U.S. Ends Military Mission In Iraq, World Reacts; Obama Pays Tribute To Troops; Payroll Tax Cut Inches Forward; Last Debate Before Iowa Caucuses
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We are at the top of the hour. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes in today for Kyra Phillips. This morning, this hour we need to begin in Iraq. The flag is lowered and the U.S. military mission formally ends in Iraq nearly nine years after "shock and awe," a small, somber ceremony paying tribute to America's sacrifice.</s>LEON PANETTA, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We remember the nearly 4500 brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country as well as the more than 30,000 wounded warriors, many of whom still struggle with serious life-altering injuries.</s>HOLMES: Right now, just a few thousand U.S. service members remain in Iraq. They're streaming out of the country. CNN's Martin Savidge has been with these service members on this long and dangerous road to Kuwait. He joins us now from Camp Virginia. Hello to you. So what is the schedule, if you will, for getting all those few thousand out of Iraq, getting them to Kuwait and then from Kuwait back to the U.S.?</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, T.J. Well, yes, the schedule pretty much is kept under wraps at this point. They are not going to announce when the final pullout will take place other than what's already been announced by the president of the United States, that December 31st is the deadline. Beyond that, they consider any other time line to be operational security and so they're not saying. But we do realize it's going to be fairly soon. There are a lot of troops that have, of course, already left and Camp Virginia here is the first stop and the first step on the way back home. One of the things when you talk to the soldiers here, whether it's their first deployment or for some of them it's their fifth, maybe their sixth time coming to Iraq, they have been here from the beginning. They definitely are here at the end. They know that's an important part of history, and many of the soldiers have spoken about that. We talked to some of them. Here's what they had to say.</s>SGT. FERNANDO BARBOZA, U.S. ARMY: Being part this part of history for the U.S., to be part of this big moment of pushing out, it being over, it's awesome. I think it's going to be a good way to finish my military career, saying that I was here from the beginning to the end.</s>C.W.O. JILL RENEE SPOHN, U.S. ARMY: I am proud to be a part of that. I have thought about it a lot, especially when I left Iraq. I was like, wow, this is going to be the last time that I'm actually entering this country. I'm happy to be going home, but I also have a lot of fond memories with people I've served with before and as well as those that we have lost.</s>SAVIDGE: How do you feel about the mission?</s>SPOHN: The mission? We finished it. That's how I feel about t. We finished, went there, did what we have to do, now it's time to go.</s>SAVIDGE: You know, that's a complicated question, actually. It may sound simple, how do you feel about the mission, but they realize that the U.S. has been there for nine years almost now and that that mission has been at times very controversial, very difficult. But the American soldiers will say they have done the very best to prepare the Iraqi police, to prepare the Iraqi military, to help plant the seeds of democracy so that this government and the nation can move forward. So they know there's still a lot in question about Iraq, but they also know they've done the best they can --</s>T.J. HOLMES: All right, Martin Savidge, there for us at Camp Virginia. Thank you. Meanwhile, it was yesterday that President Obama paid tribute to the troops. He was in North Carolina at Fort Bragg.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're building a new partnership between our nations, and we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement. Nearly nine years in the making, and today we remember everything that you did to make it possible.</s>HOLMES: I want to turn now to our Zain Verjee who's in London for us keeping an eye on really how the world is reacting to what we're seeing in Iraq today. Hello to you once again, Zain.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, CNNI: Hi, T.J. all eyes on Baghdad today for this historic moment for which there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears on both the Iraqi and the U.S. side. Let me give you a snapshot of some of the headlines, OK? Let's take a look at "The Guardian." This is the headline, the U.S. troops are pulling out, but what of the people left behind? It says, Iraq has readied itself this week for a moment big on symbolism, but like so much of the war and subsequent occupation, what appears to be big in symbolism is subject to claims that it is lacking in substance. From the United Arab Emirates, "The National" says the future of Iraq will not be built on empty words. Iraqis will no doubt cheer the moment when the last U.S. service member boards the plane and latches the door. But glossing over the challenges ahead will not see them vanish. Finally, "The Washington Post," a man of the shadows. It's an article that talks about Nouri Al-Maliki, the prime minister and whether he can really do the job well and run the country. It says America's greatest mistake in Iraq was not toppling Saddam, but detonating the infrastructure of the government, the army, the educational and social institutions that made civilized life possible. So the big question is can this government fix it. Can they run things properly in the country? There's still so much corruption. Can they get the basics up and running again, which is things like electricity for all people. Get the garbage picked up on time. A lot of analysts, T.J., are worrying, too, that once the U.S. pulls out and the Iraqis are running the show will it leave a lot more room for the Iranians to jump in and meddle --</s>T.J. HOLMES: All right, our Zain Verjee for us from London. Thanks you so much. We'll have a whole lot more on the end of the war in Iraq. It's coming your way at the bottom of the hour. We'll take you back to Baghdad where CNN's Arwa Damon will bring you the story of an Iraqi war widow who is not so sure Americans should be leaving the country. Again, that story coming your way in just a bit. Turn back to this country and some optimism coming out of Washington, D.C. yes, optimism that you may be able to keep that thousand dollars in your pay check it at the beginning of the year. Democrats and Republicans may be inching, inching toward a compromise to extend the tax break before it expires on January 1st. Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill for us. Kate, I talked to you an hour ago, any movement in the past hour?</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Other than me coming over to Capitol Hill, not quite yet. I'll tell you that, T.J. you have to offer the appropriate amount of caveats as we're speaking about this. They may be inching, but they are far from there yet we have to caution. Now what we're talking about in terms of where is the inching, where is the movement, well, yesterday Democrats as well as the White House made a major concession in terms of this ongoing battle over how to extend the payroll tax cut extension. Democrats and the president dropped their demand for including a millionaire surtax as the way to kind of cover the cost of this payroll tax extension. This is significant because they have been insisting on this all along, that it needed to be part of any final deal. Republicans clearly opposed to a surtax -- to a tax on income over a million dollars, but again I'll caution that while a development it's not clear that leaders are any closer to that final end game, to a final compromise. Leaders for the first time during this battle, they did sit down face to face last night to kind of, it was described by one aid, as a gut check as to where things stand. I'm told there are no leader meetings scheduled, but on the staff level they will be meeting and discussing possibly how they're going to try to find a path forward. Add to this that Congress is now staring down another government shutdown come tomorrow because of massive spending bill that's been negotiated for months, T.J. has now been caught up in this end of year battle. I think it's safe to say it's gotten a little messy, but it's no surprise as we're talking about Congress. So what we're going to be watching very closely today is to see where there is any movement and how congress is going to be able to avoid, if they are, going to be able to avoid a government shutdown as it's coming very close. The most recent spending bill runs out Friday night. So they need to make some decisions and make some decisions fast.</s>HOLMES: All right, Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. We'll check in with you again. Thanks so much. Let's turn back to politics in Iowa in particular. With just 19 days to go until the Iowa caucuses. This is kicking off the whole primary season. His lead, they're slipping a bit. Newt Gingrich has been stumping around the state trying to win people over and his critics are out in force as well, including a couple of hecklers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think that you have --</s>NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How would you know?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- been cheating on your wife.</s>GINGRICH: Other than personal hostility.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're protesters today.</s>HOLMES: Well, along with Gingrich's infidelity, the guy criticized his rich book deals. Carol Costello asked him about his big outburst on AMERICAN MORNING.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You were criticizing Newt Gingrich's three marriages. Is that really important, you know, in a president of the United States that he -- you know, is faithful to his wife?</s>MARIO HECK, OCCUPY IOWA CITY PROTESTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, 1994, 1995, he was cheating on his wife and he -- he wants to -- the Congress like he's a saint and try to get Clinton impeached while he's, you know -- while Clinton was having a little affair with Monica. He was cheating on his wife and being a big hypocrite about it.</s>HOLMES: Coming your way tonight, Gingrich joining other Republican candidates for the last debate before the Iowa caucuses. Indeed, you have seen Gingrich surge over the past few weeks. He's at the top of a lot of those polls out there. So that popularity is going to make him the target tonight.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENIAL CANDIDATE: Zany is great in a campaign. It's great on talk radio. It's great in the print. It makes for fun reading. But in terms of a president, we need a leader and a leader needs to be someone who can bring Americans together.</s>HOLMES: Let me bring in our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. Paul, this is Mitt Romney trying to take on Newt Gingrich. As far as one and two at the top of many of these polls, but you all don't sleep on the man, Ron Paul, over here.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Ron Paul also critical of Newt Gingrich. We've seen that. He's got ads up in Iowa that are critical of Gingrich. T.J., as you mentioned, this is, I guess, show time tonight as you said, the last debate before the January 3rd caucuses in Iowa. Of course, those caucuses kick off the primary and caucus calendar, the first contest in that battle for the nomination. It could be a re-prize. There may be a sequel to Saturday night, the other debate in Iowa. We saw Gingrich come under attack from the other candidates. Stay tuned to see if that happens and how he responds. But as of now he's staying positive he says. He's not really responding much other than to defend himself from these attacks. 'S not going on the attack or is he? Take a listen to this new ad out in Iowa.</s>NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are challenging and important times for America. We want and deserve solutions. Others seem to be more focused on attacks rather than moving the country forward. That's up to them.</s>STEINHAUSER: Staying positive, but maybe also a little dig there at his other rivals for the GOP nomination --</s>T.J. HOLMES: Yes, and we talk about the criticism. We expect him to get it from the left and we expect him to get it really from some of his fellow candidates. It's left, right. I mean, people are coming out of the woodworks coming after Gingrich right now.</s>STEINHAUSER: Yes. You just showed those protesters yesterday at that event in Iowa City where Gingrich got heckled. But also come on the right, you know, some conservatives still not crazy about Newt Gingrich. The "National Review," pretty influential. Check out what they said right here. This is an anti-endorsement. They write, Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country. He appears unable to transform or even govern himself. He should be an adviser to the Republican Party. Not its head. They also gave an anti-endorsement to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, the congresswoman for Minnesota and to Ron Paul --</s>T.J. HOLMES: All right, Paul Steinhauser, thank you. As always we will continue the conversation about Iowa, which of course is the center of the political universe right now. That's coming your way after the break talking to influential Congressman Steve King about who he could possibly endorse. He hasn't endorsed anybody yet and here we are a few weeks away from the Iowa caucuses. Also a little later, a student who says she was brutally hazed at Florida A&M; is breaking her silence. Also breaking his silence, the university president.