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World Reacts to End of Iraq War; Last Debate Before Iowa Caucuses; Payroll Tax Cut Inches Forward; U.S. Ends Military Mission in Iraq; Disappearing Tax Breaks; UC Berkeley Easing the Burden; Final Faceoff Before Iowa Caucusesj; 2012 Golden Globe Nominees; Chris Paul Headed to Clippers
Aired December 15, 2011 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We are at the top of the hour now; 9:00 Eastern time, 6:00 a.m. out West. Wherever you may be we're glad you're right here.
And can you believe it's over?
In Iraq a flag comes down when the U.S. military mission formally ends. This now after nine years of fighting, a staggering amount of sacrifice. Some a million and a half Americans served there in uniform. Nearly 4500 killed. More than 30,000 wounded.
CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad. A place she has been a lot over the past nine years. She joins us now.
Arwa, you have been there a lot. I hope you can hear me there, Arwa. She's not hearing me, I'm told, actually, but we'll try to get Arwa Damon back up.
Arwa -- Arwa, I am told to try again. Are you hearing me now? This is TJ back in Atlanta. You hearing me OK?
Arwa Damon is not hearing me right now. Arwa Damon was one of a number of CNN correspondents who spent a lot of time in Iraq over the past several years reporting there literally from the very beginning of that war and throughout. We'll try to get her back up here in just a moment.
But a historic day we saw even though there are a few thousand American service members still in Iraq. They will be making their way out, many of them this weekend. But, again, formally, it is over.
Let me turn to our Zain Verjee.
The whole world, Zain -- she's joining me now from London. The whole world watched this event today. The whole world has been watching this war in Iraq for the past nine years. Well, what is the world saying now that it's over?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, there's been a lot of reaction today, as you can imagine. It's been eight years, eight months and 26 days. And a lot of blood, sweat and tears on both the side of the American people, as well as the Iraqi people. Let me give you an idea. "The Guardian." has this headline. "The U.S. troops are pulling out, but what of the people left behind?" It says, "Iraq has readied itself this week for a moment big on symbolism, but like so much of the war and subsequent occupation, what appears to be big in symbolism is subject to claims that it is lacking in substance."
"The National" from the United Arab Emirates says this. "The future of Iraq will not be built on empty words. Iraqis will no doubt cheer the moment when the last U.S. service member boards the plane and latches the door, but glossing over the challenges ahead will not see them vanish."
"The Washington Post," "Man of the Shadows." This article actually questions whether the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is even the right guy to lead the country. It says, "America's greatest mistake in Iraq wasn't toppling Saddam but detonating the infrastructure of the government, the army and the educational and social institutions that made civilized life possible.
One big question, TJ, is can the government really run things in Iraq? There's still a lot of corruption. Can the Iraqi security forces handle the security of the country? Yes, there are 650,000 or so of them, but can they actually do it? And the one big worry for the U.S. is the influence of Iran. When they're out of there, and if the Iraqis can't handle it, it just opens the door wide for Iran.
One other thing the Iraqi people are saying today is that while a lot of them may be happy to see the Americans go, they're also a little bit nervous because they don't know what their future will look like. A lot of them don't even have the basic things that were promised like electricity or garbage that hasn't been collected in a really long time. So there are big questions still left unanswered -- TJ.
HOLMES: All right. And Zain,, thank you.
And to our viewers, we'll work to get our Arwa Damon back up here in just a moment. Like I said, she has been doing extensive reporting. Really years worth of reporting there in Iraq over the past several years. She was there for the ceremony today as officially the war in Iraq ended for the U.S.
Much more on that throughout the morning.
We do want to turn here now to politics back in this country. And the Republican candidates are going to go at it one last time before they start voting in Iowa. The caucus is just around the corner so they get a chance to make their pleas one more time on the stage again tonight for a debate.
Newt Gingrich still the person surging in popularity, that means he is going to be the target tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Zany is great in a campaign. It's great on talk radio. It's great in the -- in the print. It beats -- makes for fun reading. But in terms of a president, we need a leader. And a leader needs this to be someone who can bring Americans together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Let me bring in our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. You heard him use the word zany there. I assume that's not the only name Newt Gingrich is going to be called tonight.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I think there could be a few more. Remember that debate Saturday night in Iowa? I guess this is the sequel, you could call it, TJ, right?
What we saw then will continue tonight. Not just Mitt Romney, we'll probably also see Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, also taking on Gingrich. That's what happens when you're the frontrunner. You've got the big bullseye on your back. We saw it the other night. We'll see it again.
As you mentioned, this is the last debate before those January 3rd caucuses in Iowa, which of course kicks off the primary and caucus calendar.
So how is Gingrich responding to all this kind of stuff? Well, he's staying positive, pretty much. Take a listen to what our Jim Acosta asked him and how he responded yesterday in the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So you're not going to respond to these?
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. Look, I understand what all the consultants are doing, that's fine. They should run their campaign the way they want to. I'm going to run my campaign the way I want to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: And Gingrich is up with his second ad today. This morning in Iowa on Iowa television and pretty much has the same message. He stays positive but he also said, listen, if those other guys want to go negative, up to them. I'm not doing it -- TJ.
HOLMES: Are they going to take this -- frankly, as a little desperation time. This is their last time to be on stage like this together to get this national audience before the votes start coming in Iowa for the caucuses. Can we maybe see that sense of desperation tonight? Can we imagine this is really -- might get a little -- as nasty as we've seen some of these things get?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think it could. Remember a lot of -- the candidates of course will be campaigning in Iowa pretty much nonstop except for Christmas Day over the next two and a half weeks. But this, as you said, is the last national televised debate before that. And we saw Gingrich yesterday. Of course, he's in the spotlight now, no doubt about it. And we saw him getting attacked by both the right and the left. Take a listen to what happened. He got a little heckling at an event in Iowa yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: OK, one more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. You talked about money not being everything, but you have been taking plenty of short (INAUDIBLE) to get your millions publishing your books and marketing them, and it seems like you have a --
GINGRICH: How would you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and cheating on your wife?
GINGRICH: How would you --
(CROSSTALK)
GINGRICH: Other than, other than personal hostility, which is understandable, but not part of the academic experience. How would you know anything about how I published and sold books?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: It's a little taste there of that. Maybe some "Occupy" protesters there. But, also, he got attacked by the right. The "National Review." Pretty important publication among conservatives. This is what they said about Newt Gingrich last night.
"Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country. He appears to be unable to transform or even govern himself. He should be an adviser to the Republican Party, but not, again, its head."
That from "The National Review." They also seem to give an anti- endorsement to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Congressman Ron Paul -- TJ.
HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser for us in D.C. Thank you as always.
We'll stay in D.C. now. There's a bit of optimism. Optimism that maybe you'll be able to keep that $1,000 or so in your check come next year. Democrats and Republicans may be inching toward a compromise to extend a tax break before it expires on January 1st.
Our Kate Bolduan, in D.C. as well.
Kate, I use the word inching towards a compromise. That's better than a complete halt to negotiations, right?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this point we'll take anything we can get.
HOLMES: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Even looking in the right direction, we'll take that, I guess, at this point.
There was a big development last night, I should say, between Democrats and the White House and in terms of this whole negotiation. Democrats and the president, they kind of backed down or kind of offered a concession that they were going to be dropping their demand to include a millionaire surtax as kind of the way to pay for this payroll tax cut extension.
Now they had wanted to include this as part of any final deal because Republicans had been demanding that this tax cut, if it is extended, that it be paid for unlike other tax cuts in the past. So Democrats and the president, they have been insisting all along that it'd be part of this deal and last night following a meeting at the White House, Democrats kind of made a very significant and pretty major concession in saying that they would drop that demand.
But I have to caution, of course, that while this is a development, it's still not clear that the leaders, in terms of the negotiations, are any closer to a final deal as this has really become such a contentious fight.
Adding to this standoff on the payroll tax cut and increasing what's at stake is, as you said, TJ, the payroll tax could expire at the end of this month, but right now Congress is staring down another government shutdown come tomorrow night. That's because approval of a massive spending bill to fund the government for the next year is being held up while Democrats and Republicans battle over this payroll tax extension.
And that's because the most recent funding bill runs out tomorrow night. So we're now kind of brought two important pieces of end-of- the-year legislation and it's now all in the middle of this big fight -- TJ.
HOLMES: Another threat. We have done this a number of times this year, another threat of a government shut down.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: It's starting to send people notices and say, hey, just in case your job might be furlough. This is just foolishness.
All right. Sorry about that, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Hard for a lot of people to stomach right now.
HOLMES: Yes, Kate -- Kate Bolduan is on it for us today. Let us know if anything pops --
BOLDUAN: I will. I promise.
HOLMES: -- out of there as we end just the war. Thanks so much.
We're about 10 minutes past the hour now. We're going to get back to the story really of the day. And it's really ending a chapter. The final chapter in what's been a nine-year story, really, over in Iraq. The U.S. military mission has officially ended there.
I want to go back to our Arwa Damon who has spent extensive time there, literally years in Iraq over the past nine years covering this war.
Back in Baghdad there, Arwa. How does Baghdad, how does Iraq feel different today?
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a lot of conflicting emotions here, TJ, actually and we're where the ceremony took place earlier in the day. That would be the Casing of the Color ceremony that officially signaled the end of the U.S. military's role in Iraq, although there still are a few thousand soldiers who remain in country. They will be leaving by the end of this month.
A lot of conflicting emotions amongst the troops. Many of them have spent numerous deployments here and they've seen their friends die right next to them and a lot of conflicting emotions especially, TJ, amongst the Iraqis. Because this war may be ending for the U.S. military, but for them it still continues.
And there's so much uncertainty about the future. They do not know if their country will be able to remain as stable as it is right now and current stability, and we must mention this, it's still looking like a fairly dangerous situation because there are around 200 to 300 Iraqis still dying here a month.
A lot of Iraqis will tell you that they welcomed the United States and that they had big dreams that the U.S. would build skyscrapers, would pave roads, that they would be able to flourish and move forward and, of course, we instead saw the country descend into sheer chaos.
And, TJ, really because of the amount of blood that was lost here, because you'd be hard pressed to find a single family that hasn't lost a loved one. That's why there's so many conflicting emotions about the role of the U.S. military and, again, so many fears for the future.
HOLMES: All right. Arwa Damon there for us in Baghdad.
Arwa, thank you, again.
We'll continue to check in with Arwa and many of our correspondents throughout the coming days, even weeks as we see this wind down and really this end to the war in Iraq.
We're 12 minutes past the hour now. We're going to turn back to news about your money here in this country. 2011 just about gone and a lot of tax breaks about to be gone, as well. We'll take a look at what's about to expire. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're about a quarter past the hour now. Give you a look at some stories making news "Cross Country."
A University of Vermont fraternity has been suspended and now under investigation over a rape survey. The survey by Sigma Phil Epsilon asked members who they would rape. It surfaced online and was discovered this week.
The fraternity's national office says it doesn't tolerate any behavior that demeans women.
Also, take a look at this crash. It looks like an accident. Authorities say it is not, however. The driver is facing attempted murder charges. Police in Columbia, Tennessee, saying the truck crash under to a convenience store last Friday while aiming for a woman who was inside.
The truck hit the store's owner. The owner was not seriously hurt.
Also, a cable installer in New Jersey says he's dropped everything and got out of there when he saw this -- a bear that was in a customer's basement. Wildlife officials showed up had to tranquilize and haul off that 500-pound beast.
Well, we are in that holiday home stretch. A lot of people out there, you are spending money. You just can't help it, can you? But you're also supposed to be saving some money, if you take advantage of some tax breaks that are about to disappear.
Our good friend, financial expert Clyde Anderson, is here with me.
Come on, now. I don't know if I'm saving money right now. Is that even reasonable?
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL EXPERT: That's the goal.
HOLMES: That's the goal.
ANDERSON: We got to have a goal to save money. Some people out there are actually saving money and not falling through the traps.
HOLMES: OK. We're talking about stuff that's going to disappear at the end of the year.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: So, you got to get it in for tax year 2011.
ANDERSON: Get it in right now, this is the time to do it.
HOLMES: All right. Higher education expenses. What are we talking about here?
ANDERSON: That's a big one. You know, it's above the line item. Generally, if you're making $65,000 and $135,000, you can deduct $4,000 in education expenses for higher education.
HOLMES: What kind of stuff are we talking here? We're talking tuitions. Anything?
ANDERSON: Anything that you're really kind of using to actually better yourself with your higher education and paying for tuition and things like that.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: That you need. And that's $4,000. It's going away at the end of the year.
HOLMES: OK. And again, we got couple weeks to get it in.
ANDERSON: We got a couple of weeks to get it in.
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn to mortgage insurance premiums. What are we talking about here?
ANDERSON: The mortgage insurance premiums are what people pay on their mortgages. Generally, it's a percentage that kind of protects the mortgage company, basically. But you can write it off as the interest that you're paying on it. You can write it off and write off that deduction actually on your taxes each year. That's going away at the end of the year as well.
So, a lot of people pay $70 between maybe $200. That's a big piece of change that they won't be able to deduct at the end of the year.
HOLMES: All right. Sales tax. What are we talking about here?
ANDERSON: Sales tax. A lot of people don't have to pay state or local sales tax. If you are a retired professional and you retired from the city government, you don't have to pay sales tax in certain places. Well, if you're buying big ticket items, that's a great deal when you don't have to pay that sales tax.
Now, you need to go ahead and get those big ticket items before the end of the year, because come 2012, you won't have that deduction any more.
HOLMES: Did I hear you right, Clyde? You say go out and buy the big stuff now?
ANDERSON: If you're already planning to buy it. Don't just buy it just because, but you got to be planning about it.
HOLMES: I'm always waiting on that cue.
The other thing here -- now, this is something we don't think about. People trying to buy gifts and all that stuff. Do we really have time to do energy efficient upgrades?
ANDERSON: Well, you know, that's been the big thing, going green. You know, everybody has been talking about going green. And so, you want to make sure windows are insulated appropriately and you're not paying huge expenses on bills and letting that heat go out the window, especially this time of year.
And so, a lot of people have gone in retrofitted their homes and done some things to make them green. And so, really, you can only deduct $500, 10 percent, up to $500 towards those upgrades in your home. That's going away at the end of the year.
That's one-time thing you can do. And you can only do it one time.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: All right, this last one here, classroom materials, what's that?
ANDERSON: Yes. This is K through 12, the teachers generally can deduct up to $250. If they work at least 900 hours in a school, they can deduct up to $250 for classroom materials, maybe that supplies, computer equipment, things that they buy for their classroom to help with their learning experience. Now, they can no longer deduct those things.
HOLMES: Why are they going away?
ANDERSON: You have to ask Uncle Sam on that.
HOLMES: OK. All right. We'll get right on that. He's really good about getting back to us with answers.
Clyde Anderson, good stuff we haven't thought about it. Don't go out and buy.
All right. We're at 19 minutes past the hour now.
Well, we've all been there -- on a plane next to a total stranger and got nothing to say or want to say. But at least one airline is trying to change that. It is going to let you use social media to book a seat next to someone you actually want to talk to? That story is coming your way.
Also, we'll tell you about a major university trying to make school more affordable for middle class students.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
We've all been there, right? You get on a plane, maybe it's a long flight and you put your headphones on because the person next to you wants to talk a little too much, or maybe you're the talkative type. You want to talk to somebody and they show no interest in wanting to talk to you.
Well, one airline is trying to help and make this whole situation a little less awkward.
CNN's Zain Verjee who I have not had the pleasure of sitting next to on a flight. Look forward to it one day, though, Zain. What is this airline trying to do?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. Me, too.
HOLMES: Well, how is this airline supposed to help?
VERJEE: Well, what they want to do is use social media like Facebook or LinkedIn and have you basically identify what your interests are, what kind of person you would like to sit next to and then that way you can sit next to someone you actually want to talk to or would be interested in talking to rather than ending up like I do, often, with someone who won't keep quiet and is really annoying, or falls asleep on my shoulder and drools. It happens every time. And I mean, the not nice drool.
Anyway, so, what they're doing is they're launching this campaign on KLM, a new kind of Mile High Club, and they're calling it meet and seat. So, that's the idea. So, you don't end up next to someone anonymous and you don't have an anonymous encounter and you know someone.
Or I'm with you -- I would rather have the noise canceling headphones on the whole time.
HOLMES: Zain, there is no doubt. I mean, this is supposed to be like a Match.com for the sky kind of thing. This sounds like a dating thing.
VERJEE: Well, I mean, if you have a few hours to kill on a plane, why not? They're not officially saying that, but, yes, it does feel like it a little bit, doesn't it?
HOLMES: It reeks of it. And when -- has it started yet?
VERJEE: No. KLM is going to start it next year, actually.
There's this other airline, Malaysian airlines that say they're going to launch a Facebook service that you can actually whether your friends are on the same flight as you are, so that way you know them and someone you can hang out with on the plane. But then, again, I don't really feel like talking to anyone on the plane. I would rather just be left alone, T.J.
But with you, I would be very happy.
HOLMES: We all know, it depends on who you get stuck with sometimes whether or not you feel like talking.
Zain Verjee, look forward to that flight. We'll talk to you again here soon.
We're 24 minutes past the hour now.
We're going to check in with our Alison Kosik now who is looking into one California school that are taking some unprecedented steps when it comes to students getting an education -- at the New York Stock Exchange for us.
We're talking about U.C.-Berkeley here. What are they up to?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. When was the last time you heard this from a top school?
HOLMES: Yes.
KOSIK: Well, U.C.-Berkeley, T.J., is planning to increase the amount of financial aid that it gives to thousands of middle class families. So that means for families who have annual incomes between $80,000 and $140,000.
And here's why it's really unheard of. The school is actually putting a 15 percent cap on how much parents will have to contribute. So, with a family that makes $120,000, it's only going to be paying -- it's actually going to pay no more than $18,000 a year.
And you know what? Many say, you know what, it's about time for this. Many of these middle class students with these families, they don't make enough money to go to the top schools but also make too much to qualify for financial aid. So, what essentially happens is they're essentially shutout, you know.
And the U.S. has fallen behind other advance countries in some areas and many would argue because of how difficult it is to afford an education in this country. Of course, T.J., the hope is that other schools could follow in Berkeley's footsteps -- T.J.
HOLMES: We shall see and we can only hope.
But we're about four minutes away from the opening bell. What do we expect today?
KOSIK: Expect a lot of green arrows for a nice change of pace. The Dow is set to pop 100 points when the opening bell rings at about five minutes.
And we got a flood of upbeat economic data today. Unemployment claims tumbled to the lowest level in 3 1/2 years. Manufacturing is showing signs of improvement.
Also getting strong earnings from FedEx, as well. FedEx topping estimates in the latest quarter saying growth in online shipping, it was strong.
So, nice to see some green arrows after having several days of selling here on Wall Street -- T.J.
HOLMES: Alison Kosik, thank you so much.
As we get close to the bottom of the hour now, the U.S. military mission in Iraq is over. Welcome news to a lot of families who will be welcoming their loved ones home, knowing they will not have to go back to Iraq. But, still, when they get home, cruel realities are going to set in. We're looking at the challenges facing our veterans and their families.
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: As we get close to the bottom of the hour now, give you a look at some of the stories making headlines.
First, seven miners were rescued after a rock burst in northern Idaho on Wednesday. The incident happened a mile underground at the Lucky Friday Mine. Heck of a name.
The workers made it out OK. No life-threatening injuries to report.
Also, a glimmer -- a glimmer of hope from Washington. Democrats and Republicans met privately Wednesday night. A sign, maybe a good sign they may be inching towards a compromise to extend a tax break before it expires on January 1st.
Also, some decent economic news here related to jobs. The Labor Department just announced that 366,000 jobless claims were filed for the first time last week. That would be the lowest level we have seen since April of 2008.
And today, the U.S. military mission formally ends in Iraq. But for many troops, a new battle begins, at home -- personal demons, physical and emotional scars.
Our David Mattingly taking a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Welcome home. Welcome home.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soldiers out of Iraq and home for the holidays. That alone is worth celebrating.
But troops at Ft. Bragg are looking for more -- assurances from the president their sacrifices will not be overlooked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of stuff behind these things that we will never understand. We do know the government's going to do its cutbacks.
MATTINGLY: After eight years in Iraq and budget cuts at home, soldiers worry about holes opening in safety nets, pensions, medical support and treatment for PTSD.
(on camera): How much pain are you in right now?
WESLEY DODD, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Quite a bit. I mean, on a daily bases, you know, it's aches and pains, stabs and needles.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Iraq vet Wesley Dodd came home in 2008 with a painful knee injury, PTSD and eventually, an addiction to pain medication. Today, he's medically retired and in a methadone program.
(on camera): Do you consider yourselves lucky?
DODD: Absolutely. I'm alive, you know? I came home alive and that's -- I can't say the same, you know?
I've got a number of these bands. This is Corporal Ryan Woodward. He was killed on a mission when I was there. Sergeant Brian Tutan (ph), he was in my platoon, he was killed while I was there.
So, there's a lot of people that don't come back. It's not easy, you know?
MATTINGLY: But Dodd was also arrested for forging a prescription. He is now on probation. He believes as more troops come home, there will be more like him in pain and in trouble since the war in Iraq began.
Ft. Bragg and the Army have also had to find new ways to deal with long-term problems of domestic violence and suicide. In just the last week outside Bragg, there have been two murder suicides involving Iraq soldiers. One killed a sheriff's deputy and another killed his wife.
These female Iraq vets tell me that military families demand for access to counseling and treatment could go on indefinitely.
(on camera): What's the biggest problem you had when you came back, immediately?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, probably sleeping. Oh, Lord that was --
MATTINGLY: Nightmares.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: How long did that take for that to go way?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But troops with questions about their futures seem to get their answers -- a pledge from the commander-in- chief.
OBAMA: You stood up for America, America needs to stand up for you
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I want to bring in David Mattingly now.
David, our viewers heard the president there speaking in broad terms. But any of these members, are they hearing specifically from their government that gives them confidence they're going to be looked at?
MATTINGLY: Yes, that one line you heard from the president was very broad, but he did get very specific yesterday. Not only did he lay out every bit of acknowledgment for the dangers they faced over there and the sacrifices they made, not just for them and their families, but he was also pointing out that they're going to be there for them in the years to come, not only for whatever physical problems they may have had while they were contributing to the effort in Iraq, but also the unseen injuries.
And that, in itself, was very reassuring to the troops here yesterday. A lot of smiles as these soldiers walked away after that speech.
HOLMES: All right, David Mattingly for us today -- David, thank you, as always.
Just past the bottom of the hour, let's turn back to politics and the countdown is on to Iowa. The caucuses are just 19 days away and the first contest of the Republican primary season. And the candidates are prepping for a big debate tonight in Iowa. This is the final faceoff they'll have before the voters start weighing in in that state.
Newt Gingrich garnering a lot of headlines and support. But he's coming under fire from all of his rivals, but some of them are gaining ground, as well.
Take Ron Paul, who basically tied with Mitt Romney for second in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One thing is characteristic about our campaign is when people join our campaign, they rarely leave. They're real solid, determined supporters. They understand the message about and agree with that.
So, I think it's a very good sign. And I think in political terms, it means that we're probably peaking at the right time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And look at this group we have assembled today. CNN contributor Will Cain, as well, political analyst Roland Martin. They're both with us now.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Show time, baby!
HOLMES: Show time, fellows. Good to see you, both.
You know what, Will? He's clearly fired up. So, I'll start with you here. I'll let you take the first crack at it.
Ron Paul, we thought Newt Gingrich was supposed to be the biggest threat to Mitt Romney. So, does Mitt Romney now have two threats, two people he needs to go after that are a threat to him getting this nomination?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You mean Ron Paul, the hotel California of politics. Like he just said, they check you in but they never leave.
HOLMES: Yes.
CAIN: Look, we know Ron Paul has a passionate following. He has 8 percent to 10 percent consistently. And these are people that hear his consistent, principled, logically consistent message. And that's held about 8 percent to 10 percent.
So, the question, T.J., is how did he go from 10 percent to 20 percent? Well, the process of two things. That message has gained exposure and some people appreciate it. But second, it's a process of attrition. So many of these candidates have been deemed rightly unacceptable -- from Bachmann to Perry to Cain and now Gingrich -- and that's going to bleed over into Paul.
You know, Romney has been the primary beneficiary, but some of that is going to go to Paul. And, by the way, the last thing he said in the clip you played, his timing.
HOLMES: Yes.
CAIN: He's exactly right. His timing is perfect, because the spotlight shines bright on the leader. Look, Ron Paul is strong coffee. He's strong coffee. He's not going to settle well with everyone.
HOLMES: He's strong coffee. You got a better analogy than that, Roland?
MARTIN: Well, no, T.J., here's the problem -- Congressman Ron Paul has always been here. The problem has been, you had far too many of these Washington, D.C., elites. All the political chattering class and they all said, oh, no, forget Ron Paul.
I remember early on when these polls came out and Ron Paul finished second or third, people would talk about the person who finished first, third, fourth, Ron Paul didn't even exist.
And so, you know, it's amazing. Just yesterday, he had FOX News' Chris Wallace basically dismiss Iowa by saying, well, if they vote for Ron Paul, that simply means nothing.
No, this is the problem, people vote, not polls. Political people like us, we don't vote. OK? We're not voting in Iowa.
Let them make a choice and stop predicting who is going to be the nominee, who is going to be the winner. We're always going to be surprised when we play those games.
HOLMES: Do we -- let's move to this debate tonight. Speaking of, can anyone actually -- Roland, you can take this one. Can anyone have a game changer tonight, as long as there's not a major gaffe from Newt Gingrich or maybe from Ron Paul, maybe from Mitt Romney. I mean, are they kind of going to hold on to those spots? Because like Will said, it's the timing just a few weeks away.
MARTIN: Right. This is the 1,758th Republican debate this year. The reality is, things can change.
Let's go back to 2007. Senator Hillary Clinton at a debate where she flubbed the answer as related to drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. That was the opportunity that gave Senator Barack Obama the opportunity to step in and the door was open. She looked invincible up until that point.
So, absolutely. We've seen in all these debates what has happened to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. What has happened to Governor Rick Perry. In fact, the last debate, Mitt Romney did not do so well.
So, absolutely. Now that more voters are paying attention to politics, the first caucus is a few weeks away and absolutely somebody can make a mistake and can open the door for somebody else.
HOLMES: So, Will, would you agree with that? That Newt Gingrich then in that mindset, that mentality you're just hearing from Roland, does he just need to hold on and almost run out the clock tonight?
CAIN: He'd like to do that.
But I totally agree with Roland. We've been listening to strategists and inside Washington elites tell us for a long time that Ron Paul is not viable, we heard several months ago, this is a two-man race between Romney and Cain. Now, we hear it's a two-man race between Romney and Gingrich. And, then, oh, no, we got to talk about Ron Paul apparently.
This thing can keep changing. We're not even talking about Jon Huntsman who is polling third in New Hampshire, who is the most conservative man on the stage and people want to dismiss because he was working for the Obama administration, oh, as the ambassador to China.
This thing was long from over. We were doing stories a month ago, T.J., why are these guys hanging out? Why ain't Santorum gotten out of the race?
I tell you why he hasn't gotten out of the race, because this thing isn't settled. It's not a two-man race yet.
HOLMES: On the issue -- go ahead, Roland. Go ahead, Roland.
MARTIN: There are 50 states. We should stop this nonsense that somehow this race is going to be over after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. It's not.
I certainly believe that this race will go through June. You're going to see shifts back and forth when it comes to the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, the West, the Southeast. And so, it's going to be topsy-turvy.
So, let's go ahead and prepare for a six-month battle and stop trying to say four states will determine what the other four to six states should do.
HOLMES: And you wrap it for me here, Will. In just a few seconds, you think it's going to be those main four states, or do you think it's going to be a long race?
CAIN: Well, this is the kind of inside political talk here, but we also have this thing in the Republican primaries this year called proportion representation. It's not winner take it all in many of these states. So, it's going to make it, as Roland said, a fractured race -- for going long into the spring, I would say.
HOLMES: Why do you have to complicate things with proportion representation? Things were going just fine and you have to throw that at us.
Will Cain --
CAIN: Sorry.
MARTIN: It's called 50 states voting president.
HOLMES: Will Cain, Roland Martin, fellows, good to see you, as always. I'll see you again plenty.
All right. We're about 40 minutes past the hour now.
We're going to turn next to comfort foods. You love them and usually they're not good for you. But can you get comfort foods without all the calories? We'll tell you how it's possible.
Our health segment -- the "Health for Her", coming your way, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You know, as it starts to get a little colder outside, a lot of people want to turn to simple, familiar foods that remind them of their childhood, these so-called comfort foods. Many of them are high in calories or fat.
Our Elizabeth Cohen, though, explains how maybe you can get away with the comfort foods and maybe without the fat and the calories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's that time of year.
As the weather gets colder, we may reach for food as comfort -- like spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese, and chili, reminding us of the past.
MARISA MOORE, AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION: Comfort foods are more about the heart than they are about hunger.
COHEN: American Dietetic Association spokesperson Marisa Moore says that comfort foods are often high in fat, calories or sodium.
Eating too much of them can lead to weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.
Moore offers these tips to make your own healthy comfort foods, just like these culinary students.
JIM GALLIVAN, CULINARY ARTS, THE ART INSTITUTES: The idea also is to make sure that it has a good nutritional profile so it feeds all of the senses as well as the body.
COHEN: For mac and cheese --
MOORE: You can start with a lower-fat milk, that will help to cut back on the calories. Or you can add vegetables to it.
COHEN: For spaghetti and meatballs --
MOORE: Instead of using beef, you might use a lean ground turkey. You might switch up your pasta option and use a spaghetti squash, which is a winter squash and when you flake those spaghetti squash, kind of looks like this.
COHEN: Moore says this makes for a lower calorie and lower carbohydrate dish.
As for chili --
MOORE: Healthy chili is actually very easy to make. One thing to do is to sort of volumize with vegetables. You can add beans, you can add mushrooms and carrots. Those are great ways to increase the fiber.
COHEN: With this week's "Health for Her," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Well, quarter to the top of the hour now.
And Michael Jackson's daughter sitting down for her first solo interview. Thirteen-year-old Paris opens up about losing her famous father and the best advice he gave her. That's all next in showbiz.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: So let me not waste any time getting right to our A.J. Hammer in New York for us because we now know the Golden Globe nominees announced just a short time ago, do tell.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, here we go. You know, some people are wondering who is on this list, and I think T.J., when it comes to the Globes, the better question often is, who is not on the list. The Golden Globes take a lot of flack over the nominating process.
Well that's almost beside the point. You know every year this is the best party in Hollywood. And to make sure that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves to nominate as many big stars as they possibly can.
Let me give you an example well, you have stars like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron all nominated for their acting roles. We have Angelina Jolie seeing her film "For the Love of Blood and Money" about the Bosnian war nominated for Best Foreign Language Film this year and some people are saying, hey, that's a bit of a stretch they just want to give some attention to Angelina at the Globes not just Brad.
And the Globes haven't been picking the same winners that you see at the Academy Awards. But it is a good bell weather for what's going to happen for the nominees. The silent film "The Artist" led the way; six nominations in the movie categories. "The Help" and "The Descendants" both getting five nominations also up for top drama "Hugo", "Moneyball", "War Horse" and the "Ides of March".
"The Artist" was nominated in the musical or comedy category; it's up against "50/50". "Bridesmaids" thrilled to see that nominated, "Midnight in Paris", "My Week with Marilyn". I'm sure the Hollywood Foreign Press Association wasn't too thrilled however when Woody Harrelson, one of the people presenting the nominations this morning kind of upstaged what was going on. He was doing the Best Drama category and he plugged his film "Rampart" which comes out in January.
But you know T.J. that is exactly the kind of unpredictability that the Globes are known for. Always a great show.
HOLMES: What you're supposed to do? Any major snubs or anything that people are talking about today, nothing like that. Like you said, everybody gets nominated.
HAMMER: Yes, it's kind of one of those deals where they throw it all out there and really, you know, just looking through the lists and this just happened a short time ago.
HOLMES: Yes.
HAMMER: There's nothing glaring that is standing out to me and some of these films, this is a real indication for what people should also be checking out over the holiday season when they have a little time to.
HOLMES: All right and do this last one for me, about 45 seconds if you can. Paris Jackson doing an interview.
HAMMER: Yes on the Ellen DeGeneres show by herself, her first ever solo interview talking about her famous dad to Ellen saying she didn't really understand how special he was. Listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: Did you have any idea that your dad was who he was?
PARIS JACKSON, DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: I just thought he's got a few songs out, but I figured everyone did that.
DEGENERES: He has more songs than most people.
JACKSON: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: But a poised, a lovely young woman who also has the acting bug and said her dad, T.J., was a big supporter of her following her bliss; kind of like he was always able to do.
HOLMES: Well, that's a kind of cute and innocent answer there. I just thought he had songs like everybody else. That is something else -- just a dad to her. And even though he was this to the rest of the world.
A.J. thanks as always. And A.J., will be back with us next hour. More "Showbiz" headlines. He'll run down Netflix top ten rented movies of all time. Can you guess which films may be on the top of that list? You can catch that report next hour with A.J. Don't go away.
Also Chris Paul finally after all that controversy, Chris Paul of the Hornets finally headed to Los Angeles in a trade. But he's not going to the Lakers. You need to hear this.
A little sports for you coming next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Some of the stories that will be making news a little later today.
Starting at 1:00 Eastern Time, Jon Corzine, the former Governor of New Jersey and CEO of failed securities broker MF Global, he goes before a House sub-committee investigating why the firm went belly up with more than a $1 billion missing.
Also later in that hour in Orlando a millionaire and convicted murderer Bob Ward has a sentencing hearing.
And then tonight, in Sioux City Iowa, the last and the latest of the GOP presidential debate gets underway at 9:00 Eastern Time.
We're also following a number of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in with our correspondents. Let's start with Martin Savidge.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J., we're here in Kuwait, Camp Virginia. It's the first stop for soldiers that are coming out of Iraq. Whether it's their first deployment or their sixth, they realize this is the moment of history. And they are a witness to it. We talk to them about it.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. New evidence this morning that the job market is actually getting better. First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to a level we haven't seen in three and a half years. The question is will the trend continue. I'll have details coming up.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN Political Desk. Front-runner Newt Gingrich says he's going to stay positive. But is he when it comes to his Republican presidential rivals? Details at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: All right, Martin, Alison, Paul, thank you all. We'll see you here shortly.
Also we'll be talking with Congressman Steve King of Iowa. The state, of course, at the center of the political universe right now. Polls there have been all over the place this year. Republican presidential front-runners have come and gone. Newt Gingrich as you see there, he's currently on top. Now the caucuses are almost here. We'll ask Representative King who he thinks could come out on top and why he hasn't endorsed anyone yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hey, we were going at it here during the commercial break because we have one story. HLN, our good friend here, Jeff Fischel is with us now. This is a story that's infuriating to a lot of sports fans and certainly to a lot of people in the NBA -- some owners and some players.
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: It's an NBA blockbuster deal. It's always fun for fans to talk about.
But right now, you're hearing a lot of fans frustrated because you hear Chris Paul gets traded to L.A. That's a big deal. But the four-time all-star isn't going to the Lakers. It's not what everyone's been talking. He's going to the Clippers.
Commissioner David Stern finally gave his blessing for the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to trade Paul. He'll team up with Blake Griffin to make arguably now the most exciting one-two punch in the league.
But you know who's furious, the other L.A. team. Last week Stern put the brakes on a similar deal that would have sent the 26- year-old star to the Lakers. A lot of people are criticizing the league saying this whole thing was completely unfair to the Lakers and embarrassing to the league. And I think that's definitely a point to be made there. Paul, on the Lakers would have been exciting.
College hoops: Hamilton County, Ohio's prosecutor says he won't be filing criminal charges against the players in Saturday's bench- clearing college basketball brawl between cross-town rivals, Cincinnati and Xavier. Four players on each team got suspensions ranging from one to six games.
The prosecutor says he spoke to both coaches and feels like the schools are doing a good job handling the situation. Last night Cincinnati played its first game since the fight and won.
Baylor honored its first ever Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin II during last night's basketball game against Bethune- Cookman. RG3 got a chance to watch the Deuce Bello Show (ph) early on to slam and then in the second half it gets even better from the Deuce. Watch him fly in and the windmill. Bears win easy, 69-42. How about Baylor in the top 20 in both football and basketball?
All right. T.J., finally. Watch tennis star Kim Clijsters. This is during an exhibition in Belgium. She made an unusual dare to fans. She said, go ahead, kiss the opponent Yanina Wickmayer --
HOLMES: What?
FISCHEL: -- and you get a new car. So a couple of guys run out, bad, bad idea. She was joking around having fun during exhibition. Security, of course, has to run in.
HOLMES: Oh my goodness.
FISCHEL: Fortunately everyone was still laughing afterwards. But yes, not a good idea.
HOLMES: That's not funny. She was joking. That's hilarious.
FISCHEL: She was just joking but -- yes, didn't turn out funny.
That's sports.
HOLMES: Thank you as always, buddy. Thanks so much.
