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Lieberman Creating Snag Over Democrats' Medicare Buy-In Plan; Car Bombings in Baghdad; Cash for Caulkers

Aired December 15, 2009 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate's health care bill hitting a snag over Medicare. And Democrats have a former member of their party to thank for it.

Our Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill, this morning.

So, Brianna, good morning to you. The buy-in Medicare idea, dead or alive, at this point?

Unfortunately it looks like Brianna Keilar is not available at the moment but we're going to check back with her, of course, because she's been following the story all along for us and certainly a lot going on there, as you would imagine. We're talking about Senator Joe Lieberman, of course. So we'll get back to Brianna Keilar in just a moment.

Meanwhile the final decision on that Medicare buy-in could actually happen today. All the Senate Democrats are being summoned to the White House. Senator Lieberman also expected to attend. President Obama will urge them to put aside whatever differences they still have over health care reform. Afterward, the president is expected to make some remarks. We're going to carry those remarks for you live around 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

And while we are on that topic, Brianna Keilar joining us now from Capitol Hill with a little bit more. Brianna, can you hear me?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can hear you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. What's the scoop? Where are we at in all of this right now, the Medicare buy-in.

KEILAR: The Medicare buy-in - this was that idea that Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 could buy into Medicare. This was actually plan B, an alternative to that government-run insurance plan. This was something that liberal Democrats in the Senate, if they weren't going to get that public option, that government-run insurance plan, they wanted this Medicare buy-in, but the issue is Joe Lieberman, who is, of course, an independent but he normally votes on domestic issues with Democrats, said no.

He put his foot down and he said that he doesn't like this idea. So that leaves Democrats without that key 60th vote that they needed. And so now they're really scrambling for a plan C to try to figure out the a way to move forward with health care reform. They're till aiming, Heidi, as we heard last night when Senate majority leader Harry Reid came to the microphone, and after an emergency meeting with Senate democrats they still want a vote before Christmas.

But I got to tell you, the window is really closing here. The Senate, it doesn't turn on a dime and when it wants to vote on something, it takes several days of debate before it can do that. So there is this window here that is likely closing here in the next couple of days. And so that's why we are watching so carefully to see if they can get this done before Christmas. It's not clear at this point, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Senator Lieberman too has been for the expanded Medicare program in the past. Here he is in fact just about three months ago, I believe, talking about why he supported the idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Proposals were to basically expand the existing successful public health insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid. When it came to Medicare, I was very focused on a group post-50, maybe more like post-55, people who have retired early or, unfortunately, been laid off early who lose their health insurance and they're too young to qualify for Medicare and what I was proposing was that they have an option to buy into Medicare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So Brianna, it sounds like a flip-flop.

KEILAR: And certainly, Heidi, his office is acknowledging that he has had a change of heart on this but they say there's a reason for it. Keeping in mind that was Senator Lieberman talking about how he did support this idea as recently as 2006.

Also in 2000, when he was the vice presidential candidate he also campaigned on this idea. So what his office says is that what was a good idea back then is no longer a good idea because of the way deficit spending is going, because of the strains on Medicare, and Senator Lieberman has also said that there are other things in this bill to help people of that age group, between 55 and 64, specifically federal subsidies to help them buy insurance.

He is, Heidi, getting skewered by liberal blogs who say what's really going on is he is in the pockets of health insurance companies that are headquartered in his state of Connecticut. Of course his office says that's absolutely not true and actually he's supporting some things. For instance, taking away that anti-trust exemption that insurance companies have right now. He's supporting things like that insurance companies are very much opposed to, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. We will continue to watch this. Brianna Keilar, thank you.

KEILAR: You're welcome. COLLINS: Deadly attacks in three hot spots overseas. We turn first to Pakistan. Not long after U.S. General David Petraeus left Pakistan today, an explosion hit a market there. At least 22 people are dead, 60 others wounded. The target may have been the home of a prominent politician. 20 buildings were damaged in the attack.

CNN's Arwa Damon sat down with General Petraeus after his meetings with Pakistani officials to talk about the country's recent attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: Pakistan has demonstrated enormous determination in going after the extremist elements that are threatening their state. Obviously we are supportive of that, we want to assist in every way we can, recognizing, though, that they are the ones doing the fighting, not our troopers.

We want to assist that. We want to encourage that and over time we want to very much continue the process of coordination of what it is that we, our ISAF partners and our Afghan partners are doing on the Afghan side and what the Pakistani forces are doing on their side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The death toll in today's market bombing may go up. Pakistani officials say some women and children may still be buried under the rubble.

At least eight people, including the suicide bomber, are dead after an explosion near the Kabul home of Afghanistan's former vice president. Ahmad Zia Massoud was not hurt in this morning's attack but 40 other people were wounded. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was at a nearby anti-corruption convention at the time the blast. He condemned the attack as inhumane and cowardly. A separate attack in southeast Afghanistan today killed four civilians and a guard.

At least four people are dead, 14 others wounded after three car bombings in central Baghdad. The attacks hit within minutes of each other this morning, near the green zone where Iraqi government buildings and the U.S embassy are located. Baghdad has been hit with a recent upsurge in violence. Some officials say the violence is aimed at undermining elections that are set for March. The northern city of Mosul was also rocked by bombings today. Four people were killed, 40 others wounded.

The nation's most feared terror suspects could face, soon leave Guantanamo Bay, bound for the heartland. Well today, new sign the administration is closer to a decision on sending some of the detainees to a prison in Illinois.

CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian with the very latest. Yes, how far off until a decision here, you think, Dan?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know exactly when it will happen and when those transfers will begin but we do know that the decision, rather, has been made by the administration to transfer up to 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to northern Illinois, the Thomson Correctional Center.

This is a prison, a facility that was built in 2001 and has been empty for the most part ever since then, under utilized in a community that has been impacted by this tough economy, and so people there and certainly state officials see this as a boon for the economy. They believe that they can get up to 2,000 jobs, perhaps $1 billion injected into that community when those detainees are moved there.

But then, of course there are those that are critics of this plan saying that it would only hurt national security by moving these terror suspects onto U.S. soil. So this is a controversial decision. And while the administration certainly has made up its mind that this is a done deal, what they are planning to do, there are still a lot of hurdles to be crossed before we'll see those detainees moved here to the United States, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. All right. Dan, we'll be watching closely. Thank you.

In Atlanta, two men are sentenced for conspiring to support terrorist groups. (INAUDIBLE) Akmed (ph), who is seen with here on the left actually was given 13 years in prison for videotaping U.S. landmarks and sending the videos to terror suspects overseas.

On the right is his friend Ehsanul Sadequee. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Prosecutors say he also tried to aid a Pakistani- based terror group while on a trip to Bangladesh.

Rob Marciano is standing by now in severe weather center. Still talking about some storms, right?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a lot of rain across the south. This is all kind of tied into a weak storm that's heading across the northeast, but for the most part the tail end of this is where most of our focal point has been as far as heavy rain. We have flash flood watches and warnings that are posted from pretty much all of the southern half of Louisiana, especially from Lafayette over to Baton Rouge. New Orleans really getting crushed with rainfall. We'll talk more about that in a second. Two to four inches on top of what they have already seen. Potentially here over the next few hours before this thing begins to wind down just a little bit. All right. We'll talk a little bit about the rain where it is right now as far as the radar is concerned. This just popped up, this warning. I want to go over it. Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Charles, Orleans, St. John the Baptist parishes all in a flash flood warning, it looks like, for the next little bit.

As far as Texas is concerned, you know, flash flood warning for those parishes. All that stuff is moving northeast at about 20 miles an hour, so not exactly moving very quickly. That's for sure. As far as temperatures go, currently 63 in Atlanta, 64 in New Orleans, 46 degrees in New York. So very mild air down here. Meanwhile it's 18 degrees in Chicago and minus 4 in Minneapolis. Here's your live shot there. My goodness. That looks real cold. Bone-chilling stuff. Everything looks to be about frozen right there. Temperatures will probably warm up, I think, into the single numbers later on today. Why this is black, I'm not sure.

All right. That's about all I've got for you right now. The other thing that we're watching is that storm that's coming into the Pacific northwest. And that is bringing more rain and snow into the Mt. Hood area. Is that what you're talking about next? COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE) three days to the date almost, Heidi, where they had a similar accident on the north side.

COLLINS: I know.

MARCIANO: Back in 2006, and it's just eerily similar situation with these three climbers trying to take it to Mt. Hood in really the middle of winter, which is always a tough go.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely, especially with what's coming their way, as you mentioned. All right. Rob, thank you.

In fact an update now on that story in Oregon. A winter storm that is threatening the search for two missing climbers on Mt. Hood. We should tell you the body of their companion was found on Saturday. An autopsy shows 26-year-old Luke Gullberg died of exposure. Search crews say they have seen no sign of the other two climbers after three days of searching.

They're hoping that they have taken shelter inside some sort of snow cave maybe. Mt. Hood could see, as we've mentioned, more than a foot of fresh snow in the coming days.

The nation's failed banks, you're paying for their risky gambles. What went wrong and when? We'll take you inside one lender's collapse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Wells Fargo says it will return all $25 billion in federal bailout money it got last year from the government. It plans to sell common stock and sell some assets to raise that money. By the way, Citibank also announced - Citigroup, we should say, also announced it plans to repay $20 billion.

America's money crisis, it has taken a heavy toll on the lending industry, as you know. Financial regulators have shut down dozens of banks and more undoubtedly will follow. So how did things turn from boom to bust so suddenly? CNN's David Mattingly talks to one banker who saw his world collapse around him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As president and CEO of the Community Bank of West Georgia, Richard Hayden thought he had all the bases covered.

(on camera): And as long as they are building houses and as long as people were building houses and as long as people were buying them, you were OK?

RICHARD HAYDEN, PRES./CEO COMMUNITY BANK OF WEST GEORGIA: Absolutely.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): He says making loans to developers in metro Atlanta's booming real estate market was a way to double your money in five to 10 years. But when the sub prime crisis hit, the real estate heavy formula for success turned into a recipe for disaster.

(on camera): What percentage of your bank's money was tied up in real estate development?

HAYDEN: In the neighborhood of 65 percent to 70 percent?

MATTINGLY: Isn't that a lot for one bank to invest in real estate that heavily? Weren't you leaving yourself open for a fall?

HAYDEN: Well, obviously, in hindsight with the collapse in the real estate market, it wasn't the right thing to do.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Georgia leads the nation in stories just like this. 24 banks have failed just this year, many of them small startups. The popular idea was to build up the bottom line quick then sell out at a profit to a bigger bank.

Construction and commercial real estate was a proven way to go until the bottom suddenly fell out.

(on camera): Were they just too busy making money to see the problem that was looming there?

BYRON RICHARDSON, BANKING CONSULTANT: Absolutely. They were all chasing this - and drinking the same Kool-Aid, if you will.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Banking consultant Byron Richardson says many banks he works with ignored conventional wisdom to diversify and counted heavily on real estate developers moving their new properties quickly to pay them back.

(on camera): And when they stop, the money stops coming back to the bank?

RICHARDSON: Stops coming back to the bank. The suppliers don't get paid and there's a ripple effect.

MATTINGLY: How could they not see this coming?

RICHARDSON: Because it absolutely stopped.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): It took just a matter of months for that ripple effect to wipe out Hayden's bank. There was no government bailout and no time for a small startup bank to recover.

HAYDEN: It was like somebody turned the light switch off. I mean it just happened almost immediately. So it would have taken years for us to restructure and to do something different.

MATTINGLY: More than the president and CEO, Hayden was also his bank's fifth largest shareholder. The federal government protected the depositors of the bank but not the investors, so when the bank closed, he lost his life savings.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Let's take a minute to look at the big board right now. The Dow Jones industrial average is down just a little bit there by about 17 points resting at 10,484. We will continue to watch those numbers for you throughout the trading day.

A disease that robs memory, erases personality and turns a loved one into a stranger. It's not Alzheimer's disease, but it is a brain disorder you should know about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now, Iran may be working toward testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. That is according to confidential documents obtained by a British newspaper. The "Times of London" is reporting its source dated the documents back to early 2007. A western diplomatic source tells CNN the document appear to be authentic. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA is watching the document, investigating that.

Also a big day for Boeing. Its 787 Dreamliner is scheduled to take its first test flight today. The plane has been delayed by technical issues by more than two years. Boeing says it will be fuel efficient and cheaper to operate than planes of similar size.

They are on windows everywhere, maybe in your own home, but this morning a major recall on more than 50 million shades and blinds by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Eight children have died since 2000 because of the hazard. We know that this video we're about to show you is kind of strange because of the doll baby there but it seemed to be the best way for the CPSC to show us how the cords could wrap around a child's neck. Now, the commission is working on putting out a repair kit to fix the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF INEZ TENENBAUM, CHAIRWOMAN, CPSC: First of all, you should call the window covering safety council and get these kits. Second of all, make sure that you do not use these shades or make sure children do not get around these shades if you have them in your windows.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: On the list, 27 million of the kind of blinds that roll up from the bottom and 25 million Roman-style shades which often have fabric or paper panels.

So we wanted to know what you think about this. Are recalls like this from the government necessary or is some of this common sense? Go to my blog and post your comments on the address there, cnn.com/heidi.

So we've all heard of Alzheimer's diseases and many of us have witnessed its cruelty. Well, today a close and sometimes painful look at another memory-robbing disease. It strikes earlier and without warning. We get the details now from CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Kenny Sparks turned 49, he was at the top of his game. He was a popular co-owner of a multi-million dollar contracting firm with a loving family. He had it all. But things began to change for him.

CHERYL FULLER SPARKS, KENNY'S WIFE: He was stumbling over words and having - being in the middle of a sentence and he would forget what he was saying.

GUPTA: Cheryl Sparks thought it was stress, but Kenny became more agitated, depressed, non-communicative.

GRAHAM SPARKS, KENNY'S SON: He tells stupid jokes all the time. He wasn't telling jokes. He wasn't talking with us and sitting there with a blank stare on his face.

ALEXANDRA SPARKS, KENNY'S DAUGHTER: Nutrition conscious, he would go to the gym every day, swim for hours on end and he was polishing off gallons of ice cream.

GUPTA: After several doctors' visits, Cheryl finally talked her husband into seeing a specialist. What she learned was shocking.

CHERYL SPARKS: He couldn't draw a clock and put the hands on it.

GUPTA: When doctors told her she had a condition known at frontal temporal dementia, or FTD, she was relieved.

CHERYL SPARKS: I was thankful it wasn't Alzheimer's. Clearly, what did I know?

GUPTA: Doctors told her FTD would rob Kenny of his personality, his speech and then his life. His diagnosis was fatal. Fronto- temporal dementia is a degenerative disorder that damages cells in the anterior temporal and or frontal lobes of the brain. Typically diagnosed in people in their 50s and 60s, the disease affects the area of the brain that manages reasoning, social awareness, memory, causing changes in personality and judgment. DR. MURRAY GROSSMAN, NEUROLOGIST, UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA: What's particularly frustrating for family members is that the patients don't seem to have much insight into the difficulties that they are having or the difficulties that they may be causing for others.

GUPTA: Although FTD affects approximately 250,000 Americans, it's becoming clear more people suffer from the condition and don't even know it.

SUSAN DICKINSON, DIR., ASSN. FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA: There is a great lack of awareness among physicians, so the journey to diagnosis, many of our families, it takes five or six years and they go through a series of misdiagnoses.

GUPTA: The association is trying to get the word out by offering information on support groups and resources for physicians and families on their web site. For the Sparks family, it's been a difficult waiting game. And because the condition is rare, some friends and family don't understand Kenny's condition, but his wife and his children, well they do.

And to them, it's devastating to watch him slip away.

CHERYL SPARKS: It's knowing that the man I thought I was going to grow old with, I'm not.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: President Obama heads to Home Depot. Economy, aisle one, please. It's a presidential pitch to save energy and create jobs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just a few minutes from now the president will make his pitch to save energy and boost the economy. It's going to be at Home Depot in northern Virginia. He says energy-saving projects like adding insulation or replacing old windows will save homeowners money and create jobs. The president is pushing Congress to ante up too. He wants incentives for homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient.

The president is pushing for a federal rebate plan, now known as cash for caulkers. CNN's money.com Poppy Harlow has her Energy Fix now. So hey, it's got a good name.

What's the program going to look like, Poppy?

(LAUGHTER)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It really is similar to Cash for Clunkers if we do see it enacted. These are financial incentives, so folks will go out and hire people to make their homes more energy efficient. We're already seeing this, Heidi, across the country in places that are funded by local or state governments.

The town of Babylon in Long Island, New York, is one place where I visited back in June where they were already doing this pretty broadly. What the town there does is they give people loans to hire contractors and energy auditors. Then the people pay back those loans over about ten years, and they say it's a wash because they save enough money on their energy bills to cover the costs.

Here's what they do. They test for leaks in the homes by using that (ph) system. They also help check for the efficiency of your furnace, and you can use those loans to get those Energy Star furnaces, for example, which you see right there. Also insulation. That's a big part of what we saw, people putting more insulation in their attics, for example, and in their walls.

So, that's the kind of thing that the president will probably be talking about today at Home Depot. And what we heard from the energy auditor that we spent the day with in Long Island in summer -- he said, "Listen, my business has exploded tenfold." He says in 2010 he expects to hire eight more workers. The town is expanding the program to seven surrounding areas, and the energy auditor said he audited 100 homes this year, Heidi. He plans to do 300 to 400 next year.

So, what you see is this is already happening in towns across the country. What the president is hoping for is this on a broad level. I'll tell you, though, this energy auditor told us this morning that he's having a really hard time getting the small business loans he needs to hire those additional people. Something we've talked about a lot.

COLLINS: Yes, we have. So, his business is benefiting, but will homeowners across the country really take advantage of this whole plan?

HARLOW: Well, I mean that's the great question because if you're struggling to pay your mortgage or you're underwater on your mortgage, you're not going to have enough money to pay for home improvements, no matter how attractive they are.

But in Babylon, New York, in Long Island here, they say over 300 homes have been retrofitted. That's about 10 percent of all the homes in the town. That's a lot. We went out to the streets of New York here this morning, just about an hour ago, and I asked a bunch of folks if they'll do it. Take a listen to their perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a great incentive to save energy. I think it makes our home smarter. I think it helps a consumer save money, and I think it's a great use of government funds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think our debt level is high enough now in the country we don't need to take on any additional debt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they were giving me the money for it, then sure, but I can't afford it right now. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As always, those who can will take advantage of the programs that are out there. And those who can't won't be able to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, people are kind of torn on it, Heidi. I will tell you this. There's precedent for it. Look at Cash for Clunkers. The average rebate for that was $4,000. The average car was $2,200, and about more than 600,000 cars were sold as a result of Cash for Clunkers. So, Heidi, I guess that shows us it just might work. We'll see.

COLLINS: Wow. All right, we will see. Thanks so much, Poppy.

I want to get to Wall Street now. Another big bank says it will repay the bailout money that it took from the government and us, the taxpayers. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with a look at why this is a milestone of sorts. Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a milestone when you think of how far we've come. We suffered a great deal, no question about it. A lot of fear, a lot of loss, a lot of trauma, but Wells Fargo the last of the major banks to repay its T.A.R.P. money.

How much? $25 billion. It is contingent on a nearly $10.5 billion stock sale. Remember, that this bank, like the others, has been paying the money back -- is paying the money back with interest, so the government is actually making money on this.

Also, Heidi, in the last hour, GM said according to the AP, that it plans to repay all $6.7 billion in its government loans by June. But Uncle Sam is still heavily invested in GM since we own, taxpayers own, a sizeable stake in that automaker.

Now remember, we're not out of the woods yet in terms of what the government has given to a lot of distressed companies. AIG and automakers are questionable. AIG says it will take years to repay its funds, and, you know, there are many who doubt that it will be repaid in full.

But the good news, all banks say that they're repaying and, well, Wells Fargo shares are up about 3 percent, but we're seeing a little bit of a give-back after the nice gains we've seen the last four days. The Dow and the NASDAQ are down modestly, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Listen, Susan, even though the banks are repaying all of the bailout money or at least some of them, a lot of people, including the president, are upset that many banks still aren't lending as much. Their side of the story interesting, too.

LISOVICZ: That's exactly right. They have received a lot of money and they've hoarded it, tried to improve their balance sheet, but they're not giving it. The pendulum has swung far the other way. And now what we saw on Monday is these 12 CEOs, including Wells Fargo, saying they're going to institute a policy of second looks. They're going to relook at these loans that they rejected, particularly in small loans, which are such an engine for the U.S. when you think small business employs more than half of U.S. workers.

The problem is that the loan loss rate is such a discrepancy between commercial loans. We're looking at B of A's small business default rate. Sixty percent to 1 percent default rate for commercial loans. But B of A says it's upping its small business loans by $5 billion.

And GM, by the way, is confirmed. So GM, jumping on the bandwagon saying it's repaying its T.A.R.P funds, but we'll wait to see if banks are going to loosen up their lending policy. It certainly would help the economy.

COLLINS: Yes, yes. All right, Susan, we'll be watching closely. Thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: It's called the Advent conspiracy but it is not the latest DaVinci Code and there's nothing sinister about the plot unless you're a retailer. That's because this religious movement is calling on people to spend less on gifts and donate more to charity. CNN's Christine Romans explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Ken and Joanne Hawkins and their four kids, the family that prays together, shops together.

JOANNE HAWKINS, ADVENT CONSPIRACY PARTICIPANT: Christmas has always been a very chaotic -- a lot of shopping, a lot of wrapping and craziness and then January would come around and it would be this whole letdown.

ROMANS: But that's changing this year. The Hawkins family has joined a growing Christian movement that calls itself the Advent Conspiracy, a conspiracy that boils down to this. Conspire to give fewer, more thoughtful gifts and put the savings toward a good cause. The recession has made the message resonate. This clip promoting the true meaning of Christmas has gone viral. More than a million views on YouTube. Here in St. Louis, pastors gather for a briefing on how to join the Advent Conspiracy and get a pep talk from professional baseball player and devotee Albert Pujols. More than a thousand churches have signed on.

GREG HOLDER, CO-FOUNDER, ADVENT CONSPIRACY: We're seeing a variety of different church types, mega churches, house churches, main line established churches. It's crossing a variety of lines because we're remembering what we have in common and that's the story of Jesus and this longing that each of us has to make a difference.

ROMANS: The Hawkins' pastor is hoping his parishioners will think before they buy.

FR. JONATHAN MITCHICAN, PASTOR, CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER: We're not saying, you know, don't buy anything, but spend less. Buy one less gift. Don't go into debt. Buy less, worship more.

ROMANS: The church has held seminars and make your own gift workshops, raised money through its annual bazaar. Sermons have focused on the movement's four tenets: worship fully, spend less, give more, love all. The Hawkins family is trying to do just that.

HAWKINS: It's not about things and the commercialism of Christmas. Not saying that we're not going to get any gifts, of course, we're going to get gifts. But we're going to spend less. We're going to really look at how we spend our money.

ROMANS: Of course, devout Christians every year decry the commercialism of their holiday. The question is, does the Advent Conspiracy still resonate once the recession is finally over?

Christine Romans, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Faith and finances. Both can be in short supply in times like this, so join Christine Romans as she takes a look at how we worship and how we spend. "In God We Trust: Faith and Money in America" airs this Saturday night, 8:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.

Many Democrats probably feel like having a word or two with senator Joe Lieberman, but if they want to push health care reform through the Senate, they may have no choice but to make him happy right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Top stories now. At least 22 people are dead in a car bombing in central Pakistan. 60 other people were hurt when the explosion ripped through a market. It was also near the home of a well-connected political adviser who survived and says he was the actual target. But police have cast some doubt on that claim.

A new bill that would overhaul the country's immigration laws. A group of House Democrats are introducing it today. And one part of it is sure to be controversial. A path to citizenship for immigrants already in the country illegally. In the past critics have said that amounts to amnesty.

Looks like an Illinois prison will be the new home for some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. A senior administration official tells CNN President Obama will make the announcement today. Top leaders from Illinois, including Governor Pat Quinn, will be briefed on the plan at the White House.

Senator Joe Lieberman may have left the Democratic Party, but now he's holding some cards over health care, and he's making sure his old party knows it. Senior Congressional correspondent Dana Bash has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A political bomb potentially blowing up Senate Democrats' hopes that they were on the verge of compromise to pass health care.

SEN. JOE LIBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: This Medicare buy-in is frankly another way to try to get to a single payer a government- controlled health care system.

BASH: Democratic sources tell CNN Independent Joe Lieberman informed Democratic leaders he would support a GOP filibuster block health care if it allows 55 to 64-year-olds to buy into Medicare.

LIBERMAN: It has some of the same problems the public option had had. It runs the risk of adding to the national debt.

BASH: The problem is Democrats had hoped expanding Medicare was the key to getting liberal Democrats to accept a health care bill without a public option. But they likely need Lieberman's vote to pass health care. A Lieberman spokesman tells CNN he made crystal clear to Democratic leaders last week he had deep concerns about the Medicare buy-in. But senior Democratic sources say leaders are furious. They feel caught off guard by his outright opposition.

SEN. TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: I've always thought that Senator Lieberman was OK with the Medicare buy-in.

BASH: One reason, in 2000, Lieberman even campaigned for a Medicare buy-in as Al Gore's running mate. And in this interview three months ago, he acknowledged support for the idea as recently as 2006.

LIEBERMAN: What was proposing that they have an option to buy into Medicare early, and again on the premise that that would be less expensive.

BASH: Left-leaning blogs are exploding with anger towards Lieberman. One Democratic senator told CNN this is just the latest example of Lieberman poking Democrats in the eyes, from his support for the Iraq war, to this speech at the Republican Convention.

LIEBERMAN: Senator Barack Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who I think can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times for America.

BASH (on camera): And now several democratic sources tell CNN they are poised to drop the idea of a Medicare buy-in because of Joe Lieberman's opposition, because, they say, they are going to need his vote, especially if they want to meet Senate Democrats' self-imposed deadline of passing a health care bill by Christmas.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A major recall to tell you about this morning on more than 50 million shades and blinds. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says eight children have died since 2000 because of the hazard. The video we're showing you is a little bit strange but it's the best way the CPSC could find to show us how the cords could possibly wrap around a child's neck. The commission is working on putting out a repair kit now to fix the problem.

And that brings us to today's blog question. We are asking whether recalls like this one are necessary or is it common sense as a parent to move cords like that out of the way for children if they're near. We've got a lot of blog comments this morning so let's go ahead and get to some of those.

The first one now from Jack. "It's time for parents to get responsible for their children. Put the cords up! What a waste of resources to recall 50 million blinds because of irresponsible parents."

Then from Dan, "I think these recalls are not necessary, and if anything, the parents should be recalled for being too careless."

Then from Mike, "Why do we need recalls? I am 57 years old and when I was a kid and got into something I wasn't supposed to, I got a spanking."

Finally, from a different Mike, "In the land of endless tort litigation, America, no manufacturer can risk not recalling a product that has been involved in the accidental death of anyone, no matter how culpable the user might have been. Common sense doesn't seem to be an option anymore."

Remember, we do want to hear from you. Just go ahead and log on to CNN.com/heidi to share your comments.

The global warming summit in Denmark, before the world leaders arrive, a one-time Hollywood celebrity weighs in and lashes out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Global warming versus the Hollywood actor who once played Mr. Freeze. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is attending the climate change summit in Copenhagen. Earlier this morning, he bristled at the idea that policy makers have to choose between improving the economy or improving the environment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZNEGGER, CALIFORNIA: I don't think that you have to choose, I think it is nonsense talk to say first we should talk about the economy. You can do both. You can have a delegation over here and talk about the environmental issues and about fighting global warming, and simultaneously, you can have people over there in Washington and all over the United States talking about how to create jobs and how to bring the economy back.

So, it's no excuse at all to just boycott Copenhagen just because we first have to rebuild the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Former vice president Al Gore also created a buzz at the conference. He says new data suggests the entire Arctic polar ice cap could disappear as early as the summer of 2014.

In the central Philippines, some 50,000 people are racing to get out of the way of a volcano. It's rumbling to life about 290 miles south of the capital, oozing red hot lava, spewing ash. One scientist says full-blown eruption could happen within days. It last erupted in 1993. Nearly 200 years ago, though, a massive eruption wiped occupy several towns and killed more than 1,200 people.

Rob Marciano is standing by to talk a little bit more about the weather that we are experiencing here, and that's stormy weather, rainy weather, kind of yuck.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Kind of yuck, I think that's a good way to put it. Let's talk yuckiness.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: Oh, I'm not going anywhere.

COLLINS: No. You're not going anywhere. I thought we wanted to do this with the deer, because we're going to put it on the screen here, got into a little bit of trouble. This is -- oh.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Like I showed you the other day or tried to explain the other day, I paid good money for animated deer for my front yard with lights all over him. This is way better.

MARCIANO: Those anamatron -- that's amazing. Even Disney couldn't replicate that one. Now, so someone went out and obviously decorated the deer?

COLLINS: Yes. I think he got wrapped up in whatever lights in somebody's yard. This is coming actually from my old station in Colorado Springs, a southwest neighborhood there in Colorado Springs. The neighbor, I guess, ended up chasing down the buck to get the lights off, but the deer jumped a fence, so we're going to have to check on the status.

MARCIANO: Yes, we need to do that, because he doesn't look all that pleased. Then again, you know, a little lights on the antler may, you know, help during the rut.

COLLINS: Oh, my Lord. All right, we're going to put out the deer cam and find out where he is. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you in a bit.

COLLINS; It's a big Hollywood party, and now we know who's going to be there. A look at the Golden Globe nominees coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hollywood's award season will kick off with the Golden Globes. CNN's entertainment correspondent, Kareen Wynter, has a look at the top contenders.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: The nominations for the 2010 Golden Globe awards were announced this morning in Beverly Hills.

What a huge morning it was for George Clooney. His film "Up in the Air" received the most nominations, six in all. Clooney also got a Best Actor nod in the motion picture drama category.

Let's run through some of those categories. For best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical, Sandra Bullock, "The Proposal," Marion Cotillard in "Nine," Julia Roberts "Duplicity," and Meryl Streep . Take a look at this, two nominations here, one for "It's Complicated" as well as "Julie & Julia."

For Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, Matt Damon received a nod for "The Informant," Daniel Day-Lewis for the musical "Nine," Robert Downey, Jr. in "Sherlock Holmes," Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "500 Days of Summer," as well as Michael Stuhlbarg for "A Serious Man."

Finally best motion picture drama, "Avatar." "The Hurt Locker," and this is really a film to watch this season. It's a small movie getting so much buzz. It's about the Iraq war. And it just won the L.A. Critics Top Honor.

Some other nominees in this category, "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious," as well as "Up in the Air." The Golden Globes air Sunday, January 17th.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Beverly Hills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.