the crime or another false lead. we talk to a detective looking at at the case, that story and much more early this saturday at at the case, that story and much more early this saturday morning december 4th, 2010. captioning funded by cbs good saturday morning, everyone. welcome to "the early show" i'm rebecca jarvis, to my left a very special individual, we are thrilled to have you here with us today, james brown, of nfl today. you probably know him as j.b. >> good to be here indeed. matter of fact i don't think i have a full name, j.b. on the birth certificate without a doubt. >> so happy to have you here. we have breaking news in the united states, the president just returned touching down in the usa just getting off air force one after his unexpected trip to afghanistan, of course he has a lot on the agenda to cover with the lame duck congress and has to get back to taxes, potential tat cuts extensions and on top of that unemployment benefits, j.b. >> no rest for the weary, for sure. how disconcerting is this picture here, talk about using a cell phone that explodes, a gentleman here, winding up a conversation and had the cell phone explode. thank goodness he did not suffer any hearing loss. we'll talk a bit about that in terms of its not unusual how to protect yourself. >> those are creepy pictures but we are glad we have tips today. >> that, we do. first, our top story this morning, breaking news out of the midwest from the nation's midsection to parts of the east. folks are getting an early and large dose of rough winter weather. snow and plenty is blanketing several states. cbs news correspondent cynthia bours is in chicago with the latest. good morning, cynthia. >> good morning, jb. coming down as we speak. it is the good continuing is a weekend the first significant sn snowfall for the midwest this season and thinking we could see up to eight inches before all is said and done. from the northern plains to the great lakes, a winter storm smg is having its way with the midwest. >> a fast-moving intention little system but extends all the way from bismarck, north dakota, through the twin cities all the way down into central, believe it or not, central illinois. >> reporter: folks in minneapolis, minnesota will see four to eight inches. at the airport a delta airplanes plane slid off the runway after snow buried taxiway markers. in central illinois, overturned cars littered the highways as slick roads caught drivers unaware. in chicago, where three to six inches are expected snow crews are loading up on salt and getting ready to work around the clock to clear the 9546 total miles of road, the distance from sydney, to chicago, by the way. >> flurries extending into sunday morning. >> midwesterners will use snowpl snowplows and shovels, buff le residents are unimpressed digging out after a third straight day after a blizzard dumped 38 inches of snow and closed the new york thu way for 28 hours. >> going on 30 hours without sleeping, shutting the car on and off to keep warm and conserve on gas. it's been a bit rough. >> reporter: for calendar watchers, only december 4th, buy my calculations 17 days until winter starts and by the way the coldest start to a december here in 27 years. j.b.? >> i'm sure the question on many minds, any relief from the cold in sight? >> reporter: you know, because every degree here counts, don't you? once the storm system pitches out it is supposed to leave temperatures 10 degrees below normal which is going to feel uncomfortable. those of who you want to cozy dz up to the fire and watch the sec championship today and nfl today tomorrow, on cbs, you've got your excuse. have a good day, guys. >> thank you so much for the plug there cynthia. thank so very much. i know chicago's home town but even though is atypical in terms of how soon it started, you guys are hearty, folks, are you not? >> yes, yes my family in chicago and in min a lis, by the way are used to this weather and it just goes on and on and on and never e end. the president has arrived back at the white house from afghanistan after a surprise visit to american troops at bag ram air force base north of kabul. cbs news correspondent joel brown is at the white house with more. good morning. >> reporter: he arrived back at the white house a short while ago spending four hours on the ground about in afghanistan. the main purpose of that trip to thank the troops for their service. he stopped at a military hospital meeting with wounded soldiers and awarded five purple hearts before he addressed that packed audience at bag ram. >> as we begin this holiday season, there's no place that i'd rather be than be here with you. >> speaking to more than 3500 cheering troops inside a hangar at bagram air field he thanked the men and women for the sacrifice they are meeting. he teared up describing a meeting with a battle-hardened group. >> i just talked to the platoon that lost six -- six of their buddies. >> reporter: this surprise trip was the president's second visit to afghanistan and comes just before a status report of the nine-year war, expected sometime this month. while on the ground, the president was briefed by general david petraeus and ambassador karl eikenberry. he planned to meet with afghan president hamid karzai but bad weather, high winds, and perhaps a bit of a frosty relationship, had the two presidents speaking by phone, instead. mr. obama arrives back home today, facing a legislative firestorm over the ex spiring bush tax cuts, as well as unemployment benefits. democrats and republicans have been negotiating for days and there are signs a compromise could come next week. a deal that extends all of the tax cuts at least temporarily, along with a new round of benefits for americans who've been out of work the longest. now, the senate meets today in an unusual saturday session. the goal? to vote on two amendments to the tax cut bill. rebecca? >> thank you so much, cbs news correspondents joel brown. as reported, the next battlefield for president obama on capitol hill where the showdown with congress over cuts in extending unemployment benefits is reaching a critical point. for a look at that story, we turn to reed wilson, editor in chief of the hotline the national journal's daily political briefing in our washington bureau. great to have you with us this morning. these negotiations that joel brown is talking about and also, these saturday sessions, what's really going on here, is this just symbolic move? >> no, not a symbolic move at all. this is something democrats and republicans need to get through in this lame duck session so the tax rates don't increase on all americans, not only those making more than $250,000 a year but also middle class and working class americans across the country. if they don't get this deal done, there will be no -- well, at least there isn't a deal yet, on increasing any of the tax cuts, which means everybody's taxes go up. >> the question really is, when does the deal get done? these weekend sessions for congress, what do do we expect to get out of them? >> well, looks like there will be a deal cut soofn, democrats get an extension unemployment benefits for those out of work more than 99 weeks. republican get a full extension of the tax cuts for at least two or three years. originally the tax cuts were set to expire so that the bush administration could say the budget would be okay going forward. obviously, not accounting for tax cuts being increased or tax cuts being extended rather the next two or three years. that what's we'll see, a deal in which everybody on the hill gets something, but it's mot necessarily what anybody really wants. >> embedded in this debate the whole question of ending unemployment benefits to some two million people whose benefits are set to expire in months. in terms of timing here, you know, we hear that maybe it will happen next week. what do you think? what's your best call on this? >> well, the -- after it goes to the senate this weekend, it's got to go back to the house. the house voted earlier this week on a package that would only extend tax cuts for middle and working-class americans so they'll have to go back and deal not only with the extension of the tax cuts that republicans want to see but, also, with these unemployment benefits, all in one package. then, they go to the president's desk and then the bill gets passed. the senate is scheduled to be in session through december 17th. i think it's likely we get something done this week so that the senate democrats can get onto some of the stuff they really wanted to do in this lame duck session, repealing don't ask, don't del, the start start nuclear treaty some other things they want to get done before their majority shrinks. >> in terms of who is really calling the shots here, who is it? >> of course democrats are trying to push their agenda but one thing you can't overlook, the large and growing power of senator minority leader mitch mcconnell. he's got 42 republicans in the senate which, if they stick together, is enough to really stop any legislation. earlier this week he sent a later to senate majority harry reid saying hey until you pass the tax cut extensions we're for the going to vote to bring up any bill. we're essentially going to filibuster everything else. i think it is very notable mitch mcconnell and his gang of 42 are really telling the majority, mat majority of 58, what they're supposed to be doing over the next couple of weeks. it's really a telling sign this lame duck session is not going the way democrats wanted it to. >> in terms of that point that you're making, does this foreshadow any chance for bipartisanship in the new year with the new congress? >> oh, there's always a chance for bipartisanship and people are talking about how much they want to be bipartisan, this meeting earlier this week with democrats and republicans in which everybody sort of pledged to hold hands and get along is one sign at least there's a possibility of it. the question is really, who drives that agenda, if one side reaches out halfway across the aisle, are they going to find a hand reaching back or are they not going to? democrats, if they want to get anything debated in the senate, they're going to need at least seven republicans in a minority of 47, to come along with them. and want to at least begin debate. we haven't seen a lot of that in the last year or so, when there have been only 41 republicans. now, with senator mark kirk there, are 42. >> a game has changed. >> indeed. >> thank you so much, reid wilson, we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> back to you, j.b. >> okay. after three months of holding steady, the unemployment rate rose to #.8% in november. the labor department says the number of jobs added by u.s. employers dropped from 172,000 in october to just 39,000 last month. and here with a closer look at those number michael santoli associate editor at baron's. what happened to be so far off the mark? >> it does seem wide of the mark on the surface. the short answer private businesses did not add quite as many jobs by this survey as were expected. this number was a bit out of step with some of the other signals we've seen, lay-off announcements really hit a new low very recently, unemployment claims which are reported weekly, that trend has been going down, too. so economists were using that in their estimates. i would point out, though, that in an economy of nearly 140 million jobs, a single month's number -- by the way just the first estimate -- is not always very accurate. >> okay. just a snapshot. how disapintsing is this latest jobs report? >> i call it moderately disappointing. obviously you would like toe see more momentum here. one slight bright spotd, the prior two months's jobs numbers were revised higher. they go back and try to get a fuller picture as time goes on and basically seems to not change the long-term, a sluggish but recovering market >> this month, we saw about 28,000 jobs lost in that sector. what's your take on this? >> it is very difficult to figure out exactly how that happened. retailers themselves are saying they staffed up this year more than last holiday season, for example. again, i do think that some of these seasonal adjustments that go into the numbers might be at play here. i would point out i think some of the retailers are banking on kind of a late holiday season right now their inventories are skewed later and maybe will wait a bit. >> we saw gains in temporary help services, health care and mining does. that imply anything to you at all. >> a good news/bad news. temporary agencies have been one of the leading job gainers most of the past year. that's obviously, you like people to have jobs but it shows the companies need help but are not fully willing to commit to full-time permanent employees necessarily maybe want to see if the recovery takes hold and gets mo he men tum before they do that. >> these numbers seem high. we talk about you want to move to unemployment below 9% but before that happens some 200,000 jobs need to be added a year. they signs of encourage mefnt? >> there are early signs of encouragements f. the cyclical rules applied in the past apply this time you see very profitable countries usually a leading indicator of job growth. you've obviously see these guys with higher prooft margins this he can afford to higher. if should point out the average job gain the last year about 90,000, doesn't sound like enough and enough to make daent in the unemployment number but this is where we are in early 2004 and had a jobless recovery so to speak then and in the early '90s. the problem this time the hole was so much deeper, we lost so many jobs in the crisis it feels that much worse. unfortunately, i don't see it in a 200,000 monthly pace anytime soon. >> final 15 seconds. in chance we hit 10% before matters get better. >> always a chance. depends how many say they are looking for work and say they can't find it so from 9.8 to 10% is not very but i don't think it means a double-dip recession or anything like that. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. for this morning's other top headlines, betty nguyen is at the news desk. good morning, betty. >> good morning, j.b. and you to at home. the president says a new trade deal between the u.s. and south korea could create 70,000 new jobs for americans. the agreement allows each u.s. automaker to export 25,000 cars to korea and lifts a 2.5% tariff on south korean cars. the agreement is the largest u.s. trade deal in 16 years. wikileaks, the internet whistle-blower site is under attack from all sides. the site which released hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic documents has been dumped by zf servers and hacker brought the site down several times this week. the justice department is looking into whether its founder can be prosecuted with a crime. he remains in hiding in england but police know his whereabouts and could certain arrest him on charges of alleged sexual misconduct in sweden. the u.s. and several other countries are answering israel's unprecedented distress call to help fight the worst forest fire in its history. personnel from russia, egypt, jordan even the palestinian authority are battling the blaze side by side with israeli firefighters. the u.s. is sending firemen, foam, and fire retardant. 41 people have been killed and thousands of others in the area have been evacuated. police say apparently the cause of this was negligence but not arson. in vermont, 17 people have been injured in a tour bus accident. students from the university of massachusetts were among the passengers on board. the bus went off interstate 91 and down and embankment landing on its side. the students were on a private ski trip not connected with the university. volunteers are refusing to give up the search for three missing michigan brothers last seen at their father's home thanksgiving. the boys' father, john skelton faces three counts of kidnapping. officials have suspended their search for andrew, alexander, and tanner skelton to re-evaluate the direction of the investigation. volunteers are expected to continue the search. emergency vessels are rushing to a cargo ship adrift since friday near alaska's remote aleutian islands. the 738-foot golden seas carrying fuel oil and canola seed now has limited power. the vessel experienced engine failure and high winds and rough water in the bering sea there. are 20 crew members on board and so far no injuries reported. two more sierra nevada red foxes once feared extinct have been found alive and well. recent sights began in august when a female was caught on camera. the first confirmed sighting of the subspecies in 20 years. according to federal wildlife experts, dna samples suggest, quote, a fairly strong population of the foxes is alive in southern nevada. that's good news. 17 minutes after the hour. also alive and well this morning our own lonnie quinn. >> they dragged me out of bed. >> yes. >> good morning. we'll talk about a lot of snow for certain portions of the country but first i take you to my weather headlines, the big stories shaping up today, an arctic blast of air in the northern plains. places like min not, north dakota will feel like about 20 degrees below zero at one point today. the southeast you get the sunshine and snow in the midwest. this is this storm system i'm talking, about look at the snow right now stretching from chicago all the way into portions of north carolina. here's how it all breaks down, places like chicago, cincinnati and charleston, it will be for some of you the first big snow of the season, about four to ten inch decides of accumulating snow. higher amounts around chicago, lower amounts around cincinnati and charleston, portions of north carolina but this is a fast-moving storm. a one-day event for everybody shaded in blue, a typical snowstorm moves around 20 miles per hour. this bad boy has track shoes on racing off to the east at around 40 miles per hour. so, it's the one-day storm right now but will dump considerable snowfall amounts. that's a quick look at one little portion of the country. here's a closer look at weather for your weekend. all right. good enough, everybody. make it a great day wherever you are whether you are catching the snow or not but right now over to my friend rebecca. >> thank you, lonnie. six months since 8-year-old kyron horman of portland, oregon disappeared without a trace. authorities have focused on his step-mother, the last person to see him but no suspects have been named, not even a person of interest. priya david-clemens from our san ktvu reports. >> reporter: friday was quiet at skyline elementary school, where 8-year-old kyron horman went missing on june 4th. no vigils marged the six-months anniversary of his disappearance last summer. kyron's parents released a statement this week saying, quote, we recognize that it has now been six months since kyron went missing and we're still deeply saddened he's not home with us. his step-mother was apparently the little boy never showed up for class. >> six months, again is a long time for the community. it's really affected everybody. but in the investigation, six months is not that long of a time. >> reporter: law enforcement and volunteers have searched repeatedly for any sign of the boy over the past several months. the most recent search was here on this quiet island, about 15 minutes from kyron's elementary divers scoured the waterways about be a month ago, an amnous sign, perhaps, authorities may not believe the little boy will be found alive, adding to mounting despair. already, the investigation is estimated at $2 million, the most costly in oregon history. there remains a core team of 11 the grand jury investigation is also ongoing but there have been no indictments, no arrests and, despite t