three children and their grandparents? a cop car out of control slamming into a packed restaurant stopping only inches from a firepit and tanks of propane on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it's wednesday, december 28th. welcome to "american morning." i'm alina cho along with ali velshi. so glad you're with us today. >> good morning, alina. up first, remember newt gingrich's pledge to keep his campaign positive? forget about it. with six days to go before the iowa caucuses the former house speaker kicked it into slice and dice mode. listen to newt gingrich in "the situation room" with wolf blitzer challenging mitt romney to man up. and the massachusetts governor was willing to return the fire. >> mitt romney's the guy running the most ads attacking me, and he's doing it through this disingenuous, oh, gee, i don't control all of my former staff and millionaire friends. it's baloney. he wants to defend his negativity, show up in iowa 90 minutes face to face. let the people decide whether or not in fact he'll back up what he's been saying and let him back up his moderate record, not conservative record, as governor, and i don't think he'll do it. >> running his campaign the way he thinks best. obviously, the virginia setting was not the best hour of his campaign. it's more like, lucille ball at the chocolate factory. i mean, you've got to get it organized. >> we have not heard of last of those two. gingrich didn't hold back when he came to his other challenger in iowa, ron paul. listen to this bombshell gingrich dropped on wolf blitzer. >> you look at his newsletters and then you look at his ads. his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> if he were to get the republican nomination. >> he won't. >> let's say he were. could you vote for him? >> no. >> when newt gingrich ask was a if he could vote for barack obama calling boast choices bad for america. with us live from des moines, iowa, this morning. certainly getting ugly this morning. what's it looking like in iowa? >> ali, look, liooks likes glovs are off. didn't take newt gingrich long to break his promise to stay positive. sad about taking all this incoming newt has been taking from the superpacs aligned with mitt romney as well as with ron paul running his own ads, attacking newt gingrich. you know, the ron paul campaign responded in kind to those very harsh words from newt gingrich. let me read you a little bit about what the campaign manager said in response to newt gingrich. frustration from this floundering campaign has newt gingrich showing who he really is. a divisive, big government liberal. we are less than a week before the iowa caucuses and things are just going to get uglier and uglier as we get closer to january 3rd. >> rick perry is also making news in iowa. he's telling voters why he has toughened his stance on abortions. tell us what he's done. >> yeah. you know, rick perry made this announcement yesterday. he was here in iowa campaigning. in fact, he said that he is hardening his position now on abortion. before he did not -- he is a povertied the right of a woman to have an abortion if she was a victim of rape and incest. that has now changed, he says. listen to rick perry explain it himself. >> she said, i am the product of a rape, and she said, my life is worth -- it was a powerful moment for me. >> and listen to that applause. that plays very well with the image, born again conservative voters here in iowa. rick perry said that he came to that transformational moment after watching a dvd. the woman he's explaining that he heard talk about her problems with abortion was the fact that she, her mother, was a vick testimony testimo victim of rape. it was produced by mike huckabee, the governor who won the 2008 caucuses. a lot going on nr iowa. it's only going to get busier and busier. >> none of us are in a position to question rick perry's belief and whether they shifted and people's beliefs evolved. is in talk this may have something to do with the tougher and tougher battle for the evangelical wing in iowa? >> no question that that is certainly going to be questioned. the fact you have made the switch just in the past few weeks, that rick perry would come out and make that announcement here in iowa. we should say that it was, and he has been against abortion. his life. he was a social conservative. you're right, ali. why take this moment to say he's actually hardened it across the spectrum? >> mark, a busy week. good to see you, my friend. full coverage of the iowa cau s caucuses on tuesday. political director in des moines. the shaky hold democrats have on the senate just got a little shake jer. ben nelson of nebraska says it's time to move on. he will not seek re-election next year. nelson's announcement has democrats scrambling to preserve his senate seat and their 53-47 majority. party officials are reaching out to former nebraska senator bob k kerry kerrey to run for his sea. wolf blitzer will ask him on "the situation room," putting in comments of newt gingrich to mitt romney and see what he says. and the late leader of north korea, kim jong-il, funeral services took place very early new york time. the services are expected to last the two days. his son and hand-picked successor, kim jong un, walking along the front of the hearse as the world looks for signs of instai instability. paula hancocks with more on that. >> reporter: hello, alina. this was certainly a very well choreographed event. north korea was very aware that the rest of the world would be watching this very closely, and this is what north korea does best. the pomp and ceremony of these kinds of events. now, what we saw was kim jong un walking alongside his father's car, carrying the coffin, and also behind him his uncle, who's believed to be helping in his first few years of reign, and also on the other side, there were very significant military personnel. the head of the military was flanking the hearse as well. so this was really a show of unity by the north koreans. they wanted to show that kim jon isle was alrea jong-il was already in control and had the support of the military behind him. it was a snow-laden street, a very heavy snow that didn't affect proceedings. the state-run media even said the heavens and the sky was mourning the loss of kim jong-il. tens of thousands of people came out to mourn the dear leader as his coffin went past, and there were many scenes of weeping and wailing and chest beating. among them, many soldiers. definitely more of a military theme it appears, this time than kim il-sung, at the fra grandfather's funeral 17 years ago. north korea showing the succession as far as they're concerned is going according to script. alina? >> when kim jong-il's father, kim il-sung died a four-year period of mourning where he largely remained quiet. is it expected to be the same this time around? >> reporter: no one's sure if kim jong un will have this luxury. kim jong-il had 14 years of grooming before he took over and effectively in chargof the military when his father died. kim jong un, only a few days. he was shown to the public and the world just over a year ago. so he has very little military experience, if any. he has no political experience. he's not even 30. and so experts are suggesting that he doesn't actually have the luxury of waiting a few years until he tries to consolidate power, but he will have to consolidate power. he has relatives around him. his uncle and his aunt, the sister of kim jong-il, supposedly going to be mentoring him, and in theory, according to state media, he has the military behind him, which is crucial in north korea. it's more than 1 million-person strong army. it's absolutely crucial the military is behind him. this is all what we're seeing publicly. the only thing we can see is what north korean television is showing us. we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. >> i remember being in north korea the first time they unv l unveiled kim jong un. the first time the public saw him as well as the world. we'll be watching closely. paula hancocks, thanks very much. the bloody crackdown in syria continues right under the noses are the arab league monitors who are in the country. they will visit two new towns at the center of the uprising. an opposition group says 14 more people killed. thousands in the streets to protest the al assad regime. a human rights group is accusing them of hiding hundreds in military sites. iran is threatening to block the flow of crude l through the strait of hormuz that is driving oil prices up. every day some 15 million barrel of crude flow through the channel connecting the indian ocean and persian gulf. iran's vice president is warning that the strait will be blocked if the west following through on threats to impose sanctions on its crude exports. >> these are long-standing threats. the u.s. military patrols that area as well. terrifying moments in new mexico. a police squad car crashes into a crowded restaurant. the officer loses control after being clipped by another car on the highway. the cruiser stopped in front of one of the fire pits right in front of kerosene and propane. the restaurant starting clearing everybody out. >> we rushed everybody out the back door is what we did, because we didn't know if it was going to blow up. >> we heard this all happen and all of these people are involved, and no one was hurt. we just all said it was like a christmas miracle. >> incredibly, as they said, that one was hurt. this is an incredible story. luck has run out for whoever pulled this summer's winning powerball ticket. i said this summer's. $77 million jackpot sat waiting more than 100 days. the winner never came forward. the prize expired this monday. the winning ticket was purchased in georgia. the unclaimed jackpot apparently divided among its participating powerball states. >> wow. >> i know. >> it's not too late for one lucky person to claim -- pardon me. the $206 mega millions jackpot. whoever won bought their ticket in new york state. the megaball number is 8. >> they haven't come forward either. >> i would be in a relative hurry to get my money. >> me, too. coming up investigators will reveal what started the fire that killed three little girls and their grandparents on christmas day. a big settlement in the price fixing case among tv manufacturers. are you one of the customers that might get some money back? and bill maher, bashing the bronco's quarterback in a tweet. we'll tell what you he said. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. 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. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, 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. . welcome back. new dames in the christmas day tragedy in connecticut. investigators reveal the fatal mistake that took the lives of three little girls and their grandparents as their house went up had flames. hot, smoldering ashes from a yule log, thrown outside without being doused in water. fire marshals say those embers sparked the deadly fire. deb feyerick joins us with more on this horrific story. deb, good morning to you. it was the way the embers were discarded, number one and there was not, from what i understand, a working fire detector. >> there wasn't. the house waseneder reconstruction. that may have been one of the reasons they didn't have that. an alarm system. it doesn't appear that was activated. seven people in that house. only two, the mother and her boyfriend, made it up alive. they'd stayed up late wrapping christmas presents. thought they were doing the right thing by cleaning out the fireplace and putting the ashes outside. as fire raced through the victorian home just before dawn christmas morning, neighbors frantically called 911. >> what's the emergency? >> a huge fire at the house next door. the whole house is on fire. >> what is the address, ma'am. >> 2241 shippan avenue. it's the house next door. three kids and a woman. >> reporter: trapped inside the stamford, connecticut home, two grandparents and their three granddaughters. >> a major, major fire with people in the house. >> we have a fire crew on the way, ma'am. >> please, come quickly. >> reporter: the house was under renovation. it appears fireplace embers placed in an outdoor trash enclosure outside the home caused the blaze. the mom climbed out on scaffolding frantically directing firefighters to the third floor where she said her children were sleeping. >> the crew pushed through two rooms unable to find the children. pushed back by intense heat and flames. >> reporter: grabbing two of the frightened girls, family friend michael seen here on his facebook page reached the second floor. >> the heat drove them to get spramt separated. one went back upstairs and another found with the grandmother. >> the grandfather spent christmas eve playing santa. he managed to leave one granddaughter at the back the house, climbed on to the roof and died when he tried to pull her to safety. >> just outside the window he came out of we found one of the young children. i guess there were a pile of books. looks like she was placed on the books. >> reporter: the mother, a successful marketing executive, is said to be in shock. she was taken from the scene sobbing, my whole life is in that house. >> when you don't make that rescue, that you failed, and i don't think anybody wants to fail. >> reporter: now, investigators continued to search for answers, but it appears that the home did not have smoke detectors, nor did it have a fire alarm system. it appears by the time the family realized they were in danger, the fire was just well underway and much of the house consumed. >> there are a couple of lessons. number weren't, check your fire detector. number two, know the proper way to discard the embers. in a metal enclosure, right? and make sure you douse it with water? >> exactly right. clearly they thought we were doing the responsible thing by taking the many bers outside, by not leaving them in the home. again it was that just one small mistake. and -- >> incredible how quickly that house went up in flames. >> exactly. old victorian house and, really, they just couldn't get out. >> all right. >> deb feyerick, thank you very much. check on the weather. 20 minutes after the hour. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center for us. good morning. >> good morning. a storm rolled through much of the eastern half of the country yesterday. king of prussia, north and west of pennsylvania. street flooding. the northeast got hammered with how much heavy rain fell's in some places, just to the west, highway, cincinnati blowing out their annual rainfall record. over 70 inches just outside of philadelphia. connecticut parts of upstate new york and northern new england seeing a fair amount of rain and wind. today the big story is wind. rainfall moving out. a little snow behind this system finally. not a tremendous amount. advisories out. anywhere from one to five inches in parts of western pennsylvania and upstate new york. the wind is the bigger issue. 20 to 30 mile-an-hour winds across the corridor slowing down air travel for sure at the new york metro in philadelphia, boston, d.c. as well to a lesser extent. san francisco starting to crank up the storm train out in. in between, though, decent weather, mild conditions at temperatures begin top rebound. a cold front coming through the northeast. not drastically cold. not an arctic outbreak by any stretch. the jet stream staying further north but slams into the pacific northwest. an incredibly dry december and making up for it in a hurry. the jet stream pointing at the passes well up and over 60 miles an hour. 36 degrees in chicago. about where you should be for this time of year. 39 in minneapolis. probably above average. 52 in memphis. it will be 44 in new york city today. but it will be breezy. hold on to your hats. >> you've got the same thing in your throat that i've got. >> i don't know how to get rid of it but hope to have it gone by the next hour. >> i only pay attention to the morning stuffy say, because i don't really care about the rest of it. doing erin burnett's show. >> he didn't mean that. >> i'm learning. ip should listen all the time. i got outside. like i was going to build an iu ark. so much rain. he laugh at me. the doorman says, do you not listen to the weather? >> here's the other thing. get an umbrella, maybe? >> raining like mad, but unseasonably warm. why ali is wearing a vest and no jacket. >> there you go. >> i don't want you -- stay cool. >> thank you, rob. >> thank you. >> see you, guys. still ahead, the new leader of north korea. north korea holding funeral services for former leader kim jong-il. his son, talking about whether he can possibly a bigger threat than his father. our guest along in a few minutes. it's 23 after the hour. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. 26 minutes after the hour. welcome back. we'remondened this morning. u.s. markets are crawling to the finish line. three trading sessions to go in the 2011 frayeding season. trading season. yesterday was a downright snoozer. the dow dropped three points. the other major indices moving mostly sideways in a sluggish, low volume session. if you thought you'd make it to the end of 2011 without hearing the word debt ceiling again, you were wrong. president obama plans to ask congress this week to raise the nation's debt limit by 1.2 trillion dollars next year. that will put it at $16.4 trillion. the request is expected to be granted by the democratic-controlled senate. no end in sight for the housing market. home prices falling for the sixth straight month in october. according to the case schiller index, they fell from a year ago. oil prices back up. the price of a barrel of light sweet crude just above $100 a barrel. prices shot up more than 2% yesterday after iran threatened to choke off oil supplies flowing through the strait of who are moos. and the strait of hormuz. if you purchased a flat-screen tv, you might be entitled to a refund. sharp and samsung agreed to a settlement after being charged with lcd panel price fixing qualifying buyers in 24 states and washington, d.c. will be notified at a later date how to get some of their money back. "american morning" back, right after this break. , the mo, because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ let's fight fat with alli. 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 eironmental 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. 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[ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. uncontrollable grief as north korea says good-bye to kim jong-il. his son now sitting on a nuclear arsenal. why he could be an even bigger wild card, on this "american morning." welcome back. it is 31 minutes after the hour. time for this morning's top stories -- newt gingrich taking off the gloves. former house speaker promised not to go negative in his campaign but he's slamming his two top rivals with six days to go from the iowa caucuses. challenging mitt romney to man up and accept a one-on-one debate, 90 minutes not moderated and criticizing ron paul as totally outside the main stream of virtually every decent american. and syrian forces firing tear gas and bullets at protesters despite the presence of arab league observer, who are there to help bring an end to the bloody crackdown. an opposition group says another 39 people were killed yesterday, including two children. 14 of them in the city of homs, which has been under siege for days. former egyptian president hosni mubarak wielded to court on a stretcher. the trial resuming in egypt after a three-month delay. he's charged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. north korea paint add picture of power and stability this morning as the world watches very closely. thousands of hysterical mourners lined the streets of the capital in the snow to say good by to the former dictator kim jong-il. his son and hand-picked successo kim jong un alongside the front of the hearse with thousands of soldiers marching in step right behind him. joining us, the korea chair at the center for strategic and international studies. victor, good morning to you. thank you for joining us. i want to look at the, what i would like to call the anatomy of this funeral to try to figure out what's going on. what we have on dismay have what some refer to at pyongyangology. we saw kim jong un walking at the frond of the hearse. most notably, his uncle. what is the significance of that? >> alina, as you know, his uncle is probably the key reason in this effort to transfer power over to the young son. because he is so young and inexperienced, they have set up a group of people, including some of the younger generation of generals and members of the feel as a regionship around kim jong un so he can run the country. >> kim jung un has only had about 20 months to prepare, his father by contrast had 20 years. how much does this concern you? >> it does concern me a bit. these are very brittle dictatorships and even under the best of circumstances, doing a third dienastic succession is a feat. this is an economy that's been run down. people that are starving, and all of this is happening in the context of, you know, the tumultuous event we've seen in the arab spring in the past year. this is going to be a difficult transition. the fact she so young and inexperienced does make me a little bit worried. >> he has, from what we understand, very little is known about him, but he was, we believe, schooled in switzerland for a time. he has had some exposure to the west, but having been there, inside the country, i mean, i'm well aware of this military first policy which by all accounts will continue. right? there's no indication that north korea would open up, tleecht at not in the near term? >> a good point, alina. you've been there and you know. the issue is the current generation in north korea, even if kim jong un was schooled in switzerland and taken courses on american politics, even as a leader, all of those around him grew up in a generation, where things have been, like the arab spring, 1989, in tiananmen square in china, the collapse of the soviet union, and south korea, one of the most successful countries in each asia sits directly on its border. they really don't have a lot of room to breathe and, therefore, making a big transition, some sort of major reform and opening would really require a charismatic and gutsy leader, and we don't have that person in north korea today. >> this funeral was closed to the rest of the world. foreign dignitaries. in fact, no one outside of the country was invited. did that surprise you? >> not particularly. i mean, i think that north korea has always been a very private and secretive place. a dark dynasty, if you will. therefore, their effort to not let this be open to the public does not surprise me. kim jong-il was a mystery when alive and his funeral a mystery as well. >> kim jong-nam, kim jong-il's eldest son, mostly absent from the funeral. emitted from the guest list. he, of course, spoke out against it's succession. kim jong un is the third son of kim jong-il. were you surprised by the fact that he was there? it was a very big deal, and it must signify a huge rift in the family. right? >> yeah. i mean, i think -- there have been three sons to kim jong-il. kim jong-nam, and kim jong chal and kim jong un and they've gone with the youngest son. for kim jong-nam, a wild card. people want to watch carefully what he does. palace politics will be very interesting tocover over the next weeks and months. >> you know, one question that i have is that kim jong-il observed a three-year mourning period after the death of his father, kim il-sung. do you think that we might see something similar here with kim jong un? some people suggested he just doesn't have the time to do that? >> that's right. i really don't think he has the time. as he said earlier, kim jong-il had 20 years to prepare for this. after his father died in 1994, there was this mourning period, in part because they were so secure he was running day-to-day operations. what we see here is a real effort to put kim jong un right up front early on to show there is a power backing. more a manifestation how they're not really prepared for this transition rather than them being prepared. >> one of the best people to talk to on matters of north korea, victor cha, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. new problems for newt gingrich. former speaker fighting back against new revelations that he flip-flopped on romneycare. cnn's mary snow has the latest. >> reporter: the 2006 signing of massachusetts health care law is a moment republican presidential hopefuls won't let rival mitt romney forget. some equate it with what they call obamacare, but five years ago, newt gingrich in a newsletter called it an exciting development, quote, saying the health care bill governor romney signed into law has tremendous potential to effect major change in the american health system. the "wall street journal" dug up the newsletter from gingrich's organization. the center for health transformation. the newt note raises concerns about the massachusetts plan and guess on to say, we agree entirely that governor romney and massachusetts legislatorleg that our goal should be 100% insurance coverage for all americans. fast forward to 2011. here's gingrich taking aim at romney's health care plan as a cnn debate in october. >> your plan essentially is one more big government bureaucratic high cost system which candidly could not have been done by any other state, none other had a program as lavish as yours and no other state got at much money from the bush administration for this experiment. >> reporter: gingrich supported this in the past and changed his mind. what he told cnn's wolf blitzer about hit earlier place of the romney plan. >> i conclude it doesn't work. he still defends it. >> reporter: just this may, here's what gingrich had to say about mandates on nbc's "meet the press." >> i've said consistently, have health insurance or post a bond or in some way you'll be held accountable that is the individual mandate? >> a variation on it. >> reporter: in the headlines, mitt romney took the chance to weigh in. >> i'm fall with the fact that he supported individual mandates in the past and was supportive generally of the plan we had in massachusetts. and he's changed his view in the election year. >> reporter: barbs are traded as team gingrich turns up the heat on romney questioning his conservative credentials. mary snow, cnn, new york. and wolf blitzer will talk to romney today in "the situation room." can't wait to see that. meanwhile, comedian bill maher camping a lot of heat over a tweet about tim tebow. maher, a proud atheist, slammed the bronco quarterback who is open about his faith after an abrupt loss this past saturday to the buffalo bills. you may find the language offensive. maher tweeted, wow, jesus just [ bleep ] tim tebow bad, and on christmas eve. somewhere in hell, satan is tebowing saying to hitler, hey, buffalo's killing them. you might imagine, maher is feeling the backlash from conservatives calling for a massive boycott of his show which airs on hbo and is owned by the parent company of this network. is syria hiding the slaughter of the syrian -- saying they're not seeing the real story. and traveling to mexico after a texas family is gunned down in a holiday massacre. we'll explain. it's 41 minutes after the hour. brad, where we going? 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[ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. welcome back. the bloody crackdown in syria continues this morning apparently right under the noses of arab lead monitors now in the country. visiting two new towns at center of the uprising. an opposition group says another 39 people were killed yesterday including two children. according to reuters the head of of the arab league says the situation in homs is reassuring so far. so what are they actually being allowed to see? mohammed jamjoom is monitoring from cairo. hello, mohammed. >> reporter: hello, ali. arab league observers finally started arriving at flashpoint cities in syria to begin their observation. they say they'll be given unfetter unfettered access they need. others aren't so sure. demonstrators under assault. syrian security forces firing tear gas and bombs this on the same dame arab league observers arrive in the flashpoint cities. this showing permission of the general walking through homs. residents approach. show him what appears to be remnants of weapons. the monitors insist they will have free access to any place they want, but activists and residents question that claim. >> we need from these observers to move and nobody is telling them -- we need them to visit this area, the areas that are damaged. >> reporter: cnn cannot independently verify this video, but it purports to show monitors in a neighborhood. residents argue with a man described to us as a government minder pleading for the team members to are taken to other areas. an unseen voice is heard saying, there are unarmed civilians dying here. go inside and see for yourself. they are slaughtering us. then the sound of gunfire. emboldened by the presence of the observers, tens of thousands of protesters gather in another part of the city for a huge rally. the people demand international protection, they chanted. but chaos would erupt yet again. this video show as building on fire. a voice describes how another peaceful demonstration was fired upon. it is as if the arab league did not come to homs, says the man. elsewhere in the country, reports of more violence. protesters under attack as they demonstrated in the streets. tear gas being disbursed, security forces opening fire. all at a time when an international mission is hoping to put an end to this sort of violence. in addition to homs we're told that observers will also visit the flashpoint cities around the area today and just a few minutes ago, ali, we should report that the syrian state television flashed that 775 detainees will be released today. the statement said that these detainees were involved in recent events but that their hands were not stained with the blood of the syrians. ali? >> i know you're keeping an eye on it, mohammed. watching the situation with syria. 27 minutes after the hour. just ahead on "american morning," a texas mother and her two daughters gunned down on a trip across the border to visit family on christmas. the u.s. is now warning its citizens after the holiday massacre. 47 minutes past the hour. we'll have that story when we come back. 49 minutes after the hour. what you need to know to start your day -- newt gingrich in attack mode with just six days to go before the iowa caucuses. he's challenging mitt romney to man up and face him in a one-on-one debated. when asked by cnn's wolf blitzer if he would vote for ron paul if he won the nomination, gingrich said, no. and funeral services for north korean leader kim jong-il. his successor, kim jong un at the side of the hearse. funeral services are expected to last for two day. the trial of former egyptian president hosni mubarak resuming in egypt after a three-month delay. he charnged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. breast feeding moms expected to storm 100 target stores in 35 states to take part in what they're calling a public nurse-in. a texas target employee was accused of harassing a woman for breast feeding her child in public and allegedly told her to go into a restroom pap logo strategically placed target. one lucky new yorker won the $206 mega million jackpot. the winning ticket purchased somewhere in new york state. the prize number, 23, 32, 33, 39, 43 and the megaball number is 8. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this. welcome back. 52 minutes after the hour. a family traveling to mexico gun down an a trip to visit her parents. there was a witness to all of it. the story live from atlanta. rafael, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, alina. in addition to the family from texas, there was also a teenager from the chicago area who was brutally killed in mexico. this makes four american citizens killed south of the border in less than a week and all four of them seem to be innocent victims. it was supposed to be a jief jo holiday trip. a texas family traveling by bus to spend christmas with relatives. margaret snyder says her daughter-in-law maria and her granddaughter, 19-year-old carla and 13-year-old christina were traveling in the mexican state when their bus was attacked by a group of armed gunmen. all three shot and killed. the 10-year-old who witnessed the horrific scene told his grandmother what he saw. >> i turned around and then i come back and they shot her in the head with the gun, and they shot carla and he said he knew that his mom and carla was dead. >> reporter: a mexican army spokesman says the assailants kim add total of seven people on three different buses on the same day, including the texas family. >> i told her not to go to mexico. i told her not to go to mexico. i just -- kept repeating it. i just -- you know, senseless. it's just senseless. >> reporter: violence in the state where the fatal attack happened has increased sharply this year as a result of a turf war fought by two extremely violent mexican drug cartels. military authorities said the same assailants killed a total of 11 people last thursday. 10 shot and another died in a grenade attack. five of the hitmen later died in a shoot-out with mexican armed forces, the military spokesman said. mexican authorities are also investigating the violent death of another american citizen. 18-year-old alexis moron from chicago, one of three men whose charred bodies were found in the trunk of a car. and mexico officials have increased security on highways in the state where the texas family was killed. asking american citizens to maintain a heightened sense of alert when traveling in vaira cruz and the border state south of texas where carjackings and bus robberies have happened in recent months. alina, back to you. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. ahead next hour, north koreans saying farewell toll their so-called dear leader. kim jong laid to rest. we're live in seoul, south korea as memorial services continue. and newt gingrich kicking into attack mode. live in des moines with the iowa caucuses just six days away, ahead on "american morning." what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! 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[ male announcer ] icy hot no-mess applicator. wherever you hurt, it massages in icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. no pain. no mess. overwhelming grief in the streets of north korea. funeral services for the so-called dear leader, kim jong-il. it's baloney. if he wants to defend his negativity, show up in iowa, 90 minutes face to face. >> with six days to go before the iowa caucuses the former house speaker is doing something he promised he wouldn't. newt gingrich is going negative. and new details in a christmas day tragedy. what caused a fire that killed three children and their grandparents? and iran playing the oil card. threatening to close a key gulf route if new sanctions are handed down, on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning to you. it is wednesday, december 28th. hump day, in a week that for some people is very long. between the holidays and some of us are working. i'm ali velshi. >> good morning, everybody. i'm alina cho. up first this morning, newt gingrich on the attack, with six days to go before the iowa caucuses. the former house spooker has exex speaker has existed the high road and entered attack mode. listen as wolf blitzer's guest is newt gingrich. >> mitt romney is doing it how that this, oh, gee, i don't control all of my staff and all of my millionaire friends. it's baloney. it he wants to defend his neg tivgty, show up in iowa, 90 minutes face to face and less the people decide whether or not he'll back up has he's been saying and let him back up his moderate record, not conservative record, as governor. and i don't think he'll do it. >> he's running his campaign the way he thinks best. obviously, the virginia setting was not the best hour of his campaign. >> i think it's more like -- lucille ball at the chocolate factory. so, i mean, you've got to get it organized. >> gingrich didn't hold back when it came to his other challenger in iowa. ron paul. just listen to this bombshell gingrich dropped on wolf blitzer. look at his newsletters and then his ads. his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> if he were to get the republican nomination. >> he won't. >> let's say he were. could you vote for him? >> no. >> when wolf blitzer asked newt gingrich if he would vote for barack obama over ron paul, the former speaker couldn't answer that, calling both choices bad for america. cnn political director mark preston live in des moines, iowa this morning. so much for gingrich keeping the campaign positive. right? >> reporter: yeah. it didn't take very long there, alina. newt gingrich who pledged to have a positive campaign, to run a positive campaign, to talk about putting the country back on track, now is going negative. in fact, as we just heard, he had very strong words for mitt romney. in fact, challenged mitt romney to come to iowa. mitt romney is here, but to debate him. 90 minutes, one on one with newt gingrich. of course, mitt romney's not going to do that. he also went after ron paul with very, very harsh words, as we heard. ron paul's campaign fired back. they called newt gingrich's comments childish, and went on to describe newt gingrich as a divisive liberal. so the glove are certainly off, alina. we are less than a week before the iowa caucuses. there is so much on the line here for newt gingrich. if he does not do well, placed in first, second or third, the whole idea of newt gingrich being the front run r for the republican nomination will quickly be erased, alina. >> by the way, romney's campaign spokesperson was on television last night, right here on cnn, saying that as for that one on one debate as you know, mark, he said, well, there have been a dozen debates, and gingrich and romney have had plenty of time to spar on that. so i also want to talk a little about rick perry making news in iowa telling voters why he has toughened his stance on abortions. what did he say? >> well, you know, alina, he is here campaigning again. a critical contest for rick perry the texas governor, who also needs to do very well. prior to these comments he made dwroed a crowd here are in iowa, he said that, now when it comes to abortion, he opposes all types af borgtype s of abortion,y cluding for victims of rape and incest. he says he came to this transformation after seeing a dvd movie and in particular a woman who described a specific situation that was very personal to her. listen to what rick perry said. >> she said, i am the product of a rape, and she said, my life is worth it. it was a powerful moment for me. >> there you have rick perry, again, explaining how he has now changed his position on abortion. as you said, he has hardened it. very important in the state of iowa where 60% of the republican caucusgoers in 2008 describe themselves as evangelical or born again. you know, alina, could be coincidence, but the fact is, it's that that movie was produced by mike huckabee, the former arkansas governor, who won the 2008 iowa caucuses. alina? >> all right. cnn political director mark preston. mark, thank you. thousands of us, apparently hysterical north koreans lining the streets of a snowy pyongyang to say good-bye to leader kim jong-il. memorial services are expected to last two days. his son, the hand-picked successor, kim jong-un, was at the hearse's side as the world looks for sirens of stability. paula hancocks is live in seoul, south korea. good morning, paula. >> reporter: hello, ali. this was highly choreographed event. this sort of pomp and ceremony is what north korea does best, and it newspaper that the rekne world would be watching this very closely. we saw kim jong-un, the supreme leader, referred to by state media, walking alongside his father's hearse and accompanied just behind him, his uncle, expected to be his keeper, his regent at the beginning of his reign as he's not even 30 and has very little military and political experience. and also on the other side the hearse question see some of the military leadership. the head of the military at the front. so this really was a chance for north korea to show that they believe there is stability. they believe that this succession has gn gone according to script. of course, it's impossible to know what's happening behind the scenes because all we get to see is what north korean television is showing us. we did see tens of thousands of mourners on the streets of pyongyang. a very snowy pyongyang. many of them extremely emotional. em people wailing and weeping and beating their chests as the coffin went by. of course, it's worth noting further back in the lines of people lining the street there were some who were not emotional and who were just watching proceedings as they carried on, but, of course, this is the kind of regime where you do have to show that you are grieving for a leader like kim jong-il. he really created a cultive personality around him. >> paula hancocks, thanks. we'll continue to follow the memorial services which continue. paula hancocks in seoul. one fatal mistake turn as connecticut home into a death trap when a fire killed three little girls and their grandparents on christmas day. cnn's deb feyerick here to tell us what happened. deb, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, and you know, you have to imagine this mom standing out there on staffedin i staffeding know scaffolding knowing her three young daughtering and parents are in there desperately trying to find a with out. only the mom and her friend mate it out alive. at fire raced through the home christmas morning, neighbors frantically called 911. >> what's the emergency? >> a huge fire at the house next door. the whole house is on fire. >> what is the address, ma'am. >> 2241 shippan avenue. it's the house next door. three kids and a woman. >> reporter: trapped inside the stamford, connecticut home, two grandparents and their three >> calming about a matsch. major fire with people in the house. >> we have a fire crew on the way, ma'am. >> please, come quickly. >> reporter: the house was under renovation. it appears fireplace embers placed in an outdoor trash enclosure near the home ignited the blaze. the mom, madonna badger, managed to climb out on the scaffolding frantically directing firefighters to the third floor where she said her children were sleeping. >> the crew pushed through two rooms unable to find the children. pushed back by intense heat and flames. >> reporter: grabbing two of the frightened girls, family friend michael seen here on his facebook page, reached the second floor. >> the heat drove them to get separated. it looks like one went back upstairs and another was found with the grandmother. >> the grandfather, lomer johnson, spent christmas eve playing santa. he managed to leave one granddaughter at the back the house, climbed on to the roof and died when he tried to pull her to safety. >> just outside the window he came out of we found one of the young children. i guess there were a pile of books. looks like she was placed on the books. >> reporter: the mother, a successful marketing executive, is said to be in shock. she was taken from the scene sobbing, my whole life is in that house. >> when you don't make that rescue, that you failed, and i don't think anybody wants to fail. >> reporter: now, the house was so fragile that firefighters had to lay ladders horizontally and crawl along them to reach and then remove the victim. the home was then torn down. there are questions about fire alarms and smoke detectors. there do not seem to have been any, but it seems the real question is, how does a mom and a father from whom she was divorced survive this kind of loss. >> that's right. and, again, just a reminder. a couple things they should know coming out of the story is check your fire alarm to make sure, fire detector. >> absolutely. >> make sure it's working and what should they know about how to properly discard embers? >> interesting, clearly, the mom and her friend were trying to do the right thing by putting the embers outdoors. what you're supposed to do, put them in a metal tin, douse them and then put a lid on top of that tin. does not appear that that was a step they took. they put them in a bag and it was simply too close to the home. once the fires kicked up, even though they may have seen the ashes and embers were cooling down, they re-ignited and shot them back up into the house. >> tragic story. deb feyerick, thank very much. a bloody crackdown continues in syria, right under the noses of the arab lead monitors in the country. visiting two no towns at center. an op zigs group says another 39 people killed yesterday including two children, 14 in the city of homs as thousands filled the street to protest the al assad regime pap human rights group xp accusing the syrian government of hiding hundreds of detainees, hiding them, they say, in military sites. iran threatening to stop the flow of oil through the strait of hormuz. if new sanctions are imposed onz crude exports. one different-fifth of the natiy travels through there. iran has been working towards developing a nuclear weapon, it is said. a very close call in mexico. a police squad car crashes into a crowded restaurant. the officer lost control after he was clipped by another car on the highway. the cruiser stopped in front of weren't of the restaurant's fire pits right next to tanks of propane and kerosene. the restaurant started clearing the place out. >> we rushed everybody out the back door is what we did, because we didn't know if it was going to blow up. >> we heard that all of this had happened, and all of these people were involved and no one was hurt. we just all said, it was like a christmas miracle. >> and as they said, incredibly, no one was hurt. the cruiser damped three carsth damaged three cars in the restaurant parking lot. and escorted around by government caretakers. people saying they aren't seeing the real story. trouble on the tarmac. why dozens rush on to the runway in sacramento. and with the holiday season winding down, how's the bottom line addle up for retailers? better or worse than they expected? you're waging "american morning." it's 12 minutes after the hour. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. were back. 15 minutes after the hour. the shopping frenzy is mostly over. crowds thinning out at the mall and retailers dealing mostly with returns and gift card purchases now. how did the shopping holiday season go? we'll ask the chief industry an legitimate at the npd group and author of a book, shopping for a living. marshall, good to have you here. look at some of the things that influenced the holiday shopping season this year. it got off to a strong start then looked like it weakened. so retailers offered steep discounts. warm weather. i'll ask how that play, one way or the other. a strange holiday calendar with christmas on a sunday. and we'll talk in a minute about consumer confidence, which has continued to go up, despite the media wanting to tell you how terrible things are. let's start with these factors. how did they all affect the season? >> basically this year, a really interesting one. we saw any traditions that were formed. remember, the retailer this year decided to get into the 21st century. brick and mortar stores decided to open even on thanksgiving eve -- not only the eve, also on thanksgiving day and thanksgiving evening. that got a younger crowd in. that brought at whole new element of shoppers. the ones who used to get up at 5:00 in the morning, they were able to shop both early and late. >> right. the people got up early on that day, those were shopping ex-trooex extremists. >> we got new consumers to shop in the holiday bargains. that brought out the self-gifting shopper. 46% of consumers bought product for themselves early in the season this year. that changed dynamics. now you had a front loaded holiday season. the lull deeper than normal. >> right. >> an early start pap slow second period. >> right. >> the third period, crunch time, was actually on par. we saw traffic and shopping behavior pretty normal. basically, the consumer said, i bought for myself, now i still have to buy gifts for those on list, and they did. they took advantage of many of the sales. some of the stores said they really need to put product on sale. particularly those selling apparel and cold-weather related products. also keep inmind, this is a competitive environment now. everyone sells electronics. everyone sells nifty gifties. retailers were finding not only were they competing against traditional competitors, others as well. >> and you mentioned apparel. the warm weather affected those selling cold weather apparel. i think it's silly. i don't know what they do with sweaters and scarfs every year, they have to buy new ones. i have my for years. if it's not cold, people who are self gifting didn't buy that stuff? >> if you didn't lose them -- really, what happens is, many people, it's all about replacement and/or, you know, when you don't know what to get someone, you get them the same kind of traditional gifts. so this year, because there really weren't any new and exciting items with the exception of a few, tablets and you know, ereaders, cell phones that came out. smartphones. there wasn't a lot of newness out there. so that means we go back to traditional gifts. cold weather gifts tend to be those of tradition. sweaters and gloves and hats and sca sca scarfs. >> returns were higher. the rationale, every year we buy more stuff online. returns higher with that stuff. something unusual? christine, my colleague, christine romans was worried maybe people were having remorse because they spent oh much at the front end? >> a combination of a lot of things. the consumers gets caught up in the frenzy when you see really good deals. free shipping and free returns you take advantage. when you buy so emergency of this self-gifting process, what happens if somebody also got you that same gift? now you're going to return evening herb it's weren't you bought or the one they bought. so what you're seeing is a combination of so few new, exciting merchandise, which means we're getting a lot of the same and similar items. plus the fact that we bought and took advantage of the deals means we're going to sit there and say, wait a minute. do i really need this? or, you know what? i spent more than i really had. i do need to return. >> let's talk about the consumer. we talk about the things that make you feel prosperous in life. housing, your investments. ultimately, your job is the most important thing and people have, for whatever reason, been feeling a little more confident. we've seen more jobs created. unemployment drop a smidge. now we're into, look at consumer confidence over the last six months. new numbers in this week. after a rough beginning we started off well, after a rough middle of the year, for the last five, six months, the consumer is getting more confident. why? >> basically what's happening is the consumer's becoming pretty comfortable where we are. even when gas crossed $3 a couple years ago for the first time, it only takes consumers a couple months to get used to it. i'll make due. >> readjustment. >> exactly. saw it happen at $4 a gallon and seeing the same thing with the european debt crisis and even the american debt crisis. we get used to these things and begin to recognize we still have to live. the american consumer, despite the fact that this year there were no tax rebates, there were no, you know, stimulus checks, there were no payroll cuts, no jobs program. there isn't even a solution to it debt crisis issue that flanked us in august. you know, this is an issue that consumers finally said, we're going to keep living, keep spending. the consumer is driving us out of this recession. >> all right. marshall, great to talk to you. chief industry analyst at the npd group and author of "buy me." alina? >> thank you, ali. it is 0 minutes after the hour. time to check on the weather with rob marciano at the weather center. good morning. >> a rough night across the northeast. sporp radek power outages and windy conditions now. video just outside of philadelphia, pennsylvania. king of prussia seeing tremendous amount of rain yesterday. for a lot of cities across the northeast and the midwest, some of the rainfall we received put them over the top as far as breaking annual rainfall records. cincinnati, clump iolumbus, burn and hartford, blowing records we've seen in years' past. the rain ended. head aid cross the canadian maritime. in to replace it, finally colder air. that is slow to infiltrate the air. temperatures slowly dropping throughout the day today. a little snow on the radar. we shouldn't see a ton of it, but there are advisories out on the typical lake effect areas from buffalo through syracuse through watertown. four, five inches. wind is the bigger issue not only for upstate new england, new york metros, traveling through those cities, be aware. seattle and san francisco, footbally footbally -- storminess out here. weren't of several storms lining up after a dry and fairly quiet december, wrapping up the month and year with a bang across this part of the world. 65 to 75 mile-an-hour winds expected over the mountain pass and finally starting to build, a depleted snow pack. awful start to the year across much of the inner mountain west and starting to see some of that build now. across the midsection of the country, mild mid-week temperatures. 52 degrees in memphis. 36 degrees chicago. about where you should be for this time of year. still fairly mild. 43 degrees, temperatures falling throughout the day today and finally feel some of that winter chill as we wrap up 2011. >> really? hmm. >> adding a word to my meteorologist -- >> what is it today, ali? >> build a depleted snow pack. >> yeah? >> yesterday's word, on the back side of the precip. >> really, he is paying attention. >> i'm learning to listen to you. i got home yesterday with wet feet. i'm going to pay attention to you every day now. i had wet feet. nothing worse than in leather shoes with wet feet. >> only took ten years. >> i'm paying close attention. rebuild some of the -- snow. >> some are slower than others. >> thanks, rob. >> absolutely right. >> rob marciano in the weather center. still more to come this morning. syria, accused of hiding political prisoners an tas as arab league observers arrive. people begging the team to follow the gunshots and see where the real slater ughter is taking place. investment ideas that fit your lifestyle for 2012, ahead on "american morning." 23 minutes amp the hour. 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"minding your business" this morning, u.s. markets crawling to the finish line. three trading sessions to go in the 2011 season. u.s. stock futures trading slightly higher now. yesterday a bit of a snoozer. the dow dropping three points and the other major indices moving sideways in a sluggish low volume session. economists feeling more optimistic as the year comes to a close. why? they're expecting the economy grew at a stronger rate in the fourth quarter and chances of a recession are decreasing. president obama plans to ask congress this week to raise the nation's debt ceiling by 1.2 trillion dollars next year. that would put it at $16.4 trillion. the request is expected to be approved by the democratic-controlled senate. oil prices shooting up again. the price of a barrel of light sweet crude is just about $100 a barrel. in electronic trading overseas now. the price of oil shot up yesterday after iran threatened to cut off oil supplies flowing through the strait of hormuz. and spending extra taxes because the federal government doesn't recognize gay marriage according to an analysis by tax specialists conducted by cnn money. same-sex couples would be on equal tax footing as het crow sexual couples if permitsed it file joint tax returns. don't fert the latest news about your money. check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. 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[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. betty: we're out of toner. announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, talk to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... under fire in syria. protesters saying arab league observers are being kept away from the slotter that is happening only blocks away and they need real help on this "american morning." welcome back to "american morning." it's 32 minutes after the hour. time for your top stories. funeral services for former north korea leader kim jong-il. memorial services still going on right now. his son, successor, kim jong-un at the side of the hearse as thousands of mourn ares screamed out in agony. and thyroid cancer. a presidential spokesman said doctors detected the cancer during a medical examination thursday and will undergo surgery next week. her chances of a full recovery are strong. and yemen embattled president will be able to come to new york for an operation. hoping the move will ease tensions in yemen. some think it could trigger more violence. ali abdullah saleh was badly injured during an attack on his palace in june. and a trial resuming after a three-month delay, charged with killing hundreds to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. back to our top story, the bloody crackdown in syria continues this morning apparently right under the noses of arab league monitors now in the country. they will visit two new towns at the center of the uprising today. according to reuters, the head of the arab league mission says the situation in homs is "reassuring" so far. what are they allowed to see? mohammed jamjoom monitors developments live from cairo. good morning to you. it doesn't appear, though, that these arab league monitors are able to see all that they want to see? >> reporter: good morning, alina. while the arab league overs we've spoken with are optimistic they're going to be getting unfete ared access to all of these flashpoint cities they started visiting yesterday, other areas, and residents, aren't so sure. demonstrators under assault. syrian security forces firing tear gas in homs. this on the same day that arab league observers finally arrived in the flashpoint city. this video purports to show the head of the mission walking through homs. residents approach, show him what appears to be remnants of weapons. the monitors insist they will have free access to any place they want. but activists and residents question that claim. >> we need from these observers to move and nobody is telling them -- we need them to visit this area, the areas that are damaged. >> reporter: cnn cannot independently verify this video, but it purports to show the monitors in this neighborhood. residents argue with a man described to us as a government minder pleading for the team members to be taken to other areas. an unseen voice is heard saying, there are unarmed civilians dying here. go inside and see for yourself. they are slaughtering us. then the sound of gunfire. emboldened by the presence of the observers, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in another part of the city for a huge rally. the people demand international protection, they chanted. but chaos would erupt yet again. this video shows a building on fire. a voice describes how another peaceful demonstration was fired upon. it is as if the arab league did not come to homs, says the man. elsewhere in the country, reports of more violence. protesters under attack as they demonstrated in the streets. tear gas being disbursed, security forces opening fire. all at a time when an international mission is hoping to put an end to this sort of violence. alina, we should mention a new report by human rights watch said that possibly hundreds of detainees in sear ysyria moved sites. and state tv a short while ago issued a statement saying 775 detainees have been released today. saying these detainees had been involved in recent events but the blood of the syrians were not on their hands. >> mohammed jamjoom, thank you very much. want to tell you about a southwest airlines flight grounded in sacramento. getting ready to take out of to seattle when its main tires blew out on the runway. happened yesterday. emergency crews rushed on to the scene as a precaution. all 130 passengers were taken off the plane. a little shaken up, but otherwise okay. >> felt like i blew a tire on the freeway doing 80. shook real bad and they stopped the plane. >> big bang, thump, thump, thump, plane was listing to the left a little and they brought it to a gentle stop, and, you know, the main problem is, they didn't have the p.a. system turned up loud enough for anybody to hear. >> again, nobody was injured, but they're still trying to figure out what happened. still to come, does your 401 aske need help? getting a lot of questions. investment ideas for your life and cash and how to reallocate and rebalance your 401(k). some assistance coming up. 07 franklin st. ♪ sea bass... ♪ ooohhh! ♪ i like it. yeah, i love the kitchen. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. wake up, new york! come on. it's 7:40. wednesday. you had monday and tuesday off. time to get to work. it's 41 degrees. cloudy, going to be sunny and 44. yesterday a great day to have off. rainy and miserable in the second half daft. wake up. come on. before you get out of bed, hold on. probably wondering what to do with your investments. time tore me to mind your business. what is in your 401(k)? do you have any idea? do you have a financial plan jp have you ever rebalanced your 401(k)? if you're not prepared in this unpredictable economy, it could cost you. the best place for your hard earned cash in the new year. a good friend of ours, let's ask. you're getting it a lot, i'm getting it a lot. people sending in portfolio, is this right? this allocation. i want to put on the screen the allocation you generally suggests. i say generally because it's different for different people. basically two-thirds in stocks. about 15% each in commodities and bonds, and then a little bit in cash. i don't know if that's the number you'd use, about 5%, gives you an opportunity to invest more money in markets go down. good starting point? >> it's a great starting point, because you look at allocation, about 60%. ship say that's way too risky, this type of market. i'm taking the other view where the majority of people investing, we talk an, 20 to 45 year old, have a long time frame. a good chance they're not touching the money for 20, 25 years. if the stock market is not high fler 25 years from now we have other issues to be concerned about. and to make money we must it? equities and stocks. >> go to money.com. there are quizzes. answer questions, a guy like -- matt, would give you or we can answer and it will tailor this to your own specific needs. if you're substantially older or other risk in your portfolio you may not want has much in stocks. >> five years to retirement, bringing in no more income that cash level will go 5% to 20%. a lot more in bonds. bring in income throughout the year that you want to live off of. so we personalize that to them. if you're 35 or 65, don't regress. especially after the year we had. >> by the time folks decide to get into the market it's because it's been so robust and then you're getting into the back end of it. when you invest, most cases talking 401(k), your only opportunities are through the mutual fund that are presented. if you have an i.r.a. or options or you lost your job and roll it over, you have, can invest in anything you want. of these choices, put it up on the screen. of the choices, should the average person be going to mutual fund with a fee? index funds? exchange traded funds which trade like stock, baskets of stocks or individual companies? >> look at list, four possibilities, i go right to etfs. the reason, very low, very tax friendly. what's called passive. you know exactly what stocks you're investing in. invest in merging markets, pull it up on the internet. these are the stocks i'm inve investing in. they do as well or better. mutual fund, 80% of mutual fund managers aren't keeping up with the index they're tracking and they cost a lot of money. and individual stocks. everybody wants to own apple. >> the one everybody talks about. >> i do own apple. it will go higher. as an individual investors, if that's not your full-time job, it's different to pick the ones that will beat the market. at that point you probably want to go to an adviser or cnn money and figure, do research. due diligence. >> looking at your 401(k), 20 mutual funds to pick from, all with complicated names and most can't make sense of them. how do you choose? >> get an adviser. i late to say that. what i find most about the individual investors, majority of their money is in a 401(k). put a lot of work into it, take $5,000, penny stocks try to make money. $100,000 in the 401(k) and it isn't working. look at top and bomttom, usuall making the wrong decision. >> you'll see things, small cap, large cap. if you are choosing between these, which would be choose at this point? >> going into 2012, large cap. >> big companies? >> big companies, mcdonald's, walmart. philip morris. companies that make products regardless what happens in a gloomy economy, people are coming out shopping at walmart, buying a big mac. stay with those companies. they pay nice dividend yields. you bring in possibly another 3%, 4%. if you have mcdonald's, you're beating the market handedly. >> two-thirds of your portfolio in stocks. you don't want it in one kind. mix it up. >> yeah. >> a little small cap, a little growth. what about u.s. companies verse international companies? >> five, six years investing in international. a switch, looking at landscape, the u.s. is in the best possibility. a mess in europe. a slowdown in china and europe. emerging markets are slowing. international belt markets, an issue and then the u.s. people have forgotten. the best place to put money but we have to be diversified. have international exposure as well. >> all of your advice comes with the caveat you can't put all eggs in one basket. >> exactly. >> thank you. ali. >> thank you. morning headlines are next, including why thousands of nursing moms are planning to invade tart stoi ininvade target stores today. and challenging the fda for its popular anti-clotting drug plavix. information you need to know. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. 48 after the hour. here are your morning headlines, after a sluggish session yesterday, the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500up future suggesting a higher open at the bell. syrian forces accused of hiding tanks from observers. the military fired on protesters despite the presence of monitors in the country. an opposition group says more people were killed yesterday, including two children. the trial of former egyptian president hosni mubarak resuming in egypt after a three-month delay. mubarak in court today on a stretcher, charged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. funeral services for north korean leader kim jong-il. his son and successor kim jong-un at the side of the hearse. memorial services expected to last two days. breast feeding moms expected to storm more than 100 target stores today in 35 states to take part in a public nurse-in. it was organized on facebook after a texas employee was accused of harassing a breast feeding mom in public and told her to go into a restroom. fresh video into cnn with occupied des moines protesters. vowing to protest generals against the candidates. hundreds from at least ten states are on hand. next tuesday night, the country's first real votes and the candidates' first true test to take place. the iowa caucuses. stay tuned for "america's choice" begins tuesday night january 3rd at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. keep it on cnn for the best political coverage on tv. today in "the situation room" our wolf blitzer one on one with mitt romney, and his wife ann. that's 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. that's ann. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" is back after this. good morning, atlanta, georgia. wow, what a beautiful day. but it's chilly out there. sunny and 36 going up to a high of 52. welcome back to "american morning." today an "am house call" that affect 36 million americans. that is how many people take plavix used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. nearly two years ago the fda slapped plavix with its strongest warning known as a black box warning. but now a new study says that warning might not be necessary. here to explain this is a cardiologist at new york presbyterian hospital and columbian university medical center. thank you for joining us. before we get to the new research. i just want to know, what was it about plavix that prompted this black box warning in the first place? >> plavix is a really interesting drug. when you ingest it and take it in, it's not thinning the blood at all. conversion in the liver which then thins the blood. in different patients, that conversion varies. so, for instance, if you and i took plavix, you might convert a lot of it and i might convert a little bit of it and when the fda recognized it, they're worried that different patients have different effects. >> it has to do with a specific gene that does not occur in everyone, but in some people and you have to be tested for it. >> that's correct. >> the new research came out in the journal of the medical association that is basically saying, hey, wait a minute, not so fast. maybe we should take another look at this. what did it say? >> 40,000 patients while the gene actually affected the response of the drug. when you looked at the things that plavix really prevents and shown to prevents such as heart attacks and strokes and other events. the effects seem to be the same. >> even when the fda warning was handed down, it was received pretty skeptically by the american heart association and other groups who basically said there was insufficient evidence. so, at this point, we have this new research coming out, but not a reversal by the fda. what should doctors be doing? >> i think doctors should continue treating patients with a drug that we know is very effective and i don't think routine testing is warranted at this time. there was a lot of confusion, initially patients asking for tests. this is not something we do routinely and for a lot of people, they can benefit from this drug. >> is it because the gene is rare? >> because the is rare and a lot of other things that impact your ability to respond to it. >> such as. >> such as whether you have diabetes and have an acute heart attack or other things. >> if you have those types of things going on in your life, then maybe you should take a closer look, right? >> absolutely. >> what if you're a patient and you're on plavix right now, anything differently you should be doing sph. >> i don't think so. aside from taking reassurance from this study. a lot of people were concerned initially that this drug overall is very safe. >> generally, how closely does the fda pay attention to, say, new research from the american journal -- >> i think they're going to take a very hard look at it and see if they want to res have this. they're very proactive in doing that. >> you think they mind? >> i think so. >> how soon will that come if it's going to come? >> tough to say. it will be a process and they'll analyze all the data and come up with a recommendation. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. your top stories straight ahead including what is ahead for north korea as the nation says good-bye to kim jong-il. the leadership now in the hands of an even more mysterious man. his young son. 55 minutes after the hour. oing ? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. overwhelming grief on display on the streets of north korea. i'm alina cho, funeral services for the so-called dear leader kim jong-il. power on display as the west looks for signs of stability. newt gingrich, the speaker swore he would stay on the high road, but with his numbers slipping in iowa he's kicking it into attack mode on this "american morning." good morning, it's wednesday, december 28th. welcome to "american morning." we hope you're getting up, maybe heading to work today after a longer christmas holiday. >> i've been talking to a lot of people who have not been getting up and going to work at all this week. we're here for you either way. >> that's right. they were told he was god like and this morning north koreans are saying good-bye to their dear leader, kim jong-il. also an introduction to their new leader. kim jong-um walking alongside the hearse carrying his father's body. some mourners crying so hard they were barely able to stand. >> north korea is trying to paint a picture of power and stability with this morning's ceremonies. thousands of troops marching in step behind kim jong-un. like so many other things in north korea, this, too, may just be a facade. er. >> what we see here is a real effort to put them right up front very early on to show that there isn't the power vacuum. i think that's more a manifestation of how they're not really prepared for this transition rather than them being prepared. >> memorial service for kim jong-il are expected to go on for a full two days. former egyptian president hosni mubarak his trial is resuming after a three-month delay. charged with killing hundreds of protesters that ultimately ended his 30-year rein. the bloody crackdown continues in syria under the nose of arab league monitors that are now inside the country. they'll visit two new towns at the strof the uprising today. another 39 people were killed yesterday, including two children. 14 of them in the city of homs as thousands filled the streets to protest the al assad regime. accusing the syrian government of hiding of political detainees from the arab league observers and military sites. new video in to cnn showing "occupy des moines" protesters. they're vowing to stage protests against the republican candidates at their events and at their individual headquarters. hundreds of activists from ten states are reportedly on hand. rick perry is revising his position on abortion now. the texas governor telling an audience in iowa last night that he now opposes all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. perry says his feelings were transformed after meeting a woman whose mother has been raped. >> she said, i am the product. of a rape. she said my life is worth. it was a powerful moment for me. >> there are a lot of evangelical voters in iowa. we'll have to see how that plays out. perry has signed a personhood usa pledge which states abortion and the intentional killing of an innocent human being are always wrong and should be prohibited. michele bachmann, newt gingrich and rick santorum have also signed that pledge. mitt romney plans to spend the rest of the week on a bus tour in iowa. while he's not predicting victory, he's showing a little swagger by using the words of the vice president. >> you frankly have to feel sorry for joe biden. i mean, four years ago he warned us about barack obama. turns out he was right. >> in a 2007 debate, biden said he didn't think that then senator barack obama was ready for the presidency. at the time, biden was running against obama for the democratic nomination. how about a new gingrich/condoleezza rice republican ticket? talking to voters at a pizza shop in iowa when a woman said she'd like to see the former secretary of state in a debate against vice president biden. gingrich seemed tickled by the idea. he called rice a terrifically smart person and even speculated that president obama might choose a different running mate in 2012. now w the iowa caucuses just six days away, newt gingrich has decided to abandon the high road and kick his campaign into attack mode. joe johns live in des moines. the former speaker decided to keep things positive, but that didn't last that long. >> that's true, ali. this is the example of the speaker of the house, trying to have it both ways, if you will. on the one hand saying he won't go negative. on the other hand, lashing out at his opponents, a really good example of that. the back and forth between him and mitt romney here on the campaign trail. listen. >> mitt romney is the guy running the most ads attacking me and he's doing it through this disengingenuous i don't control my staff and friends. if he wants to defend his negativety show up in iowa face-to-face. let the people decide if he will back up what he's been saying and let him back up his moderate record, not conservative record as governor. i don't think he'll do it. >> he's running against the campaign the way he thinks best. obviously, the virginia setting was not the best of his campaign. i think it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. so, i mean, you got to get it organized. >> now, he has always said he was going to respond to distortions of his record and that's what newt gingrich sees himself as doing. however, the other point that i think you have to make here on the campaign trail right now is the fact that newt gingrich has not had a lot of money to spend on campaign ads, as some of the other contenders in this republican. on earned media as they call it, free interviews on television, on radio to try to make his case. and doing that, he's actually launched a number of bombs, including some just yesterday at candidate ron paul. listen to this. >> you look at his news letters and then you look at his ads. his ads are about as accurate as his news letters. >> now, if he were to get the republican nomination. >> he won't. >> let's say he were. could you vote for him? >> no. >> well, there you go. saying essentially it's kind of tough for him. newt gingrich to say he would actually vote for ron paul, were he the nominee. that's it on the campaign trail. we've got just a few days out now from the high waw cauiowa c we think it is a pretty exciting race to the finish as a number of contenders still appearing in a very close race for first place. back to you, ali. >> joe, it's alina here. you touched on those campaign ads and all of the candidates going negative most notably mitt romney and, really hitting on newt gingrich's three marriages and his infidelities over the years and it's a bit curious to me. newt gingrich's wife, clisa, heading out on the campaign trail. >> right. we just got a rare glimpse of her saying something on the campaign trail, too. she's been very quiet, unlike some of the other wives of the republican contenders. we actually picked up, i think, a little bit of sound, don't we have, of calista gingrich introducing her husband at an event. oh, just video at an event in decora, iowa. she's been pretty quiet through and through throughout this campaign, just saying a little bit there so people can see her and hear what she has to say. be nice to sit down with calista gingrich and do a little interview and find out what she thinks of all the attacks on her husband, newt gingrich. >> if anybody can get her, you can, joe johns. thank you so much. things have taken a decidingly negative turn in iowa but less than three in ten n iowaans. joining us live from washington to break down the gop race and the week ahead in iowa. conservative commentator tara wall and cnn contributor maria cardona. welcome to both of you. >> thanks, ali. >> tara, let's start with you. i don't know. i'll pull back a little from this. we're all very excited and taken by the fact that newt gingrich said he was going to be on the high road and now he's turned negative. did he have any other choice and is this a good strategy? >> i mean, not really. that was only going to last for so long. i think that, look, mitt romney knows that he has a challenge ahead of him, obviously. i don't think that he would have not taken the gloves off had he not realized the fact that newt gingrich is still leading. i think that, look, this is how you do battle. this is the way the game is played and this is the way it's waged. i think that he probably didn't have to anticipate that he would get negative early on and it's part of the process and i think at a certain point iowans will focus on it. >> unlike rick perry who feels uncomfortable in debates and others who maybe stumble, newt likes them and continues to challenge. he told, he told mitt romney anywhere, any time, no moderator, bring it. it's interesting. he has very interesting challenge because americans seem to like debaters and people who can debate. maria, let me ask you this. used the analogy of the lucille ball. in the factory trying to keep up. he said that's what gingrich is like, like lucille ball struggling to keep up. his iowa shrunk from 44 to 24 stops and he has 24 people working for him in iowa. mitt romney has 200. he's got a weak ground operation. what's the point here? what is mitt romney trying to do? suggest that this guy, he can overplay his hand and tell everybody that newt gingrich is the underdog. >> well, i think what he's trying to do is point out something that newt gingrich has made very obvious, which is, for somebody who got into this race so early on and for somebody who had been talked about, being a presidential candidate for so long, he is drastically ill prepared to run a competitive presidential campaign. his not being able to get on the virginia ballot is astounding to me. i think that that is sort of what started in mitt romney's mind as something that i think is absolutely fair to point out, which is that this is not somebody who is ready to compete. if he's not ready to run a competitive presidential campaign, how can voters think that he's ready to run a country? but what's interesting about gingrich is that he should have never have said that he's not going negative because now he looks like a total hypocrite. he will always compare and contrast the records and right in pointing out mitt romney's democracy on "conservative principals." mitt romney has flip-flopped more than the international house of pancakes. gingrich should have never said that and gone to continue to making the contrast between him and romney. >> gingrich is in this interesting position where he's up at the top of this race against ron paul, who doesn't really take socially conservative positions on things as a libertarian and mitt romney who he argues is a moderate and not conservative. gingrich lives in the middle of the other race, which has santorum in it and michele bachmann fighting and rick perry fighting for the hearts and minds of conservatives. let's talk about santorum for a second. if he comes out in the distant back of the pack in iowa, he's out of the race. now, he's probably betting on the fact that he will come out of jon huntsman. listen to how he said it. >> look, you know, if i finish dead last way behind the pack, you know i'm going to pack up and go home. i feel we're going to surprise a lot of people on how we finish. >> we know that jon huntsman has put everything into new hampshire. he is going to go on. he's not going to close up shop no matter what happens. tara, do you think anybody closes up shop after iowa? >> i don't like predictions. i will say first of all, let me just say backing up on newt, i don't feel like at this point he had to defend himself and he had to defend himself and that's one reason why he's starting to get feisty and that's legitimate. i think that romney was not, he didn't expect romney to come out hitting so hard. but i do think, look, huntman has all but given up on iowa. if anything he would be the one that comes in dead last. michele bachmann has not been doing very well in iowa. i wouldn't be surprised to see her come in last. and i think santorum predicts that he will not come in dead last and he is starting to get more support and he's starting to see a slight bit of a bump of a surge. remember, these are more conservative voters in iowa. these are more conservative republicans. they're going to tend to lean to some of some candidates that are more conservative like santorum and rick perry and, of course, newt gingrich and mitt romney and that's why they're going to be battling out positioning wise in that top four tier. i don't think anyone thinks that santorum will come in dead last and he doesn't either. >> the undecided, maria. not everyone in iowa is that conservative. there are republicans in iowa who are still trying to choose and a lot of them. who do you think those votes go to? >> well, that's, that's the point that is so interesting about this whole process, ali. i think what it points to is the complete lack of enthusiasm that gop voters have in general for this crop of presidential candidates on the gop side is just so interesting because, clearly, no one likes anyone as the perfect candidate. and that's why you have seen this back and forth of this candidate surging and then dropping and then that candidate surging and then dropping. this race, more than any other time in presidential history, at least recently, is so wide open going into the first caucuses into iowa. when you have more of the majority of iowa voters who are undecided and even those who are decided have said that they could change their minds. i think points to the complete lack of confidence in any of these candidates to be the standard bearer for the gop. i think that's a big problem for the party. >> if nothing else, republican voters don't like and present more than anything else is for the establishment or the media to tell them who to vote for. i think at the end of the day, they're going to listen with open ears and bated breath to hear first hand from these candidates and that's what the caucuses are all about. two clear frontrunners that remain at this point, but it is anybody's ball game and that's why you have these caucuses and that's why you hear from the candidates. >> they're not listening to the media or the establishment at this point. people will do their own thing and that's the beautiful part about democracy. tara and maria, thank you to both of you. cnn is the place to be for the best political coverage on television. this afternoon in "the situation room" at 4:00 p.m. eastern, wolf blitzer sits down with mitt romney. you'll only see that on cnn. of course, next tuesday night, the iowa caucuses america's choice live 2012. coverage begins tuesday night january 3rd at 7:00 p.m. eastern. we'll break it down and bring in the results as they come in for us. a messy end to one of the wildest years of weather ever. heavy winds, howling winds and snow. will it mess with your new year's eve plans? no, that isn't a float, a florida family's christmas surprise. python in the pool. >> i guess this always happens. what was the top song of 2011? >> i love this. i only found this out last night. >> some people might think it's the biebs, right? >> i was going to say an adele. everybody talks about it. lady gaga, katicatgaga, katy pe. >> keep guessing. we'll tell you the answer. >> don't google it. wait, come back and listen to us on it. we'll tell you what it is. >> we're back after this. 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[ male announcer ] learn more from your state farm agent today. who needs sleep is right? wake up! isn't that what you were saying earlier? >> it's wednesday. monday and tuesday is fine, take a long weekend. take another long weekend, thursday and friday. it is wednesday, you need to do some work today. >> just today. you're looking at boston, massachusetts. well, they say it's a little cloudy and 46 degrees going up to a windy high of 51. >> that's just us being amateurs at the weather. we're just, we're newbies. baby steps. you want the real weather. rob marciano. >> you're listening now and that's your first step to getting up here. because, really, we're just point at stuff and remind of stuff. >> people were mocking me all day yesterday saying hdon't you work in the news? why are you soaking wet? >> it happens to the best of us. no rain in the forecast for the northeast today. if you forgot the gor tex gear or the umbrella, you're fine. flurries or snow showers across parts of upstate new york. some rain was torrential and some put cities like cincinnati and burlington, vermont, over the top. and record rainfall for the year. these pictures just northwest of philadelphia and king of prussia, pennsylvania, where the rain was coming down in sheets and buckets and filling up some of the roadways there pretty badly. all right, wind is going to be an issue today. the cold air beginning to filter in today, four to five inches of snow across parts of new york and relatively speaking, still pretty light. the winds slow down. boston, d.c. and seattle where a string of storms is lining up for the pacific northwest. finally, they also had a very quiet start to the winter in november and december and tremendous amount of rainfall setting up here and especially some wind at the high elevations could see winds gusting over 70 miles per hour in some spots and replenishing that snow pack that got off to a slow start this year. significant snow is expected in the northern cascades and parts of the sawtooth of idaho. in between, fairly mild. the northeast will stay fairly chilly, i think, through the next several days, but nothing outrageous as far as cold temperatures go. warm temperatures in south florida. check out this big old snake in your pool just outside of miami. yeah, a 13-foot burmese python. well, they're over the place, especially near the everglades. this one decided to take a dip in a residential pool and, obviously, authorities know how to handle such beasts. >> that dude does not look big enough to be dealing with this. >> that's a woman. >> that woman certainly doesn't look big enough. >> you just have to know where to grab it. right behind the head. that did not work out too well. i would never grab it by myself. >> look, now they brought six strong men in to help her out. it looks like you needed all those six people to start with. wow. >> anyway, little christmas surprise. >> no kidding. >> thank you. >> good to see you, rob, thank you. when you think back to the top song of 2011 something by adele or pitbull or katy perry, no. >> no. >> the most popular song of the year could be one you've never heard before. the official video for it and the song is called, a song written for the film, which the name of the film is "3" was posted on youtube on november 16th and exploded on the web. listen to it. ♪ so the song roughly translates to why this murderous rage and tells the story of a boy rejected by his girlfriend and recorded in tamil and english, which has made it popular among speakers of both languages. since it was posted last month, last month, this video has racked up 28 million -- that was as of last night. >> i never heard it. >> you multiply the number of people who would be listening to it. >> no surprise here. the song has spawned hundreds of imitations and parities, including those performed by fans and, of course, the chip monks. the song's popularity does not seem to be waning. last week a flash mob danced to a song at a mall in new zealand. >> i heard in some places in india, the song means why this murderous rage and they sort of made it into an anti-road rage campaign. this thing is becoming very popular. you'll probably hear it soon enough. a check of the early morning markets. how safe are the skies? it's 23 minutes after the hour. , you know, typical alarm clock. 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. ♪ ♪ it's 27 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. we'll see a bounce at the opening bell. right now the dow, nasdaq and s&p futures are all up suggesting a higher oepen for the third to last trading session of the year. oil prices are back up, the price of a barrel of light swede crude oil is just above $100 a barrel, that's in electronic trading overseas this morning. prices shot up more than 2% yesterday after iran threatened to choke off oil supplies. if you bought a flat screen lcd tv or computer between 2000 and 2006, they have agreed to a $538 million settlement after being charged with lcd panel price fixing. qualifying buyers in 24 states and washington, d.c., are supposed to be notified at a later date of how to get some of their money back. for the first time ever, the average price you'll pay for a 47 inch flat panel tv has fallen below $1,000. good for consumers and bad for struggling tvmakers and the companies that supply them. 2011 is shaping up to be the safest year ever for commercial airliners, despite a sharp rise in the number of flights and passengers. according to a london consulting firm that track safety statistics, the airline industry suffered just one passenger death for every 7.1 million travelers worldwide. that would easily eclipse the rate of passenger fatalities set in 2004. "american morning" back right after a break. i'm not crazy about these light fixtures. kitchen's too small. what's next? 607 franklin st. ♪ sea bass... ♪ ooohhh! ♪ i like it. yeah, i love the kitchen. [ male announcer ] the epa-estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from looking for your perfect home to finding it. chevy runs deep. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. under fire in syria. protesters saying arab league observers are being kept away from the slaughter that is happening only blocks away from where they are and they need real help on this "american morning." welcome back to "american morning." time now for your top stories. funeral services for kim jong-il, memorial services are going on right now. his son and successor kim jong-nujong jong-un was at the hearse's side. christina fernandez has thyroid cancer. doctors detected the cancer during a medical examination on thursday. she will undergo surgery next week. the doctors also suggested her chances of a full recovery are strong. yemen's embattled president will be allowed to come to the united states for medical treatment in new york, according to a senior white house official. the obama administration is hoping the move will ease tensions in yemen, but some say it could trigger more violence and empower al qaeda. al saleh was injured in an attack in june. his trial is resuming after a three-month delay. mubarak is charged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. muhammad jamjoon is covering developments. we're hearing reports of new violence today. >> that's right, ali. reports of different cities today. we heard earlier this morning that activists say, in fact, rebel forces there ambushed syrian security forces and four security sources were killed. still in the flash point city and still investigating there trying to carry out their monitoring mission and we're also told that they're fanning out across to other cities including the other city. cities like amma, as well. the concern by the activists on the ground that we're speaking with is these arab league observers aren't getting what they need. the arab league observers say they're optimistic and able to carry out their mission. they say they are being escorted by security forces for their safety to the entrances of these cities and they're able to go in and talk to people that they have free access that they need. this mission is so small as it is. right now about 50 people on the ground and maybe 10 or 11. how are they going to effectively going to be able to carry out such a huge mission that is needed to happen. even yesterday in the city where so much violence has happened this past week, even while arab league observers were there, we were getting reports from activists on the ground that groups of protesters that were gathered in different parts of the city were coming under attack and being shot at, being shot at with bullets and tear gas. and the activists say they're concerned that the tours are really just a sham orchestrated by the syrian government. ali? >> so remarkable to see so many people in the streets there. you wonder if the tide will turn at any point soon. mohammed, we know you're watching that situation very closely. thank you very much. meanwhile, we're also watching this memorial service now under way for former north korea dictator kim jong-il. thousands of weeping and screaming mourners line the streets. his hand-picked successor kim jong-un as the world looks for signs of stability. paula hancocks live in seoul, south carolinsi south korea, watching it all for us. good morning. >> good morning, alina. very corioographed event. the succession is going ahead, just as kim jong-il had planned. the only way we can access these pictures of the funeral. we did see kim jong-un standing to the front and the right of the hearse walking alongside as it was driving just outside the memorial palace. behind him was his uncle. who we are expecting to be his mentor and his regent over the next couple of years. on the left-hand side was the military leadership. so, it really was very well choreographed. the north korean authorities wanted to show that kim jong-il even though he's not 30 and has no military or political experience does have the military backing. this is the public face of what we see in north korea. it's impossible to know what's going on behind the scenes. but that procession did go for about three hours almost through the streets of pyongyang and very snow laden. tens of thousands of mourners lined those streets. many people were weeping and wailing, beating their chests as the coffins went by. at one point, there was also a rush towards the procession for people to try and get closer and they were then pushed back. there was a lot of emotion shown on the street, exactly what we would have expected. exactly what we saw back in '94. but there was slightly more of a military feel to this funeral as expected, as well. because kim jong-il really was the architect of this military first policy and really had pushed the military within north korea. so, as i say, a very choreographed event and one that north korea wanted the rest of the world to see. >> they are experts at propaganda. paula hancocks live for us in seoul, south korea, thank you. >> we are seeing the images taken on north korean tv and paula was saying in the images closest to the front, people seemed more distraught and as you got further away, people seemed more like the onlookers. >> it's what north korea wants the western world to see. of course, this funeral is closed off to the rest of the world, but it is fascinating to watch. well, one fatal mistake turns a connecticut home into a death trap. coming up, what sparked the christmas day fire that killed three little girls and their grandparents. and a major malfunction on a southwest flight. we'll tell you why a plane headed to seattle was abruptly grounded and evacuated. 38 minutes after the hour. new o steak burger soup. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. you know, typical alarm clock. 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. ♪ ♪ it looks beautiful in atlanta. wake up, atlanta. 36 degrees and get to a high of 52 and sunny. >> that's very cold for atlanta. >> still a good reason to live in atlanta. because it's not 52 and sunny anywhere else except in the south. good morning to you all and we have lots of news for you. that's right. trouble on the tarmac. happened in sacramento. southwest airlines flight headed to seattle was apparently grounded after its main gear tires blew out on the runway. you can see what happened there. emergency crews rushed on to the scene, as a precaution. all 130 passengers were taken off the plane, shaken up, but otherwise okay. >> felt like he blew a tire on the freeway doing 80. just shook real bad and they just stopped the plane. >> big bang, thump, thump, thump, the plane was coming and lifting to the left a little bit and they brought it to a gentle stop and, you know, the main problem is they didn't have the p.a. system turned up loud enough for anybody to hear. >> amazingly, no one was hurt and they're still trying to figure out what caused the tire blowout. some terrifying moments in new mexico. a police squad car crashes into a crowded restaurant. the officer lost control of the car after he was clipped by another car on the highway. the cruiser stopped in front of one of the restaurant's fire pits right near tanks of propane and kerosene and forced the restaurant to evacuate everyone. amazingly here, no one was hurt either. this is something you don't see often either. rising water washed up several coffins at a cemetery in louisiana. most were contained in concrete, so they didn't get too far. one coffin floated outside of the cemetery. local prison inmates were actually working to return the coffins to their correct burial plots. that's just unusual. >> that's an unusual story. new details today in the christmas day tragedy in connecticut. one fatal mistake turned a home into a death trap taking the lives of three little girls and their grandparents as their house went up in flames. deb feyerick joins us live with the latest. >> the fatal mistake involves a yule log and ashes improperly discarded. now, the seven people in the home, they were the only two survivors. but it appears both tried desperately to save the children and grandparents inside. as fire raced through the victorian home just before dawn christmas morning, neighbors frantically called 911. >> stanford, 911. what's the address? >> there's a huge fire right next to us. >> what is the address, ma'am. ? >> we're at 2241 shippan avenue. it's the house next door. >> trapped inside the stafford, connecticut, home, grandparents and their three granddaughters, 10-year-old lily and 7-year-old twins, grace and sarah. >> calling about a major, major fire with people in the house. >> we have the fire department on the way, ma'am. >> please, come quickly. >> the house was under renovation. it appears fireplace embers placed in an outdoor trash enclosure near the home ignited the blaze. mom, managed to climb out on to scaffolding, frantically directing firefighters to the third floor where she said her children were sleeping. >> the crew pushed through two rooms unable to find the children. they were pushed back by the intense heat and flames. >> reporter: grabbing two of the frightened girls, family friend michael seen here on the facebook page reached the second floor. >> the heat drove him to get separated and it looked like one went back upstairs and another one was found with the grandmother. >> reporter: grandfather, lomar johnson had spent christmas eve playing santa at manhattan's saxes fifth avenue. he led one of the granddaughters to the back of the house and died before he could pull her to safety. >> just outside of the window he came out of, we found one of the young children. i guess there were a pile of books, looks like she was placed on the books. >> reporter: the mother, a successful marketing executive, is said to be in shock. she was taken from the scene sobbing, my whole life is in that house. >> when you don't make that rescue that you failed, i don't think anybody wants to fail. >> 7 0 firefighters responded. all received grief counseling. one captain suffered second degree burns to his face. the intensity of the fire was so strong, it weakened the home. the home has already been torn down for safety reasons and, yes, there are questions about fire alarms and smoke detectors. they were not in the house, but they were not required to be in the house. the real question is, how does a mom and dad who lives in manhattan, how do those parents survive this kind of loss? >> you just don't think. if somebody told me fires started by embers by a fireplace that doesn't happen any more, but you really have to be careful. what is the thing you're supposed to do? >> you have to be very careful. they were clearly trying to be careful. because the friend had gathered up the ashes and put them in a bag and put them outside. what he should have done is put them in a tin container and doused them and they were hot and it just appears they sort of hit the side of the house and fire chief described it as this swirl of fire that went up the stairs. >> they were trying to do the right thing. they were thinking, let's get the ashes out of the house. what a tragedy. thank you. your morning headlines are next. 47 minutes after the hour. we're back after this. despite the presence of monitors in the country. an opposition group says another 39 people were killed yesterday including two children. the trial of former egyptian president, hosni mubarak resuming in egypt after a three-month delay. mubarak in court on a stretcher charged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters to squash the revolt that ultimately ended his 30-year reign. his son and successor kim jong-un at the side of the hearse. memorial services are expected to last for two days. "occupy des moines" protesters are vowing to stage protests at their events and their individual headquarters. hundreds of activists from at least ten states are reportedly on hand and they met last night to pick their targets. six days to go. next tuesday night the candidates' first true test. america's choice 2012 coverage begins tuesday night january 3rd at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. cnn the place to be for the best political coverage on television. today in "the situation room" at 4:00 p.m. eastern time, wolf blitzer sits down with mitt romney, only on cnn. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. good news in washington that it's fair and 45. the bad news is you just hit your high for the day. going to get windier. >> and go down, too. >> it's going to be 43. but, still, beautiful day in washington, d.c. welcome back, a new medical study is challenging the fda on its warning for the popular anticlotting drug, plavix. the fda slapped plavix with its highest possible black box warning. patients with a certain gene type may experience certain side effects, but new research suggests that may not be true. columbia university cardiologist stopped by earlier to explain. >> basically when looked at over 32,000 studies, while the gene reacted to the response of the drug, when you look at the things plavix is shown to prevent, it didn't matter whether you had a lot of the gene or a little bit of the gene, the effects seem to be the same. >> as we mentioned, this is widely used. some 40 million americans are prescribed plavix to prevent heart attacks and strokes. breastfeeding moms are expected to store to take part in a nurse-in. a texas target employee was accused of harassing a woman for breastfeeding her child in public and told her to go in the room. new problems for newt gingrich. the former speaker fighting back against new revelations that he flip-flopped on so-called romney care. cnn's mary snow has more. >> reporter: the 2006 signing of massachusetts health care law is a moment republican presidential hopefuls won't let rival mitt romney forget. some equate it with what they call obama care. five years ago newt gingrich in a news letter called it "an exciting development." saying the health bill that governor romney signed into law this month has tremendous potential to affect major change in the american health system. "the wall street journal" dug up the 2006 newsletter from gingrich's organization. the newt note does raise concerns about the massachusetts plan, but goes on to say we agree entirely that governor romney and massachusetts legislatures that our goal should be 100% insurance coverage for all americans. fast forward to 2011. here's gingrich taking aim at romney's health care plan at a cnn debate in october. >> your plan, essentially, is one more big government, bureaucratic, high-cost system which candedly could not have been done by any other state because no other state had a medicaid program as lavish as yours and under the bush administration for this experiment. >> reporter: gingrich has said that he supported a mandate for health insurance in the past and changed his mind. here's what he told cnn's wolf blitzer about his earlier praise of the romney health plan. >> romney and i are different is i concluded it doesn't work. he still defends it. >> just this may, here's what gingrich had to say about mandates on nbc's "meet the press." >> i said consistently, we ought to have some requirements whether health insurance or you post a bond or in some way you indicate you are going to be held accountable. >> it's the individual mandate, isn't it. >> reporter: mitt romney took the chance to weigh in. >> i'm familiar with the fact that he supported the individual mandates in the past and was supportive generally of the plan we had had in massachusetts. and he's changed his view in the election year. >> the barbs are traded as team gingrich turns up the heat on romney, questioning his conservative credentials. mary snow, cnn, new york. president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton voted america's most admired man and woman, again. secretary clinton tops the annual "usa today" gallup poll for the 16th year in a row. president obama has been the most admired man since 2008. also on the list, former house speaker newt gingrich. he shares the number five spot with donald trump and he's the only 2012 gop candidate to make the cut. 56 minutes after the hour. we're back after this. a little bit of trepidation,ds 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. ♪ [ daniel ] my name is daniel northcutt. [ jennifer ] and i'm jennifer northcutt. opening a restaant is utterly terrifying. we lost well over half of our funding when everything took a big dip. i don't think anyone would open up a restaurant if they knew what that moment is like. ♪ day 1, everything happened at once. ♪ i don't know how long that day was. we went home and let it sink in what we had just done. [ laughs ] ♪ word of mouth is everything, and word of mouth today is online. it all goes back to the mom and pop business founded within a family. ♪ when i found out i was pregnant, daniel was working on our second location. everyone will find out soon enough i think that something's happening. ♪ ♪ it is time to wake up, new york city. sunny and 42 degrees. we've hit the high in new york, as well. >> you're wasting your breath. if it's 9:00 and you're still in bed, it's over. forget it. stay in bed. just a few blocks away in new york's times square. a few blocks away from what we were looking at. anderson cooper and cathy griffin will host the new year's eve celebration. meanwhile, check your lottee tickets because one person has

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