these items. the payroll tax cut before the holidays. party leaders in the senate now say they re trying to come up with terms come to terms with something and that may be more likely now that democrats have given up trying to pass a new tax on millionaires. but wait, there is more. in less than 36 hours, much of the federal government will run out of money. the latest as seven budgetary stop gaps runs ot out at midnight tomorrow night. while lawmakers scramble to come up with a plan, nobody s voted on anything. we ll certainly keep you posted. in baghdad today, the end became real. u.s. forces lowered the flag of command, closing the book on a controversial war that claimed almost 4,500 american lives and cost more than $800 billion. defense secretary leon panetta was there. to all of the men and women in uniform today, your nation is deeply indebted to you. you have done everything your nation asked you to do and more. your dedication, your commitment to this missio
over and out. the u.s. military lowers the flag in baghdad. the final u.s. troops leaving iraq with pride. and putting a fragile nation in the rear view mirror. breaking news for your paycheck. big compromise on capitol hill that could put $1,000 or more back into your paycheck next year. occupy gingrich. newt gets heckled by wall street protesters. they get it back on this american morning. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 15. welcome to american morning. good morning, carol. good morning, christine. good morning to all of you. it s over. minutes ago u.s. forces lowered the flag at baghdad and retired the colors to mark the end of the nearly nine-year iraq war. final few thousand u.s. troops are leaving iraq ahead of the new year s eve deadline to get out. it is a war that started with shocking and awe. today the departing soldiers are remembering more than 4,000 who did not come home alive. the long journey home. let s get to barbara starr. s
endorsements but a bit of a dark cloud on the horizon. more on that in just a moment, but, first, his fight for the gop nomination. a new nbc news/ wall street journal poll shows him with a commanding lead over mitt romney. the other candidates trailing far behind. paul steinhauser is in washington. paul, the same poll shows gingrich struggling in a head-to-head race against president obama. tell us about that. that horse race poll and two others indicate the same thing. way ahead in the horse race. look at this, hypothetical matchups next november. president obama versus gingrich and president obama against mitt romney. president obama 11 points ahead of gingrich. among all voters. but, basically, dead even with romney. so, the nbc/ wall street journal poll maybe an electable issue for newt gingrich. you ve seen the democratic national committee go after romney left and right over everything. not so much about gingrich. but yesterday, this is interesting, jessica yellin
hearing. i ll come back and answer your quefgzs. mr. sandusky are you looking forward? jason carroll was actually inside the courtroom, susan candiotti has one of the victim s attorneys with her. jason, let s start with you, if you don t mind. let s talk about how bold of a move this was. shocking. when the announcement was made in the courtroom, kyra, there were audible gasps. people clicking on their laptops and sending out the message that this preliminary hearing was not going to happen. let me rewind for a moment so i can describe what it was like when jerry sandusky walked in. he seemed nerve, but calm. he took his seat and some of his family members seated in the first runt. some church supporters, as well. and then all of a sudden his attorney joe amendola goes to the district court judge and calls for a sidebar. right after that, the announcement was made that there would not, in fact, be a preliminary hearing. what happens next, trial date. several months up t
mitt romney on the defense. we are just three weeks away from the first presidential contest of the 2012 campaign, and the attacks are in full force. let s be candid. the only reason you didn t become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. wait a second. now wait a second. that s wait a second. paul steinhauser is joining us from des moines. gingrich survived. how did he do it? exactly, kyra. listen, newt gingrich, the reason he jumped in the polls and surged the last couple of months is because he has been doing very well in these debates. we saw it again saturday night. as everybody suspected, newt gingrich now that he is a front-runner here in the first state to hold a contest in the caucus of primary calendars, we knew he would come under attack. he did. from mitt romney and from the others. but he seemed to have the measured response each time. now, this squabble that you just played over the debate saturday night has been continuing between