CNN 2010-12-22

Hi, I'm Carl Azuz, and this is CNN Student News, where Fridays are awesome 1! This one, though, is a little sad, because it's actually our last show of 2010. Before we move ahead into 2011, we're going to look back at some of the biggest stories from this year. And we kick things off with today's headlines.

First up, a quick check of where things stand with some high-profile proposals in Congress. The tax cut deal: Thursday afternoon, that was with the House of Representatives. Some Democrats 2 were indicating that it would probably pass, despite being controversial. If that happens, everyone's taxes will stay at this current rate, where they are right now, for the next two years. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, a new nuclear treaty between the U.S. and Russia. Treaties like this have to be approved by the U.S. Senate, and that group was getting ready to begin debating this proposal yesterday.

Finally, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the policy that bans homosexuals from serving openly in the U.S. military. The House voted to overturn that ban on Wednesday. Now, Don't Ask Don't Tell heads to the Senate. Congress is scheduled to go on break starting tomorrow. You can get the latest details on all of these proposals at CNN.com.

Over at the White House, there's a new report about how the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan is going. This comes out once a year, and this year's report seems to be fairly positive. And President Obama says the U.S. is making a lot of progress in the nine-year war in Afghanistan, although recent polls suggest that a growing number of Americans do not support the war.

The president says the goals that have been set for that conflict are on track. That includes the plan to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan in 2011. But the president acknowledged that the war is difficult. While U.S. and Afghan forces are making progress, he said those gains are fragile. The strategy report discussed the importance of a long-term commitment to helping 3 that region of the world.

The president wants to improve the relationship between the federal government and Native American communities. He met with the leaders of 565 tribes at the White House conference yesterday to try and work on that. President Obama said he wants to get more input 4 from the tribes about ways the U.S. government might be able to help them. That could include supporting education and health care on Native American reservations, for example, or making changes to the criminal justice system there. He says there's been some progress, but there needs to be more.

A lot of people looking to take a flight Wednesday were delayed by these winter storms that have been pounding parts of the United States. It's not even officially winter yet. You wouldn't know that by stepping outside, though. The National Weather Service put out winter storm warnings and advisories 5 for more than a dozen states. Sandra Endo examines the impact of the cold.