30,000 wounded warriors, many of whom still struggle with serious, life-altering injuries. reporter: it s estimated more than 150,000 iraqis lost their lives in the war. most of them civilians. 16 days to go before the typical american worker gets hit with $1,000 a year tax increase. there are some signs now republicans, democrats, might, might break their log jam over extending the payroll tax cut. democratic source says that president obama may drop his plan for a millionaire surtax to cover the cost of extending it. republicans oppose any new taxes on the wealthy. they would like to pay for the extension primarily by freezing ped ral pay. mitt romney rolling out an aggressive new strategy to stop newt gingrich. romney, in a flurry of interviews, says gingrich and his policy ideas are zany. that s right. he says we don t need zany in a president. he labels gingrich an unreliable conservative. gingrich climbed to the top of national presidential polls after herman cain
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
number iowa and the price of gold suddenly falls and a glimpse into the future of war. time to play reporter roulette on this thursday. i want to begin in kuwait. at camp virginia with martin savidge where troops are getting ready to head hole. market? reporter: for those troops coming out of iraq, camp virginia is their first stop and the first step to get home in time for many of them to the holidays. they don t forget this is an important time and they are witnesses to history here. whether it is their first deployment or their fifth or sixth as it has been in some cases. they all know that being here at the end of this conflict is a moment that they will remember and a moment that historians will write about. also a moment that each soldier feels personally as they come across the border from iraq into kuwait. we had a conversation with a chaplain who has been up there and witness that had moment. and here s how he described it. i think it is awesome. the fact that we
over and out. the u.s. military lowers the flag in baghdad. the final u.s. troops leaving iraq with pride. and putting a fragile nation in the rear view mirror. breaking news for your paycheck. big compromise on capitol hill that could put $1,000 or more back into your paycheck next year. occupy gingrich. newt gets heckled by wall street protesters. they get it back on this american morning. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 15. welcome to american morning. good morning, carol. good morning, christine. good morning to all of you. it s over. minutes ago u.s. forces lowered the flag at baghdad and retired the colors to mark the end of the nearly nine-year iraq war. final few thousand u.s. troops are leaving iraq ahead of the new year s eve deadline to get out. it is a war that started with shocking and awe. today the departing soldiers are remembering more than 4,000 who did not come home alive. the long journey home. let s get to barbara starr. s
happening now is profound. we re building a new partisanship between our nations. we are ending a war not with a final battle but with a final march toward home. this is an extraordinary achievement! nearly nine years in the making and today we remember everything you did to make it possible. the last remaining few will be gone by year s end. in other news ahead. the amateur athletic union say his group acted quickly and correctly when it first learned a former head of the association was being accused of sexually abusing children. current president lewis stout is holding a news conference in orlando but sat down yesterday exclusively at cmm and claims that aau bobby dodd molested two boys in the 1980s when he was a basketball coach at the memphis ymca. unlike penn state and unlike syracuse and the citadel, we acted immediately. we didn t wait six months to find out if this was a protected thing because of an executive director, we acted immediately. we formed our own i