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Congress Passes Tax Cuts; FDA Moves to Yank Avastin Approval; USO Greets Thousands of Troops Home for Holidays; Many Pay Tribute to Larry King on Final Show; Wall Street Rallies; Downfall: The Tiger Woods Scandal; Wall Street Rides a Rally; Forbes Toy Collection Up for Auction; Home for the Holidays; FDA Restricts Cancer Drug; Congress Passes Tax Cuts; Reid Pulls Spending Bill
Aired December 17, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And meanwhile, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Drew Griffin starts right now.
Hey, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, guys. T.J., looking forward -- I didn't know that Tiger Woods had a brother. I was shocked, really.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: He has three siblings. A had -- of his -- the father's kids from the first marriage. Yes, they all grew up around him together and kind of a split in the family now. So yes, a lot of people had that same reaction, Drew, you have.
GRIFFIN: All right, looking forward to it. Kiran, we're focused on the news here.
It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. in the West. I'm Drew Griffin sitting in for Kyra Phillips this morning. Here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
Your safety and the nation's security. Minutes from now the Senate is going to be debating a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. It is one of President Obama's top priorities but Republicans say hold on. It shouldn't be decided by this lame duck Congress.
Home for the holidays. America's servicemen and women are streaming through U.S. airports receiving a hero's welcome as they should. We're going to go live to one airport that is rolling out the red carpet for them.
Then this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, CNN'S LARRY KING LIVE: It's -- not very often in my life I've been without words, but -- I am -- I don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of good- bye, how about so long?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: CNN's Larry King wrapping up 25 years and CNN's primetime and our own king of talk received a star-studded sendoff.
This morning, millions of Americans waking up to some welcomed news. Their taxes will not go up next year. In fact, Uncle Sam will be allowing most of us to hold on to a bit more of our money.
Here's a breakdown of the tax deal that cleared Congress just before midnight. Lawmakers have approved a two-year extension on the Bush era tax rates. Unemployment benefits will continue for another 13 months and there are actual tax cuts.
The Social Security tax rate is going to drop 2 percent for next year and the estate tax which was going up to 55 percent will come down to 35 percent. That's called the death tax by some.
The president is scheduled to sign that bill into law this afternoon.
CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar joins us from Washington.
Brianna, how are they reading the tea leaves up there? Who won? Who lost? I don't know.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because a lot of liberal Democrats obviously feel that they lost and they did. They didn't get what they want.
But this wasn't exactly graceful, was it, Drew? This was arguably very messy because this was a tax cut compromise that cruised through the Senate. A big bipartisan vote this week, 80 plus votes.
And then it really hit a stumbling block yesterday in the House of Representatives where at a certain point Democratic leaders literally had to pull this bill from the floor because the liberal wing of their party was very upset.
What they wanted essentially were more opportunities to protest the bill. To have votes to change the bill, particularly that estate tax provision you discussed. And even though it seemed pretty obvious that they weren't going to be able to secure those changes in the vote, they wanted some opportunity -- some more opportunities to say, hey, we really don't like this bill.
So this daylong drama yesterday culminating on what you see right there on the right side of your screen, a late-night vote coming down right before midnight. And now this is headed to President Obama and he's expected to sign it today -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Brianna, they're already talking about not doing anything with this -- the START treaty because of the lame duck Congress. Are we now facing a lame duck agenda for President Obama and this kind of bill where he had to give so much shows how difficult it is going to be over two years?
KEILAR: Well, you're certainly seeing I think a different strategy here. I mean when have we seen during this Congress where President Obama has been able to strike a deal with Republicans, and not just that over the objections of people within his own party?
Let's remember, this was President Obama working out a deal with Senate Republicans and that's why these liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives really felt like they were getting jammed by President Obama and certainly they're going to be concerned that now that we're going into the next Congress and Republicans are in charge of the House of Representatives that there may be more of this to come.
I think that -- I think that is a big concern. I think there's a lot of disharmony right now between Democrats and a lot of infighting within their own party.
GRIFFIN: Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. More drama to come today so we'll be looking for your reports later on today.
Thanks, Brianna.
Congress won't be voting on the huge spending bill, by the way. The $1.1 trillion package was designed to fund the government for the rest of the year but the leading Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid, shelved the bill because of Republican opposition and that drew some sharp words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: Some of the people who speak out against congressionally directed spending or earmarks are people who have more earmarks than others. They're hoping, of course, it will pass. They can go home and do the press events as they've done with the stimulus moneys that we have gotten back to the states saying here I am. Cut the ribbon. Look what I did.
You can't have it both ways. You can all look it up in the dictionary yourself but I bet if you went to H in the dictionary and found hypocrite, under that would be people who ask for earmarks but vote against them.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Reid says he'll work with Republican leaders on a short-term spending measure that would keep the government running beyond Saturday. That's when the current funding expires.
Well, a developing story about the blockbuster breast cancer drug Avastin. The FDA has yanked approval for the drug and it wants the drug to stop being used for the breast cancer. It says the risks of this drug outweigh the benefits.
Avastin, the best-selling cancer drug out there bringing in about $6 billion every year.
We brought in our chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta because, I mean, if you're a person who's on this drug, you're wondering, what the heck have I been doing? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think this is going to be disappointing certainly because it was also thought of, in many ways, as a drug of last resort for women who had breast cancer that had spread through their body.
You know, and this has been an interesting thing, Drew. We've been following this for a couple of years. What's fascinating is that the FDA really wanted to answer two questions. One is does it prolong survival? And two, do the benefits outweigh the risks?
And the answer seemed to come back no to both those questions. They looked at new studies and that's what they sort of concluded.
The risk incidentally pretty significant here. Heart failure, heart attacks, perforations or holes in the colon, in the stomach. But this was a drug that was fast-tracked back in 2008 which doesn't happen a lot.
At that time, the company said look, this drug is going to increase what's known as progression-free survival. You live longer without symptoms. That was a good thing. The FDA said, OK, but here's the deal. Show us some more studies. Those studies came back and this is what they concluded after looking at these new studies.
So it's a little bit of a back and forth and I think you're right. People find that frustrating, especially women who are on this medication now.
GRIFFIN: Well, I think, I mean, if you're suffering from breast cancer it's beyond frustrating. I mean, as a doctor, I've got to ask you, why have doctors been prescribing this?
GUPTA: Well, you know, I think the -- there was a lot of enthusiasm back in 2008 and I will tell you this. This may surprise you. But there are a lot of doctors who will continue to prescribe this because the way medicine works in a population of women, the drug still may have some benefit. But they just can't say that across the board.
The goal, as you might say, is to figure out who's going to benefit and who's not, and we just don't know the answer to that. So what the FDA does is we've got to look at the aggregate. We know someone that may benefit from this. But overall, on the up and up, if you look at everybody, we think that the benefits do not outweigh the risks, we do not think that it increases survival.
In Europe, as you alluded to, they arrived at a different conclusion. Looking at the same exact data, but they said we're still going to keep it on the market but it has to be used in conjunction with another chemo drug.
This is the gray uncertainty of sometimes of medicine.
GRIFFIN: Boy, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks. I feel for those people out there suffering from this and just looking for an answer and not getting it. GUPTA: Right. And they want this sometimes the last resort.
GRIFFIN: Yes. All right. Doctor, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: Well, it has been a tough week for the eastern half of the nation. West Virginia, one of the latest victims of this early taster of winter. Sleet, freezing rain, snow. Treacherous driving. This is around Charleston. Just within hours, crews had to deal with nearly 70 wrecks.
Been much of the same story in neighboring Virginia. More than 300 accidents blamed on the weather. Even this morning, there are patches of ice and slush that are making for some rough going and for much of the country, more bad weather is looming.
Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the CNN Weather Center.
I guess it's looming for the next three or four months, really.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes. It is. But we've got just storm after storm after storm. And primarily, we just got rid of one weather system for the Eastern Seaboard and for areas around Georgia and to West Virginia, Tennessee, all the way into the Great Lakes and Midwest.
We saw slippery roads, some record snowfall totals. Now we've got a storm system moving on in across the west coast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
GRIFFIN: Well, I will have to warm this place up with a nice warm story, Karen, after that.
MAGINNIS: There you go.
GRIFFIN: And this is one we want to tell you about. Troops heading home for the holidays. That sounds pretty warm inside at least. We're catching up with some of them at Atlanta's airport. They move one step closer to re-uniting with their families.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Time to travel "Across Country" now.
First stop, Jacksonville, Florida. Surveillance cameras rolling when a suspected arsonist appeared to pour liquid inside a local spa and salon. Moments later that happened. It erupted to flames. The fire causing $100,000 damage.
The salon reportedly owned by a woman. She went from being homeless to running a business. And then this. Right? No arrests yet.
Next stop, Toledo, Ohio. A suspected burglar in custody after confronting an elderly homeowner who was locked and loaded. The 68- year-old guy didn't want to be identified but explained how he stopped the intruder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't touch him. I didn't get close to him. But I put the gun out where he could see it and I yelled in -- yelled in a strong voice, hit the deck or you're dead. If he got up, the coroner would have to take him.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: There you go.
Aurora, Colorado. This rabbit is the Grinch who stole Christmas. Every year for the past year someone had been pulling the plug on Barry Miller's outdoor Christmas lights. This year, Miller set up a camera to catch him. To his surprise, it was a rabbit.
Rascally rabbit.
Thousands of our servicemen and women on the road for the holidays. They're going home. That means scenes like this are going to be playing out nationwide. Hugs, kisses, smiles and tears.
These are great to see.
This one's in Burlington, Vermont. National Guard members just home from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. Look at that little --
Many other troops are making their way back for the holiday break. Our Reynolds Wolf is live at the Atlanta airport, where the USO folks working around the clock. Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Drew, it's been an amazing morning. And we've had a good time here at the USO. One of the neatest things we've seen so far is something we'd love to share with you and the rest of America. Jonathan Schaer is our photojournalist. Jon, let's zoom in and show people what we have here.
This is the USO's sign-in sheet. Now, the names are not that important. The reason why is because they could be anybody. It's the very best America has to offer, all of America's sons and daughters.
But what is really cool is, you look at the branch of service. We've got the Army, the Air Force, the Navy. You don't see it on this sheet -- this particular sheet, but the Coast Guard and even the Marines have been here this morning.
And the places they come from are really as varied as the people themselves. They've come from places like California, from Colorado, from Ohio, Virginia and many more are going to come through these doors.
In fact, they've had about 1500 that have walked through here. By the time the day is over, they'll have 2,000, and possibly another 2,000 tomorrow. Maybe 5,000 by Sunday. They have about a half million that walk through this place each year, and they've come from basic training, some of them have been straight from the front lines.
They'll get a chance to relax. You see a couple of recliners here, where they're able to get a break, get something to eat, too. Tell you, we've got a fellow here who's familiar with it. This is Bob Babcock. Bob, a veteran. Bob, what are people going to experience? When they walk in here, what can they find?
BOB BABCOCK, USO VOLUNTEER: When they walk in here, they're going to be made to feel at home. We're going to -- we're all veterans that are working here today. So, what they'll do is, they'll come in, we'll show them what we've got to eat, they get them. We've got world-famous hot dogs, we've got rolls, we've got anything they would want.
WOLF: What makes them world-famous hot dogs?
BABCOCK: They're world famous because we declared them to be world famous. And everybody that eats that them, mostly goes back to Iraq and Afghanistan, so they're international in scope. So, they're great hot dogs. Come down to the USO and get a hot dog.
WOLF: You've been through the USO yourself. You, you're a Vietnam veteran. And you have an experience, too. You were in, let's see, Saigon? USO there?
BABCOCK: Yes. I was in Saigon one time, and I happen to see a USO. And I stopped in, and I called home. I sat in line for an hour and a half, got a three-minute phone call, and one of those you're talking over a radio waves, so you say, "Hello, over."
And that was -- that was my experience. It was a very positive one.
WOLF: I can imagine so.
BABCOCK: And we've been working down here for -- ever since R & R started, and we love it. We've got all of our vets here that consistently come back.
WOLF: Bob, thanks so much for your service.
BABCOCK: Thank you.
WOLF: Very quickly. Let me show you what else we've got over here. Not only do you have some great food to eat -- oh my gosh. Look at this spread we've got out here. All kinds of brownies and chips and whatever to eat. All kinds of goodies you ever wanted. Many things to drink.
Very quickly, as we step back over here, let me show you something else. More benches here and, then, if you go around the corner, you've got a quiet area, little bit of a library where people can actually sit down and read a book and the nice and quiet, use a computer terminal or two.
Back over in this direction, little bit of something, little bit of an oasis before they make that final trip headed back home. All right, guys, this is the latest we've got from Hartsfield-Jackson. Let's kick it back to you in the studio.
GRIFFIN: Reynolds, thanks a lot. Thanks to Jonathan Schaer, too.
Celebrities and politicians give Larry King the royal treatment on his farewell night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: We are big fans of yours, and so, my announcement is that the day's officially in California Larry Ling Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: And a toast to that. We'll look at some memorable moments from his final show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BENNET, SINGER (singing): You ain't seen nothing yet. The best is yet to come, and babe, won't that be fine? The best is yet to come, come the day you're mine. Come the day you're mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Network news anchors to the president of the United States, it was a night to honor Larry King. The host, of course, of CNN's "Larry King Live" signed off for the final time last night. His parting words, simply, "So long." Here are some of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE COURIC, CBS ANCHOR: As you hang up your suspenders on your dressing room door, I speak for us all when I say, we want more. More of the show that we instantly loved, for 25 years couldn't get enough of.
FRED ARMISEN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE," IMPERSONATING LARRY KING: You know, I've done about 7,000 interviews in my 25 years at CNN, and I've saved my best guest for last. I'm talking to me.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": First Cannon does me. Do me.
CHANCE KING, LARRY KING'S SON, IMPERSONATING LARRY KING: I'm too old for this. I done this for 50 years.
(LAUGHTER) BARBARA WALTERS, ABC HOST, "THE VIEW": No one has done more than you. You've been able -- you were my biggest competition. I hate to see you go, but a little part of me says, "Oh, terrific, now I can get them."
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You say that all you do is ask questions, but for generations of Americans, the answers to those questions have surprised us, they've informed us, and they've opened our eyes to the world beyond our living rooms.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Larry. And thank you for all the years. You were great.
SCHWARZENEGGER: That the day's officially in California Larry King Day.
KING: That's the staff in Washington. And now we'll switch to the staff right here in Los Angeles. There's the control room. There you see Wendy Walker.
BENNET (singing): The best is yet to come, and babe, won't be that be fine?
KING: I am -- I don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of good-bye, how about so long?
(SILENCE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Joining us now to help us look at the career of Larry King and, really, his impact on popular culture, Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for TV and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. What did you think of the show last night?
ROBERT THOMPSON, DIRECTOR, BLEIER CENTER FOR TV AND POPULAR CULTURE: I thought it was quite charming, and it was such a vintage Larry King show. There were big guests, two presidents and a governor.
There were a few awkward moments. The whole Sinatra duet that never happened with Regis, and the couple of clips for the historical reel, the son doing that impersonation of Dad like he was at night at the Improv.
It's become kind of a genre, these last shows, where you trot out the people that kind of, a test to your legacy. And I think it was a really good idea to have those two co-hosts there. It wasn't so much like Larry King was throwing this party for himself. But that he had been invited for all of these surprises that they kept pulling out of their hat.
GRIFFIN: You know, Robert, I mean, it really is a milestone to be on the air anywhere for 25 years. But to do what he did for 25 years which, in my opinion, was kind of start this whole primetime talk show kind of thing, and just keep it going for so long, it's pretty significant.
THOMPSON: It really is. And we forget that, first of all, he'd been doing this kind of thing for a long time in radio --
GRIFFIN: Right.
THOMPSON: Even before he went on TV. And when he comes on TV in 1985, cable television was a very different kind of a place. And so was the interview show. Especially with celebrities.
We didn't have the internet yet, or TMZ, or any of these kind of things. So he really was a pioneer, and I think his great legacy is, in fact, the booking department. He managed to get guests that were at the center of the American consciousness, important ones like political leaders, and silly, you know, scandal-of-the-moment tabloid stories.
And when historians are looking at the last quarter of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, those Larry King interviews are going to provide a substantial archive.
GRIFFIN: Yes, and he had to work on getting those interviews in the beginning, because, I mean, cable was new. Nobody knew much about him or the show. But, boy, in the height of his career, you were begging to get on "Larry King."
THOMPSON: Right. I mean, once he became this -- we overuse the word "icon," but I guess it really does apply here. People wanted to go on "Larry King."
And there was always this perception, and this gets talked about all the time, that people felt he was a friendly, safe place to do an interview where you could control the situation more. But I think we sometimes overstate that with Larry King. It's true that he often did provide that kind of a harbor, but it wasn't like he threw nothing but softballs, which is what a lot of people would like us to believe.
GRIFFIN: Well, what Larry King did and still does is, he lets his guests talk, which is somewhat of a rarity on primetime shows, talk shows now. Robert, thank you so much for joining us, talking about Larry King.
Your taxes will not be going up this year. That's the good news. Lawmakers still divided over the bad parts of the tax deal. We're going to hear their views from opposite sides of the aisle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Good news for your investments. The Dow and S&P closed at two-year highs yesterday. For a look at what's in store today, hopefully more good news from Stephanie Elam in New York. Hi, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Drew. I'll do my best. But I have to tell you, overall, it's been a pretty quiet rally. We haven't seen huge 200-point moves on the Dow, but every little bit adds up, right? And so, yes, stocks are now where they were in 2008, and that's right before that Lehman Brothers collapse and the bottom fell out of the economy back in darker days.
Now, one caveat that I have to tell you about, trading usually light at the end of the year and today we are expecting a flat open and that's pretty much what we're getting. In fact, when we look at the Dow, it's up 3 points, 11,502 and the S&P 500 barely to the plus side so not a lot going on there right now.
But, Drew, just in case you haven't finished your holiday shopping or maybe looking for a last-minute gift, we have one for you. A massive toy collection is going up for auction today at Sotheby's, but with very grown up prices. It's the collection of Malkin Forbes, the founder of "Forbes" magazine. Total price tag, expected $3 million to $5 million.
And the most expensive it system a four-foot gas-powered battleship from 1905, it's expected to fetch a record breaking $300,000. Also up for sale today, an original monopoly set from 1933. Hand painted by Charles Darrow, the games creator. That's pretty cool. It's round who knew. Monopoly actually started off being a round game. Very, very cool stuff there, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Very cool. Very expensive. I'm not going to ask for those, either one.
ELAM: Yes. Yes, I won't be asking for them either.
GRIFFIN: Gas-powered battleship. I like it. All right. Thanks, Stephanie. Appreciate it.
It is just after 9:30 in the east, 6:30 out west. Here are some of the stories that have us talking.
Three hundred troops return home to cheers in their family and friends in Burlington, Vermont. The troops from the Vermont National Guard just wrapped up nine months in Afghanistan.
The FDA calling is for a controversial drug Avastin to be phased out as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer. It says the drug has not substantially extended the lives of breast cancer victims and there are potentially dangerous side effects. There's wide disagreement about the drug. European regulators are not making the same recommendation as the U.S. regulators are.
Your taxes will not be going up next year. The hotly-contested tax cut deal passed the House before midnight. Now, it just needs the president's signature. That is expected this afternoon. The deal means two more years of Bush-Era tax rates and extra 13 months of unemployment benefits, a Social Security tax cut for all American workers and a lower estate tax.
Well, the tax deal drew support from both parties as well as criticism. The common concern that echoes across the aisle is the cost will inflate the nation's ballooning deficit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have bureaucrats that sit in these buildings in Washington, D.C. and they spend their hours every day figuring out new ways to spend your money.
It is time for us to change that. We have to make certain that our government is more efficient and that it is spending less and the American people are going to hold us accountable for taking those steps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can talk about cutting taxes and that's great. We all like less taxes, but this came at an immense cost and with the efficiency of our essentially having stood at the front of the capitol and shovelled cash out. That's about as efficient as job producing as the provisions in this bill are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Well, the president's scheduled to sign that bill into law this afternoon and the tax deal, of course, is making mostly news in Washington, but the bigger deal may be what didn't happen.
The Senate will not pass a spending bill until the new Congress is seated. Why? Because Harry Reid couldn't get the votes. Why? Maybe because that Tea Party is more powerful than ever.
Political producer Shannon Travis joins us from the CNNPolitical.com desk. Shannon, you've been in touch with the Tea Party and they're kind of taking credit for this.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, they are. Drew, forget about that football game last night that a lot of the country was watching, San Francisco and San Diego.
A lot of the drama was on Capitol Hill last night. As you just mentioned, the House passed the tax cut deal and that's going to Obama, but no haps in the Senate for Harry Reid and that $1.1 trillion spending bill.
The Tea Party is claiming a lot of credit. Let's walk through this. Harry Reid said that he hoped to have the votes with that about nine senators withdrew their support said they'd vote for it and then later withdrew the support. Why?
We don't know exactly why, but the Tea Party Movement is claiming some credit for switching some senators from yea to nay. I spoke with Amy Kramer this morning. She's the chairman of the Tea Party Express and she told me she that she and a few other Tea Party activists were camped out in Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina in his office reading.
Basically through the bill as he threatened to read through the bill putting pressure on those senators to vote no. They say that this bill is filled with too much pork and that they didn't want this to pass.
They were joined, the Tea Party Express was joined by the Club (inaudible) and the Tea Party Patriots and basically threatening to mount primary challenges against Republican senators who voted for this thing.
So a lot of drama unfolding on Capitol Hill and the Tea Party Movement is claiming victory for this -- for Harry Reid not having the votes.
GRIFFIN: Right and Shannon, what happens now? I mean, technically we're going to be out of money to pay the bills by this weekend so the Senate is just going to pass a stop gap measure I guess.
TRAVIS: That's right.
GRIFFIN: And when the spending bill comes back again, is it going to be stripped of all the earmarks?
TRAVIS: Well, it remains to be seen. As you just said, there's a stop gap measure, a temporary bill to keep the government up and running. But likely won't see another vote until the Congress is seated and then have conservative senators who won in the mid-term election.
And you'll probably see a lot of the spending completely stripped out of any similar bill because a lot of the conservatives who ran and won in the last election ran against government spending.
GRIFFIN: Shannon, you're right. A lot more drama than that football game.
TRAVIS: That's right.
GRIFFIN: We'll be looking for more of your reports as they continue to wind down the legislative session. We're going to have your next political update in one hour.
Reminder, for all the latest political news, go to our web site, CNNPolitics.com.
Tiger Woods' brother says the golfer has not spoken to him since 2006.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've sent him a couple of letters and I've tried to call a couple of times just to update him on, you know, when's going on with the family because we are family. And I've gotten no response.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): We ask why Woods has cut off his family. Downfall, the Tiger Woods scandal, a preview next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN: We've been talking about the drama in the Senate. Apparently, there's some drama going on right now. Harry Reid's just making his comments moments ago. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV) MAJORITY LEADER: Two things out of the way. We have minimal things left to do. We have to do the health care as it relates to 9/11. We have to, of course, complete the funding for the government.
We all -- we know what happened last night and so we're looking forward to doing the CR. Tremendous disappointment as to what it doesn't do for our country, but that's where we are. Republicans made that choice and the American people need to understand that.
I was told that there were needed six or seven days to debate the S.T.A.R.T. treaty. That's easy to do. We can complete that very quickly. It all depends on our friends on the other side of the aisle, if they want to continue as they have this whole Congress and throwing roadblocks in front of everything that we do or move forward to a culmination of this debate.
Mr. President, we've done some very, very important things during this Congress, but there is nothing, nothing more important than the S.T.A.R.T. Treaty because it has ramifications far greater than our own country and so I would hope everyone would be patient. We know this is the holiday season, but this is something -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Senator Harry Reid trying to outline the next few days in the Senate. Talking about extending health care benefits for the 9/11 responders, also, that stop gap measure for the spending that we have been talking about and getting on to that S.T.A.R.T. treaty, the president wants this.
The nuclear arms treaty with the Russians, they think it's very important to do this year and apparently they're going to try to do that. We'll keep you posted on that as we do with all politics here on CNN.
Well, it has been a tough year for Tiger Woods both on and off the golf course, but at a time when you think he would reach out to his family, Tiger's brother says the golfer wants nothing to do with him.
CNN's T.J. Holmes talked to Tiger's brother for our special "Downfall, the Tiger Woods Scandal" and T.., I talked to you earlier today. I was shocked he had a brother. I guess that just goes to show how much he's not part of Tiger's life.
HOLMES: Yes. A lot of people have that exact response, Drew. I was telling them - I was doing this special. I said I'm going out to talk to Tiger's brother and they actually said, what? Yes, he has a brother. He has two brothers and a sister. Now, they're half brothers and sister. These are the kids of his dad from his dad's first marriage and they were there. They were a part of Tiger Woods' life when he was little just learning the game.
They came up essentially with him. There's an age difference, but they were there in the early part of his life. Would you believe now his family members say they haven't talked to him in the past four years.
But they have no hard feelings as you'll hear here they just want the reach out and help Tiger Woods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Earl Woods Jr. is the oldest of three children from his father's previous marriage.
EARL WOODS JR., TIGER'S BROTHER: They had a conversation with Tiger when he was little and I said we don't do anything half ass. You're either all or you're not at all and so he loved that.
HOLMES: But just as Tiger's career began to skyrocket, his older brother noticed a change.
WOODS: When he turned pro, it became more difficult to have time to him and since then it's like -- it's almost as though we don't measure up.
I haven't spoken to Tiger since 2006. We've sent him a couple of letters and I've tried to call a couple of times just to update him on what's going on with the family because we are family and I've gotten no response.
HOLMES (on camera): You haven't talked to your brother, your blood, since 2006. Now, there has to be something else going on. Was there some tension of some kind? Why would he just cut the family off?
WOODS: There were reports that I had borrowed money from him and not paid him back. There was a family argument that split the family up. None of that's true.
HOLMES (voice-over): In fact, the last time he says he saw his little brother was at their father's funeral.
WOODS: He was gracious enough to allow us to join him on the jet to take my dad to Kansas to bury his remains. And I remember we came off the jet, walked down the runway, hugged, hey, how are you doing? He went that way with the entourage and we went this way. That was the last I ever saw him.
HOLMES: Earl Woods Jr. says their father's death had a major impact on Tiger.
WOODS: What I saw was that he lost a part of himself. I think that our father was a part of Tiger so much that when he passed, Tiger became lost. That he didn't know how to fill that void.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And a lot of people ask, Drew, has to be something going on. Maybe there was some animosity. Maybe they were jealous of Tiger. All these things, family says absolutely not the case and even after all Tiger's been through this past year and he hasn't talked to his family again in four years, they say they don't have any hard feelings towards Tiger.
They just want to reach out and be there for him, still love him and they say the man that you've learned about. The Tiger Woods in the past year is not the person he is at his core so still they're defending their half brother, their brother. They don't do anything half assed and he's still their brother and they just - they love him. They want to reach out to him, Drew.
GRIFFIN: And T.J., they're reaching out to him, this Earl Woods Jr. is on national television?
HOLMES: Yes. A lot of people ask that question. Why would you do this? Why would you come out and speak? Why won't you try to reach him or pick up the phone and call him?
They just want to reach out and be there for him, still love him. And they say the man you've learned about -- the Tiger Woods in the past year is not the person he is at his core.
So still they are defending their half brother. Their brother, they say; they don't do anything half-assed, they said. It is still their brother and they love him and want to reach out to him -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: And T.J. they're reaching out to him -- this Earl Woods Jr. is -- on national television?
HOLMES: Yes. A lot of people ask that question. Why would you do this? Why would you even come out and speak? Why won't you try to reach him? Pick up the phone and call him. They have no idea, quite frankly, Drew, how to get a-hold of him.
Phone numbers are different. If they reach out to him, they have to reach out through his people. They have sent letters. They said they have done this repeatedly, time and time again. They're not getting any response.
And one of his brothers -- not Earl but the other brother right now is in pretty bad health. And they're just trying to reach Tiger Woods to let him know how his brother is doing and they can't reach him in that regard as well.
So, really, Drew, you learn a lot but a lot of people have that question. Really? He had a brother? Yes, he has siblings. But right now, they just quite frankly want to be there for their brother who has had a tough year.
GRIFFIN: All right. T.J. looks really interesting; Saturday, Sunday, 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Looking forward to that. Thanks T.J. And I guess we'll see you back here tomorrow.
HOLMES: Thanks, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Flesh-eating zombies taking over city streets. An eerie sight, but there's a reason for the madness. We'll have it for you in our "Morning Passport". That's next.
But first, let's flash back to December 17th, 1903. Orville and Wilbur Wright took to the skies, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their 12-second adventure put them in the history books as the world's first ever successful flight. Orville was at the controls of the gasoline-powered biplane as it traveled a whopping 120 feet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Let's get in our "Morning Passport".
We begin in Israel where a work plane shot down a UFO. Military officials say they had to scramble air force jets yesterday after spotting an unidentified flying object over a nuclear plant in the Negev Desert. It was flying in a designated no fly zone. Military officials say it could have been a party balloon.
Next stop, Cuba: flesh-eating zombies roaming the streets of Havana. That's kind of true; they're actually actors. Cuba's first zombie flick is being filmed. It's called "One of the Dead" which we're told is a mix of gore and satire. In this version, the Communist leaders claim that the living dead were part of a CIA-backed plot aimed at toppling the government. The movie hits theaters next year.
Over at Atlanta, Hartsfield Jackson Airport and airports across the country, troops being welcomed home by the USO. Places just like this where they can come in, get a hot coffee and settle down for their next flight on the way home and all trying to get home, Karen. Hopefully in time for the holidays and no weather is going to impede them.
MAGINNIS: Well, we do have a powerful Pacific storm system that is going to lash the West Coast. Heavy mountain snowfall, strong winds, possibly up to 90 miles an hour and rainfall in coastal sections of California could produce some mud or landslides.
GRIFFIN: Well, that doesn't sound good.
MAGINNIS: No, it doesn't.
GRIFFIN: All right. We look for your forecast coming up.
Also coming up next hour, you may expect a letter to Santa to look like this; asking for an American girl doll? But more and more this year, kids are asking for the basics: food, clothes, even heat.
We're talking to the head elf -- yes there is one -- of the Postal Services Operations Santa coming up in our next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Time to talk sports with Jamal Anderson, former running back of the Atlanta Falcons, but turning into our sports guru around here. Jamal, good to see you.
JAMAL ANDERSON, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I love it. Let's go crazy. It's Friday.
GRIFFIN: We can become crazy. Yes. Thursday night football.
ANDERSON: Thursday night football.
GRIFFIN: Wait a minute. When are they going to have Tuesday and Wednesday night football because I have nothing to do?
ANDERSON: We are getting there. Drew we're getting there as the league progresses and gets more and more popular. Number one sport in America, we'll get there.
GRIFFIN: Should have been a good game last night.
ANDERSON: It should have been a great game last night. Basically, it's a playoff game essentially for both of these teams. In fact, neither team was eliminated. Last night the San Diego Chargers took on the San Francisco 49ers at home.
And what a difference this guy right here, Vincent Jackson makes, unavailable for the Chargers for most of the season. Contract dispute and then, of course, he was held out for several games for suspension from the league. Big difference last night, three touchdowns. Philip Rivers 19 of 25, 273 yards, two touchdowns, again with that guy, Vincent Jackson. The Chargers made plays every time they needed to.
Again, you are going to see Rivers here hit Vincent Jackson; a huge, huge key here for the Chargers down the stretch and makes a huge difference for this football team. Who was, in fact, 20 and 1 in the month of December, the past several seasons, Drew.
So this is that team. This is that football team that people are concerned about. If you look at the past five or six weeks of the NFL season, they have been playing very, very good football.
Same as the Oakland Raiders game a couple of weeks ago and the Raiders put 250 on them but the Chargers are dangerous. And the 9ers, crazy enough about that game, still not eliminated from play-off contention even after nine losses.
GRIFFIN: Really?
I was going to ask you if Singletary's -- the coach -- Mike Singletary's job was in trouble.
ANDERSON: I'll be honest with you. If they win out Drew, they will be five and one in the division. And they will tire -- we have won the division. And they will host the playoff game if the 49ers win out. They are not eliminated from the playoff. It's kind of crazy.
GRIFFIN: Yes. Up in New England, Patriots are already in the playoffs, right?
So we're going to talk about basketball. We're going to talk about basketball.
ANDERSON: A lot of things to be happy about in Boston right now. The Boston Celtics are on a 12-game winning streak right now. The Atlanta Hawks are in town. The Hawks are a little banged up. The Celtics a little banged up. No Rondo, no Shaq, no problem for the Celtics. Guess what? The big three are still there. Kevin Garnett, 17 points 10 assists last night.
You're watching Paul Pierce right here, 15 points, ten assists. Big baby Davis throws in another 18 points and ten rebounds.
Here's the thing about this basketball team, the big difference between last year and this year, particularly in the regular season is Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are healthy.
The Atlanta Hawks came in on the hot street. No Jamal Crawford, no Joe Johnson. The Hawks were 50 percent from the free-throw line last night. You're watching Kevin Garnett, distribution of the ball but 18 turnovers for the Atlanta Hawks -- 18 turnovers.
Tough thing to do particularly when you have a streaking team here in the Boston Celtics. Again, no Rondo or Shaq, no problem. KG and Pierce are healthy and they are the key right now and Boston continues to go forward.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
ANDERSON: Tough. It's going to be interesting, Drew. The NBA is going to really be interesting as we get further on in the season.
GRIFFIN: It will be. I'm not a big hockey fan. I don't know if you are to but I like when people throw stuff out on the ice.
ANDERSON: What a great --
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: Fish, dead fish, all kinds of stuff.
ANDERSON: You've got a great tradition here in the Western Hockey League. The Hitmen, they sponsor an annual teddy bear toss. Fans threw more than 23,000 stuff animals on the ice all for charity. What happens here Drew is, after the first throw of the game, they get to throw the stuffed animals on the court. The game, the players deliver, they round these all up after the first score and the players deliver them to local charities and hospitals but 23,000 stuffed animals after the first game.
Again, the Western Hockey League's Hitmen; it's a great event that they do. But I'm like, how do they clean all this stuff up?
GRIFFIN: I don't know. And how do you skate on that? There's obviously got to be some junk left, right?
ANDERSON: I mean there's -- you know, you think about it, 23,000 stuffed animals and you still have to play the game. I mean it's a great event and it's great cause. And look how excited the fans get. It's fun that they get to have -- hockey is not all about violence and fighting. It's also about charity.
GRIFFIN: Yes, it's a lot about violence and skating.
ANDERSON: No, no, no.
GRIFFIN: Jamal thanks. Appreciate it.
ANDERSON: Always a pleasure. All right. I'll see you.
GRIFFIN: Take it easy.
