nato authorities and u.s. authorities in afghanistan have issued a statement saying that, indeed, a drone went missing late last week over the afghan/iran border. so that, of course, eastern iran, western afghanistan. this drone, as all drones are, on an intelligence gathering mission. what the u.s. and nato will not say is that it was shot down by iran. they say it has gone policing, they believe it has gone down. they believe this may well be the drone that the iranians are talking about, but they also say that the crew operating the unmanned drone, had reported a loss of flight control, a loss of control, and ability to guide the drone and that it drifted. so their working theory at this point, if the iranians are telling the truth about it being inside iran, it may have drifted into iran. so far they are saying they cannot confirm on the part of nato and the u.s. it was shot down by the iranians, but there's pretty good reason at this point it appears to be that the drone that went missing are the drones that the iranians are talking about. >> to what extent will the u.s. or nato go to try to verify these claims to even, perhaps, retrieve any remnants, if there is such a thing? >> you know, that's a fascinating question, because typically when a drone, helicopter, airplane goes down in an area where the u.s. very strongly does not want insurg t insurgents or militants to get their hands on it, they do that. they call in an air strike and bomb the wreckage so nobody can get their hands on it. that's not very practical or feasible inside iran, of course. so, they are going to want to see any photographic evidence that the iranians may put on tv of the wreckage, trying to figure out how badly destroyed this thing is or what was preserved. this is a drone. if the iranians are saying the truth about the one they have their hands on, it's called the sentnel. it's a stealth drone, one of the most classified pieces of technology in the u.s. intelligence arsenal. there is no way the u.s. wants iranians to have their hands on it. and be able to figure out how this thing works. this is now very tricky business in the next few days. >> all right. barbara starr, thanks so much, see you later this afternoon. on the campaign trail, now the gop game polls from two key states. a new poll from the "des moines register" shows newt gingrich leads with 25% of likely republican voters. ron paul is in second place with 18%. and mitt romney is in third with 16%. but there's still time for movement with 11% of likely iowa caucusgoers undecided. and in the latest nbc/maris poll, gingrich leads 28%, romney tied for second with ron paul, 9% haven't made up their minds. romney got a key endorsement in a state where he hasn't even spent a whole lot of time. iowa. "the sioux city journal" says romney understands economics and fiscal problems. its editorial board likened him to ronald reagan, saying he's a pragmatic conservative and confident, not arrogant. i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> herman cain is now a former presidential candidate. he made the big announcement yesterday. now we're waiting for him to throw his support behind one of the other republican candidates. he says he'll make that decision soon. the megachurch pastor at the center of a sex scandal involving young men is taking some time off. atlanta based bishop eddie long made the announcement before his congregation this morning. this comes just days after his wife filed for divorce. >> we're not hiding nothing or anything like that. i'm going to take a little time off to work with my family. [ applause ] earlier in the week there was some confusion over whether the divorce was on or off. friday, eddie long's church issued a statement saying his wife vanessa long was withdrawing the divorce petition but her attorney insists the divorce is still on. the atlanta-based pastor gained national attention last winter after four young men alleged the pastor had sex with them. the suit was settled this past summer. the men claimed long had pressured them into having sex with him when they were still teenagers. anti-government protesters in syria are getting help from the u.s. government in getting their voices heard. details on that, next. and what do you think were the top stories of the year? we'll look at the leading picks coming up. [ adrianna ] when i grill lobster, i make sure it's a melt in your mouth kind of experience. [ john ] the wood fires up the grill a little bit hotter so you really get a good sear and it locks in the juices. surf & turf -- you can't go wrong. 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[ john ] i'm grill master john mazany. i'm grill master adrianna hollis. and we sea food differently. overseas today, israeli leaders are concerned about how the historic election in egypt is taking shape. early results from the first round of voting for egypt's parliament show strong support for moderate and hardline islamist parties. israeli officials call the results disturbing. it's the first democratic exercise in egypt since the ouster of long-time president hosni mubarak. bomb squads today managed to diffuse two enormous bombs discovered in a river in germany. the bombs dated back to world war ii. nearly half of the residents of one city evacuated for safety reasons while the bombs were diffused. the syrian government is preventing protesters from contacting the outside world. that's the reason most of the images you see from the uprising there come from unofficial sources like amateur video and social media sites. but activists are occasionally getting around those government blocks because of help from the united states. here's cnn's ivan watson. >> reporter: a phone call from syria. 4 opposition activist is calling via skype via holmes. do you feel safe right now talking to me on the internet? >> i feel safe now because i use obscurity to get connection by the internet. >> reporter: he says he just installed an encrypted networking system that allows him to circumvent syrian government fire wahls that block skype. it helps him evade on-line surveillance by syrian intelligence agencies. canadian businessman rafal's company has designed it from funding from the u.s. state department. >> we decided to start ac it ittively propagating among the sir jan community about three months ago. we've seen the numbers go from a handful of individuals reaching up to the low thousands. >> reporter: it's delivered to syrian opposition members discreetly through text messages or e-mails that guide them to links where they can download the software. ♪ >> reporter: the government in syria controls media and telecommunications networks and refuses to allow most foreign journalists into the country. so opposition activists use the internet to distribute images of the regime's deadly crackdown on demonstrators. but president bashar al assad's security forces have proven effective at tracking down dissidents using internet and cell phone surveillance. >> what makes it more problematic and something i think needs to be elevated on the political agendas in europe and the united states is that western companies from america and from european member states are actually providing precisely the tools that assad and his collaborators are using against people. >> reporter: a series of investigative reports prompted two california-based internet companies to agree to cooperate with u.s. investigators after their surveillance technology was discovered in syrian government hands. an italian company, reas pa announced it had frozen work on a new surveillance center in damascus. damascus appears to have other weapons in its cyber arsenal. the europe peen union slapped sanctions against three members of the group known as the syrian electronic army, all accused of calling for violence against civilians in syria. the skype caller in syria, knows this violence only too well. >> there's more than five or six of my friends have been killed. >> reporter: he says, western supply programs like sy phone may protect the opposition as they continue their dangerous struggle against the government. and what is it that you're fighting for? >> we are fighting for freedom, for democracy, toward dignity. >> on the streets, and over the internet. ivan watson, cnn, istanbul. >> and back in this country, southern california, better brace for more fierce santa ana winds today. jacqui jeras will be along. killer audio, and lids that switch to start every semester fresh. but mostly it helps me try new moves on and off the court. ♪ [ male announcer ] featuring windows 7 and windows 7 live messenger. get this loaded inspiron 15r at dell.com or visit one of our retail partners today. lbds. oub other stories making news. boy scouts in st. louis battling a grinch who has stolen christmas trees three years in a row. this time police say the suspect was caught on tape backing up her suv and hauling off two trees. jacqui jeras says southern california can expect a possible repeat performance of the destructive santa ana winds. last week the winds uprooted trees, crushed cars and homes and left tens of thousands of people without power. it looks like colorado or perhaps utah, right? that is arizona. i know that's hard to believe. usually heavy snow closed some interstates and left others looking deserted, the streets that is. by today, parts of arizona will have accumulated up to 11 inches of snow since friday. wow. that is so odd to see, isn't it? jacqui jeras in the weather center. you're like no? >> you get up by flagstaff and you get heavy snow up in the mountains of northern arizona. it's not all desert in that state. it's a big state. >> this has been an incredible storm. >> a very strange winter already. >> it's been pretty aggressive, certainly. >> or fall i should say. we're not officially winter yet. >> meteorological winter, december, january, february, like for climate records, but when we consider, you know, amount of day and all that kind of stuff, it's the 21st, i think. >> yes. >> let's start out talking about what's happening here and now and our most immediate concern happening today and that's the rain which has been heavy across parts of the plains and the mid south and you can see this big stretch here that goes from texas, where we're actually happy to see it, all the way up to the great lakes. when you focus in on places like arkansas, on up towards the ohio river valley, that's where we're getting too much rain. it's been raining pretty much nonstop in these areas since late last week. flood watches are in effect here. we'll have up to six inches by tomorrow, so a lot of swollen rivers will be expected and even after the rain stops, that could be a problem continuing at least through the middle part of the week. all right. this is our next big weather focus here and the west, we were talking about how brutal things have been in places like arizona, new mexico and the santa ana winds. our next system is coming on through. all right. here's our area of low pressure. there you can see our high to the north and that whole thing is going to be sinking down towards the south. as it does so we're going to increase that wind gradient once again with a return starting tonight of the santa ana winds in southern california. we're going to see a return of the winds in utah, across the wasatch and heavy snow again starting tonight into tomorrow for places like new mexico through the mountains. the winds with this, fredricka, tomorrow will be gusting around 30 miles per hour. it's going to be near whiteout, almost impossible to travel across the northern half of new mexico. >> hopefully stay in. >> that's a good idea. >> not necessarily stay in your car and be stuck. all right. thanks so much. >> from the capture of osama bin laden to the death of steve jobs, cnn is counting down the top stories of 2011. this countdown won't be complete without your participation. i'll tell you how, right after this. this has been an incredible year of news, from calamities to uprising to elections. it means it's time to take stock of the biggest news stories of the year. you can be part of the process. there are projects set up at cnn.com. mallory simon is here to explain how this project works. we're talking about year enders, everyone used to seeing a reflection of the year in news and that's what this is about on dotcom and it is compiling all the big stories and then allowing viewers at home to decide what are the most meaningful and impactful ones to them. >> that's right. as you said there's been a huge number of news stories this year. what we're asking readers and viewers to do, log on-line, go to cnn.com/yearinreview, 20 of the biggest stories of the year and we want you to tell us which are the big ones for you. >> you've given them. whittling it down to 20. there was a resounding consensus, osama bin laden up there, the japan earthquake and tsunami. >> yeah. >> what else? >> the other big story we're seeing is everything that's been happening with the arab spring. it started this year and it's still continuing. big uprising in tunisia, egypt, libya, people are interested in that. we're also seeing on the other spectrum, huge interest in steve jobs' death. >> was it difficult to do this year because there have been so many? i mean this has been a year and a news cycle where it seems like, you know, it's not just one after the other, but a lot of dovetailing of big, big stories that took place, all at once this year and it was up to you and your team to kind of, at least, highlight the 20 and allow people to select from there? >> yeah. i mean it was, obviously, a difficult task to narrow it down. you have so much. i mean looking at the economy, globally, looking at the economy in the u.s. and the unemployment, how that's led to, you know, the occupy movement, which is another story we're seeing huge traction with. a lot of big news and what we're hoping is people will tell us what is the most important this year for them. >> how will they do that? go to the dotcom site and then what? >> what you're going to do, log on and see the list of the 20 stories. you will be able to drag and drop in the ten in the order you think are the most important. you've got until december 15th to do that. >> they've got a couple weeks. when is the unveiling? >> on december 30th. find out what is the number one story that our viewers or readers across the global have said resoundingly we think is this is the most important story. >> they'll see that in pictures, most captivating pictures that capture that movement. >> see that in pictures, in text. we've got stories already sort of making the run down. we're going to go the gamut and show them everything. >> very fun. thanks so much. i love the year enders. >> me too. >> i think people look forward to them and you forget how much has happened in just one year's span. you need that reminder. >> it's an unbelievable look. good to see you. we'll be looking for that on dotcom. >> here's the link to the cnn.com site. go to cnn.com/interactive/2011 and your vote will determine what stories topped that list for this past year. all right. one of the most prescribed drugs in the country drops in price by 80% and wall street has a pretty good week. we're just moments away interest our financial look ahead. beginning of the work week and financial marks. we'll look at the financial week with alison, poppy and felicia. >> hi, fredricka. it was quite the stellar week on wall street. the dow industrials soared almost 800 points. the biggest point gain in three years. this as six central banks around the world announced the coordinated plan to help ailing economies. the november jobs report helped out as well with the unemployment rate plunging to 8.6%. amr the parent company of american airlines, filed for bankruptcy protection. american is at a disadvantage because most of its rivals have merged with other carriers allowing them to cut costs. the airline will continue to operate as normal, as it goes through the bankruptcy process. felicia? >> thanks, alison. the world's most popular prescription drug is cheaper than it was a week ago. pfizer's lipitor lost patent protection. that opens the door to generic versions of the cholesterol fighter which experts say could be discounted by as much as 80%. and the u.s. could hit a milestone this year. government figures show that for the first time in more than 60 years, we're on track to export more petroleum products than we import due to slow economic growth in the u.s. and growth in emerging countries like brazil and mexico. poppy harlow has a look at what's coming up in business news. pop poppy? >> thanks so much. the upcoming week on wall street will bring reports on manufacturing, the service sector, consumer sentiment and foreclosures and, of course, europe will continue to be a major focus as treasury secretary timothy geithner travels across the continent, he will meet with euro zone leaders to discuss efforts to resolve the debt crisis there. football fans listen up, on tuesday you will be able to buy stock, that's right stock, in the green bay packers for $250 a share. it's the fifth stock offering in the packers' 92-year history. the pack is the only publicly traded nfl team. we'll keep on top of all of it for you on cnn money. back to you. all right. thanks so much. checking our top stories right now. iran state media reporting an unmanned american spy plane has been shot down. state television citing military sources as saying the u.s. drone was seized after minimum damage. nato released a statement saying they lost contact with an unmanned aircraft a few days ago and that may be what the iranians are talking about. and megachurch pastor eddie long announced this morning he is, quote, taking time off to work on his family. long's announcement comes three days after his wife filed for divorce. the atlanta based pastor gained national attention last spring after he settled a lawsuit with four young men who said that he pressured them into sexual relationships. i'll be back in one hour with an in-depth look at the 2012 presidential campaign. newt gingrich is rising in the polls, herman cain suspends his bid, and president obama courts the conservative vote. stay with cnn. "your money" starts right after this.

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