Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

North Korea's Leadership Void; President Obama Urges Tax Deal; Defendant Sentenced to Life for Murder of Student; Financial Planners Answer Questions; Top Stories of 2011 Reviewed; North Korea After Jim Jong-il

Aired December 20, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A couple stories we're watching for you right now. The skirmish over the soon-to-expire payroll tax cut turns into a full- fledged political showdown

Also, North Korea heads into mourning and looks to fill a leadership void.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

Kate Bolduan, we go back to you on Capitol Hill.

And the House today basically rejected the Senate's two-month extension. That version of the bill, as you and I saw, the president spoke in the daily briefing. Then the House speaker, John Boehner, he spoke. He held his own news conference.

Just recap for us. Tell us what the House speaker had to say.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The House speaker came out really to respond, if you will. (OFF-MIKE)

BALDWIN: Microphone.

BOLDUAN: Would be good. Apologies.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: It's been a long day of live shots.

BALDWIN: Continue.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Thank you, ma'am.

House Speaker John Boehner, he basically came out and said that House Republicans, they opposed the two-month extension that the Senate passed over the weekend because it doesn't provide the certainty that Americans need, it doesn't provide the kind of -- it doesn't stimulate the economy in the way that the payroll tax extension they would hope would do. So he made it very clear that House Republicans are not ready to budge from their decision. As he says, House Republicans have acted and now it's time for the president and Senate Democrats to do the same.

I think we have a sound bite from Speaker Boehner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Now, it's up to the president to show real leadership. He said that he won't leave town for the holidays until this bill is done. The next step is clear: I think President Obama needs to call on Senate Democrats to go back into session, move to go to conference, and to sit down and resolve this bill as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: In the absolute immediate term, we know that the senator are not here right now and the House, we're told other than the negotiators, the conferees Speaker Boehner says are in town ready to negotiate, it's expected that House members -- the House is also heading out and it doesn't seem at the moment there's much to negotiate -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Do House Republicans think that they can wait this one out?

BOLDUAN: That's a great question.

And that's really kind of the question on both sides that a lot of people are asking. How is this going to play out? Can both sides stare each other down to the point that this will lapse, that this tax cut will expire?

It's unclear who will blink, if anyone will blink. I will tell you though there's been a general talk, as you and I have talked all throughout this standoff, that at some point both sides would be able to come together to reach an agreement. There was really a sense -- starting, I would say, a real sense especially today, that that is in question.

While there is still time to reach a deal if the two sides can find agreement or if one side decides to give a little bit, there seems to be a real question if either side will budge at all before this tax cut expires, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Kate Bolduan, thank you, 11 days and counting.

Let's go to the White House now to CNN chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin.

Jessica, we saw the president speak at the top of the daily briefing, essentially speaking to John Boehner, saying stop playing politics and take up this Senate bill. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly his message. He's saying it's up to the House of Representatives and Speaker Boehner to make sure that the American people's taxes don't go up on January 1.

Here was the president just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The clock is ticking. Time is running out. And if the House Republicans refuse to vote for the Senate bill, or even allow it to come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: So you heard Kate Bolduan just say at the House side they are saying, look, it's up to the Senate to act now.

But here at the White House, the message is, the Senate has acted. The ball is now in the House's court and the president's message is that the only move left, the only move left is for the House now to vote on that two-month extension that the Senate passed and give Congress a little bit of time to come back in the new year, whenever they have to do it, and do the full one-year extension, do the one full-year extension to the payroll tax cut.

Let's point out, Brooke, that the House has not taken a clean up- or-down vote on that Senate two-month extension at all, Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's right. That's right. And we should also point out, it's certainly not every day that we see the president pop into the White House daily briefing. I imagine the reason he did so is he and the folks on Capitol Hill staring down a deadline.

YELLIN: That's right.

There seems to be a one-to-one correlation between gridlock and the president popping into the Briefing Room. We have noticed that. Yes, they are running out of time to get this done before the new year. So the president is trying to keep the pressure on.

And, look, the president's aides believe that politically this issue is on their side. The American people want the payroll tax cut extended -- 89 members of the Senate voted on a two-month extension.

There are four Republican senators who have come out with statements asking the House of Representatives to vote for the two- month extension. All four of them are up for reelection. But the bottom line, Brooke, let me just point this out, is that if this doesn't get extended, it can hurt the economy and if the economy is hurt in the long run, that's also bad for the president. So for policy and political reasons, everyone here wants this extended, Brooke.

BALDWIN: As we keep saying, 160 million Americans to be affected in 11 days if a compromise is not reached.

Jessica Yellin, thank you very much there at the White House.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," the Obama administration reaching out to Kim Jong-un, North Korea's young new leader. His father, Kim Jong-il, died over the weekend.

And Elise Labott joins me live from New York. She's out senior State Department producer.

And I understand, Elise, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is I guess the phrase is sending signals here to this new leader here through a statement. Can we be specific? What kind of signals exactly?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN PRODUCER: Well, basically, Brooke, a very carefully worded statement that I understand was the result of many meetings at the White House yesterday over several hours, basically saying to the North Koreans, listen, we're ready to engage when you're ready to engage.

Secretary Clinton saying: "We are deeply concerned with the well- being of the North Korean people. And our thoughts and prayers are with them during these difficult times. It's our hope that the new leadership of the DPRK" -- that's the acronym for North Korea -- "will choose to guide their nation on a path of peace by honoring North Korea's commitments, improving relations with its neighbors and respecting the rights of its people."

But, Brooke, she also went on to say that the United States stands ready to help the North Korean people and urges the new leadership to work with the international committee to bring in a new era of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

So not really a strong statement of condolences, kind of not wanting to give a lot of credence to Kim Jong-il, but recognizing there's a mourning period in North Korea. But once that is over, the U.S. and the international community is ready to work with this young leadership, with the new leadership in North Korea in bringing North Korea back into the fold of the international community.

BALDWIN: Continue those discussions. Elise Labott, thank you so much from the State -- excuse me -- from New York. Normally, you're at the State Department.

Still ahead, if you have a smartphone, it may soon look a whole lot different. Apple vs. Android, find out who is the winner in this big, big fight.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crime is spiraling out of control. Everybody is afraid. You can't walk down on the street without crimes happening and occurring. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This little girl is killed days shy of her 2-year-old birthday. This happened during a drive-by shooting in New Orleans. Now a local politician says crime is so bad he wants National Guards troops to walk the streets. We're going to speak with this state representative live.

Also, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The United States has conducted an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're about to give you a fascinating look at how the year's biggest stories unfolded live on our air here at CNN.

And hundreds are filling the streets in New York after a woman is dragged, undressed, stomped upon and beaten. We're going to live to Cairo for what they're calling the million woman march.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to Egypt and Mohammed Jamjoom. He's in Cairo, where hundreds and hundreds of fed-up outraged protesters filled the streets again today.

But, Mohammed, I know today was different, especially during this rally made up of mostly of Egyptian women. Tell me about this.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke.

It was really fascinating to see. You had hundreds of hundreds of women come out today. They gathered in Tahrir Square. It was billed as a million woman's march. They were coming out to protest the brutality that has been experienced by many female protesters the past few days when clashes have been going on, specifically one picture and one video that's made the rounds, especially via social media in the past few days, showing a woman severely beaten, being stomped upon, having her veil torn off of her and almost stripping her of her clothes by these riot police.

Women came out today and they are fed up by what women are facing. But they were also joined by men. In fact, men formed a protective ring around the women as they marched because there was so much concern that women might face harassment or brutality from any security forces they might be confronted with.

Now, the march was relatively peaceful. But we spoke to women out there. One in particular told us why she came out today and here's more of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to violently condemn the attacks on Egyptian men and women by the Egyptian army. We will not be quiet. We will not let this happen again. And we will continue to voice out our anger against this military junta that is killing this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JAMJOOM: Now, as you heard, one of the key concerns being expressed by all the people marching was their anger at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. That's the military council that has been ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was ousted earlier this year.

The people that were out today say that protesters, both men and women, are being systematically targeted by security forces. They are fed up with this. They want to see a civilian government formed here as soon as possible -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: This is new, though, all the women now, women taking to the streets in this million women march.

In Cairo, Mohammed, thank you.

Still ahead: As the presidential candidates hit the trail, one these Republicans just picked up a pretty big endorsement. Could there be a surprise coming in Iowa? We will take you there live.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like one big gunshot and then you just hear multiple little rounds. I'm looking. I see the -- I see, that's my little cousin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Those gunshots hit and killed a toddler. And now one lawmaker in New Orleans says crime is so out of control the bad guys are running the city. I will speak live with the man who says it's such an emergency there, he wants National Guards troops right now. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A Louisiana state official says crime in New Orleans is out of control, so much so that he is now asking that the National Guard be brought in to patrol the city streets.

And this was all sparks by the recent death of the toddler. So here's the background. Just this past weekend, Keria Holmes was gunned down while playing outside of her home. And her family held a vigil with candles and birthday balloons in the same courtyard where she was killed. She was to be turning 2 right around Christmas. And emotions ran high as family members spoke of the little girl who never got to see her second birthday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENEE HOLMES, GRANDMOTHER OF VICTIM: My grand-baby is gone. I will never see her first school. I will never see her go to church, nothing. I have toys under my Christmas tree. I have stockings in my house. I didn't even much want to have a Christmas this year, because I felt like this. Now my baby gone.

Have a conscience and do what they have to do and turn themselves -- because that's my grand-baby. And I love her. They need to just turn themselves in. Do this for me. Do it for a grandmother. Have a conscience. Please, have a heart, and turn yourselves in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Louisiana State Representative Austin Badon, joins me live from New Orleans. He's one of the officials who wants to bring the National Guard just as they did after Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Badon, thank you for coming on.

I have heard you said your city is at war. You need the National Guard. Why can't the local police do the job?

AUSTIN BADON, LOUISIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, we have done a lot after the storms of 2005, but this is -- it's just totally intolerable and it's unacceptable behavior in our city.

The local police need help. We have been able to do a lot of different things that are building our city. We're rebuilding out infrastructure. We're building our schools back. We're building our economic base.

But we have a select few people who are going out there and committing heinous crimes in broad daylight, killing people, killing babies. It's intolerable. We must do something about it.

So, what I have done is, I have called upon the governor to bring in the National Guard. After the storms of 2005, people were a lot more comfortable by seeing the National Guard on the streets of New Orleans and it made the morale higher.

We are doing a lot of good things. The people here in New Orleans are very resilient and they are rebuilding and they have a real great passion for our city. But we can not allow certain individuals to carry guns and to go out and to shoot people on a daily basis in this city.

So I have asked for the National Guard to create order, to assist the NOPD with support and also with patrols, and help them to take this city back, because we are at war. And when you are at war, you have to bring in soldiers. BALDWIN: When you use a word like war, it's quite the word to use.

My question is, how has the crime in your city spiraled so out of control? How has that happened? Do you have numbers, statistics to justify this level of emergency?

BADON: Yes. Yes.

We are at urban warfare right now. You have people who have drug crimes, drug warrants who are out on warrants that they should be in jail. You have people who are proliferating the streets with firearms. And the problem is just permeating throughout our society.

So, what we have to do is, we have to get in there with social services. This is a short-term effect on a long-term problem. We have to rebuild our schools and have better schools and good schools.

But what is going on is certain people are going out and they are creating a problem within our society. And they're just -- it's a negative environment upon every of -- the positive things that we are doing in our society. And so we have to go back and we have to take our streets back. We are at war.

And I think these people, these soldiers could come in and help just like they did after Hurricane Katrina.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in because you mentioned you had reached out to the governor's office.

And I know you know ultimately the green light for the National Guard has to come in from the mayor's office. So we picked but the phone. We reached out to Mayor Landrieu's office. Here's what the press secretary told us.

This is a statement. I just want to read it -- quote -- "We have a great working relationship with the National Guard and they are engaged on a daily basis in the crime-fighting work we are doing in New Orleans. We do not plan to ask for troops."

Sir, did you get the same response and do you plan to challenge that?

BADON: I'm hearing the same response.

And the mayor is doing a really difficult job right now with trying to bring this city back. And I applaud his efforts. And everybody in the city is working very hard. Right now, what the NOPD, New Orleans Police Department, is doing, it ain't working. So we have got to do something different.

We have got to make sure that the people of this city, the people who come to this city and visit this city are protected. We had about 15 shootings on Halloween night. That's totally unacceptable.

BALDWIN: I remember that. BADON: We have to make sure that we protect the people who come here and we also have to protect our visitors. We have a lot going on coming up in this city. We have major the Super Bowl coming up, major sporting events coming up.

And so those things are very great for our economic prosperity in this city. But if we don't get control of this crime problem, then we're not going to have those kind of events come to the city and you're going to see a huge fiscal impact, not even to mention the cost of human lives.

BALDWIN: I understand. We will have to follow up and see if the mayor will issue the green light for this or perhaps not.

(CROSSTALK)

BADON: This is occurring on a daily basis.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: One time is too much. One time is too much.

Representative Badon, I appreciate it.

BADON: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Coming up, it's coming down to the wire. After months of debates, speculation, poll numbers, voters are the ones who will have their say in the Republican race for president.

So with two weeks to go, we're going live to Iowa, where Gloria Borger where caught up with Newt Gingrich. Find out what he says about his recent drop in the polls and how this new endorsement could make this race very interesting. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The Iowa caucuses two weeks away, two weeks for Republican presidential hopefuls to make a big impression on Iowa voters.

And let's go to Iowa, shall we, to CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger standing by for us in a very chilly Des Moines.

And, Gloria, I know you caught up with Newt Gingrich yesterday. You asked him a very good question. Let's hear the question and his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Your numbers have been heading in the wrong direction here in the state of Iowa. Can you tell us why?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Watch TV here for two days. You have had all sorts of people and all sorts of these super PACs who have consistently been running negative ads.

Well, you get enough negative ads before you start answering them, your numbers go down for a while.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So he said he would stay positive. Does he have any choice, Gloria, but to go positive here?

BORGER: You know, he really doesn't. He has to sort of make a virtue out of necessity, because he doesn't have the money to go negative, Brooke.

Those ads cost a lot of money. All of those outside groups pouring in the negative ads on behalf of other candidates. Gingrich has to sort of cut through all the clutter with what little money he has to spend with his advertising. And so he's got to go positive in those ads, so he can differentiate himself. Look, it's very, very difficult for him.

I think he peaked a week or two early. And he has got to organize here in the state. He doesn't have a lot of money. And so it's been very tumultuous. And for him to kind of try and rise again is a very, very tough slog right now.

BALDWIN: You're there ground level, Iowa, talking Republicans. What are they telling you about the race? What do you find most interesting?

BORGER: Well, it's interesting because I met with a senior Republican this morning and also spent some time with Governor Branstad.

And a few things are clear to me. First of all, this is the most tumultuous race they have ever seen, completely unsettled, up and down and up and down. They have never seen this kind of negative advertising in this state. And I think that really differentiates it.

The rise of Ron Paul now also tells you something. People haven't rallied around Mitt Romney. Ron Paul has run an old-fashioned Iowa caucus race. He's organized. He's identified the new voters that are out there, kind of what Barack Obama did in 2008. And it's really serving him very, very well, Brooke.

So they are all kind of preparing themselves for something big to happen with Ron Paul here.

BALDWIN: How exciting. You just -- no one knows yet. Gloria Borger, I look forward to talking to you over the course of the next few days and see who pops up perhaps next at the top of the pile.

BORGER: Sure.

BLITZER: Gloria, thank you.

And now this: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stood over top of her with a .14-gauge. And if I'm not mistaken, he told me shot her in the chest. And when he explained shooting her in the chest, he said he no longer heard anything out of her, she was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: An absolutely horrendous crime shocks one of the country's most famous college towns, a student body president at Chapel Hill on her way home from studying kidnapped, shot to death. Today, one of her convicted killers learns his fate.

Mark Eiglarsh standing by. We're on the case, talking about Eve Carson, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Today a jury convicted a man in the ruthless murder of Eve Carson in March of 2008. Carson was the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill student body president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find the defendant Laurence Alvin Lovette to be guilty of first degree murder on the basis of malice, premeditation, and deliberation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When there is a first-degree murder --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The judge sentenced 21-year-old Laurence Lovette Jr. to life in prison. And you may remember this, this image of him using Carson's ARM card. She was kidnapped. She was in the backseat and was later shot five times. Former prosecutor and criminal attorney Mark Eiglarsh is "On the Case" for us today. And the life sentence here, are we surprised that he got life? Remind us why he wasn't even eligible for the death penalty?

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because of his age. He was 17. Life was the appropriate outcome under these circumstances. There was overwhelming evidence of guilt. Casey Anthony verdict a surprise, this one very easy to predict.

BALDWIN: Mark, what was the defense that the team made? What evidence did they present?

EIGLARSH: Well, what the defense does is create reasonable doubt presented on behalf of the prosecutor. For the star witness, for example, McNeil, his childhood friend, testified the defendant confided in him and told him all of the detail about their crime.

But then the defense alleges that McNeil is testifying because he was captured in a federal drug case and he is working off his time, so he's manufacturing facts to help himself. You know, the defense has tried to chisel away each piece of evidence, but the evidence was too overwhelming.

BALDWIN: We know his accomplice pleaded guilty and was also sentenced to life. Did that at all effect this case?

EIGLARSH: I ordinarily wouldn't think so but jurists typically wouldn't know that information, but I was watching the closing arguments, and apparently that was something that was featured. The prosecution said that the defense might have brought it out, so it was open. So he was able to say the guy that was in the backseat as you can see with the surveillance tape, that guy already pled guilty of the same crime that you're deciding. It certainly made it easier on the jurors to decide this guy's fate.

BALDWIN: Horrible, horrible. Mark, thank you, "On the Case" for us today.

EIGLARSH: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, they are calling it dangerous, impossible, even. A blizzard, powerful winds, bone-chilling temperatures rocking large parts of the country. You're going to see the places hardest hit and find out where the storm is headed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: White out conditions in west Texas. No go on multiple interstates in New Mexico. Emergency vigils say traveling through the Rockies today is dangerous at best, in places impossible. Those are not words you want to hear. Obviously very serious weather system blasting west and Midwest states today. A massive blizzard covered parts of five states. Snow, ice, blinding winds all the way from Colorado and Oklahoma. Alexandra Steele, at least they had the heads up, they had the warning and you said this yesterday by this time today it would be over.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There we go. It was a fast mover. It really was. It did a lot of damage, though, no question about that. But we talked earlier, I-70, I-40, major interstates were closed for over 200 miles at one point. But, again, they have reopened for the most part, so things are really getting back on track. All of the blizzard warnings have expired. Again, the roads are beginning to reopen. Snow is coming down and wind is coming down.

Take a look at what we've seen in terms of some of the heftiest snowfall totals -- 24 inches. New Mexico is the bull's eye on this thing yesterday. Not only did we have two feet of snow, 72 mile-per- hour winds. That's why we have the blizzard warnings. Blizzard warnings really don't account for as much snow or the account of snow that falls. What it accounts for is the driving winds bringing visibility to zero.

So still we've got snow and ice on the roads. Again, the snow stopped falling and the wings are coming down, but there's still trouble out there. In terms of the radar picture, this is what it was, kind of just a shadow of itself, which is certainly a good thing. It is all moving to the north, and a lot of it will just be rain. The cold weather to the west of this, this will be tonight. It's just a rain maker, Washington, New York, a very wet day in the northeast. And there's another storm coming in behind it. So really turbulent the next four or five days.

BALDWIN: Alexandra Steele, thank you very much.

Coming up next, this is a fascinating look at this years, and what a year it's been. I know you've been with us all the way from Japan's earthquake to bin Laden's death. You're going to hear how the biggest stories unfolded right here on CNN. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk where we get answers to your financial questions. And joining me this hour is Gary Schatsky, a financial planner and president of ObjectiveAdvice.com, Gail Cunningham is with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Thank you both for being here.

Gail, first question to you. This comes from Chris in Florida. Chris writes, my wife has approximately $45,000 in student debt spread out over 10 loans. She is a teacher at a low-income school and could possibly receive repayment help. What is the best way to simplify and reduce that debt?

GAIL CUNNINGHAM, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT COUNSELING: Wow, $45,000 over 10 loans, that is a bit complicated for them to keep up with. I do think there may be help available for them through income based repayment plans.

Now, we are speaking here of federal loans. If their loans are private, that might be a different animal to deal with. But income- base repayment, they are going to ask for documentation, of course, such things as previous tax returns, et cetera. But that's OK. It's going to be well worth it. She may also require some forgiveness along the way and she may qualify for that having been in the type of job she is, in the teaching profession. Consolidate those loans. Get the payment started.

HARLOW: Gary, your question comes from Jonathan in San Diego. Jonathan wrote "I am considering rolling over several 401(k) plans from former employers into an IRA. How do the legal protections for the two differ?"

GARY SCHATSKY, FINANCIAL PLANNER: That's a really good question. First of all, from the legal protection standpoint, you're normally talking about creditor protection or bankruptcy. And generally, it depends state by state, 401(k)s have greater protections than IRAs, not all states.

But more important, when you roll over to an IRA, there are great advantages. You have tremendous flexibility on your investments and you can get cheaper funds. So unless you're really concerned about credit risk, rolling to an IRA often makes a lot of sense. HARLOW: All right, guys, thank you so much for your advice. Folks, if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e- mail anytime to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's hard to believe we have a week and a half left until the new year. It's time to look back at the old. And what a year it's been. There's been an Arab spring, a royal wedding, a nuclear meltdown, and the end of a long war. And 2011 started with a violent attack that shocked the entire country. Here now is CNN's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin Savidge here at CNN Center in Atlanta. We're following breaking news, the story out of Tucson, Arizona at this hour. Several people have been shot.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: January 8, tragedy in Tucson as accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner goes on a shooting rampage killing six and wounding 13, including Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Just a crackdown on anti-government raid. Police in Egypt's are clashing with protestors.

JOHNS: January 25, Egypt's Tahrir Square becomes the staging ground for massage anti-government demonstrations. Protesters demand President Hosni Mubarak give up power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are chanting what in Arabic means "Free Egypt," and thank you that's what they are celebrating here tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, on Libyan state television basically warning the people of Libya, saying this is not Tunisia, this is not Egypt. Things will go in a much different direction.

JOHNS: February 16th, all eyes on Libya as anti-Gadhafi protesters take to the streets in Benghazi. A bloody crackdown followed. It would take months before Gadhafi was captured and killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. The building's going to fall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A massive wall of water. A devastating tsunami swept ashore along Japan's northeastern coast surging well inland, sweeping away cars, boats, homes, almost anything in its path.

JOHNS: March 11th, scenes of utter devastation as an earthquake measuring 9.0 spawns a tsunami off Japan's coast. The walls of water heavily damage nearby nuclear reactors, and for weeks Japan's government and its people feared the worse -- massive radiation leaks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are very resilient. They have been working very hard. But there's a lot to deal with. In fact, to see what they have been dealing with over the last couple of days --

JOHNS: April 25th, a tornado outbreak across the southeast leaves more than 300 dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the greatest days I can remember in my lifetime in this country. It's quite remarkable.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": We're going to bring you all of the pomp and pageantry.

JOHNS: April 29th, Prince William married his long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey. Following the nuptials, the two took a pageant-filled ride through the streets of London.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight the president of the United States is saying almost 10 years after 911, justice has been done. Osama bin Laden is dead. That is why you see that happening right there at Lafayette Park across the street from the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The political chattering classes were in hyper overdrive this morning, I can tell you that. This has come as a real bombshell.

JOHNS: May 14th, the head of the international monetary fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is plucked from a flight minutes before takeoff. A hotel maid in New York accused him of sexual assault. The charges were later dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really unbelievable to hear this. They are breaking a story out of California that the former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger --

JOHNS: May 17th, political bombshell -- the former governor around, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, confesses to fathering a child outside of his marriage to journalist Maria Shriver. The two later announced an end to the marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As to charge of first-degree murder, verdict as to count one, we the jury find the defendant not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The devil is dancing tonight.

JOHNS: May 24th, Casey Anthony goes on trial for the murder of her little girl, Caylee, in Orlando. Shock and outrage when a jury clears her of the crime six weeks later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got some breaking news. Lets' go straight to the hill. Dana Bash, I'm wondering if this has anything to do with Anthony Weiner. DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to a Democrat source who is knowledgeable about Anthony Weiner's plans to tell CNN that he does plan to resign from Congress today.

JOHNS: May 27, Congressman Anthony Weiner embroiled in a scandal after a lewd picture of himself was sent to a woman on Twitter resigns weeks later.

ANTHONY WEINER, (D) FORMER CONGRESSMAN: I am announcing my resignation from congress.

COOPER: Breaking news tonight. A major arrest of one of America's most wanted criminals after a sting operation.

JOHNS: June 22, fugitive no more. Alleged organized crime figure James Whitey Bulger wanted for at least 19 murders is caught in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And lift off, the final lift of Atlantis on the shoulders of the space shuttle. America will continue the dream.

JOHNS: July 8th, the shuttle Atlantis lifts off at Kennedy Space Center, the final shuttle launch of the program.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Space shuttle spreads its wings one final time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A scandal brings down a storied Sunday tabloid.

JOHNS: July 10th. After 168 years in existence, Rupert Murdoch's "News of the World" newspaper shuts down amid claims the paper hacked royals, politicians, and even crime victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two explosions have rocked central Oslo in the last hour, wounding at least eight people.

JOHNS: July 22, terror in Norway. In Oslo, a bombing kills eight people. On nearby Utoya Island at least 70 people, many of them youngsters attending a political youth camp, are shot to death. The tragedy stuns the tiny nation. The accused attacker is later described as a right wing Christian extremist.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Joe Johns there. And that was just the year up to July. The second half of the year after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have been looking back to this past year, 2011. We took you all the way from January to July before the break, and now, CNN's Joe Johns picks up the rest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a remarkably important moment and vote for the country. It is also an remarkably emotional moment for this Democratic congresswoman to return to the house floor for the first time.

JOHNS: August 1st, a rare moment of bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news that could impact your mortgage rate or what you pay for your credit card. The ratings agency Standard & Poor's served notice this afternoon that it plans to downgrade the government's AAA credit union.

JOHNS: A big blow to the world's largest economy. America's credit rating is downgraded from AAA to AA-plus. Standard & Poor's blames on the lack of cooperation between the White House and Congress to get a handle on America's debt problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news now. CNN just confirming that Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Incorporated has resigned his position.

JOHNS: Jobs died October 5th. Flowers were left at many AWpple stores around the word.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, in New York City this morning, they're re-grouping from Occupy Anarchy. There were a few bursts of violence, a few scuffles with police, protesters clogging subways.

JOHNS: September 17th, the Occupy Wall Street movement gains steam. Protesters take a stand against what they see as corporate greed. The movement grows over the next few months, even spreading to other countries.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news for you. The hikers have been released, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, having been in an Iranian jail since 2009.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The anticipation in the streets has now given rise to expectation. This is a people who are feeling that Mahmoud Abbas has put them on the map.

JOHNS: September 23rd -- after years of failing to reach a peace deal with Israel, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, asks the U.N. to recognize Palestine. The request fell on deaf ears in the Security Council.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's start this morning with breaking news, and it's pretty big. We have just learned that an American citizen linked to Al Qaeda has been killed.

JOHNS: September 30th. A CIA drone strike in Yemen takes the life of Anwar al Awlaki, the Al Qaeda leader in the Arabian Peninsula. Al Awlaki was an American citizen.

October 18th. Israel releases more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for just one. Corporal Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas for more than five years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The college sports world is reeling from child sex abuse accusations against an ex-coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team.

JOHNS: November 6, the former assistant football coach at Penn State Jerry Sandusky is charged with multiple counts of abusing young boys over 15 years. The scandal brought shame to the school and ended the career of legendary coach Joe Paterno.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury in the involving title action, find the defendant, Conrad Robert Murray, guilty.

JOHNS: November 7th, Conrad Murray is convicted at his trial over the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson. Murray got four years in prison for the crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another child sex scandal at another university. A college basketball coach accused of abusing a ball boy for more than a decade.

JOHNS: November 17 -- two men appear on ESPN accusing former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexually abusing them. Later, a tape surfaced of fine's wife in which Lori Fine appears to know about her husband's alleged abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're following a couple of breaking stories here. First, we want to tell you about former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. He has been sentenced just moments ago to 14 years in prison. He was convicted on corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is breaking news, and it is history. The war in Iraq is officially over. U.S. troops are moving across the border into Kuwait now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: and what this means is really the last vehicle and the last convoy and the last, last, last anything you can imagine in terms of the military is crossing into Kuwait.

JOHNS: December 17 -- the final American troops in Iraq depart, ending America's long war there.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: What a year it has been. Before I hand you over to Wolf Blitzer, let's just take a quick look, because good news. If you've got money in the stock market today as we are mere seconds away from the closing bell, take a look at that. Triple digit surge. The Dow up 333 points on this Tuesday.

Thanks for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Now Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.