good morning to you. it is tuesday, december the 20th. i m ali velshi joined again by alina cho this morning. good morning. good morning to you. so glad you re with us and up first, the u.s. keeping an eye out for advancing troops and any other threatening moves after the death of a dictator in north korea. north korean media show the images of kim jong-il s body laid out in a glass coffin. his third son and successor, kim jong un, paying respects. and live for us in seoul, south korea, anna, good morning. the south korean government sending its condolences along with a dose of what some are calling christian mystery diplomacy. what s that all about? reporter: that is right, alina. the sense of condolence, the official wording from the south korean government. this is a real thorn in relations because relations between the two countries hit rock bottom of late. it s worst of the relationships for years. offering sympathies certainly seems to be an act of south korea reach
these items. the payroll tax cut before the holidays. party leaders in the senate now say they re trying to come up with terms come to terms with something and that may be more likely now that democrats have given up trying to pass a new tax on millionaires. but wait, there is more. in less than 36 hours, much of the federal government will run out of money. the latest as seven budgetary stop gaps runs ot out at midnight tomorrow night. while lawmakers scramble to come up with a plan, nobody s voted on anything. we ll certainly keep you posted. in baghdad today, the end became real. u.s. forces lowered the flag of command, closing the book on a controversial war that claimed almost 4,500 american lives and cost more than $800 billion. defense secretary leon panetta was there. to all of the men and women in uniform today, your nation is deeply indebted to you. you have done everything your nation asked you to do and more. your dedication, your commitment to this missio