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
over and out. the u.s. military lowers the flag in baghdad. the final u.s. troops leaving iraq with pride. and putting a fragile nation in the rear view mirror. breaking news for your paycheck. big compromise on capitol hill that could put $1,000 or more back into your paycheck next year. occupy gingrich. newt gets heckled by wall street protesters. they get it back on this american morning. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 15. welcome to american morning. good morning, carol. good morning, christine. good morning to all of you. it s over. minutes ago u.s. forces lowered the flag at baghdad and retired the colors to mark the end of the nearly nine-year iraq war. final few thousand u.s. troops are leaving iraq ahead of the new year s eve deadline to get out. it is a war that started with shocking and awe. today the departing soldiers are remembering more than 4,000 who did not come home alive. the long journey home. let s get to barbara starr. s
let s begin with the latest in the political plate underway in iowa. right now, dramatic, huge developments unfolding. looks like a three-man race if you believe some of these cent polls. newt gingrich, mitt romney and ron paul all basically within a margin. we re watching all this unfold. jim akcosta is standing by. he s on the scene for us. gloria borker is joining us. newt gingrich, he s trying to project the positive image he is above the fray, but is he making a mistake by not through all these attacks from mitt romney, ron paul and these other republican presidential candidates? you know, wolf, i think he s able to have it all ways. it s a smart strategy. don t forget, gingrich came into politics and was known as the bombastic speaker of the house when he was the one in charge of those house republicans and one republican control of the house by waging a relentlessly negative campaign against democrats. so now, he s able to play against type. that really works for h
political university for the republican white house hopefuls. most of the candidates have iowa on their schedule today with their eyes on the all important caucuses less than three weeks away. that includes newt gingrich, who s iowa campaign director resigned amid reports he called romney s mormon faith a cult. but do voters share that view? and could that be part of the reason why mitt romney isn t xweting even more support? joe johns is joining us with more. he s been taking a closer look at romney s faith. i guess the question is mormon faith holding him back? it s a very good question, wolf. what about mitt romney s faith? one of those questions a lot of people dismiss as soon as it s asked. partly because people of both parties say they want to believe that a presidential election ought to be about issues, that the religion is beside the point, but polls show it was an issue four years ago and believe it or not, it s still an issue today. when you ask a lot of evange