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Stranded by a Blizzard; Key Ruling on Health Care Law; Vote on Tax Cut Compromise; 'Private' Becomes 'Public' Online; Hot Off the Political Ticker; Trending Online; Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival

Aired December 13, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, oh, boy.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.

From snow to flooding and mudslides, people across the country are fighting the elements. We will show you how they're doing.

And how much can someone find out about you from just your name and your e-mail address? Poppy Harlow found out in a special edge of privacy report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even someone as private as you are has been opted in such a way that the system can find out very deeply personal and private information about you, some of which you're not even willing to share on the air.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy.

You're online right now. We are, too.

When it comes to the Mona Lisa, you know it's all in the eyes. But now we're learning there's much more hidden behind them. Somebody called Dan Brown.

Let's get started with our lead story, digging out and bundling up. The weather outside, brutal. A major storm that pounded the Midwest with snow is moving east today. That means more snow in Ohio. Cleveland could get up to a foot.

Blowing snow and low visibility are causing dangerous driving conditions in Minneapolis. iReporter Jack Parr says it is the worst weather he has seen in six years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK PARR, IREPORTER: It's really bad out. There's a car stuck. That's the best way to get around, cross-country skis, right there. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: In the Pacific Northwest, people in Seattle are cleaning up from mudslides and flooding triggered by heavy rain. Parts of the area remain under a flood warning. Rivers in nine counties crested at or above flood stage yesterday.

Thousands of people are still trying to get to where they were going -- where they were going -- before the monster storm hit. They're stuck in airports, bus terminals, truck stops, even fire stations.

James Fitch is supposed to be at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, today, but he's not. He's on the phone with us.

James, good to speak with you.

Where are you now? And maybe you can explain what happened.

JAMES FITCH, TRAVELER: Hi, Tony. Yes.

Well, my brother and I, we spent the night with a bunch of other people at the fire department here in Wanatah, Indiana. And we've moved to the town hall here, which opened. And that's great, because it's carpeted and they have coffee and food for us. So we're doing just fine, but we've had a little bit of an adventure of it. So it's been fun.

HARRIS: Wow.

James, Chad Myers is here with us, and he's got some questions for you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, James, I love Atlanta, and I love the people here, but we are a bunch of whiners because they're saying how cold it is here. Try to describe what it's like to be outside for just 30 seconds. What does it feel like?

FITCH: All right. Well, it's pretty cold. And I think that's saying something, because my brother and I work for Maine (ph), and we spent all yesterday afternoon at Soldier Field in Chicago watching the Patriots/Bears. But I'll tell you, here's quite a wind-chill out here, and driving here, we just got stuck in the nastiest storm.

MYERS: So you got stuck in your car. Were you prepared? Did you have your kit with you?

FITCH: Oh, yes. We were all set. My dad would have made sure of that.

But, no, we just -- the wind was just blowing, blowing so hard across our car. We couldn't see anything in front of it. And thankfully, we got to a gas station.

MYERS: So you pulled the car off the interstate. And then what? You went to a fire station? FITCH: Well, we were able to crawl ahead to a gas station here in Wanatah, and then the member of the volunteer fire department took a group of us over to the fire station, kind of led a slow caravan over there. And we spent a safe night there in the warmth. So that was great.

MYERS: Tony --

FITCH: But it's was nasty up there on the roads.

MYERS: -- I love Atlanta.

HARRIS: Yes, I do.

Hey, James, one more quick one for you. You're supposed to be back in school, and this is finals week for you. Have you been in contact with your professors, young man?

FITCH: Yes, sir. I was able to speak to one of them, and we don't have wireless here, so I haven't heard back. But I hope that Dr. Smith and Dr. Richie (ph) will understand the two finals that I missed this morning, because there's no way out of here.

MYERS: Yes. They're going to really feel sorry for you after watching that football game.

HARRIS: Well, James, be safe. All right? And get back to school, and get to those finals. All right?

FITCH: All right.

HARRIS: We hope your professors are watching and listening. Be safe.

FITCH: All right. Thank you. I hope so too.

(LAUGHTER)

FITCH: All right. Thanks.

MYERS: Thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: OK. Let's get to our Supreme Court producer, Bill Meers (ph). He's on the phone.

And Bill, I understand there's been a ruling from the court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is. A federal judge of Virginia has become the first in the country to find parts of the sweeping health care reform led by President Obama to be unconstitutional.

In the key provision, Judge Henry Hudson has just struck down what's called the individual mandate, that requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance. We expect now the Justice Department to appeal this ruling to a federal appeals court.

HARRIS: OK. So, Bill, that is a federal judge, and so we do expect the appeal process to continue. This is a piece of legislation, now law, that's being challenged in a couple of courts around the country, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. There are at least two dozen lawsuits floating around the federal courts around the country. And we've had contradictory rulings from various federal judges on whether this sweeping health care reform is constitutional or not.

Some judges say yes. And now we have a judge here in Virginia saying it's not. So it's -- it all means that it's inevitably going to go to the Supreme Court in the next year or so.

HARRIS: Exactly, which is your beat.

All right, Bill. Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

To Capitol Hill now. The president's tax cut compromise with Republicans gets a test vote in the Senate this afternoon.

CNN's senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, live now with us.

And Dana, will the compromise clear this cloture vote, this procedural hurdle?

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: By all accounts, Democratic and Republican, the answer to that seems to be yes. Despite misgivings, big time, early on, it seems to be that most Senate Democrats are saying that -- or many Senate Democrats are saying that they will go along with this.

I should tell you, Tony, that you were talking about weather early. This vote is going to start at 3:00. We expect that it might stay open until 6:00 p.m., because they want senators to get here and they're worried about the weather.

HARRIS: And Dana, what will happen then when the bill gets to the House? We know that there are many angry Democrats in the House who seem to be, at least now, at the moment, toning down their opposition to the compromise.

BASH: Yes, it's unclear what's going to happen in the House. But first, before we get to that, Tony, if I may, I just want to read to you -- I know you like to dive into the meat of legislation.

HARRIS: I do, yes.

BASH: So let me read to you some of the bullet points that we're talking about that the Senate is going to take up.

First of all, it's an $858 billion tax cut package. It extends, of course, all Bush-era tax cuts for two years at a cost of about $330 billion, extends unemployment benefits for 13 months -- that's a big give to the Democrats, $56 billion -- one year of payroll tax holiday, about $112 billion, and a state tax exemption up until $5 million for individuals. That's $68 billion.

If you want to keep that up on the screen, let me just sort of explain to you the dynamics here.

Obviously, extending all Bush-era tax cuts, that's what angers many Democrats. But the bottom item there, that estate tax exemption, that is really pouring salt on the wounds, many Democrats say. Particularly in the House.

So to answer that question about what happens in the House next, they had a mutiny last week, they said that they're not going to bring up this package, which in part I just read, as is. And we are hearing more and more that they're going to maybe try to craft -- bring it to the floor, that's what we're hearing from Democratic leaders -- but maybe try to craft votes so that they can at least express their displeasure with this particular estate tax provision and maybe bring something up, at least try to do it via amendment, that is more amenable to what Democrats would like.

HARRIS: You know, Dana, as I look at that full screen, and I look at the figures, and the numbers are huge -- there it is again -- and I look at some of the bullet-pointed items, boy, it looks like a stimulus package by another name.

BASH: And that is exactly why you are seeing more Democrats warm to this, particularly those middle two issues, the extending unemployment benefits for 13 months. Obviously, that's something the Democrats have wanted for a long time, but also the payroll tax holiday. We're hearing more and more from Democrats especially that they are becoming convinced, especially from independent economists, that that is something that will be a boon to middle class Americans, which, of course, has been their goal all along.

HARRIS: Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash with us.

Dana, good to see you as always. Thank you.

BASH: You too.

HARRIS: CNN plans live coverage of the Senate test vote this afternoon. It's expected around 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can see it happen in the CNN NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin.

Identity fraud, online crime, leaked personal information -- we are taking a close look, a hard look at the dark side of the information superhighway. That is coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's see here. Do we have the pictures up? We wanted to give you -- I guess we don't have pictures of the flooding. OK.

Just in the lower corner of your picture there, we're just going to continue to monitor the flooding situation in the Seattle area. So, just to explain why that box is there and may pop up from time to time.

We are calling our series here "The End of Privacy." It is a weeklong investigation at CNN to find out just how much of your personal information is leaking online.

Poppy Harlow found out first hand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Every day millions of Americans are getting their backgrounds checked and their private information collected. If you're online, and especially if you're on social networking sites, your privacy is at risk.

Yes, I'm a public person. I report on television and I report online. But personally, I'm a very private person.

So I did something I've never done before. I put myself right in this story to try to find out just how much information is out there about me.

(voice-over): We gave Michael Fertick, the founder of Reputation Defender, my name and e-mail address. His company dug around to see what they could find.

MICHAEL FERTICK, FOUNDER & CEO, REPUTATION DEFENDER: You're a very private person. And the average person, the average viewer is going to be much less private than you, especially in social media. They don't know that they have been opted in by the machine. Even someone as private as you are has been opted in such a way that a system can find out very deeply personal private information about you, some of which you're not even willing to share on the air.

HARLOW: He's exactly right. They pulled information about my family's health history, that my father passed away at 49 from cancer, and other issues just too personal to share.

And --

FERTICK: Your religion. We believe and seem to be right that you are Episcopalian.

HARLOW (on camera): That's right.

FERTICK: Which is not something you advertise.

HARLOW (voice-over): They also got my parents' names, college education, and whether I'm married or not. But on other facts they were wrong, like my salary, current address, and phone number.

And here's what really shocked me. Reputation Defender came back with words on the Internet that are associated with me. They say it's just because these are things I've reported on as a journalist.

But the bottom line, whether the information out there is correct or incorrect, it's being used to make decisions about you.

FERTICK: Whether they want to hire you, fire you, date you, market to you, sell to you, insure you or not, the important lesson, the takeaway, is that it would be very easy for a machine to make a mistake about who Poppy Harlow is.

HARLOW: We should note, Reputation Defender did this report for us as just an experiment. The company actually operates solely to protect people's information on the Web.

FERTICK: Anything you share in any kind of social media can and will find itself way into a database and ultimately into a score that is going to be the basis of major life decisions about you.

HARLOW (on camera): It's going to define you.

FERTICK: It's going to define you forever.

HARLOW (voice-over): In the end, this turned out to be much more personal than I expected. In some ways, it was invasive. But what it showed me is just how much personal information is out there, true and untrue, and many of us have no idea.

In New York, Poppy Harlow, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, millions of Americans have watched the value of their homes sink lower and lower, but now the recession officially is over. Unfortunately, a new report shows the housing market is still getting hammered.

Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with details.

And Stephanie, good to see you again. How bad is it?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, let me put it to you this way -- home values are expected to fall $1.7 trillion this year. Now, this is according to real estate Web site Zillow.com.

That's bigger than the federal deficit. It's also worse than last year. Home values fell $1 trillion in 2009.

So what's behind this big number jump here for this year? Well, remember that first-time homebuyer tax credit that expired in April? You've got the numbers on the screen there. Well, after that, the demand dried up again, and that sent home prices spiraling, Tony. So that is the reason why we've seen this uptick here and this jump for the 2010 numbers.

HARRIS: So, Steph, where do we go from here?

ELAM: That's the big question. And one analyst we're hearing from says early 2011, it's not going to be a lot better. For one thing, foreclosures are near an all-time high. They sell at a big discount, and that pushes down home prices overall. So that hurts the community.

Secondly, a growing number of people owe more on their home than it's worth. That could even mean more foreclosures are down the road, in which case that's not going to help anybody out -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Stephanie, before we let you go, would you give us a real professional market check, please?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: Christmas gifts are shuttling through the air right now at 600 miles an hour, and hopefully much slower on the ground. You are looking at live pictures now of FedEx's busiest shopping day of the year. Our David Mattingly goes along for the ride with a driver in action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And breaking news that we brought you just moments ago here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A federal judge in Virginia has ruled parts of the sweeping health care reform law ushered in, fought for by President Obama, parts of that reform law have been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Virginia.

Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is on the line with us.

And Jeffrey, the key issue here was the individual mandate requirement that most Americans purchase health care by 2014. What do you see happening next with this?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is of immense, immense significance, this case, because this is the centerpiece of the Obama administration's domestic policy. And the individual mandate, which is the part of the law that says everybody has to have health insurance, is here being struck down.

Now, it's important to point out that two other judges have looked at this and said it is constitutional in other parts of the country. So what this certainly means is that this case is heading to the United States Supreme Court sooner rather than later. And, you know, the court will really hold much of the Obama administration's central achievement in the balance.

HARRIS: So, does it mean that the individual mandate requirement is in effect now and will be in effect until the appeals process plays out?

TOOBIN: No. One of the peculiarities about this lawsuit is that the judge entertained a challenge to the individual mandate even though the individual mandate doesn't go into effect until 2014.

HARRIS: Yes.

TOOBIN: So there is no live controversy. There is no one saying don't impose this on me right now, because the federal government has said this doesn't start yet. Usually, federal judges wait until a law goes into effect to allow a challenge.

So that will be one of the issues that the Supreme Court deals with, is whether this whole issue is premature at this point. But it's still very, very significant that this judge in Virginia has made this ruling.

And Tony, I think it's important to point out that the judges that have upheld the law have been appointed by Democratic presidents, and Judge Hudson, who shot it down today, was appointed by a Republican. This is a very clear political struggle that is going on in the judiciary.

HARRIS: Yes. It begins to feel a bit like court shopping, judge shopping here.

But let me ask you -- moving forward on this, so the Supreme Court is likely to get this next. Is that the way you see this playing out, the Justice Department appealing it and going right to the Supreme Court? Or is there a three-judge panel or something else that takes a look at this?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, there's a lot of strategizing that goes on here. And I don't know how the Justice Department is going to want to play this.

They may well decide to go to the court of appeals -- that would be the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals from Virginia. They may have the chance to go directly to the Supreme Court.

I don't know what their strategy will be. I think there's a lot that they've got to -- again, it relates a lot to the politics and a lot to the law. But you can be sure it's topic A at the Justice Department today.

HARRIS: And one last one just because I'm curious. So, the federal judge, have we seen the language from the judge as to why this was ruled unconstitutional? I know it's just out.

TOOBIN: I have not gotten the full text yet. And obviously that will be very important.

Basically, what the federal government has said in this case is that the United States government has been involved in health care for years with Medicare, with Medicaid, and this is within the federal government's power just like it's within state's power to order you to get automobile insurance, which all states do. What the plaintiffs here, led by the attorney general of Virginia, have said is that no, this is different. This is an affirmative requirement on individuals that goes beyond what the federal government has ever required before, and that's what the judge agreed with.

HARRIS: OK. Jeffrey, appreciate it.

Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, on the line with us.

And we'll continue to follow develops in this case.

Fifteen million unemployed Americans. All many of them want for Christmas is a job.

Our Christine Romans rounded up some experts, and their advice could get you hooked up for the holidays.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: It is the season to be jolly, but you could really make merry if you had some cash to burn. So how do you get paid this Christmas in these difficult times?

Christine Romans asked a career coach to show you how to get it done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELLEN GORDON REEVES, CAREER COACH: A little firmer. Better watch out -- no, no, get right in there.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Career coach Ellen Gordon Reeves wants you to get a job for Christmas.

REEVES: People might think that December is not a great time to look for a job. The reality is, if you're job hunting, all you need is one job.

ROMANS: No question. With more than 15 million Americans out of work, competition is fierce.

(on camera): People aren't hiring at the end of it have year, January maybe a little more likely, February maybe will be when we see when they're confident enough to start hiring.

BILL ROGERS, ECONOMIST, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: In terms of career openings, it's broad based all throughout the economy, all sectors have openings. The challenge becomes because the number of people looking for a job relative to those openings.

ROMANS (voice-over): That number is now 4.4 job seekers for every available opening. Sounds daunting, but it's the best it's been in two years.

REEVES: Please don't bring family members or friends with you to an interview.

ROMANS: Reeves wants you to beat out three people to be that one. REEVES: If you can get yourself invited to someone's office party as a plus one, fabulous, especially if it's a company or organization you want to get inside. Have a party. Have a pot luck, it doesn't have to be expensive, but you've got to be out there connecting with people.

ROMANS: According to consumer reports, Americans will spend on average 15 hours at holiday gatherings this year. Etiquette expert, Peter Post, says it doesn't have to be gauche to network for a job at those parties.

PETER POST, EMILY POST INSTITUTE: Tact, honesty, you show a little bit of restraint, at the same time, you're honest about your situation and all of a sudden it's amazing how people will open up, listen in, and offer to help you.

ROMANS: Bottom line, there are plenty of opportunities to network for a job this season. Just do it tactfully or don't do it at all.

Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And Christine's book is titled "Smart is the New Rich." In it, you will find all kinds of things to help your bottom line.

A year and thousands of troops later, has the president's war strategy made Afghanistan more secure? We look ahead to a review due this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: When President Obama announced a U.S. troop build-up in Afghanistan last December, it came with a promise to review the surge strategy in one year. That review is due Thursday. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live in Kabul. And Nic, good to see you. After one year and 30,000 additional troops. Is security measurably better today?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a very mixed picture, Tony. If you look in the north and the east of the country, the Taliban appear to be getting stronger. If you look in the south where the focus has been of the surge in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, things are improving. We just spent over a week down in Kandahar with troops down there. Security's improving, but commanders there have still got some very, very serious concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, watch those paths.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): This is Malajad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a little paranoid every once in a while about the path.

ROBERTSON: Once the stronghold or the Taliban, minutes from the center of Kandahar. Now, U.S. and Afghan forces are in control and getting local help.

LT. COL. CLAY PADGETT, U.S. ARMY: There's always danger, but I would tell you over the course of the last month, month and a half, we on our patrols have probably found 25 percent of the IEDs. The other 75 percent have been turned in by local nationals.

ROBERTSON: Trouble is, the rapid success of the surge across Kandahar brings its own problems.

COL JEFFREY MARTINDALE, U.S. ARMY: Security's going very well. In many ways, it's outpaced the ability of governance to keep up.

ROBERTSON: And keeping up is vital. The Taliban mostly fled the surge. Now, Colonel Martindale wants to take some U.S. troops out of Kandahar, move them to other areas where the Taliban is still strong. But there's a problem.

MARTINDALE: Governance needs to step up, and they need to take responsibility for the conditions that have now been set so that they can progress along.

ROBERTSON (off camera): You're not seeing that right now then?

MARTINDALE: We're not seeing it to the extent we would like.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): I asked the governor. He blames red tape in Kabul, saying they failed to reinforce the Kandahar police.

GOV. TOORYALI WESA, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: (INAUDIBLE) But no weapons. To get the weapon, that took a while. The weapon, the petition went to one department, to the other department. We made phone calls and (INAUDIBLE) the police chief from Kandahar to Kabul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you, my friend.

ROBERTSON: In Malajad (ph), a surge success, the new police chief is a good friend of the coalition, highly rated but feels let down by his own leaders. He complains that some of his new outposts lack proper defenses. But Colonel Martindale's troops can only move on when the police here and in other parts of Kandahar are ready to take over.

MARTINDALE: Would I like to go up north into some areas where I know the Taliban will march in the spring? Yes. Do I have plans to do so? Yes. And that will be through really thinning as much as I can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: So privately, what some Afghan and coalition officials are telling us is that this foot dragging they're seeing by President Karzai's government in Kabul is a direct result of internal Afghan feuding. Either ethnic or tribal or just simply the north wanting to keep the south weak.

But whatever's behind it, all these delays mean that this can potentially mean a delay to the drawdown of withdrawal of U.S. troops here. Tony?

HARRIS: And Nic, there were significant casualties in Kandahar this weekend. What can you tell us?

ROBERTSON: Yes. When you look at Kandahar and you hear the security's improving there and talk to the people on the streets as we did and hear them say it's safer, it gets surprising when you hear that six U.S. servicemen and two Afghan servicemen were killed by a suicide bomber just outside of Kandahar.

But what's happening there is coalition forces and Afghans are trying to build security further out of Kandahar. So you've got operations going on in what are really very contested areas. And the Taliban haven't gone away. They're not defeated. They're not a beaten force, and they're still putting out suicide bombers. And that's what we saw in this case. And in this particular case, a child was killed, as well, in that attack, Tony.

HARRIS: Nic Robertson is our senior international correspondent joining us live from Kabul, Afghanistan. Nic, appreciate it. Thank you.

Pictures of a royal engagement, plus the best of the best on YouTube this year. Your entertainment stories after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: YouTube has just identified their most watched videos of the year. And picture this, Britain's royal family has released a pair of engagement photos of Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton.

"Showbiz Tonight's" Brooke Anderson is here to give us all the news. I haven't had an opportunity yet to take a look at these photos yet. What do you think of the photos?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Oh, they're beautiful, Tony. They're perfect. These two are radiating happiness and youthfulness. I love them.

The release of the official engagement photos are out. And they are really feeding that royal wedding frenzy that's already out there, even though the wedding is, you know, more than four months away.

And listen to this, Tony, we've already got a wedding name change. As the photos were released, the press office indicated they don't want us to call Kate, Kate anymore. Instead they prefer Katherine going forward. Tony, I'm going to have a hard time with that. Is it okay if I call her Kate today for a little while longer? It is her name, after all. It has been for years.

HARRIS: Yes. Absolutely. ANDERSON: OK. The pictures of Prince William and Kate Middleton were taken by fashion photographer Mario Testino. Testino was actually one of the last photographers to work with the late Princess Diana. So, it's appropriate he took these pictures as well.

"People" magazine is reporting Kate skipped the star treatment for the photo shoot, actually did her own make-up for the pictures. Very down to earth of her. She looked really stunning.

And Tony, like I say, the wedding is more than four months away, but the excitement has already built. There's a frenzy. Everybody's whipped up into a frenzy already.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, you can feel it. You know what, Brooke? The video of this wedding may end up on YouTube one day. We see so many wedding videos on you YouTube.

ANDERSON: Possible.

HARRIS: Yes, it's possible. But I understand YouTube is identifying their most watched videos of the year. I'm curious as to what made the list.

ANDERSON: It's that time of year, Tony, you're right. It's the collection most of us are already familiar with. Including some people that are very recognizable. Like -- can we show the first guy Isaiah Mustafaa? A.K.A. the Old Spice guy. That was number five on the list. Some great commercials he made.

The number six video features a guy who gets a little bit excited to see a double rainbow. We should mention that this list did not include music videos from major labels. Although a band like "OK, Go," which is no longer on a major label, did qualify and finished in the seventh spot.

Tony, the number one video was a parody song called the "Bed Intruder Song." That turned an angry rant on local news into a musical number that was viewed nearly 50 million times. Tony, it made Antoine Dotson a household name.

HARRIS: Oh, yes, yes, I remember that. We don't have it? Just a little snippet of it?

ANDERSON: We've had some clearance issues, some video issues with that one. I'm sorry I can't show it to you.

HARRIS: No worries!

ANDERSON: But Antoine Dodson was actually able to purchase a new home from the profits made from the iTunes song, which was made after that local news story. Incredible.

HARRIS: Well, get paid. All right, Brooke, good to see you as always. Thank you, see you tomorrow.

ANDERSON: You, too! HARRIS: And if you want more information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, you know where to go. Brooke's got it for you. This evening on "Showbiz Tonight at 5:00, at 11:00 on HLN.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about to release previously classified documents. Why he says it's not like WikiLeaks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A federal judge in Virginia rules a key plank of health care reform, the new health care reform law, is unconstitutional. Judge Henry Hudson says Congress cannot require Americans to purchase insurance under the Constitution's commerce clause. Health and human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The Affordable Care Act is the law until if and when Congress -- both houses of Congress would have to pass a bill. And the president would have to sign a bill that would repeal the act. I don't think that's likely to happen. I think there will be a lot of debates and discussions with the new Congress coming in. And, frankly, we welcome that. It's one thing to say get rid of it. But get rid of it and replace it with what and take those benefits away from constituents throughout the country who really now are looking forward to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. That was Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius talking to our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta this weekend.

Previously classified documents about to be released, but not by WikiLeaks. Dana Bash, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from Capitol Hill now.

And, Dana, good to see you again.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You too.

HARRIS: What's the story here?

BASH: Donald Rumsfeld. Do you remember him?

HARRIS: Oh, yes.

BASH: One -- of course, the most controversial figures of the Bush administration. He's got a new memoir coming up and this is first on our ticker. He never actually e-mailed before. You may not know that about him. But he's no (INAUDIBLE) any more. He is all about social media. He sent a tweet really to send -- to create some buzz about his memoir that's coming out. And he said that along with his book, he's going to be releasing hundreds of documents on the Internet to back up some of the claims he's going to make. I would imagine it's going to be about the Iraq War. But as you said, he is not -- it's not going to be about -- like WikiLeaks. He's actually gotten approval from the United States government. That's number one.

Number two on our ticker, if anybody didn't see it last night, a very, very interesting interview with the incoming House speaker, John Boehner. Take a look at some of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE STAHL, "60 MINUTES": So what do you think about him being speaker of the House? Has it hit you?

DEBBIE BOEHNER, JOHN BOEHNER'S WIFE: No, it sure hasn't. Real proud of him. He'll do a good job. We're all proud of him.

STAHL: You know what's happening over here?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), OHIO: No, no, no, my nose is running.

D. BOEHNER: Oh, his nose.

STAHL: No, it's not.

What set you off that time? Because she's proud of you?

He cries all the time? No?

D. BOEHNER: No. But he's going through an emotional period too. I mean, this isn't -- you know, as you say, this is not any ordinary job. Whoever would have thought that he'd be in this position? He was a janitor on the night shift when I met him. He's come a long way.

STAHL: Somebody who's gone from mopping this floor to being speaker of the House.

D. BOEHNER: Yes. Doesn't happen every day.

J. BOEHNER: Welcome to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Dana, look, you've covered this man. You're our senior congressional correspondent. Do these tears surprise you?

BASH: They actually don't, Tony. People who have been watching John Boehner for years have seen this before. It tends to happen when he's talking about the troops or about his own family or about children. In fact, I had the privilege of MCing a dinner -- an annual charity dinner that he used to co-host with the late Senator Ted Kennedy. It was for catholic schools. And that was a perfect example. I mean he just sort of let loose because it's something that he cared about personally.

So we've seen it on the floor -- on the House floor in the past. This is just something that the American people are now seeing more of, I think, because they're seeing more of John Boehner. And I can tell you, you might wonder, what do his aides think about this? Is this OK? And they're not upset about it. I mean the fact of the matter is, this does show him as a human being. And it shows that he is somebody who does tend to care and he emotes.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

BASH: As we saw.

HARRIS: I don't know what I think of it.

All right, our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, good to see you, as always. Thank you.

BASH: You too.

HARRIS: And your next political update coming in one hour. For the latest political news, just go to cnnpolitics.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Sandra Endo is back with us again from Washington with stories trending on the Internet.

Sandy, good to see you. What are you following at this hour?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.

Yes, pretty interesting stuff at this hour. Trending today on YouTube. YouTube is now letting you decide what is perhaps promoting terrorism on their site. Now, this is a very popular video-sharing website, as you know. And viewers already right now can flag videos for removal for reasons such as nudity and cruelty to animals. So this is a new category. And some Congress members, as you know, Tony, called on YouTube to take down videos posted by alleged terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki. Now, YouTube executives say they are committed to insuring that the website is not used to spread terrorist propaganda or incite violence, but they say it's really hard to vet each video before they're posted. As you can imagine, there's millions posted each day. And this is also a very gray area, Tony, since it's hard to say what promotes terrorism and what's free speech. So that's certainly a very big talker online today.

HARRIS: Are you following this Mona Lisa story?

ENDO: Yes, I was going to say, you know, they say Mona Lisa's smile is her biggest captivating part of her. But, you know, now it may all be in her eyes. An Italian art expert says that Leonardo Da Vinci painted tiny letters in Mona Lisa's eyes which could be a clue to her identity. Silvano Vinceti, chairman of the Italian National Committee for Cultural Heritage, said the letters are invisible to the naked eye but were revealed through high resolution imagery. He says behind her right pupil are the letters LV, for the artists initials. But behind her left pupil, Vinceti says the letters there are BS or CE. And the art expert also claimed to have found the number 72 or possibly L2 under the bridge that appears behind her. But nobody knows for sure who the painting really is of this Mona Lisa. So maybe they'll find out soon, Tony.

HARRIS: Dan Brown, get to work.

All right, Sandra, good to see you. Thank you. See you tomorrow.

ENDO: That's right.

You got it.

HARRIS: There is a brand new career option in the Middle East, stand-up comic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad's not really supportive of the idea. He always comes up to me with things like -- Mohammed (ph), I am (INAUDIBLE). Your sister (INAUDIBLE), Oh, you're funny (INAUDIBLE). You -- you ought to become clown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So, more laughs from one of the Middle East's first ever comedy festivals. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We talk a lot in this country about changing hearts and minds in the Middle East. But how specifically do we find common ground between two cultures that can seem so different? We spoke with an Arab-American comedian from New York who thinks he's found a starting point, sharing a good laugh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: My name is Dino Vidal (ph). I'm a comedian. And I'm also the executive producer of the Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival in Amman, Jordan.

I mean I really didn't identify that strong with being Arab before 9/11. You know, I went to sleep September 10th a white guy and I woke up September 11th an Arab.

I want to see like an Arab James Bond. Instead of saying, Bond, James Bond, he goes (INAUDIBLE).

Someone offered me to do a show in the Middle East. I go, get out of here. No one's going to come to a show. They're not going to laugh at the jokes. Before three years ago, there was no history of stand-up comedy in the region. And in the last three years, the young people there have not only come out to the shows, they're now doing it more and more themselves. And a lot of them are now doing comedy in Arabic. This year we have a comic from Egypt, a female comic, Ola Roshdy.

OLA ROSHDY, COMEDIAN: I was the first actually female Egyptian or Arab to do stand-up comedy in Arabic. (INAUDIBLE) challenging because of the subjects that you can talk about. You can't really -- some subjects maybe the people would not really like accept it from a woman. But other than that, I think they find it like intriguing as well.

OBEIDALLAH: We have found out that the jokes we do that are more generic about relationships or world events, they get laughs. But jokes about Arab culture get huge laughs way of the chart.

The Arabs go to a Arab college (ph) it's like food everywhere. You have to eat. You know, you're rude if you don't eat. You know, I mean with Arabs, there is thin line between, you know, accommodating and accosting, you know what I mean? There's hospitality and then there's hostage-taking, you know what I mean.

That's something Americans never see. The idea of an Arab laughing at himself. It's so humanizing. And it's something that's one of my passions to try to get this on American TV so that people in the west can see we have this common humanity. There are express limits, though.

ROSHDY: Well, in general, there are three subjects that you can't talk about anywhere (ph). That's politics, sex, and religion.

IBRAHEEM ALKHAIRALLAH, COMEDIAN: You cannot say something, insult anyone or insult any country or any habits. You have to say it in a nice way just to talk about it, you know.

OBEIDALLAH : In Lebanon they say, say whatever you want. If you make fun of Hezbollah, you're on your own. Until you cut away to the audience, it could be any American comedy club or theater. It's when you cut away the audience and see the audience filled with Arab men and women wearing hijabs, the head covering, sitting next to each other laughing that you realize you're not in America anymore. That's really the only way to tell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Laughter, huh? That's a place to start, at least. Let's see where it takes us.

CNN NEWSROOM continuing right now with Ali Velshi.