family thought that they'd have at least another day to prepare for this transfer. they didn't. that night, they actually had to hand veronica over to her biological father. and we actually got an interview with the family from our affiliate wciv. listen to what they had to say about that transfer. >> matt said when we had to do the transfer, it was like he was failing her as a father, to send her off with people that she didn't know, what she must think of us. she had in my mind a really confused look on her face which just -- but i'll always remember her crying after us. we had to walk out of that office and leave her there. >> everybody keeps saying how bad they feel for us. but she's a 2-year-old girl that got shoved in a truck and driven to oklahoma with strangers. >> a lot of people talking about this case. >> oh, my goodness. so the father, dustin brown, he actually contested this about four months after the adoption, that after he had signed the consent. but he explain that is he didn't know what he was signing. so all this time has elapsed and now he's been awarded the right to return -- what happened to all that time in between? >> a lot of that clearly, four months after his daughter was born, he got into the process, filed the litigation. we are just now seeing that come to terms. we're seeing the case. he won that case. but we did get an interesting quote from his attorney. i want to read this to you. this is from shannon jones who says, it is important to understand that the indian child welfare act was not used as a loophole in this action. my client would still be entitled to custody of his daughter under south carolina law. so apparently this is something that mr. brown, his attorney had been working on for some time shortly after veronica was born. >> fascinating case. this is really just the tip of the iceberg. it has a long way to go before it is resolved, right? >> yeah, again, this case to go to the state supreme court there in south carolina. that could happen in the summer. so right now, veronica is with a new family. brown's attorney says she's transitioning well. but her adoptive family want her back. >> george, thanks for bringing us this story. and in just a few hours, the gop presidential hopefuls will face off in their first of two debates this weekend. they're criss-crossing new hampshire ahead of tuesday's primary. joe johns joins us now from manchester with an update. joe, what are they doing in those final hours before the big match-up tonight? >> reporter: hey, fred. if ever the rest of the field wanted an opportunity to try to bring mitt romney down to size, this would be it. in fact, this is the perfect opportunity. so the first thing we're going to have to watch tonight in this debate and another one that's going to occur tomorrow is the extent to which mitt romney becomes the center of attention and how he handles it. up until now, we've all assumed the guy leading the charge would be former house speaker newt gingrich who feels as though he's been done wrong by all those negative ads that ran in the state of iowa in the run-up to the iowa caucuses. but now the former speaker is saying he plans to play nice, at least to some extent. let's listen to what he said earlier today. >> i'm not going to go after mitt romney. i may define the reality of a reagan conservative and a massachusetts moderate. i may describe the difference between cutting taxes and raising taxes or being right to life and putting planned parenthood into romneycare. but i don't get this "go after" stuff. you don't need to do that. >> reporter: newt gingrich does know he has to be careful because too much nasty talk could actually backfire on him. another guy to watch could be rick santorum who to a large extent in the debates before the iowa caucuses was seen as something as noise in the background. but after that strong showing in iowa, he's also potentially a center of attention. he's been attacked again and again by people including ron paul who has said santorum's actually a counterfeit conservative, if you will, even calling him a liberal because rick santorum was so involved in the earmarks process when he was in the congress. and the last person you have to watch, of course, is rick perry. this will be a stamina test for him. he's had problems with that and these are going to be two debates in a row, a lot of chances to mess up, fred. >> joe, you talk about some tough words coming from ron paul. we know some of the tough ads have come from him against his republican rivals. but somehow that doesn't seem to be attracting, i guess, the kind of fire or momentum that other candidates are getting? what do we mean? >> reporter: yeah, the thing about ron paul that's really interesting is he's a very soft-spoken man at the debates. he tries to stay polite. he defends his positions. but when you watch his television ads, they're almost fire-breathing. so there's a split personality there for his campaign almost. i've even asked him about that -- why is it that you're such a quiet-spoken guy and you have such fire-breathing ads? well, i didn't get an answer from him. but it's pretty clear that he likes his tv ads to do the talking when it comes to the tough stuff. >> folks will be watching for the debate and tuning into the analysis tomorrow as well. a special here on cnn, 4:00, political show, "the contenders 2012." thank you, joe. trust cnn and the best political team on television for complete coverage of the new hampshire primary. join wolf blitzer, erin burnett, john king and candy crowley. why is joran van der sloot yawning in court, rubbing his eyes, seeming like he'd rather be somewhere else? the judge gave him a talking-to, details on that straight ahead. do you have post-christmas shopping regrets? straight ahead, planning for better 2012 holiday season, plus tips for getting the best deals all year long. tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. joran van der sloot faces murder charges but it's got nothing to do with aruba and natalee holloway. rafael romo explains. >> reporter: joran van der sloot had spent the past 18 months as an inmate at the costa rica costa rica prison in peru's capital city of lima. some inmates see him as a celebrity. >> he's one of us. it has nothing to do with us. we don't have nothing against him. >> reporter: after his arrest in chile in june of 2010, he was sent back to peru and take ton the lima prison to await trial in the murder and beating death of 21-year-old stephany flores. this shows flores and van der sloot playing poker at a casino. another video shows them entering van der sloot's hotel. she had suffered multiple injuries, a broken neck and was covered in blood. the killing happened on may 30th, 2010, exactly five years after alabama teenager natalee holloway disappeared in aruba after spending time with van der sloot. though arrested as a suspect in holloway's death, van der sloot was never charged due to a lack of evidence. in peru, van der sloot initially confessed to killing flores. >> translator: so it is true, i'm going to ask you this, did you kill stephany tatiana? >> translator: yes. >> translator: you killed stephany tatiana flores? >> translator: yes. >> reporter: but van der sloot later recanted. peruvian authorities say they have done everything according to law. >> translator: the statement given by the dutch kiz where he declares himself convicted and con fezzes his crime was done according to the formalities of the law. >> reporter: van der sloot still has the support of his family and some friends. >> what the media portray him as is far from the truth. he's not the serial killer, sociopath, psychopath the media makes him out to be. >> reporter: the flores family says it wants van der sloot to be punished to the maximum sense of the law. >> we need justice. he's a psycho, a murderer and he has to pay. >> rafael romo here with me now. you spoke personally to his attorneys. are they even perplexed about what joran van der sloot has in mind or what he wants for his destiny here? >> i spoke with his attorneys before they went to court yesterday morning. he told me, we're going to follow the strategy. we're going to plead guilty to a charge of qualified homicide. that's what they call it in peru. here it would be similar to first-degree murder. and under peruvian law, that allows somebody accused of this kind of crime to get some sort of leniency in the judge. so instead of getting the maximum 35 years in jail that he would, it would be maybe a maximum of 20. that's what they were originally going for. but then at the last minute in court, joran van der sloot changes his mind and he says, i need more time. and that's the reason they were granted a continuance. >> he's asked for more time, he needs more time to think about it. but he was rather disrespect to the court. so to ask the court for leniency seems as though he may have shot himself in the foot on that. >> that's correct. at one point, the judge told him, you have to sit up straight and respect the court. he was slouching, scratching his head, yawning. >> the yawning seemed in kind of a sarcastic way. it didn't seem like it was legitimate. >> yeah, and at some point when the prosecutor was reading some of the very specific charges, he was shaking his head in disagreement. and specifically when the prosecutor said, he beat her violently in the face, he beat her in the head, he took her pants off, he strangled her with his own hands and choked her to dooet with a piece of his own clothing, when the prosecutor was reading this, he was shaking his head and you could see that he was in disagreement. but not only that, a very disrespectful demeanor in court. that was not a very good thing to do. >> we'll see what this new week brings. rafael, thanks so much. >> sure. police say there is a serial killer in california. his target, homeless men. and they are terrified. but first, cnn's dr. sanjay gupta has launched a new program called "the next list." the show profiles innovators from all walks of life. this week, he talks to a former cab driver turned award-winning perfume maker. >> being self-taught is very much a blessing and a curse. the curse part means that i do not have or did not have a lot of the technical experience that people who were classically trained in the very few perfume schools that exist do. they knew how to work with certain materials because this is the knowledge that was passed down through these schools. i had to figure everything out myself. >> and tune in sundays to watch "the next list" or set your dvr for 2:00 p.m. eastern time. and then in your 2:30 "newsroom" show, a year after six people were killed in tucson, we'll be live in arizona for the ceremonies marking the tragic event. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ we're getting back in shape. oh! try these. i sprinted here... wow! from your house?! from the car. unh! ooh. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. perhaps you spent too much money or bought things that weren't on your christmas list. . if so, now's the time to correct those mistakes and plan for the next holiday season. jane o'donnell, consumer columnist from "usa today" joining us. besides overspending, tell us about some of the shopping regrets that people start to feel about now. because they're getting those credit card bills about now. >> exactly. all of them are pretty much variations on overspending. but things like losing track of your purchases. we all can do well by shopping early. but i don't know about you, but i tend to hide the purchases from the little one in my house and then you can forget you even bought it. so you obviously need to keep close track of what you've bought. also, a lot of us will get these last-minute jitters and say, there's not going to be enough under the tree and then buy too much. these last-minute purchases tend to not be well thought out and poorly researched. >> you have to learn from those mistakes. first you have to assess and identify what those mistakes were. learn from them because even though it's january and christmas and all the gift-giving holidays are behind us, you say time now to start planning for your budget for a better 2012. how do you do that? >> well, you really want to look back on what you did spend. so it's a good idea to go through your credit card bills, look at what your debit card purchases are and hopefully you'll remember if you paid just cash. but look at how much that was. if that's a reasonable number, if you think it's reasonable to do that again whether you can afford it, take that number, divide it by ten and then take that amount out of your checking account and put it in perhaps a no-fee christmas club or some sort of separate account that you're not going to tap throughout the year, that that will be your christmas account. >> so the idea is you want to spent maybe that much, if that's what was comfortable this past year, or stick within that goal that you just set of how much money you're going to be saving per month. and don't overextend yourself. >> that's right because then you're not going to have the big year-end credit card bills. you can actually spend a little bit throughout the year to even have less of an effect at the end of the year. >> let's talk about how you're going to spend throughout the year. you say there are certain months where there are certain deals. if you want to get some sart of electroni sort of electronic, there's a certain month to do that. you should plan your budget that way. >> electronics can be a little iffy. there are great deals to be had late january and early february. of course, there could be a newer version by if end of the year. but two of the things i recommend -- winter clothing, who doesn't like a nice pair of leather gloves or great mittens or a great hat? get those now. stock them away for next year. in june, there are some great white sales, if you've got a child going away to college, that's a great time to stock up on those kinds of things. the june white sales, i'm told, are even better than the january white sales. >> and jeans, jeans in september and october? did i see that correctly? >> yep, great time to buy jeans. if you have the right size and the right style. >> don't gain, don't lose any weight. and then november, you've got the hdtvs and laptops and december, those are the other electronic games and bicycles. thank you for helping us to plan. still trying to shake it all off from 2011. time to start thinking and planning for 2012. >> absolutely. >> do you don't go overboard. jane o'donnell, thanks so much. everybody's heard of wind surfing. maybe you've even tried it. you've got a board, you've got a sail, the wind and usually water. but how about in the case of the stillness of winter? then what do you do. in the dead of winter, oftentimes you start thinking about, i wish i were on a beach or something like that, maybe wind surfing. so maybe you can't go to the beach. but you can do something like wind surfing. >> it can feel like that if you dress appropriately. >> what are they calling this? >> i think it's ice surfing or ice sailing. i've heard of ice sailing before. but i think it's more like of a boat thing that you sit in. this is standing up. so it is like being a wind surfer -- >> the only difference is you're wearing ski gear. but it's fun. this guy has a hat on. are you not feeling that cold? i am and i'm just looking at the video. >> there's no snow out there. they're getting bored in montana. >> it's been so warm in so much of the country, you're lucky if you found a little sliver of water that's frozen enough to do this. >> right, that has been a concern that, a lot of the lakes that people would do outdoor activities on haven't been stable enough to do so. >> so apparently you can go at quite the clip there 25 to 30 miles per hour. >> that's almost like a snowmobile. >> that's gone viral. everybody fantasizing object how to do that wind surfing thing. thanks so much, jacqui. renters want to become homeowners. but some, they have the down payment for what they can afford. but the problem is, banks won't finance the rest. why? and how to find help. we can have shakes? and boston cream pie. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. and more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda®, you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more... when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪ when you sweeten with splenda®. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. the republican presidential hopefuls are getting ready for their first of two debate this is weekend in new hampshire. polls show mitt romney with a huge lead ahead of tuesday's primary. political analysts say that's put a bull's-eye on the back of the former massachusetts governor. and it will be one year tomorrow since that tucson, arizona, shooting left six dead and 13 injured, including congresswoman gabi giffords. this weekend, that tragedy is being remembered in many ways. giffords made her first appearance at her tucson office presenting a plaque honoring her aide, gabe zimmerman, who was killed. tomorrow, there will be a candlelight vigil at the university of arizona which giffords is scheduled to attend. penn state university is welcoming its new football coach. bill o'brien is replacing former coach joe paterno who was fired amid a scandal over alleged sex abuse of children by a former coach. the team players say that they're excited for a fresh start. o'brien is the outgoing new england patriots' offensive coordinator. and tens of thousands of homes under $75,000 are for sale across the country. but families aren't able to move in because they can't get the loans, even if they have the down paint. jodi fleisher from our affiliate wsb in atlanta explain why banks say these loans are not profitable. >> reporter: peggy says of course she wants to own her own home. she's spent the last 2 1/2 years renting this home, spending nearly $25,000. >> we never can calculate because it's other things going on. we have bills to pay. we have rent. >> reporter: r.j. morris is a real estate investor who's trying to sell this home for $40,000. >> do you know what your payment would be on a $40,000 loan? $160 a month. but banks say they can't make money on that. >> reporter: he says families don't have $40,000 in cash and would need to get a mortgage. >> no one would finance the loan. the banks said, we don't do loans under $75,000. >> reporter: this year, 1,749 fulton homes have sold for under $50,000. only 4% of the buyers found banks that would give him a mortgage. >> they make the same percentage on a small large as they do on a large loan. of course, the percentage -- the amount is larger on a larger loan. >> reporter: laura thinks that's why most larger banks just won't do it. she works for fidelity bank, one of the only local banks that will grant smaller loans. >> everyone deserves a home in america and if they can afford $50,000 or $30,000, we will do the loan for them. >> so what are the options for renters looking to buy a home? john adams, real estate consultant and columnist joining us now. it's really not that simple and cut and dry. but bottom line is, you do have to find a bank that is willing to finance a loan for, say, a property that's under $75,000. that's hard to find. how do you find the bank willing to do that? >> you're going to have to shop around. and you're going to have to call a lot of sources. the problem is the lending originators get paid on a percentage basis of what they loan. it's a lot hard tore lend somebody $50,000 than the person bying the $500,000 house. and yet you make ten times as much on the $500,000 loan. >> besides a bank perhaps not making a profit off a home that is under $75,000 or at least market value, what are some of the other reasons as to why a bank will say, no, we're not going to go for this? >> three things. owner occupants who are attracted to these inexpensive bargain homes tend to also have credit problems and they don't tend to have much in the way of savings. that makes it difficult for them to get approved, even for a very small loan because we have stricter underwriting guidelines as a result of the housing meltdown. in addition, a lot of these homes need repairs. it's not unusual that these are bank-owned homes. the people that left them may have left them in poor condition or they may have been vandalized. >> so a bank doesn't want to say, i don't want to help you -- finance for you a fixer-upper. >> exactly. the house has to be in almost perfect condition. then you run into an appraisal problem. appraisers see, this kitchen's been damaged, that's going to cost up to $15,000. do you have knit reserves? no, they don't. all of these things go away when you're dealing with an investor who says, i'll pay you cash on the barrel head as is. finally, there's the issue of closing costs. owner occupant home buyers always ask the seller to pay closing costs. >> here a georgia family was mostly being profiled and the state of certain counties in georgia. is this a nationwide trend that it's going to be difficult no matter where you are or is it an issue of geographics? florida is a big foreclosure state, arizona also. >> it's national. we've seen a tightening of underwriting guidelines from fannie and freddie, which is a national set of stands. but beyond that, lenders just don't want to make those small loans. it's not profitable for them. as you know, banks have really struggled in the last couple of years. they're looking for profitability right now. where is that? it's in $300,000 to $500,000 loan category. a $50,000 loan takes more time than is profitable for them. >> it is depressing because people want to be able to say they can get that american dream, not if it's $500,000 home but something within reach. >> exactly. these would be ideal properties. i talked to a national lender and i called them and i said, will you make a loan for under $50,000? and they said, no way. i said, why not? they said, each state has different usury guidelines. we'd have to charge so much that we might be in the usury point. it's a complex issue. but any renter really ought to be persistent because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. >> much more of the "newsroom" right after this. the 69th annual golden globes are coming up next sunday. today, the focus is on the comedy or musical categories, at least in my conversation with our movie critic. earlier he talked about what the lineup looks like. >> "50/50" is a decent film. it's starring a man who has cancer, based on the story of a writer who gets cancer and his dealings with it. it's very funny. but gets pretty serious as well. we've also got "the artist" which i think is probably the favorite. "the artist" is a silent movie. it's a throwback to the silent movie era about a man who is trying to change with the invention of sound as sound comes into the film. it's a french film and it's a really interesting movie. there's a lot of jean kelly in paul deshardans there. >> we're talking about this comedy and musical category. and also included "bridesmaids," wow, it's up for a golden globe? >> i was happy to see that it got nominated for a golden globe. it's hilarious. kristin wiig, melissa mccarthy who kind of steals the movie. it's a female take on, say, "the hangover." we'll probably see a sequel as well. >> let's take a look at some of the actresses nominated in this category. talking about jodi foster in "carnage." charlize theron. >> a lot of glam in this category. charlize theron, jodie foster. kristen wiig, michelle williams who i think is probably the favorite here. although kate winslet as well. but michelle williams' portrayal of marilyn monroe, i think she's probably going to walk with it. the hollywood foreign press really likes to give -- they really like to give the award to the most glamorous person or the most glamorous role in this particular category. and i think that she's probably going to get it. >> wow, okay. so actors nominated in this category. still talking about comedy or musical category? >> yes, we are, believe it or not. some relatively serious people in here. the musical and comedy category, it's kind of a weird one. they divide it up from the foreign press the way we see it. different than we get in the oskars. you've got dujardin there, brendan gleason, joseph gordon-levitt, ryan gosling. i think the award is probably going to jean dujardin. >> so it's considered more of a musical than comedy sh. >> i think it's more of a comedy. i think they consider it a musical, kind of a comedy. it's got a lot of dance numbers. they play a lot more laughs. although it does have a serious story going on, it's kind of that old-school silent film where it never gets too heavy. it's still played pretty light. i think that's why it ended up in that category. >> and those facial expressions more important than anything because it is a silent movie. so if you pull that off, it takes you to a whole new level of respect. coming up, what does a math lesson have to do with slavery? a homework assignment that has parents outraged. some parents are outraged in georgia after an elementary school's homework assignment used examples of slavery and beatings in math problems. >> i'm having to explain to my 8-year-old why slavery or slave or beatings is in a math problem. and that hurts. >> whoever put together this paperwork and everything else, the schools and everything, shouldn't teach it this way. >> so both of those dads contacted the schools. officials say it was an attempt at crosscurricular activity. >> the teachers were trying to do a crosscurricular activity. we agree these questions are not appropriate. >> after the school acknowledged its mistake, they discontinued those assignments. police in orange county, california, are calling the murders of three homeless men the work of a serial killer, as casey wian reports, the county's homeless are terrified and seeking shelter. >> thank you for this meal. i ask for your hand of protection on this area -- >> reporter: a prayer for protection for thousands of homeless in orange county, california, particularly meaningful now. police say they're being targeted by a serial killer. >> we're handing out sort of an emergency guide and kit that we put together specifically because we realize that these homeless men are being targeted by a murderer. we've got a flashlight on a lanyard that's set up so they can see what they're doing and in case of an emergency get some attention or hopefully scare away the perpetrator. >> reporter: that perpetrator was caught on surveillance tape at one of the murder saerngs shadowy figure in a dark-hooded sweatshirt. >> he's a coward that attacks people who sleep alone. >> reporter: this video captured the first murder taking place. but police are only releasing a handful of still images. this is where the murder occurred the night of december 20th. a memorial to the victim, james mcgillvery is still her. and this one simply says, jim, we know you're at peace with mom. eight days after he was stabbed to death, the body of lloyd midov was found. two days later, this man was killed. >> we believe it is a serial murderer. that's because the proximity and time that these murders occurred, the fact that all of the victims were middle-aged male homeless, they were all stabbed multiple times and geographically, they're white close to each other. >> reporter: the murder scenes form points of a nearly equilateral triangle. the fbi are investigating the killings and looking for the driver of this white early 2000s model toyota corolla. police recommends homeless spend the nights in shelters, which are beginning to run short of beds. no rest for the republican presidential hopefuls. we'll catch up with them on the campaign trail ahead of the new hampshire primaries. o0 c1 2 o0 [ beep ] [ man ] you have one new message. [ mom ] hi scooter. this is mommy. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. the vegetables are cut nice and thick... you were always good at cutting your vegetables. and it's got tender white-meat chicken... the way i always made it for you. oh, one more thing honey... those pj's you like, the ones with the feet, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. three days away from the first primary of the 2012 presidential election. the republican candidates are fanning out across new hampshire, courting voters. in the latest nbc/marist poll, mitt romney has 42% of likely primary voters, a 20-point advantage over ron paul with 22%. rick santorum came in third with 13%. and newt gingrich, jon huntsman and rick perry are all in the single digits. so you'll have a chance to hear the candidates square off on the issues in just a few hours. they will take part in fact first of two debates this weekend in new hampshire. and for the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com. tomorrow at 4:00 eastern time, "the contenders," one full hour of more politics. >> it's getting heated. it's like, you're bad, no, you're worse. oh, my gosh. >> that's how it goes. how are you. you have a lot straight ahead in the "newsroom"? >> i do. you heard about the missing woman here in atlanta that we have been talking about. >> ms. english. >> you're right. we're going to be talking with the parents of ms. english, a missing woman who disappeared in atlanta. staccey nicole english. her car was found later abandoned and running. police are wanting to question a man who is in st. louis now and who told them that he had stayed with her. they had had, apparently, an argument. he said, get out and he took a taxi that night. her parents turned to social media to get her case out there. and we'll talk to them. you've heard all the debate about the president. is he acting like a monarch by working around congress or is he just playing chicago-style politics? i'll talk with an insider from "the chicago tribune". >> the myth was sold by david axelrod who is rich daley's mouthpiece. he sold it to the national media that barack obama was transcending politics as if he was floating in a plastic bubble across the united states with a wand like glenda the good witch. i'll transcend here, i'll transcend there. but reality is that he's from chicago and we have bosses. and they take control. >> so -- >> and you being a former chicagoan -- can i say you're a former chicagoan? >> you're always a chicagoan like you're always a new yorker. >> you, a chicagoan -- >> yeah. >> you've heard that dialogue before. >> i've heard it before. >> people defending the style of politics in chicago. >> what he's saying is that in chicago, you have a boss. and the mayor is the boss. whoever's in charge is a boss. and if you want to appoint someone, you do it. that's essentially what he's saying in that sound bite. but is it chicago-style politics? we'll discuss more. >> all right. >> and, listen, i went on the book store. gained so much wait, room service, airplanes. i did -- >> whatever, you didn't gain any weight at all. >> close-up, my cheeks were like that. and now they're like this. >> so what's going on? were you doing something -- >> i had mark mcdonald on the program a while back. i saw him. he's an inspiration for help on the fitness front. he has tips for us. he says four tips that will make the new year ahead the best ever when it comes to healthy eating. >> this is the number one resolution people make. >> that's his book, called "body confidence." and let me tell you, you don't have to starve yourself. >> okay. >> i will go, i can't eat all of this food and i'm still losing balance. there's a secret. it's about balance. >> darn. i'm ready to talk a little bit more about it. he's never had a weight problem, at least in the time i've known you. always fit and svelte and still looking that way. we look forward to seeing you. >> you're one to talk, lady. look at you. >> much more of the "newsroom" after this. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. a dash camera on a bus caught the end of a police chase in oklahoma city. police say the four men in the car were speeding from a home they had just allegedly robbed. officers took off after them and the chase ended in a crash. three of the four suspects were caught. a seattle driver is in trouble with police for putting a skeleton in his passenger's seat in order to use the hov lane. police initially pulled him over for speeding and then discovered who his co-pilot was. the driver got a ticket for speeding and using the high-occupancy lane without a passenger. let's check in with our jacqui jeras. you're laughing. >> i've heard of people putting blow-up dolls -- i hope that was a fake skeleton, by the way. just saying. >> yes! what's going on? >> i've been down the east coast -- >> follow the rules. >> no cheating out there. lots of record highs across the country. a handful of them mostly into the northeast. trenton at 65. 63 in newark. islip at 60. jfk at 60. and bridgeport, connecticut, 55. look at the current temperatures across the country. behind our front, it is cooler but still above where you should be this time of the year. yesterday, talking 15 to 25 above average. this cold front will continue to make some progress. but like i said, you're only looking at a drop of maybe 10 degrees. still way above normal. tomorrow, new york looking for 44 degrees. that's six above where you should be. atlanta, 63 degree, 11 above the norm. and minot, north dakota, double where you should be for this time of year. the cold front stalling out. a series of storms make its way across the southern part of the country. we'll see those showers on and off the next couple of days. our next storm-maker is going to bring heavy snow into the higher elevations across new mexico and colorado. colorado really needing the snow here. we're also seeing the strong high drop in from the north bringing in strong or offshore winds. so the santa anas are really going to kick in. we could see damaging winds across southern california for tomorrow. skier's delight, 6 to 10 in the santa cristo mountains. >> thanks so much, jacqui. appreciate that. don't forget, you need to join us tomorrow, 2:30 eastern time. don lemon has a host of new stories for you coming up. i'm fredricka whitfield. you see tomorrow. don lemon on his way. >> bye, fred! >> have a good evening. g you? 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[ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a $3 coupon. and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days --