appreciate your time. hope to see you again at 6:00. tonight on "world news," scarce jobs. as so many people search for work, the holiday job number disappoints. why is it so bad? and what is the next hope for a rebound? surprise visit. president obama showing up in afghanistan to shake hands with the troops and offer a personal thank you at a pivotal point in the war. hidden danger. the tragic results when drivers back up and a child is in the blind spot. today, a new idea to save lives in the name of one little boy. and, unending spirit. a young man who turns the cruellest start in life into a lesson about forgiveness and belief in the future. and he is our "person of the week."

good evening. hopes were so high today for some good news on the number of jobs created in america last month. hope for some holiday cheer at the end of this long, tough year. but instead, the unemployment rate last month rose to 9.8%. the highest since april. only 39,000 jobs were added. far fewer than expected. so, why the slowdown and where are the solutions? david muir has spent the day looking for some answers. david? >> reporter: well, diane, for months now, we've seen very slow job growth. as you point out, this was far slower than anyone expected. so, today, we were at job fairs in every part of this country to meet the highly qualified, highly frustrated americans who have done everything to try and find a job. no matter how you look at it, economists say these job numbers are a huge disappointment. far below their hope that 160,000 jobs would have been created in the private sector. >> this was a bit of a wakeup call that we have a long way to go.

>> reporter: where were jobs lost? manufacturing, 13,000. construction down 5,000. even retail despite hiring for the holidays down 28,000 jobs. today's brutal reality check comes after other signals that the economy was actually looking up. corporate profits at record levels. retail sales. cyber monday, consumers spent $1 billion. even american exports, u.s. goods, sales are up. long considered one of the few engines that would create jobs. >> you look around, you say to yourself, what are the drivers of this recovery going to be, and i think the economy hasn't answered that question yet. >> reporter: and that rise in unemployment is significant, because more than 15 million americans are now looking for work but can't find it. add in those who have settled for part-time or given up, it's 26 million americans who need jobs. so, "world news" traveled to three job fairs across this country, orlando, chicago, los angeles. we met dinneta austin who worked as a lab tech with disabled

adults, even drove a school bus. she's been looking for over a year. >> i worked three jobs to send my daughter through college and now i can't even find one, i mean -- so i just need a job. >> reporter: there was clay emerson, 47, who worked for two fortune 500 companies, looking for more than three years now. >> it seems like it's like the lottery system. it's just so very difficult. >> reporter: and nerida oliveras, 55, a law degree, a masters in music. and it's not helping. >> it has been very difficult, because i'm overqualified. people have told me, you know, you will leave the job because of your education. >> reporter: that's what she hears, that she's overqualified. the average american that's looking for work has been looking for 8 1/2 months and counting. >> and those getting work don't always get the salaries they dream. >> reporter: that's the big thing. a new number out that looked at the 1980s recession. the people that lost work then. more than 20 years later, they're still making 20% less than their counterparts who held onto their jobs back then. >> those are the people that got the jobs still making that much

less. well, on the topic of unemployment, david, of course, next week, congress will continue its debate about whether to give more unemployment benefits to the 2 million americans out of work as long as 99 weeks. and, whether to extend the bush era tax cuts, even for the wealthiest americans. but today's news about unemployment led us to ask that question. what can be done to jump start jobs? and tonight, three experts give you their best solutions. >> the biggest thing we can do to fix the economy is nail down the tax code. the uncertainty in respect to what our tax rates will be on january 1st is a heavy burden to bear for many business people and consumers. we need to get rid of that uncertainty so that we can get down to business. the tools that are available to policymakers to fix the economy are still quite ample. they can provide emergency unemployment insurance benefits. they can provide more help to state governments. i think these problems should be resolved.

it's not rocket science. >> we can turn america's job picture around by selling as many foreclosed houses as we possibly can. at the core of this financial crisis, this unemployment crisis is a housing crisis. we just have too many foreclosed homes. and those sell at a deep, deep discount, which means all home values are lower than they should be, which means all americans feel poorer than they should, which means they're not buying stuff. so, we got to clear the foreclosed homes out of the system. >> the truth is, there aren't a lot of tools left for us to do a lot to help the economy. but you can still have a little bit more deficit spending. a bit more stimulus in the short run, provided you couple that with a credible plan to get rid of the deficit in the long-term. and that way, people lending us the money do not have to worry we're headed the way of ireland or greece. >> three answers to our question tonight. and now, we move onto that surprise trip. the white house said today that

the president would speak about the jobs report this morning. but in fact, that was a protective cover story. the president was secretly flying into afghanistan, a 13-hour trip. he stayed on the ground three hours, giving a speech to boost troop morale in the holidays. and our jake tapper was the only tv reporter to make the trip with the president. >> reporter: the president touched down at bagram airbase at 8:35 at night here in afghanistan. it was a trip shrouded in secrecy for security reasons and his second visit to this war zone as commander in chief. the president's national security team will this month review the afghanistan strategy that he unveiled one year and two days ago, but that is not the reason why president obama has come to bagram airbase. he's here for one simple reason. to thank the troops for their service. >> please join me in welcoming the leader who made the tough decision to provide us the resources that have enabled progress here in afghanistan, our commander in chief, president barack obama.

>> reporter: the president thanked roughly 4,000 troops. >> sometimes during the holiday season, that's when you feel the absence of somebody you love most acutely. on behalf of more than 300 million americans, we are here to say thank you. >> reporter: originally the plan was for president obama to touchdown here at bagram airbase here and then helicopter 20 minutes over to kabul, where he would meet with u.s. embassy employees and president hamid karzai. but because of low cloud cover and rough winds and dust, that had to be canceled. instead, the president spoke on the phone with president karzai. he met with general david petraeus and ambassador eikenberry. with two top national security officials. he awarded purple hearts and visited wounded troops. and he also spent time with surviving troops from a platoon attack this week by an afghan policeman. >> i just talked to the platoon that lost six of their buddies in a senseless act of violence.

this is tough business. >> reporter: a business made all the more tough because of rampant corruption in the afghan government and assistance provided to the taliban and insurgents by the government of pakistan. problems illustrated by classified cables released by wikileaks this week. >> we will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who would attack the united states of america again. that will never happen. we may face a tough enemy in afghanistan, and we're in a period of tough challenges back home. but because of you, i know that we once more will prevail. >> reporter: a holiday visit by the president. but the spirit, at times, was anything but joyful or merry. this is jake tapper traveling with the president at bagram air base. >> and from jake tapper traveling with the president, we continue on afghanistan. and we want you to know that starting this weekend and all next week, on every abc news broadcast, we will be asking and trying to answer the question, afghanistan, can we win?

and, tonight, let's return there, where martha raddatz is standing by, who has been there, i believe, six times just this year. and, martha, when general petraeus brings back that big report later on this year about afghanistan, what is he expected to say? >> reporter: well, i think you got some big hinlts of that tonight, diane. president obama himself congratulated the troops, saying they were breaking the momentum of the taliban. so, those are some pretty strong statements and that's what i think you'll see in the review they put out within the next several weeks. but the progress is really tenuous here, diane. it truly is. and people are telling us, as we are traveling around that the taliban is truly resilient. >> but let me ask you about the afghanistan troops, because, we know, that is the key to the ability of the united states, eventually, to withdraw. >> reporter: well, the general i spoke to in the afghan national army, who has been in the army for 30 years, said he thought it was too fast for the americans to leave in 2014. he said to me, i think it will take at least nine or ten years

before we're ready. >> nine or ten years? >> reporter: that's an awful lot longer than the u.s. wants to stay and keep combat troops in this area. so, they really are trying to rush this training, diane, but there is concern that they might be trying too hard and too fast. >> and a reality check. thank you, martha raddatz, tonight. and once again, our special series, afghanistan, can we win, begins sunday and it runs all next week. and, as jake tapper reported, afghanistan was featured today in the latest hemorrhage of documents by wikileaks. even as the walls are closing in on its founder, julian assange, who is wanted in a rape investigation in sweden. jim sciutto brings us up to date on all of this tonight. >> reporter: tonight, in britain, julian assange is awaiting arrest by british police. but the wikileaks founder remains defiant, suggesting the u.s. is out to kill him, saying in an online chat, "we are taking the appropriate

precautions to the degree that we are able with dealing with a superpower." world leaders stung by american diplomats withering assessments are taking their own shots. today, the russian president described as the robin to vladimir putin's batman, his country a virtual mafia state in another, said the leaks show the full measure of cynicism in u.s. foreign policy. officials from pakistan described as unable to protect their nuclear weapons said the u.s. should get its own security in order. close american allies are being stung, as well. the latest cables show american diplomats undiplomatically criticizing even ally britain. gordon brown, the last resident of 10 downing street, dismissed as lurching from disaster to disaster, his record, abysmal. wikileaks website was under constant cyber assault again today. outsiders desperately trying to block the leaks. but tonight, assange isn't relenting, suggesting that if anything happens to him, all the remaining secret cables will be

released to the world at once, saying, quote, history will win. jim sciutto, abc news, london. and still ahead on "world news," we return back to the gulf, under the water. our reporter's stunning submarine ride into the heart of the oil spill today. 50 children a week injured when a car backs over them? a new idea to keep them safe. and, a young man who turned his father's cruelty into a mission of grace. an inspiring "person of the week." [ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success. at ge capital, loaning money is the start of the relationship, not the end. i work with polaris every day. at ge capital, we succeed only when they do. whoo! awesome! yes! we've got to get you out of the office more often. ♪ my turn to drive.

♪ my turn to drive. this holiday, do you really want to cut corners by using a broth with msg? swanson chicken broth has no added msg. so for a perfect meal, the secret is swanson, 100% natural chicken broth. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. whoa! that achy cold needs alka-seltzer plus! it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is!

to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan that has the lowest national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month. so you can focus on the things that really matter. go to walmart.com for details. you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. good speech dad. [ whimper ] [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. there was word today that the oil company bp is challenging the government estimate of how much oil spilled into the gulf. the government calculated 206 million gallons. bp says the real amount was just half that, which would save bp nearly $3 billion in fines. but the debate also continues about the impact of the spill. and tonight, matt gutman takes

us down to the ocean floor on a submarine ride, designed to see what has been happening there, and he's with us now. matt? >> reporter: good evening, diane. meet alvin. now, this is the sub that discovered the titanic and took us and a group of researchers 5,000 feet down to the ocean floor. the culmination of six months of their research into the missing oil. what we found down there was a world shellacked by it. >> and we are down. >> reporter: 5,000 feet down, what should look like a forest, is a desert. fish, crabs, even sea cucumbers normally thrive here. and on this moonscape, millions of dead worms. everything is dead? >> yeah, it looks like everything is dead. >> reporter: mandy joye leads a team investigating how much oil is left on the sea floor. we were shocked by 80 square miles of devastation. we take alvin as close as you

can get to where the oil gushed into the gulf for 100 days, just two miles away. where oily residue cakes the sea floor -- >> that looks like about three, four inches of material. >> reporter: it even smears the sub's instruments. you can actually see the oil smudging in the tubes. we turned on the ultraviolet light, and look at this. those ink blots? that's all oil. we're just trying to figure out whether your numbers were accurate. so, we ask the government about all this oil. they say they're still trying to calculate how much oil is down here. like most, they're not sure how big the impact area is or how long it could last. >> many of these things are going to take a long, long time to turn over. years to decades. >> reporter: but catching a glimpse of this devastation in person is invaluable. comfortable, it's not. just want to see the array of legs here that attaches to people. this is where the pilot would sit, and he'd be kind of scrunched up against this tiny window looking in there. inside, it's about the size of a

car's interior. but to dive into these waters is to enter a world of splendor. it's also to enter a small fraternity -- a very icy rite of passage. diane, i want you to see this cup. we took this, put it on alvin, went 5,000 feet down. the pressure there is so intense that it shrank it to this. now, alvin is going back out to sea to hunt for more oil this weekend. it's last trip out. it is going to be retired after more than 40 years in service. diane? >> incredible. show us again how small is that pressurized cup. >> reporter: you see what it says, too, abc news? >> right. >> reporter: incredible. >> that's what it is at the bottom of the ocean, and a moonscape, you saw, as you said, matt gutman. and coming up here, a new plan to eliminate the blind spots while you're driving. it could save the lives of children. during our season's best sales event

and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the exhilarating cadillac cts with a direct injection v6. it's the one gift you can open up all year long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac. [ but aleve can last 12 hours. tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. this is norma. who's inundated with all the information coming at her concerning the medicare part d changes this year. so she went to her walgreens pharmacist for guidance and a free personalized report that looks at her prescriptions and highlights easy ways for her to save. because norma prefers her painting to paperwork. see how much you can save.

get your free report today. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens. affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. [ smack! ] [ smack! smack! smack! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping.

shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck! priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. they are the stories we just can't bear to hear. a driver has backed up, not knowing that a child was invisibly playing behind the car. but what if you could be assured that it never happened again? sharyn alfonsi tonight on something new. >> reporter: it's part of a child safety act named after cameron. he was just 2 years old when his dad accidentally ran him over. >> i rolled right over him. never saw him. never had a chance of seeing him. >> reporter: every week, two children are killed when a car backs over them. 50 injured. most of the time, it's a relative behind the wheel.

>> we've been making automobiles for over 100 years, and the -- just the idea that we don't have any standard whatsoever that says what you should be able to see when you're backing up is mind boggling. >> reporter: the proposed rule would require automakers to expand the field of view so the driver can see everything directly behind them when they're in reverse. manufacturers would likely make rear view camera systems like this one standard. here's how it works. looking in my mirrors, everything looks like it is clear in both mirrors. but when i put the car in reverse, the camera kicks on and reveals my blind zone. those cones could be kids. >> for the modest cost of adding this feature, there is tremendous benefit. certainly it will add a few bucks to the cars, but cameras themselves really aren't very expensive. in the end, this will probably be fairly seamless to consumers. >> reporter: and manufacturers will have about four years to get the technology in place. now, this rule would only apply to new cars, but you can have

your used car retro-fitted with a camera. it costs anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousands dollars, and every parent we spoke to said absolutely worth the money. >> and the difference in price is because of the quality of the camera. >> reporter: the quality of the camera and how much you can see. >> something has to be better than nothing. and keep saying, why, why don't we design them differently. thank you, sharyn alfonsi. those are just crushing stories. and, blind spots, we want you to know, do vary by car. if you want to find out how far your car's blind spot extends, you can go to abcnews.com/worldnews and get a sense there what you're dealing with. coming up, the power of forgiveness. our "person of the week." p

you can stop that heartburn cold: (sssssssss!!!) zantac. you can stop that heartburn cold: (sssssssss!!!) ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage.

its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

it's that time of year. time for campbell's green bean casserole. you'll find the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ there are some people who have the strength to turn the most painful experiences into a powerful mission. and tonight, you're going to meet a young man who turned a terrible act by his father into a loving life. he is our "person of the week," and yunji de nies brings us his story. >> reporter: brryan jackson's

story is truly unbelievable. in 1992, when he was just 11 months old, his father, a hospital worker, injected him with hiv-tainted blood, hoping his young son would die to avoid paying child support and reportedly to get revenge on his girlfriend for having the child. at 5 years old, brryan developed full-brown aids and the crime was discovered. his father was given a life sentence. >> when the judge handed down the sentence, he told the father that his act had put him in the category of the worst war criminal. >> reporter: doctors gave brryan just months to live. >> i would have never dreamed that his life would be like this. you know, doctors tell you, make funeral arrangements, you don't think beyond the next day. >> reporter: it was a constant struggle. brryan took two dozen different pills and injections every day. he lost most of his hearing from the drug's side effects and had

to fight to stay in school. >> i just decided, i want to put an end to this. i want to make a difference. >> reporter: he found strength in faith and started a nonprofit to raise hiv awareness. he's thrived by speaking out. >> just an opportunity to open people's eyes and open people's heart. >> reporter: today, the college freshman shares his story with his class mamates, and every summer, he teaches at camp kindle, helping other hiv-positive kids find their voices, too. >> this isn't just my problem. this is everybody's problem. hiv can be your next door neighbor. hiv can be the classmate sitting right next to you. but you never know. >> reporter: brryan is not afraid. and he's not angry. he's even forgiven his father, although the two have never spoken. how were you able to forgive him? >> why fall into the same place he's in? you know? why not rise above that? what good is it for me to hate? >> reporter: for now, he's

living life day-to-day. >> i don't know what the future holds for me because i can't limit it. i'm not going to put it in a box and say, "this is it." i say, "bring it on." >> reporter: a young man who has already accomplished and overcome so much. >> and so we choose brryan jackson, who says his dream is to have children of his own one day so he can be the best father he can be. glad to spend the week with you this week. we hope it's a great weekend in your life and that we see you all right back here on monday. until then, good night. new video just released an east bay sex offender chased through a store after the assault of a 2-year-old girl in diaper autos and folsom state prison. cell phones are a huge problem in california prisons. so out of control charles

manson got caught with one. >> and a former bart police officer wants out of jail. how the judge answered his request. >> and demolition day for a downtown relic. tonight the $4 billion project to replace the transbay terminal. >> this just in. surveillance video of the suspect in attempted rape of a 2-year-old girl on wednesday. just after he leaves the camera view, a couple customers tackled him, held him down until police arrived. >> the man arrested at that store appeared in court today and was denied bail. he did not enter a plea on four felony counts. the suspected assault happened wednesday inside of a store