you think the white house is getting their point across? that is a countdown clock showing nine days that that is how much time the white house has to extend the payroll tax cut or your taxes are going to go up. americans can go to this site and actually share their stories of what will happen to them if they lose their $40 per paycheck. that's the average an american will lose. let me bring in dan lothian and, dan, this seems like a full-on pr campaign by the white house and they're keeping the pressure up and i don't know if people saw it on the screen. this is what happened if congress doesn't act. it crossed out the word congress and it specifically says, the house doesn't act. >> they've been keeping the pressure now on house republicans all week and now it's another effort by this white house to drive that point home today where the president is holding an event here at the white house shortly after noon to show what's at stake. you've been talking about how the white house has been framing this as hitting the middle class. those families making $50,000 a year, standing to lose about $40 per paycheck. so, they started this big media blitz through their blog and through twitter asking americans to weigh in, to say what they would do with that $40 and the white house says that more than 20,000 people have participated in it. so, today, some of those folks who did weigh in will be here at the white house along with others who say they'll be impacted by not having that $40 per paycheck. they'll be here with the president as he continues to put pressure on house republicans to pass this compromise bill and then work on something, a more long-term package next year. >> by most accounts the president is winning this battle, but, still the president is getting some criticism, at least, maybe expected criticism from the other side. let's listen to senator john mccain from a little earlier on cnn. >> is it fair to put as much pressure house republican leadership as being intragdant. >> i think times like these and in the past four presidents i have served under they have exerted a lot more leadership than going shopping. by the way, i also feel in the upcoming election that is less than a year from now, no incumbent is safe nor should they be. >> he, of course, making the reference there to the video we saw of the president out shopping yesterday with the dog and with petsmart and picked up some things for the girls at best buy. a couple things here, dan, first of all, is the president hoping to get or trying to get more involved in these negotiations or step back and continue to reap the benefits of this political fight and, also, we know nothing is done, really, without careful discussion at the white house about how you put the president out and where he goes. why go on this shopping trip? >> i think the white house tends not to want to talk about whether the president is winning or losing here. they'll simply say what the president is most concerned about is helping hard-working americans hang on to their money. so, they're not concerned about, you know, whether or not his numbers are up or down. for those who watch this. the white house says the president has always been working very hard behind the scenes and sometimes picking up the phone, as he did yesterday, and talking to john boehner directly, but, still, republicans saying, look, he hasn't been doing enough to reach out to them. but, as you pointed out, he did go shopping yesterday. picking up some presents not only for the first pet, but for the first daughters. >> he's kind of home alone with the dog right now and just kind of waiting on the congress and the house to make a move right now. dan lothian, a lot coming up the next couple hours. the president coming up at 12:15, as you mentioned, as well. a lot more to talk to dan about and, as always, that event coming up in the noon eastern hour. we'll certainly have it for you here on cnn. at five minutes past the hour, we need to turn to iraq. new concerns about the future of that country just days after the last american troops pull out. a wave of bombings has killed at least 63 people, wounded another 200. the explosions come after an arrest warrant. was issued for the country's vice president. arwa damon. people were back here seeing those pictures and seeing the american troops coming home and you were quick to say there was turmoil still in iraq. >> you, also quick to remind everyone that even the war may have been over for the u.s., it certainly is not for the iraqis and the violence today is really creating a nightmare scenario for this nation because it comes as you were mentioning there briefly, it seems that the government is collapsing like a house of cards. the explosions, the violence that took place here earlier this morning, 16 explosions, t.j. all of them happening within two hours during rush hour. targeting mostly civilians. one of the bombs went off just outside a school as children were arriving and others in marketplaces and crowded intersecs. no claim of responsibility just yet, but this restirring many fears amongst people about the stability of their country and the capabilities of the iraqi security forces. that coupled with the political instability here what kind of america the u.s. has really left behind, t.j.? >> this sectarian strife, yeah, the vice president. an arrest warrant for him on some kind of a terrorism charge. what is that doing? one thing to have some political back and forth, it's a young democracy and we get that, but, still, now, the vice president being accused of these types of charges. what is that lending to this situation? >> the gravity of those charges and the potential implications we cannot stress just how serious all of this is. what's happened is that the iraqi government is accusing the sunni vice president of being involved in acts of terror. effectively running hit squads. they aired these confessions on state television. the vice president is now up in the semia tonmist section of kurdistan being protected by the kurds. they're demanding that the kurdish authorities hand him over to central iraq. they, at this point, are not doing that. he, the vice president are willing to stay on trial and he wants it to happen in a crucial area. all of this is polarizing the government to such a degree that many are questioning whether or not the various political leaders will be able to dial back from the edge of this ab s abyss. >> our arwa damon with the update on the violent day in iraq. thank you so much. well, we are just passing eight minutes past the hour now and with ron paul leading in a new iowa poll, the presidential candidate is now facing runenew questions about racially inflammatory writings. these writings were published during the 1980s and '90s. they appeared but they rarely carried a by line. newt republic coverrepublic cov. also, other news organizations from "new york times" to cnn have come up with new details. what we have uncovered are items like this from a 1992 news letter shortly after the l.a. riots and this one titled special issue on racial criticism. order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks. in fact order was, as you know, was restored when the national guard moved in. also two years earlier, before that, in another ron paul publication, an article criticized president reagan for assigning the martin luther king jr. holiday. this line read, "we can thank him for our annual hate whitey day." in 1996 when paul was running for congress, democrats dug up other passages from his news letters that he did not deny at the time writing. talking about the crime in washington, again, i quote, "given the inefficiencies of what d.c. laughingly calls the criminal justice system, i think we can safely assume that 95% of black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal." ron paul defended himself yesterday talking to our gloria bordure. listen. >> so you read them but never did anything about it at the time. >> i was probably aware of it ten years after it was written and it has been going on for 20 years that people pestered me about this and cnn does every single time. when are you going to wear yourself out? >> you know, is it legitimate? is it a legitimate question to ask? >> when you get the answers, legitimate that you sort of take the answers i give. you know what the answer is? i didn't write them, i didn't read them at the time and i disavowed them. that's the answer. >> you made money off of them. >> if you knew i made money on it. you know more about my finances than i do. >> do you know that you didn't? >> i don't even know what you're talking about. i mean, you know, if it was published for ten years, so, if that was 1% of all the news letter i made money off of, you know, talking about gold stocks. i think you're confused on that. >> okay. just a question. i mean, it's legitimate. it's legitimate. these things are pretty incendiary. >> only because of people like you. >> no, no, no, come on. some of the stuff was very incendiary and saying in 1993 the israelis were responsible for the bombing of the world trade center and that kind of stuff. >> well, ron paul, again, several years ago did not deny some of the writings. again, didn't appear with a bye line necessarily, but today saying he did not write any of that stuff even though his spokesman did say he took moral responsibility for those being published in a news letter that had his name. next hour we'll talk more about this and other things political with our political analyst and a reminder for all the latest political news, you know the spot, cnnpolitics.com. let me turn now to a good friend. reynolds wolf. people trying to get home for the holidays. little tricky for some. >> it's going to be tough for a lot of people that are going to try to fly and some people who are going to drive. whatever poison you choose, it could be poison, especially in parts of colorado. live reports talking to reporters very close to the airport in denver, colorado. today, they're dealing with a big mess. not just the snow, but the wind, 30 to 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts and quite a bit of snow on the ground, three to five inches. publo four to eight. we've got 30 to 35 and some approaching 45 and maybe even 50 before the afternoon is over anywhere up to six inches to a foot in the highest elevations. now, another big issue we have. chance of storms developing across the southeast. alabama into portions of georgia, even atlanta for that matter and into mississippi and into new orleans. you have a chance of strong thunderstorms, tornadoes, damaging winds and even large hail into the afternoon and the backups, yes, we're going to have quite a few of those. in atlanta, cincinnati, memphis, and even into houston and charlotte you might have delays due to the showers and major delays as you wrap it up in denver. no surprise, there would be snow. >> thank you, kind sir. we'll see reynolds coming up soon. 13 minutes past the hour and take a look and listen. citizens protesting in syria and the government launches a brutal crackdown. now some arab neighbors are stepping in. that story straight ahead. also, two sailors making history in virginia with this kiss. sharing the coveted first kiss after one of them returned from sea. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ 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 goes to your choice of 5 charities. with your help, we can reach $20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. your look now at some stories making news across country. walmart has recalled cans of baby formula after a 10-day-old baby in missouri died from a rare bacterial infection. enfamil is testing the formula, the water used to make it and other items. "sports illustrated" fans voted eric lagrand as the best moment of 2011. the first time the magazine let fans to choose and first rutgers athlete to appear on the cover. he was paralyzed in a football game in 2010. he led his team on to the field before a game in october. in virginia, a kiss for the history books is what you're seeing right there. two female sailors became the u.s. navy's first gay couple chosen to kiss first after a ship's return. the crew of the dock landing ship "oak hill" and their loved ones bought raffle tickts for the opportunity and they won. 17 minutes past the hour. want to turn back overseas this time to syria that has now closed its borders to journalists. protesters trying to topple the regime and videos posted online claim that troops have retaliated with widespread attacks on civilians. today, the arab league is responding to the international outcry in dispatching monitors to report on the abuses. let me bring in cnn's leoni. what are these monitors supposed to help? can they help? >> t.j., the team that is going in today is an advance team of about ten people and what they're doing is paving the way for a broader observer mission that will consist of about 100 officials and their task is to gauge the situation on the ground and really look at what the military there is doing. now, there's a lot of questions about how effective they will be because they will be supervised when they're on the ground. there's also questions about the makeup of this mission. and, also, t.j., this is part of a broader initiative in which syria has been asked to stop the violence, withdraw military troops from residential areas and release detainees and they haven't agreed to do any of that. as you mentioned, the violence is continuing. the u.n.'s latest figure is at about 5,000, but activists keep reporting that the violence continues on a daily basis, t.j. >> this comes after we just saw new, recent actions there. what is the timeline, tell me quickly, for these monitors. this was the advance team, but when is that larger teams supposed to get in there? >> the advance team will be there for 24 to 48 hours. we don't know the exact date of when the other mission gets in, but that observer mission will be in for about a month, t.j. >> leone, thank you for the update from abu dhabi for us. we'll get back to politics in this country. the politics of that payroll tax dispute. our contributors will cain and l.z. granderson joining us to talk about the fight and your frustration. also, get ready for a white christmas. a betty white christmas. are you ready for some football? stay with me. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. and a week and a half your paycheck is going to get smaller, don't you worry, congress is on the case. actually, congress is not really on the case because congress went home for the holidays with no deal on extending the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. the bickering has folks frustrated from coast to coast. no bickering right now, though, with our cnn contributors will cain and l.z. granderson. they are both with us now. quickly, guys. we're going back and forth. i'll start with you this time, will. there is no way, no way they're going to allow this to go through. they're not going to allow our taxes to go up, they can't do that. >> you wouldn't think so. you think they'll work out a deal before christmas, if not shortly after the new year. they're going to extend the payroll tax cut. >> simple as that. we see that and going through this exercise right now, but there is no way. is that fair to say? >> i would say so. you know, it's really sad now that we keep doing this over and over again. it feels like groundshog day. but this is where we are at right now because of the 2012 election people can't make a basic decision. they want to make everything overly dramatic. >> what are we getting out of this exercise besides frustration with the american people and seeing congress to appear not to get something done and taking it right up to the last minute? >> i think we're seeing an exercise in 2012 politics. that's what we're seeing. everything is being positioned so that there's an argument to be made during the general election about who's better for the american people. they're playing chicken with each other. both parties to blame. >> some people want to put the blame squarely on republicans. who will americans blame at the end of all this? let's say they'll save it and make sure people's taxes don't go up. still, american s -- >> i think this will land on the shoulders of the republican party because they can't agree on a message about what the approach should be and the political message that gets out is now the republican party is opposing a tax cut, a tax cut for the middle class. are they only for tax cuts for the rich guys? again, t.j., that's politically what will come off that doesn't mean that's the truth. >> that's a good point there because that's all people know right now is that, wait a minute, there's a tax cut, but -- >> can i explain that, t.j.? >> yes. >> let me explain the should. the republican position on the economy should be, let me show you something. i drew something a little prepared for this. let's pretend the economy is out in front of me. this is the mother board. these are the knobs and dials on dh econo the economy. low taxes, preferably. simple, understandable regulations and let the economy play out. that should be their position. now, the liberal position is, you can adjust these knobs and dials to even out the jagged line of progress as jeb bush wrote in "the wall street journal" the other day. a dial just like short-term stimulus, just like an $800 billion stimulus, just like a jobs bill and it's temporary and insufficient. that should have been the argument that republicans made. >> l.z, you have anything you want to show and tell? >> everything that we do is short term. okay. there's nothing that we can put in place that's going to last this country forever and ever. the idea that this is a short-term solution is a misnomer. as the economy adjusts evolves. that's because of the global impact on our economy. so, both sides are going to have to do adjustments every couple years or so. this is nothing new. the thing that is really upsetting about this process right now is that the american people are the ones actually being the ping-pong ball itself. we're being paddled from one side to the other because we're not being concerned with what ultimately should be the best interest for us. it's all about the politicians and all about d.c. and the white house and not about the american people. >> all right, well, it seems a little late to get it done before christmas but your all's prediction, as i go here. they'll get the deal done before christmas or in the week before new year. will? >> in the week before new year. if you're pinning me down. this argument is tough. i had to draw a chart for you. much easier to draw people in and demagogue, middle class americans. >> l.z., next week? >> next week, yes. >> l.z., will, always good to talk to you both. i know we'll see you plenty. >> i hope l.z. gets out of that hostage situat