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President Obama Signs Payroll Tax Cut Deal; Holiday Help for Skid Row; First Car Bombings in Syria's Uprisings; Egyptians Swarm Cairo In Protest; Arlington National Cemetery Scandal Deepens

Aired December 23, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. Happy Friday. Happy holidays to you.

I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire." Let's go, beginning with this.

The deal, it is done. President Obama signing the payroll tax cut extension, and just a short time ago he praised both Republicans and Democrats for their work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of this agreement, every working American will keep their tax cut, about $1,000 for a typical family. And that translates into an extra $40 or so in every paycheck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yes, in case you hadn't heard, there's a deal. But, remember, today's approval of a two-month extension means a battle over the payroll tax cut begins again in the new year. We are live on the Hill in just a moment with how this deal impacts House Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans who fought against it.

Now a warning for you. Some of the images you're about to see are tough to look at. You may want to turn away, but let me tell you what you're looking at.

But this is the aftermath of two suicide car bombings near Syrian government buildings. This is the capital of Damascus. More than 30 people were killed, according to rebel groups. But I have to tell you that CNN cannot confirm these reports.

This is the first known report of a car bomb since the uprising began back in March. Syria believes it was terrorists. Opposition groups say it's the work of the Assad regime. More on that in a couple of minutes as well.

Also, violent weather marked the start of the holiday weekend in the Southeast. Look at this. Much of Alabama -- look at that car, totally upside down. Alabama, Georgia, as well, under tornado watches and warnings last night. And you're looking at the result here.

Fierce winds damaged several homes and businesses near Atlanta. Damage was also reported in several areas across Alabama. And thousands of households also lost power.

And a series of earthquakes caused damage and destruction in New Zealand today, a country still trying to recover from a deadly quake earlier this year. Today's earthquake near Christchurch sent people ducking for cover.

The government says at least two people were injured. It was a 6.2 magnitude quake back in February that killed 180 people. So it's no wonder people in New Zealand are a bit jumpy today because of that.

Libya's thousands unaccounted for. Military weapons are causing huge concerns for the U.S., and the U.S. is now talking with the Libyan government to buy these shoulder-fired missiles from militia members and others they may have gathered during the war. The State Department won't get into the details of what officials call a classified program. Western officials worry that the heat-seeking missiles could get into the hands of the terrorists, who could easily target civilian planes.

And this is the kind of lab no school wants to see. Police say someone was making meth in a school in Indiana. Our affiliate WFIE is reporting this meth lab was a one-pot operation found in a room not accessible to students, but parents say that doesn't matter. They are still upset that no one from the school told them about this. The police chief says children though were never in any danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ALEC HENSLEY, OAKLAND CITY, INDIANA, POLICE: I have kids that go to that school as well, and I'm always thinking about their safety. Because of the fact this was taken to a safe area, and students were not in harm's way because of our actions, there was no reason for anyone to be notified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say the person behind that meth lab was not a student.

Bad times for many Best Buy customers this holiday season. The retailer is canceling many online orders days before Christmas here. Best Buy says it has run out of some of its hottest products because of -- you guessed it -- overwhelming demand. And as you can also imagine, a lot of shoppers, they're not happy about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT TURINSKE, BEST BUY CUSTOMER: In this situation now, sort of stuck. Just sort of stuck. I'm not going there. I'm just not purchasing there anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: And we have a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: In just one week, two very different images of the most powerful Republican in Congress. On Tuesday, this scene. And then, just a couple days later, this scene. Speaker Boehner goes solo.

So, as the dust settles over this whole payroll fight in Washington, where is everyone standing now?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): For months it's been the government versus protesters. But now, suicide bombers unleashing terror in Syria. And this bloodshed looks like it might be the work of al Qaeda.

They paid the ultimate price serving America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help us to never forget. Just remember what our guys are fighting overseas for.

BALDWIN: But there's new pain for the families of fallen soldiers involving nearly 65,000 graves at Arlington.

Plus, he's the front man for Journey.

ARNEL PINEDA, JOURNEY: Always fight. Fight. Fight. Believe.

BALDWIN: Now it's not just music he's fighting for. It's his people. Hundreds reported missing in the Philippines after a devastating storm. Arnel Pineda is there and I'm in touch with him.

Also, one government is warning women, get your breast implants removed before it's too late. Find out why and the dangers they could be facing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now we go to Washington, where Congress finally passed and President Obama just a short time ago signed -- there's the video just into us -- a two-month extension of that payroll tax cut, ending this ugly standoff between Republicans and Democrats, and really Republicans and Republicans as well.

Here is the president speaking moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I said it was critical for Congress not to go home without preventing a tax increase on 160 million working Americans, and I'm pleased to say that they've got it done. So I want to thank all of the members of Congress for ending the stalemate and making this happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go to the White House Correspondent, Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin.

And Jessica, you and I were e-mailing back and forth. I was saying, "Where's the president?" He was just about an hour or so late.

Why the delay?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That was even later than they usually are here. We were all in the press room waiting, and we finally even heard the president's helicopter land on the south lawn ready to take him to Hawaii and he wasn't out.

He and the White House are waiting for the bill to arrive. It had to get finalized and driven up from Capitol Hill so he could sign it, and he obviously wanted to sign it before he came out to tell everyone it's signed, it's done, and then take off. So that was the reason we were all waiting -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And when he spoke, one of the notes I took, he said, "Look, this isn't over. We need to continue urging Congress to keep working without drama, without delay to extend the tax cut and unemployment insurance through 2012."

What were your takeaways listening to him today?

YELLIN: You know, he was somewhat critical of Congress than he has been throughout the last few months. Since September, he's been calling Congress dysfunctional, and others have said -- sort of characterized his tone as a do-nothing Congress.

So he was a little bit less harsh. He did urge them to get it done for a full year next year, but he can afford to be sort of gracious at this moment.

The big themes I heard were two. One, there was a moment when he looked straight up to the cameras, not at the press in the room, as he had been, looked directly into the cameras and said, "It was you, the American people, and your messages to Washington and Congress that got this done."

That was an echo I heard from the 2009 campaign, when he kept saying, "It's you, the American people, who can bring change to Washington when you raise your voice. You can change the nation and the world."

So, I think I heard echoes of that, which we are going to hear, I think, in 2012. So a start of the 2012 campaign, that kind of message.

And secondly, you heard him say, "This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class." That was something we heard in his Kansas speech, and it's part of this theme where he has been positioning himself as a warrior for the working class, if you will -- that's the phrase he's used -- and it's a perfect piece with this payroll tax cut that he's been in. And his whole message is that leading into this fight he's going to face in the election year, that he champions the working class, and he will argue that whoever his Republican opponent is doesn't in the way he will.

So, it's positioned him in just the way they'd like him to be positioned as he heads into an election year -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. And he recognized towards the end there's still a lot more work to do, and he ended with one word: "Aloha." As you mentioned, he is now off to Hawaii.

Jessica Yellin for us at the White House.

Jessica, thank you so much.

And you know, if lawmakers had any chance of getting out of Washington in time for this weekend, in time for Christmas, someone had to blink, and someone did. And when House Speaker John Boehner stepped out to announce a Republican compromise with Democrats, he was all alone.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: Good evening, everyone.

Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement on payroll tax relief on behalf of the American people. Key parts of this agreement are that on January 1st --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. The House Republicans who vowed they would fight to the very end after today's vote -- I want you to listen to what Kansas Republican Tim Huelskamp said on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM HUELSKAMP (R), KANSAS: Well, I'm disappointed in our entire leadership team. We have not cut spending, we didn't force the president to the table when it came time to give him $2 trillion of spending authority -- or borrowing authority, we didn't pass the balanced budget amendment. These are things that nearly all the Republicans ran on last fall, and we have yet to deliver them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. I imagine she is one of the few remaining there.

Kate, we just heard from that congressman. And now that this is sort of going away for a little while, what should we expect come end of next February? Should the Republican leadership be scared?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It may be going away for a little while, meaning they're just not going to be back on Capitol Hill until mid-January. But I can almost assure you that what we're hearing now will continue into January, and here's why.

It's because what you heard from the freshman Republican, Tim Huelskamp right there, is something we have been hearing from the freshman class since they were elected. You were talking to Jessica, and she was talking about campaign themes.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: That's a campaign promise they are trying to make good on. This freshman Republican class, they say they were elected to change how Washington works. And that includes not kicking the can down the road and dealing with the tough problems later. That's why they say they are opposed to this two-month extension versus doing a longer- term extension.

So, that is kind of -- it goes against -- it's an opposing force to what actually needed to happen here when you've got a Republican majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate needing compromise. Those things are not always on the same track. They can be opposing forces, and they seem to be here.

And that's why many say House Speaker John Boehner was in such a tough spot, because last weekend, Brooke, as you and I have been talking about, John Boehner, he tried to sell the Senate deal, saying, let's live to fight another day, take this deal, because he could see the political reality of being kind of on an island of their own. But he faced a revolt among his House Republican members, and that's when we saw them kind of digging in and fighting the good fight, as Boehner said, continuing this week.

But then it seemed the pressure just was mounting and the criticism was just too much. And that's when we saw yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner give.

And he basically told his conference on a conference call last night, this is what we're going to do. And that was it. No questions.

And he even presided over -- he was even in the chair this morning during the vote. I almost think it's to make sure that no one was walking out on the floor to make that objection that everyone was so concerned about.

BALDWIN: Wow. Interesting.

Kate, we're going to pick up on this conversation where we're leaving off next year. I know that.

Kate Bolduan for us on the Hill.

Kate, thank you.

And we should point out -- you know this -- it's one of the busiest days of the year for travel in this country. And about 30 percent of you watching are expected to hop on the roads, hit the rails, take the to the skies this holiday weekend.

Coming up, we're going to talk about strong winds and heavy snow in some areas and get you the latest on the flight delays with one of the best guys in the business, Chad Myers.

Plus, when you think skid row, you probably don't think about having the best day ever, but today their day is a little bit brighter thanks to the help of hundreds of people and a jolly old man in a red suit. We're going to take you live to skid row.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

BALDWIN: Yes. This is something we don't often see.

This is the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Traders cueing up, singing. The song is "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines Nellie." Apparently, this song was written back in 1905, and it has essentially become the unofficial anthem of the New York Stock Exchange.

It happened right around 1934, right around the Great Depression. And so they sing this in their best voices on the floor of the exchange every year on Christmas Eve or the last trading day of the year. So there you go.

Good thing it's not me singing and that it's them.

Moving along, skid row, it's a 50-block area of downtown Los Angeles. It's home to thousands of destitute people, so many of them living on the city's streets.

And today, hundreds of volunteers, including political leaders, celebrities, even Mr. Claus himself, bringing holiday joy to skid row families.

And we sent Casey Wian there.

Casey, have you seen the big man yet, Santa Claus?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have not seen Santa Claus yet, but we have seen a lot of other people who are volunteering their time and have been volunteering their time all year down here on skid row. What's interesting is we've got hundreds of people here today, and it's really quite an interesting mix of people.

You can see they're getting ready to serve this food. You've got people on this side of the line dishing the food out, volunteers on the other side of the line who are then going to be taking the food out to the needy families there.

They are expecting to serve at least 4,000 meals today to families in need. Some of those families have been camping out on a very chilly night last night waiting for this opportunity to get this wonderful meal.

And what's interesting about this volunteer opportunity is it brings together different people from all kinds of different walks of life.

Right here, one of the people that's serving rolls, if you will, is U.S. Congressman (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I have to do is lift a roll here.

WIAN: Well, what brings you here?

Well, Casey, I will tell you, this is the most joyous and fulfilling and exciting time for me and people all around this country, but there are people who are hurting. I was just talking to some of the people here, and with the early prison release program here in California, there are increased numbers on the streets. Obviously, the challenge of the economy is great.

So we're right now -- it makes my Christmas even better, Casey, to be able to be here and help others. And the L.A. Mission is an amazing place. They don't take government money. It's all voluntary, and that's something I like about it. And it's great to be out of Washington, too.

WIAN: I bet it is.

One of those other volunteers right next to the congressman -- Brooke, I don't know if you're a fan of the "Twilight" movies, but right here is Booboo Stewart, who is down here helping serve to some of the needy folks.

What does this mean to you to be able to do this?

BOOBOO STEWART, ACTOR: Well, it means a lot. I've been doing this for, I think, like, five years. And I just come every year to help people. And it's a really good feeling.

It makes you feel really good afterwards. You know? You go home and you feel like you've accomplished something.

WIAN: Well, I'm sure they're all very thankful for both of your efforts and all the efforts of the volunteers.

STEWART: Thanks.

WIAN: You're welcome.

And as you mentioned, Brooke -- I don't know if you can see it behind all the crowds back there -- Santa Claus will be making an appearance later today. He will be giving toys out to a thousand needy children.

We spoke with one of those children who spent the night here last night waiting for this opportunity. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happiness and joyness because I know that some people at least care about us. And I know that we don't have things that they do, so they donate them.

WIAN: Has it been tough for you and your family lately not having things? What's it been like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard.

WIAN: Tell me how.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really sad. Like, whenever I want something, they can't buy it because they don't have money.

WIAN: And so do you think this is going to help make it a little bit -- a merrier Christmas for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh. That's wonderful.

And Casey, look, as soon as you do see Santa, I would love to see the looks on those kids' faces as soon as he shows up. Maybe we can come back out to you there in Los Angeles.

Casey Wian, thank you.

And, of course, just wonderful, all those volunteers out there doing an amazing service in Los Angeles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: We're going to talk about the blueprints of al Qaeda. That's how some media in Syria are describing two suicide car bombs that killed at least 30 people there. We're talking about an act of terrorism in Syria. We have a live report for you straight ahead.

Plus, a little bit later in the show, this devastation -- this is the Philippines -- has many rushing to help. We've also learned about a band member of Journey already in the region, helping out in a big way. That story is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Suicide car bombings -- unfortunately, we know all too well what they do. But the aftermath you see here is unlike anything we have seen before.

These images come to us from Syria after not just one, but two suicide car bombings happened there in the capital city of Damascus. And what's more, there are accusations that the country's own leader, Bashar al-Assad, was responsible for this.

To explain it all, let's go to CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom for us in Cairo.

And Mohammed, we've heard more than 30 civilians were killed. Does that number hold, A? And, B, did the two car bombings happen at the same time?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, what's interesting first in talking about the death toll, that number actually came to us from opposition figures and groups within Syria. The government claimed earlier, through state-run television, that a number of military and civilian personnel were killed in these blasts, but they did not provide a number of those wounded and those killed.

They also didn't provide a lot of details about the car bombings beyond the fact that they happened targeting these intelligence buildings in Damascus and saying that these attacks were bearing the hallmarks of an al Qaeda-style attack. And the fact that not too many details, and yet the government seems to be so certain that al Qaeda is behind it is just one reason why a lot of groups really questioning the voracity of the al-Assad regime claims right now -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's important to explain who it is you're sourcing here, because as you point out, the government says this looks like an act of al Qaeda. "It had the blueprints of al Qaeda." This opposition group blames the Assad regime.

You know, you hear both sides. What are you hearing?

JAMJOOM: Well, Brooke, we are hearing from the Syrians, basically what they put out earlier, that they believe this is al Qaeda, that it was car bombs, this attack in Damascus. That's what they've said, and that a number of military personnel and civilians were killed.

Opposition groups though are saying this is a little too convenient for the al-Assad regime, because the al-Assad regime has, for months now, been saying that they have to fight terrorism in Syria, and that's one reason they use to justify the crackdown that's been going on. So, rights activists, pro-democracy activists in Syria, say, hey, it's very convenient for Bashar al-Assad to say this is al Qaeda. The opposition figures say there is no al Qaeda in Syria, and the opposition figures worry that al-Assad will now try to blame opposition activists for these acts of terror and link them to al Qaeda at a time when this country may be verging on civil war -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We know that an Arab League events team is now in the country. Do you know if they have been to the bombing sites yet, what are they saying?

JAMJOOM: They were pictures broadcast on Syrian state television showing these members of the Arab League team going to the bomb site. We spoke to a member of the Arab League team who said that they gone to bomb site.

But he also told us that this would not affect the meetings scheduled that they have. The Arab League team is there. This is an advance team that's going there to set up the parameters for another team of about 500 observers from the Arab League.

That are going to go into Syria based on a protocol they signed with the government there to try to observe, put an end to the violence that has been going on.

What's interesting though, there are protests going on in Syria today across the country according to opposition groups and activists. They say that opposition activists, they are upset.

They don't believe that the Arab League is an effective organization. They don't believe they are going to do enough to end the bloodshed. They are calling them to the international community to step up efforts to try to rid Syria of the Al-Assad regime -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Mohammed Jamjoom speaking to us from Cairo and staying in Egypt. Mohammed, thank you. You can hear some noises behind him. He's not far from Tahrir Square.

People are packing in the square protesting what they are calling an abusive power by the ruling military and imagines of military police stomping on the heads of protesters even pulling their clothes off has outraged Egyptians there.

At least 16 people have been killed now clashes in recent days. Egypt's military leaders say they regret to women over what happened. They are expressing this regret. They say they will punish those behind it. They say that. So far, the military has largely stayed away from the demonstrations.

And right now, there are possible problems with nearly 65,000 graves. Right there at Arlington National Cemetery. That's a quarter of the people buried there.

Coming up, find out what kind of potential errors we are talking about and the challenges, people at the cemetery, face just trying to fix them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Massive mismanagement and mistakes at Arlington National Cemetery may be more widespread than previously thought. The "Washington Post" is reporting today that army officials have found potential problems with nearly 65,000 military gravesites.

That's one quarter of all of the graves there at Arlington. Christian Davenport with the story in today's "Washington Post." He joins me live from Washington.

Christian, you know, we've talked about, first it was the discovery of the misidentified remains, the mismarked graves, and urns dug up and dumped in dirt piles. Now what potentially are we talking about here?

CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT, ENTERPRISE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, all of those problems led to a report that came out yesterday and this report was mandated by Congress in the wake of all the problems that you just were talking about.

Dozens of mismarked graves, incidents where they found people buried in the wrong spots, urns of cremated remains have been dug up and dumped in a urn pile.

And so what Congress said to the cemetery was we want you to account for every single grave at Arlington Cemetery and so for the past year, the cemetery has been trying to do that. It's a really ambitious and very difficult process.

And they've gotten through it so far and found 65,000 grave sites where there are potential problems that they flagged.

BALDWIN: Like what?

DAVENPORT: Well, we don't know yet. They flagged these and said these cases need further review. So they could be as minor as a typographical error in a piece of paperwork associated with that gravesite.

Or it could be the worst case scenario of somebody buried in the wrong spot. The cemetery hasn't ruled that out yet. So it could be a little bit of everything they said they need about another six months or so to review those.

BALDWIN: Given a new outline. This is in your piece. You know, there's a task force who's been assigned of photographing every single grave marker. But given the age of Arlington, the archaic logs, et cetera, will all of these questions really all be answered?

DAVENPORT: Well, it's possible that, no. I mean, in the report, the cemetery says that they could go through and reconcile all of the paperwork that they have with the headstones and what you see on the ground.

But the fact of the matter is, there still could be problems underneath that we just don't know about. And there was a case last year, where a wife of an army staff sergeant who was buried there called the cemetery worried about the whereabouts of her husband's grave and where he was buried.

The cemetery said, well, the paperwork checks out. She wasn't convinced, had the cemetery open up her husband's grave and turned out he wasn't there. Somebody else was and in the end they found out that there were three people in the wrong spot. So the paperwork will really only tell you so much.

BALDWIN: To Arlington's credit though, you know, that review by the GAO found reason to be optimistic, you know, from your reporting, I guess my question would be, do you agree with Senator McCaskill is now and has the potential to be a turnaround story?

DAVENPORT: Well, the people now running the cemetery, I mean, the army got rid of the old leadership, brought in new leadership, the superintendent of the cemetery has decades of experience with Department of Veteran Affairs and running their cemeteries. They have 131 and they've implemented places that are supposed to safeguard and they are designed to prevent against these kinds of problems have happening and they've received praise from members of Congress in the GAO.

And the effort that they are undertaking right now is really ambitious, a very difficult one, as you said, because it goes back to the civil war. So we're dealing with ancient, ancient records.

BALDWIN: Final question, Christian, for people watching. If they have a loved one buried at Arlington and they are worried about their loved one and their grave site, what advice do you have?

DAVENPORT: Well, the cemetery is fielding those calls. They take those calls. They go into a database. They track them they have a new web site up now that you can find and contact the cemetery through them.

And they are fielding all of these kinds of calls and when problems come up, they say that they'll deal with the families quickly and transparently and do everything that they can to fix it.

BALDWIN: Christian Davenport, "Washington Post," thank you so much.

DAVENPORT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS: What if there was mom just sitting there and something wrong with my baby? No mother or child should ever have to go through that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: When she is not acting or dancing or singing or judging on "American Idol," Jennifer Lopez is giving back. Coming up, find out how she's making a major difference in the lives of kids in need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tomorrow CNN will bring you our Christmas special. We call it "Big Stars, Big Giving." One of the celebrities were featuring is Jennifer Lopez. CNN's Alina Cho spoke with Lopez about her inspiration to give back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's Hollywood triple threat. She sings, dances, acts.

LOPEZ: You did not just poke me.

CHO: And now she's a judge on "American Idol."

LOPEZ: You're going to Hollywood.

CHO: She's Jennifer Lopez.

(on camera): You're a mother. You're a philanthropist. You're an actress. You're a singer. You're a dancer. You're a judge on "American Idol."

LOPEZ: I'm tired.

CHO: How do you do it all?

LOPEZ: I don't know. One day at a time.

CHO (voice-over): The theme song of her life and also the Maribel Foundation, a non-profit Lopez started with her sister Linda in 2008. It was a health scare with her newborn daughter, Emmy that prompted her to act.

LOPEZ: She had this lump on her head all of a sudden and it was kind of soft and felt like water a little bit.

CHO (on camera): What did you think?

LOPEZ: I didn't know what it was and I showed it to Mark and I was like, if this baby, if Emmy's not OK, I'm not going to be OK. We called the doctor in the middle of the night. You know, we had access to the best health care.

We had all this privilege and I realized that when I went home and I was lying there like at 4:00 in the morning, I was like, what if I didn't have that?

What if the mom just sitting there, something wrong with my baby, no mother or child should ever have to go through that. Luckily for us it turned out OK.

CHO (voice-over): So Lopez went to the world renowned children's hospital in Los Angeles and asked them, how can I help?

LOPEZ: They were like there is a very new program. It's called tele- medicine.

CHO (on camera): When they said tele-medicine, did you know what it was?

LOPEZ: Not really. No, I didn't. It's a technology basically where doctors anywhere from the world can talk to each other.

CHO (voice-over): Through video conferencing. The first tele- medicine sponsored by the Maribel Foundation opened this year in Puerto Rico. Panama is next.

LOPEZ: Aren't you cute. I mean, that's the great part of the position that I'm in, we can make a difference and really, really help people. The same dreamer in me that wanted to sing and dance and do all that is the same dreamer in me that wants to do something amazing for the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And make sure you watch CNN's "Giving In Focus" special that airs 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Christmas day hosted by Tom Foreman.

And now, to Washington we go, Congress approved and we saw President Obama signing that now two-month payroll tax extension. So it is officially a done deal. He's off to Hawaii.

Wolf Blitzer is there in D.C. with our America's Choice 2012 Politics update. So, Wolf, I guess, good news for 160 million Americans until end of February when they start this all over again.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes, they'll probably be another fight at the end of February because they now have to work out a deal that will allow this tax cut for 160 million working Americans to continue working for the rest of the year.

I assume they are going to do it I think the stakes are too enormous for Democrats and Republicans to not do it so they'll do it, but it will probably go down to the wire once again as it always seems to do.

It's not just the 160 million Americans who will continue to pay less taxes to the government, there's going to be unemployment benefits that will continue at least for the next two months for nearly three million Americans and also, a lot of doctors who work with Medicare patients.

They will be reimbursed at the full amount they are supposed to be reimbursed instead of taking a 25 percent or 30 percent. You can see the president signing it into law right now the legislation that whisked through the House and the Senate within a matter of minutes.

This morning they used that procedure unanimous consent. Nobody was there to object it so it just became the law of the land with the signature of the president. So it's an important development obviously for the American people right now.

The political fallout will have time to digest that in the month and weeks to come.

BALDWIN: And in the meantime, we'll be seeing here shortly. It will be covering -- the A-team will be covering the Iowa caucuses 11 days away. Who are you watching today?

BLITZER: You know I'm going to be in Iowa next week. Did you see the tweet I sent out earlier, Brooke?

BALDWIN: No, I did not.

BLITZER: You don't follow me on Twitter? BALDWIN: I mean, follow you. I can't follow every single Wolf Blitzer tweet.

BLITZER: Every single at wolfblitzer@cnn. I follow @brookbcnn, I mean, all of tweets. I check them out obviously what you're saying is you don't read all of my tweets.

BALDWIN: You know, I sit here. I tried to tweet live. After the show, I'm all over it. Wolf, here were go. Thank you, guys. Save me. There's your Twitter page.

BLITZER: It says over here, full hour of hard news coming at 5:00 p.m. later today. We're going to re-air our six days in North Korea documentary. I was there exactly one year ago. With the death of Kim Jong-il, we decided it's a good time to take a look at what is going on in Pyonyang. Did you see it a year ago when we aired it, Brooke?

BALDWIN: I did not.

BLITZER: You can't lie. Is that what you're saying? You're such an honest human being.

BALDWIN: I can't help it.

BLITZER: All right, well, you know what? What are you doing at 5:00 today?

BALDWIN: Watching this documentary.

BLITZER: Obviously. If you read my tweet you would also know where I'm going to be next Tuesday and Wednesday. Do you know where I'm going to be next Tuesday and Wednesday?

BALDWIN: Iowa, just a guess.

BLITZER: Correct.

BALDWIN: Yes!

BLITZER: Tuesday I'll be anchoring from Iowa, Wednesday from Iowa. Tuesday, I'll have Newt Gingrich with me in Iowa. Wednesday, I'll have Mitt Romney with me in Iowa.

It's very exciting. We're getting ready for the Iowa caucuses. It's a good time to go to Iowa and then I'm going to come to the CNN Center. See you in Atlanta. We're going to anchoring our coverage from the CNN Election Headquarters. Have you seen the new studio, Brooke, that we established?

BALDWIN: I'm sitting in the studio. I'm sitting in the studio and our viewers have not seen that it's transforming into the election scenario.

BLITZER: We're going to spend a lot of time here at the CNN Election Center throughout the month of January. See how long this goes, February and March, remember it took until June four years ago, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to wrap it up for the Democratic nomination. We'll see what the Republicans do this time. But you've got to start following me on Twitter.

BALDWIN: Wolf, I follow on Twitter. You know this.

BLITZER: If you bump me at my tease in the next hour, Merry Christmas and happy New Year. I'll see you in Atlanta.

BALDWIN: We would never bump you, Wolf Blitzer and same to you. I love you. OK, bye-bye.

BLITZER: The news comes first.

BALDWIN: Bye-bye. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to turn our attention now to a story that we've certainly covered here on CNN. The surging death toll and devastation from a tropical storm in the Philippines. I want to tell you how a rock star is lending a helping hand.

For this we go to the Philippines where human tragedy is unfolding. What you see here was once a village. It's one of the many villages that floods reduced to mud. Right now, the Philippines government confirms there are more than 1,000 people dead.

Listen to this. Another 1,000 as of today are missing. So the death toll, it could double and double very quickly. When I first saw the pictures coming out to the Philippines here, I turned to a non- traditional source, the new lead singer of Journey via Twitter.

Arnel Pineda is a native of the Philippines. He's from Manila and he is there right now. I just want to pull up one of the tweets. We're tweeting back and forth. He tweeted me back and I retweeted him.

Hi, Brooke. We're rounding up donations to help the Sendong victims. Thank you and so he added these links. So you can help him, help the victims and I'll re-tweet that, if you would like to help Arnel. Arnek, if you don't know his story, it's pretty amazing.

He can absolutely relate to these people living without very much. He has a rags to riches story. It's a big part of how he became the band, "Journey's" front man. I met him earlier this year when I profiled "Journey" on a "Music Monday" series.

I want to show you how we found him. Consider where he's been through and remember what he's doing now in his career and for his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't want to go through the old process of, you know, auditioning so I went to YouTube and I know what is on there is real and there's no doctoring it. You hear talent in somebody. It's going to stand out to you. When I heard our songs, I contacted John and I said, check this out. He did "Open Arms" and he did "Faithfully" and I was like, this is incredible that he sounds this good.

ARNEL PINEDA, JOURNEY LEAD SINGER: I was living in the street for more than a year. When I was like 15. Sometimes begging for food, sometimes you have to sleep in a small chair overnight.

But I got through it, you know, because I kept -- I kept my faith. I kept my belief and I always put in heart what my mom told me. You know, always fight. Fight. Fight. Believe.

And move on. Never look back because it's just going to stall you. You know, just move on, you know. I went on and I met these guys. I'm here --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He said don't stop believing. Extra special for him as we mentioned Arnel Pineda in the Philippines right now helping with relief efforts there.

And if you're a tech geek, a little like me or if you're buying last-minute gifts for a tech lover in your life, stick around for the next segment. We're going to walk through some of the must-have products this holiday season. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're all asking me on Twitter, have I finished my Christmas shopping? No, I have not and I know we have one and a half days left to shop for Christmas. You may have get a late start, but you can end up giving some of the hottest gifts of the season if you pay attention right this very second.

Tech reporter, Katie Lamendal, showed me some options that are so cool you might even actually some of these gifts for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are multi-juice packs. We always say we run out of juice and battery. The solution to that, these go from $35.95 to $99.95. This one that I have on my phone, I just slide right in and it's 8 extra hours of battery.

BALDWIN: Eight hours, how long what does this mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This puts more as a reserve. Put it on your key chain. It's like, my gosh, if I just need to make that extra last call or two, perfect for that, $39.95. It comes in six different colors. Great option for that iPhone lover in your life.

Next stop on my list. This is one that I can't live without now. So obviously the keyboard is really hard. The virtual keyboard is like literally impossible to set.

Go ahead, pick it right up. What I love about this is there are lot of cases out there for iPad. This clamps and just don't be afraid, go ahead and swivel it right down and it clasp right together.

Incredibly durable. It's $100. It's from zag.com. What is awesome about that, the keyboards slides right out, works off of bluetooth and the base, you can move it around there, which is not typical of an iPad case.

BALDWIN: I'm not so gentle so I wouldn't even this break this. That's fabulous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. Next on my list, scull candy fix in ear buds. OK --

BALDWIN: So when you're running and they fall out all the time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gym, forget it. No ear buds can actually work. These actually work. You're going to pay a little bit for them, $70. But there are nice little option in terms of not having that big, bulky headphone and ones that will stay in.

BALDWIN: You're totally rocking the big -- OK, next.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next up, go ahead and grab the favorite bags, these Bombada bags. Super sleek, super chic too and I kind call this replace the purse. You can get inside here. This one is obviously made for an iPad.

But you can see I have my MacBook Air in here. I have an iPad in here. I put my notes in here. I put my wallet in here. It's pretty generous in terms of carting stuff around. It also comes with a handle and there's bigger sizes for the laptop bag.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Right. So, my big MacBook would fit in here?

LINENDOLL: Yes. And it's Italian-made. It's nice little leather.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How much does it set you back?

LINENDOLL: These are like $40 to $50. That's not bad, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Done. Like the colors.

LINENDOLL: Next, I give you these.

This is are Freehands gloves. So, this just in for people that are upgrading to a smartphone, you can not touch the screen with your gloves on. So, the solution to that, conductive tips on your gloves. These will allow you to get on the touch-screen or your tablet or a smartphone, which is really nice. But, plus, there are also two options here.

So, you have the conductive tip option or you have the free-form option. These have little magnets, so it will actually clasp on the back, so you actually have access to your fingers.