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Reflecting on Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Edwards; Democrats Threaten to Rebel Over Tax Cut Deal; 30th Anniversary of John Lennon's Death; U.S. Education Ranks 14th in the World; Secret Credit Scores Few Know About

Aired December 08, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7 at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, the news and information you need for this Wednesday, the 8th of December, 2010.

A public life, private pain, and a legacy of strength in the face of tragedy -- remembering Elizabeth Edwards and her courageous fight against cancer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was one tough chick. And she moved ahead, she didn't look back. And America is a worse place today because she's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I love that, "She was one tough chick."

And it's hard to imagine. Today marks 30 years since the death of John Lennon. Kyra and I were just talking about that. We'll go live to Strawberry Fields and New York's Central Park as fans gather to pay tribute. That will be interesting.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Tony is off today.

Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But we start with this, everyone. She inspired others with her strength and courage. People around the country today are reflecting on the life and legacy of Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of two-time vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

She talked publicly about the private tragedies that shaped her life, like the death of her son Wade in a car accident when he was just 16.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: When Wade died, it was terrible burden, but it also reminded you both of the fact that you needed to grab hold of each day, you couldn't just take each day for granted. You had to make each day matter, make each interchange with people you cared about matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's go live now. CNN's Shannon Travis is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Edwards died yesterday after a six-year battle with cancer.

You have been talking with some close friends of the family. What are they saying about that conversation?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: That's right, Don. We have talked with John Moylin (ph).

I just went to set the scene really quick of where we are and why we're here.

We're in front of Elizabeth Edwards's furniture story here in Chapel Hill. It's called The Red Window. It was one of her kind of final ways to kind of move on as she was battling the cancer.

But back to your question about talking with a close family friend, his name is John Moylin (ph). He advised John Edwards in his 2004 VP nomination and his 2008 presidential nomination.

And he told us about the mood in the house shortly after Elizabeth Edwards' passing. He wasn't there when she actually passed, but he was there shortly after.

He talked about the mood being one of strength. He talked about the mood being strong, and said that Elizabeth Edwards did a really good job, in his words, of preparing the family for this moment to happen.

He also told us something that stuck out to me and my producer, that the children -- you know, they had two young children together. They actually went to school yesterday after their mother's passing, just a way to maintain a sense of normalcy.

I also asked about John Edwards, obviously, being there. John Edwards was there, and he talked about John Edwards right now having a singular focus on taking care of the three kids that they have.

LEMON: Yes. The kids have been -- some of them -- at least the older one -- has been front and center. And you saw it in an interview with Elizabeth Edwards.

TRAVIS: That's right.

LEMON: Here is what I would like to know, Shannon. Any funeral plans, any plans for services yet?

TRAVIS: Absolutely. Great question.

And we put that to John Moylin (ph) as well. He's talking about -- he's saying that details are being worked out for a possible Saturday funeral here in Chapel Hill, but he stressed that there are no firm details as of yet right now, Don. We pressed him on who might be coming, if anyone's given advanced word that they would definitely show up. He doesn't really know that, but they are looking at a Saturday funeral here in Chapel Hill.

We'll continue to work on getting more details about that.

LEMON: Shannon Travis, thank you very much. We really appreciate that report.

The last televised interview with Elizabeth Edwards was on "The Nate Berkus Show." In the September interview, Edwards talked about reclaiming her life after her husband's infidelity, about her fight against cancer, and the comforts of her home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARDS: So this is my bedroom. And it's a great place to wake up because I have a wonderful view.

NATE BERKUS, HOST, "THE NATE BERKUS SHOW": It's such a happy room.

EDWARDS: It is a happy room.

BERKUS: It's a really happy room.

Are there moments for you where you can't get out of bed?

EDWARDS: Sure.

BERKUS: Are there days where you're in this room and --

EDWARDS: Sure. There are days when, you know, everybody who has probably either been through what I have been through in my marriage, or been through with disease, or lost somebody they care about have days when they just pull the covers right back up over their heads and stay put.

BERKUS: Yes.

EDWARDS: In some ways it's nice for me to have cancer, because if I'm feeling like that, the kids will come in here and just assume I'm feeling bad because of the chemo, even if that's really not the reason that I'm feeling bad. So it gives them a sort of -- I guess if cancer can be a safe place to go, emotionally, I think in some ways it might be for them.

BERKUS: Sure. I think everybody has had those days where they cannot get out of bed, and then all of a sudden --

EDWARDS: You're important in somebody's life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, during that interview, Berkus asked Edwards about the pictures with her estranged husband. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERKUS: What do you do with that? Do they come off the walls at some point?

EDWARDS: I don't know. I guess at some point. I mean, I'm just leaving them here right now, but --

BERKUS: Do they go in his house?

EDWARDS: If he wants them, I suppose. I have a friend who said never have your portrait painted with someone to whom you're not related by blood.

BERKUS: I love that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Edwards was asked what she sees when she looks at John Edwards. Her response is, "I see the father of my children."

(NEWSBREAK)

LEMON: To Washington now, where Democrats are angry and they're threatening to rebel over the tax cut deal between President Obama and Republican leaders. Congressman Anthony Weiner says he's all for compromise, but criticizes the president's negotiating skills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: What he said today, that this reminds me of the public option, yes, it kind of does. It was the same exact case where, if you don't fight for something, you can't expect to get it. But I don't think you should expect Democrats to be happy about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Let's bring in our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, listen, the president is getting it from both sides, mostly from people in his own party. So what is the Obama administration doing to sell this deal to the Democrats?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, absolutely. I mean, you and I were talking about this earlier today, the fact that the president really is stuck in the middle here, and he's trying desperately to try to get his own party to come around and see his point of view.

We know that the vice president, Joe Biden, is going to be talking to some of those Democrats who are in revolt up on the Hill today to try to smooth some things over. We heard from the president yesterday. It was quite surprising, that we saw kind of that flash of frustration from the president when he hit back at some of the criticism from the Democrats.

We also saw one of his top advisers, David Axelrod, this morning hit all five of the networks early this morning to try to put the message out there. The bottom line, the president is trying to convince the American people that, look, he didn't have much of a choice when it came to negotiating with the Republicans to put forward all of the tax cuts, not to allow them to expire. He says he got some things out of it that were very promising for the Democrats and for the middle class; namely, the 13-month extension for unemployment benefits, but that the art of compromise here and this new political reality that he has to deal with it something that Democrats are going to have to accept.

As upset as they are, the message essentially from White House aides are, you've got to get over it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At any given juncture, there are going to be times when my preferred option, what I'm absolutely positive is right, I can't get done. And so then my question is, does it make sense for me to tack a little bit this way or tack a little bit that way? Because I'm keeping my eye on the long term and the long fight. Not my day-to-day news cycle, but where am I going over the long term?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, SR. WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: What we need to do is focus on what's good for the country, what's good for the American people, and move forward. Compromise, by its very nature, involves things that neither side like.

We don't like the tax -- extending even temporarily the tax cuts for the wealthy, more generous treatment of wealthy estates. That was the price Republicans demanded for a very significant package of tax cuts for the middle class, and tax cuts to help businesses grow and hire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Don, the president also made a very good point yesterday, when you take a listen, at least from the administration's point of view, is that there are some things, some significant things, that the administration got done in the last couple of years very much rooted in the Democratic philosophy. He talked about health care reform -- it was a major piece of legislation -- the economic stimulus package, some of the regulations for financial institutions.

These are the kinds of things the president says, look, we have accomplished these things, we're working towards the goal, that he does have a spine here, despite the fact there are so many Democrats now who are publicly and privately just shaking their heads and thinking, what has he done? LEMON: The president faced a litany of questions yesterday, the chorus against him, and he responded very candidly. My question is, is this deal going to get passed even after that?

MALVEAUX: It is likely that it is going to get passed simply because you do have Democrats who are very upset about this. You might have some changes around the edges.

There are a lot of people that are talking about the estate tax deal, that perhaps they can maneuver that a little bit. But one of the things that the Democrats don't want to do is they don't want to get in the way of legislation being passed in the lame-duck session of Congress.

If nothing is passed, Don, that means everybody's taxes goes up. Nobody wants to be responsible for that, so you're going to see a lot of noise. You're going to see a lot of expression here. But ultimately, you're probably going to see a deal that's pretty close to what was announced yesterday.

LEMON: Suzanne Malveaux from the White House.

And from the White House lawn to Strawberry Fields, John Lennon would have been 70 years old if he had not been shot by a deranged fan on this day, 30 years ago in New York City. Now, imagine that. A few hours before the shooting, Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, asked the former Beatle to autograph his new solo album.

Do you remember that name of that album? We'll have the answer for you after the break. And also, a live report from Strawberry Fields, where Lennon's fans are gathering in Central Park right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Today marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death at the hands of a mentally ill fan.

In the decade after the Beatles broke up, John Lennon released several solo albums, including "Plastic Ono Band," "Imagine," "Mind Games." And the last album he released in 1980, just before he was killed, was called "Double Fantasy."

That is the album his killer, Mark David Chapman, asked Lennon to autograph just hours before gunning him down outside his Central Park West apartment building. This is a picture of the actual album Lennon signed right there. It has Chapman's fingerprints all over it.

1980.

Well, today many Lennon fans are gathering in Central Park, at Strawberry Fields. They're remembering this rock icon and the peace activist gunned down at age 40, in the prime of his life.

We want to go now to Richard Roth. He joins us now from Strawberry Fields.

Richard, what is it like there?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you can see. I think the pictures describe it better than I can, as we can listen even for a second as Beatles' songs are being sung here as a crowd of several dozen people watches here in Strawberry Fields, where it's marked by the word "Imagine."

(SINGING)

ROTH: And they have been gathering here all day, and this crowd is going to get much larger for the traditional vigil in the evening, the lighting of candles.

It was interesting. As I was just walking back here, I saw a couple get out of a New York City taxicab, Don, with a huge sign saying, "All the world needs is love."

This is not what you normally see getting out of a New York taxicab in the hustle and bustle of the big city. So, a lot of people from around the world, they stop here in the Strawberry Fields area, in the shadow of the Dakota Apartments, where John Lennon was murdered 30 years ago, and most of them leaving flowers, remembrances, cards, and in their own thoughts.

That's the atmosphere, Don, here in Strawberry Fields.

LEMON: Richard Roth, thank you very much. We'll check back in with you.

Let's move on now and talk about the fists and the flags. They fly. Now a West Virginia team pays a big price for a brawl on the field.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: First, a no holds barred brawl on the football field. Now a West Virginia high school team gets pulled from the championship game.

What's going on?

Well, why don't we check in with Rafer Weigel. He joins us now for "The Big Play."

Rafer, you're on that show on HLN with that pretty, smart girl.

RAFER WEIGEL, "MORNING EXPRESS": Yes, that nice lady, Robin Meade. She's very nice. She says hello.

LEMON: "Morning Express."

How are you doing?

WEIGEL: I'm doing fine.

LEMON: So what happened with this brawl? What's going on? WEIGEL: Well, this is the first time I've ever heard of a Supreme Court weighing in on high school football suspensions.

We're showing you a brawl from November 19th between South Charleston and Hurricane High. Now, officials looked at this fight, they suspended four guys from each team.

Now, it was a playoff game, so one team was eliminated. South Charleston won.

So they go to play their semifinal game, but the four players that are suspended challenge it in court. A circuit court judge rules that the suspensions violated civil law.

LEMON: Gosh.

WEIGEL: So the guys go and play the game, and they win against Brook (ph), this other team.

Well, the coach on that team filed a motion in court, in that county, and that judge ruled, no, you didn't have the authority to lift the suspension. So this case goes to the West Virginia Supreme Court. The Supreme Court rules, no, no, no, these guys should have been suspended.

They forfeit the semifinal game. The team that lost the semifinal game is now in the state championship. Absolutely --

LEMON: Did you get all that? You need a scorecard to keep up with it.

WEIGEL: It's incredible. And so, basically, the Supreme Court says you don't get to play in the state championship.

LEMON: So, if you ever wondered how seriously we take Friday nights and high school football, now you know.

WEIGEL: Right. There you go.

LEMON: All right. Let's move on and talk about Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth. He's been suspended for the team's final -- what's going on?

WEIGEL: The last four games.

Well, you know, a lot of people, Don, don't like sports because they look at athletes as overpaid and coddled and spoiled. And this story really resonates and speaks to that.

LEMON: Well?

WEIGEL: This guy signed a seven-year, $100 million deal last year, cashed a $21 million bonus check in April. Since then, showed up to team practices out of shape, did not perform in mini (ph) camps, was basically insubordinate, was basically a cancer on the team. His own teammates got fed up with him, and his coach finally said, all right, we are suspending you for the last four games of the season. They're going to try to get the "bonus money" back.

To be fair, his brother did die in a motorcycle accident in October. Some people have criticized the coach for bringing it out into the media. So it's a little bit -- it's just drama. It's like a soap opera in Washington, and we're not talking about Capitol Hill.

LEMON: I'll let you -- I have this whole notes about this. And you know more. Keith Fitzhugh, what's going on with him?

WEIGEL: Yes, this is a wonderful --

LEMON: It's a very sort of (INAUDIBLE) story.

WEIGEL: It's family over football. It's a wonderful, wonderful story. And I've never heard of anything like it.

This guy, Keith Fitzhugh, here, he was on the New York Jets team in the pre-season, and he was cut. He has been working as a conductor down in the Atlanta area for the Norfolk Southern Railroad in Atlanta.

Well, the Jets lost a couple of players recently, so they called this guy and they say, hey, would you like to come and join the team for the last four games of the season? He politely turned them down because he is supporting his parents.

His father is disabled. He wanted to keep the long-term job security of this conductor job rather than risk it and go play in the NFL. Maybe he plays four games. With the league minimum, it averages to about, let's just say about $20,000 a game. But after that, who knows what's going to happen?

LEMON: Can they work something out where they give him some sort of insurance or -- I don't know. I mean, maybe he would take some help rather than the big salary.

WEIGEL: Well, I mean, that would really be up to the railroad itself. But he would be gone for four weeks, possibly the playoffs. They would have to fill that position. It really speaks to the tough economic times we are in right now, that this guy would give up a dream of playing in the NFL because he wants to support his family and make sure he can do it over the long term.

LEMON: So the other story where we talked about athletes being coddled and overpaid, this guy --

WEIGEL: This guy would have really done, I think -- if he had a $100 million contract, would are behaved differently. That's a good point.

LEMON: Yes. Well, we wish him the very best.

Rafer, always good to see you.

WEIGEL: Nice seeing you.

LEMON: And tell that lady we said hello. You know.

WEIGEL: I will, indeed. She wants an autographed picture from you.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Right. We're talking Robin Meade here and getting her picture.

Thank you, Rafer. Good to see you.

WEIGEL: You got it.

LEMON: Some of the best video of the day is coming up. Why did this guy climb 300 feet up a flagpole? And what's he doing there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

We have breaking news here on CNN, just in.

CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live in D.C. with details of an alleged terror plot.

Jeanne, what do you have?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, in about an hour's time, a young man is going to make a court appearance in Baltimore, Maryland, according to our sources. This individual, described as a 21-year-old Muslim convert, we're told by law enforcement and U.S. government sources, was arrested this morning in Maryland. And he purportedly wanted to blow up what's described variously as an armed forces recruiting station or career center in Catonsville, Maryland.

According to the U.S. government source, he talked about a truck bomb, and this was one of these undercover operations where law enforcement provided him with an inert device. We're told that the public at no time was in any danger. However, one law enforcement source did tell me that the situation was serious, that the worry was if law enforcement had not intervened, this individual might have hooked up with other people of similar intent and actually done some damage.

But once again, he is described as a 21-year-old Muslim convert, arrested this morning in Maryland, allegedly wanting to blow up a military recruiting or career station in Catonsville, Maryland. He'll be in court in just about an hour's time, Don. This is very similar to the recent case, by the way, in Portland, Oregon, where a young man purportedly wanted to detonate a truck bomb at a Christmas tree lighting.

Back to you.

LEMON: Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, following the details and the breaking news.

Thank you, Jeanne. We'll check back if you get new information.

We hear the warnings over and over -- protect your banking information. But what if your own bank is doing the spying on you? Would you even know if they were doing it? We'll show you how to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I asked you this question just a short while ago. Where does the U.S. rank in education? The U.S. is falling further and further behind the rest of the world in educating the next generation. And here's proof of that. Think about this: the U.S. ranks number 14 in the world, and that's for reading skills; 17th in science; and a dismal 25th in math.

So who is number one? There you go, Shanghai, China, number one. And number two, you see it there on your screen, is Hong Kong. We've got some catching up to do.

If it is hot on the web, we are watching it for you. Sandra Endo is in Washington today with what's trending.

Sandra, a lot of people are expressing a lot of emotion over the death of Elizabeth Edwards. So, what are they saying? What are you hearing from people who are speaking out?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, of course, trending today, the death of Elizabeth Edwards. Now, take a look on Twitter at some of the comments people are expressing. The hash tag is rip Elizabeth Edwards.

One Tweet says from Louisa (ph), "You were an inspiration."

Taking a look at another Tweet, "You were a strong woman who had to go through so much in your last few years on earth."

And one more comment on Twitter, "R.I.P., Elizabeth Edwards, the poor woman had to endure a lot but at least she's in peace now."

So a lot of people speaking out on Twitter, and of course, all across the blogs online. And that is trending today.

But, also, Don, trending today on CNN.com, a Palin war of words with a comedian, but it's not Sarah Palin. Bristol Palin is fighting back after Kathy Griffin took a jab at her at VH1 Diva Salutes the Troops concert last week. Here's what Griffin said about Bristol Palin.

Take a look. Quote, "She is the only contestant in the history of the show to actually gain weight. She gained like 30 pounds a week. I swear to God, it was fantastic. She was like the white precious."

Ouch. Well, the audience booed those comments after Griffin made them and here's what Bristol had to say in response.

Take a look at this, quote, "The audience's reaction to this comedian spoke volumes. And the decent people I know would probably have booed her, too. I hope people didn't have to pay money to hear her negativity and criticisms."

Can you say catfight, Don?

LEMON: I'm going to stay far away from that.

ENDO: Yes. Me, too.

LEMON: But, you know, Kathy Griffin is controversial and that's what she does.

ENDO: Yes, that's what she does.

I want you to take a look at this, too. This is some video that's also trending online. It's a hit on YouTube with nearly three million views. Shot just outside Toronto, a mother duck and her ducklings are hit by a huge gust of wind that sends the baby ducks tumbling in all directions. Even mommy ducky struggles to stay on her webbed feet. But luckily it ends with the mom getting all of her ducks safely back in a row.

So cute.

LEMON: We always get criticized for video like this, but everyone in the studio is going, aww, poor little duckies. And they're resilient, so they're fine, people at home. No worries. Don't call us either, PETA. They're all good.

Thank you, Sandra Endo. We appreciate it.

ENDO: You got it.

LEMON: Listen, if you are like me, you have probably wondered why you get bombarded with all those credit card offers in the mail for balance transfer offers or zero percent cars. Christine Romans is here to tell us some ways that your bank might be spying on you.

So, Christine, do banks really do this?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They know everything that you're doing and they're trying to predict what you're doing next. So you can judge what your bank thinks about you by all of the offers you're getting in the mail, Don.

You've got your credit score but there are a whole other set of secret scores that banks and creditors look at to make decisions about your money. John Ulzheimer is the president of consumer education with SmartCredit.com. He formerly worked at FICO and Equifax. He knows how this all works.

He says there are actually numeric models that banks create internally, other scores that you'll never see that measure your risk based on your credit reports and even your shopping activity, where you're going. You suddenly start looking at Dollar Stores and buying from Dollar Stores after shopping at other stores, they can tell these changes.

This is why. So you're getting all of those balance transfer or zero percent interest offers in the mail. What does that mean? Well, that means in particular that they've been watching your patterns and they're worried that they're going to lose you to another card. It's all based on what's called the attrition score, which is how banks and credit card companies measure your risk of card inactivity competing with another card in your wallet.

So if you've cut back on charging, you've got a poor attrition score. That means more offers to try to lure you back to spending. But it also may give you the upper hand to try to negotiate things like lower interest rates or no annual fees. So, it means they're worried that you're not using their card enough but you might have the upper hand.

LEMON: Is it spying or are they just studying you?

ROMANS: They know everything about you. What kills me is they can even predict what you're going to do before you even do it. They know more about your finances, Don, than you know about your finances.

LEMON: OK.

R: Let me tell you about another one. It's called transaction scores, right? These are credit scores that you don't know -- you can't even control. Banks are watching where you swipe your card and can tell based on the merchant code of the retailer.

They're looking to protect you against fraud. Sometimes suddenly you're using it someplace else, it might mean somebody stole the card. But also to see if you're a higher risk card holder based on where you're now spending money. So if you're using cash advances all of a sudden, you're heading to a pawn shop, you're paying for marriage counseling on a credit card, it tells them --

LEMON: Gambling.

ROMANS: It tells them all of these things. Gambling. It spells financial instability and that may mean they're watching you very closely. Maybe they could decide to close your card. They could choose not to reissue it when it expires.

There's also something called behavior scores which look at your actions on a single account. Rather than the entire credit report, they're looking just at your behavior on one account. They're looking at your usage, how close you are to your credit limit. If you're paying late fees, if you're carrying a balance on that one card. Those behaviors let the lender decide if they want to keep doing business with you. If they want to raise your credit limit or close down your card eventually, Don.

LEMON: All right. So, clearly, clearly, Christine, these scores are really important. So we want to come back and find out if there is anything that we can do, what the people can do at home can do, to raise their credit-related scores.

Standby, everyone. Christine after the break again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're back now with Christine Romans from our money team talking about raising our scores -- credit scores.

So what can we do to raise our scores?

ROMANS: Well, here's the thing. First of all, most people don't realize there are all of these other scores. There's the credit score and there are all these other secret scores that you're never going to be able to even know.

The short answer is, no, you can't change all of those scores that the banks are looking at and making about you. But you've got to keep your credit in good standing. Because that makes these other secret scores less influential, right? You've got to pay your bills on time. You can't max out your credit cards. Ulzheimer says the first red flag to many of creditors is if your FICO credit score -- that's the score we all know about -- and your credit history, if there's a big change there.

Remember, you can pull your credit reports from all three reporting bureaus. There's TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. You can do this free once a year by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. Folks, that's the free one. It's really the free one. AnnualCreditReport.com once a year. That'll show you if there are any mistakes on your credit history. You got to clean that up.

He also says, Ulzheimer says that the new black for credit is 750, not 720 anymore. 750 is the new number you want to be. But to get your real score you need to pay to see them. Head over to myFICO.com. To buy it, he says it costs about $20. But bottom line, make sure that the credit report is in top shape.

Most people, believe it or not, have a mistake somewhere on their credit report, Don. So that's one thing that can be knocking you down. If you pay your bills on time, right, don't max yourself out all of the time, your credit score will follow along. But I think a lot of people, Don, don't realize that there are all these other shadow scores about your behavior and the way you handle your financial life that are following you around, too.

LEMON: Yes. Every time you close on a home or if I go to buy something big like a car, I always find a mistake and you have to send a letter and they usually take care of it pretty quickly.

ROMANS: Do you? Yes. LEMON: You have to know how to do it.

ROMANS: Yes, that's right.

LEMON: Thank you, Christine Romans.

ROMANS: You've got to stay on top of it. See you later, Don.

Christine is the co-host of "YOUR MONEY" on CNN and the author of "Smart is the New Rich," and it's on bookshelves right now. It's a great book.

A challenging year for Gulf Coast tourism. How's the region doing nearly eight months after the oil leak? We'll go live to Biloxi, Mississippi, and Orange Beach, Alabama, and we're going to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It has been a tough year for the tourism industry along the Gulf Coast. We reported a lot on it. The region still fighting to recover from April's massive oil leak. So, how are thing looking for the holiday season?

We check in now with two people we've talked with a lot since that leak. Emily Gonzalez is with Kaiser Reality in Orange Beach, Alabama. And then there's Kenny Glavan. He is with the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Good to see both of you.

EMILY GONZALEZ, SALES/MARKETING MANAGER, KAISER REALTY: Nice to see you, Don.

KENNY GLAVAN, MANAGER, FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON BILOXI: Thank you.

LEMON: We know typically during that the winter, Emily, you don't get as high tourists, a lot of people don't come. But some people there might come for Christmas because they just want to spend Christmas on the beach and be away from everybody else.

So how's it going now?

GONZALEZ: Absolutely. The holiday season is actually a pretty decent season for us along the Gulf Coast because it's so beautiful. It's a little chilly right now, in the 30s and 40s during the day. But that's a lot warmer than it is throughout the rest of the country. We've actually seen Christmases here in the 80s.

Right now we're looking at our fourth quarter as being pretty flat to last year. So that's great. Our revenue's down slightly because we're having to do some deep discounting to get the people in. But they are listening to the media reports and seeing videos and images of the beaches and seeing that it's clean. And they're coming back.

LEMON: Hey, listen. Before I get to Kenny, Emily, did you see, once it was -- they sort of got it contained and you had a short time left in the summer and early fall.

Did you see a bump in tourism at all?

GONZALEZ: The tourism numbers really didn't pick up late summer and early fall unless there was an event to drive it. We were lucky enough to have some great producers come in and put on some beach concerts and that's when we saw our spikes in occupancy. We had Jimmy Buffett, we had Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley come in and do large beach concerts for the Coast on the actual sand and the water right there, 20,000, 30,000 people down and those were great events that brought in --

LEMON: Well that should've helped.

Hey, Kenny, listen, Four Points by Sheraton, how does the one there compare to the rest of the country?

GLAVAN: Well, you know, I think we've been very concerned about the oil spill from a psychological effect, but, you know, like Orange Beach, Biloxi has putting on a lot of events and trying to drive tourism.

One special promotion that I have to mention is a wish card where guests stay two nights or more from now to January 31st, and they get a $100 prepaid credit card to be used as they wish. That promotion has taken off and I'd like to get the word out today to the viewers.

LEMON: Well, I asked you how does the Four Points Sheraton usually do compared to the other Sheratons because that's a good way to gauge how well you're doing now at that particular one. Have you seen an uptick at all?

GLAVAN: And I can speak to that. We have 109 Four Points by Sheratons, and we're the only one in the state of Mississippi. I think the Starwood guests, we've had a lot of curious tourists book and come down here and kind of check things out and see how things are going. And, you know, things are looking up and I think we're getting past the oil spill and we're looking forward to just a great year in 2011.

LEMON: There we go. It looks like things are looking up. We are going to continue to check back. It doesn't mean things are over yet, right.

GONZALEZ: Very true.

GLAVAN: Happy holidays.

LEMON: Kenny and Emily, best of luck to you. Happy holidays to you as well.

GONZALEZ: Thanks, Don. Happy holidays to you as well. GLAVAN: Merry Christmas.

LEMON: Merry Christmas.

And now for some of the best videos of the day right now on CNN.

Look at -- this one, you have to see to believe. A man in central Florida climbed 300 feet in the air to try and unsnarl an American flag. This happened yesterday. The flag got stuck as it was being lowered in honor of Pearl Harbor Day. High winds made it tough for the man to fix it, so he was forced to cut the flag down from this very high and very windy perch. That's a little scary. That's a lot scary.

And check out this pooch, he's got a lot of rhythm. Is this really happening? Um, he's kicking up his paws, salsa dancing and tripping the light fantastic. What's happening?

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LEMON: Time for "Top Stories" on CNN.

MasterCard is working to get its corporate website back up following a cyber attack. MasterCard could not confirm a tie to WikiLeaks, but a tweet from a hacker suggested the attack could be linked to MasterCard's refusal to process payments from WikiLeaks. The company says it is not affecting the ability to use their credit cards for secure transactions.

The Space X rocket successfully launched this morning and is set to become the first commercial spacecraft to orbit Earth and then reenter. The CEO of Space X said, over the summer, if all goes well with the test flights, the spacecraft will begin flying cargo to the space station next year.

The World Health Organization has endorsed a breakthrough. A breakthrough for the test for tuberculosis. It cuts the diagnosis time for patients from months to about 100 minutes. Wow. Experts are calling it a major milestone in the fight against TB, which killed 1.7 million people last year.

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LEMON: Time for a political update here on CNN.

Keeping doctors from taking a deep pay cut for treating Medicare patients. CNN's Candy Crowley, part of "The Best Political Team On Television," is live from the Political Desk in Washington.

Hello, Candy. What's crossing right now?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, interesting, I was going to ask you -- you know, I'm going to ask you the question now. And that is, what does Senator Mitch McConnell, who, of course, is the Republican leader, Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, Max Baucus, who's head of the Finance Committee, and Chuck Grassley, who's the ranking Republican on the Senate committee, all have in common?

LEMON: They're all on the same committee.

CROWLEY: Tick tock, tick tock.

They are all, two Republicans, two Democrats, powerful on both sides, behind this bill that would keep doctors' Medicare reimbursements at the same level they are right now. Without acting, doctors would get a 25 percent decrease in their reimbursements from Medicare.

This is all under a law passed in the late '90s that said that those reimbursements ought to reflect the economy. But so far, five times this year when the rate decrease came up, Congress has said no, wait a second, we're going to keep paying doctors the same amount of money.

So on Capitol Hill, a little first do no harm action. So it looks pretty good that that will pass and the reimbursements for Medicare patients will stay the same for doctors.

Also on our Ticker, something that I found unusual. You remember Mark Sanford of Appalachian Trail fame?

LEMON: Yes. I saw this story. This is weird how he is spinning this. Is it spin, or did it really help him?

CROWLEY: You know, I'm going to let him do that.

But Sanford says that actually, when the scandal came up that he had a mistress in Argentina and that's where he'd been, that it actually helped him be a better governor, because he was this big up and comer and everyone was expecting him to run for president. Then this scandal blew up, and everyone said, well, he's toast. And he says, when he no longer had a target on his back, the Democrats were more willing to work with him.

So whatever gets to you sleep at night. Anyway, that's his interpretation of the glass half full part of that whole scandal.

LEMON: OK.

CROWLEY: Of course, we also have on the Ticker, I just want to say that we keep telling people we're keeping track of the details of Elizabeth Edwards' funeral.

LEMON: I can't get enough of hearing from her. Every time I hear a story where they -- even in just her own words. Such an amazing, inspiring woman. And I'm sure you have reflections of the death of Elizabeth Edwards, Candy.

CROWLEY: I do, but you know, I listen to people talk about her. I was not by any means a close friend, but I have known her over the course of more than a decade, just about the time her husband got into politics because I went down to cover his election against Lauch Faircloth, who at the time was the sitting senator from North Carolina. So very early on, that was his first political job, I went down and saw both of them.

And here's what I think. Yes, she was very inspirational and she was resilient and she was all of those things, but this was one tough lady and she knew policy. And I can tell you that there was those in the campaign in 2004 and in 2008 who didn't always appreciate how sort of -- I won't use the term dictatorial, although one did to me.

LEMON: Involved maybe?

CROWLEY: She was very involved in her husband's campaign, not always to the liking of some of the senior staff. Nonetheless, she knew her stuff.

And I had one call in 2004 when her husband was still in the race, and I had done a dot-com story. And I walked in the door of my house and the phone rang, my cell phone rang, and I picked it up and it was Elizabeth Edwards who line by line wanted to go through the story and tell me why she thought it was wrong or how she thought it should have been written or whatever. She just knew her stuff.

And she was tough. I think that's part of, obviously, what made her such a survivor over such a life that was filled with a lot of trauma.

LEMON: I think we forget that because many times, you know, the men are in the spotlight, not just in politics, but just everyday families, the men, usually the breadwinner, forget about the woman. The old cliche is true, behind every successful man, there's usually a very strong and smart woman as well.

CROWLEY: Right. And in this case, a very successful lawyer and a very smart woman.

LEMON: Our best goes out to her family.

Thank you, Candy Crowley. We appreciate that.

Your next political update is in one hour. And for the latest political news, you can go to -- you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.

Let's check now some of the stories we're working on for the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

History was made this morning. The first commercial rocket to ever blast off successfully from Cape Canaveral successfully launched a little more than an hour ago. So what does this mean for you? Will the average American have a better chance of getting into space as a passenger on a commercial rocket? That's a big question.

Plus, Wal-Mart and the Department of Homeland Security are teaming up to fight terrorism and we'll tell you how.

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