fix. and would you ask your boss's wife out on a date? especially if your boss is the president of the united states? >> announcer: from cnn's world headquarters bringing you news and analysis from around the globe, live from studio 7, this is "cnn saturday morning" with t.j. holmes. let's start with the senate. open for business today. it will be open about three hours from now. they have some work to do. they need to work on a couple of bills. one is a big spending bill that will fund the government through september. a deal is reached that will keep us from having a government shutdown. the government was supposed to run out of money, a one-day extension so they could vote today. looks like crisis averted there. the other issue is payroll tax holiday extension. that could mean an extra $1,000 in your pocket. at least mean you won't lose that $1,000 at the beginning of the year. a compromise keeps it going for another two months. >> okay. two months is not something that makes people feel very good. same conversation in 60 days. >> that was not the preferred alternative. we wanted to see the same things that passed in the house of representatives, an extension. democrats would not accept credible off sets to pay for it in the senate. this is what we got down to in terms of a package we could get support from both democrats and republicans for. >> you see what we're talking about here, folks. they reached a deal. your taxes won't go up january 1st. this whole debate, fight you're seeing, they will do this whole thing over again two months from now. the house passed a spending bill. members expected to come back from holiday vacations to vote on payroll taxes next week if it gets through the senate. following next hour live to the white house to hear what president has to say about the bills including a deadline on the controversial keystone pipeline project added to the payroll tax bill by republican tax lead eers. turn to presidential politics. mitt romney picked up a big supporter in the race for republican nomination. south carolina governor nikki haley says romney is the guy. >> with great pride, great respect, great support michael and i are very proud to say we are endorsing governor mitt romney for president of the united states. >> haley won with big support from tea party groups, south carolina's primary is third in the nominating calendar after, of course, iowa and new hampshire. a bigger norm is up for grabs later today when the des moines register will pick its candidate for the iowa caucuses. here is a look how things are shaping up in iowa, just a couple of weeks until they start voting in the caucuses. american research poll has newt gingrich out by five points as you see there. his lead getting a little smaller. a few points ahead of romney and paul, both at 17%. much more on the iowa race coming your way about 20 minutes from now. iowa certainly the place to be unless, apparently you're leading. rick perry, rick santorum and michele bachmann. he's in virginia for a book signing. the impact candidates' wives are having on the race. turn to another big story, weather story we're watching in the philippines now. philippines slammed by a major tropical storm. almost 200 people confirmed dead now. still have another 400 or so missing. 20,000 soldiers are being mobilized to help with certainly and rescue efforts there. we have on the line with us from manila maria resa. tell us the current update. they are still in desperate search and rescue mode now? >> reporter: absolutely. the storm is supposed to exit this evening but no longer really the storm itself but aftermath. turning to aid and rescue workers looking for hundreds missing. they are trying to supply drinking water. they are asking for volunteers to try to get food and clothes to the 20,000 -- actually the government estimates about 100,000 people were displaced by the storm. world vision said they are particularly concerned about children saying that many conditions like 13-year-old remni whose mother was killed in the flood and father and siblings are missing. what was the issue here? it was a tropical storm. not necessarily winds coming through, this was a flooding issue. >> reporter: absolutely. the tropical storm dropped more than 10 hours of heavy rain friday night. its effects, not the storm itself, actually caused the casualties and the most damage. the government said they warned residents to evacuate the areas they felt would be prone to damage but most of the residents ignored it, because these areas have not been traditionally hit by flash floods and landslides. friday night floodwaters rose alarmingly fast to roof levels while residents were sleeping. nearly all the casualties died in flash flood, five killed in a landslide triggered by rain according to national officials of the coordinating and disaster council. >> maria ressa on the line for us. thanks so much. we'll check back in with her. an ongoing situation as i bring in reynolds wolf. just a mess there. the tropical storm, we're kind of accustomed here we here about hurricanes, with a tropical storm we don't feel so threatened. here it was the rain, flash flooding. >> to be honest, there isn't a huge surprise when you have one of these things. any kind of tropical system we have that hit the united states, be it hug organizatioo, whatevee problem flooding. they bring rain, wind, but the issue in manila and philippines you've got high elevations in the areas, you have a tropical storm that pushes through we have what we refer to as orographic lift. it enhances rainfall makes it heavy. hurricane watch steep rain, the ground can only hold so much. the sheer weight of the rainfall absorbs in the soil and gravity then mudslides. the last couple of hours with the system, what's amazing if you look at this tropical system, the center of circulation. let me get that back here a second. the center of circulation is actually right here. it's amazing. you take a look at manila right here. basically what caused a lot of this, an outer band that made its way through manila. there it is right there. that one big cluster, deep tropical moisture, boom, heavy rainfall, widespread damage and of course fatalities. problem is, it's going to take a while to get a true assessment of the damage they had here, t.j. as soon as daylight comes and things begin to dry out a bit, a better assessment, unfortunately gremlin 2 of the true damage, the cost of how it impacted the philippines. >> reynolds, thank you. we'll check with reynolds throughout the morning and keep an eye on that situation in manual ark, in the philippines where an ongoing search and rescue is happening where we speak. we're nine minutes past the hour now. we know marines are known for their bravery but this is a little too brave. you're going to meet a marine, might be the bravest of them all -- see that guy right there? he was brave enough to ask the first lady out on a date. he asked his boss's wife out on a date. dude, you know she's married, right? we'll get into this in just a little bit. also coming next, those who stand in harm's way coming home from iraq. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. we're 11 minutes passed the hour. trial of army private expected to be behind the biggest leak in history. private manning, the guy in the photo here, hard to make him out here. he's the smaller guy in the video with the glasses. kind of hard to make him out. he's the shorter fellow there. that is bradley manning. he's been let out of the courtroom at ft. meade. the judge refused an attempt to get him removed from the case. they wanted the judge to recuse himself. manning is accused of leaking classified military documents to wikileaks. after more than eight years of law the last of america's military forces will soon be out of iraq. we've been seeing so many of those great homecomings. here are now some of those sweet reunions between troops and their families. >> if he were hear right now i'd say thanks for serving us and our country. >> just really happy. >> it is a tremendous feeling and one that very few moments in life parallel. just really thankful to be home. >> i love you. >> oh, baby. oh, my god. >> mommy. >> what a surprise. what a shock. this is the best mother's day present. >> i have a surprise for you. >> very proud to be the mother of a soldier. >> be sure to tune in all day today for "cnn newsroom" special reporting, home from iraq. we're at about 14 minutes past the hour now. santa needs a little help and he's getting some this year. anonymous donors paying off the layaways of cash-strapped families. >> an angel dropped in our store last night. that's the only way you can say it. >> this is happening at stores across the country. we'll tell you more about these acts of kindness in just a moment. also first lady michelle obama. you know, the married first lady of the united states, married to the president of the united states. she gets asked out on a date by a guy who works for the president of the united states. is this okay or has he lost his mind. stay with me. s new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. 16 minutes past the hour on "cnn saturday morning." give you a look at stories making news across the country. we start with a college fraternity in some trouble. all right. sorry, we don't have the sound there for you but that is a story you may have heard about this fraternity actually in vermont. they leaked out, has gotten on the internet. they put out a list, asked a survey of their members saying who would you rape if you had the chance. that survey got out. that university chapter of this fraternity has now been suspended. this happened in burlington on the campus of vermont. we'll get that back. have more news across the country here. something i told you about a second ago, families getting some help. santa needs some help around this time of year. anonymous donors popping up all around the country paying off the layaway bills of families who could use some help. in indianapolis, a woman walked into a walmart and went right for the layaway department. she says she wanted to make the holiday better for as many people as she could. she paid off the layaway bills of more than 50 customers. the balances ranged from $10 to almost $800. listen to this. >> she said that she had money. she wanted to make christmas happy. it was like an angel just dropped out of the sky. >> i took out my credit card to pay my minimum balance. she said, don't pay that. i'm going to pay it for you." i said, what can we do for you? she said the only thing you can do for me is to give back. >> now, we want to hear from you on this story. tell us something nice maybe you plan to do for someone over the holidays. or maybe what's the nicest thing a stranger ever did for you. i'm already talking to some of you this morning. i have my twitter feed on the desk with me. by all means send me a message. i will reply as much as i can. the nicest thing you've done over the holiday, the nicest thing you plan to do. you know where to find me, the blog, twitter and facebook page. >> can you really ask your boss's wife out on a date? would it matter if her husband is the president of the united states? well, that's kind of what happened here. take a look at this. this is at a toys for tots event in washington. 20-year-old marine aaron leaks. he's leaning over and trying to get the attention to ask the first lady of the united states to accompany him to the marine corps ball next november. she said she'd love to. he's, however, going to be doing a tour in afghanistan next month. he plans to be back and go to that ball. now, reynolds, our wonderful vp, who has a level head, one of the wisest women i know. she tells me i'm looking into it too much. she's saying i'm looking at a guy asking his boss's wyatt out on a date. she says no. what do you think? >> i'm not going there. he's got guts. president obama is definitely the boss in a situation. she's more than a little bit taken, i would think. probably not, i would say, available. >> the guy serving his country. we'll seen this with mila kunis, justin timberlake. they went to the ball. this the new trend. we'll see if it happens. >> regardless, she has to be touched. it's a nice gesture to say, i'll pass, to be honest. one thing to pass on in parts of southern california is strong wind. couple of weeks ago talking pout santa ana wind. they are back. with full force again they will range 40 to 50 miles per hour. we could see damage once again today. with the damage we could also see delays, cross winds affecting places like lax, as far south as burbank you could have those problems in terms of winds. scratch what i said earlier about the gusts. we could see 45 to 60 miles per hour. personal in the afternoon high mountain passes of san gabriels. they will tend to accelerate when they do. that's when we could see damage, downed trees, power lines. basically same recipe, certainly be back again. something else we'll be seeing with this is the potential for some snow in the high parts of, say, back to yosemite, nice dusting on half dome. a possibility of seeing snow in chicago. with that a chance of delays, delays at all the major airports in that part of the world. orlando fog on the i-4 corridor is going to keep you driving fairly slow. delays expected at the airports if you're going to international drive or maybe visit, a few backups. san diego, showers, wind we talked about. boston, rain and snow showers in detroit. motor city, driving on the lodge this morning, expect a little bit of the snow to stick around at least through the midday hours. light stuff, not as heavy as chicago. a lot to talk about weather wise, not just here but other points around the globe. we'll share that. >> reynolds, thank you. see you shortly. 21 minutes past the hour now. a coroner has now ruled the death of a florida a&m drum major was homicide. we'll show you how the suspected hazing now is impacting other schools even outside florida. stay with us on this "cnn saturday morning." let me get you a free tank of gas -- how's that sound? progressive saved me money, and i'm saving you money. [ chuckles ] now these guys are protected with progressive. come on around. we'll fill up your tank for you. free gas! 5 more inches. now you're lined up for some free gas and savings, eh? [ horn honks ] hey, we're trying to save here. i came in for this. yeah, fill it up, too. thank you. don't thank me. i'm just the messenger. about 25 minutes past the hour now. the coroner in orange county ruled that last month's death of a florida a&m band member, ruled it was a homicide. 26-year-old robert champion died november 19th in a suspected hazing incident. the coroner determined blunt force trauma is the cause of death. last night an internal medicine expert put the finding in perspective. >> anderson, they were severe. let me put it in perspective. mr. champion's blood count was approximately 13 grams of blood. by the time they performed the autopsy it had dropped down to 7. that means he lost approximately six to seven pints of blood into the muscles where he was beaten. that's what causes hemorrhagic shock. it's the same as if his carotid artery was cut. >> three people have been arrested in connection with a separate hazing incident at florida a&m university that happened roughly two weeks before champion's death. both incidents now have sent shock waves beyond the famu campus, one high school in particular. our george howell with more on that and the hazing culture that surrounds both cases. >> reporter: the southwest dekalb high school band performed for presidents, played at the rose bowl. when you ask band parents like annie brown. >> the band, it's like family, a real nice family atmosphere. >> reporter: but brown tells me her suspicions are now raised about the culture within that family. the dekalb school district in atlanta started an investigation into all of its bands after the death of florida a&m drum major robert champion, the graduate whose death is believed to be the result of hazing. the administrators said they discovered two cases of what they can only describe as inappropriate behavior. >> inappropriate behavior. >> i don't want to get into the specifics of the behavior, but we had two incidents over the summer of inappropriate activity associated with band at two different schools. that was part of the evidence we collected that determined we needed a formal investigation. >> sitting here waiting for your son, do you worry about all these things you've heard on the news? >> yes. even when i was in high school back then, it happened then. >> in high schools. >> high school, colleges. >> reporter: the dekalb county school district suspended all outside activity for its 20 bands, a decision robert champion's parents say is a move in the right direction. >> i wouldn't have never thought the band, the one thing he loved the most, that this would happen like this. >> people don't want to go to high school and be the kid left out. you don't want to be the kid in college you don't have any friends. that becomes -- you go through those processes, become a member of one of these groups and you automatically have status. >> the president of this college wrote a book on hazing and says it's important to examine student organizations, clicks and subgroups from high schools to colleges. there's always been a strong history, connection between southwest dekalb and famu band. both victims went to school here. not to mention the fact two of the three people arrested for allegedly beating hunter also went to this school. parents tell me they appreciate the fact this school district is investigating all of its bands. >> if that would help one kid not be hurt, be hazed, even losing their life, it would be worth it. >> dekalb school officials say it could be two months before their investigation is complete and band activities can resume. >> did you hear about the big breakup in the nba? a player is not leaving a team, a wife is leaving a husband. kobe bryant's wife has filed for divorce after a decade with the lakers star. more on that later. also newt gingrich riding pretty high in the republican presidential race. will his lead in iowa hold up for another two weeks? they will answer that question for me. we'll see if their answer is the same. look at them looking political this morning. we'll talk to them after the break. stay with us. muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. okay is there a woman i can talk to? everyone believes in keeping their promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? the hour this saturday morning. welcome back to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you're spending part of your weekend with us. let's look at stories making headlines this morning. a major tropical storm has killed at least 180 people in the philippines. there's a desperate search going on right now. most of these deaths were caused from flash flooding. it was raining for 10 hours. still hundreds missing. soldiers have been mobilized to help with search and rescue efforts. ♪ ♪ at last my love come along ♪ >> you know that song from etta james "at last." her manager giving us news she's in the last stages of a terminal illness. she was diagnosed with hepatitis c more than a year ago and leukemia. we got that news. she's 73 years old now. turn back to washington, d.c. where there will be some work going on saturday. u.s. senate convening in two and a half hours. they are going to consider a couple of important bills. one is a spending bill to fund the government through september. looks like we will avert a government shutdown. the other is a payroll tax holiday extension. that's the one that could mean a tax increase if they don't get this thing passed. looks like there may be a deal, so these things are expected to pass. that will mean you will not see a roughly $1,000 tax increase starting january 1st. the other part of that, they are only extending it for two months. that means we've got to do all this over again in two months. looking forward to it fellas. the iowa caucus upon us. newt gingrich leading in the polls. mitt romney picked up a big endorsement. here with me syndicated columnist and former campaign adviser to newt gingrich. and gentlemen, good to have you both here. we saw another debate. i think it was debate number 813 of the season. but we always learn something. what did we learn from this debate? >> we learned that all the candidates are putting in their closing arguments now. they have been building their case for the past year and they are at the end. they are trying to sway the jury, as any voter. they are hoping they can make that last little determination with the candidates. >> did we learn newt gingrich can hold on until iowa. >> this is what we learned. romney can have a good debate. gingrich can take a lot and still stand. bachmann can really dish it out. rick perry can still hang in there and get some votes. santorum is still getting some votes but i don't think he's really taking off. finally, we finally got the opportunity to see the real ron paul. he's taking a huge amount of votes in our poll and other votes. if he starts to shred off a bit, those votes could go somewhere else. that could make this a jump ball in the next three weeks. >> that jump ball, who benefits from that. if some of those votes start to spread from ron recall. are they going to folks polling in single digits or people already on top? >> depends who has the best game of turning out voters. >> we always hear that's ron paul rainfall there's two ways to turn out voters. on the ground or use systems that can call 100 to 200,000 households in one hour, find out if they like the candidate and turn it out. i like the latter, it works. the old ground game of making phone calls and knocking on doors is over. >> iowa first, new hampshire second, iowa third. will it make a difference? mitt romney picked up. are people in iowa paying attention that he got endorsement. >> no i think iowans are concerned about iowa. it's pressing the flesh, shaking hands, kissing babies. whoever has that retail organization will come out on top. mitt romney, ron paul, they have a clear organization that they have been working on for years now. >> how big a deal is that in south carolina for him to pick up nikki haley's endorsement. >> i think it benefits mitt romney in terms of national politics. newt gingrich is polling on average 20 percentage points higher than mitt romney. nikki haley endorsed mitt romney in 2008. mitt romney endorsed nikki haley for governor in 2010. so she's repaying the favor now. in south carolina, nikki haley, her polls are down. some polls show president obama having a higher approval rating than nikki haley. in south carolina maybe, but 20 percentage points is pretty tough to close in on. >> i think he's totally right. that means little. what has to happen gingrich has to stay competitive in iowa and new hampshire. if he stays competitive, goes to south carolina, he can really get back in the game. >> it helps mitt romney in terms of his conservative credentials. that helps him more nationally. >> let me get this in. let me role this. newt gingrich trying to defend his zany self from the other night. >> i sometimes get accused of using language that's too strong. so i've been standing here editing. i'm very concerned about not appearing to be zany. >> good idea? does he have to hold on, edit himself the next few weeks? is he making a conscious effort to not say the wrong thing? >> not only that, he's funny. this is the newt gingrich i never knew until the last five years or so. he's actually enjoying the campaign. that's coming through on the stage and why he doesn't seem as mean-spirited. >> wrap it up, warm and fuzzy newt? >> has to be thoughtful and deliberate of his words. get away from those grandiose ideas that his republican party isn't comfortable with in the future. >> lee, matt, good to see you guys as always. a couple more weeks of this and then finally time to start voting. we can stop listening to you experts. good to see you. >> good to see you paragraph 39 minutes past the hour. quick break on cnn morgue. we'll be right back. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. that can help lower cholesterol? 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 exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink 42 minutes past the hour. i feel like we should have a fireplace going and you should tell us a christmas story. >> i should. i should put on 100 pounds, grow a beard. >> what is this tradition, 100 year tradition. >> takes place in one of america's most famous houses, the biltmore estate. just got back from asheville, north carolina, took in the beauty and splendor and saw how they celebrate christmas and the big tree. take a look. it's one of america's most iconic traditions that happens to be in one of our nation's grandest homes. christmas at the biltmore. >> around 125 to 130,000 lights are used across the state. we have probably 200 to 250 poinsettias just inside biltmore house and that many again in other estate facilities. there are on the estate 110 decorated trees. >> in the estate's grand hall, there's one tree that towers above the rest. over three stories tall, 25 feet wide with ornaments the size of basketballs. an maneuvering it inside is no easy task. ten hours of back breaking work after 12 months of preparation. >> takes about 50 people to put the tree up and a lot of strong backs. a lot of pulling and tugging. after a few minutes it rises in the air and we hear cheers and we know we're there. >> getting it here is 31 years in the making. it first took root in the sun splashed hills of the carolina mountains under the watchful eyes of george and graying andrews. >> what is the thing that makes the perfect christmas tree? >> for biltmore, it's layered. it's got to look natural. nice taper to it. but the branching, layering and branching. >> so the dude that used to stand here is now in the biltmore. >> yes, that's where it is. >> this is the biltmore tree? >> right. >> they planted this decade of trees decades ago, all of them destined for the biltmore tradition. >> planted in 1895 and we still do that today. we try to put things back authentic to biltmore, we know are part of the vanderbilt celebration. the banquet hall is as close as we're going to get to the time capsule of the guilded age. >> it's funny, when i look back, i think about how my family when i was grog up, how my dad used to take the christmas tree into the house. it was basically, all right, kids, let's go. put it inside, and it's shoved in the door. at the biltmore, everything is down to a science. they have priceless articles all over this house. >> you can't bump into something. >> you can't bump in. i was asking them how do you keep the tree looking so fresh, what kind of water do you add to it. do you add a special ingredient? they don't add water at all. they replace that tree with another tree. they go through that process not once but twice. >> two trees. >> two trees one season. to be honest, i don't want to sound like i'm the scrooge or anything but when christmas comes around i'll put up an ornament, help the kids with a few and kicking back with eggnog. these guys, it is all hands on deck working hard to put the tree up two times. they bring that tree out, replace with another tree relatively the same height, 35, 38 feet, 25 feet wide, two times. >> y'all have a tree up? >> uh-huh. >> just checking. >> yeah. >> one ornament. >> then the kids. lower branches hit pretty hard, the top looks like an eagle's nest. >> we'll see you throughout the morning. quarter of the top of the hour. getting a look at stories making news in sports today. chicago bears have waived wide receiver sam hurd not because of his play on the field but he was arrested of conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine, allegedly accepted a kilo of cocaine from an undercover agent inside a chicago area restaurant and accused of trying to set up buying several kilos per week. we shall see how this case plays out. he says he's innocent. also barry bonds sentenced friday to two years of probation and 30 days house arrest. after all this, this whole balco scandal, in-house for 30 days. he was only convicted of obstruction of justice for the illegal steroid use of athletes. he was not convicted of the more serious crime of perjury. so 30 days house arrest. also kobe bryant's wife says she's done. his wife vanessa you're seeing on the left of the screen has filed for divorce. she did this on friday. they have been married for ten plus years. she asked for joint custody of their two children. they have two little girls. you see them there as well. asking for spousal support. many remember she was right there with kobe bryant holding his hand at that press conference after he was accused of sexual assault in colorado all those many years ago. she stood by him then but now she says she's done. why do you have the look on your face? >> i'm getting over the tony montegna reference you made. not every day, say hello to my little friends. enjoyable. >> have you heard about this cat? literally a cat has inherited $13 million. >> elvis and priscilla don't have that kind of gold. >> that story is minutes away. seriously, a cat. someone left a cat $13 million. we'll get into that. also get into this. take a listen. >> seems like -- >> how would you know. >> how, other than -- other than personal hostility. >> getting a little loud out there on the campaign trail and personal for republican candidate newt gingrich, why his marriage track record could become a factor as this race gets closer and closer to votes in iowa. who or what did you look for online this year. google released top search terms of 2011. number five on the list, battlefield 3. award winning video game released october 25th. number four casey anthony, the young florida mother acquitted of the murder of her daughter caylee. ryan dunn, one of the stars of nbc's jackass reality series. elves killed in a car accident. the top two search terms. we'll have that. stay with us. and keep updating your fantasy team. huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora. oh, no i'm an only child. and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. [ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. nine minutes off the top of the hour. before the break we showed you google top search terms, battlefield 3, casey anthony, ryan dunn. on the list top google search terms for 2011. number two is google+. come on, google, you threw that in there. the social networking site was launched in june, had everybody talking. number one on the list, pop sensation rebecca black. ♪ it's friday friday got to get down on friday everyone looking forward to the weekend weekend ♪ ♪ friday friday >> i know, you're saying stop playing the song. remember this lady. she became a viral star after this got literally 1 million hits on social media sites. they weren't saying kind things about it. it got so many hits because people were so amazed how bad it was. she put this together on her own. she's trying to become a star. we're talking about her now. number one search term. okay. needs a little help in the studio, but give the girl credit. please, stop the song now. that is just awful. a few minutes to the top of the hour. let's listen to the sweet voice of nadia, say good morning in that beautiful voice. >> very good morning even though it's not friday, it's saturday. >> maybe we can make our own mix, a saturday edition. >> a cat, seriously? >> a 90-year-old italian woman leaves her cat thomasio, $13 million. there's more to the story. here is a woman who has nothing else. her nurse winds up looking after the cat and she says this is such a lonely lady. that's why it's such a hard warming story. especially this time of year. think about how many people are alone. loneliness is heightened during the holidays because families get together. here she is rich but lonely. >> you've got to help me with this cat thing. how can you even leave money to an animal. >> she left it in the care of her lawyers. this was a stray cat. she only got the cat four years ago as a kitten in the alley. she found the cat. >> so they had to spend the money on the cat? >> they have to spend the money on the cat, looking after the cat. and the caregiver obviously receives the money. you can't actually leave money to the cat but it's in the care of the lawyers. the lawyers have agreed that her nurse is an animal lover and will be the right person to take care of little tommaso. >> what happens if the cat runs away, dies. >> gets kidnapped. all kinds of legalities. this is hardly the first time this happened. there's a british heiress that left money to a chimp. at one point the chimp was worth $18 million? >> how much? >> $18 million. the richest dog in the world is giunta iv. he inherited $307 million from giunta iii. this was by an eccentric countess. gunther is currently the richest dog in the world. >> i'm not crazy, this makes no sense. give it to charity. >> one would think. there are people who love their animals more than people. remember leona helmsly, she left $12 million to trouble. the human heirs got $2 million. >> goodness gracious. in ord nadia bilchik with an outrageous hour. the senate putting in work today trying to decide if you'll get a few bucks in every paycheck. they are trying to make sure you won't get a tax increase and hold onto the money. sounds like a deal has been reached. it's congress. you never know. holiday layaway angels. we've been asking you to weigh in on this story. asking some of you, what is maybe the sweetest thing anyone has done for you or you plan. here is one saying a few of us have adopt add family with eight children. we tried to get the kids everything they want. so santa has a full sleigh. more of your comments. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪ your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. as we get close to the top of the hour anonymous donors paying off layaway with families struggling. they are asking people pay kindness forward so we, to jump off this story, asked you. what is something you plan to do nice for somebody this holiday season? what is the nicest thing anybody has done for you. tonya saying a stranger paid off all my student loans. i was able to finish college debt-free. that act of generosity changed my life. another one from arod, not the arod i assume -- i plan to surprise somebody. he's a homeless man who lives behind a target store in central florida. he's always on the move. another saying we're having a holiday toy drive. all the gifts will go to a children hospital on christmas children hospital on christmas morning. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we are just crossing the top of the hour, 7:00 a.m. in atlanta, georgia. at least 180 dead in the philippines after a tropical storm slammed the country a desperate rescue effort under way now. congress reaching a deal to stop the government from taking more out of your paycheck. however, this is only a temporary fix. we are headed live to d.c. a showdown between two of our cnn contributors. we asked them what people should and shouldn't buy. would you believe their lists are the same. they are going to justify here what you should buy this holiday season. the other one is going to tell you why you should not buy those same items. yes, the confusion. let it start "cnn saturday morning." the top of the hour we start with saturday session for the senate. they have a vote on a couple of big bills today. first off the payroll tax holiday extension. that's one of them. this one could mean, if they don't pass it, that you would see a roughly $1,000 increase on your paycheck starting at the beginning of the year. it appears a compromise deal has been put in place but it's only going to keep things going for two months. that means we'll have to do all this again two months down the road. temporarily this could be a fix. the other one voting on today, big spending bill. this funds the government through september of the government was supposed to run out of money at midnight last night but they passed a one-day extension so they could vote today. athena jones in washington at the white house trying to make sense of it all. okay. which one do you want to start with? >> let's talk briefly about the spending bill expected to be passed today. of course the white house is pleased this is not something they are going to have to return to every few months over the course of next year. you know last year there were all these continuing resolutions, just funding the government for a few more months, a few more weeks. at least this one bill if it passes today will fund the government all the way through next year. that's one thing we can set aside. then of course you have the payroll tax cut issue, which we know is only extended for two months, 60 days this vote. there's been a lot of discussion over this bill, mainly how to pay for it. that's generally the thing that both of the parties argue about when it comes to bills like this. you have republicans arguing for a long time, some of them that these kinds of tax cuts putting another $1,000 in the average family's pocket doesn't do that much to stimulate the economy. economists say no, no, that's wrong. this is a largely consumer driven economy. giving people that extra money does give them a chance to boost that consumer spending and help the economy overall. the white house now has issued a statement last night saying the bill voted on today, a little from white house communication director pfeifer. the congress cannot go home without preventing a tax increase on 160 million hardworking americans and the deal announced taupe meets that test. this is an important step towards enacting a key provision of the president's american jobs act and a significant victory or for the economy. that's part of what was said. part of the deal, keystone pipeline, from canada to texas. you have a lot of republicans who support this, say it's going to create thousands upon thousands of jobs. there's a lot of debate over how many it will delay. lawmakers want to delay a decision on that until after 2013, the election this. bill voted on today has a provision that requires them to act within 60 days. ultimately the decision will still come down to the president in the end the department has to decide whether to issue, president says whether it goes forward or doesn't go forward will this is an issue they want to avoid. you'll have both sides claiming a victory. >> always somebody wants to claim a victory. athena jones, we'll see you shortly of the pipeline provision is drawing protesters to the white house speaker's front door. >> stop your dirty pipeline bill! >> you heard some of the protesters there chanting, stop your dirty pipeline bill. they showed up outside john boehner's cincinnati office. we pointed out legislation was added to the bill extending social security payroll tax cut. protesters opposed allowing keystone oil pipeline built through sensitive environmental areas. initially the pipeline we have skirted those areas. supporters say the pipeline will create thousands of jobs. turn back to a big weather story going on right now. this is happening in the philippines. as we speak there's a desperate search and rescue effort going on. the country was slammed by a major tropical storm. the estimates now are confirmed we're getting from the government there at least 200 or nearly 200 people dead. you've got another 400 missing. 20,000 soldiers being mobilized to help in the search and rescue efforts. it's nighttime there right now. it's going to make things a little more difficult. i talked to a journalist who was covering this, maria ressa just a short time ago, talking about the challenge right now. it's aftermath turning to aid and rescue workers looking for hundreds missing. they are trying to supply drinking water. they are asking for volunteers to try to get food and clothes fry night it rose to roof level as residents were sleeping. >> reynolds wolf now, we see this time and time again. we talk about winds and rain with hurricanes. >> when it comes to tropical systems that's the number one killer, flooding. rainfall, storm surge, that's the danger, certainly in philippines. come on over and let me show you what we have here. what's interesting about this particular scenario, the center of the storm isn't close to manila. the center of the storm is right about here. deep convection south of manila. interesting, you've got outer bands moving right through that region. when it interacts with the higher elevation you have near manila we have a process we call orographic lift that causes moisture to go into higher elevation. it causes the moisture to be enhanced. some place could have a foot of rainfall. i don't care where you happen to live, if you have rainfall you're going to have some flooding. when you have really deep hillsides and soil absorbs some of it. eventually the soil becomes saturated and gravity takes it's toll. tropical storms, one thing you have a lot of wind. southern california we've got wind of an entirely different variety. not a flooding situation, no. santa ana winds up, gusts 45 to 60 miles per hour. could see downed trees, power line issues, also delays expected there. speaking of delays, look for delays in chicago. we have snow to wrap things up, parts of central and southern florida, you're going to see rain there. much the eastern seaboard and parts of the central plains pure bliss in terms of conditions just beautiful. 49 in kansas city, 58 in dallas, 52 in memphis. 49 in billings. denver 44 degrees. speaking of denver, is tomorrow night denver and patriots. >> yes. >> tebow. >> tebow versus brady. >> clash of the at this tititan >> you really think so? >> i'm not betting against him ever. >> i don't think he's betting against him ever. >> ever. i believe in tebow. i'm drinking the kool-aid right here, right now. >> should be fun to watch. >> it will be. reynolds, thank you, buddy. we'll see you throughout the morning. first mila kunis, justin timberlake, now first lady michelle obama being asked out by a u.s. service member. we'll explain ahead on this "cnn saturday morning." o with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. ten minutes past the hour, "cnn saturday morning" looking at stories making news across the country. we start with a college fraternity in pretty big trouble. the fraternity decided someone at its university of vermont chapter went too far and ordering the chapter closed. the fraternity in burlington is being investigated after a survey showed up online asking frat brothers who they would rape if they could. >> it is technically free speech. yet it is deplorable and absolutely inappropriate and offensive. >> it is not something we stand for in terms of the values our members pledge ourselves to, our organization pledges itself to. >> in orangeville, california, lining up for a little buzz. free marijuana. more than 100 people, all with medical marijuana cards, got in line for about $10 bucks worth of pot. the center is one of several closing after the crack down on growing and selling marijuana. the dispensary also held a toy drive in its last day of operation. >> thank you for protecting us. >> you're very welcome. >> that young man is cody jackson, the one-man uso. a couple of times he's at the atlanta airport to thank returning service members. >> to see a little kid like this to come in here and do what he's doing, thanking us, you see a lot of people that don't. somebody that small, they really tug at your heart a whole lot. it makes everything we're doing worth it. we're about 12 minutes past the hour. this next story i need your help on. i clearly need perspective. my team is telling me i'm not thinking about this the right way. the story is, would you ask your boss's wife out on a date. does it matter if your husband is the president of the united states. see where i'm going? exactly what happened yet, toys for tots in washington. 20-year-old marine lance corporal aaron leaks, brave man, asked first lady michelle obama to accompany him to the marine corps ball next november. now, the first lady said she'd love to. we'll see what happens here. he's actually scheduled to take a tour. he's going out to afghanistan next month. but some people just have a different perspective. i've been hearing from some of you on this. is this okay, just kind of a cute gesture, to have the first lady accompany him? should you be asking the boss's wife out to accompany to you a ball? i might be looking at that the wrong way. send responses to the story. brave man. they play a huge part in any candidate's campaign, the spouse. wives can do a lot to sell their husbands in a campaign. sometimes it's a tougher sell. listen to this. >> seems like you have -- >> how would you know? how would you -- other than -- other than -- other than personal hostility. >> not exactly the marriage card newt gingrich has in his back pocket. we'll explain. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. all right. we're about 15 minutes pennsylvania the hour "cnn saturday morning." newt gingrich, mitt romney, battling it out for the gop nomination, also introducing us to their better halves. one candidate may have more success playing up that marriage angle. joe johns explains. >> reporter: what usually doesn't work very well in a presidential campaign is for some guy to interrupt an event it start shouting embarrassing questions about a candidate's personal life. >> seems like you have -- >> how would you know. >> cheating on your wife. >> how would you know, other than -- other than -- other than personal hostility. >> it's the velvet glove approach that's harder to deal with. mitt romney's wife in a living room in iowa with a few dozen supporters. >> i look back at how my husband has been a guy you can count on him. that's the personal side. >> how long has mitt romney been married to the same woman. bit time it's over you might have it memorized. >> i've been married to the same woman for -- excuse me. i'll get in trouble, 45 years. >> reporter: they like to think of wives as weapons. she's on the trail to make him more appealing, for women voters and voters who trust is a big issue. >> he has strong family values. that's what matters to him. that's where his world is. >> reporter: contrasting romney with gingrich who has had a more complicated personal life. >> the romney campaign is most certainly putting ann romney out there to highlight the 42-year marriage and children and romney as a family man as opposed to newt gingrich who is right now on his third marriage. >> reporter: not only married three times but gingrich that admitted adultery, asked god for forgiveness and converted to catholicism, the faith of his wife. she, too, is on the campaign trail but not heard as much. >> newt and i are determined to run a positive, solution-based campaign. >> reporter: some values voters might want to know more about the gingrich personal story. but for many it's news that's a decade old. >> people have discounted it. they already knew about newt's marriage history and they have discarded that as a concern about him. >> for her part ann romney is not trying to compare and contrast her husband's personal life. insiders say they think his past personal life is one of his liabilities. cnn, washington. all right. 17 minutes past the hour. you need to stick around after the break. two of our contributors are going to duke it out. every week we ask our financial analyst to say, hey, what do you want to talk about on the show. clive anderson said i'm going to tell you the things you do not need to buy for christmas. mario comes back and says i'm going to tell you things you need to buy. they are the same items. we're going to try to work this out after the break. 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 exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink twenty minutes past the hour. you need to hear this next segment people getting ready for the holidays. got a list of items that may be on your wish list that he says you do not need to buy right now. not before christmas. but hold on. our tech guru you hear every saturday as well mario armstrong heard about this, hold up, those same items he's telling you not to buy, you do need to buy them now. mario joining us by satellite. let me start with you. let's start with committees here, mario. you're saying go ahead and buy it right now. why? >> these financial analysts have no idea what they are talking about in technology. that's like me trying to explain an annuity. it's not going to happen. but no, computers right now are a good deal. now, i will tell you that you'll start to see that the prices won't drop because we're about a week away from christmas. so clive is right. he normally says, hey, we should wait a little while until august for the school year. that's a good point. you see a good deal, you should pick it up. if money is tight, buy refurbished. >> wait a minute. sounds like you're already conceding on the first point. you're telling me he's right? >> got him on the ropes. why rush it now. if you're going to buy a computer, that's a big ticket item. don't rush it before christmas. of course they are going to want to get rid of inventory after the holiday. they have things to discount, taking off the markup anyway. wait for the new year celine. wait for the first of the year. that's when they will be great. >> round one to clyde anderson. let's move to television. everybody likes big items, guys, wives buy tvs. >> no hurry. again, you're playing the game. consumers, you're feeding into what these advertisers and manufacturers want you to do. they are go to have tvs that who like a deal. it's not a great deal. tv won't change. they have to make room for inventory and new models at the first of the year. >> are you kidding me? >> the best time to buy a television is going to be right before the super bowl. that's when they sell the most of that's when they are going to have the biggest deals. the sales will be better than today? >> makes a good point? >> he stole my point. the deals great before the super bowl for large screen tvs. however, right now plasma and lcd televisions for secondary bedrooms or nonmain rooms are great deals now. he's talking about inventory. are you kidding me? there's tons of inventory right now they need to get rid of. >> exactly. much more inventory coming up. that's the thing. much more inventory to get rid of. what do they do to get rid of it? drop the prices. >> one thing i can't beat him on round two, don't buy these cables at the big box, clyde doesn't know this. go online. >> i was going to call that round a draw. that's like a low blow, you're going to introduce stuff not even talking about. let's go to cameras. mario, i'm going to let you have this first. go ahead and buy them now. >> point and shoot cameras, all i thinkel purpose technology is going out the window. this the first time you're really seeing cameras so inexpensive. i'm not talking about digital slrs, every day point and shoot cameras. prices are ridiculously low now. you can find a lot of great deals and really competitive. people can use smart phones. a lot of people want to have that dedicated item. >> clyde, ridiculously low. >> we're not talking about professional photographers, talking about people taking pictures of recitals, things like that. i don't want you to miss precious moments, 30% deal you wait until after the holiday. again, don't need the latest and greatest all the time. >> you're going onwait for the holiday to be over. >> all the family moments. >> if you don't have a camera right now and you need to capture the family moments get the camera. in this economy every dollar is crucial. if i have a camera that works, i'm not going to wait for the one with more pixels, digital zoom, i'm going to wait and get that 30%. >> these cameras can't grow anymore where they are. they are shooting 14 mega pixels, 12 mega pixels, there's nowhere to go. if you see one under $100, buy it. take a picture of clyde. >> you're the tech guy. i want to get you something for christmas. this is a calendar. i want you to use this. >> mario, we have to leave it there. mario, clyde, good stuff. let the viewers decide. quick break on this "cnn saturday morning" and we're right back. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. 8% every 10 years.age 40, fwe can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ close to the bottom of the hour, stories making headlines. some headlines out of washington, d.c. today the u.s. senate in session today considering a couple of important bills, going to be in session an hour and a half from now. one is a spending bill to fund the group september. the payroll tax extension will mean you won't see $1,000 missing from your paycheck at the beginning of the year. the compromise deal keeps it in place for two months, though. also about 100,000 people displaced right now after a tropical storm hit the philippines. at least 180 people are dead. the death toll expected to go higher. the philippines press secretary, defense secretary says an entire village may have been wiped out. ♪ at last my love has come along ♪ >> that is etta james and that signature song "at last." the news we're getting from her manager is that she is in the last stages of a terminal illness.