Transcripts For CNNW American Morning 20111226

two. hoping it will be a christmas black morning. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. this is monday, december 26th. i hope some of you are watching from home. >> did you get back from toronto okay? >> i did. boxing day. >> like the black friday of canada. >> right. good shopping. a lot of news right now. >> right. eight days to go m s ts to go ba caucuses, paul steinhauser is live with us in des moines, iowa this morning. hi, paul. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. quiet over the weekend. things pick up today and one week to go until the iowa caucuses. the first contest in the primary caucus calendar. this is a poll that came out friday afternoon. the most recent poll here. people are likely to go to the iowa gop caucuses. three-way traffic jam at the top. ron paul at 21%. mitt romney, former massachusetts governor, 20%. newt gingrich 19%. basically it's upgrabs here in iowa with just under a week to go. newt gingrich was the front-runner in polls. look at this. >> if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life, and i think that's why it's so important to understand the character of a person. to me, that make as huge difference. maybe some voters it doesn't. but for me it make as huge difference. >> i'm anita perry. when rick served as a captain, he returned home to farm with his dad and asked me to marry him. we grew up raised with christian values. values we still believe in. >> you know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrichal baggage. he has more baggage than airlines. >> reporter: there you go. ann romney and anita perry, the wives of the candidates, telling about their husband's social values, maybe a slight dig at newt gingrich, who's been married three times. and an independent group backing mitt romney is taking on newt gingrich. one of the reasons we've seen newt gingrich come down in the polls. he's getting hammered, at least on the airwaves. >> and the weather could influence who wins. here's what he said, mike huckabee. >> if the weather is good, mitt romney is in good shape. if it's hutough to get out, ron paul will win. >> makes sense. what are smart minds saying about that, paul? >> reporter: he does have a very smart mind. his followers, supporters, energetic, sthuastienthusiastic. they'll come out on a cold night and a snowy night. i'll tell you right now, the forecast for iowa, pretty warm here. there's no snow at all. eight days to go until the caucuses. this is a big deal. you know why? we've got the cnn bus. it's a big deal when you bring the cnn bus. >> i know that. ali velshi has spent time on the bus. two week, new hampshire primary. who's on top of the latest poll there? >> reporter: new poll out yesterday, on christmas day, from "the boston globe." look at this. it is still mitt romney's state to lose, i guess you could say. the front-runner for about two years. remember, the former massachusetts governor from the neighboring state. number, at 39%, far ahead of gingrich and paul. there's jon huntsman, lower double digits. placing all his money on new hampshire, alina. >> if republicans hope to gain control of the senate in 2012, they better support dick lugar for a second term. who says that? dick lugar. he's facing a race. he tells candy crowley he believe as tea party win in the republican party could set the party back in a big way. >> the republicans running for re-election ought to be supported by people that want to see that majority. to the majority of tea partier, you can understand that, too. >> so i know what you mean is, you think that you have the best chance of keeping this seat republican? that's what you're arguing? >> yes. no doubt from all of our polling and understanding, that that is the case, and as a matter of fact, if i was not nominee, it might be lost. >> all right. on to other things. the thought counts. millions of heading back to stores to make returns and exchanges and unload those gift cards. analysts say the monday after christmas may also be the third biggest shopping day of the year because of those gift cards, especially as stores start slashing prices big time. alison kosik is live outside macy's herald square in new york city. possibly one of the busiest places in the city today. good morning. how's it looking? >> reporter: not looking busy right now. yes, the streets are bare behind me, but you betcha, it's going to get really, really bilusy on the sun comes up. a good point. it's been a good shopping season for retailers. the momentum we saw on black friday. sales up extraordinarily. then that fell off a little bit. you know, losing kind of that sales momentum, and retailers picked up on that. what they've had to do is chop prices even more, offer deeper discounts. you know what? consumers caught on to that and are keeping that in mind as they come back to the stores today to return their gifts. in fact, some people are noticing that the prices are falling. many will actually come back, return the gifts and rebuy it for anywhere from 30% to 40% off. others think, i've overspent. i'm going to go ahead and sent back these gifts. just when you think retailers think that it's a bad thing on this return day, it's really not. the national retail federation says, you know what? they think at least 10% come back to the store. the good thing. people walking back in to return the gifts are most likely to buy something else. 70% of people actually returning gifts today, ali, will walk out with bags of other things, because, you know what? they don't want to leave empty-handed, ali. >> and continuing to be good salesmen. these retailers stuck with a little more inventory than last year. it's always hard for them to gauge how good it's going to be. there are still things to be had. it might be the day to get it. interesting to see how many people are coming back to return stuff, how many are coming to use gift cards and how many are just coming out because it's a good shopping day. you'll be out there a few hours i guess? >> reporter: yes, i will, and watching peel doing shopping and people watching. >> reconnaissance. that's your work. reporter research. >> reporter: that's fine. >> alison kosik outside of macy's. >> that's my favorite kind of research. >> totally right. it's necessary. you have to do it. >> that's right. the day after christmas. also new this morning, terrorists bomb five christian churches in nigeria right in the middle of christmas services. at least 25 people were killed. dozens more injured. locals are blaming a radical islamic group suspected of having ties to al qaeda. both the white house and the united nations have condemned the attacks. a similar string of bombings happened in nigeria last christmas season. more worries about iraq's future this morning after yet another deadly car bombing. police say a suicide car bomber struck a security checkpoint right outside iraq's interior ministry compound, killing at least two people. dozens died in bombing since the last u.s. troops left iraq, which is only a week ago. the three young daughters and parents of a successful advertising executive killed in a house fire on christmas morning. it happened in stamford, connecticut, the executive, madonna badger, managed to escape the house along with a family friend. and a bloody morning northwest of dallas. seven people found shot to death in an apartment in grapevine, texas. police say it appears all the victims were related. police say all were shot while in the process of opening christmas gifts, or they just finished doing so. the suspect shooter is one of the seven fatalities. a global think tank targeted in the u.s. was hacked. in a posting, says it stole confidential credit list. among the list of clients, bank of america, lockheed martin and the defense department. thousands poured into st. peter's square to hear the pope's christmas message starting off with the unveiling of a larger than life nativity scene. he prayed for the end of violence in syria and comfort in the philippines. back in action on christmas day. the dallas mavericks raising their championship banner then falling to lebron james and the miami heat 105-94. the king leading the way with 37 points. back in los angeles, kobe bryant and the lakers squared off gu s against the bulls. the bulls won that game 88-87. and carmelo anthony leading new york to a 106-104 victory. knicks winning. how than. still ahead, a bloody crackdown. told go right to a town under siege to appreciate a larger civilian massacre. the makers of enfamil baby formula running new tests for a killer bacteria after an infant death. the company says the product is safe. and how president obama is mixing work with pleasure in hawaii this holiday season. you're watching "american morning." it is 12 minutes after the hour. x [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? 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[ male announcer ] icy hot no-mess applicator. wherever you hurt, it massages in icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. no pain. no mess. welcome back. new this morning, the makers of enfamil baby formula says the product is safe following a massive recall of their premium newborn formula. the company conducted a second round of testing on the same batch of formula consumed by a missouri infant who died from a bacterial infection. the new tests show the formula is free of the bacteria. investigators are trying to find out, was it in the environment or in the water mixed into it, but this 10-month-old baby died after drinking this formula. >> we'll watch that story. and arson blamed for a christmas fire that burned a post office in nevada. investigators found anti-government graffiti and bullet holes in the building. the blaze began outside but firefighters sprayed water into the mailboxes and that soaked the mail inside. about 800 people use that post office, by the way. officials are working to restore the wet mail and dliv ter to customers. a delegation of south korea citizens crossing the demilitarized zone to mourn the death of leader kim jong-il. and kim -- mohammed jamjoom has more. >> reporter: we have no idea if the arab league observers will be able to get close to the scenes of violence that continue to forge out of syria. here a tank rolls down a street. a neighborhood in a flashpoint city. activists say thousands of syrian troops have recently surrounded it and are shelling it almost daily. cnn can't verify many of the videos posted from syria but one describes the carnage he's witnessed explaining how everyone's become a target. >> in last two days there is a lot of injury. 100, 200 injury. in the last three day, they've secluded literature, because they shout and bomb one house. civilian house. >> reporter: in the past week, the syrian government's bombardment has escalated. the same day a protocol was fined allowing those arab league observers into syria. activists say the syrian army stormed a town. a part of a province. this video reports to show family members mourning of loved ones who have died. they've become accustomed to the violence. many fear to bury their dead in public cemeteries. in this video taken in november, some buried this loved ones near a deserted road. at a hospital, one demonstrators lays in his bed and tells of the horrors he's seen. i've seen wounded people taken by security people with their oxygen masks still on, he says. another man experience add crackdown he experienced. i was injured by gunfire in a protest, he says. security forces fired on us and injured many youth, and one was killed. i went to a hospital and was treated. with many syrian neighborhoods deserted and besieged, many people are now questioning how effective the arab league mission will be. >> mohammed jamjoom joins us from cairo. hearing of fresh violence coming out of syria. what's the latest from there? mohammed? >> reporter: alina, we're hearing reports of more carnage going on in syria. 13 people killed and dozens wounded today during shelling attacks by syrian security forces. they say that the neighborhood has been particularly hit and this is on the same day that dozens of arab league observers, about 50, are planning to arrive in order to try to help end the violence there. now, for the past few days, opposition activist groups in syria have been calling on the arab leagues to go directly to this city when they arrive so they can stop what is being feared a genocide, a continuing massacre. a member of the arab league spokesman said today that the arab league plans to go tomorrow to this city. still unclear where exactly they can go, what the mission is, but one member tells us observers have been going in are planning to move ahead to the city. >> mohammed jamjoom joining us live by phone from cairo. thank you very much. a look at the weather. rob marciano in the extreme weather center for us this morning. i was in toronto ob christmas eve and snow started to come down. it didn't stay. you sort of said that. that was going to be the way. kind of a -- >> you got some snow, though. >> when i tweeted out that rob said so, all sorts of people in toronto said, rob doesn't know what he's talking about. and it snowed on christmas eve. went away quickly. >> that must have been after you call immediate out on twitter saying it wasn't snowing. obviously, there was still some time. >> i told you i still love you. >> more important, merry christmas everybody. temperatures in the northeast, borderline for what's happening on the radar scope. it isn't going to be much of anything. there were spots across the northeast. in northern new england, where they had a bit of a white christmas. maine, not many. five inches of snow. three inches, vermont can use the snow for sure. delays traveling in new york and d.c. a little wind. boston, the front pressing through the area with those flurries bringing cooler air. it will bring wind into places like philadelphia and chicago as well. temperatures are still fairly mild. 45 degrees in new york city. look at chicago. 48 degrees. temperatures, hard-pressed to find temps definitely cold enough for snow. a weathermaker down south. they'll take it. rain stretching into ports of northern mississippi and louisiana as well. the two converge on the northeast mostly in the form of rain. the track is too far to the west to make it a big snowmaker. the back side of this, parts of western pennsylvania, and northern new england, seeing just a little snow. maybe even toronto. maybe coat the grass up for our friends in canada. >> my nephews were in ottawa skyping me, showing me several inches of snow. they're just so excited. excited when there's snow. i'm in miami later in the week. rob, can you give me a fairly certain forecast there won't be snow there? >> going out on a limb. no snow. >> i guess 80 and sunny? how's that? >> yeah. thanks my friend. it's the day after christmas for us. it's boxing day for the rest of the world. it's the rett of the world's black friday, actually. there could be a monumental holdup in london as shoppers rush to the stores for boxing day bargains. we'll tell what you that is. does the nose know? should the evidence hold up or put away a suspect for life when a dog sniffs it out. interesting story we'll tell you about, that you have to remain watching the show. 23 minutes after the hour. i'm not crazy about these light fixtures. kitchen's too small. what's next? 607 franklin st. ♪ sea bass... ♪ ooohhh! ♪ i like it. yeah, i love the kitchen. 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"minding your business" this morning. markets in the u.s. and europe are closed for christmas today. they will be open tomorrow. as of friday, the s&p 500 is back in positive territory for 201. the dow is up 6% for the year. a public service announcement on the day after christmas. use your gift cards. the national retail federation says since 2005, $41 billion in gift cards have gone unused. if you use the cards try not to go over the value of the card pr retail analysts estimate more than one-third wind up being more than the value of the card. holiday shopping is over. so it's the season for returns. retails estimating returns. stores may be more flexible with rules on receipt virmts, restocking fees and time frames for returning but experts say don't wait too long. some have shortened returns for electronic items to as little as 14 days. raising the minimum wage in 2012. hourly rates go up between 28 cents and 30 cents in arizona, colorado, florida, montana, ohio, oregon, vermont and washington. colorado the smallest increase. $7.64 an hour and washington will have the largest at $9.04 an hour. the latest "mission impossible" cruises to the top of the box office. studio execs hoped 2011 to finish with a bang. ticket sales are running way behind last year. 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[ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. 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[ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. good morning. welcome back. it's 31 minutes after the hour. time for this morning's top stories. a tight three-way race is unfolding eight days before the iowa caucuses. according to the latest american research group polled, ron paul topped the gop field with 21% of vote followed by mitt romney with 20% and then newt gingrich with 19%. deadly christmas morning in grapevine, texas. seven people aged 18 to 60 found shot to death inside an apartment about 25 miles northwest of dallas. according to police, all of the victim, four women, three men, were apparently related and all shot while opening christmas gifts or cleaning up holiday wrapping paper. police say the suspected shooter is among the seven dead. and the biggest shopping day in most of the western world. boxing day. it may be derailed because of a subway worker strike, planned could it could hurt the most. and more worries about iraq's future after another deadly car bombing. a security checkpoint, outside the security compound killing a dozen people. arwa damon live in baghdad for us this morning. arwa, what is the situation now? >> reporter: well, it's especially disturbing, ali, that this suicide car bomber would have had to, according to a source in the ministry of interior said he would have had to have gotten past a security checkpoint. he would have had to get through at least six checkpoints. not only a severe lapse in security, it's raising an incredible amount of question, because following the attacks that took place on thursday, the iraqi security forces had beefed up their presence in the streets. there were additional checkpoints. their searches supposed to be more stringent. this most certainty is sending a chilly message to the population when a car bomb bloep blows up. the very security that is supposed to be providing security to the people. >> this situation and a parallel political situation. not sure how they're connected. an arrest warrant out for the president accused of running a hit squad. he responds sayinging, this is sectarian. this is the government trying to make things difficult for sunnis. what's the relationship between these two things? >> reporter: well, the vice president is part of the era kea block, a sunni backed bloc. he himself is a sunni. this by the prime minister, maliki, said to be dominated as sunni trying to take out its counterparts. when it comes to iraq, political instability create as vacuum. more often than not that ak coupe all vacuum results in this. sunni and shia use these opportunities to justify their logic, that political negotiation is not the way to gain power. violence is. that's why so many iraqis are so concerned the longer this political uncertainty continues, the more violence they're going to see on the streets. >> got it. arwa, thanks very much. appreciate it. arwa damon live for us in baghdad. second guessing on the decision to invade iraq from former secretary of state condoleezza rice. she said some things could have been done differently. >> in iraq, look differently how we rebuilt the country. the overthrow of saddam hussein was done brilliantly. looking back i don't think we thought enough about how to build the provinces and use the tribal network, once saddam hussein was gone. >> you didn't think there were enough troops there? >> and ultimately there weren't enough troops there. why the surge was important. if iran was moving towards a nuclear weapon and saddam hussein with all that infrastructure in place and his insatiable desire to have weapons of nuclear disaster, we would be talking about a very different situation. president obama is celebrating in hawaii with the first family after winning a bruising battle in washington over the payroll tax cut extension. brianna keilar is traveling with the president. >> reporter: aloha to you, ali and alina. president obama left washington friday shortly after signing the payroll tax cut extension into law and because this is the biggest part of his jobs plan, he came here to hawaii with a political victory very much under his belt and now is expected to spend his time here resting and relaxing not far from where e had grew up. on christmas eve he did something he freefbquently does loves to do, he played a round of golf. then made calls to servicemen and women, had dinner with his family and on christmas the first family went to church on a marine base not far from the house they're staying at here. all of the obama women donning sleeveless dresses because the weather here is just beautiful and then the first family also greeted military men and women there at that marine base later on christmas. now, at this point there's no public events on the president's schedule. we're expecting him to do a number of other kind of typical hawaii vacation activities with his family. may some more golf, but he will, of course, be receiving his daily national security briefing as he always does, because this is always a working vacation for president obama. ali and alina? >> aloha back to you. i liked that sound track going on. >> nice. very festive. >> we should all do that whenever we do reports. >> we'll work on that. someone in maryland, get this, is sitting on a powerball ticket worth $125 million. lottery officials say they still haven't heard from the winner. the lucky ticket was sold at a liquor store in elfton and the owner says the winner called to verify the numbers and promised to stop by in the next couple of days. i wonder what the holdup is? >> i hope they don't come out and say how they're going to change. i win $125 million, things are going to change. you might need to come in tomorrow without me, which would be fine. >> maybe. maybe not. i'd mitt you. do you hate your christmas gifts? you're not alone. one in five complain they have crummy gifts. who's do blame? in-laws. mother and father-in-laws give the worst gifts. what happens to them? 18% of people donate unwanted gifts and 13% regift, fantastic. a whole bunch of other people are getting gifts. >> the donation part is nice. >> you interviewed something last week, it's note the thought. they want the stuff on their list and don't care what you were thinking. >> that's right. just tell me what i want. make it easy. >> give lots of hints what you like. still ahead, thinking of shopping and gifts, bracing for boxing day gridlock. the rest of the world's black friday. a big holdup in london. shoppers rushing to the stores. why the tube will be at a standstill. >> and santa, a total stranger, walking up to counters paying off layoff plans. more on this spontaneous wave that's spread across the country. and does the nose know? dogs sniffing out crime. could they put a suspect away for life? how they're trained and how reliable that snout really is. it's 39 minutes after the hour. we'll be back after this. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. welcome back. in places like canada and the united kingdom, this is their black friday. the day of big sales. getting ready for a hectic what's called boxing day in london, but the underground may be shut down. the tube as they call it, is expected to be at a standstill. workers going on strike today. cnn erin mcglog lynne laughlin. is this going to happen? >> reporter: yes, it is, ali. i'm located on the end of a street, located in the heart of really one of the premiere shopping districts in the world. retailers expect some 700,000 shoppers to take to the street looking for the all-important bargains. a luxury good retail store here in london opened early, as per usual, as per tradition dictates. earlier this morning, an absolute crush of shoppers into the store looking for luxury barga bargains. we managed to speak with a couple of them. this is is what they had to say. >> came around, but it's kind of avoided this. that was handy, but die see quite a crush going on at the beginning, at the middle of the store. and the reason why it's become slightly traditional to come out, boxing day, and pick up the bargains. >> we've been doing it since the '70s. so we love the tradition, more or less. the sales are just there and especially the handbags. very good value. >> reporter: now, ali, as you mentioned, there is that tube strike today. that is london's underground subway system that many londoners rely on to get around the city. i know my morning commute was disrumted by that limited service. the question will be, how will that affect shopping? retail spokesperson i spoke to this morning says he actually expects it to have a minimal impact. the exact same tube strike last year on the exact same day. shoppers still found a way to make it out to the bargains whether by foot or bus. there's about 200 buses expected in london today. the question being, will that repeat this year? >> all right. well, shoppers are determined, a determined breed of people. they'll probably get it done. it's always a fun day. erin, check in with you later erin mclaughlin in london. how's this for the gift of giving? i love this story. millions across the country actually walking into stores and paying off layaway balances for total strangers. alison kosik has the story of these anonymous angels. >> reporter: this kmart in xweens, new york, unofficially has become santa's workshop. a place of little miracles over the past few weeks. >> an angel paid it off for you. >> okay? >> okay. great jrt janelle came in to pay for toys she put on lay away for her five children fop her surprise, an anonymous donor paid off her $200 balance i. was going to cancel my laiaway. it's so great. thank you so much. >> reporter: one more example of a phenomenon sweeping the country called layaway angels. anonymous donors pouring into stores like kmart, walmart, and toys "r" us asking to pay the remaining balances for customers who put their children's toys on layaway. kmart store reports they've paid off thousands of layaways and children across the country. the largest single donation more than $20,000 in baltimore, maryland. >> weren't of our kmart ainge manies paid off your layaway in full. >> the kindness has kind of spread this holiday season. i think it's a really, really great thing. >> reporter: it started with a woman in michigan who paid off three charges at a kmart there three weeks ago. from there, angels have been popping up in ohio, maryland, north carolina, florida, and california. >> oh, my goodness. >> reporter: cnn was there when anna rodriguez got her gift from a layaway angel. >> called last night from a kmart representative and i was told that an angel came to kmart and paid for my laiaway. isn't that great? it really helps. >> reporter: even during the tough economic time, kindness can be contagious. >> happy holidays. >> reporter: alison kosik, chn c cnn. >> a great story. and should the evidence hold up or pus away suspects for life? a closer look at how the dog are trained and how reliable their sense of smell really is. 47 minutes after the hour. 49 past the hour. here's what you need to know to start your day -- iowa is up for grabs. eight days to go from the iowa caucuses. ron paul on top with 21% of the vote followed by mitt romney with 20% and newt gingrich with 19%. syria accused of intensifying a bloody government crackdown even at arab league observers head to country today. 13 more people died. one activist says attacks by government forces continued nonstop for more than three day. christmas day church bombings kill at least 25 people in nigeria. terrorists struck five christian churches in the middle of holiday services. locals blame a radical islamic group with suspected ties to al qaeda. the white house and united nations condemn the attacks. tragedy. a fire tore through an advertising executive killing three children and both of her parents on christmas morning. she made it out alive and so did a male acquaintance. they were taken to a local hospital and later released. the nba back in action. lebron james and the miami heat off to a hot start. the king scoring 37 points on christmas day to help knock off the defending champion dallas mavericks 105-94. and topping the box office. "missi "mission: impossible 4." in second, the latest sherlock homes film and alvin and the chipmunks round out the top three. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" is back after this. welcome back. police dogs have long been used to sniff out suspects and look for clues. lately more and more evidence found bip these canines is being used to actually convict criminals. >> that's right. how reliable are they really? tom foreman looks at how police dogs work. >> reporter: across the country in places like vincent, alabama, dogs like these are being trained to help investigate crimes. they are energetic, smart and one of them could put you into jail. just ask professor larry myers of auburn university, he spent a lifetime studying their abilities and say they can even identify murder suspects. they're fully capable of doing this? >> yeah. oh, yes. if trained properly. and if they're in good health, yes. yes. capable. >> reporter: sound farfetched? not in cold springs, texas where a few years back a school janitor named murray burr was murdered, stabbed dozens of times in his home, and this young woman megan winfrey was convicted of the killing in part because a dog by scent alone put her at the murder scene. now veshe's in prison serving a life sentence. >> that's the biggest joke there ever was. >> reporter: her father richard was stunned that the evidence stood up. after all, he and megan's brother were also identified as suspects by that dog, but the courts dropped charges after deciding the dog evidence was fatally flawed. >> i just can't believe that that's even thought of, that they can take somebody's life away over a dog. >> reporter: so how are dogs trained for so-called scent lineups? professional trainer and police officer david latimer gave a demonstration with unused pizza boxes. targets in this case, vials of bedbugs, and bits of clothing from the suspects and others, would be placed where a dog could only smell them. >> we're going to close the box so there's no visual cue. >> reporter: the dog would be give an scent from, say, the crime scene and brought in to sniff around. if he sits in front of a sample, he's matched a suspect to the crime. >> good boy. >> reporter: but here's the problem -- if the handler know what's investigators want, with a slight nod, pause or even a blink, he can send a signal. >> there are many, many different ways to accidentally tell the dog where the target was? >> right. and to be fair it's usually unintentional. >> reporter: the trainer whose dog helped convict megan winfrey is involved in a lawsuit in another case and doesn't want to talk about winfreys. the professor who took part in hundreds ever cases including hers says the dog handling there was abysmal and he has complete faith in lineups since the dogs are well trained and guidelines followed, but that rarely happens. >> reporter: is this more science or art? >> it is an art, mostly, that needs to become science, if it's going to be used in a court of law, or for other critical issues. >> reporter: authorities in texas found no dna linking megan to the murder. they did, however, find people who testified that she talked about the crime. still, even the prosecutors are cautious about dog evidence. >> it should be corroborated. a person should not be convicted solely on a dog scent. >> reporter: megan is waiting on her latest appeal and her letters home seem optimistic chcts i've never been this hopeful. >> reporter: then again, her family never thought she'd wind up in jail, in large part on the word of a dog. tom foreman, cnn, vincent, alabama. >> interesting story. >> yeah, really. >> not sure where i stand on that. >> it is interesting. they are very sensitive. you know. >> tom did a nice job of giving us both sides on that one. still to come, live in des moines where the race is tightening up. three candidates now virtually in a dead heat with just eight days to go before the caucuses. and why would someone get that for me? shoppers mobbing the mall with unwanted gifts and more cash to spend. it could be christmas all over again. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. it's like christmas part da. hoping to be a black monday today. iowa, a new poll has ron paul on top with two other candidates with two percentage points. the big headline, newt gingrich admitting his campaign may just have experienced a pearl harbor moment. and siege in syria. arab league observers go in to try to end the deadly crackdown. and will 2012 be the year of madonna? why the material girl is poised for a comeback and what else you'll be talking about one year from now on this "american morning." it's been a real pleasure talking to my colleagues from -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, it's monday, december 26, for people in canada, boxes day. >> for americans it's not. hopefully sleep in. take it easy. >> you should be up and watching. >> watch, but don't get out of bed. even santa claus is taking it easy. you're not. millions of people are heading back to the stores. analysts say the monday after christmas day may actually be the third biggest shopping day of the year. alison kosik is live outside macy's herald square in new york city. a place we associate with the days before christmas, but look at the folks behind you. what is going on there? >> reporter: you just missed it, ali. took this a few seconds before. it was packed in here. the doors that lead right into the department store. macy's here. it was packed. this is just one, one of the entrances to macy's where people have been waiting in line just to get in, because it's ready, set, return. but it's not only about returns today, ali. it's also about shopping. we took another, some pictures of other shoppers standing outside an h & m store waiting in line at 6:30 in the morning just to get in because of the discounts these stores offering. ali? >> alison, some of this is because, we got off to a good start with black friday. looked very, very strong and it appears some of that tapered off, and stores ended up with more inventory than they thought they would. so they didn't clear it all out through the holiday season? >> reporter: exactly. what it really becomes a really a shopper's paradise. for retailers, it's a scramble to get their merchandise moving off the shelves. as you said, they're left with a lot of merchandise they want to get rid of because the spring stuff moves in. you're seeing deep discounts. even when people go to return their christmas gifts, the hope is that these retailers have, that that shirt, they'll return the old gifts but go ahead and walk out, not empty-handed but with some other things that they'll buy instead. also retailers, ali, are hoping that gift cards are used here at the stores today, and what usually happens is people often buy more than the gift card is worth. so they put more money back into the retailer as well. ali? >> this becomes a very important day and week for retailers. more important than in recent years. alison kosik, you'll keep an eye on what's going on. three republicans separated by just two percentage points in the race for iowa. with just eight days to go before the caucuses kick off there, anybody's guess who might come out on top. paul steinhauser dragging all of the trends in iowa, live this morning. paul, good morning. so ron paul in the lead? >> reporter: ron paul? yeah. it's hard to believe. no, not hard to believe at all. ron paul's numbers jumping, surging over the last month or two. you just alluded to this poll. from the american research group. among people likely to go to the iowa caucuses on january 3rd. there's ron paul at the top. 21%. mitt romney at 20% and newt gingrich at 19%. alina, basically a three-way traffic jam for the top. everybody with the sampling there. the other candidates in single digits according to this survey. and, yeah, it really is anybody's guess right now who's going to come out on top here in iowa. a lot of factors in play. ron paul, why is he doing so well? hich listen, he has a strong ground here, a strong organization, more than the other candidates, and his followers, supporter, very energetic and enthusiastic, alina. >> you know, paul, mike huckabee who won the iowa caucuses in 2008 says it's weather could influence new wins. it often does. here's what he said. watch. >> if the weather is good, mitt romney is in better shape. if the weather is bad, and it's real tough to get out, ron paul will win. >> all right, paul. does that sound about right to you? >> reporter: yeah. it makes sense. listen, huckabee knows what he's talking about, pulled off an upset four years ago in iowa. he make as good point. right now, when weather looks pretty good, at least this week no snow on the ground and temperatures are actually warmer than they normally are here in iowa. a lot of temperatures in the 40s. that could help romney and the other candidates whose followers aren't at devoted, energetic and enthusiastic as ron paul. it takes a lot to come out on a cold winter night. you've really got to be into it, ailelina alina? >> with eight days to go before iowa, looking at new hampshire, january 10th. the primary there. who's on top of the latest poll over there? >> reporter: mitt romney continues to be on top. it's been that way for two, three years now in new hampshire. you could call new hampshire mitt romney's fire wall if things don't go well near iowa. a brand new poll came out yesterday morning, christmas morning. romney at the top, 39%. gingrich and palm tied at 17% and jon huntsman, former utah governor at 11%. he's not campaigning in iowa. spending all the time in new hampshire. throw the polls away, i guess. whatever happens here in iowa will affect what happens in new hampshire one week later, guys. >> that's center right. paul steinhauser, thank you. >> lucky paul. standing out there in des moines, at 6:00 in the morning, morning time. republicans risk losing a seat in the senate if he don't back indiana's dick lugar for a seventh term. and this is from dick lugar. the 79-year-old senator is facing a primary challenge from a tea party backed candidate in his state. senator lugoo lugar saying he b as win by the tea party could set the republican party back in a big way. >> republicans running for re-election ought to be supported by people who want to see that majority. so i think the majority of tea party people understand that, too. what they're hopeful is -- >> so i understand what you mean, you think that you have the best chance of keeping this seat republican? >> yes. >> that's what you're arguing? >> no doubt, from all of our polling and understanding, that that is the case. and as a matter of fact, if i was not nominee, it might be lost. six minutes after the hour. other new stories this morning. more worries about iraq's future after yet another deadly car bombing. police say a suicide car bomber struck a security checkpoint right outside iraq's interior ministry compound killing at least two people. dozens died in bombing since the last u.s. troops left iraq just a week ago. a fire sweeping through an advertising executive's connecticut home early christmas morning killing her three children and her parents. madonna badger escaped the house along with a family friend. both taken to the hospital and later released. firefighters tried to make rescues but were pushed back by intense heat and flames. and investigators found anti-government graffiti and bullet holes in the building. the blaze began outside but firefighters sprayed water into the mailboxes and that soaked the mail inside. 800 people use that post office. officials are working to restore the wet mail and dliv teliver i customers. and hackers recover the a think tank. bragged online about stealing confidential information from the company stratfor. posting confidential client lists, e-mail and home addresses and release credit card information for about 4,000 subscriber, among the clients, bank of america, lockheed martin and the defense department. >> wow. and south korean citizens crossing the dmz headed into north korea to mourn the loss of kim jong-il. the group is led by a former south korean first lady, her husband, former south korean president kim dae-jung, upon the nobel peace prize for his efforts to reach peace on the peninsula. he's approved the civilian group the visit but did not send an official delegation. and now in st. peters square to hear the pope's christmas day message. unveiling a larger than life nativity scene. he prayed for peace in syria and for the flood stricken philippines. and dallas mavericks raising the championship banner and falling to lebron james and the miami heat 105-94. the king leading the way with 37 points. kobe bryant and the l.a. lakers squared off against mvp derek rose and the chicago bulls. rose hit the winning shot with under five seconds to play. the bulls sweep it out, 88-87. the new york knicks knocked off the boston celtics, carmelo anthony scoring 37 points. a setback for newt gingrich. why the former house speaker says he may have just experienced a pearl harbor moment. and new allegations of a civilian slaughter in syria. a city under constant attack for days as the arab league steps in to try to end the government's bloody crackdown. and new year's predictions. what will be the biggest pop culture trend in 2012? we'll tell you what to watch for. you're watching "american morning." it's 10 minutes after the hour. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. welcome back to "american morning." eight days to go before the iowa caucuses. the race for the republican nomination continues to be very interesting. here to talk about what you missed over the holiday weekend, including why two candidates will not appear on one super tuesday ballot, will cane is with us in our new york studio. live from washington, democratic strategist kiki mclean. welcome. i hope you had an excellent christmas. thank you for being with us on this fairly busy political morning, when you think about everything that's happened on the weekend. let me start with you. virginia, we're talking about iowa and new hampshire. i want to stop and go to virginia. something happened in virginia that is very interesting. >> right. >> a number of candidates didn't make it on to the ballot. i thought it was a forgone conclusion if you're running for these things you have the operation that meets the needs of the state to get on the ballot. they had a 10,000 signature, and 400 that come from each of the districts within, and gingrich in particular didn't make it. not only gingrich. >> rick perry as well. look at rules for virginia. you would say, something's up. something's not right. five of the seven gop candidates aren't on the ballot? only mitt romney and ron paul are on the ball jit that said, the rules in place four years ago. luminaries like fred tampsen ma thompson making the ballot. if you're newt gingrich, the rules are the rules. if you have the organization, you should be able to make the ballot. it's somewhat embarrassing. >> what about it? virginia not a priority or does it say something about their level of organization? >> it says a lot about their level of organization and you've got a record of newt gingrich actually touting he'll get on the ballot in virginia. and blowing up. but here's what's really rotten about it for these two candidates, in particularly perry and gingrich, we'll bypass virginia. the reality is, you're going into the week of iowa and new hampshire, and you have a lot of undecided voters in both of those places who look up and say what's the point? it would be a wasted vote. we don't know if these guys can compete. literally if they'll be allowed to compete. it's a real kind of sitting weight on them as they go into new hampshire. although there are a good pile of -- >> paul steinhauser made this comment earlier. while we look at all the states individually and what they're going to do, the fact is, momentum does matter. what happens in iowa will have an impact in new hampshire and going on. this might be a reverse impact if somebody knows these candidates are not on the ballot in virginia when they say, let me put my ballot somewhere. in fact, newt gingrich is not taking this lightly. his response, he posted on facebook -- sorry, his campaign director posted on facebook, newt and i agree, the analogy of december 1941. we've experienced an unexpect the setback, but will regroup and refocus with increased determination, commit and positive action. they know they're in trouble. let's take a look, will, at this new "boston globe" poll about new hampshire now. it shows romney still holding a very strong lead. 39% there, and then gingrich, ron paul tied at 17%. huntsman who has put all of his energies in new hampshire at 11%, the highest he is anywhere. now i want to take you to iowa. the first race. look at an american research group poll. very different story. ron paul on top. 21%. romney at 20%. gingrich at 19%. and then perry, bachmann, huntsman, santorum. huntsman picked up ahead of santorum as well. what do these polls tell you? >> the difference between the leader, 21%. i think iowa is a jump ball and a little like being meteorologist. putting a lot of reputation and predicting power into one day, a day that i don't think will end up mattering that much. who the winner is will not predict who the nominee is for the republican party. i'll say this, i don't think it's going to predict who the loser is. new hampshire is interesting. one thing it says, the inevitability, talk to you about it, ainged mitt romney slowly turning into acceptance simply because all the other rivals are unacceptable. >> i look up and say, al you, i've had the pleasure of being a campaign that won an iowa caucus, dick gephardt, last time i checked didn't get sworn in for president and i worked for hillary clinton and was there on the night both campaigns in that primary, president obama and secretary clinton's pollsters and the public polls was off by ten points. that el tells you is how fluid this is. both iowa and new hampshire can give opportunity, but they don't lock it up for anybody. you've had people like pat buchanan win new hampshire. so when you look at whats in iowa and new hampshire it can create opportunity but doesn't lock it up. boy is this floud fluid going right down to the wire. >> sure it is. like mitt romney, you're not thinking we're there? >> not there. a lot of thing kocould happen. i work for bill clinton who lost the new hampshire primary but catapulted him into a winning drive for the democratic nomination. coming in second or third with a close race? what if there is a precipitous run? the problem for mitt romney, he continues to drop while others continue to gain. trends matter here. it's not necessarily the order in which they finish, it's what kind of gap are they closing or building out as they finish. >> what do you think about this whole ron paul operation? you know mike huckabee says if the weather's bad in iowa, doesn't look like it's going to be bad, it hurts romney, his folks don't feel that passionate about him. ron paul's people will climb large mountains. >> i love it. ron paul's people like the post office, come rain, sleet, hail, straw polls, they're there for that. mitt romney is the default candidate. if you're voting for somebody lie default you're liable to say it's cloudy, not going to the poll. i disagree with kiki. theened result matters more than the actual electorate results will matter. in my prediction, a sense of acceptance around mitt romney has less to do with the polls and more to do with an analysis of actual rivals and alternatives. those candidates aren't realistic candidates to mitt romney. >> and will raising an interesting point. virginia and how it affects the rest of the race for somebody like gingrich. that drives up donors. donors who look up and placing bets 0 to win not passion of the moment, donors like say, this guy can't manage a one-car funeral. >> here's the interesting thing. what you have, a situation where as gingrich started to top in the polls you had all of these big endorsement. whether donors or important politicians coming out saying, look, this is the time to step on to romney's train otherwise, we're getting that. if romney doesn't come out with a strong poll in iowa, another surge of pro-romney people sitting on the sidelines? >> close enough to the first bunch going through january 10th. iowa and new hampshire, you don't see big names locking in in the next six days. at least not for iowa. the people who got credit early, that box is checked. you may want to wait and see what happens. >> interesting. remains very, very interesting for folks likes you who follow it as we have for a long time. i'm not sure we would have guessed that the end of the december coming into january it would still be this riveting a spectacle. great to see you, kiki. democratic strategist, and will, cnn contributor, columnist with the blaze. good friend of our. thanks to both of you. i know a lot of people would rather sleep in on the day after christmas. but there is politics and news to do. alina? >> you're absolutely right. thanks, guys. 21 after the hour. a look at the weather. rob, good morning. what's it looking like out there? pretty quiet weekend. >> it was. a little bit of snow in some spots, but compared to last year, remember last year at this time, northeast getting hammered with an intense snowstorm shut down pretty much new york city, cancelled, postponed nfl games. totally different year for sure. relatively mild out there still. a couple snow showers ayos the northeast and spots across northern new england and upstate new york saw significant snow yesterday. call it a white christmas in bradley, maine, and cambridge, vermont, three inches of snow. a little wind on the back side of this weak front, boston, new york, philly. chicago, dallas and houston as well. maybe low clouds there. still mild. temperatures will rebound into the lower to mid-40s even with a cool front coming through. 45 in new york. 48 in chicago. well above average, obviously, for this time of year. watching a storm system developing across the gulf coast states. beneficial rains and snow across west texas heading into louisiana. across the midsouth and in through the tennessee valley combining with something across the great lakes and it will ride along the appalachian mountain chain. far enough west and not mixing in with a lot of cold there. the only folks that see snow with this, western pa, upstate new york and extreme northern parts of new england with temperatures that will stay below, or just above average. video out of western washington. it's been a pretty quiet december for those folks, but over the weekend, intense storm coming into this part of the world, just south of seattle. seeing significant wind damage with some trees down and power lines down and folks without power. so not only not a white christmas, but a dark christmas. >> my gosh. that's my neck of the woods. used to live in that area, too. rob, wow. they don't see that often. >> and some storms coming. so -- time to -- >> like living in canada when you're out there. you're closer to the weather. it's not the same impediment as it is everywhere else. we talk about weather in the northeast, oh, trains not work, airports delayed. out there, it's like -- weather. >> i grew up with rain. six day as week. it is beautiful. it is beautiful. boxing day. we don't think about it here, but in canada, in england, look that. what they do. it's like black friday. shoppers rushing into stores in london. in london in, particular the trains won't be running. we'll tell you why and what affect it will have. tweeting he's never seen sales like this, out in shopping now. it's 23 minutes after the hour. . yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. 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[ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. 27 minutes after the hour. markets in the u.s. and europe are closed for christmas today. open tomorrow. as the friday, the s&p 500 is back in positive territory for 2 2011. dow up 6% of the year. the day after christmas expected to be the third busiest shopping day of the year. shopper track dotcom estimates foot traffic in stores up 60% compared to this day last year. today is also the biggest day of the year for returns and exchanges. shoppers expected to bring back a reported-setting $46 billion worth of unwanted presents. also according to shopper track. the airlines are turning planes into fly department stores and raking in billions. in fact, 12% of airline revenues now come from onboard sales of food, drink, entertainment and blankets and an legitimates expects the trend to continue. "mission: impossible 4," coming in first at the box office. sherlock homes coming in second. check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" will be right back after the break. 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. ♪ stories of carnage in syria. a government crackdown only getting more intense as the arab world tries to step in on this "american morning." good morning. 30 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "american morning." a busy one for us. more worries about iraqs future after yet another deadly car bombing. police say a suicide car bomber right outside iraq's interior ministry compound that killed two people. dozens died since american troops left iraq just jua week ago. a company under attack by activist hacking group anti-sec. it published contact information. appears to be over the arrest of bradley manning accused of giving information to wikileaks. and activist and blogger who became a symbol of the struggle there is now out of jail and calling the nation's new military rulers criminal, no better than hosni mubarak. released from military detention yesterday nearly two months after his arrest. he still faces charges related to anti-government demonstrations earlier in the year. the man who tackled the underwear bomber on a plane christmas day two years ago is suing them for letting him get onboard. he claims he suffered physical, psychological injuries during the incident, including permanent numbness in his hand. he named delta air lines and air france in the lawsuit. both airlines declined to comment. the underwear bomber is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty for trying to blow up the plane. snipers shooting at anything and everything. the slaughter continues in syria as the opposition saying 13 more people were killed yesterday. the situation is dire in one city that's been under siege for days. watching developments from cairo, mohammed jamjoom, what are they empowered or likely to do? >> reporter: ali, more disturbing news in the past hour. telling us at least 18 people have been killed. hundreds injured. that's just in the neighborhood of this area where this crackdown has been intensifying the past few days and this is on a day when about 50 members of the arab league observation mission are set to arrive, and it's leaving many people there wondering what exactly this mission will be able to accomplish while this crackdown is still going on. >> reporter: as the syrian government crackdown intensifies, the first of a small group of outside observers is beginning to arrive in damascus. we have no idea if the arab league overs will be able to get close to the scenes of violence that continue to pour out of syria. here a tank rolls down a street. a neighborhood in the flashpoint city. activists say thousands of syrian troops have recently surrounded it and are shelling it almost daily. cnn can't vapor phi many of the videos posted from syria but one resident describes the carnage he's witness the explaining how everyone has become a target. >> in the last few days a lot of injury. 100, 200 injury in the last three days. they executed and because they shout and bomb one house. civilian house. >> reporter: in the past week, the syrian government's bombardment has escalated. the same day a protocol was fined allowing those arab league observers into syria. activists say the syrian army stormed a town. a part of a province. this video reports to show family members mourning of loved ones who have died. it's being called a massacre. residents have become accustomed to the violence. many fear to bury their dead in public cemeteries. in this video taken in november, some buried their loved ones near a deserted road. at a hospital, one demonstrators lays in his bed and tells of the horrors he's seen. i've seen wounded people taken by security forces with their oxygen masks still on, he says. another man tells of experiencing a crackdown. i was injured by gunfire in a protest, he says. security forces fired on us and injured many youth, and one was killed. i went to a hospital and was treated. with many syrian neighborhoods deserted and besieged, many people are now questioning how effective the arab league overs mission observer mission will be. many say when the arab league arrives they need to come right away to here to prevent what people are fearing will be genocide. now, the arab league told u.s. today that as of tomorrow, they plan to send observers to this area, and the hope is that this arab league mission will be able to try to put an end to some of the violence going on there. >> it remains to be seen what sort of authority or power they'll have to do so. at least if they can get in and see what some of the reports are we're getting, that would be helpful. thank you, mohammed jamjoom. and in places like canada, today is their black friday. getting ready for a hectic day in boxing there. the tube is shut down, the subway, workers going on strike today. is that keeping shoppers away? i don't think so. live with more on that, erin mclaughlin. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alina. i am located just at the tail end of karnabuy street, in the premiere shopping district here in london. 700,000 people are expected to flood this area looking for that all-important boxing day bargain. look at some of the scenes when a store, a luxury good department store, opened this morning. thousands of people were outside and rushed through its doors in a stampede looking for those luxury goods, bargains. we had a chance to speak to a couple ever those shoppers who braved those crowds, and this is what they had to say. >> i actually am quite lucky. we avoided most of this. quite handy, but i did see quite of a crush going on right at the beginning. >> if you missed out on the sales, we thought was worth our while getting up early this morning. >> i got this at half price. >> we've been doing it since the '70s. so it's a family tradition, more or less. coming to this. especially the handbags. very good value. >> shopping in south africa, because of the exchange rate, makes it very affordable for us. >> i came here to find some of the things we can't in our country and, yes, the sales are huge. >> reporter: really, people from all over the world coming here for these sales, alina. you mentioned that london underground tube strike that is the subway system here in london. it's operating on a limited schedule today. i know that impacted my morning commute, but it doesn't look at the moment to have affected shoppers too badly, although we'll have to see how the rest of the day plays out. many of them coming in by foot even or by bus. london's operating 200 extra buses to help those shoppers out here today, ailelinalina. >> so much talk about the retail sector being so weak. how good are the sales? are people actually out there buying or just running around and looking? >> reporter: a good question. i spoke to one retail spokesperson a kibble minutes ago and he says they estimated some $20 million in sales just in the last three hours in this area of london, although if remains to be seen how the rest of the uk is faring. christmas sales came late this year. many analysts have told me, and that, in part, probably due to the fact that christmas fell on a saturday this year, which -- or a sunday, rather, this year, which allowed saturday for shoppers to get out and do all of that last-minute christmas shopping. that meant many retailers slash prices early and started promotions early. as you mentioned, alina, still remains to be seen how exactly that discounting will affect boxing day sales here. >> all right. erin mclaughlin live from london with that story. thank you very much. still to come this morning, the president is on vacation finally in hawaii. how the commander in chief is mixing business and pleasure this holiday season. you're watching "american morning." the hawaiian version of "over the rainbow." i like that. good morning. because the occupants of the white house are not occupying the white house at this particular moment. they are in hawaii. much warmer than in washington. partly cloudy, a high of 47 later on here. and president obama is celebrating christmas in hawaii, sort of, after winning a bruising battle of the payroll tax cut. brianna keilar drew the short straw for cnn and is traveling with the president in hawaii. >> reporter: aloha, ali and alina. president obama left washington friday shortly after signing the payroll tax cut extension into law and because this is the biggest part of his jobs plan, he came here to hawaii with a political victory very much under his belt and now is expected to spend his time here resting and relaxing not far from where he grew up. on christmas eve he did something he frequently does, loves to do, he played a round of golf. then he made phone calls to servicemen and women serving overseas, had dinner with his family and on christmas the first family went to church on a marine base not far from the house they're staying at here. all of the obama women donning sleeveless dresses because the weather here is just beautiful and then the first family also greeted military men and women there at that marine base later on christmas. now, at this point there's no public events on the president's schedule. we're expecting him to do a number of other kind of typical hawaii vacation activities with his family. maybe some more golf, but he will, of course, be receiving his daily national security briefing, as he always does, because this is always a working vacation for president obama. ali and alina? >> thank you. brianna. >> brianna keilar band. while she was talking. accompaniment whenever she goes anywhere. >> not the hawaiian voergs of "over the rainbow ". you just watched the president greeting members of the military and their families on christmas day. i'm guessing you probably didn't see this. take a look. after taking an earful from house leaders for weeks, that's the commander in chief getting a mouthful courtesy of the son of a marine captain. cnn has not been able to verify whether he is republican or democrat. and a funny video of the day, because we can. heb the chihuahua? this one doesn't speak. but it dances. ♪ >> salsa! yeah! >> that's stewart, the salsa dancing dog. youtube sensation. 1.2 million views. he's dancing a meringue georgia, n mering meringuea not the salsa. getting criticism. the dog son a tight leash, the leash is connected and he seems to dancing of his own volition. like he has no -- no, i can't dance like that. i can't dance like nothing. don't get me started. we're going to lose viewers if i get out there and dance. your top stories are next plus counting down to 2012. what can we look forward to in the entertainment world? we'll talk about what you should be watching out for. that's coming up. are about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. 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[ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. 49 after hour. your headlines. syria a bloody crackdown. the opposition says at least 18 more people died. one activist in the city says attacks by government forces continued nonstop for more than three days. a delegation of south korean citizens including a form 0er first lady visiting forth korea to mourn the loss of kim did no an official delegation. we're expecting a quiet week on wall street. markets in the united states and europe are closed for the who willdays today. trading resumes tomorrow, and the final four sessions could determine whether the major indexes in 2011 are up or down. today is expected to be the third busiest shopping day of the year as people mob the stores with returns and gift cards to unload. with retailers slashing prices before the new year. and the ghosts come alive at the box office. "mission impossible: ghost protocol" cruises, pun intended, to number one this holiday weekend. the tom cruise sequel raked in $26.5 million, beating out another sequel, "sherlock holmes: game of shadows." good morning, new york city. beautiful shot of central park, where it is cloudy. or not so cloudy. 42 degrees, up to a high of 45 and a sunny day in the big apple. welcome back. 2012 hasn't even started yet, and it's already predicted to be a blowout year for entertainment and pop culture, from music to tv to the silver screen. expect to see some new twists on old favorites and breakout performances from the next big stars. here now to dish on what we're looking forward to is "us weekly" senior editor ian drew. nice to see you, ian. >> good to see you. >> merry christmas. >> day after. >> exactly. boxing day. >> time to get into it. >> that's right. let's talk about movies. we have been seeing trailers for the new batman film with christian bale. looking forward to that. and also i have been reading a lot about this "rock of ages" movie with tom cruise and alec baldwin. those are two that i'm looking forward to. what else should we be watching? >> well, not to make "rock of ages" a footnote, that is the event of the year. but also we'll see the return of "titanic." it's going to be in 3d. a lot of people want to have that first date night over with that movie. >> who's going to be in it? do you know? >> it's the original they are rereleasing in 3d. >> oh. >> so we'll see that come back. everyone will be going back and whipping out the celine dion records and remembering kate and leo back in the old days. >> i remember sobbing in the movie theater when that came out. >> exactly. >> also a big year in tv. "mad men" coming back after a year off. they had to work out worker issues. >> and january jones had a baby meantime. >> "american idol" also coming back. are those the two biggies? or are there other ones to watch? >> i predict we'll see a decline in these music competition shows. there's just too many. we're going to see "the voice" come back. but all of these artists that are coming off of it aren't taking off that much anymore. >> but "american idol" is still the number one show out there, isn't it? >> i think you'll see a dip in ratings. there's just too many of the shows now. but what you'll see an increase in is "america's got talent." howard stern premiering as a judge. everyone will be hanging on his every word. >> that's going to be huge, replacing our very own piers morgan as a judge. we want to look at some of the breakout acting stars we should be watching. kristin wiig. i think i'm the only person in america that hasn't seen "bridesmaids" yet. >> you're missing out. >> huge film. she just wrapped shooting a film with a producer friend of mine which i am looking forward to seeing. and then there's rooney moira, "the girl with the dragon tattoo." >> kristin wiig is going to bring back the "snl" stars of breakout massive movie star. we haven't had that in a few years. all the people that left "snl" to start movie careers haven't really taken off. >> will ferrell. >> well, that was a while ago. so this will be a return to that. and also rooney moira getting a golden globe nomination for her first movie. everybody will see how she makes that momentum last. >> she is also very well respected in the fashion world as well, which i happen to like. i want to take a look at music. i have to say i am not ashamed to admit i am a huge madonna fan. >> who isn't? >> that's true. she's coming out with a new album next year. >> yeah. >> unbelievable. going to perform at the super bowl. what's that all about? >> mag is still going. she is the ultimate workaholic. and she'll show everyone why she is still the king of pop. katy perry and all of these people have rose up, but madonna doesn't like her throne to go down. gaga will be back out on the road again. and you know when she tours, she tours endlessly. >> i have seen her in concert three times. every time, it's great. >> never gets old. >> i have to say. but the madge, still the queen. >> and adele, a lot of concert dates to make up. she is recovering from vocal surgery. everyone will be waiting to see if she opens up her voice and sings again. >> is she doing ok? >> she's doing fine and looking good. >> she has a phenomenal voice. >> ok, ian drew. happy holidays. great to see you. your top stories are next, including fire at the post office. now they are actually trying to dry out all the mail. was it arson? what happened? those stories and much more are straight ahead. 57 minutes after the hour. i'm not crazy about these light fixtures. kitchen's too small. what's next? 607 franklin st. ♪ sea bass... ♪ ooohhh! ♪ i like it. yeah, i love the kitchen. [ male announcer ] the epa-estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from looking for your perfect home to finding it. chevy runs deep. from looking for your perfect home to finding it. what is it about taking a first step that we find so compelling? is it because taking a step represents hope? or triumph? at genworth, we believe in taking small steps every day to keep your promises, protect what matters, and prepare for a secure financial future. no matter where you want to go, one step at a time is the only way to get there. go to genworth.com/promises. holiday shopping in overtime and overdrive. i'm alina cho. people mobbing the stores again today with gifts they don't want and gift cards they want to unload. i'm ali velshi. there's a new front-runner in the hawkeye state, leaving many wondering why iowans can't seem to make up their minds, on this "american morning." good morning. it's monday. boxing day, december 26. i'm alina cho, along with ali velshi on this "american morning." so glad you're with us. hope you're waking up. maybe you're still in bed. having a little coffee. >> maybe you don't have to go anywhere and you just have shopping to do, whether it's here in the united states or overseas where it's boxing day in canada and the uk and many other countries. a lot of people hoping this will be black monday. millions heading to the stores this monday. analysts saying the monday after christmas may be the third biggest shopping day of the year. allison is live outside of macy's herald's square in new york city. about an hour ago, people were streaming by you getting into the store. how is it looking now? >> they were. they were. and they continue to stream in. can you see this? they are still walking in. what time is it now? 8:00 in the morning eastern time. and they have been coming in since 7:00. that's when this macy's opened its doors. and would you believe that people were also waiting in line at other stores in and around new york city here? i don't know if we have the video. you can see that people were waiting here. it was pitch dark out. but waiting in line to get into these stores. what i'm noticing, ali, is that although this is the monday after christmas is usually the day people come in and return their gifts, i'm finding that a lot of people are walking into the stores empty handed and walking out with stuff. i talked with a few shoppers. they say because it's all about the discounts. >> they advertise, so we realized that that would be a good discount after the christmas. so that's why we decided to come. >> they're going to start lowering prices down because they want to get rid of all of the other stuff. they want to get rid of the stuff in the store now so they can restock. >> they want to get rid of it, ali. so what they are doing is offering some really deep discounts. so the discounts that you maybe saw before christmas, they are probably going to be even deeper now, because what these retailers essentially want to do, ali, is move this merchandise out and get ready for the spring stuff to come in. >> we started off with what looked like a very robust black friday, which we thought would lead through. but things seemed to taper off. >> exactly. >> it's really the consumer's to lose at this point. they can get the deals they have been looking for. >> reporter: yes. it's a shopper's paradise, is what i like to call it. >> meanwhile, we are hearing that you have actually discovered who was to blame for all of those crummy gifts that people are returning today, allison. >> reporter: are you surprised? it's the in laws, of course. if you get those yucky gifts. you know, "consumer reports" says you're most likely getting the awful gifts from your in-laws, which if you get that ugly necklace or awful sweater, and they wonder why you haven't worn it. it's almost like they plan on giving you something awful, so then they ask you a couple of weeks later, hey, why aren't you wearing it? it makes you wonder, huh? >> just an excuse to blame the in-laws, don't you think? >> reporter: it's all strategy. >> allison, thank you very much. the national retail federation predingt dicts that shoppers will bring back more than $46 billion in stuff they just don't want this holiday season. how can you turn that into a win today? here to teach us how to handle those returns like a pro is a reporter for smartmoney.com. good morning. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> you're the expert on this. it's interesting because people are getting in a lot of cases those hot electronics, whether it's the ipad or whatever it is, a flat screen tv. for those people who don't want those, and want to return them, i mean, can they return them? i would imagine it's pretty tough. >> they can return them. but the return policies on these products are among the strictest out there. >> right. >> they only have a very limited amount of days to actually return these products to get a full refund. >> and each store has its own policy. it's really difficult to navigate. >> it does vary. for example, with best buy, they are giving consumers up to january 24th to return. that sounds generous. in fact, it's not all that generous. most stores give up to about 90 days to return holiday purchases. >> interesting. >> amazon about 30 days after the product has been delivered. so it sounds generous, but when you compare it to other products at other stores, it's not really all that much time. >> it's probably too late for some people. but one of your big tips is, if you open that package and you see that it's a whatever it is, an electronic item, leave it inside the box, right? >> if you know you don't want it, and you're going to return it, leave it in the package. a lot of stores have what's called restocking fees. you're getting charged for opening something up, taking it out of the package and returning it. >> and it's not just a couple of dollars. >> it can be up to 25% of the purchase price of the item. >> unbelievable. i had no idea. >> yes. >> in some cases, people do get excited. take the tags off. they lose the gift reert. receipt. is there recourse if that happens? >> in many cases, there is. if you don't have a receipt, you take off the tag and go to return it, more retailers are willing to work with you to give you some sort of store credit. but in many cases, you won't be that fortunate. >> but if you don't have that gift receipt and the item goes on sale between the time they bought it and you return it, you get the sale price, right? >> you get the discounted price. and that's what's happening at macy's, if they can't figure out how much was paid for that product when it was purchased. you get that discounted price it's currently selling for. >> right. so save those gift receipts. meanwhile, i found this interesting. a lot of people obviously don't know what to buy for their loved ones or friends or co-workers. they get a gift card. you can't return a gift card, can you? >> no. you cannot return a gift card. but the good thing is that since last year, the rules impacting gift cards have changed. it used to be you only had a year to use it. now, retailers are required to have these gift cards in effect for at least five years. so if you get it now, you have at least five years to use that gift card. so that gives you more time. >> well, if can you find it. i have lost them before, you know? >> and that's a problem. hold on to those. >> keep it in your wallet. andrea, thanks so much for those tips. >> thank you. >> good to see you. turning now to politics. all eyes are on iowa. according to the latest polls, iowa is up for grabs just eight days to go until the caucuses. and one former candidate says the caucuses there could actually be determined by the weather. cnn's political editor paul steinhauser is live in des moines this morning. paul, this is an interesting concept. why would the weather have an effect? >> reporter: here's why, ali. let's say there's a lot of snow and it gets cold on caucus day. that could prevent a lot of people from getting to the caucus sites, and maybe some supporters are more enthusiastic than others. this is mike huckaby. he knows something about these caucuses. take a listen to what he said on the sunday talk shows. >> if the weather is good, mitt romney is in better shape. if the weather is bad, and it's real tough to get out, ron paul will win. >> and the reason, because ron paul supporters, his backers here in iowa, are very devoted and very energetic and enthusiastic. but, alli, there is no snow here right now. mid 40s today and all week. so we'll see what happened next week. but take a look at this as well. here is the latest polling right here in the hawkeye state. and it's a traffic jam at the top of the pack there. ron paul at the very top. mitt romney, the former massachusetts governor, just one point behind. and one point behind him, newt gingrich. you can see everybody else there in single digits. this arg poll came out on friday. it's the most recent we had here of people likely to take part in those caucuses. two other take aways from this poll and all the others, still about 1-10 republicans out here say we haven't decided yet. and a sizeable amount say, we still may change our minds, ali. >> you know, paul, over the weekend, the news broke that both newt gingrich and rick perry failed to qualify for the primary ballot in virginia. 49 delegates at stake there. part of super tuesday. this is a very big deal. i know the gingrich campaign was saying they wanted to mount a write-in campaign, but that's against virginia law. so is there any recourse there? and how in the world did this happen? >> reporter: virginia's got a high threshold. 10,000 signatures is what you need. the only two candidates to get on the march 6 ballot now are going to be mitt romney and texas congressman ron paul. everybody else either didn't try or as the case of -- in the case of gingrich and texas governor rick perry, they didn't make it. remember, gingrich spent two days in virginia last week. the deadline was on thursday. he was there wednesday night and thursday. but didn't get over the top. i guess it's another example of, listen, gingrich's poll numbers soared over the last month or two, but his organization has not caught up yet. and here is an example of gingrich's organization not able to get him on the ballot. >> all right, paul. live in des moines, iowa, for us. paul, thank you. >> and he is not getting out of there anytime soon. tuesday night, january 3, the country's first real votes. the candidates' first real test. takes place in iowa. it's the caucuses. watch it all unfold with the best political team on television. coverage begins tuesday night, january 3, 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. other stories we're following today, a grisly christmas morning northwest of dallas. seven people found shot to death inside an apartment in grapevine, texas, in an apparent murder-suicide. police say it appear that's all of the victims, four women and three men, were related. and a christmas morning tragedy in stamford, connecticut. three young children and the parents of well-known advertising executive madonna badger killed in a house fire. badger and a friend were able to get out alive. the cause of the fire is under investigation. arson is blamed for a christmas fire that burned a post office in nevada. investigators found anti-government graffiti and bullet holes in the building. the blaze began outside, but firefighters sprayed the water into the mailboxes, and that of course soaked the mail inside. officials are now working to dry out the wet mail, and they are hoping to get it to customers. hackers target a global security think tank based in the united states. the company stratfor under attack by anti-sek that says it stole confidential client lists and published the credit card information of some 4,000 subscribers. the breach appears to be revenge for the arrest of soldier bradley manning, who is accused of giving confidential information to wikileaks. the makers of enfamil say its product is safe and bacteria free, following a massive recall of their premium newborn formula. the company conducted a second round of testing on the same batch of formula that was consumed by an infant in missouri who later died from a bacterial infection. and still ahead, what a gift for sports fans. hoops. finally here. the nba season finally tipping off on christmas day. after the long lockout. lebron james getting some long awaited revenge. and while it was mild in much of the country, there was a rare white christmas in one of the last places you'd expect. we'll tell you where that is. and allowing your children's boyfriend or girlfriend to spend the night under your roof to prevent teen pregnancy? we'll speak to an author who says that's the solution, and that many americans have it all backwards. it's 11 minutes after the hour. 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[ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex with 5-loxin advanced™. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand. good morning, dallas, texas, where it is cloudy and 44 degrees. rain a little bit later in the day, with a high of 49. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center for us right now. what's it looks like in the rest of the country? >> goodness. you guys, i was having an elaborate conversation with none other than -- well, i won't call her out, but discussing what you showed before the break, which was this amazing video, snow video, which has been hard-pressed to come by, for christmas, compared to last year. this is out of el paso, texas. west texas one of many storms that came through the past couple of weeks. and they got a white christmas, on the mexican border there. enough snow on the ground to call it white. and actually, still some snow on the ground in parts of west texas right now. how about new england? 5.0 inches of snow in bradley, maine. cambridge, vermont, seeing four inches. three inches of fresh powder in stowe, vermont. so there were some spots that saw a white christmas. but compared to last year. it was last year at this time, the boxing day storm of 2010, where the northeast corridor was just paralyzed by a blinding snowstorm. you'll get a bit of wind but no snow. maybe a flurry, but that's about it. new york, d.c., and metros. maybe some flurries in upstate new york. but generally speaking, just slightly cooler air coming in behind this system. there it is. it eventually gets sunny. a couple of systems, cold air coming down from canada. several systems lining up in the pacific, and a storm system that brought that snow across west texas, rain across central texas, which they need. and the rain now moving into parts of mississippi and the mid south. this will combine with a little cool front coming across chicago. and parts of western p.a., upstate new york, and northern new england again will see a bit of snow from this. but generally speaking the mild weather pattern will continue, and we'll see temperatures well above average over the next several days. temps 45 in new york to 48 degrees in chicago. pacific northwest, just south of seattle, this is storm damage from winds that came through western washington over the weekend. a lot of trees downed. some power lines down. even one fatality from a big tree limb that fell on a car. at one point, almost 20,000 people without power there. so not only a nonwhite christmas, but a dark christmas for our friends just south of seattle. high temperature today in seattle 43. 41 degrees in portland. and 70 in los angeles. and light winds as compared to what they saw last week. >> must be nice. >> nice to talk to you, rob. thank you, my friend. green bay packers improving to 14-1 on the season, with a 35-21 win over the archrival bears on sunday night. the win, the packers with this win they clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs. and the bears are now eliminated from playoff contention. aaron rodgers had a career-high five touchdown passes for the packers. meanwhile, the nba is back in action after a months-long lockout. remember that? lebron james and the miami heat taking on the defending champion dallas mavericks in a rematch of last season's finals. and it was a different story this time around. the king making a statement, scoring 37 points, to lead miami to a 105-94 victory. he's one of santa's helpers, but he is about the size of 457 elves. shaq claus paid a visit to spread the christmas cheer. >> i was working yesterday, and i watched a little bit of the program. for some reason, they start the talking about weight. he said he is 400 to 500 pounds. >> is that right? wow. really? i would never have guessed. i guess he is a big guy. feed america and its pets. a group provides pet food and medicine to pet owners who are no longer able to afford it. she was inspired by stories of some americans whoed they would rather live in their cars than give up their beloved pets. up next, are you due for a bigger paycheck in the new year? we'll show you where minimum wage is about to go up. plus, interns, which industry's talents are just going younger? 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[ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. 22 minutes after the hour, minding your business this morning. markets in europe and the u.s. are closed for the christmas holiday. they will be open tomorrow. right now, the s&p is in positive territory, just a little bit for 2011. the dow, however, is up 6% on the year. interns are a hot commodity in silicon valley according to the "wall street journal." bay area tech companies near a fierce fight to find and recruit summer interns. the file sharing company dropbox dispatched its entire engineering department to recruit interns. the nation's lowest paid workers will see their hourly rate go up between 28 and 37 cents in arizona, colorado, florida, montana, ohio, oregon, vermont, and washington. washington now offers the highest minimum wage at $9.04 an hour. many of you will be hitting the big after christmas sales today, but you may want to wait on a few big ticket items until after the new year. according to analysts, you're better off waiting to buy fitness equipment to take advantage of new year's resolution promotions. hd tvs will be cheaper next year. snow blowers expected to drop 30% in march. and you'll see a drop in car prices at the beginning of the month as dealers try to get rid of the 2011 models to get the 2012s in to their show rooms. shoppers are expected to bring back an expected $46 billion worth of upwanwanted presents this year. no receipt, no problem. some stores like walmart no longer require receipts to get a full refund, but you could end up receiving the current selling price of the item, which might be lower than what was paid for it. "mission: impossible ghost protocol" won the box office weekend, but movie sales overall not looking so hot this holiday season. studio execs hoped that 2011 would finish with a bang. but with just a week left, ticket sales are running $500 million behind last year. still ahead, look fast. it's not just a high speed train. it's a super high speed train going over 300 miles an hour. we'll show you where this baby is being tested. plus, new developments out of syria this morning, cities under siege by their own army. "american morning" is back right after this. they executed little children because they shout against the assad. reports of carnage in syria getting more intense as the arab world tries to step in on this "american morning." good morning. welcome back to "american morning." it is 29 minutes after the hour. your top stories now. there are more worries about iraq's future this morning after yet another deadly car bombing. police say a suicide car bomber struck a security checkpoint right outside iraq's interior ministry compound, killing at least two people. dozens have died in bombings since the last u.s. troops left iraq only a week ago. hackers target a global security think tank based right here in the u.s. the group is called anti-sek and is loosely affiliated with anonymous. they bragged online about interviewing information from stratfor. they listed confidential client lists and credit card information for some 4,000 subscribers. among their clients, bank of america, lockheed martin, and the u.s. defense department. a prominent egyptian activist and blogger who became a symbol of the struggle is out of jail and calling the new military rulers thugs and no better than the old regime. he was released nearly two months after his arrest. he still faces charges related to anti-government demonstrations earlier this year. the man who tackled the so-called underwear bomber on a plane on christmas day two years ago is now suing two airlines for $10 million for letting him get onboard. he claims that he suffered physical and psychological injuries during the incident, including permanent numbness in his hands. delta airlines and air france are named in the suit. both have declined to comment. the underwear bomber is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty for trying to blow up the plane. one activist said snipers are shooting at anything and everything. the slaughter continues in syria this morning as arab league observers arrive to try and end the bloodshed. the opposition says at least 18 more people were killed yesterday, and the situation is dire in the city where the uprising started. mohammed jom june is watching live from cairo this morning. give us a sense of what is going on, what the arab league is hoping to achieve by going into syria. >> reporter: well, alley, even mo more disturbing news to report. they are telling us that at least 21 have been killed today, hundreds injured. this on a day that arab league observers are set to start arriving to try to help end the violence there. while it's hard to authenticate videos, there are more videos emerging on sites like youtube purporting to show scenes of the aftermath of violence. we're seeing what purports to show injured people in homes and hospitals. victims of the shelling that people are saying they are sustaining there. we keep hearing words like "carnage" and "blood bath" being used by activists there, and this on a day when arab league observers are set to arrive. and it's making people question just how effective this arab league observer mission can actually be. you know, a few days ago, a protocol was signed with the syrian government between the arab league and the syrian government on december 20 to allow these observers in. the same day we got reports of a massacre happening where hundreds of people were killed. stow rig so right now, a big question as to what the arab league will be able to accomplish. will they be given free rein to the affected areas? one member telling us by phone today that they will travel to homes tomorrow. but again, a question as to whether they will actually be able to go to the neighborhoods that have been hardest hit. ali? >> all right. mohammed, you touched on this a little bit. but will the arab league -- i mean, do people believe they will actually be able to go into those areas most heavily affected at this home? >> reporter: it's a big question, alina. you know, there are those in the opposition in syria that are glad the arab league is coming and they think they need to get to a city like hums right away. because if they don't get there, the activists say they are afraid that the blood baths will continue, and they're afraid that the brutal crackdown will only increase in the days to come. then there are those opposition activists in syria that say that the arab league is completely ineffective, and even though they are there, it will somehow be used as the regime as a stalling tactic. even if they are given access to neighborhoods, they won't be the most affected and cracked down upon. so the arab league do believe they will be able to put an end to the violence there. but we just don't know. and the brutal crackdown seems only to be escalating and continuing these last several days. alina? >> all right. mohammed jomjoom live for us in cairo. meanwhile, in places like canada and uk, this is their black friday. canadian ali velshi, you know that very well. getting ready for a hectic boxing day in london. the tube is shut down, expected to be at a stand still with workers going on strike today. erin is live with a look at that. good morning. so people are still out there shopping, aren't they? >> reporter: yes, they are. retailers here say they are well on their way to making their shopping targets, that target of $78 million. take a look at a scene from selfridge's, a luxury retail store. let's look at what happened when they opened their doors earlier this morning. as you can see, it was an absolute frenzy, as those shoppers from around the world really rushed through the doors to get those luxury good bargains. we spoke to some of the shoppers. this is what they had to say. >> actually, we were quite lucky. we came around the side entrance, avoided most of the queueing. so that was quite handy. but i did see quite a bit of a crush going on. >> last year, we came. we thought it was worth our while getting up early this morning. >> most of them are better than half price. >> we have been doing it since the '70s. so it's a family tradition more or less. coming to the sale. and especially the handbags. very good value. >> bargain shopping for us in south africa, because with the exchange rate it makes it very affordable for us. >> everything is out of stock, so we came here to find some pieces i can't find in our country. and the sales are huge. >> well, alina, you mentioned that tube strike today. that is a strike on london's underground subway system that many londoners rely on to get around the city. that doesn't seem to have affected shoppers all that much, many making their way on the 200 some-odd extra buses on the streets of london. some even walking in to get some of the bargains, alina. >> a subway strike isn't going to keep me from shopping. >> i was going to say, wouldn't slow you down. erin, we are well into the shopping day now. any sense of how the sales have been going? >> reporter: well, ali, i have jays terrell here, a representative from the shopping district. he is representing the 600 some-odd stores just in the oxford region and bond street areas with me. and let's just ask him. how is shopping going so far? >> well, it's mega-monday here in the west end. an absolute surge of shoppers coming in. we are well on target to go through 15 million pounds today here. luxury items, a diamond necklace from 18,000 pounds down to 8,000 pounds, and that sold in the first hour at selfridge's. but a lot of shoppers out, and a lot of international shoppers here, and certainly robust figures coming through. up 10% to 15% from previous boxing days. >> and i understand that christmas sales came later this year. what can you tell us about that? >> i think there was a last-minute rush here. seeing what kind of discounts they could do. christmas eve, millions of shoppers came through. obviously, today, boxing day, they are out in force. and across the uk, another public holiday tomorrow. so we expect a large amount of shoppers to come through tomorrow also. >> how does this compare to previous years? the uk economy is hurting at the moment. >> it has been a tough year for retailers in britain. there's been a rush, and here in the west end we will end bullup about 3% up. we need some high spending items to go through the tills, and hopefully they'll be in the best position to start 2012. >> reporter: well, thank you, jace. it looks like strong boxing day sales here, at least in this part of london. >> enjoy the day out there. fun day to be out. lots of people even with that tube strike. erin, thank you. it looks like a bullet, and it may seem like one when it whizzes by. china has launched a super high speed train capable of traveling more than 300 miles an hour on the ground. wow. the front of it is meant to resemble an ancient chinese sword, by the way. this is only a test run. china already has the world's longest and fastest high speed rail service. >> it's a great way to travel. i mean, we do it a lot for work, going to d.c. and new york. and i have to say, center of city to center of city, not a bad way to go. >> easy, comfortable. walk around. still to come this morning, the president on vacation in hawaii. how the commander in chief is mixing business with pleasure this holiday season. and would you allow your teenager's boyfriend or girlfriend to spend the night in your home? and i'm not talking about like separate bedrooms and all that. i'm talking about, you know, whatever. it sounds crazy. but parents in other countries do allow it, and some studies say it might be preventing teen pregnancies. talk about counterintuitive. we are live with a researcher who will explain. this is an interesting one. stay tuned for it. it's 39 minutes after the hour. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. [ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. we're doing this all over the rainbow stuff because it's hawaii, the president is in hawaii, it's 44 degrees in washington, where he's not. it's a lot warmner hawaii. but our camera is in washington. it's partly cloudy. later on today, it will be up to 47. fairly mild. >> we're very close. >> pardon me, alina. it's good to be back with you. welcome back, everybody. >> i've only been doing this for several months to know where i'm supposed to be sitting. president obama is celebrating the christmas holiday in hawaii with the first family after winning that bruising battle in washington over the payroll tax cut extension. cnn white house correspondent brianna keeler is traveling with the president. aloha to you, ali and alina. the president left washington on friday shortly after signing that payroll tax cut extension into law. and because this is the biggest part of his jobs plan, he came here to hawaii with a political victory very much under his belt, and now is expected to spend his time here resting and relaxing. on christmas eve, he did something he loves to do, played a round of golf. then he made phone calls to servicemen and women serves overseas and had dinner with his family. then on christmas, the first family went to church on the marine base not far from the house they are staying at. all of the obama women donning sleeveless dresses because the weather here is just beautiful. and then the first family also greeted military men and women there at that marine base later on christmas. now at this point, there's no public events on the president's schedule. we are expecting him to do a number of other kind of typical hawaiian vacation activities with his family. maybe some more golf. but he will of course be receiving his daily national security briefing as he always does, because this is always a working vacation for president obama. ali and alina? >> that is one tough assignment for brianna, i have to say, honolulu for like two weeks. after taking an earful for house leaders for weeks, prom just got a mouthful from a little kid. take a look at that photo there shot yesterday while the president was greeting service members and their families in hawaii. cnn has not yet been able to determine whether that little guy there is a republican or a democrat. >> this was a picture released by the white house, i believe. all right. that picture was good. but how about this crazy piece of video? ♪ >> yeah! >> how does he do that? >> i could watch it all day long. >> stewart the salsa dancing dog is a youtube sensation. however, it's not the salsa. i'm told that is actually a meringue. >> we're going to go ahead and believe our writers on that one. 1.3 million views. going viral. your top stories are next, including new developments out of north korea. kim jong il's song strengthening his hold on power with a new post. we'll tell you about that. i have been waiting for this all show. would you let your teenager's boyfriend or girlfriend spend the night in your home, on their own, unsupervised? teen sleepover dates are normal in some other countries, and a researcher here says that may be a good thing. she'll explain next. it's 45 minutes after the hour. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. another deadly car bombing in iraq. police say a suicide car bomber struck a security checkpoint right outside of iraq's interior ministry compound, killinga the least two people. syria accused of intensifying a bloody government crackdown, even as arab league observers head to the country today. the opposition now says at least 21 more people have died, hundreds more injured. one activist says attacks have continued nonstop for more than three days. kim jong il's son is gaining more power in north korea. he has been identified as head of a ruling worker's party today, a major sign he is on track to take full control of the communist nation. markets in the united states and europe are closed for the holidays today. trading resumes tomorrow, in the final four sessions. and that could determine whether some of the major indexes end 2011 up or down. the dow is up 6% on the year. a strike in the london underground. the tube threatening to cause chaos on boxing day. the biggest shopping day of the year there. today is expected to be the third biggest shopping day of the year in the u.s. and the ghosts come alive at the box office. "mission: impossible ghost protocol" cruises to number one this holiday weekend. the tom cruise sequel raked in $26.5 million, beating out another sequel, "sherlock holmes: game of shadows." someone in maryland is sitting on a powerball ticket worth, get this, $125 million. lottery officials say they still haven't heard from the winner just yet. the lucky ticket apparently was sold at a liquor store in elkton. the store said the owner did value to verify the numbers and promised to stop by in the next couple of days. "american morning" is back after this. ♪ what you waiting for ♪ oh ♪ oh, oh ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ >> that is the beautiful capital building in des moines, iowa, where it is a sunny 25 degrees. don't worry, iowans, it will get warmer today. we will be paying a lot of attention to iowa over the next week. the caucuses are next tuesday. after all of this talk about politics, people are actually going to finally cast a ballot. and from the looks of it, we'll have a lot to talk about in the next week. you are not going to believe this. a shocking approach to preventing teen pregnancy by allowing sleepover dates with boyfriends or girlfriends. sociologist amy shallot is talking about it in her new book, "not under my roof." just out. and she says that the sleepover strategy is already working in other countries. here to explain is author and professor amy shallot. >> thank you for having me. >> this is a little bit counterintuitive. i was reading something about netherlands, where this is a lot more permitted. that girlfriends and boyfriends in their teens sleep over at each other's house in a nonplatonic way. >> often true, yes. but let me clarify. it's not a situation where everything goes. so it's definitely older teenaged couples who established a relationship and parents have talked about contraception. >> ok. so it's a holistic approach to a different way of looking at sex. is it counter to the idea that sex under my roof is just so not permissible that with teenaged kids that we don't talk about it and then kids go do their own thing? >> exactly. in fact, a lot of the dutch parents say we want to know what's going on because that way we can have more influence, and that way we can have an open conversation. and that's what's counter intuitive about it. rather than thinking of it as permissive, it's really one where parents stay more connected to their teenagers. >> but that's an entire difference in a northern european view of sex and sexuality than we have here in the united states. >> well, and that's why i say, you know, the take away of this study for american parents isn't necessarily you must permit sleepovers, because many parents are going to say not under my roof. that's the title of my book. the take away is you can have more open conversations. you should probably have more open conversations about what's a good relationship, sex and contraception should go together. what does it mean to be ready. how to get rid of some of these damaging stereotypes, gender stereotypes. those are all things that are going to promote teenage health and better relationships between parents and kids. >> there are some numbers here that show that teen birthrates per thousand, girls 15 to 19, in the united states. it's 41.5 per thousand in 2008. in the netherlands, 5.2 per thousand. now, what's that got to do with? why is that the case? >> well, there are many factors that contribute to that. i have to say, one is higher poverty rates in the u.s. better services in the netherlands. contraception. sex education. so forth. there are many factors. but the approach that parents take does matter. so if parents make it possible for a young woman who is considering becoming sexually active, can i go on the pill, and the mother says no way, instead of well, are you sure, can we go to the doctor, that will make a big difference. >> in the u.s., we have other influences. >> sure. >> some of them political, social, religious influence. such as this issue of vaccinating young girls with guard sill. there are some people who don't want the vaccination because they say that alone suggests promiscuity, or that alone suggests permissiveness. so how do you deal with these challenges where there are some people who would like their kids to abstain and be virgins until they are married? how do you bridge that gap? kids are having sex, clearly. >> absolutely. all over the western world in the late teens, most young people do have sex. i think what you emphasize is that above all, the conversation is important. and that the conversation itself does not make teens have sex, which is one of the things that i think parents sometimes think. and that even a conversation about garda sill can be about, this is promoting health. you know this is something that may eventually become part of your life, sexuality, at a point that you think is healthy, at a point that we hope for you. but we want you to be protected. >> so a parent who does not want their teenaged child who is living in their home to be sexually active should still engage in that conversation? >> sleuth. absolutely. and i'm not alone in that. the american academy for pa pediatrics recommends that conversation. >> and health, as you said. >> yes. and making choices so it's not something that just happens to you or you have to be drunk to do it. >> where is the best place to go for this conversation, if for whatever reason you're the teenager and can't get that conversation at home? some parents are just not going to have it. >> ideally, the schools would be providing it. and some schools do a good job. as you know, it's a very politicized issue. a lot of times teachers have a hard time as well. they have many constraints. there are a lot of colllinician out there. i think health care providers can really help out. ideally the clergy actually play an important role. and young people would like to be able to have more open conversations that are again as you mentioned holistic, not just sex pure, you know. >> so the issue is separating it from, you know, separating sex the act from sexuality, health, and relationships. >> absolutely. >> the whole thing. what a great conversation, amy. thank you very much for coming in and talking to us about it. >> thank you for having me. >> amy shallot is the author of "not under my roof" and a sociology professor at the university of massachusetts. we're taking a break. we'll be right back. ♪ yeah ♪ it's a party in the usa

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