holidays. party leaders in the senate now say they re trying to come up with terms come to terms with something and that may be more likely now that democrats have given up trying to pass a new tax on millionaires. but wait, there is more. in less than 36 hours, much of the federal government will run out of money. the latest as seven budgetary stop gaps runs ot out at midnight tomorrow night. while lawmakers scramble to come up with a plan, nobody s voted on anything. we ll certainly keep you posted. in baghdad today, the end became real. u.s. forces lowered the flag of command, closing the book on a controversial war that claimed almost 4,500 american lives and cost more than $800 billion. defense secretary leon panetta was there. to all of the men and women in uniform today, your nation is deeply indebted to you. you have done everything your nation asked you to do and more. your dedication, your commitment to this mission, has been the driving force behind the rem
i want to begin in kuwait. at camp virginia with martin savidge where troops are getting ready to head hole. market? reporter: for those troops coming out of iraq, camp virginia is their first stop and the first step to get home in time for many of them to the holidays. they don t forget this is an important time and they are witnesses to history here. whether it is their first deployment or their fifth or sixth as it has been in some cases. they all know that being here at the end of this conflict is a moment that they will remember and a moment that historians will write about. also a moment that each soldier feels personally as they come across the border from iraq into kuwait. we had a conversation with a chaplain who has been up there and witness that had moment. and here s how he described it. i think it is awesome. the fact that we re bringing something to the close. as the chaplain, i get to go out and we go to watch the guys cross the border and say hey, welcome
30,000 wounded warriors, many of whom still struggle with serious, life-altering injuries. reporter: it s estimated more than 150,000 iraqis lost their lives in the war. most of them civilians. 16 days to go before the typical american worker gets hit with $1,000 a year tax increase. there are some signs now republicans, democrats, might, might break their log jam over extending the payroll tax cut. democratic source says that president obama may drop his plan for a millionaire surtax to cover the cost of extending it. republicans oppose any new taxes on the wealthy. they would like to pay for the extension primarily by freezing ped ral pay. mitt romney rolling out an aggressive new strategy to stop newt gingrich. romney, in a flurry of interviews, says gingrich and his policy ideas are zany. that s right. he says we don t need zany in a president. he labels gingrich an unreliable conservative. gingrich climbed to the top of national presidential polls after herman cain
number iowa and the price of gold suddenly falls and a glimpse into the future of war. time to play reporter roulette on this thursday. i want to begin in kuwait. at camp virginia with martin savidge where troops are getting ready to head hole. market? reporter: for those troops coming out of iraq, camp virginia is their first stop and the first step to get home in time for many of them to the holidays. they don t forget this is an important time and they are witnesses to history here. whether it is their first deployment or their fifth or sixth as it has been in some cases. they all know that being here at the end of this conflict is a moment that they will remember and a moment that historians will write about. also a moment that each soldier feels personally as they come across the border from iraq into kuwait. we had a conversation with a chaplain who has been up there and witness that had moment. and here s how he described it. i think it is awesome. the fact that we
this is t.j. back in atlanta. you hearing me okay? arwa damon is not hearing me right now. arwa damon one of a number of cnn correspondents who spent a lot of time in iraq over the last several years reporting there literally from the very beginning of that war and throughout. we ll try to get her back in a moment. a historic day we saw even though a few thousand american service members in iraq. they will make their way out, many of them this weekend and, again, formally, it is over. let me turn to our zain verjee. the whole world, zain, she s joining me from london. the whole world watched this event today. what is the world saying now that it s over? well, there s been a lot of reaction today, as you can imagine. it s been eight years, eight months and 26 days. and a lot of blood, sweat and tears on both the sides of the american people, as well as the iraqi people. let me give you an idea. the guardian. has this headline. the u.s. troops are pulling out, but what have