Unguided scudtype missiles. And were also learning new details of the latest phone call between president obama and House Speaker john boehner did not go well. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. We begin with todays longrange rocket launch thats managed to put a satellite in earths orbit. Heres why it is important to all of us. Even though north korea is one of the poorest countries and many people are starving there, the Korean Peninsula is the most tense, most dangerous places on earth. There are roughly one million north korean troops on it is side of the militarize zone separating from south korea. As well as nearly 30,000 u. S. Forces. Not only are they within strikes distance of the launch site, a longrange rocket shows north korea is on its way to developing technology to launch a rocket at the United Statess west coast and hawaii. Officials tell cnn that the working assumption is that the North Koreans got outside help from others, including iran. So todays launch is raising some huge concerns. Lets go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. I assume they are pretty surprised and alarmed by the successful launch over at the pentagon . Look, wolf, because of everything you just mentioned, indeed, the u. S. Military, the Intelligence Committee have been watching north korea for days now 24 7 because they did expect to launch and they announced it. But they were having technical problems so a lot thought it wouldnt happen until next week. When it happened last week, there was a surprise. The north korean anchors excitement was clear. Announcing the launch of a longrange rocket that put a north korean satellite to orbit around the earth. They clearly achieved one goal raising everyones anxiety level. This is a step towards the ability to build a longrange missile that could strike parts of the United States. But i dont think this really was a great advance forward. I think in terms of the per accepting in north korea, this has changed the way the neighbors think about it. In an interview with erin burnett, defense secretary leon panetta wasnt about to say this threestage rocket launch was a success for jim jongun. We still have to assess what happened here. Most importantly, the final stage to determine really whether or not that did work effectively or whether it tumbled into space. But north korea did succeed in putting what u. S. Officials describe as a rudimentary satellite into space. The u. S. Is trying to determine if north korea is able to control the satellite. And while its all the same technology that could one day result in a north korea missile being able to hit the u. S. , experts say, dont panic yet. It has to demonstrate that it cannot just get something up to space but bring it back down. That requires a reentry vehicle. The u. S. Believes iran may be one country that helps fix its technical problems. North korea calls it, quote, baseless. The u. S. Maintains a small number of its own defensive missiles in both alaska and california that would be capable theoretically of shooting down the north korea missile if it came to that. And as for the future, wolf, as you said, the ultimate concern is that they could put the North Koreans could put a Nuclear Warhead on their missile and strike the United States. It could be years away but nobody is saying dont worry about it. I know the sourt korean government is alarmed about what is going on. Even if the south korean troops go on a high alert, how does that impact the nearly 30,000 soldiers along the dmz . There are troops throughout the northern part of south korea and even further back into south korea. We are told always that they are at a high state of alert. The intelligence assets remain on station 24 hours a day because of the assumption that north korea could order its Ground Troops across the dmz or start firing some day with the longrange artillery. They could keep it in north korea and fire well into south korea. So all of this is the constant concern this missile test only raises it, wolf. Nato today confirmed the dangerous he is c dangerous escalation, another one, in syria civil war. They describe it as scudtype missiles inside syria this week. Missiles aimed at civilian populations controlled by the rebels. Lets go to our Foreign Affairs correspondent jill dougherty. What are you learning, jill . Well, u. S. Military satellites are tracking those missiles and a u. S. Official tells cnn that literally within the last few days four missiles were fired from damascus north towards turkey. They didnt go over the border but this official says they got close. The fighting in syria grows more vicious. Troops loyal to Bashar Al Assad reach into their arsenal for more deadly weapons. Even scud missile. Officials say assad has between 3 and 400 of those short and mediumrange missiles in his stockpile. The Regime Forces launched a scud from the suburbs of damascus. If this proves to be true, its another indication of the deparagraph tea of assad and his crohn knees. Once more, the forces last week started using whats called barrel bombs. It contains flammable materials. Its sort of a napalm and its very, very concerning and indicative of the regimes brutality. Human Rights Groups say it causes extremely painful burns, often down to the bone, burns that are often hard to treat. This comes after signs that an increasingly desperate assad is moving closer to using chemical weapons. Chemical weapons plus scud missiles would be a lethal combination. If you were to marry up a chem kabl warhead on to the scud, you now have an area denial Weapon System which is very nasty. It affects everybody. It doesnt discriminate from friend or foe. One means of stopping scuds, Patriot Air Defense systems. And just a week ago in brussels, nato approved turkeys request to deploy the weapons in that country to protect against any possible attack from syria. The mere fact that the missiles, the patriot missiles have been deployed make it necessary for any potential aggressor to sing twice before they even consider attacking turkey. A pentagon official tells cnn washington will be giving orders for deployment of u. S. Batteries and personnel within days. And all of this is an increasing desperate situation on the ground for those civilians. In fact, the u. S. Administration today is announcing they are getting another 14 million for humanitarian aid. That brings the total up to 210 million and the focus this time, wolf, is on children, especially Nutritional Supplements for them and also medical supplies. Jill dougherty from the state department, thank you very. Much more on syria later. Tax hikes and cuts in Government Programs like defense, health care among others. Tuesdays optimism over news of a new offer, a counteroffer between the white house and Congressional Republicans turned to bloom today. Our senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash is turning to more details now on whats apparently going wrong. Whats the latest . Reporter a very interesting moment when the former democratic House Speaker nancy pelosi had blunt advice for the current republican House Speaker in terms of learning how to get his caucus together to find a deal that can actually Pass Congress and that the president will sign and those blunt words were, quote, figure it out. Sources of both parties say a tuesday evening phone call between the president and Speaker Boehner did not go well. Well, the president and i had a deliberate call yesterday and we spoke honestly and openly about the differences that we face. Cnn has learned at least part of the reason why. Tuesdays gop counteroffer included a renewed explicit call for a, quote, permanent extension of bush era tack cuts for the top 2 of americans. According to a democratic source familiar with the language. The democratic source argued that proposing to permanently extend tax cuts for the wealthy that the president calls a nonstarter shows that republicans are either, quote, unwilling or unable to make an offer they can pass and the president will sign. Those magic beans are just beans and that fairy dust is just dust. It is not serious. And the president will not sign an extension of the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest. The white house is misinterpreting boehners office, that it also inincluded a proposal to revamp the tax code down the road which would make current tax rates moot. Regardless, both sides are still talking past each other. Even in private. Listen, there were some offers that were exchanged back and forth yesterday and the president and i had a pretty frank conversation about just how far apart we are. Reporter from the gop perspective, the talks are back at a standstill because the president is offering too few spending cut and too much in tax increases. The president is calling for 1. 4 trillion worth of revenue. That cannot pass the house or the senate. Reporter ynn is told that at a meeting of House Republicans behind these closed doors, they expressed frugs strags. So far, it is helping keep boehners troops behind him. Simply because hes got a president that is is simply out of touch with reality. Reporter despite the new flashpoint overtaxes, more and more lawmakers tell cnn that they do intend on giving in on tax rates for the wealthy. Thats why most lawmakers are not boxing boehner in. Would you go for that . I think we have to look at the whole package and as ive said, lets leave everything out here. Reporter now, boehner said publicly he is still optimistic about getting a deal done but privately in that meeting with House Republicans today, several lawmakers came out and told us that the speaker told them not to make any plans for christmas. Wolf . Does that mean all 435 members of the house, 100 senators are going to be told to stay here during that christmas week leading up to new years . Reporter it is entirely possible. What leaders have done in the past, even as recently as last week, is sent home rank and file members while the leaders stayed and negotiated. But as we get closer to the holidays, its entirely possible, even maybe probable that they will keep everybody here in case they actually do get a bill and they will be able to pass it fast. We know that when things move, they actually move very quickly and en theres a will to get out of here, particularly as were bumping up against Christmas Eve or new years eve, things can happen fast. Thats usually pretty good pressure on the lawmakers, christmas, they want to get out of here. Lets hope they make a deal. Dana bash, thank you very much. A major announcement this afternoon is supposed to help create more jobs and hire more workers. Will it work . Also, the scary reason why honda is recalling nearly a million minivans and suvs. This is america. We dont let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. So if youre one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day. Block the acid with prilosec otc and dont get heartburn in the first place [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. And dont get heartburn in the first place online outfit piccolo headphones buy now broadway show megapixels place to sleep little roadster war and peace deep sea diving ninja app hipster glasses 5 cash back sign up to get 5 everywhere online through december. Only from discover. Have led to an increase intands clinical depression. Drug and alcohol abuse is up. And those dealing with grief dont have access to the professional help they need. When you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up . With a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, youll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. Lets get started at capella. Edu with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. Fully customize it for your trading process from thought to trade, on every screen. And all in real time. Which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. Try our easytouse scottrader streaming quotes. Its another reason more investors are saying. [ all ] im with scottrade. The people in charge of the u. S. Money supply now believe u. S. Economic growth will be slower than they forecast. So the Federal Reserve intends to keep stimulating the economy until the unemployment rate, which is now 7. 7 falls to 6. 5 . That could take some time, though, even though the Obama Administration is hoping the recovery will speed up. Lets bring in our kmeef White House Correspondent jessica yellin. What is the white house saying about todays dramatic, very important decision by the Federal Reserve . Reporter wolf, as usual, they are saying nothing. They dont want to comment on fed policy from the white house podium because they never want to say anything that might rock the markets. But i can tell you that democrats generally view these moves as a positive sign something that will create predictability for business so thats something that pleases them. Also, behind closed doors here at the white house, wolf, they have been meeting with Business Leaders today. The president s top advisers and chiefly his Economic Team has been meeting with ceos and wall street hon chos trying to continue their Charm Offensive to help some of the nations top Business Executives sell their deal on the fiscal cliff and this week the white house had a major victory on that front. The Business Roundtable, the group that represents some of the top Business Ceos changed its position and came out in support of raising the tax rate on the top 2 as part of a larger fiscal cliff deal. In a Conference Call today, their chairman at the Business Roundtable said, some executives are unhappy that we want to even mention revenues or taxes but he said everybodys got to feel a little bit like they are getting nailed and then we will know if weve got a deal. White house officials met with this group and also helped them get to this place. They said, bottom line, they knew that they thought their prospects deal was grim and this was a step they had to take to help both sides come to a deal. Maybe it will help because a lot of these guys are very, very influential. Speaking of the fiscal cliff, jessica, what did the fed chairman ben bernanke say about these current negotiations . Well, bernanke is the man credited with coining the term fiscal cliff. He did it back in february as part of testimony before congress. Bernanke was speaking at a press Conference Today and he was asked two things. One, does he see impacts from the fiscal cliff, the lack of a deal, is it already rippling through the economy in . He said, yes. Thats why youre seeing a fall in Consumer Confidence and less Business Activity and he said that its impair tea that the Congress Comes to a deal with the white house and he was asked, do you think that term is correct a. Fiscal cliff . Is it a slope, maybe . He said, no, its a fiscal can cliff because the economy will hit a brick wall if there is not a deal in january. He says it is not hype. Hes basically saying if we go over the fiscal cliff, if these lawmakers and white house doesnt make a deal, it could lead to a recession . That reporter thats right. We could hit another recession if we go over the fiscal cliff. Shoppers that dive for cover as a gunman opens for cover in an oregon mall. Were going to give you the latest details, including the newly released identity of the man. Internet pioneer john mcafee is on his way back to the United States. Kate bolduan is monitoring that story and others. Guatemala officials escorted him to the airport and he boarded the plane to miami after a deportation order from guatemala. He is wanted for questioning in belize over the death of a neighbor. Weve been following his story pretty closely. Mcafee was held in guatemala for a week. He made his fortune from the Antivirus Software that bears his name. Also, Jacob Tyler Roberts was the lone gunman in the shooting at the Clackamas Town Center mall. They say roberts was armed with a semiautomatic rifle. Take a listen. It appears that the suspects rifle did jam while he was attacking people in the food court. However, he was able to get it working again. Clackam Clackamas Town Center had a lockdown procedure and they did a great job. Roberts shot two people fatally before killing himself. Well have much more in the next hour. Also, honda is recalling 800,000 minivans and suvs thats because the key can be removed when the car is not in park. The recall affects Honda Odyssey minivans from 2003 and 2004 as well as 230,000 acura mdxs from 2003 to 2006. Customers will be able to have the problem fixed at no charge. Facebook is announcing a Major Overhaul to the privacy settings. It lets asks for photos of themselves to be removed from the site. Theres an upgraded tool to see what other people can and cant see on their facebook pages. Critics have questioned how facebook handles user