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U.S. & China: Friends & Rivals; Jean-Claude Duvalier Arrested in Haiti; Push to Repeal Health Care Reform; The "First" Baby Boomer Speaks On Medicare, Social Security; Palin: I Won't Shut Up

Aired January 18, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. Let's check CNN's big stories.

Bill Clinton stumping for Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel this hour. Emanuel is a veteran of the Obama and Clinton White Houses. The former president irked some Chicago Democrats by getting involved in the race. The election is February 22nd.

A SWAT team is inside the Port-au-Prince hotel where former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is a guest. A judge and prosecutor accompanied police.

Duvalier returned to Haiti Sunday after 25 years in exile. He could face arrest for the deaths of thousands of political opponents during his rule in Haiti.

Doctors in Tucson say Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords could be moved to a long-term rehabilitation facility very soon. They say Giffords' continued progress from a bullet wound in the brain is remarkable.

Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, talked with ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK KELLY, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS' HUSBAND: And this is her, so typical of her. She's in the ICU. You know, gone through this traumatic injury, and she spent 10 minutes giving me a neck massage.

And I keep telling her -- I'm like, "Gabby, you're in the ICU. You know, you don't need to be doing this." But it's so typical of her. No matter how bad the situation might be for her, she's looking out for other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Long-time TV host Regis Philbin says he's leaving "Live With Regis and Kelly" after more than 20 years. In fact, Regis is retiring from TV, period.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": This will be my last year on this show. There is a time that, you know, everything must come to an end for certain people on camera, especially certain old people.

So, anyway, folks, I just want you to know that. Plenty of room to go, but this is going to happen at the end of the summer. It's the fall, whatever it is. We don't know that yet.

But just so that you know. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Farewell.

Washington is rolling out a big welcome for the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, leader of the world's second largest economy and biggest holder of U.S. debt. China's red and gold flag flying alongside the Stars and Stripes on Pennsylvania Avenue.

President Hu arrives a few hours from now. He will join President Obama at the White House for a small dinner tonight, and then tomorrow there will be an arrival ceremony, followed by a series of bilateral meetings at the White House. Later, the official White House State Dinner.

On Thursday, President Hu visits congressional leaders on Capitol Hill before flying to Chicago for a visit that will likely include a stop at a Chinese-owned auto parts plant. Mr. Hu heads back to China on Friday.

Relations between the United States and China are complicated. Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, reports it's difficult to tell if Washington and Beijing are friends or rivals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two nations oceans apart, locked in a complex relationship that will help chart the 21st century.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Today our relationship has gone global. We debate and discuss nearly every major international issue.

DOUGHERTY: Friends or rivals? A former deputy secretary of state says for the U.S., China is both.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they are a factor of life as the second largest economy in the world, and it by --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We're going to interrupt Jill Dougherty for just a second because we have breaking news out of Haiti. Police have now moved to arrest "Baby Doc."

Let's head there live and check in with John Zarrella.

John, what's happening? JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that is exactly right. Just seconds ago, Duvalier, accompanied by his longtime partner, came down the stairs, his wife was with him there. And they came down, followed by many members of the SWAT team and other police members here surrounding him.

He waved to the crowd. Many in the crowd cheered as he was led down the stairs.

And the police -- he stopped one more time to wave, wearing a dark suit. Very, very dapper as he came down and out.

He was placed in that white van which we alluded to in earlier reporting. It is a police -- basically a paddywagon. And now we can still hear the sirens as they are heading down.

It was impossible to get a get a glimpse of how many people ended up in that white paddywagon with him, or if he was in there alone with just a police escort. But they are all being -- heading down the street here from the Karibe hotel. It is unclear exactly where he might be taken or what might be happening.

There were also members of the United Nations' SWAT team who went up at this 11th hour just as the arrest was being made. They went up with the Haitian SWAT team members and the other members of the Haitian police as the arrest was being made.

We assume an arrest. We don't know officially, because, remember, Carol, all along we had been saying that in the past 25 years, there had never been any formal charges brought against Duvalier for human rights violations or for the alleged allegations of plundering the country of hundreds of millions of dollars.

But there was movement last night from people here in the community who said that they were ready and were planning to proceed with going ahead and filing charges with a prosecutor. Maybe that got done. That's possible.

Right now I'm watching a continuance of United Nations security officers coming out of the hotel as well now. The activity here, Carol, has completely changed. Everyone racing down the street to chase the vehicle taking Jean-Claude Duvalier who knows where.

Will it be to face charges, Carol? Will it be straight to the airport? We do not know.

COSTELLO: John, we just confirmed it. He has been placed under arrest in Haiti.

I was just going to ask you that. He's been living a life of luxury in France. By all accounts, he's still a very wealthy man. I mean, would they throw him in a Haitian jail? Would they place him under house arrest, or would they just kick him out of the country?

ZARRELLA: Well, that's just -- that's exactly the question. You know, if they were going to place him under house arrest, they could have just sealed him in his hotel room until they decide what to do. But the fact that they actually put him in that paddywagon and went ahead and made the arrest, the question now is exactly, you know, what do you do?

We talked with one member, a close friend of his, who said, well, perhaps they would take him to what's called the Parquet, and that's literally the court, and that they would have him there right away, today. And that might be his first stop, would be to face a justice at the court.

We're going the try and come up in a little bit on getting a live picture. I've got some of our folks here with me.

Alonzo (ph), can you tell me anything that you saw down the street?

This is Alonzo Cook (ph), our producer.

ALONZO COOK (ph), CNN PRODUCER: We had about 100 pro-Duvalier supporters gathered there, in a sense, to sort of prevent the police motorcade from passing down at the bottom of the hill there. The media all swarmed off them.

They were shouting and holding up pictures of him. And it's been clear that there certainly is now -- this little game is now being set off by this arrest of Jean-Claude Duvalier.

ZARRELLA: Well, who else was there? We're trying to figure out, who else was in the white van with him? Do we have any idea?

COOK: No.

ZARRELLA: Don't know who else was in there with him.

But so those are the developments here. It is moving very quickly here. We're going to have to try and find out now exactly what the next stop is for Jean-Claude Duvalier. We believe it would be to the Parquet, which is the court. That's the extent of what we know on that end right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. We're going to spring you, John, so you can follow them and see where they're going, and then hopefully you can join us soon and tell us.

John Zarrella, reporting live from Haiti.

Again, Jean-Claude Duvalier, former dictator in Haiti, placed under arrest. Where he goes from here, we don't know. John Zarrella is working to find out.

Now to politics and health care.

Today, the House debates the Republican push to repeal the health care reform law. A vote is set for tomorrow.

Fifty percent of Americans favor repealing all provisions of the law. That's according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll just released this hour. Forty-two percent are opposed.

Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar is following developments on Capitol Hill.

So, Brianna, how will all this play out on the House floor today?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Today, Carol, this afternoon, perhaps as soon as 3:00 p.m. Eastern, we're going to be seeing debate. This is going to be Republicans and Democrats speaking for and against the repeal.

Obviously, most Republicans speaking for it, perhaps a few Democrats. But mostly, Democrats are going to be talking about why health care reform -- why the law needs to remain.

So, debate today. And then tomorrow is that actual repeal vote in the House of Representatives.

You're also going to see another vote on Thursday, which is going to be for replacement, as Republicans are calling it. This one instructs committees to go ahead drafting legislation, drafting alternatives to the current health care reform law as it stands right now.

Of course, Carol, the bottom line here is, there's a Democratic- controlled Senate. President Obama is still in the White House. So even though the House is expected to be able to pass this repeal bill, it's not really expected to go anywhere.

COSTELLO: So I guess the question that comes to mind, why are they wasting everybody's time? I mean, we've discussed health care. We've discussed it for months and months and months. Republicans know the direction in which they want to go.

Why not just get right to it?

KEILAR: Well, Republicans insist that they're not wasting time. They say they made this campaign promise that they were going to try to repeal health care, and they're going to go forward with that.

And also, you talk with, you know, certain Republicans, and they think that perhaps this isn't dead in the water in the Senate, although, by and large, most Republicans realize the reality is that it is, they're not going to push this through Congress. They also have a plan B here, which is to try to dismantle health care reform incrementally, through the appropriations process, to kind of pick apart little pieces, maybe, that could find bipartisan support, try to maybe de-fund them or delay their implementation -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, but I can still see the battle brewing, because I'm sure Democrats have their own battle plan.

KEILAR: They do. In fact, they're trying to get out in front of Republicans today.

At 1:00 p.m. Eastern, we're going to see Democratic leaders, including the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and they're going to have a mock hearing. They will be flanked by a number of people who they say will lose their health insurance coverage if Republicans get their way.

And then there's also the counter PR offensive that Republicans have. At about the time the debate is going to begin, about 3:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll be hearing from Congressman Steve King of Iowa, who obviously supports the repeal. And he's going to be, as we understand it, surrounded by boxes of petitions signed by people who say, "We want this repealed."

It is certainly a battle of the message, here today, ahead of this debate opening up on the floor.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll check back with you.

Brianna Keilar, live from Capitol Hill.

Some amazing pictures to show you out of Canada. Thousands of officers and emergency service workers are honoring a fallen Toronto police officer right now.

Sergeant Ryan Russell (ph) was killed last week in the line of duty. These are live pictures, as about 8,000 officers march through the streets of Toronto.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You're online, so are we. We're tracking the hottest stories on the Web. And a British icon is showing off his baby for the first time.

Jacqui Jeras is following all of this for us -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Carol.

Yes, everybody wants to see the pictures of the cute new baby, right? Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, of course, welcomed their new baby boy in December. Christmas, in fact, the 25th.

And they have now posed with their baby, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, for "US Weekly" magazine. So that's going to hit stands tomorrow if you want to see it.

And the good thing about this, guys, besides letting all off us people get to see that cute little baby -- isn't he adorable, Carol? So cute. They're going to use the money from selling the pictures to give to various charities.

COSTELLO: Oh, good for them. And congratulations.

We'll have more trending stories later in the hour, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: China's President Hu Jintao arrives in the United States in just a few hours. So why should we care about his visit with President Obama? Well, here's why.

China has the second largest economy in the world and the fastest growing. Some economists say China could surpass the U.S. by 2025. The country has the largest population in the world, at 1.3 billion people, and it has a rapidly emerging middle class.

The trade relationship between the United States and China is out of whack. In 2009, the U.S. spent $263 billion more buying Chinese exports than the Chinese bought U.S. exports.

Still, some U.S. politicians hope China's economic uptick will benefit their own cash-strapped cities.

Michael Bell is the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, and he's excited about President Hu's visit, and he joins me now live from Toledo.

Welcome, Mr. Mayor.

MAYOR MICHAEL BELL (I), TOLEDO, OHIO: How are you doing, Carol?

COSTELLO: I'm good. Thank you for being here.

Mayor Bell, you see China as the answer to the problem of bringing new jobs to Toledo. Explain for us how China might benefit -- how you might benefit from China.

BELL: Well, if I am mayor, and I'm out recruiting inside the United States, and I go and I -- from here, and maybe I go over to Fort Wayne and I snatch 1,000 jobs, and I bring it back to Toledo, I really haven't helped the national economy. I may have helped ours temporarily, and somebody may steal jobs from us and take it somewhere else. And so my philosophy is that we needed to be able to go out and find new money, new investments that are not currently necessarily in the United States, so that, that way, when we start to really actually start our economic growth, we're actually doing it with some new funds that can actually benefit our public in general.

COSTELLO: So you spent 11 days in China talking to business leaders there. And what do you hope that they will do specifically for the city of Toledo?

BELL: Well, for one, the first portion of this is just to be able to establish a relationship, and we've done that. We've had probably about four to five delegations since our September visit come to Toledo and northwest Ohio, and they've really enjoyed coming there and actually seeing a portion of the United States that they had really actually never heard of until we went over there. But what we hoped to gain through that is to actually have them invest in our city, invest in possibly creating manufacturing opportunities inside the city of Toledo, create entertainment investments inside the city of Toledo, and just actually put Toledo on the map with the Chinese so that they know that this is a place that they can come to, and that we're open, we're friendly, and we really want to seek their business.

COSTELLO: There was an article in the Toledo paper not too long ago that said that Chinese businessmen were interested in buying a huge chunk of land on Toledo's waterfront. Some people in Toledo are kind of upset about that idea.

First of all, is that true?

BELL: No. I'm going to tell you that, generally, everything that I've done involving the trip to China, coming back here, has been very well received by our public. Obviously, when you have a large enough population, you're going to have some people that aren't pleased with it. But the bottom line is people want to see jobs come to their city, they want to have opportunities to go to work, and that's my focus as a mayor.

COSTELLO: So is -- are the Chinese coming to buy this big block of land on the waterfront in Toledo so they can build businesses and give Toledoans jobs?

BELL: Well, what I will say is that they are one of the groups of people that we have interested in being able to invest in our downtown area. We have entertained guests also from Hungary and also Mexico.

So they are one of the groups that are interested. And until we close deals, I don't want to be -- I'm not really free to say what's going on there.

COSTELLO: I understand. I can understand why you're reaching out to other countries, because it's not like banks are lending money to American businesspeople who might want to develop land in Toledo; right? And you're not getting much help from the federal government, either, are you?

BELL: Well, you know, I mean, there's only so much that either one of those groups can do just based on the economy that we have currently in the United States. But if you can reach out to people who have the funding to be able to create the jobs, to be able to pay for their way in creating the things they want to do inside the United States, I think that it's appropriate, at least to go out and seek it and find out if it's beneficial to your city or even your state.

COSTELLO: Many Americans -- and I want to get into this a little more. Many Americans fear China. They don't want China coming and investing in anything in the United States because they fear that China will overtake America's place in the world.

Are you concerned with that?

BELL: No, I am not concerned with that. In fact, Chinese investors have been investing in the United States for a long period of time. It's maybe sort of new inside the city of Toledo, but in other portions of the country, you will find Chinese investors. But the other part -- and I think this is a key part -- is that, for one, we have to put our fear aside and we've got to realize that we're into a global economy, and we have to be more accepting of people who may be diverse compared to us, but have something to bring to the United States. And I want to be one of the mayors that's open to that concept of at least exploring the ideas of what can happen if we build international relationships.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much, Mayor Michael Bell, for joining us this afternoon. We appreciate it.

BELL: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Mayor.

All this week we're focusing on China. Tomorrow, Chinese culture and human rights. We'll take a look at parenting styles as well. No TV or play dates, nothing less than an A in school. Too strict or good parenting?

Plus, a look at China's human rights record. Several members of Congress are calling for greater freedoms in the communist nation.

On Thursday, military ambitions. China has increased its military spending in the last decade. We'll explore what this means for relations in the United States right here in the NEWSROOM.

The first baby boomers hit 65. How will that mile marker weigh on the national economy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Live pictures now from Chicago. Bill Clinton stumping for candidate Rahm Emanuel this hour. Of course, Rahm Emanuel running for mayor of Chicago.

Let's listen to a bit of the speech.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, anyway.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: So, after I was elected president, Rahm came into the White House. And one of the things I learned as we got to know each other was he was about way more than politics. He thought the purpose of politics was to change people's lives. And it turned out that he really cared a lot about policy and knew a lot about it. And so when -- whatever his title happened to be in the White House, I always knew that his real job was figuring out how to make good policy good politics and how to make it actually happen in people's lives.

Now, this is really important. You know, I spend all my time now, just about, with my foundation. And I tell people, most of the people I was in politics, most people worried about two things: what are you going to do, and how much money are you going to spend on it. Right? Or in today's world, what are you going to do and what are you going to cut. But it was all about what and how much.

Rahm worried about the third question, which I think is the most important question in the 21st century. Whatever it is you're going to do and however much money you have or don't have, how do you propose to do it so you actually turn your good intentions into real changes in other people's lives? The how question is the most important question that we have to face.

Look, we're going to get out of this mess we're in, and we're going to go forward. And I agree with rahm, a lot of that is because of the difficult decisions the president made and that he helped to make and implement in the first two years. It reminds me eerily of what happened in my first two years.

Let me just remind you, and for some reason, the voters, I don't think, knew this --

COSTELLO: OK, we're going to step away. Bill Clinton speaking in Chicago in support of Rahm Emanuel, who is running for mayor of Chicago. As you know, Emanuel is a veteran of the Obama and Clinton White Houses. The former president actually irked some Chicago Democrats by getting involved in the race. But there he is. The election, by the way, is February 22.

Quick check of the markets now. The Dow is up, what, 58 points. At least that's a little bright news. NASDAQ holding steady, up less than a point.

As the House debates repealing health care reform, Washington has another major health care issue on its plate. This year, the first baby boomers are turning 65. CNNmoney's Poppy Harlow joins us live from New York. Poppy, this actually has major financial implications for the whole country.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. Huge implications for the country and for each and every baby boomer facing this. Going into retirement is supposed to be a happy time, a time that's in question now for a lot of folks. They turn 65, they become eligible for Medicare. Now, a record 2.8 million baby boomers are going to qualify this year alone for Medicare. And when you talk at the cost, the average cost every year per person is $7,700. Even a little bit more than that.

So, as the system braces for that influx of recipients, we found, Carol, the very first baby boomer. We'll show you her in a minute. Her name is Kathleen Casy-Kirschling. She is from Florida, born at midnight on January 1, 1946. And she talks a lot about health care and Social Security being major concerns for her and her fellow baby boomers. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. KATHLEEN CASY-KIRSCHLING, FIRST BABY BOOMER: I think our greatest concern that maybe with didn't have because we thought we were going to be young forever was health. I went to my 45th class reunion from high school. Five guys who were pretty trim were talking about they had already had open heart surgery. Four or five other friends have already had cancer. So the boomers, as much as our mind wants us to say we're staying young forever, aging and illness is a big part of that.

Someone asked me from the media, how can you take Social Security now with your children and your grandchildren the way that it is? And I said, because I worked for it, and it was like a savings account I was putting into. So, I take great offense to that. Most boomers are going to.

The boomers most probably will go along with tweaking the entitlement, what they call entitlement programs. But they're not going to go with taking Social Security or Medicare away from baby boomers now. If you banked on guaranteed retirement through pensions, 401(k)s in this country, there is no guarantee. And I think we saw that in the downturn of 2008. I think that was a reality check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Certainly was a reality check, Carol, for all of us. Another reality check these boomers are facing, Social Security is not going to be enough for most of them to retire. The Employee Benefit Research Institute is now saying that even with Social Security, the average 65-year-old in this country is almost $50,000 shy of what they need to retire without running out of cash. That's a big divide.

And some of the things people can do, I want to show you this retirement calculator we have on CNNmoney.com. That's a big help. We'll pull it up for you here.

You go into the personal financial section of retirement and you can see it. Maximize your 401(k). Start saving as early on as you can, in your 20s, in your 30s at work. It is worth it. You have to save from then on. A lot of people are working part-time in retirement. Seventy-two percent of people in a recent Wells Fargo survey said, Carol, they are working throughout their retirement just to be able to afford it because Social Security is not enough.

And finally, you can use this calculator I mentioned. Calculate what you need to save from an early age on so you don't get into this position that so many people are heading into, especially this year with the first baby boomers, Carol turning 65.

COSTELLO: I might be scared to use this calculator because most of us will find we --

HARLOW: I couldn't believe it. I plugged my numbers, and I couldn't believe it.

COSTELLO: It's scary but it's good to know. You have to know. Thank you, poppy. Appreciate it. He holds the record for the most hours on the air, but it's coming to an end. Regis Philbin announces he's leaving his long running TV show. We've got more in Showbiz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger did say his role as California's governor cost him many missed roles in movies and millions of dollars in missed opportunities. But in an interview with an Australian paper, he added that he had no regrets.

I want to bring in "Showbiz Tonight" host Brooke Anderson. So, Brooke, he famously said he would be back. Is he really going to be back in movies, though?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Carol, it definitely seems like he is considering it, yes. His interview with that Australian paper is causing all kinds of speculation. He told the newspaper that he wants to adjust his career like Clint Eastwood did and take more age-appropriate roles. One project he has been tied to is a film called "With Wings as Eagles." He would reportedly play a Nazi officer who risks his life to save American prisoners of war at the end of World War II.

And I'm mistakenly said an Australian paper. It was an Austrian paper.

But now, Carol, now moving on. I have to tell you that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were at the Golden Globes on Sunday night and they didn't say a word, not one word, about their new baby. They are the proud parents of a new daughter born in Nashville December 28th via a surrogate. Faith Margaret Kidman-Urban is her name. She's their biological daughter.

Nicole and Keith tell "Showbiz Tonight" that their family is so blessed and extremely grateful to everyone who helped them in this process. Particularly their gestational carrier. Both of them are 43 years old. They already have one child together, a two-year-old daughter, Sunday Rose. So now, Sunday has herself a little sister. Great news for them. Congratulations.

COSTELLO: Congratulations. That's right. The big entertainment news today has to be Regis, though, don't you think?

ANDERSON: Yes, it's a total stunner, Carol. And really a bummer. I loved watching Regis. I still do, on his show. We don't know when he's going to be leaving. But really, there was no indication this was in the works. But Regis did just drop the bombshell at the beginning of "Live With Regis and Kelly" this morning that he's leaving the show. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": This will be my last year on this show.

AUDIENCE: Aww!

(APPLAUSE)

PHILBIN: But there is -- there is a time that, you know, everything must come to an end for certain people on camera, especially certain old people.

So anyway, folks, I just want you to know that. Plenty of room to go. But this is going to happen at the end of the summer, the fall, whatever it is. We don't know that yet. But just so that you know. OK?

KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": I can only speak for America and all of us here when I say it has been a pleasure and privilege and dream come true. And I wish I could do something to make you change your mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Aww, Kelly is a little emotional there. Regis has done that show for 28 years. Carol, Regis just sent out a couple of funny tweets. First he said, "I announced my leaving our show today. David Letterman just called. He said congratulations. I don't know if that's good or bad."

Then he tweeted, this is my favorite. "It's not like dying. I'm just retiring from the show. By the way, do you have a job for me?"

COSTELLO: Aww! He's a funny guy. And we'll all miss him. He's like an institution.

ANDERSON: He is so beloved. The show won't be the same.

COSTELLO: No, it won't. Thank you, Brooke!

Catch Brooke and more of what's happening in Hollywood every night at 5:00 and 11:00 Eastern on HLN. Tonight, even more on Regis Philbin's retirement announcement.

Sarah Palin fires back at her critics again. She says efforts to silence her will not work. Details in our political update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: New poll numbers just released this hour on health care reform.

Wolf Blitzer, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from the political desk in Washington.

Hey, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hi, Carol. Thanks very much.

And this brand new CNN/Opinion Research poll numbers coming out just the day before the House are set to repeal the health care reform, the new law in the House of Representatives.

Look at this. We asked in this CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll: do you favor or oppose repealing the health care law? Fifty percent said they favor repealing all provisions, excuse me, in the new health care law. Forty-two percent oppose.

And if you break it down, it's very interesting. Most Democrats oppose repealing. Most Republicans favor repealing. But among that key block, Carol, of independents, 47 percent favor, repealing all provisions in the health care law, 42 percent oppose.

So, that will encourage the Republicans to go forward.

It's going to be repealed in the House of Representatives. It won't be repealed in the Senate by all accounts, even if it were, the president would veto it. You need a two-thirds majority to override and the Republicans don't have the majority -- two-thirds majority in the House and Senate to override a veto even if a few Democrats joined them in this effort to repeal. So, interesting poll numbers that will support what the Republicans are trying to do though.

On another issue, the president now clearly once again, in the last few weeks, we've seen more of this, reaching out to Wall Street, to big business, trying to reassure them. He's not anti-business, he's not anti-Wall Street. In an op-ed that he's written in the "Wall Street Journal" published today, he's saying, yes, there has to be federal regulations but it can't interfere with job growth and he wants to make sure big business and all the Wall Street firms appreciate that.

He's signed an executive order today saying, go through all the regulations out there right now and destroy, get rid of anything that is useless, that simply is bureaucratic, that hurts the business opportunities to promote the creation of jobs. And he says go through each and every one. And I got the tell you, based on someone who's been in Washington for a long time, understands the heavy regulation that's come in to business over the years, there are a lot of laws that are simply out there that bureaucrats go at and implement even though they are clearly a waste of time.

Many of them are very important, as far as child safety and health and all of that, but some of these are just ridiculous and it's about time they decide to go ahead and get rid of the junk and keep the valuable regulations in place.

COSTELLO: I know there's more buzz out there about Sarah Palin because she went on FOX News last night and addressed her critics once again. What did she have to say?

BLITZER: She didn't back away from anything she said in that nearly eight-minute video that she placed on YouTube, on her website last week. She defended everything. She said that they had accused her of being an accessory to murder. And that's why she used that controversial "blood libel" phrase.

She said Democrats had gone out and put targets on various Republican congressional districts. She didn't mean to, you know, incite violence or anything.

She was tough. She wasn't backing away at all. And she made it clear she's not ready to shut up. She wants to be part of the game.

She didn't say she would be running for the presidential nomination. On the other hand, she says she wants to be a player. She certainly didn't discourage her supporters to think she was not going to run for that Republican presidential nomination.

We'll certainly have to watch and see what she does. But she was Sarah Palin, vintage Sarah Palin in that interview last night.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Wolf.

For the latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com.

You are online and so are we, tracking all the trending topics for you. It's no surprise that Justin Bieber makes the list. But today, it's a cat's priceless reaction to his music that has people talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk" where we get answers to your financial questions. Join me this hour, Ryan Mack, he's the president of Optimum Capital Management, and Gary Schatsky, he is the president of objectiveadvice.com.

All right, guys, I'm glad you're here because we have some good questions today. First one is coming from Jeff, who writes in, "I have a credit card that has a $6,000 balance on it. I make the minimum payment, plus a little more each month. I might be able to pay most of it off when I get our tax return in April. If I can't pay it down, I was thinking about borrowing against my 401(k). My wife hates that idea because I'd be losing $6,000 of growing power.

With my credit card at 30 percent interest, doesn't it make sense to pay it off with my 401(k) loan and then pay back at 5 percent interest?"

Gary, I think I know what you're going to say.

GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: Wow. If she hates paying -- taking money out of a 401(k), you've got to really hate paying 30 percent. While I rarely encourage taking money out of a 401(k), in this case, that's the clear winner.

Who cares if you're losing some buying power in the 401(k)? You're not going to earn 30 percent on it. And, if, in fact, you do get the tax refund, you should pay it off.

Here's the big, big caveat. If you draw down the 401(k) and you eliminate the credit card balance, the nightmare scenario would be that you feel comfortable enough to run up another credit card balance. And that you have to avoid that.

ELAM: Yes. So just put -- freeze it, put it away, hide it from yourself, whatever you do.

SCHATSKY: And then you get the tax refund, pay off the 401(k) loan.

ELAM: OK. All right. Let's go on to our next question here from Susan.

She writes in, "I want to investigate a manual home loan modification. How can I learn the process of this type of modification?"

You have any resource ideas, Ryan?

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MGMT.: Hud.gov has a great resources in the area where they can get free HUD-approved credit counseling services to assist individuals. Great tip of advice, make sure they start right now in terms of the process. Sometimes, mortgage service providers don't require you to be behind in your payment. Some of them do require, but not necessarily. So, in order to make sure you can get somebody to (INAUDIBLE) it.

Also, make sure you're doing the right things in making sure you're contacting your lender directly. On your mortgage statement, they have numbers where you can call your mortgage service provider to see exactly who your lender is, put your address into Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac's Web site to see if your money comes up. And then to start doing those things to make sure you can negotiate with them directly. Talk to the loan mitigation process at the loan provider and then you -- assist, you make sure you get the stuff done.

ELAM: So, basically, you've got some walking to do, talking to do, figure it out.

MACK: A little bit of walking to do.

ELAM: Figure it out. All right.

MACK: It's not guaranteed and it's hard process.

ELAM: It's a hard process.

All right. Ryan and Gary, thank you so much for your information, as always.

Of course, if you have a question you'd like for us to tackle, we are happy to do it. Send as e-mail any time to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

COSTELLO: Recognize that music? If not, you're so not hip.

Anyway, you'll probably recognize the singer, of course, is Justin Bieber, a teen heartthrob and a Grammy-nominated artist. But not everyone is a fan, or should we say not everything is a fan. The video that proves it is "Trending" online today -- Jacqui Jeras.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know that song. Did you know that song?

COSTELLO: I did know the song.

JERAS: Oh, good. I'm so glad. You're hip, you're cool.

COSTELLO: I would have lied. No. I'm telling you the truth, I did know it.

JERAS: I know. Justin Bieber is always trending somewhere about something, right? I mean, almost every single day, this thing is he's trending on Twitter. Well, today, he's trending on Break.com with a video, you know, maybe teenagers love Justin Bieber?

Cats? Not so much. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

JERAS: Oh, my goodness. Vicious. Can you believe it?

COSTELLO: What is it about Justin Bieber's face that that cat doesn't like?

JERAS: It doesn't -- I don't think I've ever seen a more violent cat before.

COSTELLO: You wonder what that guy did to the magazine before he showed him that picture.

JERAS: I don't know. Can you train a cat to do something like that? I wonder.

COSTELLO: I don't think you can train cats to do anything. It just doesn't like magazines. Maybe that's it.

Anyway, we've got to wrap. We can't get to your next topic. I'm sorry. We had a lot of breaking news today. Sorry.

JERAS: That's all right.

COSTELLO: Oh, actually, we did squeeze out more time.

JERAS: Oh, did we? OK.

COSTELLO: No, no. OK, we don't. I'm sorry, Jacqui.

JERAS: No? We can't, we can.

COSTELLO: I led you down the wrong path. We're going to have -- we're going to talk about Facebook and privacy issues when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Premier week for "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" continues with the original shock jock, an uncensored hour with Howard Stern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Who do you most admire in your business?

HOWARD STERN, RADIO PERSONALITY: Letterman being one of them. I like Jimmy Kimmel a lot.

MORGAN: Why Letterman? What makes him to you --

STERN: Because Letterman is an original. Letterman came on there. He was a breath of fresh air.

He was able to do new types of bits, even the way -- even the format of his show, even the way he would do his monologue, walk to his desk, but you wouldn't see him walk to his desk. Everything has been imitated now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Piers Morgan's premier week continues with Condoleezza Rice as you've never seen her. Then Ricky Gervais tells Piers what really happened behind the screens of the Golden Globes. He'll wrap up the week with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, George Clooney. That's "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" every week at night at 9:00 Eastern, here on CNN.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.