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American Morning
Health Care Passes Critical Test; Worst Stock Market Decade; AMERICAN MORNING Series on Celebrities That Give
Aired December 21, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome. It's 8:00 on the nose here in New York on this Monday, December 21st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for John Roberts.
Here are some of the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
And one big story developing overnight, one of the biggest we've seen so far in the whole health care debate. We had a health care bill that passed its biggest, most critical test so far. This comes at a time when a lot of you weren't even looking.
CHETRY: Also this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... sixty, the nays are 40.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Not looking because most of you were sleeping. This happened in the middle of the night, the Senate voting to end debate on the bill overnight. We'll tell you why that's such a big deal. And we'll tell you about that vote, the fireworks and exactly what this means for you. We are live from Capitol Hill.
CHETRY: Travelers are still dealing with the long lines and delays from a weekend blizzard that blanketed the northeast, 16 inches of snow shutting down Reagan National Airport in D.C. over the weekend. More than 1,200 flights canceled in New York alone.
We're live at LaGuardia to see if they're getting back on track today.
HOLMES: Also, some of the biggest names you know, the biggest stars out there and they are big-giving. A series you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. And today, our Alina Cho one-on-one with Sir Elton John. We'll tell you how a teenager's struggle with AIDS changed his life and how he has been giving back ever since.
CHETRY: And we are following a developing story, a critical vote in the health care debate.
Brianna Keilar is covering it all for us from Washington this morning.
So, Brianna, it all went down in the middle of the night. They needed 60 senators, they needed every single senator in the entire Democratic Caucus, and last night, in the wee hours, they got it.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And this was the biggest hurdle so far, Kiran, for health care reform. And while the bill isn't actually expected to clear the Senate until that Christmas Eve vote, this procedural vote, a strictly party line vote, was the true test of whether health care reform would survive this gauntlet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On this vote, the yeas are 60, the nays are 40. Three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
KEILAR (voice-over): And with that, health care reform cleared a major hurdle in an early morning vote in the Senate. But for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the key breakthrough came on Saturday when Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced that he would back the bill, giving Democrats 60 votes, the absolute minimum they needed to pass a bill.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: Change is never easy, but change is what's necessary in America today and that's why I intent to vote for cloture and vote for health care reform.
KEILAR: Nelson signed on only after striking a deal with Democratic leaders to limit insurance coverage of abortions and he offered a warning if that provision is weakened as the Senate is merged with the House-passed bill.
NELSON: I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote if there are material changes to this agreement in the conference report.
KEILAR: Nelson also scored a sweetener for his state. The federal government will pick up the tab for expanding Medicaid in Nebraska, the only state to receive the windfall. While liberal Democrats criticize the bill which does not include a government-run insurance plan, President Obama praised the compromise.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With today's developments, it now appears that the American people will have the vote they deserve on genuine reform that offers security to those have health insurance and affordable options for those who do not.
KEILAR: Republicans unanimous in their opposition to the Democrats' health care reform bill lambasted it on the Senate floor.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We are not going to put the whole nation at risk and take a broken system and make it worse just to get a vote. No way in hell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: So, what is in the bill? Well, there is a whole lot.
But let's touch on the basics. There is a requirement that you get health insurance or you face a fine. Also, there are federal subsidies so that middle-class and low-income Americans making less than about $88,000 per year can purchase insurance. Also, an expansion to Medicaid, for Americans who are making under about $29,000, those numbers based on a family of four.
And also, Kiran, there are significant insurance industry reforms. For instance, no longer would insurance companies be able to deny coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition.
CHETRY: All right. A lot to still get through, though. But at least they have some of the basics hammered out. Brianna Keilar for us this morning in Washington -- thanks.
HOLMES: We will turn to some weather now. A big story over the weekend, still a big story this morning -- East Coast is still digging out after record snowfalls really up and down the northeast corridor.
CHETRY: That's right. Washington, D.C., getting 16.4 inches, it was a record for December, also the third highest single day total since 1884. All federal government offices are closed this morning.
HOLMES: We turn to Boston now, where they saw a 10 to 14 inches, suburbs hit by up to 20 inches before the storm finally got out of there, over the coast the Cape Cod. Public schools are closed there. However, the roads should be cleared in time for rush hour.
The snow also, as you could imagine, causing problems at airports all along the east coast. One of the worse hit was New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Allan Chernoff is there for us.
Allan, even on a bright sunshiny day, LaGuardia can be a mess and flights could be delayed. So, things are terrible now, and they are just finally starting to see semblance of normalcy, kind of, sort of?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we got a lot to work through here, T.J. Two hundred fifty flights were canceled over the weekend here at LaGuardia alone.
So, this morning we had long, long lines of a lot of desperate travelers hoping to catch a new flight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Sixteen inches of snow shut down Washington's Reagan National Airport on Saturday.
By the time it reopened yesterday, lines stretched outside the terminal. Roads in the capital area were no bargain either.
Nearly a foot of snow fell on New York Central Park.
With the school snow day already declared for Monday in some parts of the tri-state area, it was all fun and games for the kids.
But to the east, Long Island felt the full force of the storm. Twenty-six inches of snow fell in some neighborhoods. Drivers stranded everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is kind of a disaster.
CHERNOFF: And at LaGuardia Airport, hundreds of travelers were stranded, too. Nothing but long lines and even longer delays, hundreds of flights canceled, leaving this Denver-bound student no choice but to spend a second night sleeping at the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was little sad to think it might be Christmas. So, if I get there before then, then I'll be happy.
CHERNOFF: As the storm marched up the coast to New England, snow banks 10 feet high made traveling treacherous.
In Boston, whiteout conditions at Logan Airport left a lot of planes, a lot of travelers idled for hours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: But the situation now is vastly improved. Three hours ago, we had lines just all across the airport. And they really eased up quite a bit. And the flights are departing on time. Some good news, a lot of folks will eventually make it home for the holidays -- T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, eventually, they got a little bit of a few more days still make it.
Allan, thank you so much. As those people still are going to work it out the storm.
Maybe history for now. But get ready, some parts of the country could see some severe weather just in time for Christmas. Hopefully, you were there when that severe weather comes and you've already made it home.
Rob Marciano is tracking it all for us. And the details from him -- coming up.
CHETRY: All right. Well, meanwhile, we're going to be talking to Barbara Starr about her exclusive reports from Afghanistan. She's really been given an unprecedented access to tell stories that you might not otherwise know going on in this country. She's going to be joining us in a moment.
It's eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back, everybody, to the Most News in the Morning. Ten minutes past the hour, and that means it's time for an "A.M. Original."
But first, some stories new this morning we want to share with you.
CHETRY: That's right. And this ongoing custody case in Brazil, the supreme court is set to rule today on the international custody battle over 9-year-old Sean Goldman. Meanwhile, Sean's father, David, is telling reporters yesterday he will accept nothing but being fully reunited with his son. He said, though, if he wins custody, he will let Sean's Brazilian family come to the U.S. and visit him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GOLDMAN, FIGHTING TO GET HIS SON BACK: It's my hope that we'll have Christmas at home or the holidays and New Year's and a very long happy healed life as father and son at home. The first step is for Sean and I to reunite, come home, be with our family. And I will not do to them what they have done to Sean and me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also, the Philippine's most active volcano could blow at any time. Scientists say ash, lava, and rumblings from the 8,000-foot Mayon Volcano signal a major eruption is coming. More than 40,000 villagers have been evacuated. The first recorded eruption was back in 1616.
CHETRY: Twelve prisoners at Guantanamo have been transferred out of the Cuban facility and sent home to Yemen, as well as Afghanistan. That leaves 198 inmates remaining. President Obama is saying he hopes to have the facility shut down in 2010.
HOLMES: And right now, Afghanistan is the destination for 30,000 U.S. troops. They're scheduled to be fully deployed by the summer. They're heading to a country that is very complex, filled with contradictions and, certainly, challenges.
A lot of those contradictions and challenges our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has seen firsthand, just back from a trip to Afghanistan.
And we had the benefit of seeing a lot, Barbara, of your original reporting during that assignment. We certainly appreciate what you were able to bring to us. Some fantastic reporting.
But what we also saw in some of your reporting, huge disparity in the type of different security challenges that are happening from, really, top to bottom, north to south, or east to west, however you want to put it, just across that country.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's absolutely right, T.J. First, I want to tell you, we had a terrific team, AMERICAN MORNING, our own producer Justin Dial and photojournalist Khalil Abdallah, everything you are about to see was brought to you by all three of us, as a team, moving throughout Afghanistan for about two weeks.
This is a country that's perhaps getting more complex, not easier. Kandahar, Helmand, in the south, we know that is very violent. But many places -- and you see the pictures here, where we traveled in the east, the Panjshir valley, Kunar province, these are areas perhaps with less violence. But it makes it very difficult for the troops to come to judgments about what to do because in these areas, what the troops tell us they have found is the people are very proud, very independent. They don't want any outsiders, not coalition forces, not -- in some cases -- their own government. And pardon me, certainly not the Taliban.
So, these are areas where now the question confronting the U.S. is: should the U.S. troops pull out of these areas? Are they the ones that are drawing some of the violence and some of the attacks?
But, of course, the concern is, if the U.S. pulls out of these more peaceful areas, the Taliban could still come back and you could have a lot of new safe havens.
So, as we moved around, what we found, every place you go, it's just a little bit different -- T.J.
HOLMES: Just a little different.
You were able to bring us so many reports from there. And I was mentioning to you in the commercial break that so many of us here watching, one of the stories that stood out to us was that success story you did of a town just outside of Kabul. But -- that might even surprising the folks watching, but you were there and you cover the military, you cover the Pentagon and you've been to Afghanistan before.
But still, at this point, maybe after this trip, what stood out to you on this trip, maybe threw you off a little bit and surprised you a bit?
STARR: What really surprised me, T.J., even as we moved around and we went town by town looking at where they were having some successes, there's new information developing, the U.S. military now is looking at what they say are potentially -- potentially credible reports that Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban has moved from this remote border region to the teeming city of Karachi, inside Pakistan.
Now, if this is true, the question is going to be: who helped him get out of the mountains? Who helped him move all the way to a city environment? Who is protecting him? And could this finally, eight years later, open the door, possibly to him being captured? This we now know is one of the top issues that U.S. military is looking at, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Barbara Starr, again, and great work, good to see you back, again, congratulations to you and your whole team on that work. Thank you so much this morning.
CHETRY: Certainly a risky mission, but really eye opening, and so they should be commended.
HOLMES: It is, the whole, and she did, she gave credit to all the crew, to all the producers of American Morning as well.
CHETRY: That's right, all right will still ahead, this has been what they say is the worse decade for the market in 200 years. A look ahead at what we can expect from the economy next year, with Christine Romans. She's Minding your Business after a short break, 15 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News In The Morning. Eighteen minutes past the hour, that means it's time for Minding Your Business.
HOLMES: And hello Christine Romans, now you gave us some good news a little earlier about the unemployment rate. But now we are talking about the worse of something, and we hate to use that word anytime we talk about the stock market.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's the stock market before I tell you how terrible it was for ten years, let me tell you how good it has been. I couldn't even spit it out. A pretty wild ride this year, you know, March we hit that low.
This is the S&P 500, I like to look at this one because it's the broadest gauge of stock market health. Hit that -- that ugly, ugly 878 or actually I think 678 down in March -- it's 676, gosh, I can barely read that. Do I need glasses?
And then 1102, is where we closed it out last week. So that's been a pretty good ride, right? Well, even when you consider that, it still is the worse ten-year period according to the Wall Street Journal for the stock market in 200 years.
Look, we are dropping things on the set they are so shocked by this. A nightmare decade for stocks. Look at this, you have the S&P500 every year, on average down 3.3 percent a year. You like the return 8 to 10 percent on your stock market investment. No, no, no, no, no.
But, everything else just about anything else paid better than stocks, bonds, a paper cent of yours. Gold, up 15 percent a year. It was a really rotten year for stock investors.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: If you got into it, let's say -- at the downturn, you are happy as a clam today.
ROMANS: But most us didn't. Most of us have been dollar cost averaging in for ten years.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROMANS: And it's been really rotten. So look if you are in your 30s, you probably have been investing over the past ten years, I am sorry for awful us. But if you have a well-balanced portfolio, not just stocks, then you did get some bonds, we will just hope the next ten years, I've been calling it the awful auts because my grandpa use to call it, the first ten years of the last century the auts. These are the awful auts of the -- think of it, two -- two bare markets, a terror attack, right?
HOLMES: Wow.
ROMANS: Two wars and then a we averted second great depression, all in ten years.
CHETRY: That's right.
HOLMES: We were busy.
CHETRY: We were busy.
HOLMES: Does the numeral have anything to do with the awful auts.
ROMANS: It does. 11,497.
HOLMES: Huh.
CHETRY: You sound so sad saying that...
HOLMES: Is that a dial a number?
ROMANS: That's where the Dow closed on the last day of 1999, 11,497 and then it went up above 14,000. Maybe in the next ten years we will get it back.
CHETRY: We still have time to make it up.
ROMANS: Kiran is always an optimist. I love it.
CHETRY: I mean, we got to find a reason to get up in the morning. Right?
ROMANS: We do, we do. I hope we had bonds and gold also in our stock portfolios at the last ten years, and then it's not quite so bad.
CHETRY: Should have listened to Ron and Paul.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Christine Romans for us, thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Well coming up, Alina Cho, her series, an "A.M. Original" series, the big stars, the big giving. Star number one we are featuring, that guy, you know him well. Probably recognize the glasses as well. You've seen him in something like that before, right? Sir Elton John giving back in a big way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-three minutes past the hour. You know that song, you know that man, you know that music well. It's time for an A.M. original, something you'll only see right here on American Morning. All this week we are highlighting celebrities who are giving back this holiday season in a big way, first up. Sir Elton who has raised $150 million for AIDS research.
CHETRY: That's right. Not just by writing a check but actually being part of it step by step and our Alina Cho caught up with him on the court, no less, the tennis court for her special Big Stars, Big Giving.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A lot of people didn't know that he plays tennis. But he plays well.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I can see that.
CHO: It's really -- I don't believe that. You mention that he does the work out there and walks the walk. He talk and talks the talk. You know when we came up with the idea of doing a series on celebrity philanthropy, my first thought really was Elton John. Sir Elton John has been an advocate for AIDS awareness for as long as we can remember. So after all those years of working so tirelessly for the cause, we wanted to know what keeps him going. He says just like writing music, philanthropy is his life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): His music is iconic, but Sir Elton John has another talent that may surprise you. Tennis.
CHO (on camera): Who knew you had a mean forehand.
ELTON JOHN, SINGER: I got a good forehand.
CHO (voice-over): And he is using it for a good cause. Teaming up with his long-time friend, Billy Jean King at this celebrity tennis tournament to raise money for AIDS. A constant fight on the court and off.
CHO (on camera): I know you say that AIDS is difficult.
JOHN: Yes.
CHO: What do you mean by that?
JOHN: Well, it seems like every ten years, another generation goes up and you have to reeducate. CHO: Is that frustrating for you?
JOHN: It is. You have to go back and start all over again, and say, no, no, no, you can't do this, you must have safe sex. You must use a condom.
CHO (voice-over): The 62 year old openly gay music legend was not an active AIDS advocate until he met 14-year-old Ryan White in 1986. The Indiana teen was expelled from his school because he had AIDS. John became so close to the White family he gave them financial assistance and was at Ryan's bedside when he died.
CHO (on camera): What was it about that little boy?
JOHN: Well because you know I never heard Ryan complain about having AIDS, I never heard him whine or be miserable. He carried everything with such dignity and he just taught me about humility. How my life was completely out of whack about six months after Ryan died, I began to change my life.
CHO: Was there a certain point at which a light bulb then went off in your head?
JOHNS: You know I wanted to give something back. I mean I've lived a charm life. Taking drugs and drinking, you know, having unsafe sex, at a time when I should have been so much more well behaved. I should have had more morals. After Ryan died, I thought that I could give something back. I have come out of this HIV negative and I have to do something positive.
CHO (voice-over): That something positive was the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In 17 years, EJAF has started programs in 55 countries and has raised more than $150 million.
CHO (on camera): You are Elton John. You could easily take a publicity photo, write a check and call it a day. But you are out there, as you say in your own words, getting your hands dirty.
JOHN: Yes.
CHO: Why?
JOHN: People are so grateful for the smallest things. It doesn't take a lot of money to run a project in Africa. If you have $15,000 $20,000 -- this is you know, this is something that's never go away in my lifetime. And so I'm off to try each year to step up and do a little bit more.
CHO (voice over): Even when it means supporting other causes, like Andy Roddic's foundation to help needy children.
ANDY RODDICK, TENNIS SUPERSTAR: He doesn't want to just come and play, he wants to know exactly where the money we raised is going, how it's going, you know, he always calls two or three days later and says what's the total tally. How much did we raise?
CHO: Really?
RODDIC: Yes, he's just really involved in the whole process.
CHO: Why? John says, why not?
CHO (on camera): You are in the trenches, you are traveling all around the world, not to mention you have a day job already. You know at a certain point do you ever think maybe I can pass the torch?
JOHN: No way, I mean I have the greatest life style. I have the most incredible life. I do what I love to do. I play music. I write music. This is part of my life now. Once you have you seen people suffer like this, you just don't ever think of stopping. I will be doing this until the day -- they put me into the ground because I love doing it. And I love, you know -- I just want to try and make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Really remarkable man. You know one of the big missions of the Elton John Foundation is to focus on the programs that help what he calls the underserved. Prisoners even prostitutes in some cases, Sir Elton John says without the right education, the right medical care, and good old fashion advice. These are the people that go out and make the infection rate even higher. He calls them the forgotten ones, the people that need the help the most but who are often ignored.
You know he does about 35 charity events a year, and he said people often ask him why he spends so much doing this, and he tells them it's 3 -- 35 out of 365 days, you know, it's a month. It's really not that much. And the people he helps, you can see it in their faces too. It's worth every minute, he says.
HOLMES: Are you going to commit your name and that much money you want to make sure you know what is going on. And that's why he is so hands on.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: Very true, very true -- by the way just for a little bit of fun, if you don't think that Elton John has the skills on the court, you can check out his moves and much more on his interview, we posted it all on the website. cnn.com/amfix
HOLMES: Looking forward to have some more. We have several this week. But one tomorrow, a lot of people looking forward to. Ben Stiller.
CHO: Yes you know, he makes his living being funny, so why wouldn't he use that to raise money and awareness? That's exactly what he is doing. He is using social media like twitter and he's using comedy. He's trying to raise money to build a school in Haiti. And we all know that Lance Armstrong Foundation lives strong with those yellow bracelets. Well Ben Stiller came up with the original idea of Stiller Strong. And his version of the bracelet, a head band.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHO (voice-over): He says you should be ashamed of himself.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Well that's him being funny.
CHO: Really?
STILLER: He does not have a great sense of humor. He is a cyclists. You know cyclists spend a lot of time alone with their thoughts. Yes. Which color do you want? The yellow?
CHO (on camera): I like the yellow.
STILLER: All right, good, you go for the yellow.
CHO: Yes.
STILLER: I'll go for the red because --
CHO: It's Christmas time.
STILLER: Exactly. See what I mean by it looks cool?
CHO: Flashing a little Derek Zoolander there.
HOLMES: Little bit.
CHO: I did ultimately put that yellow --
CHETRY: Yes right.
CHO: I swear it will be on the piece tomorrow. Enough reason to tune in --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Exactly. Stiller Strong Alina, Stiller Strong. Thank you.
HOLMES: Alina, thank you, we'll see you soon.
All right, it's 30 minutes past the hour, time to check some of our top stories. Tensions are building this morning between North and South Korea, the north now declaring its disputed border with the south a firing zone and warning all South Korean vessels to stay away.
Just last month ships from the two sides exchanged fired in the disputed waters.
CHETRY: French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanding Euro Star resume rail service between Paris and London by tomorrow. Two- thousand passengers were stranded Friday evening inside of the Channel Tunnel after six trains broke down. It all happened because of snow from northern France blowing into the tunnel. HOLMES: The economy is the top new story of 2009, maybe no surprise to a lot of you. That's according to the Associated Press editor of news directors. The inauguration of President Obama came in a close second.
This week before Christmas, this week that we have here before Christmas, normally a slow time for business news, things starting to ratchet down. That's not really the case this year. Here to talk about some of the latest business headlines and how they may affect you at home is Chrystia Freeland, managing editor of "The Financial Times."
Good morning.
CHRYSTIA FREELAND, FORMER LONDON DEPUTY EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Good morning.
HOLMES: Good of you to be here, thank you.
It was a big weekend or it was supposed to be a big weekend.
FREELAND: Super Saturday.
HOLMES: Super Saturday, they call it that because the last time people can get out before Christmas, the weekend before. But some of the super was taken out because of a super storm. How big of a deal was this storm in affecting how much these retailers were able to take in?
FREELAND: We won't know until tomorrow. That's when the numbers will come out.
Anecdotally what people was saying there was fewer people going out. Some of that may have been transferred to online shopping. One of the interesting things we will find out later this week is whether people just substituted their shopping instead of going out to the mall or store, just sitting in front of computer.
HOLMES: OK, we won't know the numbers for sure, but what were economists expecting from the holiday season? Was it supposed to be a jolly one? Were we expecting a good holiday for retailers.
FREELAND: It's very hard to say because it's all about psychology. But I think that there was a hope that as the economy had started to recover, certainly compared to last year, a hope that we would see people going out and spending a little bit more.
The downside is there is still a lot of uncertainty around employment, and the unemployment number, as you know, is still at 10 percent. A lot of people are working at temporary jobs rather than full time jobs.
So it's really not yet clear whether we have a big shift in consumer behavior, whether people are just going to be more cautious now than they were two or three years ago. HOLMES: And you spoke a second ago about maybe if folks did not go out and get into the stores because of the weather, they stay at home, they stayed on the computer, and they ordered it that way. You called it the new economy versus the old economy. Does it balance out? If they did not go to the store and spent the money, but they sat on the computer and spent the money, is that just as good, or is that not just as good, because that might hurt the retailer, and that's what you need to stay in business and keep hiring people?
FREELAND: As with everything in business, it depends who you are talking about, this is good for whom, right? So if what you are worried about is if there is going to be the retail adrenaline boost into the economy to keep things chugging along, and remember, the U.S. consumer was 70 percent of the economy prior to this downturn. So are we going to have that stepping up, then online spending, yes, is as good as going out into the stores.
But if you are one of the local stores that maybe doesn't have a Web site, then that's not such good news.
HOLMES: Let's turn a little bit here, still talking about now a part that could help the economy and that consumer confidence, being able to get credit, also small businesses being able to get credit.
President Obama last week had the "fat cats," his words, not mine, he had the fat cats in to try to influence them to give more money and loan more. And now he is having the little cats, the kittens in, if you will, the guys that run the regional banks, the smaller banks tomorrow. Is the message going to be exactly the same to these smaller banks?
FREELAND: I think part of the message will be the same. Maybe we can call them the "skinny kittens."
HOLMES: All right.
FREELAND: I think that what we will start hearing from the White House is especially now that the Afghan decision is finished that it looks like health care is going through, I think we are going to see a real focus on the economy and on parts of the economy that matter to a lot of real voters.
So the message I think that we will see at these local banks is, yes, we need you to lend, and also a little bit more listening. I think the president will say what do you need me to do to make it possible for you to lend into the community?
I think the politics around the small banks are really different form the politics around the Wall Street firms. People tend to have less of a sense that these were firms that were bailed out by their taxpayer dollars and where the people working there are making million-dollar bonuses. It's more a sense of this is your community bank.
HOLMES: Yes, and they have been hurt in a major way. I think 140 of them have been closed. These smaller regional banks have essentially failed this year in 2009. That is a big number.
Chrystia Freeland, thank you so much. We will have you back to talk about the numbers when they finally come in to see how the season went.
FREELAND: Pleasure.
HOLMES: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Thanks, Chrystia.
Well, there are many people that are very happy, and there are those that are very unhappy. It looks like bipartisanship was the big loser in the health care debate.
HOLMES: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, is it worse than ever in D.C.? Our Jim Acosta is taking a look at this angle. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's 39 minutes past the hour right now.
We're following new developments in the health care debate, the Senate voting to end debate on the bill overnight, but no one seems to want to talk about -- stop talking about it, rather.
Republicans, who did not cast a single vote in favor of the bill, say that the whole process was ugly and a mess. Our Jim Acosta is live in Washington. It looks like there may not be a Senate secret Santa this year when it comes to bipartisanship. This bill was not an example of that.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Karen, there is not enough coal in Washington for all of the stockings in this town, that's right.
Good morning, it is the holiday season in Washington. But political good cheer is in short supply these days as the fight over health care reaches a critical vote. A blizzard of ill will has dissented on the capital, and that would make the Grinch as happy as Cindy Loohoo.
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ACOSTA (voice-over): While the weather outside was frightful, the rhetoric inside the capital was so spiteful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight. That's what they ought to pray.
ACOSTA: As Senate Democrats inched closer to passing their version of health care reform by Christmas, the verbal snow balls were flying fast.
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: It will be a political kamikaze mission for the Democrats, and, unfortunately, it's going to worse for the country.
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: The way they'd have it is the insurance companies would cancel Tiny Tim for a preexisting conditions.
ACOSTA: Even the last fence-sitting Republican Olympia Snowe has drifted away. Over the weekend Snowe personally told the president she's a no.
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: Why Christmas? There is no magic deadline. This beat the clock is really overruling any sanity.
ACOSTA: On the president top domestic priority it was not the bipartisanship he promised during the campaign.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want Democratic votes and Republican votes because that's how you win elections and that's how you get things done. That's how you deliver health care.
ACOSTA: Instead, Mr. Obama's election rival John McCain says the partisanship is worse than ever.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I am saying there has been no real...
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: More partisan than Bill Clinton?
MCCAIN: In some ways, of course. Yes, at least under Hillary- care they tried seriously to negotiate with Republicans.
ACOSTA: Democrats point out it's the Republicans playing hardball, insisting that ailing West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd cast his votes in person. The 92-year-old Democrat is rarely seen at the capital because he is in such poor health.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We approached them and said one of our members is struggling with health issues, Senator Byrd is. Can we reach an agreement where he doesn't have to come in and vote at 1:00 in the morning, and they said no.
ACOSTA: The White House says it's focus is getting something done.
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ACOSTA: Democrats once hoped to get health care signed by the president by Christmas, and then it became the end of the year, and now the talk is by January or by the State of Union. For the White House it could be a winter of serious discontent -- Kiran.
CHETRY: There you go, start shoveling in the coal, right?
ACOSTA: That's right. There's not enough coal in this town, I will tell you that much.
CHETRY: Jim, thanks.
HOLMES: Maybe you are trying to get home for the holidays, and maybe you are trying to get to work. But a lot of people are having issues getting anywhere right now. That blizzard we saw up and down the northeast.
Rob Marciano keeping an eye on the weather for us and will explain what the colors and movement and arrows and things mean. Stay with us. It's 42 past the hour.
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CHETRY: Wow, look at that.
HOLMES: Oh yes, look at that.
CHETRY: It's frozen tundra. But really it's actually Boston, Massachusetts, where right now, it's 25 degrees. And it went up to a high of 29 today. Just -- every time I've mention the weather, T.J. starts to cracking up. This is really funny for him. HOLMES: It's not funny stuff, Rob.
CHETRY: As long as you're not stranded at the airport and you can enjoy it, it's not bad, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right and take it easy on her, T.J. well, you know she's married to a weather man.
HOLMES: Yes.
MARTIN: I mean, she does have some working knowledge of the atmosphere.
HOLMES: Take it easy on me, huh?
CHETRY: Every morning he comes in, what's the dew point? And say I don't know, look it up.
MARTIN: Dew points are low right now, dry air moving in and windy condition so not only is Boston cold but the with the wind chills that will feel even colder and blowing snow on top of that.
There are still some leftover snow -- snow showers coming in with this system mostly lake affect, they should not amount a whole lot where the bigger cities have gotten pummeled.
Here are the latest tally, the official tallies for some of the bigger cities, Philadelphia, winning the prize at 23.2; Baltimore proper, seeing 21; Newport, Rhode Island, 20.5; D.C. on the mall, 16 inches; and in Central Park 10.9 inches of snowfall. And it will stick around certainly today -- temperatures at 31 in New York.
Twenty --- look how cold it gets down to the south, 30 in Memphis and a frosty 29 degrees in Atlanta. So everybody is feeling the pinch of this blizzard bringing down that cold air. Well, the next storm that comes into the Midwest is actually going to bring in some warm air.
So some of that snow across the north and northeast will begin to melt around about Wednesday and Thursday and into Friday. But this thing will wind up and have severe weather down across the south. And heavy snow maybe some blizzard, another blizzard for parts of the Midwest. And notably a less populated places, but populated nonetheless Omaha and Nebraska and maybe even Chicago and Minneapolis getting into it as well.
We'll fine tune that forecast. And of course, T.J., I'll be asking for Kiran's advice on this one as it develops.
CHETRY: You're right, we turn to you. You're our resident expert, are you kidding me. All right, Rob?
MARCIANO: Now, that's the spirit. That's the difference I'm looking forward T.J., you could learn something from her.
HOLMES: And actually she says during the breaks, I don't even know why we need Rob this morning, I'm married to a weather guy. She says that every time.
CHETRY: I would never, ever not want Rob on this show.
MARCIANO: All that he said is during the break.
HOLMES: All right, well Rob. Rob, we'll talk to you after the show.
MARCIANO: Hey, you guys all right.
CHETRY: Bye, Rob.
Well, still ahead -- actually we're talking about the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. He's bouncing back from getting attacked.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: He's also bouncing back in the polls it seems because of it he's approval rating is now 55 percent. They jumped 7 points after this incident when he was hit in the face. He's had a few teeth knocked out, broke his nose. A man threw a statue at him at a rally in Milan. Berlusconi has been fighting accusations of sex scandals as well as corruption for a good chunk of the year. And there it is.
All right, well, still ahead, what is in the health care bill? And how will it affect the average American? Our Sanjay Gupta is breaking it down for us he joins us after the break. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 50 minutes past hour. You know, early this morning, early, early, 1:00 a.m. actually the Senate voted to end debate on a sweeping health care reform bill. With so much give and take during the debate a lot of people are wondering what exactly is in this bill and what's out of it and what could it mean to you?
Well, for some answers this morning, we're paging Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent in Atlanta for us, hey Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, yes there is -- it's over 2,000 pages. So a lot of people very curious about what this means for them specifically.
A couple of broad brush strokes first. The public option that we've talked about so much, Kiran, as you know of this idea of the government plan that could compete with private insurance companies, that's not part of the Senate bill. Also, the idea of expanding Medicare to people even as young as 55 -- also not part of this particular bill.
So let's take a look at what's in it specifically and what it might mean to you. So for example, let's take a family of four. The Smith family here in this case making around $28,000 a year. They're simply not making enough money to be able to buy health care insurance; this has been a real problem for them. Under the bill they're going to immediately qualify for subsidies through Medicaid. Now that's going to be sort of a first thing when this is implemented.
And incidentally, those subsidies really go to people, families I should say making up to $88,000. So you get an idea of the range here. As part of that those qualifications will be able to purchase health care insurance and be able to care -- for the children that coverage may start even sooner. So that's a little bit of an idea of the numbers for them specifically and how they might be affected.
And let's also take a look at a -- something known as a pre- existing condition here. This is somebody who in the past has had a history of heart disease. We've talked a lot about this, the idea that you have heart disease. You can't buy health care insurance either because you don't qualify or because it's just cost prohibited.
This is Harry; he's had a heart attack in the past. Now he makes around $43,000 a year, so he was making too much to really qualify for Medicaid, but too little to be able to buy health insurance overall. And therein lies part of the problem for him. When this is implemented, Kiran, he will be able to qualify for an exchange of some sort and be able to get these insurance companies competing for his business.
Overall on the long run, he is someone who would be able to get that insurance for about $4,500 a year. That's how much it would cost. We did the math on this and then with some of the subsidies that he would also qualify for, it would take it down to about $3,800.
So again, these are some very specific examples Kiran, of how this might work. But this is really what we're talking about, preexisting conditions and people who simply don't make enough to be able to buy health insurance now.
CHETRY: Now, that's the good news for people who do have this preexisting conditions who are previously denied insurance, especially if they have to pay for it on their own.
GUPTA: That's right.
CHETRY: What are some of the other things that caught your eye about what people may be able to expect from this bill?
GUPTA: Well, you know, the number that people are talking about a lot I the 31 million Americans. And that's the number that specifically, they think are going to get access to health care insurance who don't have it now. It's now everybody as you know Kiran, so it's about 94 percent.
You know the thing that really struck me the most and I think it's worth reminding people this morning, is that as much as that we've talked about this late into night and we've talking about this all week, a lot of these plans, specifically for adults, we're not going to see the ramifications of that even up until really 2014.
So four years from now before we see some of this happening. So there's a lot of steps between now and then. And during that process, it's likely some of this is going to change even some more.
CHETRY: All right, Sanjay, thanks for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it and yes, you're right, we're probably have to go back to the drawing board, just like the two chambers of Congress will be on any final bill.
GUPTA: I'll be here right with you, absolutely.
CHETRY: Sanjay thanks so much.
HOLMES: And a lot of people are still wrapping up their Christmas shopping. Some products out there that people just say sell themselves. And we have some right now to show you. You don't need a salesperson, no salesperson necessary, just walked pass the display, I'll take two.
It's five minutes to the top of the hour.
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HOLMES: The Most News in the Morning, and it's about four minutes until the top of the hour.
It's time for -- yes, they caught you dancing. It's all right. The Most News in the Morning -- just in time for your last minute holiday shopping. There is a window display designed to lure you in with the products, but it might leave you drooling just a bit as well.
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CHETRY: I love when you are calling the women the products. HOLMES: Well, they're selling the products is what I was saying.
CHETRY: Here's selling the clothing in a very unusual way. Jeanne Moos calls it window undressing.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The traditional Santa in the window is known for his red outfit, but changing outfits is what the women in this window are known for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. They should do it on every corner.
MOOS: Here at the corner of 38th and 5th Avenue, they are changing their clothes at night; they're changing their clothes during the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we change, as soon as the top comes off, the crowd triples.
MOOS: They are this season's hit holiday windows. Spectators are sparse at the windows across the street, but here there is a constant crowd, mostly male, pressing up against the glass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What could be more Christmas than two beautiful women...
MOOS (on camera): In bathrobes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In bathrobes.
MOOS (voice-over): Brushing each other's hair, and jumping on the couch, kissing the mirror, and tossing their hair. They're actually promoting a clothing line, XOXO. But once you step in this window.
(on camera): I am feeling very over dressed.
NIKI HUEY, MODEL: You are.
MOOS: Yes. Take it off.
(voice-over): They're under instructions not to interact with the crowd.
HUEY: I don't make eye contact, but I see them in the corner of my eyes. We can cheat by looking into the mirror.
MOOS: The show goes both ways. Looking in and looking out.
HUEY: They write notes and press it up to the window.
MOOS (on camera): What kind of notes?
HUEY: I have yet to read it. MOOS (voice-over): We're pretty sure they're not like the letters to Santa at Macy's windows. See how they preen.
(on camera): Santa doesn't get requests like this.
Put on the shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put on the shoes.
MOOS: That would be the high heels. Then when Helena zipped up Nicky, breaks squealed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have the nicest legs I think I have ever seen. I wish I had a pair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's too much. It belongs inside a studio not the store front.
MOOS: Some on lookers think the glass is one way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All these guys can't conceptualize that the women are ignoring them, so it must be a special glass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like they can't see from the other side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell her she dropped something.
MOOS (on camera): She dropped something.
HUEY: They want you to bend over.
MOOS: Is that it? They want you bend over, really?
(voice-over): Don't be naughty, it's not nice. 'Tis the season with windows of future holiday trains, but one good caboose deserves another.
Jeanne Moos CNN, New York.
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CHETRY: And you see didn't think it was going to fit. But it did at the last minute.
HOLMES: I had no doubts that it was going to work out.
CHETRY: Worked out just fine in the end. And a good time was had by all.
HOLMES: Let's stop talking about the story now.
CHETRY: Yes, we can continue the conversation, though, and you can too by going to cnn.com/amFix, that's our Web site.
HOLMES: All right. Well, that's it for us. Time to hand off the things to "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins. Take it away Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hey good morning guys.
