administration s dramatic plan to cut the pentagon budget. is it too much, too little, or is it the goldie locks budget? then, the west and iran are headed toward a serious showdown. what happens next? will oil spike to $150 a barrel? what is the end game here? we have four top experts to guide us through. also, we ll tell you the real reason china is revamping most of its television shows. it s not to get better ratings. my take this week is on iran. you ll hear from others on this later, but i ll go first. there s not much foreign policy talk on the campaign trail, as you probably noticed, except for one issue. everyone is talking about iran s new strength and assertiveness, its missile tests, its progress on the nuclear program, its moves in iraq. mitt romney, the republican front-runner, describes iran as the greatest threat the world faces over the next decade. in fact, the real story on the ground is that iran is weak and getting weaker. sanctions have pushed the
military forces from streets, to stop violence from protesters. they ve been on the ground about 48 hours. their initial statements are so far stunning. the chief monitor of this arab league observer force s sudanese commander. not only a commander but also the former head of foreign intelligence in the government of omar al bashir, a man wanted by the international criminal court for genocide in crimes against humanity. more on that in a moment. today, the head of the arab league team in syria told reuters that, quote, things were calm and there were no clashes in homs, which has for months seen some of the deadliest violence. he went on to say, the situation seems reassuring so far. he also said, some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening. nothing frightening. that is not what we have been hearing from people in and around homs for months and it s not what you will hear tonight from a reporter that snuck into that city and returned. the footage he
stop violence against protesters. they ve been on the ground about 48 hours. and their initial statements are so far stunning. the chief monitor of this arab league observer force is a sudanese military commander named lieutenant general mohammed ahmed mustafa al dhabi. not only is he a sudanese military commander, he s also the former head of foreign intelligence in the government of omar al bashir, the man now wanted by the international criminal court for genocide and crimes against humanity. more on that in a moment. today, the head of the arab league team in syria, general al dhabi, told reuters that things were calm and there were no clashes in homs, which has for months seen some of the deadliest violence. he went on to say, the situation seems reassuring so far. he also said, some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening. nothing frightening. that is not of course what we ve been hearing from people in and around homs for months. and it
they ve been on the ground for 48 hours and their initial statements are so far stunning. the chief monitor of the arab league observer force is a sudanese military commander mohammed mustafa al dabbi, he s the former head of intelligence in the government of omar basher. a man wanted for crimes against humanity. he told reuters that quote things were calm and there were no clashes in homs. he went on to say, the situation seems reassuring so far. he also said, some places looked a bit of a mess, but there was nothing frightening. nothing frightening. that s not of course what we ve been hearing from people in and around homs for months. and it s not what you will hear from a reporter who snuck into the city and just returned. the footage he took is very disturbing and we ll show you that tonight as well. there s other footage i want to show you, but it s hard to watch. this is video claiming to show the aftermath of an artillery strike in homs. the scene, destruction, seve
will on the streets. journalists get a look at the violence syria doesn t want you to see. it is amazing to me how this guy has been shot this many times. i mean, he s superman. i have been shot three times. my fingers have bullet holes. did you hear had a? part man, part terminator. shot three times in a robbery. a marine pulls out the bullets with his own hands. and now he s talking about it from his hospital bed on this american morning. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 29. this is american morning. a lot going on today. let s get right to it. that s right. good morning, everybody. glad you are with us. i m alina cho. up first, dramatic shift in the political landscape with five days to go before the iowa caucuses. just look at this brand-new c cnn/ time poll. mitt romney on top in iowa now. followed closely by ron paul. newt gingrich plunging and rick santorum suddenly rolling right to the top three. gingrich now 11 points behind romney. he s