going in a mad dash. we're seeing violent scenes even. they're tearing down doors. people being arrested. you know what they're all after? a shoe. not just any shoe, though. an air jordan. we'll explain. also, possible ground breaking lawsuit against the nfl. a number of former players suing over concussions they say they got while playing the game. one of those players, jamal lewis, in studio with me in just a matter of minutes. don't miss that. let me start with this major political road block now for newt gingrich and rick perry. both candidates failed to qualify for the virginia primary. neither of them came up with enough valid signatures. this means now that there are only two candidates that will square off in virginia's march 6th showdown. let me bring in our athena jones. first of all, how could this happen? how could they not make the ballot? >> virginia has stringent rules. among the most stringent of all the states. you have to get at least 10,000 signatures from across the state including at least 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. it's a little more complicated than other places. the gingrich campaign, on thursday he told a gop breakfast in virginia that he was going to have 12,000 to 14,000 signatures. now, we don't know exactly where he fell short. maybe he did have enough of the 10,000 but didn't have every one for each of the congressional districts. it's a little complicated there. you know, t.j., this is all about newt gingrich's ground game and there's ban leen a lot questions and concerns when he was surging to the polls. there were questions whether that caught his campaign off guard. he doesn't have nearly as much organization as a mitt romney, for instance. this is really telling here, t.j. >> and also only two names on the ballot now. >> exactly. mitt romney and ron paul are going to get to divide up that state's 49th delegates. the state, virginia, allocates its delegates in kind of a complicated way. but, still, the fact is it's now a race between two people in that state. you know, recent polls have shown gingrich ahead. he was at the top of the recent quinnipiac poll just about five points over romney so not a big lead but still he looked to do pretty well in that state which is where gingrich lives. so not good news for gingrich and perry this christmas. >> all right. agtena jones, thank you so much for us in washington and just how big of a blow is this? we'll be talking more about gingrich and perry. meanwhile, south carolina's newly passed voter i.d. law is already running into trouble with the federal government. justice department is blocking the law from going into effect saying it would, quote, create significant racial disparities. south carolina's governor calls the decision outrageous. you can join cnn tuesday, january 3rd. the iowa caucuses, finally it's time to start voting. a special, "america's choice" right here on cnn. just three minutes past the hour now headlines from overseas for you. a bloody debris on the streets of damascus, syria. two suicide car bombers blew themselves up there yesterday. 44 people killed. more than 160 hurt. both sides blamed the other for the attack. state run media reports said the bombs carried the blue prints of al qaeda. also today tens of thousands of protesters surging in moscow for a day of demonstrations turning out in sub zero weather to protest what they claim are rigged elections. this is also seen as a challenge to the domination of vladimir putin over russia. security is tight in moscow where russian media is reporting bus loads of riot police lining up along the streets. similar protests taking place all across russia. britain's prince philip will spend christmas eve in the hospital. queen elizabeth's husband, you see him there, he had a procedure yesterday to unblock the coronary artery. prince philip is 90 years old. also the cuban government will pardon and set free almost 3,000 prisoners. the castro administration published an announcement saying prisoners over the age of 60, women as well as six inmates are among those being released. president castro cited the upcoming visit by pope benedict xvi as the reason for the mass pardon. meanwhile an american contractor who has been in prison there since 2009 is not among those to be freed. at five minutes past the hour let me get you to your all important travel weather. for the weekend, for the holiday, got problems? >> looks like we'll see some especially in the lone star state of texas where we have rain, sleet, even some snowfall. in speaking of snow, the big question a lot of people have is will we or will we not have a white christmas or is it going to be, well, quite frankly, one without snow? we'll have the answer coming up in a few moments plus we have a game day forecast to show you some of the big nfl games we'll have this weekend. what you as a fan can expect. >> all right, reynolds. we'll check in with you in a moment. thank you so much. meanwhile, fist fights. police using pepper spray, glass being smashed. these are shoppers doing all of this stuff. why? because they're after a pair of shoes. air jarodans. there it is. retro jordans re-released and people are kicking down doors and kicking each other to get them. stay with us. coming up on eight minutes past the hour taking a look at news across the country. in aurora, colorado three firefighters had to be taken to the hospital after a chimney exploded. they were trying to put out flames inside a home and that back draft you hear about sometimes caused an explosion and knocking them off their feet. a back draft happens after a fire suddenly flares up after being exposed to fresh air. >> grab on. go get them! >> one way to put it. grab 'em, go get 'em! and they did. this is in orlando. military families got quite the gift for the holidays. 128 army reservists returning home after spending six months in iraq. they are some of the last soldiers to leave that country. we see this every year. santa surfing. this is in malibu, california. no sleighs required here. i-reporter julie ellerton says surfing santa was taking part in his annual wave ride at surf rider beach. santa was joined by the mrs., frosty, even a surfing elf out there. nine minutes past the hour now. you remember spike lee told us, it must be the shoes. >> and this is my main man, michael jordan. this is a pair of nikes. this is something you can buy. this is patented. this is high flying, 360 slam dunk. this is something you cannot do. let me repeat myself. this you can buy. you cannot do this. can, can't. can. no! >> yeah. must be the shoes, right? here we are 20 years later. it is still the shoes. a new version of air jordans went on sale yesterday. it is an updated version of an old shoe, version 11. there are long lines. people want to get the shoes. but people went into a frenzy in many places. take a look at this, an all out sprint. this is at mall in kansas city, missouri. look at these folks going after shoes. but here, this one got a bit ugly. this is in indianapolis. hundreds of people rushed the door at two separate malls. at this store in particular you see people getting trapped on the floor down there and people trampling over them. they tore the doors off their hinges. also in georgia four people arrested as they tried to get a pair of shoes. our affiliate wsb is reporting that also a mother left her two young children in the car to go in and try to buy the shoes. also in omaha, nebraska a man called for police backup when crowds there got out of control. john oakley picks this up from our affiliate katv. >> police descend on crossroads mall after help an officer calls go out. the reason? large crowds trying to get inside to buy the newest jordans. >> all these cops came up here, ar-15s, it was fights and crazy. it really wasn't worth it. i wish i could have ordered them online at midnight. internet was crashing so i had to figure out a way to get them. >> a lot of pushing and shoving and excitement ready to get in there and get these shoes. >> this is the prize. jordan concord 11s retail around $175 bucks. montgomery waited five hours. >> for a shoe. holiday season shoe. everybody had to get them and i was lucky to get them. >> reporter: same story at village point. large crowd gathering at finish line for one thing. >> they're a real popular shoe and everybody wants them. you see the demand for them. there are just not enough for everybody. that's the bad thing. >> reporter: payne got out there at 10:00 p.m. the crowd was quickly disappointed when the store ran out. >> folks, they are out of the shoes. you might as well go. >> reporter: katv, news watch 7. >> a shoe, folks. it's a shoe. $180 shoe. all right. so we're asking you this morning. go ahead and be honest. have you ever stood in long lines for something and maybe got a little crazy? what item was it you went crazy over? we've been talking to some of you on twitter. got that up on my desk right here right now. you know where to find us on our blog as well as on facebook. also up next, a white christmas? well, doesn't always live up to the hype. reynolds wolf with your ice and holiday weekend travel forecast. paperless discount. paid-in-full discount. [yawning] homeowner's discount. safe driver discount. chipmunk family reunion. someone stole the nuts. squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ 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. ♪ t.j. holmes, unbelievable. thank you very much. >> amazing. unbelievable. >> all of us from arkansas know how to play the saxaphone. we do. >> basically you learn how to walk, your first steps are walking to pick up some of the brass and you did and it is amazing how you developed that skill over the years. >> i stayed with it. i put it down for a little while but i'm glad i have that talent. >> man, that skill. a reed instrument would be tough to play in cold weather like today. >> okay. cold weather. texas, the southwest was having issues. >> right. >> but travel this weekend. who is going to have a problem? >> it really is going to be limited to texas for most of today. you get rain, sleet, and snow, the trifecta. >> ooh. >> you can see what happens over toward el paso. whenever you're driving on ice, hitting the gas as hard as you possibly can probably not the best thing to do. >> it worked out here. >> hold on, turbo. >> look at that skill. >> good times. look at this guy. i mean, he is trying to make his way through very -- a lot of trepidation and understandably so. slippery conditions. it's funny. it doesn't matter. the biggest, strongest, toughest vehicle can be humbled by just a little bit of ice. it's amazing how it can happen. snow, actually easier. just take your time. come on. come on over here and let me show you what we've got. this is going to be the big issue for the day. if you look at the national perspective, the big bulls eye is going to be on texas where you happen to see the blues and even the greens is where we've seen the rain drops and precipitation. the rain drops in terms of say back in austin, a little bit of the hill country. when you get back into the higher elevation, south of lubbock, from the palo duro canyon you'll have a lot of snow, several inches, not several feet like they had up to three feet of snowfall outside of boulder, colorado within say 72 hours ago. another place we'll see a lot of that snowfall begin to pile up is going to be in the highest levels of the cascades. the valleys though, i'm telling you, mainly in seattle all rain. back out toward the great lakes especially lake eerie. lake effect snowfall is going to be with you a good part of the day. as long as you have the prevailing wind out of the northwest, snow is going to be a thing for you especially along parts of i-90. now take a look at what we have for you. even though we've got some precipitation in the northeast some in parts of the deep south and some in the pacific northwest, for the most part the rest of the nation is going to be pretty nice. cold conditions, though, are going to be experienced especially in the northern and central plains as we wrap it up, take a look at the highs. 41 in denver. 42 degrees kansas city. 39 minneapolis. 45 in billings. 62 in san francisco. 53 in memphis. 81 in tampa. 81 miami. 45 washington, new york, and boston in the upper to lower 30s. plain and simple, if you're driving with your family and going where conditions are kind of slick, either just pull over on the side of the road and take it easy or don't rush. especially when you have people that you care about. isn't that right? >> a good reminder. we know that but we're always in a hurry trying to get somewhere on time, get to the family. you're right. just take your time, folks. reynolds, thanks. >> you bet. >> game day forecast coming up in a little bit. >> very soon. i know you want to see that. we'll share with you. >> thank you, buddy. also in a few minutes we'll be talking nfl again. we saw a number of formal nfl players come out in lawsuits suing the nfl saying they did not do enough and they did not inform players properly about the risks of concussions. we got a former running back jamal lewis here in studio with us. stay here. i joined the navy when i was nineteen. i was a commissioned officer at twenty-three. i was an avionics... tactical telecommunications... squad leader. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. chase hired me to be a personal banker. i'm a business analyst... manager. i'm very proud to work for chase. when you hire a veteran, you get... great leadership... decisiveness... focus. chase knows, when you hire a veteran, you're hiring america's best. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. hey, hey, hey, hey. i can see who's on my network people! lance? lance? yes, yes you are next. all right. dave, i'm in. ♪ katie! what are you doing, sweetheart? supplementing my allowance. how long have we been gone? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the latest 4g phones, starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart. just in case you weren't getting enough christmas music at the mall, we thought we'd -- we told you you'd get a little more this morning. no. we've been having a lot of debates about christmas music this morning but there is another little jingle for you. well, got a timely story for the holiday right now. about karma and good things happening to good people. jeffrey peltier is a good example. a few months back he found some money in an envelope just lying out in the middle of the street but instead of keeping it, he went through the effort of tracking down the rightful owner and he returned it. now something nice has just happened to jeffrey in time for the holidays. he joins me now from his home in massachusetts to tell this story. jeffrey, first of all, tell me how much money did you find? >> they said it was about $2,000. i seen it on the road. i thought it was fake. lo and behold it was real. i had seen a deposit slip. added it all up. >> okay. $2,000. be honest with me here. how much thought did you give to maybe going ahead and pocketing that money? >> about two seconds. >> two seconds. that's all? >> yeah. that's it. >> okay. >> i really wouldn't want to. >> how difficult was it to go through that process and how long did it take to track down the rightful owner of the honey? >> it was pretty quick. her house was right around the corner and her name was on the envelope. i just put it in my gps and went right to the house. >> you sounds like you returned it from the time you had the money in your hand to when she got it back was how long? >> probably five minutes. she didn't even know it was gone. >> okay. now, jeffrey, the woman when she saw you, she had to have been a little shocked. >> i knocked at her door. i had an envelope. she's looking at me like what? i'm like, i think this is yours. >> was she appreciative? >> oh, yes. yes she was. yes she was. >> okay. now you tell me what just happened to you not too long ago. you ended up being a pretty big winner of an item i assume can help you out in your day-to-day life. >> yeah. it really could. i won a new car. my old car was about 14 years old. we needed one. we really did. >> we're showing a picture of it here now. how did you end up winning the car? >> i filled out a raffle that was during a radio marathon for giving food to homeless people through the open pantry i believe. and rock 102 in springfield. they're a local station with two great disc jockeys. they were just -- they sat out in a trailer for two days and collect food for homeless people. jeffrey, would you say you've been a lucky person? are you one that wins raffles? are you that kind of guy over your lifetime? are you one that never really wins anything? >> well, i win quite a lot. small things but nothing like a car. >> nothing like this. now, what are your thoughts now? because i think a lot of people, even, not necessarily they're bad people but around the holidays, tough economic times right now, find $2,000, they would consider that part to be lucky and they would be blessed by that. but what are your thoughts, now, that it's kind of come back around and something nice and really nice and timely has happened to you? what is the lesson here you have learned at least and you'd like other people to know about karma? >> basically i think if you're a nice person people will be nice to you. that's pretty much it. i don't know how to add to that. i really don't. >> jeffrey, could you have used that money? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> but only gave it a couple seconds thought and now something nice has happened to you. jeffrey, we love this story. when we heard about it, and good to see that something good happened to a good person and you did the right thing when it wasn't convenient necessarily. like you said, it could have helped you out. thank you for spending time with us on this christmas eve. congratulations on the car and happy new year and merry christmas. thanks so much for taking the time. >> thanks. merry christmas to you. >> all right. jeffrey, thanks so much. good story. karma. pays off sometimes to do the right thing even when it might not be convenient for you. well, coming up next we go from that positive story to another positive story. politics. just kidding. we got a story here though about presidential politics and the republican presidential nomination. there is going to be a problem for these two men. they failed to get on the ballot in a key state. we'll explain exactly what happened to them. also ahead, this is video that we just love here on cnn saturday and sunday morning. we showed it to you. see that guy on the left? he is the head of state. you see that pen in his hand? he thinks he's slick. whoa. transfer it over here. let me get it into the pocket. yes. he got caught on tape with some sticky fingers. this is some other embarrassing moments caught on tape when we come back. at aren't on your lis. jumper cables, camo anything, a power drill -- ooh! [ male announcer ] the only place to go for every guy on your christmas list with great deals throughout the store. walmart. ♪ ♪ we are coming up on the bottom of the hour on this christmas eve. thanks for spending a little t