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Holiday Shoppers Versus the Clock; Ups and Downs of Obama's Year; The Stars Give Back This Holiday Season; Pat Robertson Disagrees With Harsh Penalties for Marijuana Use; Top 10 CNN Videos; Hero Boxes
Aired December 24, 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: Let's keep it going. Top of the hour, let's check the big stories we're following this Christmas Eve.
If you're expecting a quick tax refund early next year, hang on just a second here. The IRS says millions of taxpayers who itemize deductions won't be able to file until mid to late February. That's because the IRS has to adjust for tax law changes Congress made in December.
If you're flying for Christmas, your airport security check today may include extra attention to those insulated travel mugs. The TSA is concerned terrorists could hide explosives behind the insulated lining.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: This is good news. What -- we're finally getting to a point where we gather intelligence, we incorporate it into our screening procedures before they attempt it. And so we have to be honest, they haven't banned these insulated beverage containers. What they're saying is they're going to get additional scrutiny. And we've trained our people to look at them and tell the difference between typical insulation and something that may be an explosive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Looks pretty good, huh? In Bethlehem today, Christians gathered in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity to celebrate Christmas. Mass will be held at midnight at the church, which according to tradition, is built over the site where Jesus was born.
Just a quick break for the storm clouds for southern California. More rain heading that way for Christmas. Five days of heavy rain left a real mess behind. Nine counties, including Los Angeles, are now under a state of emergency. The biggest threat right now, mudslides of course. The storms killed at least one person in California.
It rained so much in Las Vegas, streets turned into rivers. But here's how to make the best out of a bad situation. One of our iReporters decided it was the perfect time to go kayaking. Pretty cool. All right, let's check in with Reynolds Wolf now in our Severe Weather Center. It's all about the travel update, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is. It's going to be kind of tough for a lot of people. A lot of people who were waiting for the last minute might have a few wrinkles in their plans, especially if they're trying to get to parts of the Midwest, Tony. It's going to be pretty interesting in a few places.
We have at this time a winter storm warning and a few watches that are in effect for portions of the Midwest, western Great Lakes, areas mainly to the south and southwest of Chicago at this point. One to four inches of snowfall possible in spots like St. Louis. Drivers are going to have a very tough time on parts of 55 and even along parts of 70. But when you get back over into portions of the corn belt, there's the possibility of 3 to 7 inches of snowfall. But when you have the wind kicking up, there could be a few spots where you have maybe over a foot or two in some places. We're talking about the extreme drifting.
Another big story that we have that is in the forecast (INAUDIBLE) thing that we're going to see really build up over the next couple of days. We're watching this area of low pressure, one of the same impulses that affected the California coastline now expected to drift along the Gulf Coast, and then it's going to eject (ph) right along the Eastern Seaboard. At one point, the storm track looked like it might be a little bit deeper out into the Atlantic. Now if it hugs along that coastline, there's the possibility we could see some heavier snowfall in parts of New England, including New York. So we're going to watch that for you very carefully.
As it stands, though, your forecast, as we fast-forward from today and into tomorrow, is going to be as follows. Looks like we might have some delays in spots like Atlanta, perhaps even into, say, Charlotte, North Carolina, maybe even into Louisville. Back out on the West Coast, we have that secondary storm system, this track a little bit farther to the north up in parts of the Cascades. And we could see showers, maybe even a little bit of flash flooding in parts of, say, areas mainly north of San Francisco and northward up to say about Mt. Shasta. Sierra Nevadas may also get another dusting of snowfall. Fairly dry in parts of the Pacific Northwest. And of course, we've been talking about that snowfall in parts of the Midwest, could see some also around the thumb area of Michigan.
That's the latest in the forecast, Tonight. More updates coming out throughout the day. It's travel time.
HARRIS: Oh, yes. You're going to be busy this hour.
WOLF: Oh, yes.
HARRIS: I promise you.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Thanks, Reynolds. WOLF: You bet.
HARRIS: Last minute holiday shoppers playing a game of beat the clock. With just a few hours left, the pressure is really on procrastinators, like, yes, yours truly. A poll released earlier this week by "Consumer Reports" found one in five people hadn't even started their holiday shopping? Really?
CNN's Sandra Endo is at a mall in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross. Sandy, good to see you again. Look, I know you've got a procrastinator with you. What are you hearing from people like the woman you're going to talk to in a second?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, boy, Tony, I can tell you, it is frantic here. The shopping frenzy is on, a lot of people coming out for the last-minute gifts. And I can just feel the stress exuding from these people, like Stephanie Frost here, who's standing next to me. She was frantically making phone calls earlier -- I can't find this. What's up? So what's your situation right now?
STEPHANIE FROST, SHOPPER: Well, I got stuck with the last-minute holiday shopping. My husband had surgery yesterday, so he said, Oh, by the way, you get to finish everything, so I'm out here.
(CROSSTALK)
FROST: At least the weather's nice.
ENDO: Right. And so you're totally stressed. You can't find what you're looking for.
FROST: (INAUDIBLE) place. Yes, I've been looking for a few things, and I can't find, you know, exactly what I need. So yes, there will be some replacement gifts.
ENDO: Are you finding deals out there, though?
FROST: Yes. Actually, there are some good deals out here. And it's not as crowded as I thought it would be. So that's good.
ENDO: But definitely up against the clock. Plus, you have to cook.
FROST: Yes.
ENDO: Come on! Your husband has to chip in.
FROST: I know. I know. Let's get him out of bed and make him get in the kitchen, right? But -- yes. That's fine.
ENDO: Make him just pay for it.
FROST: Yes. Exactly.
ENDO: He'll foot the bill.
(CROSSTALK)
ENDO: Well, good luck.
FROST: Thank you.
ENDO: I know you're crazed and --
(CROSSTALK)
ENDO: Yes. OK. Good luck. Happy holidays.
FROST: Thank you. All right. Bye-bye.
ENDO: That's the situation. And Tony, that would have been your situation if I wasn't out here because I, in fact --
HARRIS: That's what I'm talking about.
ENDO: -- yes, bought your nephew --
HARRIS: Yes, did you take care of me?
ENDO: -- a gift, as you asked.
HARRIS: Please tell me you took care of it.
ENDO: Yes, I did -- XXL. So --
HARRIS: Oh, you are awesome.
ENDO: Yes. You got it.
HARRIS: Well, here's the thing. I've got a nephew in town who's a -- basically, a layabout. He gets to play a little basketball from time to time with the president, so he thinks he's a big deal. So I have to get him a gift. And thank goodness you're there. You got the XXL for me. I will reimburse you sometime in 2011. Sandy, good to see you. See you soon.
ENDO: All right. You got it. Merry Christmas.
HARRIS: Merry Christmas to you.
It is Christmas Eve, which means Santa is on his way, and NORAD is keeping a close eye on Old Saint Nick's movements in the sky right now. Kris Kringle is making deliveries in Siberia. Wow. OK. Here's video of him earlier, flying along the Great Wall of China. We will have more updates throughout the day on the location of Santa's sleigh.
Hi, Santa! T. Harris, Georgia, just north of Atlanta, remember me? Good all year! We're back with our "Random Moment" in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Now we're talking! We're starting to ramp up our music game here for Christmas. If Santa comes down the chimney with books in his bag tonight, parents may wake up with a blue Christmas tomorrow. Watch the "Random Moment of the Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Books for Christmas? What the heck is that?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't get books! That's not toys! I don't get books for Christmas!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Talk about being read the riot act. So the boy's parents want you to know that their kid really does love books, but for some reason, he thought toys were mandatory. Merry Christmas, and loads of luck, parents, from the "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Perhaps the Charles Dickens line, "The best of times, the worst of times," sums up the year for President Obama, big victories tempered by a shellacking. Here's CNN's Ed Henry with the president in Honolulu.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The year is ending on a high note for this president, but there were a lot of bumps along the way, everywhere from the political arena to the basketball court.
(voice-over): Maybe it was a metaphor for the year. A simple basketball game the day after Thanksgiving ended with a fat lip and 12 stitches for the president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me begin by pointing out that although Washington is supposed to be a town of sharp elbows, it's getting a little carried away.
HENRY: But as he shifts his game to golf here in Hawaii, the president is reveling in a series of big wins, leaving long-time friends like former Honolulu mayor Muffi Hanneman predicting comeback in 2011.
MUFFI HANNEMAN, FORMER HONOLULU MAYOR: Because I met him when he was basketball player on a basketball court, he definitely has that athletic ability to come back. Yes, it's been a rough year for him, but he's bounced back quite well.
HENRY: But in 2010, nothing came easy for the president, who started campaigning in Massachusetts to keep the seat of the late Senator Ted Kennedy in his party's hands, only to see Scott Brown score a knockout, almost taking health care reform down, too.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HENRY: In March, the president finally got his health care victory, but he couldn't savor it for long. Within weeks, he was engulfed by the biggest oil spill in American history.
OBAMA: I'm shaving, and Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?
HENRY: It was eventually plugged. And there were other big gets, too, like Wall Street reform that the president campaigned on from coast to coast. But with unemployment still stubbornly high, he could not stop a Republican takeover of the House and surge in the Senate.
OBAMA: Now, I'm not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like I did last night.
HENRY: But he picked himself off the floor and shocked Republicans with wins on taxes, a treaty and "Don't ask, don't tell."
OBAMA: One thing I hope people have seen during this lame duck, I am persistent.
HENRY: Now aides say he will keep a low profile here, getting R&R for may be another brutal year. While Mr. Obama hopes to work with Republicans on some issues, he's also determined to stop them from gutting health reform.
HANNEMAN: This is the best place in the world for him to come and recharge his batteries, sort of bask in the Hawaiian sunshine, the Hawaiian culture, the food that he loves.
HENRY (on camera): As soon as he returns to Washington in the new year, the president is expected to name a replacement for his chief economic adviser, Larry Summers. And top aides say that his State of the Union in late January will be heavy on fixing the economy, the issue likely to decide his reelection battle, which is getting closer and closer.
Ed Henry, CNN, with the president in Honolulu.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. Watch out, Grandma. The Dallas Mavericks are singing your song. Listen to this rendition of a Christmas classic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From our house Christmas Eve -- and I don't know the rest of the song. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and Grandma, we believe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She been drinking too much eggnog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we begged her not to go, but she forget her medication.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her medication?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So she staggered out into the snow.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they found her Christmas morning --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- at the scene of the attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she had hoofprints on her forehead and hoof marks on her back. I don't know this song at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandma got ran over by a reindeer --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- walking home from our house Christmas Eve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christmas Eve!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandma, she got ran over by a truck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Santa Claus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for me and Grandpa, we believe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's do this. Let's go "Cross Country" now and see what some of our affiliates are reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM DOUGLAS (R), VERMONT: We will end this tenure with a literal dog and pony show.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: That's pretty good there. That's outgoing Vermont governor Jim Douglas having a little fun at his last press conference. Rather than review his eight years in office, he decided to put into practice what his critics have said about these briefings in private. So he gave reporters a real dog and pony show, complete with a punchbowl full of Kool-Aid.
Someone in Parkville, Maryland, decided to pull a Christmas prank, filling one man's yard with stolen decorations -- reindeer, an inflatable Santa, lights, cords, you name it. The stuff's worth hundreds of dollars. Police are trying to find the owners so they can return a little bit of holiday cheer.
And in Tucson, Arizona, hundreds of families are enjoying a brighter Christmas, thanks to an anonymous donor. That person bought Christmas trees to hand out to families who couldn't afford to buy one. Very good.
And some churches in Iraq aren't decking the halls this Christmas out of far, Iraqi Christians toning down their celebrations in an effort to keep a low profile after a rash violence threatening church goers there. We will have a live report next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time now for the help desk, where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Donna Rosato is a senior writer with "Money" and Lynette Khalfani-Cox is a columnist for Walletpop.com. Happy to have you ladies here with us.
Let's start off with our first question, comes to us from Carolyn in California, who writes, "I recently graduated with my bachelor's in nursing and am working full-time as an RN. My goal is to be debt- free, and I'm working to go pay off my college loans as fast as possible. My co-workers say this will hurt me in the long run, especially when it comes to taxes. Should I continue to pay down my loans fast or heed their advice and only pay the minimum?" Donna, what do you think?
DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR WRITER, "MONEY": Well, good for Carolyn for trying to become debt-free. I -- we're -- that's terrific to do. And I think a lot of people think about education, investing in education, as good debt to have. But debt is debt, and you should try to get rid of it as quickly as possible. And why people may tell you not to write it off -- may not pay it off is because you do get a tax break for the deduction on the interest. But it's very small. It's only $2,500 a year. Pay off those loans as soon as you can, and use that money for something else.
LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, COLUMNIST, WALLETPOP.COM: Yes, and you'll have that peace of mind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So (INAUDIBLE) All right, next question comes to us from Trent in PA, who writes in, "What should I do with my employee stock ownership plan when I leave a company? This is something people should think about, Lynette.
KHALFANI-COX: That's right. With an ESOP, different rules than working with a 401(k). You can get the payout when you leave in stock or in cash, but the payout comes at different times, depending on the reason why you left the company. If you leave for retirement reasons, disability or death -- and I assume the person is still alive, they've asked the question so they're not dead -- but for one of those three reasons, then you can get the payout in one year after you leave the company. If it's for another reason -- let's say you just get a different job -- then the company has up to five years to actually give you the payout. They have to do it in a lump sum or over a maximum of five years. But you can get that money back, and you get it in cash or stock.
ROSATO: And then you can go ahead and --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good to know. All right, thank you, ladies, as always. And if you've got a question that you would like for us to get answered, go ahead, send us an e-mail any time. CNNHelpdesk@CNN.com is the place to go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPC. JANELLE SENNERT, U.S. ARMY: Hi. My name is Specialist Janelle Sennert, stationed at Ft. Worth, Texas. Currently, I'm here in Kandahar airfield, Afghanistan. I want to just say happy holidays to my family in Garland, Texas, Mom, David, Brandy, Alicia. I love you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It is the best Christmas gift ever for a North Carolina 2nd grader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISSA WHALEY, 2ND GRADER: Daddy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Oh, you love that. Alissa (ph) Whaley had written Santa a letter asking him to bring her father home. Well, Santa did just that. Army medic Derek Whaley surprised his daughter and her two sisters at their school. He had been in Iraq for six months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEREK WHALEY, U.S. ARMY MEDIC: This is one for the ages. I'll never forget it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Whaley says he could soon be back overseas again, heading to Afghanistan as early as March.
On this Christmas Eve, we pay tribute to the thousands of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a special salute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Keep up the good work. We're proud of you. You take care of the 4th Division for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm proud of you. All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Taking a look at top stories for you right now.
Police evacuated particles of Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris because of the weight of the snow on the roof. Some feared a collapse. In addition, hundreds of flights have been canceled, stranding thousands of passengers because the airport ran so low on deicing fluid.
The CDC has linked a salmonella to alfalfa sprouts. Eighty-nine people in 15 states and the District of Columbia have become sick, most of them in Illinois.
And if you carry one of those insulated mugs through the security checkpoint at airports, you can expect a little extra attention. The TSA is concerned that terrorists might try to hide explosives in them.
Let's do this. Let's go over to Reynolds Wolf in the Severe Weather Center. And boy, you're in the Midwest now?
(WEATHER REPORT)
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, weather just changes hour by hour.
HARRIS: It does. It does. I just need the flight path clear for Atlanta. All right? A couple kids. I know you do as well. We need them taken care of.
WOLF: Top priority in the Harris house.
HARRIS: Come on now!
WOLF: Absolutely. We'll deliver.
HARRIS: All right. Back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, I know we have shown this to you a lot, but we love it and we hope you love it too. Hope it puts a smile on your face here this holiday season. It is a gift from down under. From Kim Ilman (ph) in Perth, Australia, who puts on a big light display at his house every year.
(HUMMING). It's just fun!
So, this holiday season, all of us are giving back one way or the another, including Hollywood and music royalty. CNN's Alina Cho talked to five megastars about their efforts to help others.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: The hair, the music, the moves -- Justin Bieber, a teenage megastar who surprised us with his passion for giving back.
JUSTIN BIEBER, SINGER: For me, I grew up really, you know, I didn't have a lot of money, and for me it's about helping people out that haven't had opportunity.
CHO: For academy win award actress Nicole Kidman.
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTOR: I've been trying to please my mother and this is probably the thing that she most responds to in my life.
CHO: That thing is Kidman's work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations arm that fights for gender equality and to end violence against women.
HALLY BERRY, ACTOR: The big part of Genesee is teaching women how to take care of themselves.
CHO: Halle Berry grew up watching her own mother suffer.
CHO (on camera): How does that shape you as an adult?
BERRY: Well, you know, honestly, I think I have spent my adult life dealing with the sense of low self esteem that that sort of implanted in me, and I've spent my adult life trying to really heal from that.
CHO: Part of that healing happens here at the Genesee center, a shelter for domestic violence victims in Los Angeles where berry volunteers and helps other women in a way she couldn't help her mother.
Actress Julianne Moore's cause is education. She's an artist ambassador for Save the Children.
CHO (on camera): One in five children lives in poverty.
JULIANNE MOORE, ACTOR: One in five children in the United States lives in poverty. When you tell people that, they are shocked, absolutely shocked.
CHO: Actor Edward Norton s trying to shake up the way people give online, creating what he calls the Facebook of if Philanthropy, a fundraising web platform called "Crowd-rise" where anyone can create a page to raise money for a cause. Norton wants Crowd-rise to be engaging and fun. So he can inspire the next generation to give.
CHO (on camera): If you don't give back no one will like you.
EDWARD NORTON, ACTOR: If you don't give back no one will like you. That is our core philosophy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Alina Cho joining us from New York. Such a pleasure. Good to see you, lady.
So, in talking to all of these stars --
CHO: Nice to see you.
HARRIS: --- was there one common thread in terms of why they felt so compelled to give back?
CHO: Well, Tony, here were a couple. For a lot of stars, it was something about the way they grew up that compelled them to give back. For instance, with Edward Norton, his grandfather was incredibly philanthropic. For Nicole Kidman, she was raised by a mother who was a feminist. Julianne Moore was an Army brat. She moved around a lot and saw a lot of things that were unfair. You know, bad schools and poverty and things that were unfair. Justin Bieber grew up not with a lot of money. He grew up in poverty, in fact. So, that was the reason he decided to give back to children's charities.
But the one common thread, if I had to boil it down, Tony, would be these people are smart. They know they're celebrities. They know they're famous. And the one thing they say is the one meaningful thing we can do with our voice is give back. And I find that really, really great.
HARRIS: It's great they're doing it. It is an opportunity. Boy, I can't wait to see the special. Alina, good to see you.
CHO: Oh, thank you.
HARRIS: And see you in here in Atlanta next week.
CHO: OK.
HARRIS: Don't miss the one-hour specific, "Big Stars, Big Giving." It airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time and tomorrow on Christmas day, 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
The Reverend Pat Robertson. His latest words of wisdom shocking even his most faithful viewers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, take a look at this. The Santa tracker. We understand Santa is flying over Mount Everest, Nepal. You know, I think our Kiran Chetry, anchor of "AMERICAN MORNING," still has family in Nepal. So, perhaps some of her family members getting gifts right about now.
And Merry Christmas to everyone. Come on, Santa! Safe travels.
A preacher's comments on pot causing a real stir. Dana Bash, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from the political desk in Washington. Dana, I hadn't seen this item. What did Pat Robertson actually say?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Let's call this the politics of pot? How about that, Tony?
But many Republicans have long advocated that when it comes to crimes relating to marijuana, there should be mandatory prison sentences. And there are right now.
Well, the TV evangelist Pat Robertson said really recently that he believes that that should be revisited. He said "We're locking up people that take a couple puffs of marijuana, and the next thing they know, they have ten years." And he says part of the problem is it costs the government millions of dollars to do that. Very, very interesting.
Now, he says, look, I don't believe that pot should be -- marijuana should be legalized. He still thinks it should be illegal. But the fact that he is doing and saying this is causing quite a stir among some of those who have supported him.
Of course, Robertson isn't just a TV evangelist. He also ran for Republican nomination for president back in 1988. So, he is political as well.
Second item on the ticket is about looking ahead to the next Congress, which of course, where I spend all my time. And how, in fact, the Tea Party candidates who have won seats in the Senate and the House - how are they really going to deal and affect the atmosphere on Capitol Hill? For most of them, their whole effort was about not compromising with Democrats.
Well, one of the biggest Tea Party favorites is Rand Paul from Kentucky. He will be the next senator from Kentucky. Guess what? He actually had dinner with the Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. Take a look at this. This is where the item can be found on CNN.com/ticker. Harry Reid revealed this information to John King in an exclusive interview. Said the two of them had dinner. He also said - this is Reid talking - "I find him to be a very, very sincere person." Reid said of Paul also, "I think he's not going to be the flamethrower that people think he is." Pretty interesting, huh?
HARRIS: Well, Dana, it wasn't that long ago when this kind of thing wasn't so uncommon where --
BASH: That is so true.
HARRIS: Isn't that true? BASH: Can I just stand on my soapbox now?
HARRIS: Please.
BASH: My theory for a long time has been that part of the reason we've seen a breakdown in Congress is because these guys don't know each other, and ladies don't know each other as well. They come in, they leave, they spend a lot of time raising money and they don't get to know each other as people as they used to before technology and traveling was a lot easier. So I think having dinner is a good thing across party lines.
HARRIS: Boy. Absolutely. And to get to know one another.
Dana, good to see you, as always.
BASH: You too, Tony.
HARRIS: Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us.
Your next political update coming up in one hour. And, of course, for the latest political news, you know where to go, that's CNNpolitics.com.
And as 2010 draws to an end, we are looking back on the news stories that shaped the year and the videos you watched the most.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK DODGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Derek Dodge and these are the 10 CNN.com videos you clicked on most in 2010.
At number 10, a woman goes through an airport checkpoint wearing only her teeny-weeny black bikini. Frustration with the TSA grew this year as security checks became more invasive and Corinne Theile chose her own form of protest.
CORINNE THEILE: If they want to try and see what I've got hidden in my bikini, they're welcome to.
DODGE: The video went viral, earning Theile the nickname "bikini girl."
At number nine --
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.
DODGE: That's Tiger Woods' apology last February.
WOODS: I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable.
DODGE: It was his first public statement since that car crash in November. You know, the one where his wife, Elin, took a golf club to his SUV to help him out. You may remember Woods' mother in the front row when he made this statement. Elin Nordegren, absent. At number eight, the teacher and mother of three who had sex with one of her 14-year-old student. This is Amy Beck from Burbank, California. She's married to a police officer, but spent seven months in a relationship with one of her sixth graders. She's now in prison serving a two-year sentence.
At number seven, an Alabama teenager suspended from school because her prom dress was too revealing. The controversy all came down to cleavage.
ERICA DERAMUS: What cleavage? That's exactly what I said.
DODGE: But the school said it had set clear rules about what dresses had to cover. Now, get this, Erica DeRamus was one of 18 students who broke the rule. Seventeen chose to get paddled as punishment, but Erica refused.
DERAMUS: If we're going to act up, give us another option besides getting paddled, because this is not the 1940s.
DODGE: Erica got another option, suspension. And she took it.
A tragic story. Number six. This is the surveillance video that shows Jennifer Hawke-Petit withdrawing money from a Connecticut bank just an hour before she and her daughters were murdered. Hawke-Petit managed to alert the bank teller and the bank manager called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. She is petrified.
DODGE: Hawke-Petit's husband escaped from the house and survived. Steven Hayes was sentenced to death for his role in the invasion. A second suspect awaits trial.
The top five CNN.com videos of 2010 right after this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DODGE: I'm Derek Dodge. Let's gets back to the list of top 10 CNN.com videos of 2010.
At number five, and a warning, this is a little graphic.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: Haitian police fire in the air trying to scare off looters who have broken into an abandoned school (INAUDIBLE).
DODGE: In January, CNN's Anderson Cooper and his crew found themselves in the middle of a violent looting scene in Haiti. Bricks, blocks and rocks flying and one boy caught in the crossfire, bleeding from his head. When no one else went to help the boy, Anderson grabbed him and dragged him to the side of the road. Others then took the injured boy and led him away.
At number four, an underwater photo of what was thought to be Natalee Holloway's skeleton. An American couple out on a scuba trip off the Aruba coast took the picture and talked to HLN's Nancy Grace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I looked at that photo, I said, by darn, that certainly does look like a skeleton.
DODGE: The couple contacted the FBI, but Aruban authorities couldn't find anything that looked like the remains in the photo and called off the underwater search near the end of March.
At number three, time lapsed video from CNN affiliate KHON showing tsunami waves hitting a reef off Hawaii's Magic Island. A major earthquake off the coast of Chile in February triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific. The highest wave to hit Hawaii that day, just over three feet.
At number two, video capturing the moment a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. A woman sitting on her bed jumps up when the quake hit. Then the power goes out. You hear things falling and then screams. In the end, the quake killed an estimated 230,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million.
And the most clicked on video on CNN.com this year, a mysterious fireball that lit up the sky over five Midwestern states. This video comes from CNN affiliate WISN and shows the mystery streak just west of Milwaukee. The National Weather Service said the fireball was probably a large meteorite.
I'm Derek Dodge and those are you top 10 videos of 2010. Don't forget to go to CNN.com for all the best news and video on the web.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Moments ago we showed you Santa over Mt. Everest and Nepal. Let's see here. What do we have going on here? Santa's made a lot of deliveries in Asia, right? We've got video of him flying over Japan's Mount Fuji. And right now we understand he is flying over India. Calcutta, India. Now, he could be in India for a while. There's like a zillion people in India. There's a lot of work to be done in India. We hope that trip doesn't knock him off his schedule. He does it every year. I'm sure he's got it all worked out. So we will continue to track Santa as he drops gifts to all the boys and girls all over the world.
Take a look at a real morale booster here for troops. Care packages from home packed with the things they really need. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: I guess it is today's theme. Home for the holidays, right? Great song from Kenny Loggins. First stop, Celina, Kansas, where family and friends of the 226th Engineer Company were ready to give their returning service members a memorable welcome home yesterday. The company home earlier than originally expected after, boy, the entire year building and improving camp bases in Afghanistan. Take a look.
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STAFF SGT. CRAIG PACK, U.S. ARMY: It's been a long year. Everybody came home safe. That's what counts. And now we're home with our families.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to run up there and grab him, but I knew I'd probably get in trouble if I did.
ANITA PACK, WIFE: You can't say enough about what a blessing it is to have them home, have all of our soldiers home safely and for our families to be together this Christmas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And here's a picture that is worth 1,000 words. Sergeant John Small (ph), he surprises his wife and family back home in Iowa, unexpectedly dropping in as they were taking a holiday photograph for him. The family thought his return trip back home was weeks away. Needless to say, wife Meagan didn't have to unwrap the best gift she's received.
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MEAGAN SMALLEY, WIFE: I was like, who is this guy up in front of me? And then I looked closer and it was my husband. I don't even remember my Christmas presents from the past compared to this. This is the best Christmas present I could probably ask for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And just in time for the holidays, a godsend for a lot of American men and women in uniform. Gift boxes from home stuffed with all sorts of items. The special care packages are from a nonprofit group, HeroBox, and their generosity is a real morale booster on the battlefield.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Soldiers love writing. So we've got notebooks, we've got pens.
HARRIS (voice-over): After 10 years working in the software industry, Ryan Housley's entire life has changed. He quit his job in 2008 to pursue what he says is a greater cause, the founding of HeroBox.
RYAN HOUSLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEROBOX: In 2007, my youngest brother was deployed to Iraq. And when he was over there, we immediately realized that there were a lot of troops that didn't have strong support systems back home. And so we decided to do something about it and launched herobox.org to support those service members. HARRIS: HeroBox is a non-profit organization that provides specialized care packages and moral support to deployed American service members. Troops can go on the website and create a wish list of items they need. Then they're paired with an organization or individual that wants to send those items.
HOUSLEY: One of the weirdest requests we've ever received was for flea collars. And this was from a unit that was deployed in a report location. And they were next to a lot of feral animals. And so they wanted flea collars to put around their waist so -- to keep the fleas off. And most people would not think to put a flea collar or flea collars in a care package. And so that's what kind of makes HeroBox unique, is it's customized to each service member.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to eat Fruit Loops.
HARRIS: Even though the family has made some sacrifices, Ryan says the work they do is rewarding.
HOUSLEY: We have had to cut back on a lot of things, like miscellaneous purchases, vacations. But on the flip side, it's completely changed our lives. The feedback we get from the service members that we're impacting, you couldn't buy with all the money in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's toothbrushes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Food and cards. Just general things that they need that can make their time a little easier.
HARRIS: HeroBox would not be able to function without the help of its volunteers. People have come together for the annual Holiday Hero Day to ship Hero Boxes to U.S. troops.
GARY TUTTLE, VOLUNTEER & VETERAN: It's really important, I think. You know, it lets them know that we care for them, support them and we appreciate everything they're doing for us. They're putting their lives on the line for us and what greater sacrifice could you have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We seal it up. It pass the shake test. The (INAUDIBLE) is not move anywhere. We'll take it to the tape table and it's going to go off to Iraq and Afghanistan for our heroes.
HARRIS: The Hero Boxes are sent oversees to U.S. troops and they have arrived just in time for the holidays.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like opening a Christmas present every day of the week when you receive one of those. For the morale, it was just a big boost just to see how many people would come together to help support the troops.
HARRIS: For these men and women on the battlefield, it is a small reminder that their loved ones, and even strangers, have them in their thoughts this special time of year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And, boy, it would be better if they were all home for the holidays.
Got to go. Merry Christmas, everyone. I've got to do my shopping.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now, T.J. Holmes in for Ali Velshi.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, man, really? A day --
HARRIS: I know.
HOLMES: Come on, man. I feel bad for you. It's going to be a madhouse out there.
HARRIS: Where is Endo? She's out there in Norcross somewhere. Maybe --
HOLMES: Yes.
HARRIS: Maybe I can send her a note and see if she can shop for me.
HOLMES: All right. Tony, good to see you, as always, buddy.
HARRIS: Yes, sir.
HOLMES: See you soon. Merry Christmas to you. I know we'll be talking soon.
