good evening. i'm ali velshi sitting in for erin burnett. the iowa caucus is just eight days away. republican presidential candidates have just over a week left to prove to iowans that they're the first to win the nation's contest held on january 3rd. polls show the race there is still very much up for grabs, but there was only one candidate out today with an official campaign event and it wasn't one of those top three. it was rick santorum and he went hunting with an important guest. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins us now with more. who is this special guest that got rick santorum out on a campaign event today? >> he's congressman steve king, a very prominent republican from the state of iowa whose endorsement is coveted big time. he didn't endorse santorum today and i spoke with him by phone as he was driving in the car, ali, to this hunting event with rick santorum. he told me he'd planned to endorse months ago. he wanted to back one of these candidates to try to have a big impact in the iowa caucuses and he still to this day, eight day away, he says he can't do it because just like many other republican voters in iowa, he can't make up his mind. so certainly helpful to rick santorum to have this picture that we're showing right now, but he did not get an actual endorsement from steve king and it's fascinating that he is just perplexed that he can't make up his mind. >> santorum is going to all 99 counties in iowa. michele bachmann is about to achieve that. he has really, really worked hard in iowa. is it helping him? the latest poll has him at 4%? >> no. if you look at the poll, it's not helping him at all, but the thing about iowa and the thing about the caucuses and the way they work is, you know, you never know where the activists are going to come from and where they're going end up and if, this is a big if, he could get the help of someone like steve king who can fire up his activists, that certainly could help rick santorum, but look, for somebody like rick santorum, it was certainly a smart move for him to get out on a day when nobody else is out today and this is make or break, the state of iowa is make or break. >> he's kept the idea that he wants voters to think he's the most conservative or reliably conservative in the group. mitt romney has released an ad called conservative agenda. let's listen to that. >> i'm going do something to government. i'm going to make it simpler and smaller and smarter, getting ri of programs and getting programs back to states and finally making the government itself more efficient. >> the different conservative than the one rick santorum champions. this is a fiscal conservative and more appealing to a lot of the conservatives with money to donate. rick perry also has an ad out there taking a completely different approach. he slams congress and he's talking about making congress part-time. listen to his ad. >> if washington's the problem, why trust him to fix it. they spent three years in congress leaving us with debts, earmarks and bailouts. >> dana, two very different approaches for conservatives in iowa. one, the fiscal conservative message not touching on those social conservative issues that santorum and bachmann play to and he's talking about the outsider and how congress is a problem. which one plays better in iowa. >> they both are playing the best cards they've got. when it comes to mitt romney, of course, he's going play up at least as part of his closing argument, the idea that he's a fiscal conservative. i was with mitt romney a lot four years ago in iowa. he spent millions of dollars and he had an incredible organization and he got pummeled because people don't buy him as a social conservative because he's changed his stance on the issues that social conservatives care so much about. when it comes to rick perry, look, when you've got two sitting members of congress, two former members of congress also running with you, of course, you're a texas governor, that's what you're going to say. and as a senior congressional correspondent, part time congress may not sound like a bad idea. >> great to see you as always. dana bash joining us from washington. let's bring in robert zirmman, a democratic strategist and republican strategist. thank you for joining us. let's just think about this for a second. mike huckabee makes a point. we're not expecting terrible weather particularly for io wans. >> if it's nice, those people who like romney will come out and vote. if it's not nice, they might say it's kind of cloudy outside. i'm hanging out inside, but the ron paul supporters will climb over three or four mountains to cast their ballot for him. what's your thought on this? >> i love mike, but i couldn't disagree more. the reason is that in iowa you have some of the most extreme republicans in the country. these people would come out in a tornado. when they make up their mind and they have their candidate and this is the smallest sliver of people who will participate in any primary or caucus anywhere in the nation and believe me, when they make up their mind they'll be out to vote regardless of weather. >> christine romans, my colleague, she's from iowa and she says this is the first time that it's so late in the season and you haven't seen people's lawn signs. you do see ron paul lawn signs because those folks were committed from the beginning and remain committed. but we're getting to this place where these iowans have not made up their mind. >> that's part of the culture there. in 2008, 40% of the i on what voters decided in the last week and we see a significant number that are undecided or publicly saying they'll switch positions. they're leaning one way, but they're open to switching in other positions. the problem they've got in with a wash the right hand doesn't know what the extreme right hand is doing. and that's the challenge and to see them consolidate and that's why if you look at the field as it is laid out, the issue is not who wins. the issue is who comes out of iowa with momentum. and for mitt romney, ron paul's victory -- or ron paul finishing second is a tremendous victory for mitt romney. it potentially blocks newt gingrich from consolidaing the anti-romney onstituency. >> one important point to remember, ron paul is very much in this race. the advantage he has is he has a base that goes with him. he has the 13, 14, 15%. he doesn't have to go out and earn his dinner every night. romney for all his money and gingrich, for everything these people have in terms of attention, they don't have what ron paul has right now, and that's a solid base. i think paul is in this. i don't think he'll win, but i think he can play a big role in these primaries. >> but, jack, ron paul has shown to have a very niche constituency or a boutique constituency. he gets the 20%, 22%, but doesn't show potential for growth. the real issue is -- >> you're right. >> -- the candidate in iowa has the potential to consolidate anti-romney votes. >> that's a good point. newt gingrich has been of the group the most successful at the moment, but they have the big problem in virginia. they were talking about how they were going to be on the ballot in virginia and we find out five of those candidates didn't make it on to the ballot including newt gingrich. he wanted to have a write-in ballot and the rules of the state didn't allow that. he has even referred to this -- his campaign manager referred to this as their pearl harbor moment. is this serious, jack? i don't think so. i think this will be decided before march 4th. if i were gingrich i'd be doing the same thing. you'd want to turn this into a big media win. you want to pretend you're the underdog. you want to do all of those things. i think this will be over long before that. the real issue here when you look at all of this stuff is whether romney can get through the south. my prediction is he can't and when you come out that other side there's just not enough oxygen. my prediction is only a conservative can win this. it's important to remember and you look at the layout of the primary and caucus season. february is a relatively quiet time and because of a proportional representation, it's not a winner take-all process. super tuesday, march 6th would be defining. romney is showing he has the national organization to go the distance. newt gingrich, for all his bravado has shown not just that he's an underdog, but that he's incompetent and it's a very clear message to the donor and political community when you can't even get on the key ballot states. the other problem is how he explains it comparing this to pearl harbor and the way he explained his infidelities by saying he did this out of love of country or preparing democrats to nazis. at one point just lose credibility in the process. >> all right, guys. we have lots of time to continue this discussion. jack, always good to see you. thank you very much for joining us. >> a reminder, live coverage begins next tuesday here on cnn, 7:00 p.m. eastern. still "out front" reports today that iran is strengthening its military ties with its long time foe, iraq. is this real or is this posturing? and authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that killed five people in stamford, connecticut on christmas day. we'll be right back. in fact, i'g your best friend, justin. ♪ i would have appreciated a proactive update on the status of our relationship. who do you think i am, tim? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide you with proactive updates on the status of your home loan. and our innovative online tools ensure that you're always in the loop. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. 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. sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! 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[ sniffling ] [ male announcer ] not sure what to take? now robitussin® makes finding the right relief simpler than ever. click on the robitussin® relief finder. click on your symptoms. get your right relief. ♪ makes the cold aisle easy. ♪ robitussin®. relief made simple. a hacker group anonymous is now claiming responsibility for a cyber attack on a u.s.-based security company. the company called stratfor. the site is currently undergoing maintenance. barbara starr has been digging into the story and joins us from the pentagon with the latest. what exactly is anonymous or the group associated with anonymous claiming responsibility for doing. >> they're a well-known hacker group and they are now saying that they're the ones that hacked stratfor over the weekend. they are saying they released subscriber data and information on some 4,000 credit cards as well as the company's private client list. all of the people that subscribe to stratfor and they're corporate clients to government agencies that look for intelligence information on threats and risks around the world that stratfor publishes. that's all very big business these days. when all of this came to be, one of the things that got everyone's attention. i want you to look at this tweet that appeared from anonymous in the twitter verse, if you will, very much saying they were responsible, criticizing stratfor which is a security company for putting the company's most critical information on the internet apparently with no encryption or at least posting it, keeping it on their website with no encryption. so we'll see where this all goes, but it's getting a lot of attention. anonymous saying that they have taken some of the credit card data and use it to make charitable donations, using people's credit card information. it's a little bit of cyber attack, cyber war, if you will. >> all right. what's the company stratfor and the pentagon. what are they saying about this? >> so far, the pentagon says there's no impact on the military users, the military clients which purchased stratfor's information. as far as the company, they are posting a number of messages on their facebook page because their website's down, so they've turned to facebook to communicate with their clients, acknowledging that this information has been disclosed and telling people to be very cautious and perhaps go to some of these credit reporting agencies that we know about like equifax and others so that they can keep track of their credit card charges. the thing that's so mysterious here that no one is answering yet is whether stratfor encrypted the credit card data of its client base. could they possibly have just overlooked that and not even done it? ali? >> thanks very much for that, barbara starr joining us from washington. christmas is certainly over for a 7-year-old walmart greeter in upstate new york. she sustained fractures to the side of her face after being hit by a customer. she was punched on christmas eve after asking 26-year-old jacketa simmons to show her the receipt for her purchases. simmons was detained by employees and customers after she ran out of the store. she's been charged with two counts of assault. >> baggage handlers in argentina make a startling discovery inside a man's suitcase. this was no movie. and reports that iran may be cozying up to iraq. is this true or is this military posturing? and a fire at a home in stamford, connecticut claims the lives of five on christmas day. what's going on? 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. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. investigators are looking into the cause of a deadly christmas day house fire in stamford, connecticut, that took the lives of five family members. they children, a 10-year-old, 7-year-old twins and their grandparents died. fire rescue tried it rescue them from the second story of the home, but were turned back by the heat and flames. the children's mother, madonna badger was taken to a hospital and released. her father had just finished his dream job of playing santa claus at saks fifth avenue's flagship store in manhattan. joining us with this story is staff writer for the local stamford paper "the hour." chase, thanks very much for joining us. tell us what you know about this fire. it seemed to be -- it seemed to get out of control. >> yeah. that's what it appears to be. we don't really know too much as to the cause of the fire at this point. we do know is that a fire broke out at about 4:52 a.m. is when the first calls were reported and as you said, when the firefighters arrived on the scene there was nothing really they could do to rescue those inside. miss badger and her acquaintance were already outside and the firefighters did what they could, but there was not much they could do at that point. >> she's been released from the hospital right now. they've already excavated the house. why have they done that so soon? is there something they're looking for? >> well, fire marshals have already conducted their evidence gathering, part of the investigation and the city's fire -- or the city's building inspector arrived at the scene and deemed the structure unsafe, and it was ruled that it needed to be torn down, so that's exactly what they did. part of the structure had already collapsed the day before. the top floor. it was too weak to be held up there. so all that remain were the first two floor, charred and two chimneys at the top of the structure. >> we're looking at it now, it was a big house. madonna badger and her friend escaped, got to the hospital. we know she's been released. what are they up to now, do you know? >> we don't know that the point. their whereabouts as far as i can tell are unknown at this point. she was released and he is still in the hospital in stable condition at this point. as to where she is with her ex-husband matthew, we don't know as of this point. >> chase wright, thanks very much for joining with us that update. chase wright is with "the hour" in stamford. reports that iran plans to strengthen ties with iraq. is this a clear any present danger or is it iran continuing to posture. and the fbi joins the search for a missing 9-year-old ft. wayne indiana girl. her grandfather comes out front next. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? 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[ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. i think we should see other people. in fact, i'm already seeing your best friend, justin. ♪ i would have appreciated a proactive update on the status of our relationship. who do you think i am, tim? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide you with proactive updates on the status of your home loan. and our innovative online tools ensure that you're always in the loop. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. a suicide car bomber managed to get through six security checkpoints before setting off an explosion in central baghdad. the bombing occurred at iraq's interior ministry compound. police say five people died and at least 39 were injured. this follows a string of attacks that occurred last week resulting in nearly 70 deaths and injuring more than 200 people. meanwhile, iran's armed forces chief congratulated his iraqi counterpart on the exit of u.s. troops in the count riyadh adding that iran is ready to boost its military ties with iraq. iran's navy warned off a foreign helicopter that flew near the strait of hormuz where the country was conducting naval maneuvers. that is a choke point, really, where a lot of the oil from the middle east goes to other parts of the world. do americans need to worry about iran or is this just military posturing? trina parsi is the president of the national iranian-american council. thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you for having me, ali. >> i have informally talked to some people who feel this isn't just posturing. it's very real. these countries that were mortal enemies in the past have far less reason to be mortal enemies today. it's quite likely that there is some detant, between iraq and iran. >> in the short term, yes, the relationship between the current iranian government and the current iraqi government is rather strong. it is still a precarious situation, so it remains to be seen if it is durable or not. there's much that indicates that it will be difficult for the iranians and iraqis to retain this level of relationship for much longer. at the end of the day these are two countries that for 3,000 years have been pretty hostile rivals in the region and there are few reasons to believe that that will change. >> what's the biggest reason that it will change. the fact that iraq does have a shia majority that is now in a lot more control than they ever were under saddam hussein? >> certainly, but at the same time, you have the rest of the iraqi population that are not necessarily on such good footing with the iranians. you also have a situation in which there is a lot of sentiments inside of iraq, that the iranians are trying to dominate iraq. in the long run, iraq is too powerful and too strong to be dominated by the iranians. if the iranians are clever and pursue a much more even relationship between the two, then there is some hope for these two countries to have a strong relationship going forward, but this is also taking place in the region that is in turmoil, that is in geopolitical shake-up right now and within that there is a lot of risk for other types of conflicts taking place in the region including between the united states and iran and that will, of course, have an impact on iran's relationship with iraq as well. >> of course, we have this issue of the strait of hormuz, a choke point where a lot of the oil is welled and refined in the middle east goes out toward the rest of the world. this is not oil that's consumed in the united states, but it kind of doesn't matter because when oil becomes in demand it costs everybody. is this a serious issue? the strait of hormuz a lot of people say is the flash point at which tension between america and iraq is most likely to manifest itself. >> it is indeed worry worrisome because there is essentially almost no communication twain the iranian government. admiral mike mullen weeks after he left his post as chairman of the joint chief of staff warned about this, fearing there could be some form of accident in the persian gulf. >> right. >> in the strait of hormuz that could spark a wider war precisely because there's no communication, no diplomacy and no communication mechanisms between them. >> we'll talk to you again. >> thank you for having me. the department of homeland security is third largest agency in the u.s. government. it's got a budget of about $57 billion. it includes the u.s. coast guard, fema, the tsa and the secret service. "out front" host erin burnett spent a day with janet napolitano. >> reporter: fortunately, this was only a training exercise, but it's a scenario the u.s. secret service must be prepared for every day. this sprawling 493-acre campus, about 30 minutes outside of washington, d.c. is where u.s. secret service agents train. there's everything from a mock town to a replica of air force one. it was all part of the tour we took with the secretary of homeland security. >> all right. excellent. >> third biggest department in the united states, didn't even exist ten years ago. does it need to exist? >> yes. and i can say that as someone who worked as a u.s. attorney in the '90s. so i saw the pre-9/11 iterations of a lot of these agencies and departments, to leverage resources so that we're not duplicating things all through the federal government makes a lot of sense. >> do you think it's become bloated just because you're so young and it's grown so quickly? >> we are always looking at what we are doing and reassessing and we have actually stopped some major projects on the theory that we shouldn't throw good money after bad and things really have to be value added where safety and security are concerned. >> the secret service has 3200 agents, doing a lot more than just looking for counterfeiters and protecting the president. >> if someone is willing to kill themselves they're going to find a way to do it. there's no way you are foolproof. >> this is the department of homeland security, not the department of guarantees. there are no guarantees here. what we're about is making sure we spread across the country a kind of a safety net of capacity where security is concerned. >> the safety net includes the transportation security administration. that's the tsa. where 52,000 officers screen an estimated 1.8 million passengers at airports every day. >> the tsa is a lightning rod. >> $57 billion in ten years. 8.2 billion what you wanted this year, second biggest cost for you, the department of homeland security. is it worth it? >> i think so. i think so for a number of reasons. i begin with the threat. aviation remains a goal. it worked before ten years ago and it worked before there were continual attempts including christmas day of 2009 passenger plane. in october of 2010 a cargo plane, which, that cargo could have gone on a passenger plane. >> could the underwear bomber happen again. >> no. >> for a whole host of reasons and one of them were a new types of screening machines and also because we have really repaired the intelligence holes that he was able to exploit before he got on that plane in amsterdam. >> the new technology is controversial and costly. secretary napolitano says the screening machines are here to stay. >> this checkpoint is only one of only many layers that we use to protect airline passengers. it begins even before you get to the airport when you purchase your ticket, there is explosive trace detection and k-9s in the airport environment and by the time you get to this checkpoint they're the last line of defense. >> in the last year, the tsa discovered more than 129,000 prohibited items. and it's not just drugs and guns. >> they screen every single bag? >> yeah. >> every single one? >> yeah. >> how big of a concern to you is rogue dirty bombs, parts for those bombs coming into the u.s.? >> it's a key concern. we are constantly making sure that we can detect and find dirty bombs and we do it in multiple layers. our system of protecting the country begins with good intelligence and analysis. every step along the way we're looking at what we need to do to make sure we maximize our ability to minimize risk that something like that could get into the united states. >> speaking of airport security, baggage handlers in buenos aires argentina made a startling discovery when they noticed organic substances moving inside a check nationals bag as it passed through an x-ray machine. inside the bag they found more than 240 reptiles. this is a dramatization, obviously, including south american pit vipers and young boas. many are extremely rare and they're protected on international trade and endangered species. carol is charged with attempted smuggling and faces up to ten years in prison. of course, you don't always have to go to the airport to find wildlife, sometimes it comes to you. ksl in salt lake city sent us this video today of a five-foot buck that crashed through the window of a family's home and ended up in their bedroom. he seems to be quite at home there. the family used a cell phone to shoot the video. wild life services eventually helped to get the animal out. let's check in with tom foreman who is filling in for anderson cooper. good evening, my friend. tom, what do you have coming up? >> we're keeping them honest ahead on "360." in syria, a city under siege. tanks rolling through the streets of homs, leveling buildings. new details now in the christmas day deaths of seven family members in grapevine, texas. police say the man they believe opened fire on his relatives before turning the gun on himself was dressed as santa at the time. they also say a divorce could have played a role in the shootings, they're still investigating. the victims had just opened christmas presents. they ranged in age from 15 to 59 years old. a man accused of shooting and paralyzing a soldier at a homecoming party turned himself in to police today in san bernardino, california. ruben ray jurado shot 22-year-old christopher sullivan twice after a physical confrontation broke out. sullivan was a purple heart recipient and was celebrating his return from kentucky where he was recovering from injures sustained from a 2010 suicide bombing attack in afghanistan. his mother is devastated. >> i'm mad. i'm really mad because he's a good boy. he's an excellent boy. >> the fbi is now involved in the search for a missing 9-year-old girl. aliana lemon was last seen friday morning at a neighbor's home in fort wayne, indiana. the young girl who has vision, hearing and emotional problems had been staying there with her sisters because their mother was sick. aliana's grandfather david story and her cousin elizabeth are now on the phone with us. thanks for joining us. david, let me start with you. what do you know? what's the latest that you know about the search for aliana? >> the search is continuing even as we speak. volunteers in the neighborhood are probably 50 to 75 of them are in the woods even tonight with flashlights searching. the police are still conducting searches with bloodhounds and different things through the area where she was reported missing from. they have had some possible developments in the case. they're not going into any real detail with us yet. we don't -- we know she hasn't been found. we're still just waiting to see what's next and go from there. >> elizabeth, can you tell us more about the last time she was seen on friday morning? >> yeah. he was over at my house. a family friend, tara, her mother had been ill for quite a few days, and so she was just kind of watching the girls and taking care of them. and he thought she had gone home to her mother's house. >> right. and tara still thought she was there and so from about 10:30 on they just were starting to realize there was a problem. there was a real communication error, and so nobody reported it until around 8:40. >> all right. tell us, david, about aliana. tell us about this little girl. what does she confront that makes this difficult? i heard that maybe she sleep walks? >> she does sleep walk. >> i don't know at this point if she walked out of the house and was taken. they have a scent trail that the blood hounds picked up that went from the front doors to the bus stop, but there was no school on friday, and that's where the trail ends as far as the scent trail. we just don't know at this point where to go from there. they are -- like i said, they're still conducting searches every day with the bloodhounds and they have used the airplanes in the area with thermal energy to check things. so we really don't have a clue where to go at this point. >> elizabeth, does she know the area well? >> well, you know, honestly, i'm not really sure. i know that they lived out east. >> right. >> for quite a while and they just moved back because tara's father passed away and they arrived prior to him passing away. so i think probably not incredibly well, but they've been here long enough that she should know where's home and where's the gas station and stuff like that. >> if somebody comes across her she'll be able to communicate with them enough to get her back to somewhere? >> yeah. i believe so. as long as she can -- obviously, she has sight disability and a hearing disability, so i think that she can pick somebody out well enough to say, hey, i need help. >> right. all right, if anybody sees a 9-year-old girl and you're looking at her picture there. you know to get her help and that's what we should be doing. we'll keep our thoughts with you, elizabeth and david. thanks very much for being here and let's hope this ends very soon in the way we all hope it does. >> thanks for joining us. out front next, a decision to let the embattled president of yemen to come to the united states for medical treatment he desperately needs. this follows a bit ever debate about whether or not this would be the wrong message to send to those yemenis, who think their president is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. driver's license. past five years' tax returns. high school report cards. and i'm gonna need to see a receipt for that watch you're wearing. you know, you really should provide us with a checklist of documents we're gonna need up front. who do you think i am? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide a checklist of the mortgage documents you'll need up front. it helps keep you in the know every step of the way. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. this just in according to "the new york times," the embattled leader of yemen will be allowed to enter the united states for medical treatment. the times is reporting that after great internal debate the obama administration will let ali abdul asali travel to new york city to be treated for complications from a bomb explosion. the decision is controversial. many yemenis want to see saleh prosecuted for the death of anti-government protesters and the u.s. is concerned that treating hem here might be seen as harboring someone that might be responsible for those deaths. the death toll from tropical storm washi continues in the philippines. 1,249 people are dead after heavy rains and flash floods wiped away entire villages. local fishermen have been enlisted to search the waters. at least 1,000 people are still believed to be missing. high waves forcing evacuations in southern thailand, roughly 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes and leaving a few dozen tourists stranded. these kinds of heavy storms are uncommon this time of year. the rough weather is expected to last through wednesday. let's turn to russia now, just days after what's being called the largest protest in the past two decades over rigged elections, restoring vladimir putin to power. cnn's phil black takes a look at two generations of one russian family. one that recalls the stability of the soviet union, and the other their 212-year-old son who has no memory of communism at all. >> reporter: alex kashin is a courier who dreams of being a photographer or film director. but as his own photos show, alex is also a dedicated political activist. this young man has been defying russia's security forces long before huge crowds of protesters began screaming on moscow's streets. but alex is thrilled to see so many people openly opposing russia's government. he tells me "freedom of speech exists only on the internet in russia." i ask him why he protests. >> translator: i hope our country will change for the better. fair elections, no corruption, military conscription or political prisoners. this 21-year-old was born just before the collapse of the soviet union. he never knew communism. when i ask him to compare the fight for political freedom then and now, he stopped. "i have no idea about it," he says. alex's mom, vassi lisa, was only slightly younger than her son when the ussr broke up. she and her husband were once card carrying members of the communist party, but grew to despise it. they don't like russia either. "we thought if communism fell we would be free. we were naive. we didn't think capitalism with a russian face would be so ugly." vassi says "we don't have democracy, even though we badly wanted changes back then. much of the system is still the same." when you talk to people attending recent political protests, many say their lives are comfortable but they believe they've given away political freedoms in return for prosperity. this is the new cry of russia's unhappy middle class. you won't hear it in this small apartment in one of moscow's outer suburbs. eduardo says almost all the money he makes as a writer goes toward the rent. he feels life is hopeless and he has no chance of leaving a better one to his children. his memories of the ussr are not all bad. we don't have the positive things like money, stability. we feel lied to, he says. these two generations grew up in very different countries. just like the many diverse faces that have joined street protests over the last month, they all shared the belief russia's government and political system have let them down. phil black, cnn, moscow. service on london's underground subway system, you'll know it as the tube, was disrupted after conductors staged a one day strike, demanding extra pay and a holiday comp. day. several lines have been suspended with only limited service available. the strike comes on the day after christmas or boxing day, which is one of london's busiest shopping days of the year. extra buses were added to ease the service disruption. the strike didn't deter bargain hunters, many of whom had been lined up since midnight to take advantage of holiday sales. queen elizabeth's husband, prince philip continues to recover from emergency surgery to repair a blocked coronary artery. the duke of edinboro who began complaining of chest pains friday, received a stent friday to ease the flow of blood around his heart, causing him to miss the traditional christmas and boxing day festivities. the royals rounded out quite the year. cnn's max foster takes a look back. >> reporter: everyone loves a fairytale and this is where the fairytale came true for kate middleton, her story turned into one of the biggest media events in history. it was all about the dress, the guests, but also the little sister, bridesmaid pippa middleton stole the show for many onlookers. whilst london played host to the millions watching kate was the new duchess of cambridge. it was an impeccable performance for the world's most famous newlywedses. after the wedding the queen headed off to ireland on an official visit with her husband, philip, who was about to turn 90. it's a country that shares a fractious history with the british monarchy. but it was declared hiss tore hick by royal and irish commentators alike. william and catherine had even more to live up to on their first official overseas tour to canada and the united states, but as soon as they landed they both showed human touch reminiscent of william's mother, diana, and the crowds loved it. this was a new generation of royals, hands on, and unafraid of showing their competitive sides. by the time they reached los angeles, william and catherine had transformed into the biggest stars in the world. hollywood a-listers, jostled to rub shoulders with the future king and queen. david cameron a ware that a royal pregnancy may be on the cards rushed to update outdated and sexist royal succession laws that kept first-born daughters from becoming sovereign if they had a younger brother. >> if the duke and duchess were to have a little girl that girl would one day be our queen. >> reporter: on a trip to copenhagen later the duchess fueled rumors when she refused to try peanut paste. peanuts are regarded by some as a health hazard. william continued his full time role with the military search rescue and helicopter team and air lifted several people to safety. he's been posted to the falklands in early 2012. his younger brother, harry, who is allowed closer to the front lines, went to the u.s. for training on the deadly apache helicopter. he's due to qualify soon for deployment, most likely to afghanistan. 2012 is going to be another big year for the royals, the queen celebrating 60 years on the throne with her diamond jubilee. expect full pomp and pageantry over a long weekend the beginning of june and all senior royals are going to be traveling the globe to mark the diamond jubilee. the duke and duchess of cambridge are headed to asia. >> well it's going to be a busy 2012 for them. won't top 2011 with the wedding we all remember. an end of the year poll shows that only 17% of americans are satisfied with the direction the country is going in. and that is the second lowest annual average ever. while we've heard all from angry sorts in 2011, few complaints were as adorable in this one. in the latest viral video a little girl from newburgh, new york, named riley takes less than a minute to clearly and concisely explain exactly what she thinks is really wrong with big business, unethical marketing practices, and gender roles. and whether or not you agree with her, you have to respect her passion. >> it's not fair for all of the girls to buy princes and all the buys to buy superheroes. girls want superheroes and the boys want superheroes. the companies who make these try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff instead of stuff that boys want to buy, right? yes, so why do all the girls have to buy princesses? some girls like superheroes, some girls like princesses. some boys like superheroes, some boys like princesses. >> absolutely. >> why do all girls have to buy pink stuff and all the boys have to buy different colored stuff? >> she said it! don't trick the girls into buying pink stuff, and princesses. some girls like