afghanistan. they won't say whether it's the type that contains highly classified information. security experts say if it is that drone, the u.s. military has lost a lot. >> the important point to take away here is that the iranians now have a very sensitive piece of american military technology in their hands. i hope that there's a self-destruct button attached to it. after months of bloody crack jouns against protesters, syria now says it will let observers into the country to monitor what is going on but only if the arab league agrees to drop sanctions against syria. the u.n. says more than 4,000 people have died in sirrian protests this year. once again, southern california is bracing for powerful, dangerous santa ana winds. we're talking gusts hitting 60 miles an hour in the mountains. that's happening today. 50 miles an hour in los angeles, ventura counties. what has it been like to deal with santa ana over the past week? >> cold, number one. scary and going to bed real early at night because there's nothing else to do. >> i didn't think it was going to be out for as many days. i got a generator. we have a lot of food we don't want to lose. >> the high wind warning is in effect through tomorrow. check it out n. is the scene here in washington where police on a cherry picker forcibly removed occupy protesters as folks around them chanted, let him go. the demonstrators were on top of this wooden structure you see built to hold the meetings and to keep them warm. now more than 30 people arrested. maintenance crews, they dismantled that structure once the stand offended. attorneys for several of the men allegedly molested by jerry sandusky are reacting now with disgust to his interview in "the new york times." the lawyers say the former penn state defensive coach is trying to convince the public his behavior with boys is normal. they call the interview, however, uncomfortable to watch. >> if i say, no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls. >> yeah, but not sexually. you're tract the because you enjoy -- >> that's what i was trying to say. i enjoy spending time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. i mean, my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young. major college football bowls are passing over penn state. the knit any lionlions. snail mail will get even slower next year. just this past hour the postal service announced that first class mail usually arrives next day, maybe takes a day or two. now it could take three, four, five days. the postal service also plans to cut about half of the 500 processing centers and 3700 local post offices as it's fighting off bankruptcy. car wrecks usually making a crunching, grinding noise. this one actually kaching. a crash in japan made scrap metal of eight ferraris, three mercedes and a lamborghini. ten people got hurt but none seriously. the damage could run into the millions of dollars and a couple toyotas got in the action as well. total of 14 cars involved in that. all right. roler coaster, ups and downs. many of the republican candidates. newt gingrich is steadily surging in the polls. right now he's looking for a very important endorsement. we are waiting for that. could it come from none other than herman cain? our paul steinhauser with us in washington about the impact. paul, first of all, do we think this is going to happen? could this happen? >> listen, on saturday when he suspended his campaign he said he would make an endorsement and do it before the iowa caucuses. that's four weeks from tomorrow. he wants to have an impact on the race for the white house even though he's given up his bid for the gop nomination. could it be gingrich? both from georgia. they both spoke very fondly of each other over the last couple of weeks. about an hour or two after cain dropped out, suspended his campaign, gingrich had an event in new york city. gingrich, his campaign added an event in new york city, 1:45 news conference. there was a lot of speculation for that late add. would that be herman cain? looks like it won't happen. cain on his way to oklahoma city today for an event. gingrich campaign telling us that, no, he'll be speaking about his 50-state strategy. a lot of candidates, a lot of them would not mind having a herman cain endorsement. >> let's talk a little bit about iowa. we're a few weeks away. the first real contest here to see how these guys are doing. do we expect it would really make a big difference if he had those cain supporters? >> it could, especially in a close contest. cain had su porkts even though it was dropping in iowa, he still had support among other tea party activists and conservatives. in a close contest, yeah, could it make a difference? i think so. take a look at this. this is interesting. it goes to show with four weeks left a lot of voters, one in ten in this poll in iowa, people likely to attend the caucuses, one in ten undecided. look at that, about one in five say i may change my mind over the next four weeks. suzanne? >> voters a little fickle at this time. if cain endorses gingrich, how do we suspect romney is actually going to do with this? >> it's probably not a great thing for romney if that happens. why? because with cain in the race that antiromney, antiestablishment vote was kind of divided between cain, gingrich, perry, santorum, bachmann and ron paul. you take cain out there have and those voters goes to gingrich. newt gingrich in that nbc poll, now the front runner in iowa with just four weeks to go. newt gingrich has a lot of baggage. a lot could happen between now and then. paul's going to be back in 20 minutes. give us a look at what the other candidates are doing to get noticed in this fast-changing republican race for the nomination. also, rundown some of the stories that we are covering. first, how damaging is iran's claim that it shot down a secret u.s. drone filled with highly classified information? then this. >> we have an issue, and this is the issue. a snake in our christmas tree. >> okay. that's an ornament. a lively ornament. this is a family that discovers something pretty surprising under the christmas tree. also, can you guess, what items being shop lifted the most in america right now? baby boomers looking for more meaning in life heading to the seminary. >> who's got time to be on the beach? there's so much going on in the world. you want to roll up your sleeves and be engaged in the world somehow. later, the latest out of the world discovery from nasa's powerful telescope. i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. so i'm glad it's with fidelity. they offer me one-on-one guidance to help me choose my investments. not just with my savings plan here at work. they help me with all of my financial goals. looking good, irene. thanks to fidelity, i can stay on top of my financial future, huh? good one. why, thank you. whether it's saving for retirement, college, or anything else, contact a fidelity investment professional today. our machines help identify early stages of cancer, and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn. and i'm a cancer survivor. [ woman ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ woman #2 ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ man ] from the moment we walk in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work, i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪ yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! classified u.s. intelligence could be in the hands of the iranians if it is true that they actually shot down a secret u.s. drone flying in iranian air space. chris lawrence is joining us with some of those details. chris, exactly what is the iranian government saying that they have? >> well, some of the news reports run by the iranian regime claim that the iranian defense forces brought down this drone, suzanne. one report even said that it was a cyber attack that brought down the drone. the reports claim that the drone is still relatively intact with little damage and that the military of iran has control of it. >> chris, do we know if the u.s. government is actually disputing that? do they have another scenario here? >> they are. i spoke to a couple sources who say it's highly unlikely that any cyber attack brought this down or that the iranians brought this down. they say more likely is it that they lost control or lost contact with the satellite or there was some other sort of mechanical problem that brought down the drone. officially the u.s. is just saying that they are missing the drone. they're not saying that it's in iran's hands. here's an official statement from u.s. forces in afghanistan. they say the uav to which the iranians may be referring to a u.s. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western afghanistan late last week. the operators of the uav lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status. >> chris f they do have this, if it's missing, how serious is this? does this mean intelligence, possibly a security breech for us? >> it could be because it goes way beyond just one drone. this was an rq 170. it's a stealth drone. it is designed to penetrate enemy defenses that could normally pick up, say, a reaper or predator drone. the same technology that's in this drone is also in certain u.s. bombers, also in some of the newest fighter jets. so if iran had access to this technology, then they could conceivably, you know, devise a way to block some of that other technology being used by the u.s. the key will have to be how much of this drone is actually intact. >> okay. thank you, chris. appreciate it. iran has made false claims about the u.s. drones in the past. back in july iran said it downed another u.s. spy drone. that drone was allegedly flying near a nuclear enrichment plant. a few days later they issued a statement saying the incident was part of a training exercise, not an american drone. what's the most damaging secrets iran could possibly get from this drone? what does it mean? we'll find out in the next hour. take a look at stories making news cross-country. ten people were injured when, check this out, madness broke out at oklahoma state's win over oklahoma sat night. emergency official said most of these injuries involved people getting trampled. we're hearing two injured are still in the hospital in guarded but stable condition. season's greeting in north carolina. that's where a family found this little extra ornament on the tree. yeah, i'm not kidding, this is a live snake. they say they originally thought that the little girl in the family was playing a joke on them last week. as you can see, the snake is harmless but kind of scary. dhek out, let the fluff fly. this is eisenhower junior high school in tail lors vil, utah. they tossed a dozen mash mall lows around. they're out to break a record. the school has ten records including tallest ice cream cone and human mattress dominoes. the postal krooe promises you'll get your mail. the new plan for slower service and how it might save some money. i love the holidays. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ toy robot sounds ] and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. postal service deep in debt scrambling to cut costs. this latest money-sfg move came within the last hour. karina huber is at the new york stock exchange. first class mail often arrives the next day. that's what we're used to. that's actually about to change as i understand it. >> right. that is what's being proposed, suzanne. first class service you can get delivered between one to three days. now they're proposing to change the delivery time to two to five days. this will help cut half of their mail processing facilities. the reason they're proposing these measures is they're heavily in debt. they have lost nearly $14 billion. analysts say they could run out of cash as early as next summer. >> that's a long time to wait for something in the mail first class. you're paying first class and three to five days later. what if you want a dvd, you have something more important like a prescription by mail, you're counting on that. what happens to those kinds of services? >> what you don't have to worry about is your newspaper delivery. you will get that in the morning. that's because that doesn't go through the u.s. postal service. things like prescription drugs, yes, that will impact you. you have to take this into consideration. order them a little ahead than you usually do. same thing with people who pay for their bills by using an envelope and a stamp. you want to get them in time for when your rent is due or any of your utilities, be sure to send them a few days in advance than what you usually do. otherwise, you might get hit by some of those late fees. >> i must confess, i'm still one of those people that puts it in the mail with the stamp and the envelope to pay some of my bills. i know it's a little old school there. it's true. are there any other things that the post office is doing to try to cut some corners here? >> right. they've been talking about all kinds of proposals, worker buyouts, cutting saturday service, closing some of their offices. we know that some processing facilities have already been closed. before we see any major changes to how the postal service conducts its business it will have to win congressional and union approval. there's still some things that need to be worked out before we can see some drastic changes to how their business is run. suzanne? >> how are the stocks doing today? >> looking pretty good. we're up 148 points on the dow. we're seeing the banks really taking off again. europe is driving the markets today. there's some optimism as we see european leaders getting together this week to hopefully come up with a plan to deal with the debt crisis. >> we want to know what you think. will the post office plan to eliminate next day delivery. will it affect you in any way? facebook.com/suzanne. we'll read your responses later in the show. in the 1:00 hour in the newsroom the postmaster general will talk live to cnn about the latest changes. karina, obviously we'll start holiday shopping. this might be surprising for you because we're talking about 1 out of 11 folks across the country have sticky fingers. this national trade group says that shoplifting is going to cost retailers $119 billion this year alone. what are they taking? nike athletic shoes are a favorite. iphone 4 accessories. they're disappearing. some shop lifters, they've got to smell good. they steal axe deodorant and sprays among the most stolen items. what's the most shop lifted? >> i got full disclosure here. i know about the report so i do know what the number one most shop lifted item is. do you want me to give it away or do you want to give it away? it's filet mignon. >> i don't get that. >> do you get that? >> i'm not sure i really get that. >> how are you going to go carry that home? it's a messy item. >> that movie, dan acroid, eddie murphy. he has that meat in his little santa outfit. remember that movie? how do people walk away with that? i don't get it. i don't understand. >> i don't get it. you know what, just spend the money, get the skirt steak. you can make tacos. don't risk it. you can't sell it. you've got to live close to home because it's got to go straight to the freezer. that was a head scratcher, that one. >> much too messy. all right. thanks, karina. question today, have we heard the last from herman cain. a lot of people in washington saying, not too fast. to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 what every trader needs. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 like streetsmart edge, ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 the intuitive trading platform that thinks like a trader. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 access dozens of workshops and webinars ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 -and talk over your strategy with dedicated ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab trading specialists. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, traders get up and running faster ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 with a personalized introduction to all that schwab has to offer. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck and get it all for $8.95 per trade. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 open an account and trade up to 6 months commission-free. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-790-3808 today. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on. up next, he put the brakes on his own campaign, but what is next now for herman cain. could he still be a big factor in the race for the white house? cnn indepth, baby boomers on a new mission. helping themselves and others rediscover religion and spirituality. and later on, our relentless search for new planets. nasa's telescope delivers big time. newt gingrich quickly becoming the guy to beat in the republican nomination. the race is far from over. the other candidates haven't taken their eyes off the prize. paul steinhauser joins us with the lay of the land. let's talk about newt gingrich. he's surging in the polls, but he's not the only one, is he? >> not the only one at all. with gingrich, yes, he's surging in the polls. the question mark is can he beef up that campaign in time? four weeks and one day until iowa. that's the key. he needs to get the campaign staffers in all the early states. we talked about mitt romney. he has the strong staff, romney does. he has definitely probably the best campaign. the other people, you mentioned somebody who's rising in the polls. that person, congressman ron paul in texas, he's making his third bid for the white house. the polls find paul tied with romney. what about rick perry, texas governor? at one time he was the front runner in the race. thanks to those uneven debate performances at best he faltered. he has a lot of campaign cash. he's going up with a lot of ads. he's trying to restart his campaign. how about michele bachmann, congresswoman from minnesota. at one time she was rising in the polls. she saw her campaign come back down to earth in september. she's hoping with herman cain out of the race she's hoping to get some of those voters. bachmann well liked among tea party activists. rick santorum, former er senato. he is well liked. santorum hoping with cain out of the race maybe he will get more support. finally john huntsman, u.s. ambassador to china formerly, he is not thinking about iowa. he's spending all of his time in new hampshire. they vote second. primary is one week after iowa. hunts man hoping for a strong, strong finish in new hampshire. if he doesn't get it, that could be a lot of trouble. >> paul, i know the toughest thing for any candidate is to decide when to bow out. i remember the last go around, hillary clinton, june of '08, she said i'm going to relinquish this. some of these guys, will they get out soon? when will the field thin out a little bit? >> it could be right after january 3rd. let's say santorum or bachmann doesn't do well in iowa, that could be the end of their campaign. same thing for huntsman one week later in new hampshire. he's placing all of his bets on new hampshire. the latest poll numbers in iowa. newt gingrich now according to the nbc poll and another poll, they have paul and romney battling for second place. one thing about these polls suzanne, a lot of undecided voters. >> those guys could make the difference. thank you, paul. so cain may be out of the race for now, but he's still a big player in the political field. conservative commentator who's joining us, it's good to see you. cain suspended. >> nice to see you. >> nice to see you. it was under an ethical cloud. why would other candidates want or even need an endorsement from him? >> well, herman cain, as he said, he was the outsider candidate who was running against the establishment and had won so many hearts of conservative voters, those tea party activists who are looking for someone to, as some people have said, fall in love with. so far the gop race has been a battle between the mind and the heart. mitt romney, he seems electable. independents like him. conservatives are not sold. mitt romney has not made the sale with those voters. whereas, herman cain certainly did before all of the sexual harassment allegations. >> let's talk a little bit about that. sex scandals, they have tanked political campaigns before. we have seen, as proven, that you can make a comeback. bill clinton, mark sanford. what do we think? is this the last of herman cain? could he make a comeback? >> reporter: i think if herman cain wants to be a public figure, he certainly could be. he has proven he's charismatic. let's face t oscar wild had a famous saying, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked b. herman cain is very capable of getting people talking. "new york times" this summer did a huge puff piece on sanfords about him f. mark san ford can do it. if chelsea clinton who wasn't involved in politics, there she is at nbc. >> okay. not to at all link to any kind of sex scandal, character honestly counts. we know that gingrich has had his own scandals in the past. he needs that boost from independent voters. do you think a cain endorsement does that for him? >> reporter: i don't know if cain helps him with independent voters. newt gingrich, he is still a bit of a question mark for some of those conservative voters that have questioned his conservative character and conservative ideology. i think herman cain helps him in terms of the ideological argument. newt gingrich is selling the story of personal redemption. that might be appealing to conservatives and perhaps independents as well. >> amy, finally, mitt romney, what does he have to do to get his mojo back? >> i think what mitt romney has been doing is slow and steady wins the race. he has put together, as your reporter was talking about, the ground campaign, being able to be organized. he has a ton of money. that goes a long way. i think between mitt romney and newt gingrich what we're going to see is can newt gingrich translate current popularity into practical support? if you look at newt gingrich, you haven't seen this rush of gop politicians coming out to endorse and support him, at least the establishment ones. we even had peter king of new york come out and say in the last couple of days that newt gingrich is undisciplined. we saw senator tom coburn from oklahoma saying he would not support newt. mitt romney has gotten a lot of congressional folks backing him because they see him as a disciplined, practical, and electable candidate. >> all right. amy holmes, good to see you. >> reporter: thanks so much, suzanne. a generation known for its tenacity. now starting to mellow. looking to give back. baby boomers reembracing spirituality, hoping to help you find religion. a new survey has found why most americans go online. do you think it's to meet mr. right, mrs. right? maybe buy some clothes? we've got the answer in just a minute. stics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ so why do you think most americans go online? a new report from pooug research center finds that most americans search the web for no reason at all. 58% say they use the internet to pass the time or have a little fun. our cnn in depth, more and more baby boomers who put a divine calling on hold for better paying careers, right? now they are flocking back in droves. it's becoming a perfect second act for a generation of go-getters now looking to give something back. >> reporter: no matter how you define success, vince guest had it. the son of a world war ii veteran, he spent time in government and politics and settled into a career of law. >> i was always looking forsomething else. >> reporter: the 51-year-old ran into something more and more baby boomers are facing at career's end, the meaning gap. >> helping people with domestic violence, suffering from domestic violence, or immay grants being deported, i saw their brokenness in so many different ways, how they're broken. i know they needed to be touched by the love of god. >> reporter: that led guest to theological college at catholic university to study to become a local priest in cam den, new jersey. >> ministry, whether it be a priest, minister, touches people's lives at the core where god is, where it's most meaningful, eternal. i think people grasp that and are searching for that. >> reporter: guest is not alone. the association of theological schools reported in 2009 baby boomers were the fastest growing group of sem narians in the past decade. they represented 20% of all seminary students. >> many felt a call early in life in their teenage years or in college. >> reporter: the reverend is admissions director where they've seen the rise in baby boomers. >> they have a little bit of the financial burden taken off because they have that previous career behind them. >> reporter: those financially stable boomers are in many ways saving some shrinking main-line churches. >> a lot of churches that would not have been able to have a full-time pastor unless these baby boomers who are returning to study and raising their hand and saying, yes, send me to those churches because i'm ready for something quiet out in the country, outside the belt way. >> reporter: it's a working retirement plan that skips the beach house. >> who's got time to be on the beach, there's so much going on in the world. >> reporter: laying on the beach is not an option. >> good afternoon and welcome. >> reporter: she was a senior staffer for the democratic national committee and ran the 2008 convention in denver. as her secular career was ramping down, she started ramping up a secular one. like many boomers, she kept working a 9 to 5 during the day and took seminary classes during the night. >> we came of age at a time of activism, doing something where you want to roll up your sleeves and be engaged in the world. i don't know we're people who check out. there's something in our ethos that krafs involvement in the world and the world around us with people. it's where we get our spirit and energy from. so will he or won't he? donald trump says he is thinking about a presidential run again, but not as a republican candidate. the race to the white house certainly been a big story this year, 2011. it's been a year of nonstop, right, breaking news. cnn's been all over it. go to cnn.com/topstories to cast your vote. join us on december 30th to find out whether or not your pick actually makes the final cut. newsroom and cnn.com will unveil the top ten stories of the year. burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. all right. so no matter what you think of herman cain, he definitely made the republican field of presidential hopefuls more interesting. comedians ate it up. here's today's punch line. >> what i want to know is, i love my wife. we are close to each other as any couple that i've ever known. so four days after these allegations came out i scheduled an appointment to talk to her. >> and that's when you told her about the affair? >> no one said nothing about an affair. come on. i'm innocent until proven guilty. that's what this country is all about. if i can't have that, i may go on and move to libibya. >> do you mean libya? >> no, i think i mean libibya. you know, the moammar gadhafi place. >> that's libya. >> slow down. slow down. let me just figure this out in my head a little bit. newt gingrich's campaign is getting some steam. now he is taking his message to the air waves. he released his first paid ad for his presidential campaign. that happened today. live from the political desk here. tell us about this ad that's airing in iowa. yes? >> yeah. it's going to be hard to top that skit, let's be honest. >> yeah. >> the new gingrich ad is somewhat upbeat, suzanne. it asks the question right at the heart of the conservative movement. a question conservatives love to ask, is the america we love a thing of the past? the campaign says it's going to spend about $250,000. check it out. >> some people say the america we know and love is a thing of the past. i don't believe that because working together i know we can rebuild america. we can revive our economy and create jobs, shrink government and the regulations that strangle our businesses. throw out the tax code and replace it with one that is simple and fair. we can regain the world's respect by standing strong again, being true to our faith, and respecting one another. >> amber waves of grain, shining city on a hill. that's quite a way to come out of the blocks for newt gingrich. we'll see how it does in iowa. >> joe, what do we know about this meeting that he's having with donald trump this morning? >> this thing is interesting on a bunch of different levels. first it's the idea that so many candidates have made the pilgrimage to trump's office in the first place, if you will. they're apparently looking for trump's endorsement. some people say it's to kiss the ring of donald trump. i don't think so. second, trump seems to be flirting with the idea of a possible third-party run saying he would consider it if he doesn't like who gets the nomination. he said before he'd have a lot to lose if he did the third-party run because it could affect his reality shows. he is expected to moderate the presidential debate later this month. the door's still open on that third-party run and it raises the question. should a perspective candidate be allowed to moderate a presidential debate. that's interesting. ron paul, john huntsman said they're staying out of that debate. that's potentially controversial. >> very much so. thank you, joe. coming up at 1:45 p.m. eastern. newt beginning gingrich is holding a meeting. we're going to bring that to you live here on cnn. nasa's keppler telescope is continuing to give us pictures. it could be closing in on finding a planet like ours. all right. so nasa has some pretty encouraging news in their search for new planets. jacqui jeras is joining us on the big announcement. what do we know? what have they found? >> this is amazing. they've confirmed the planet, in the sweet spot as they've called it, meaning that liquid water can exist on this planet. life could actually happen in this place or potentially could humans go to this new planet. this is a very exciting thing. they've just now been able to confirm it. they've known it's been out there for a couple of years. a couple of things about it. it's larger than the size of earth. about 2.5 times larger. pretty big planet. it's orbiting a star like the i cooler than our sun. it is 600 light years away so way out there in the distance. the temperature -- they're actually able to estimate the temperature of this planet -- 72 degrees. sounds pretty good to me. pretty comfortable and certainly that would be liquid water, not ice. we found ice on other planets potentially. so to see liquid this time around is certainly good. it takes about 290 days to orbit around that sun so it is a little bit of a shorter year than what we have here on earth. now how did they discover this thing? well, there is more than 200 planet -- or 2,000 -- excuse me -- planet candidates that have been out there right now. they take this big looking telescope thing out there -- i thought i had it. let me look here -- maybe i don't have it. they take this big looking telescope satellite that's out there and they detect changes in the lights of the stars. so when they see a consistent change, does it transit around it. we see that three times, that's how they get that confirmation. that's why it's taken so long up to this point to be able to confirm it. but certainly some very exciting news. scientists are calling this earth's twin, believe it or not. >> that is so cool! very cool. 72 degrees, you can't really beat that. sounds like a cool place to kind of hang out here. i had time to spend with my own twin. we went to the kennedy center last night. president obama paying tribute to a group of great artists. awards for lifetime contributions to american culture. so they were featured meryl streep, yo-yo ma, neil diamond. >> how exciting! >> it was a pretty cool evening. >> who did you talk to? >> well, i got a chance to see robert de niro, bill cosby, smokey robinson, anne hathaway. elmo o. >> you talk to elmo? >> take a listen. this is actually the highlight of the evening here. ♪ >> smokey robinson and lionel richie. they're bringing the house down singing "sweet caroline," there's neil diamond. even the obamas started rocking out. it was really kind of fun actually. >> what an honor. looks like a great time. very festive, suzanne. >> it was like one of those parties. they did such a great job. i believe it is going to air later in the month. >> i'm completely jealous. >> you'll be nye guest next time. i had to go with my twin sister. it was her birthday. >> happy birthday. thank you. winter officially begins on december 22nd. "travel & leisure" magazine just name the best cities for winter travel. top picks in just a second.n gi t plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes, and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ male announcer ] enbrel. the #1 biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ toy robot sounds ] with winter travel season approaching, "travel & leisure" magazine has named the best places to travel for winter. coming in third -- phoenix, scottsdale, arizona. lovely. visitors can spend time golfing, shopping, relaxing at the spa. coming in second -- honolulu, hawaii. not surprising. great for couples, families, weather, outdoor activities. claim being the top spot -- san juan, puerto rico. that's actually one of my favorite places. number one. connecticut jury begins deliberating whether convicted killer joshua komisarjevsky is going to spend the rest of his life in prison or whether or not he's going to be put to death. he was found guilty of brutally killing jennifer hawk petit and her two daughters during a 2000 home invasion. his accomplice, stephen hayes was already sentenced to death. we are now waiting to see if he is going to share the same fate. deborah feyerick has been following developments from new haven, connecticut. deb, what do we think? do we have any idea? >> reporter: no, we don't, s suzan suzanne. the jury has a very, very tough road ahead of it. arguably this phase of the trial, the penalty phase, whether he dies or lives, is much more complicated than the actual guilt phase because the jury really has to balance the defense argument -- and the defense basically really only has to establish in fact there were a lot of factors that contributed to why joshua komisarjevsky did what he did and there has to be a preponderance of evidence. the president obama prosecutors say there is only one thing can you do, put him to death. the defense is trying to almost since the very beginning of the trial tried to establish that komisarjevsky is a person. in their words they say he is a human being, albeit severely damaged and his life has value. they are going to try to put him out there as somebody who was repeatedly sexually abused as a child, somebody who didn't understand the difference between right and wrong. a loving father, a 9-year-old daughter he's trying to support. they're trying to humanize him in front of the jury so that when they do sit down and they look at everything they've got to and think about it, they have to basically say yes aboto get unanimous verdict on the death penalty. they are going to at least see him as a person, someone who simply got up in something tragic. that's what his lawyers have been fighting for. deliberations are going to start probably this afternoon. can you see some of the live trucks behind me. this case has just really taken over the consciousness of this part of connecticut because it has been going on for so long. this tragedy occurring back in 2007. >> deb, do we think that that is actually going to help him, the fact that the attorney is bringing up that he had a dark past and that he really was a troubled kid? >> that's what they're hoping. that was their game plan really almost from the very beginning. that is, look, they're not denying the crime that was committed was a terrible crime. they're trying to say, look, this was somebody who was trying to do the right thing, got caught up in something with his co-conspirator, somebody he met at a rehab center and they committed a burglary that went horribly wrong. if they can humanize him, if they can also really play into the fact that some of these jurors may not believe in the delth penal death penalty, their goal and their goal alone is to save his life. >> do we have a sense of how long this might take? >> well, his co-conspirator -- very few people testified on his behalf. that took four days. many, many more people testified on behalf of josh komisarjevsky so, who knows? the jury may have made up its mind or it could take a number of days as well. >> all right. deb feyerick, thank you. top of the hour, i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed. newt gingrich surging in the polls closing the gap in the race for the republican nomination. just a few weeks until iowa. right now all eyes are on that state. the former house speaker is enjoying a new lead over his rivals. look at this new nbc poll. the former house speaker leading now in iowa with 26%. mitt romney is second with 18%. ron paul in third with 17%. newt gingrich is hoping to solidify, get that mojo back with a big endorsement back from none other than former republican candidate herman cain. cain bowed out of the race under this ethical cloud that happened over the weekend but he has not yet thrown his weight behind a candidate. and gingrich looking for help from donald trump. we'll meet with that reality tv star later today. democratic senate leader harry reid planning to roll out a compromise plan to extend now the payroll tax cuts. now that expires at the end of the month and the senate blocked the extension last week. now democrats, republicans, couldn't agree on a way to pay for this thing, so senator kent conrad is not disclosing details but is he calling reid's plan a serious credible way to try to move the ball forward. occupy standoff has now led to 30 arrests right here in washington. some of the demonstrators were on top of this wooden structure you see here. this is built to hold meetings and to help them keep warm. well at one point last night police forcibly removed them tearing that structure down. in buffalo, new york, occupy protesters have a new home. it is kind of shaped like a dome. our affiliate wivb reports an anonymous donor gave it to them to protect them from the weather. >> this is somebody who felt strongly about the movement and wanted to make sure that people stayed warm who were intending to stay here over the winter. >> after months of bloody crackdowns against protesters, syria now says it is going to let international observers in to the country to monitor what is happening there. but only if the arab league agrees to drop the sanctions against syria. the u.n. says more than 4,000 people have died in syrian protests this year. british judges ruled today that the wiwikileaks founder isg the case against him is politically motivated because he revoeld government secrets on his website. italy's new prime minister announced a proposal to help save italy. this country is facing a budget crisis that could impact the future of the euro. the new $41 billion pack aage ao increases the country's retirement age by a year and cuts into their pension. highly classified u.s. intelligence could be in the hands of iranians. that's right. if it is true that they shot down a secret u.s. drone flying in iranian airspace. now the pentagon says the u.s. did lose the drone somewhere along the afghanistan border with iran, but u.s. officials are not saying what kind of drone this actually was. fran townsend is cnn's national security contributor, member of both the department of homeland security and cia external advisory board. that's a mouthful, fran. very qualified. give us your sense, fran. what do we know about this drone, why is it even important to us? >> well, suzanne, we know the u.s. is flying a surveillance reconnaissance drone along the afghan-iranian border and we know that a drone last week was lost. that's pretty much what we know about the facts. we're not sure -- it's not clear whether or not the drone iran claims to have shot down is the u.s. drone. i think it is fair to say -- i'm very skeptical that the iranians -- of the iranian claim of having shot it down. it is entirely possible that with the technology by which this drone is operating, that as the u.s. government has suggested, they just lost control of it and so it landed inside iran's border. there's plenty of interest -- drones are critical to the u.s. nato mission inside afghanistan. they are especially important around all of the borders of afghanistan, and so one can imagine in a very mountainous region losing a signal and losing control of the drone. we're not aware that this has ever happened before but it certainly seems plausible. now why is this important to us? what the reports are is that this stealth drone, which means there's two things that are important to it -- one is what is it that makes it stealth. if you lose it, your adversary then can reverse engineer and try to understand what the technology is that you used to make things stealth. remember, the stealth technology was also used on the helicopter that did the bin laden raid so it is a tremendous value to our adversaries and allies around the world. the second piece is what's the payload. that is, what is it inside the drone that carries that allows the u.s. to get this sort of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and to the extent that the iranians are able to recover the payload, they will learn something about how the u.s. uses these drones and what they're learning from them. >> we recently lost this helicopter in the bin laden raid. is there a sense here that there is a risk that we are able to lose some of this high-valued technology? >> well, i think it is always a risk. it is usually planned for. in the case -- remember, in the case of the bin laden raid, the helicopter, they destroyed it. they couldn't get to the tail that they were unable to destroy but you try to make sure that you make it very difficult if somebody gets their hands on this to be able to understand its capability, its technology. but it is usually worth the risk. usually what you are getting, whether it is the bin laden raid helicopter or it is this drone, it is worth that risk because the value of the intelligence's support to the u.s. military that those technologies provide is worth risk losing them. >> all right. fran townsend, thank you very much. appreciate it. because we are talking about fran townsend about iran, want to mention that fran, along with many other former national security officials from both sides of the aisle, and nearly 100 members of congress, have publicly and privately worked to get the state department to drop its terror designation as a prominent iranian opposition group, that is the nek. that group operates principally out of iran. the european union did drop the terror designation a few years ago based on evidence provided that the nek has renounced and ended its violence that included civilian targets in iran. here's a rundown of some of the stories up ahead. first the deadline for u.s. troops to leave iraq means a great homecoming for our nation's heroes. going to take you to a rock star welcome inside ft. hood, texas. and u.s. workers could be looking now at a tax increase. what it means if u.s. congress doesn't act quickly. then, former penn state coach jerry sandusky tells his side of the story -- again. but, why is he still talking? we'll take a look at the possible strategy by his attorney. and, when politicians speak, truth-o-meter is listening. we'll apply the truth test to some recent claims on the republican campaign trail. and the material mom making a comeback. that's right. madonna planning to take center stage at the nfl's vegas night. there are patients who will question, why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry. those that are suffering can certainly benefit from biotene. [♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. all this week, cnn goes in-depth on the final hours of the iraq war. thousands of u.s. military men and women are home now to spend the holidays with their loved ones and they're not going back to iraq. cnn's chris lawrence is at ft. hood, texas over the weekend when soldiers and their families reunited. >> reporter: it is the first glimpse of her father in nearly a year. alexandria frye shows us just how fast a 14-year-old can move. she started high school while they are dad was gone. her mom had to do everything alone. >> it has been a very long ten months. glad it is over. >> is there any way to describe what it feels like to have your dad back after so long? >> no. >> what did you miss most about him? >> he was really my best friend. >> now you've got your best friend back? >> yeah. >> reporter: the last two hours of waiting was a tough one. then, the plane full of soldiers finally landed. and the troops got a welcome home fit for rock stars. christmas wishes were answered. the fight in iraq finished. >> in one sense i feel happy that it is over with and that we are home and then you look back at the sacrifices that our soldiers and family members have made. >> reporter: both in blood, and money. at one point the u.s. was spending $5,000 per second in iraq. the war took nearly 4,500 american lives and 32,000 troops came home wounded. but these are some of the last americans to leave iraq. they won't be going back. >> this is my third deployment. first one with both of these guys and it was a lot harder but it just makes it that much sweeter coming home. >> chris is joining us from the pentagon. chris, you talked to a lot of these men and women. what does it mean for them to finally leave iraq? >> suzanne, a lot of them felt honored to be some of the last to come out of iraq. they felt like they were a part of something historic, especially they say to be able to wind down the war in iraq with no casualties to bring everybody back safely. and i think the sergeant major mentioned, it was bittersweet in a way because a lot of these men and women have lost friends along the way, fellow soldiers who were killed in iraq. especially during some of the worst fighting, 2006, 2007, 2008. so a lot of their time was sort of reflecting back on those soldiers as well. >> what's next for these men, women when they come back home? >> you know, i talk to a lot of them. some of them -- right now they're all in reintegration training, getting acclimated -- re-acclimated to being back in the civilian world. some of them are already angling toward an afghanistan deployment in 2013. they want to redeploy again while that war is still going on. others are looking forward to getting out of the military. they've done a lot of deployments over the past six, seven years. but, the economy is so bad right now, a few have mentioned that they may end up just reenlisting for another four years and waiting it out to see if perhaps the job market is a little bit better a few years down the road. >> amazing choices. tough choices that they have to make as well. thank you, chris. appreciate that. >> you're welcome. extending the payroll tax cuts. democrats say they've actually got a compromise that is now in the works. are republicans in a buying mood? we'll see. ♪ [ electronic beeping ] [ male announcer ] still getting dandruff? neutrogena® t/gel shampoo defeats dandruff after just one use. t/gel shampoo. it works. neutrogena®. just 26 days ago, we're not talking about a christmas countdown. you might think so though. this is actually the time that's left until american workers will see a tax increase. congress says they can avoid it by extending the payroll tax cut into 2012. karina huber is at the new york stock exchange to break this down. we expect senate democrats to float a new compromise today. they say that their proposal can actually pay for the cost of the extension which has been one of the sticking points. if there is no extension here, what's this mean in terms of the cost to folks who are working? >> okay, well, if we talk about the average worker, we are talking about $1,000 a year. here's the deal -- the payle roll tax will return to 6.2% of income in january if congress doesn't extend it. right now we pay 4.2% which is a reduced rate. you can see what that two-point increase means for you. new make 35k a year, an extra $700 will take out of your pay. $2,000 for year if you make $110,000. the bottom line is there will be less money in your pocket which means less money to spend. opponents say the payroll tax does fund social security. >> paint the big pick tyture fo. how important is it to the overall economy? >> i guess the question is has it really made a difference seeing that reduced rate. this is a tricky question to answer because we can't point to anything specific to show that it has had an impact. but the purpose of the tax cut was to boost the economy. the reality is that economic growth slowed this year compared to 2010. proponents say that it did make an impact, it softened the blow. by not extending it that could hurt the recovery next year. critics counter and say most people take that extra money don't actually spend it but put it into bank accounts, they're saving that money so they say it doesn't help the economy. it is hard to say right now for sure but many politics, particularly democrats want to extend it. we are hearing republicans may be amenable to extending it as well. >> how are stocks looking today? >> well, we're still looking pretty good. 145 points on the dow. a nice little boost. this is on some developments in europe. a lot of leaders are meeting throughout the week. there is optimism among traders they'll come up with some kind of fiscal plan among the eurozone leaders that could potentially the ecb steps in to buy more bonds. all good news for the eurozone but again this is a developing story so it could change again tomorrow. but today, looking good. the postal service announced first class mail which usually arrives the next day might take up to five days now. this is a move, an effort to cut the costs, as postal service is fighting off bankruptcy. we asked you if this is actually going to impact you. karen holmes says it is sad to see an old institution go down. yes, it is a government institution but it's needed, it's wanted, and in some ways it's necessary. we'll read more of your responses later in the show. in the 1:00 hour, drew griffin will talk live with the post master general about these latest changes. so 'tis the season to spend. but there are a lot of ways to do it without getting stuck in a deep financial crisis. christine romans explains in this edition of "smart is the new rich." >> the debt danger signs are flashing everywhere. in europe, in washington, and this our own bank accounts where incomes are falling and americans are dipping into savings to pay the bills. yet, everywhere you're being encouraged to spend money, lots of money, for the for the holidays. national retail federation says you'll probably spend $704 but where is all that money coming from and have we learned nothing? >> you see these numbers about how much money people are spending for the holidays, it reminds you back when people suddenly had expensive cars in their driveways, boats, fancy vacations, you wonder, how are they affording all of this? we seem to be back in that situation. the fundamental situation here is that real income after inflation has been flat for the last year, or maybe even down a tiny little bit. >> that means have you to be very careful about putting new debt on your credit cards. people say they want to be good spenders. 42% plan to spend less this year than last. that's according for a new bankrate.com poll. but the road to debt is paved with good holiday inn tensions. >> a lot of data shows there is a disconnect between what people say they're going to do and what they actually do. even when people say i intend to pay off my credit card balances, for instance, they typically don't pay them off. that's why we've got 15 million people right now in 2011 who haven't paid off their holiday shopping bills from 2010. >> don't be that person. a few smart things to consider before you spend a dime. if you can't afford it, put it down. really think about your purchase. and whether you need it. how do you know whether you need it? make a budget. it sounds so simple, but make a budget and make a list. think about what you want to buy and why, and stick to it. you are smarter than the retail tricks. stay to the list. also, use technology. comparison shop online. use coupon codes when you can, and never buy into this hype that these are the lowest prices you'll see all season. there are always lower prices an more sales ahead. and take a time-out. if you see something not on your list you want to buy, wait 48 hours and go back later. you would be surprised how often the urge fades with time. and let's say your little kid's crying for that sold-out toy on the hot toys list -- shop in person, on fridays, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the toy store. that's when toy stores restock for the weekend. that's when you have the best chance of finding that hot toy that no one else can. for this week's "smart is the new rich," i'm christine romans in new york. jerry sandusky defends himself before the nation -- again. we'll dissect his interview with the "new york times" and find out why some people say that the long-time penn state assistant coach needs to clam up. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ [ gargling ] oo-ay-ow. savings. savings. savings? progressive was the first to offer online quoting. you can do better. first to show comparison rates. ding! the "name your price" tool. oh! gosh, don't mind if i do. who was the first to offer pet injury coverage? we were. and when did you know you wanted to sell insurance? i said i wouldn't cry. um... whee! it's flo time. now, that's progressive. call or click today. it's 4g, so you can do more faster. so, kathryn, post more youtube videos of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team. huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora. oh, no i'm an only child. and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. [ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on. up next, former penn state coach jerry sandusky tells his side of the story to the "new york times" but is it helping prosecutors make their case? then i'm going to test which recent claims from the republican presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail are fact or fiction inside the truth-o-meter. and later, fallen trees, damaged homes, broken power lines. southern california took a beating from santa ana winds this weekend. now the area is bracing for round two. so new developments in the penn state child molestation case. for the second time since his arrest, jerry sandusky gave a national interview that happened over the weekend, and lawyers for the alleged victims are reacting harshly. they say that sandusky is trying to manipulate public opinion and it is not working. here's susan candiotti. >> reporter: in an interview videotaped by "the new york times," jerry sandusky not only repeats his denials of wrongdoing, he tells the paper youngsters in his second mile program, quote, might say i was a father figure, a father figure who stands accused of 40 counts of raping and molesting young boys. a few weeks ago, nbc's bob costas asked sandusky whether he is sexually attracted to young boys. >> am i sexually attracted to underaged boys. >> yes. >> sexually attracted? no. i enjoy young people. >> reporter: the former coach tells "the new york times" at first he wondered what to make of the question. then in an intriguing exchange, an apparently uncomfortable sandusky, tries to explain his answer. off camera, you'll hear the voice of sandusky's lawyer prompting his client. >> if i say, no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth, because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls -- >> yeah, but not sexually. you're attracted because -- >> right. i enjoy -- that's what i was trying -- i enjoy spending time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. i mean my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young. >> reporter: an attorney who represents victim number six named in the grand jury report, the boy whose mother came forward in 1998 saying sandusky had showered with her son and hugged him naked from behind, says the accused coach's latest explanations are hard to watch. >> his answer was really no different, frankly, than the answer that he gave before, and the sad part from his perspective, if we want to look at it from that perspective, that his lawyer had to intervene and give him some advice as to how to answer that question. he won't have that luxury in a courtroom. >> reporter: sandusky admits that after he was banned from taking young people on to penn state's main campus, following a 2002 allegation that he raped a boy in a locker room, he still had access. sandusky told the paper, then-athletic director tim curley never took away his keys. "i still have my keys," sandusky said, "and i still went in there and worked out." >> any argument that these men now are making any of this up is really weak. and if that is all that he has in terms of his defense, he is going to have really rough going in the courts. >> reporter: sandusky again denies that then-head coach joe paterno ever mentioned anything to him about the 2002 shower allegation. sandusky faces a preliminary hearing in a couple of weeks. among the expected witnesses -- at least one of his accusers. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. >> so jerry sandusky's choice of words whether he says he's "attracted" to children has his attorney jumping into the interview but it is the attorney who agrees to let sandusky talk publicly about there. senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin joins us via skype. first, does it seem odd to you sandusky sandusky's struggle to explain his feelings about children? >> well, the whole situation is so odd. and the fact that he is giving interviews. criminal defendants, as a rule, don't give interviews. i think sandusky's demonstrating why that's a good idea not to give interviews. i thought this one, the one with joe thomas of the "times," was better for sandusky than the real disaster with bob costas a couple weeks ago. but still, how he explains his relationship with children is, to use a legal term, very creepy. >> a legal term. jeff, hearing his attorney chime in on that tape to clarify what he means by attracted to children, how damaging do you think that is if this actually goes to court and folks listen to this explanation? >> well, i mean compared to the rest of the case, it's not all that damaging, presumably based on the grand jury report you'll have six kids saying he raped me. i mean that's a heck of a lot more damaging than a lawyer interjecting a word here or there. but i think it underlines the problem that sandusky has, is explaining the nature of his relationships. obviously sandusky says there was no sex involved, but there was, even by sandusky's own admission, a kind of closeness that i think most jurors would regard as suspicious, to say the least. and it is a lot easier to prove actual sexual contact if you already have a questionable relationship with children in the first place. >> jeff, you mentioned the fact that it was rather bizarre that his lawyer is allowing him to talk like this, to give these kinds of interviews. what do you think is behind that strategy? >> well, i think -- and this is something that i know defense lawyers deal with all the time. is that when you have a high-profile case, the clients says, look, no one is out there telling my side of the story, no one -- i'm just being deluged with this terrible publicity and i'm innocent, so let me tell my story. it often comes from the client, not the lawyers. now it is usually the lawyer's job to say, look, we'll get our chance in the courtroom, wait, take your time, this publicity generally doesn't matter much. and it is true. the publicity tends not to matter six months, a year from now when the trial comes. but it is often the client who are very demanding about getting their story out. it is the lawyer's job to say, look -- not now. >> i assume that, jeff, once this stuff is out in the public domain, you can't put it back in the box. right? i mean all of this could be used in court against him. >> absolutely. i mean these tapes, the judge hollis interview and the "times," the bob costas interview, they can be played. they are evidence. and given -- i don't know what the prosecution's strategy will be down the line, but they are generating material that can be used for the defense. obviously -- by the prosecution. obviously the defense feels that they're trying to change public perceptions in such a way that the jury pool will be more sympathetic to him. that calculation seems misguided to me, but we'll see when the trial comes. >> all right, jeffrey toobin, thanks, jeff. some of the republican candidates have been making some pretty big claims on the campaign trail. we've put those claims to the test in today's "truth-o-meter." ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ 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. [♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. it's almost becoming a tradition. if you are a republican running for office, you paid a visit to the donald. donald trump, of course. newt gingrich meeting with the reality tv star, businessman, right now. he's not alone. rick perry, mitt romney, michele bachmann, they all spent time with trump over the last couple months or so, but others not so much. ron paul, jon huntsman, they say they have no interest in meeting trump. in a fox news interview today, huntsman went to far as to say i'm not going to kiss his rings and i'm not going to kiss any other part of his anatomy. as for trump, he still is not ruling out a run himself. >> december 27th. i am looking endorse somebody after that debate. i'm not looking at anything. i don't think the wrong person -- >> we're hearing a lot of claims from republican candidates while they are on the trail. we're going to get your vote. it's got us wondering what's true, what's not. joining us, someone who can answer that for us, politifact is putting the comments to the test in the truth-o-meter. start with this one, angie. newt gingrich says people can use food stamps for everything, including to go to hawaii, and even millionaires can qualify. what do you make of that statement? >> we gave this one a pants on fire. the key about the food stamp program is that it's means tests so if you are a millionaire you cannot qualify for food stamps. then there are rules that limit food stamps to buying food. now you can, if you get food stamps in florida and you want to spend them in georgia, can you do that. but all the rules say food only. so pants on fire. >> pants on fire. wow. okay. let's talk about another candidate, mitt romney. he said newt gingrich's immigration plan offers a new doorway to amnesty. what do we make of that? >> you know, we rated this one mostly true. there are disagreements about what does the word "amnesty" mean. newt gingrich said in the debate he envisions boards that would look at illegal immigrants on an individual basis and he says if they had ties to work, family and church, they could be allowed to stay. so it's a much stricter standard than the landmark 1986 law that offered amnesty, but still we rated it mostly true. >> and joe biden, vice president joe biden, made a surprise trip to iraq last week and said about the progress there, he says the violence is down, at and all-time low since the start of the war. is that true? >> our report concluded mostly true. we went over a number of different statistics about what's going on in iraq. we looked at troop casualties. we looked at the number of wounded troops. we looked at civilian deaths in iraq. all those numbers have been going down. now there are a few numbers that are creeping up, such as insurgency attacks, but overall, it is a picture of less violence so we rated that statement mostly true. >> all right. angie, thank you for keeping them honest. coming up at 1:45 p.m. eastern, newt gingrich has a press conference. expected to speak about his meeting with donald trump among other things. we'll bring that to you live right here on cnn. for nearly 2 million americans currently receiving unemployment benefits, they're going to lose coverage this january if congress does not extend the program. so residents of those states, what could they lose out the most? coming in at number three -- new york state. 126,000 new yorkers would lose their benefits come january. the next most impacted -- floridians. 131,000 would lose out if a benefits package is not extended. find out which state would hurt most of all in just a few minutes. ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. hey, hey, hey, hey. i can see who's on my network people! lance? lance? yes, yes you are next. all right. dave, i'm in. ♪ katie! what are you doing, sweetheart? supplementing my allowance. how long have we been gone? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the latest 4g phones, starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart. what state will lose out the most in unemployment benefits aren't extended come this january? the answer -- california. 305,000 to 400,000 californians will lose their unemployment benefits. getting breaking news in here. want to give you the latest here. this is the administrator of the faa charged with dwi, just getting this from the city of fairfax, police have charged the administrator ever the federal aviation administration with driving while intoxicated. this statement saying that jerome randolph babbitt, 55 been was arrested on saturday, it was about 10:30 in the evening when an officer on patrol observed a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road. they pulled him over. after it was determined that he was under the influence of alcohol, babbitt was transported to the adult detention center where a judge issued a warrant for driving while intoxicated. he has been placed on a personal recognizance bond. that again, the administrator of the faa, babbitt, arrested for driving while intoxicated. politicians constantly talking about something. some of the things they say may have you doing a double-take. listen to this. >> one of the advantages to me of not running for office is, i don't even have to pretend to try to be nice to people i don't like. now some of you may not think i've been good at it, but i've been trying. >> so over here you're tracking 24 million packages at no extra cost while they move. over here you have the federal government. which cannot find 11 million illegal aliens while they are sitting still. so one of my proposals is that we mail a package to every person who's here illegally. >> the approval rating is at 9%. i'm having a hard time finding the 9%. but it seems to me that the only thing that we're working hard on is whether we can get the approval rating to zero. >> if i don't get your votes, i want a fee for services rendered because no other candidate -- no other candidate has marketed the state of new hampshire more than i have. >> i made a joke, i'm sorry that there's at least one of my colleagues that can't take a joke, and so i apologize if i offended him and hope that some day he will have a sense of humor. >> recently we talked about god can be trusted. we continue to wonder whether he trusts us. do you mind if i read along, too? >> do you know this story. >> i do, it is one of my favorites of all time. i particularly like the part about no creature was stirring. that never happens when you sing christmas with the muppets. >> i understand. >> coming up, 1:45 p.m. eastern, newt gingrich lass a press conference, he is expected to speak about his meeting with donned trump among other things. we'll bring it to you live right here on cnn. it is christmastime. you think santa claus has a pretty high approval rating, right? meet the nfl quarterback in wisconsin that is more popular than santa claus. all right. nfl season heating up. it was a close call with green bay aattempt at history. but packers quarterback aaron lodgers led a last-second job beating the giants 38-35 and improved to 12 wins, no losses. only one team in nfl history has ever gone undefeated. rodgers' play hasn't gone unnoticed in wisconsin. check this out. it survey by public policy polling. 89% of people in wisconsin have a favorable view of the packers' quarterback. that ranks him higher than george washington and santa claus. just a couple of people in the survey ranked higher than rodgers -- abraham lincoln and jesus. all right, many expect the packers to make the super bowl, and now we know who is going to be singing during the halftime of the big game -- madonna. yep. she's going to take center stage with cirque du soleil performers. the game is on in indianapolis on february 5th. yet again, southern california bracing for powerful and dangerous santa ana winds. in the past week, the winds have caused considerable damage. talking about toppling trees and today there is another round of this. we'll bring in jacqui jeras to talk a little bit about what are we talking about when we say how strong these winds are. >> the winds today aren't what they were the middle of last week. these are a little bit better but they're still strong enough they'll cause some tree damage and potentially more power outages. this is a range we've seen since last night -- between 30 and 50 miles per hour. late tonight and into tomorrow morning we think those winds will intensify again and we could be looking at gusts exceeding 60 miles per hour. things will look better by wednesday in southern california but this is just another powerful blast of winter weather that's been pushing the area and really bringing those winds sloping down those mountains, accelerating them and causing all of that damage. now in addition to that, we're also seeing snowy weather across parts of new mexico, and particularly getting hit very hard, there you can see some video from early this morning. the winds, the snowfall hasn't been all that bad in albuquerque itself. just a couple of inches. but look how the wind is blowing all of that snow across the street and just making things very, very icy. a live picture of albuquerque right now where the temperature is 20 degrees but those winds making it feel like 5 above. this is really the first big blast of winter for you in albuquerque. but north of there, certainly has seen plenty of snow so far this season. there you can see the winter storm warnings estimating somewhere between 8 and 12 inches in the high country before all is said and done. the big high will finally push out our rainmaker across the ohio valley and across the mississippi valley. we've had flood problems over the last couple of days. it is a slow mover, eventually will make the east coast by tomorrow. but be aware those rivers will stay very swollen in the upcoming weeks ahead. i want you to check out this picture here. this is an unbelievable scene out of japan here. you're talking about this car pile-up. cars, too. you are talking about eight ferraris, three mercedes, a lamborghini. they all crashed on this expressway in japan. there were a couple of toyotas as well. like 14 cars were involved in this thing. >> you would never see that many ferraris at one time, would you? >> i wouldn't think so really. maybe a lot of people got a nice ride there. but fortunately, ten folks -- they were injured but not major injuries. they walked away. >> i bet their hearts are broken after they lost all that money in those cars. >> hearts broken, exactly. how much does something like that cost? >> that's a lot of money. millions of dollars, i'm sure. >> millions and millions of dollars. those are some sweet cars. but now they're all banged up. oh, well. okay, i'll see you. so, we've heard a lot about bad behavior from teenagers especially whether it comes to sexting. but are they getting a bum rap? new research says not so fast. getting some breaking news here. we understand that president obama's going to be making a statement at 1:30, in about a half-hour or so, in the briefing room at the white house regarding state of the economy, as well as taxes. this comes at a time when democrats and republicans are trying to find some sort of compromise over the tax cut extensions. it also comes at a time when members of congress are looking to go home and so we'll see if he's going to be pushing them f forward just a little bit on that very important issue. once again we are awaiting president obama, in about a half-hour or so, he'll be making a statement in the briefing room. we'll bring that to you live. it is called sexting when people send sexual photos, text messages. some studies have shown that it is now popular among teenagers. well, now there is a new study that says only 1 in 10 pre-teen or teens have been involved with sexting photos. i want to bring in our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen to explain all of this. so, help us understand this. do we think earlier studies were exaggerated or have we found something new here? >> it is really hard to tell. this study looked at kids between the ages of 10 and 17. a lot of the other studies were lookingality kids, let's say, between 13 and 17. are you going to find lower numbers in this study because it included younger children. but having said that, this study found that 10% of the kids between the ages of 10 to 17 that they looked at were sending sexual images on their cell foebs, either sending them, receiving them, or were depicted in them. so that means 1 out of 10 kids involved in sexting. that's still a pretty high number. >> yeah. obviously it is risky behavior. what can happen to some of these kids who actually get caught up in this stuff? >> now it is interesting. most of the time, nothing happens to these kids, because most of the time a picture doesn't stay on the cell phone, and most of the time they aren't widely distributed. but if they do get widely distributed and law enforcement folks get wind of it, the child really can get arrested. it is illegal to be sending pictures of minors, especially if you are sending them to other minors. kids don't always realize that what they're doing can get them into big trouble. >> so if you are a parent how do you prevent this from happening with your teenager? >> first, accept the fact that your child may think that this is no big deal. you take a picture of sexually explicit picture of your girlfriend and send it to a friend of yours. big deal. that's how some young men are going to think. first thing you need to do is talk to your kids about sexting, explain why even if it doesn't look so sexual to them, it really is. the second thing you need to do, you need to look at your kids' texts. they're kids. you're the parents. can you look at their texts. go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient to find other tips for talking to your kids about sexting. >> all right, elizabeth. thank you. postal service announced first class mail which usually arrives next day may take up to three days now. this is a move in an effort to cut costs as the postal service is trying to fight off bankruptcy. we asked you if this is going to impact you. kristin bruce says -- knew this was coming for a while. it is what it is.