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Senate Passes Health Care Bill; Bogus Terror Plot

Aired December 24, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Santa is very busy and that of course tops our look at the top stories. Jolly old St. Nick has left the North Pole to start delivering toys and joys to little girls and little boys. And he comes at night in most cultures to drop off his Christmas surprises. Oh, but some of those deliveries may be a little delayed because he's decided to make a pit stop here in Atlanta.

Hello, Santa.

SANTA CLAUS: Hello.

WHITFIELD: He's talking with our own little boys and girls right here on the set. Hi, everybody! Merry Christmas.

SANTA CLAUS: Say Merry Christmas.

CROWD: Merry Christmas!

WHITFIELD: Yay! Is everybody ready to ask Santa what they want? Yes? You have your wish lists, kids?

SANTA CLAUS: Did everybody bring their wish list today? OK but we can talk about it, though, can't we? He didn't bring it. We can talk about it, right?

CROWD: Yeah.

SANTA CLAUS: All right. Thanks for coming out today.

WHITFIELD: They are ready and so is Santa. We're so grateful that he made a pit stop here in Atlanta. Much more of Santa and the kids right after this.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The ayes are 60, the nays are 39. HR 3590 as amended, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is passed.

WHITFIELD: Back to our other top story, Vice President Joe Biden presiding over the Senate as 60 senators voted to move one step closer to universal health care. They passed the $871 billion health care reform bill. Well now it has to be merged with the House version to create one bill for the president to sign. CNN national correspondent Jessica Yellin joins me now from Capitol Hill. This is going to be a huge undertaking to try to consolidate these two bills, something tells me. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right. And leaders here say that they have already begun some discussions, casual informal discussions, but they really do need this break. They're going to go home and then Democrats will begin talking next week. Their staffs are going to be back. In fact, one senator announced publicly that his staff will be back at work next week and some of his staff members looked a little surprised to hear him saying that.

What they need to do is begin the work of merging two very different bills. I'm told the general consensus is about 70 percent of the bills can be merged at the staff level, but that remaining percentage, 30 percent needs to be done by leadership. Democrats, though I should not dismiss the fact that they view this day as enormously historic.

There's a sense of momentousness here and I pulled some sound for you of some classic senatorial language about how important this day is. I'm afraid actually we don't have it, but in the great sweep of history, the Democrats are saying that this belongs as one of the great moments in what the Congress has managed to do.

And on the flip side, the Republicans are saying that this bill is a monstrosity, that this bill is a huge mistake. Senator John McCain called it Chicago-style sausage-making. The acrimony, the partisanship has not lessened one bit, Fredricka, as this vote has taken place.

WHITFIELD: Well interesting too, Jessica, I spoke with Senator Paul Kirk who replaced Senator Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, the late Ted Kennedy, and he said that this was one of the proudest moments of his history, of his public life, knowing how meaningful this vote would have been for Senator Ted Kennedy. What are some of the other senators saying, as I understand you or some of our crews caught up with them as they made their way to the airports to begin their holiday.

YELLIN: That's right. Well a lot of the democrats are saying this is a vote they cast in the memory of Ted Kennedy, because as you know health care was his great issue. Senator Robert Byrd, the oldest member of the Senate who's been quite ill and hasn't come out of his sick bed to vote in recent weeks stood up on the Senate floor this morning and said he is casting this vote for Kennedy. Kirk, as you say, had tears in his eyes when he talked about the vote. And even Senator Kennedy's widow, Vicki, was here for the vote. So very momentous by the Democrats.

The Republicans we're talking to say they are going home. They're disappointed but they plan to talk to constituents and let constituents know how dissatisfied they are with the bill and try to build some ground swell for opposition.

WHITFIELD: All right Jessica Yellin on Capitol Hill, thanks so much, appreciate that.

So where are we now? The next step for health care reform happens in conference committee. That's where House and Senate leaders will try and merge their versions of the bill. But there are some major differences to overcome, and that includes the so-called public option. It's in the House bill but it was cut out of the Senate version. The House bill has much stricter language dealing with the federal funds being used for abortions. They also each have different ideas on how to pay for the plans. So now that the Senate vote is in the books, President Obama is taking a vacation. The president and the first family are heading to Hawaii for the holidays. This will be the first trip back to his home state since becoming president. The Obamas are expected to stay there through New Year's.

All right Christmas Eve travel mess. A powerful winter storm is spreading heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain over much of the nation's midsection. Blizzard warnings are out this morning for Kansas and parts of three other states. A foot or two of snow is possible in some areas by tomorrow. Slippery roads from the storm have been blamed for at least six deaths and flights out of some Midwestern airports have been delayed or cancelled. I guess folks just need to get used to this. Reynolds, we've seen delayed flights, cancelled flights since the pack weekend with the northeast storm and now this.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, this is an incredible Christmas potentially for David Goldman. He's been waiting for this day for five years. He's bringing his son, Sean, back home to New Jersey. We have confirmed that the two boarded a plane in Rio de Janeiro a short time ago. In fact now the plane has actually taken off. The U.S. government chartered the plane, now bound for the United States.

The boy has been living in Brazil since his mother took him there back in 2004. She divorced Goldman and then remarried. When she died last year during childbirth, her family went to court to keep Sean, this little boy right here on Tuesday. Brazil's Supreme Court chief justice ended the custody fight, ordered Sean returned to his father. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is thrilled to hear about the reunion taking place.

Earlier this morning, her statement goes on to say quote "I want to thank everyone who helped bring this long process to a successful conclusion, including a number of members of Congress and many concerned parties, both here and in Brazil," end quote. That from Secretary Clinton. She ends her statement by saying this, quote, "I offer my warmest wishes for father and son as they celebrate their first holiday season together in five years."

So a man accused of opening fire at a Baton Rouge construction company killing two employees and wounding a third could face a judge today. The suspect said a dispute over unemployment benefits led to the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have anything to say about why you did it? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't get my unemployment. They won't let me get my unemployment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The 53-year-old suspect is a former employee at the company. He faces two counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. Investigators say he fired at a fourth person but missed.

And a peaceful end to a frightening day at a Virginia post office. Police say a man in a wheelchair entered the building in Wytheville yesterday afternoon, fired his gun and took three people hostage. The suspect, Warren Taylor from Tennessee, released them about eight hours later and surrendered. Police say all he demanded was some pizza. His motive is still a mystery.

And the threat of a terror attack from the air during the holidays, but what happens when the intelligence is faulty?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the clock is ticking toward Christmas. Can't you feel it in the air and can't you hear the music? But it's not too late to get your Christmas wish on record. You can actually go to CNN.com/Fredricka and tell us what you want for Christmas. I'll read some of your comments on the air a little later on.

And because we are so privileged to actually have Santa here, it means that he's hearing the wish list of many kids. He's even on his hands and knees there to try and find out what these little ones want for Christmas. We've got a full house here, as you can hear. Kids of all ages asking old St. Nick to deliver come Christmas morning. Take a look at all the beautiful kids here. Merry Christmas, everyone! Oh, they're so excited and they're ready and raring to go. Much more of Santa and your Christmas wish list right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the suspect in the Ft. Hood massacre asked a radical Muslim cleric whether killing U.S. troops violated Islamic law. An army psychiatrist says Major Nidal Hasan first communicated with the cleric by e-mail about a year before the shooting. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the November 5th attack that killed 13 people and wounded 40 others. The cleric said Hasan initiated the contact.

And the threat of a terror attack on U.S. airliners. It disrupts air travel but an intelligence report in 2003 turned out to be bogus, the work of an alleged conman. CNN's Brian Todd has these details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): The closing days of 2003 -- a period of heightened travel during the holidays and heightened tension. Intelligence officials knew that two years after 9/11, air travel was still a prime target for Al Qaeda. On December 21st of that year, the terror threat level was raised from yellow to orange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Recent reporting reiterates -- and this is a constant stream of reporting -- that Al Qaeda continues to use aircraft as a weapon.

TODD: Fran Townsend, the White House deputy national security adviser at the time and now a CNN contributor, says this about the information.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: It seemed that the intelligence community was producing, on a running basis, ongoing basis, information to specific planes that may be targeted, specific locations. And so it was being taken very seriously.

TODD: Townsend said some commercial planes were grounded, others diverted. But within days, she says, the White House learned this about the intelligence.

TOWNSEND: In retrospect, it was not credible.

TODD: A major disruption in holiday air traffic based on bogus intelligence.

Where did it come from?

An investigation by "Playboy" magazine traced it back to a Nevada software company called eTreppid and a programmer there named Dennis Montgomery. Two former employees of eTreppid tell CNN Montgomery claimed to have developed technology that he said could decode Al Qaeda messages hidden in secret bar codes transmitted unknowingly by the Al Jazeera TV network -- codes that supposedly gave specific information on airline flights. The employees we talked to say people widely believed within the company to be U.S. intelligence officials came to eTreppid to look at Montgomery's programs. But the employees say they never saw the technology and "Playboy" cites sources say no secret Al Qaeda messages ever existed on Al Jazeera and Montgomery's alleged technology apparently didn't exist, either.

In Washington, doubts about the information got around quickly.

(on camera): How did this all start to unravel?

TOWNSEND: Well, as the threat begins to unfold and there's massive disruption and chaos at international airports around the world, our -- our allies are asking us more questions and putting greater pressure on us to really understand the source and credibility of the intelligence.

TODD: (voice-over): In the end, Townsend says, none of the intelligence held up.

Our repeated attempts to reach Dennis Montgomery and the CEO of eTreppid were not successful. But in court documents filed four years later, Montgomery defended his overall work, claiming to have provided the government specific target coordinates and flight numbers, which helped to disrupt a different threat.

Contacted about the original reporting of the bogus intelligence in late 2003, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security would not comment. Our inquiries to the office of former homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, were not returned. The CIA declined to comment.

Fran Townsend says she still does not regret the action she took to ground and divert those flights because she says at the time, they believe the information was credible. She says at the White House, they did what they had to do based on that information to save lives. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, we asked for your health care questions, given that there was the U.S. Senate vote this morning, and you became through big-time and now we're getting some of your answers from an expert.

And who's more of an expert about Christmas than Santa? He is here in studio and, oh look, he's talking to the kiddies right now. Boys and girls who are giving Santa an earful about what they want for Christmas. Christmas just hours away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Another look at our top stories. More protests in Iran. Pro-government demonstrators marched through the streets of Qom yesterday, this after the funeral of a prominent cleric turned into an anti-government rally earlier in the week. The cleric was a vocal critic of last June's contested presidential elections.

And U.S. airline investigators are in Jamaica. They're helping authorities there figure out why an American Airlines jet overran the runway in Kingston yesterday crashing through a fence and breaking apart. Ninety-one people were hospitalized. The flight data recorder has been sent to Washington. Investigators are still looking for the cockpit voice recorder.

All right, all this week we've been asking you to send your questions about the health care reform bill, and you actually flooded us with questions. And here today to help us wade through some of the answers, Julie Rovner, the health policy correspondent for National Public Radio. Good to see you.

JULIE ROVNER, NPR: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: And before we get to those questions, Julie, you were one of three reporters, correspondents that had a chit chat with the president yesterday. What were his thoughts revealed to you about where health care reform was going?

ROVNER: Well, he was very pleased of course that the Senate was then on the verge of passing its bill. Now of course that bill has passed this morning. He said that he thought that the House and Senate bills had a lot in common. In fact he said 95 percent. That may be a little bit overstating the case. Of course the 5 percent that the bills don't have in common are the most contentious issues, the public option, of course the government-sponsored plan, abortion language, how the bills would be paid for.

So there's still a lot to be worked out between the House and Senate bills, but I think as we've seen, the president is pretty enthusiastic that perhaps Congress is really going to do something that no president and Congress have been able to do in many, many, many decades of trying.

WHITFIELD: And did he really exude kind of an optimism that he just might have a bill on his desk before perhaps the State of the Union scheduled for late January?

ROVNER: He did. He didn't give a timetable but, yeah, I think that's the thought, that it will take another four or five weeks to get this put together and done and to him.

WHITFIELD: OK well here are some of the questions coming from you at home, which Julie is now going to answer for us. This from Jackie who says, "How will this health care bill help families like mine, who don't have and cannot afford to buy health insurance at this time?"

ROVNER: Well, this, of course, is the heart of this bill, both bills. The House and Senate bill would create these new insurance exchanges, sort of like farmers markets, if you will, where private insurance companies would compete to offer coverage.

There would be subsidies offered by the federal government for families that earn up to 400 percent of poverty. That's $88,000 for a family of four. So even healthy middle class incomes would be eligible for help affording these policies. The hope, of course, is that there would be enough competition that premiums would be affordable. That's the idea, of course, behind this public option that's in the House bill. But the hope is that there will be enough competition that people will be able to afford these policies and there will be help for them to purchase these policies, no pre- existing conditions either.

WHITFIELD: OK and now you have a question that resonates in so many different ways. People wanting to know, "How does this affect a senior on Medicare?"

ROVNER: Yes, of course, during the Senate debate you might have thought that this bill was all about Medicare, there was so much talk about this, $400 billion in Medicare cuts.

There's actually some new benefits for seniors on Medicare. There's new preventive benefits or at least no cost preventive benefits for seniors on Medicare and a gradual closing of that doughnut hole in the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Right now you get up to a certain amount, you keep paying your premiums but you don't get any more coverage.

Of course there are some reductions in payments to health care providers under Medicare. But we've seen those before and it seems unlikely that there would be any benefit reductions unless you're in a private Medicare advantage plan. Those are the private HMOs. And some people who are now getting extra benefits might see some of those scaled back. But in general, probably not much change for the worse. A little bit of change for the better, if you're on Medicare.

WHITFIELD: Except a lot of people who are on Medicare too, and those who are expecting one day they will be soon are concerned that the funds will simply be depleted, that there can't possibly -- that this might break the back of health care.

ROVNER: Well actually this bill the way it's structured would extend the solvency of Medicare by five years according to the Congressional Budget Office.

WHITFIELD: OK. Brian asks, "Does the new health care bill make insurance companies include pre-existing conditions for adults without changing premiums?"

ROVNER: Yes, it does. In fact that's one of the big issues in this bill. Insurers would have to cover people with pre-existing conditions. They would not be able to charge them more. That's a very big deal. However, it does not take effect until the exchanges start and this individual mandate, the requirement for people to have coverage. That all begins considerably later, 2013 in the House bill, 2014 in the Senate bill.

The reason for that is that insurance companies say they can't afford to do that. They can't afford to basically let people wait until they get sick to buy coverage so they can't take off their pre- existing condition exclusions until everyone is required to buy coverage and they can't start the subsidies until these exchanges are up and running. It takes a while for all of that to happen so that all begins together later on. The pre-existing condition exclusions for children however at least in the Senate bill do start much sooner, six months after enactment.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julie Rovner, thanks so much, of NPR, health policy correspondent. Appreciate that for breaking it down. A lot of folks still very curious about health care reform, what's next and what should their expectations be.

All right. Another winter storm is threatening parts of the country and it too is impacting your travel this holiday season. Our Reynolds Wolf is tracking the storm from the CNN Center.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You know we've been talking a lot about the possibility of some tornados. We've been talking about of course winter storms, but also heavy rain, even some flooding in parts of Little Rock, Arkansas. We get the live image for you. Let's show you that popping up in a few moments, showing you taillights and cars moving right on through the rough stuff. We'll have more coming up in just a few moments right here on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Fredricka Whitfield.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're now one big step closer to health care reform. This morning the Senate passed its $871 billion bill. As with earlier procedural votes, Democrats got 60 votes. That's all 58 Democrats and both independents. President Obama hailed the bill's passage, and he called it a historic vote that brings us closer to an end to a nearly century-long struggle for universal health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDNET OF THE UNITED STATES: As I've said before, these are not small reforms, these are big reforms. If passed, this will be the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act passed in the 1930s. And the most important reform of our health care system since Medicare passed in the 1960s.

What makes it so important is not just its cost savings or its deficit reductions. It's the impact reform will have on Americans who no longer have to go without a checkup or prescriptions that they need because they can't afford them, on families who no longer have to worry that a single illness will send them into financial (AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITIFIELD: You're also seeing those live pictures of Air Force One leaving Andrews Air Force base as the family then heads its way to Hawaii, where it will be vacationing, spending its first Christmas in the White House -- actually away from the White House, spending it in Hawaii.

All right. The president reached out to several senators after the vote to thank them for passing the bill. He also called Vicki Kennedy, the wife of the late Ted Kennedy. Top Democrats had said passing health care reform was a way to carry on the senator's legacy.

All right. President Obama also talked about how the bill brings health care to 30 million uninsured Americans. But what effect will it have on small businesses?

Christine Romans joins us live from New York as we continue to watch Air Force one as it was taxiing and getting ready to leave Andrews Air Force base as they head to Hawaii for a holiday vacation, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: (AUDIO GAP) ... focusing on the 30 million people who the supporters of this bill say will now be covered, but remember, 160 million Americans in this country are covered through their employer. So, far, far more people already get health insurance through their employer, and they're wondering, many of these companies, what kind of changes are in store for them. So, a lot of them cautious, quite frankly, ahead of January when this whole thing will be hashed out. This is what is the requirement for companies. If they don't offer health insurance, there's a $750 fine per employee. Now, some small businesses are exempt from these penalties, specifically businesses with 50 or fewer employees. And some small businesses with it get a 25 percent tax credit, so many Democrat supporters say there will be subsidies and tax benefits for small business that will make up any kind of costs that they might have.

But there's a big warning from big firms here. They have come together in a coalition actually to warn and they're still quite concerned about a provision in the Senate bill, Fredricka, that they say means many retirees of some big companies in this household name -- big companies may lose their drug benefits, their prescription drug benefits because of a tax change that could sharply lower the earnings of these companies next year. They're very worried about also what it means to the capital markets, the markets in general, if they have to report these sharply lower earnings because of the way the tax treatment is going to be changed in this bill.

So, this is a provision that you can imagine they're going to be putting more pressure on in the aftermath here when they try to reconcile this with the House bill to see if they can get this to be pulled back because they're very concerned that companies that do the right thing and have generous drug benefits for their retirees, well it may not pay for them to do that. In fact, it could hurt them to do that so they're a little concerned about that.

So, still we have to talk about the unintended consequences and how this is all going to get -- play out, but it's important to remember, Fredricka, I think that 31 million people will gain access to health care. That's what this bill is all about. But there are 160 million people who already get health benefits through their employer. Many of them are still watching for this final reconciliation phase to see how it will pan out for them.

WHITFIELD: A lot of folks expressing their concern whether that will impact their existing insurance as you mentioned. Christine Romans from New York, thank you so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Well, it is slow going, if anyone is going anywhere at all, particularly in the Midwest right now. Blizzard warnings are out from North Dakota and Minnesota all the way down to the Texas panhandle. Already at least 12 deaths are blamed on this holiday storm that's bringing heavy snow, ice, rain, all of it. Even the threat of tornadoes.

Reynolds Wolf is in our Severe Weather Center. Santa Claus is here in our studio. He took a pit stop here. This weathered hasn't affected his journey. Lots of kids here in the studio that are so happy to see him. For everybody else trying to get to Grandma's house or hope that Santa makes a stop at their home, they're worried about the weather.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Santa tends to be a better traveler than the rest of us. He's a little bit more experienced.

WHITFIELD: Rudolph and the rest of the troupe have a thing going.

WOLF: And no baggage limit, either, which always works in his favor.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: OK, well, hey, Reynolds, I'm with Santa here along with all the kids wondering anything you want to convey to Santa? What's on your wish list?

WOLF: You know what? We've actually met Santa just a couple of times. Just apologize to Santa for both my daughters crying uncontrollably.

Santa, you're a great guy. You deserve better than that. Milk and cookies normally, but we're going to give you something else tonight waiting by the fire for you.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, cool. Santa is here in the studio, and he's hearing the requests of so many. Santa, what's the most popular, I guess, request that you're hearing all morning?

SANTA CLAUS: Well, for the younger ones, it's typically like baby dolls, Barbie dolls. And then the middle age is usually the electronic devices.

WHITIFIELD: Wow. As I see already some kids over there.

CLAUS: Yes, they have already broke them out.

WHITIFIELD: Just in case you weren't sure what they wanted, they brought some samples. How about everybody else, what are you excited about? What did you tell Santa you wanted? You wanted what? A Wii game. What else?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: A microphone.

CLAUS: A microphone!

WHITIFIELD: A microphone! You want this one, don't you. How about you? A Zhu Zhu (ph) pet.

CLAUS: That's a popular one.

WHITIFIELD: What are you looking for under the tree? What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Wii Fit.

WHITIFIELD: Wii Fit. Oh, that's fun. How about you, Jada?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Umm, Xbox.

CLAUS: Xbox 360, okay.

WHITIFIELD: All right. Well, that's fun. Have you guys had fun talking to Santa? Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Yes!

CLAUSE: All right.

WHITIFIELD: Oh, you're a familiar face. Hey, buddy. Oh, I think I'll hold the mic. This is my son, John. What are you looking for under the tree in the morning?

JOHN WHITFIELD, FREDRICKA WHITIFIELD'S SON: I don't know.

WHITIFIELD: What? You're kidding me. Are you being shy?

CLAUS: Fish tank and three fish.

WHITIFIELD: I didn't know about the fish tank! And three fish. I bet you nemo is in there. All right. We'll be back with much more ahead here in the NEWSROOM with Santa. Hi! What are you looking for?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITIFIELD: So we've all seen videos of houses covered in Christmas lights, right, set to music? Well, apparently, there's a new twist. A house turned into a giant video game. Our Josh Levs is here with that and some other Christmas videos lighting up the Web today.

Josh, you always come up with the most unusual, the craziest of images.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, and taken offline -- I showed you this one, it's really cool, right?

WHITIFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: It's pretty amazing what they pulled off. By the way, with all the kids here, Santa here, I'm glad I have something festive. I'm glad I don't have to get all serious here. This is great.

So, we're taking a look at what's been really popular among the holiday videos online. You see lots of houses that set their lights to music. You've never before seen anything that lets you do this.

(PLAYS VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: That boy is controlling the music, and you're about to see the music take off. This video, based on a video game -- it went viral practically overnight and over a million hits within 24 hours. What we're seeing here is a home in Burbank, California, that's been hooked up to an actual working game of guitar hero.

So, anyone can come up to this house -- you push a button and you start playing with the wireless guitar so the lights are preprogrammed. They'll go no matter what, but it's up to you to play it right to get the music that goes along with it. Let's turn the music back up so they can hear it.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LEVS: So, it's really cool stuff and you don't have to worry about disturbing the neighbors because they're not hearing anything.

WHITFIELD: Oh, really?

LEVS: This music is transmitted, it's over a low power FM radio, so you just turn it on in your car or bring your own radio and headphones and you're hearing it and nobody else in the neighborhood is hearing it so you're not waking anybody up.

WHITFIELD: That's everybody's dream to have their music being played on the radio, even if they're the only one that say can hear it.

LEVS: That's a good point. In fact, let's give credit to the song, "Cliffs of Dover: by Eric Johnson. So, that's really impressive, right?

I've got one more to show you. That was impressive in a high tech kind of way.

WHITFIELD: Plus the air guitar is oh, so popular.

LEVS: This one here is low tech. We're going to hear a song made entirely out of the sounds of a Jeep Cherokee. Listen in.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So, this video has been posted on music and tech logs all over the Internet as an example how ordinary objects can be instruments. (INAUDIBLE) these eight teenagers spent two weeks on it. Took them seven hours. Everything in the entire sound, everything is a sound that they came up with by fiddling with that Jeep for a while.

WHIFIELD: Oh, my gosh. And that was going to be my question. How long did it take them to discover the sounds to put together the melody, but you answered it right there.

LEVS: Yes. When you watch the original video, you see them play with the power seats. They turn on the heat, they turn air. They opened up the hood and used all sorts of stuff I don't know the name of underneath that hood there.

WHITIFIELD: I think the move I would like the most would be the rolling over the hood or the rooftop of a car.

LEVS: That reminded me of the Dukes of Hazzard just now. Very cool. Look what they just did did with us. Whew! Busy. CNN.com/josh. Also Facebook and Twitter. JoshLevsCNN. Send us your favorite holiday viral videos and we'll share them with everybody else. I've got to tell you, Fred, these kids have been perfect throughout this whole time. They're right there. Wow, they're adorable.

WHITIFIELD: They're having a good time visiting with Santa there. We're so lucky to have Santa here in our house. And folks are getting a chance -- the little kids are getting a chance to tell him directly what they want to see under the tree tomorrow morning. All right, Josh, appreciate that.

So, all that cool video brings us to today's blog question. We asked what you want for Christmas this year. And here's some of what you said.

From Chuck, "I want a job."

And this from Elizabeth, "After years of brainstorming, I want my own business!"

And from Theron, "I want some new tires for my car, lasagna for dinner and a nice birthday gift since my birthday is actually on Christmas." Happy birthday, Theron.

And from Justin, "A day without political bickering." From Jen, "Simply put, peace."

Remember, we want to hear from you. Just log on to CNN.com/fredricka to share your comments.

This year, saw some big incentives to buy new cars, so will you see anything like the Cash for Clunkers program in 2010? We take a look ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITIFIELD: Okay. On this Christmas Eve, possibly ending this Christmas week on a high note, the Dow up ever so slightly, 10,503. Those are the points today, just up barely one point yesterday when the market ended, but the hope is that this week will end on a green note on this Christmas week.

Paid in full, the last of the big banks have now paid back the billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded government loans they received. Citigroup and Wells Fargo announced yesterday they paid back a combined $45 billion. Eight big banks received 71 percent of the bailout funds totaling $205 billion. More than 600 smaller banks still owe taxpayers nearly $60 billion.

Big paydays for the top execs at mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The CEOs of both companies received a compensation package of $6 million each this year. That's according to documents filed today. Both companies have been under government control since last year and have needed more than $110 billion in taxpayer money to actually stay afloat. The documents indicate the pay packages received the approval of the U.S. Treasury Department. The auto industry is happily closing the books on what's likely to go down as its worst year ever, so what can car buyers expect next year? Alison Kostic is in the CNN Money Newsroom in New York, so Alison, what's the outlook for 2010?

ALISON KOSTIC, CNNMONEY.COM: Bottom line, Fred, prices are probably going up next year. But an awful here for automakers created really sweet deals for consumers this year. We're talking about incentives worth $5,000, $6,000, even $7,000 on some cars.

One analyst called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for buyers. Next year, though, with sales expected to improve, prices will likely go up. Edmund's.com is predicting an 11 percent sales increase to 11.5 million vehicles, but that's not even close to the 16 million vehicles sold a few years ago. Analysts expect the market will still be very price competitive next year but you won't see another Cash for Clunkers incentive or the extraordinary deals that were available this year. Fred.

WHITFIELD: What about then used cars, might you find a better deal on used cars next year?

KOSTIC: Well, unfortunately that's really not what analysts are predicting at this point. Edmund's says used car prices are rising because there's limited inventory and pretty strong demand.

Take a look, the retail value of a 3-year-old vehicle rose 4 percent this year, and prices for five- and even ten-year-old cars jumped as well. Edmund's expect that trend to continue next year as supply will be tight...

WHITFIELD: Can I ask you why?

KOSTIC: Pardon me?

WHITFIELD: Can I ask you why? That's weird.

KOSTIC: It's because there are fewer used cars available in this economy. People are holding on to their vehicles longer. There are also fewer vehicles coming off lease. It's a big supplier to used car lots, if you think about it.

One more thing to remember, there are a lot of cars that would have ended up on used car lots. Those were destroyed as part of the Clunkers program. So the advice is, Fred, at this point be careful if you're shopping for used cars. The markups on some of those certified pre-owned vehicles can actually get pretty close to what you'd pay for some new cars, so you compare what the used car is going to cost and the new, and you'll find that it's pretty close at this point.

WHITFIELD: Oh! Alison Kostic, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

KOSTIC: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Santa is about to make his rounds this evening ,and before he embarks on his trip with Rudolph and the rest of the gang, he decided to stop here in Atlanta at the CNN Center, where he's getting an earful from the kids on what they want for Christmas. And you know what? And he's letting them know what his favorite cookie might be to leave for him tonight.

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WHITFIELD: Nothing gets better than this when you get to hear the conversation between the kids and Santa. They're asking about his favorite cookies and who makes the best cookies. So Santa...

CLAUS: Oh, yes. Santa loves peppermint.

WHITFIELD: So what's the recommendation, Santa? What kind of treats do kids need to leave out for you tonight before the delivery?

CLAUS: What kind of cookies does Santa like?

(CROSSTALK)

CLAUS: Homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade M & M cookies, homemade sugar cookies and milk to drink. If we don't have milk, what else does Santa like?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Coca-Cola!

CLAUS: Coca-cola! Yes. Chocolate milk is good.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No, that baby wants the microphone.

WHITFIELD: Okay, very good. Santa, you're going to be very full this evening. You have a lot of stops to make, and everyone will have the cookies and candy canes ready. Are you guys excited about waking up tomorrow morning?

CHILDREN: Yeah!

WHITFIELD: Yay! All right.

CHILDREN: Are you really excited?

CHILDREN: Yes!

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas, Santa.

CLAUS: Merry Christmas.

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Tony Harris is up next and he's got a long wish list as well.