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Gingrich and Perry Off Virginia Primary Ballot; Obama in Hawaii for Christmas; Final Hours to Shop for Christmas; Year End Money Moves; Mel Gibson's Record-Breaking Divorce; Imams Sue Delta Airlines; Dad Taped Up, Photographed Child; Year of Protests around the World Reviewed; Make-A-Wish Foundation Builds Star Wars Display for Young Boy; Jennifer Lopez Discusses her Charity
Aired December 24, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Fredricka Whitfield is off today.
It's Saturday, December 24th. Thanks so much for joining us. And two big stories we're following today, politics and the Christmas Eve shopping crunch.
In Virginia, two candidates not making it onto the ballot - Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. What happened?
And last-minute holiday shopping, but will it be the therapy that retail needs?
Let's start with politics, though, and a surprising announcement from the Republican Party in Virginia. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry will not appear on the state's presidential primary ballot. The reason? The candidates did not submit enough signatures to qualify.
CNN's Athena Jones joins us live from Washington. Athena, how in the world did this happen?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a lot of the supporters of these two candidates are probably asking that very question, Alina. We have gotten a response from both of the campaigns.
The Perry campaign says that they are close - they will closely review the facts and law to determine whether an appeal or a challenge is warranted. Now, Newt Gingrich's campaign called the whole - the whole way that Virginia figures out who should be on the ballot, said - said it was a failed system and that they are going to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice.
Now, this is very important in this case for Newt Gingrich because recent polls showed him leading in Virginia. He was five points ahead of Mitt Romney. But if you're not on the ballot, then obviously that doesn't matter in the end.
I should mention that Virginia has pretty stringent requirements for getting on their primary ballot, more stringent than in other states. They needed to get 10,000 signatures statewide, or at least 10,000, including 400 in each of the 11 Congressional districts. And so these two campaigns fell short, and it's really - it raises real questions, of course, about their organization and their ground game, Alina, going into the - the race.
CHO: You know, as you mentioned, Virginia is more strict than some of the other states. I'm just curious to know what the process is for validating these signatures because it's so unusual that something like this would happen.
JONES: Well, it is certainly a surprise. I think a lot of people are surprised and there - a lot of people there are going to be questioning this whole process.
But, as I mentioned, they had to get these 10,000. The deadline was Thursday, and people - and people - the party, the volunteers, (INAUDIBLE) volunteers spent yesterday going through and validating all of these signatures. It was a long process.
We learned of this - this announcement about Gingrich overnight, literally in the middle of the night. They announced a few hours before that that Perry wasn't going to make the ballot, and so ultimately you only end up with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul on this ballot, and you have people like Newt Gingrich saying or his campaign saying that this is ridiculous. I mean, people should have a chance in Virginia, a very important state, 49 delegates on Super Tuesday. All these delegates will matter.
And so you're going to have Gingrich saying that it's important that - that they get to choose, voters in Virginia get to choose from - from amongst all of the candidates. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen right now, Alina.
CHO: All right, Athena Jones, we'll be watching the political fallout. Thank you very much.
JONES: Thanks.
CHO: We want to move on to Iowa now. That state holds the nation's first caucus in just 10 days, and a new poll by the American Research Group shows right now it's a three-way battle between Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
All of the candidates, except Jon Huntsman, are campaigning in the state next week. Huntsman is focusing his efforts in New Hampshire, which holds its primary on January 10th.
President Obama kicking off the Christmas weekend in his home state of Hawaii. He arrived there last night, just hours after signing into law a payroll tax cut extension.
CNN's White House correspondent Brianna Keilar has got the - she obviously drew the long straw on this assignment. She joins us live from Honolulu with more on that.
Hey, Brianna. So what are the Obamas planning for their vacation? I would imagine there's going to be a lot of luaus and a little bit of golf, right?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I would go with a lot of golf.
Aloha to you, Alina. And already if - I don't know if I could handle this after a long, almost nine-hour flight, but last night, after the president got in, he and the First Lady went out to diner at Morimoto Restaurant here in Waikiki with family and friends.
And there's really no public events that are on their schedule. The White House is hoping for a pretty quiet vacation, but, you know, they come here every year for the Christmas vacation, and so we know some of what the president is going to get up to. No doubt he'll be playing golf. Remember, he lived here - he lived here until he was about six, then moved to Indonesia for a few years, came back when he was 10 and actually learned as a teenager to play golf here, so certainly he'll be hitting the links at some of his favorite courses here on the island.
And, you know, he'll probably head out for his - head out, perhaps, for some local delicacies as has he in the past, with his daughters, Sasha and Malia, going to grab some Hawaiian shaved ice. And beach time, of course, is something that the family's going to partake in. We probably won't get any sort of view of them doing that, Alina, hanging out on the beach. They - they go to the beach on a Marine base that is near the house that they're staying at on Kailua, so they have a lot of privacy.
CHO: Well, there was that famous photo of - of President - now President Obama shirtless on the beach, when he was running for president. So I guess they - they don't want any more of those to get out, do they, Brianna?
KEILAR: No. No.
CHO: All right. Great to see you, live from Honolulu. We'll be checking back with you later. Thanks so much.
It's the day before Christmas. The retail rush on. Shoppers are expected to pack the stores in a last-minute crush. Alison Kosik one of those shoppers, live at the Newport Centre Mall in New Jersey.
Alison, hey there. Good to see you. So I would imagine that if ever there was -
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alina.
CHO: If ever there was going to be a bargain, now is the time to find them at the stores, right?
KOSIK: Oh, you said it. And, I'll tell you what, the foot traffic has definitely been increasing as the hours have been going on throughout the afternoon.
And yes, you hit a good point, that this really is a shopper's paradise if you're looking for those discounts because, you know, these - these retailers, even though it's been a pretty strong holiday shopping season, these retailers still have a good amount of inventory on their shelves. They know they have to offer these deep discounts, that you're seeing these signs all over the mall offering, because they want to get this merchandise moving. And they know once the Christmas holiday actually hits, we're going to have to mark those items down even more, so they really don't want to do that.
They really know today they've got a captive audience because everybody you're seeing here, they're all procrastinators. We're hours away from Christmas, and they know they've got this deadline. They have to be - a lot of these people I think would rather be wrapping gifts rather than shopping for those gifts right now.
One of those is Lorraine Gonzales. You're one of the procrastinators today, but are - are you having any luck today finding what you want?
LORRAINE GONZALES, LAST MINUTE SHOPPER: I hope so. I'm on my way to get some gift cards.
KOSIK: OK, so gift cards. That's actually the number one last-minute Christmas gift. So you're right along with the statistics. What - what kept you from shopping earlier? Why - why did you have to wait?
GONZALES: Working a lot of hours overtime. Not enough time in the day.
KOSIK: Yes, time is a - time is a big factor. And how many people are you shopping for today? How many hours -
GONZALES: Three. Just three.
KOSIK: And how many hours do you expect to be here?
GONZALES: Not long. I want to be in and out.
KOSIK: The crowds are - the crowds are pretty big here today.
GONZALES: Yes. Very crowded.
KOSIK: All right. Well, good luck to you, Lorraine. Thanks for joining us.
You know what, this store is - this mall actually is closing early, as many other malls most likely across the country are closing early, because it is Christmas Eve. So time's a-wasting if you are looking for last minute Christmas gifts, Alina.
CHO: Guess where I'm going after work, Alison?
KOSIK: I can only - I can only guess.
CHO: I'm going to the mall. I'm going to the mall. I'm going to do it.
KOSIK: I know you are.
CHO: I'm going to do it.
Alison Kosik, thank you very much. We'll check back with you later.
From holiday shopping to holiday travel, million of Americans are on the move this Christmas Eve. Tracking all of the delays for us, CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.
Hey, Reynolds -
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alina, you're going to the mall?
CHO: I am.
WOLF: Oh my gosh, you're so brave. You're incredibly brave. Not that there's anything wrong with going (INAUDIBLE) -
CHO: Either that, or I love to shop.
WOLF: Hey - hey, both are acceptable. Both are acceptable.
CHO: What, is it pretty quiet out there today?
WOLF: You know what? For the most part - meteorologist Chad Myers mentioning the other day that it has been an incredibly quiet holiday travel time and - and, you know, he's absolutely right. It had been the case.
There's only one real bad spot that we have around the nation that's really an eyesore in terms of travel weather, and that is in the beloved state of Texas. Now, Texas, I love you, but the weather is going to be tough today. Scattered showers along the I-35 corridor, and Houston, you can expect some rain there, too.
But take a look at this. In the West Texas, it's all switching over to snowfall. Some of this could give you whiteout conditions along parts of I-20. Zoom in a little bit more south of Lubbock and right towards Amarillo and Abilene - well, Amarillo's way up here, Abilene is a little bit closer as we venture in just a little bit more. You got high elevations north of Odessa and Midland, Davis and Apache Mountains, and that's where the snow could be a little bit heavier. But, even then, only a few inches of snowfall.
All things, again, relative in the Rockies. The snow there, that was in (ph) inches. I mean, we had some snowfall there that actually fell in several feet just near Boulder, within 72 hours ago. A lot of that snowfall is going to die out, but this is the snow pack that we have that remains. That's snow on the ground.
Also, we've got some snow on the ground in parts of the northeast and in the western Great Lakes. But as we fast forward into tonight, what we anticipate and into tomorrow morning, some snow continuing out towards parts of Texas, into the Pacific Northwest and into the Northern Great Lakes. That's going to be about it, so it doesn't look like it's going to be a really big, white Christmas for a lot of people. But, again, the caveat, we've got fairly nice travel conditions, with the exception of the Lone Star State of Texas. The thing is, though, this storm system is not going to remain locked in place over Texas. It will drive a bit more to the east into Louisiana by this evening, eventually moving into Georgia and Alabama. So, St. Louis you're going to be OK, but you're neighbors in the south and New Orleans can expect some showers, maybe a boom of thunder.
That is a look at your forecast, and of course more weather coming up throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
CHO: All right. Merry Christmas Eve.
WOLF: Back to you, too.
CHO: All right. Reynolds, thanks so much.
Coming up, from Santa in a hot seat, to a superhero scaling down a building, we're going to show you the most unusual Christmas celebrations around the world.
Plus, one for the record books. Hollywood's biggest divorce payout. Just how much is Mel Gibson paying his ex-wife? And why are half of his future earnings going to her, too? That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CPL. JASON AUSTIN, U.S. ARMY: Hi. It's Corporal Jason Austin with Crazy Troop. 1st of the 94th CAV, coming from Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
I just wanted to say a shoutout to my wife, Lisa, my parents, the Hooley (ph) clan, the stages, the builder backs (ph), all my friends and family back home, wish you happy holidays. Love you all. Miss you all. See you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER LOPEZ, SINGER/ACTRESS: What if there was a mom just sitting there, and go something's wrong with my baby. No mother or child should ever have to go through that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Coming up a little bit later on, my one-on-one with Jennifer Lopez. It was a health scare with one of her twins that inspired her to help other moms and babies around the world. We're going to talk about that.
And I also asked her how she manages to do it all - sing, dance, act and judge "American Idol." That's a little later on in the program.
But first, on this Christmas Eve, a girl put Santa in the hot seat. And a Christmas light show honors wounded U.S. Marines. Those are just two of the more unique Christmas celebrations around the world. Our Josh Levs is here with a little bit more on that. Hey, Josh. Nice to see you.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, too. Happy holidays to you.
CHO: Happy holidays.
LEVS: Here's the thing. We're going to look at some slices of life around the world, and you know every year at the holidays you see these big Christmas displays. Well, we have something unique for you this year. We're going to start with it.
Now, it's this beautiful light show, but this time - take a look. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): This is a family that put this together in honor of the military. Anyone who drives by, tunes into a radio station that plays "God Bless the USA" -
CHO (voice-over): Where is this?
LEVS: This is in Tallahassee, Florida. And what they did here was they wanted to pay testament to - to families and Marines that have been injured.
CHO: That's elaborate.
LEVS: They went all out. This is incredible. This is from our iReporter Kenneth Higgins, whose display is from the White Family raising support and awareness for the Semper Fi Fund for injured Marines.
CHO: Wow.
LEVS: The (INAUDIBLE) - the family spends all year on this.
CHO: Amazing.
LEVS: Now, take a look at this one out of Canada where an 8-year-old girl decides to interview Santa Claus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long have you been married to Mrs. Claus?
SANTA CLAUS: I've been married to Mrs. Claus for a very, very long time. It's nearly 2,000 years. Wow, that's a long time to be married to somebody, isn't it? Yes. That's why she knows what keeps Santa healthy.
LEVS: I was going to say, he did a pretty good job of nailing the answer to the question she threw out some curve balls.
CHO: So cute. LEVS: A budding reporter there. Focus then (ph) to overseas. Take a look at this street in London. I'm loving this. That's Regent Street in London. Beautiful. The lights are serving as a canopy throughout the holiday season along that entire road.
We've also got news photo from Pakistan. This is interesting to me, Karachi, I was looking at the percentages. Very small Christian population.
CHO: Oh, wow.
LEVS: But this is one of the markets where members of the very small Christian community in Karachi do their holiday shopping.
Two more things to show you first. Quickly, check this out from Thailand.
CHO: Well, because nothing says Christmas like an elephant.
LEVS: Exactly. Well, apparently it's a tradition, elephants dressed as Santa that deliver these gifts to kids in the town of Ayuthaya just north of Bangkok, not far from the gulf there.
And you know what, we've got time, so let's end on this. Santa doing what Spider-man usually does. This is in Tokyo, where Santa was spotted going down the side of a building getting a little cleaning done along the way. He decided to have fun there. Apparently, that's an annual tradition there, too.
We want to hear about your unique ways to celebrate the holidays. You can weigh in from my pages and posted links to the light show and to the girl interviewing Santa all up there, and my pages, Facebook, Twitter and at the blog at CNN.com/Josh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: We're loving these videos. And you know what, it's nice this time of year to check out other slices of life. That's what we have for you.
CHO: All right. And stick around, because you're going to be back in just a minute, in just a couple of minutes.
Remember JibJab, the people behind those animated videos that went viral during the 2004 presidential election when Bush and Perry sang "This Land Is Your Land?" Well, coming up, we're going to bring you a JibJab holiday style. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Outrage - outrage, violence and people taking to the streets from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street. Just ahead a look back at a year in protest around the globe.
But first, the end of the year is not just about holiday parties and holiday shopping, important money deadlines are looming and ignoring them could cost you a bundle. Our Christine Romans has more on this week's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the clock winds down on 2011, don't drop the ball on your finances. First use it or lose it when it comes to your flexible spending account.
These are the pretax spending accounts set up to pay your co-pays or prescriptions. The rules change this year so that in New Year's Eve run to the drugstore to buy $100 in aspirins, Band-Aids and tissues, it wouldn't fly (ph) this year. Check with your company plan and make sure you've spent all that money that aside.
Sell losing investments if you need to write-off and make charitable contributions before December 31st to get those tax deductions. Check the rules at IRS.gov to see if your donation qualifies.
Next, plan for 2012.
JOHN ULZHEIMER, PRES., CONSUMER EDUCATION, SMARTCREDIT.COM: It is absolutely step number one, get out of credit card debt.
Step number two, look, it's an election year. We have no idea what's going to happen. Markets are up and down 100 points each direction every single day. This kind of stuff drives normal investors like me crazy. I would suggest doing what a very smart person once told me to do is to stop staring at it. And if it drives you that nuts, then just stay out of it for a while.
ROMANS: Diversify your retirement account. Make sure it's the right strategy for you. If you're young, focus on stocks. If you're close to retiring, choose more bonds. And raise your 401(k) contribution by one percentage point each year for five years to help close that gap between what you're saving and what you really need.
And finally, invest in yourself.
STACY FRANCIS, FINANCIAL ADVISER: Put your resume together. See where there might be some gaps. And make sure you fill in those gaps, whether it's going back to school for education, while working, or maybe asking for more responsibility taking on a new project where you're at. The biggest control piece you have is investing in yourself. No one can take that away.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Coming up, were two Muslim men booted off of a flight because of racial profiling? They say they were kicked off because of what they were wearing. Religious freedom on one side, safety concerns on the other. It's a discrimination lawsuit against the airline. Our legal segment is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back.
Mel Gibson's divorce became official yesterday, putting on record the biggest divorce payout in Hollywood history that's according to "People" Magazine. Robyn Gibson will receive half of Mel Gibson's fortune, an estimated $850 million. She had seven kids with the actor. They were married nearly 30 years and there was no prenuptial agreement. "People" also reports that when it comes to film residuals, Robyn, by law, should get half of any payment Gibson gets for the rest of his life.
That's our first topic today on "Legal Briefs." Let's get a legal mind in here to help us understand all this, because this one boggles the mind.
Avery Friedman, he's a Civil Rights Attorney and a law professor in Cleveland. Avery, his ex-wife is going to get half of all that he's made. You know, it's because they didn't have a prenup, right?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, you know what, a lot of people when they start out in Hollywood never think about these things and indeed this whole case turned on the fact, Alina, that there was no prenup. And look at the fortune. I mean $600 million alone in the production and writing of "Passion of the Christ" which was responsible - which Mel was responsible for. He owns an island in Fiji and $22 million worth of housing in Malibu that have already been turned over to his ex - now ex-wife as of yesterday afternoon, to Robyn.
So, yes, the word was that Harrison Ford had had the largest. This is the largest Hollywood payout involving stars that we've ever seen. And it is enormous primarily because there was no prenup.
CHO: Well, here's what I - OK. So we've heard this before that, you know, no prenup, you get half, you know what I mean?
FRIEDMAN: Sure.
CHO: Thirty years together, seven kids. I mean, in some ways, you know, it's understandable. Now having said that, she also gets half of his future earnings as well? How did that happen?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, think about this, people say, well, you know, it's Mel's money and she's getting - Robyn is getting half. But the truth is that 30-year period is what they built on. And the bottom line on this is that in a sense Robyn really earns that also.
The underlying issue, and, again, it wasn't ordered by a court, it was a settlement approved by the court. Mel knew that it could actually be worse. It actually was the smart thing to do, settle up, get out of there. He's single, but it's going to cost him 50 percent of whatever he generates for the rest of his life.
CHO: All right. I want to talk about this next case which really got my attention. Two imams board a Delta flight. They're on their way from Memphis to Charlotte. They're removed from the plane they say because of the way they looked. What's this case all about? FRIEDMAN: Well, it's an amazing story, Alina, because it involves two religious people, two imams who were checked by security when they walk in, like we all are. And then after - and then once they got on the plane, the pilot, believe it or not, turned the plane around, asked the passengers are they comfortable with having people who looked like that on the flight. Passengers didn't care.
They brought them back, checked them again. And the pilot is sticking to his story, that it was done for security purposes. Well, a lawsuit is under way -
CHO: I used to say on the face of it - on the face of it, it sounds like racial profiling to me. I mean, how is this allowed to happen? And, you know, now these two imams are suing Delta Air Lines. Does Delta have a case?
FRIEDMAN: Yes. Well, I would imagine that the only defense they're going to be able to come up with is to put on demonstrative evidence to show that there was a security risk.
I don't know how they are going to meet that standard, Alina, because the bottom line is we had three areas of check, a turn around, comprehensive pat-down. And I think, you know, what the facts are, what we know right now is I think Delta and its regional carrier ASA is going to have a very difficult time defending this case.
CHO: All right. I want to talk about our third case here, which is unbelievable to me.
FRIEDMAN: Unbelievable is right.
CHO: You know, a Chicago man actually duct tapes his 22-month-old daughter's mouth, hands and feet, then posted her photo on Facebook. Are we showing it - yes, we are showing it there. I mean, it's - it's really extraordinary.
FRIEDMAN: You need to see it.
CHO: The caption read, "This is what happens when my baby hits me back." I mean, unbelievable. The 21-year-old father Andre Curry is now charged with aggravated domestic battery. I mean, does he have a defense here?
FRIEDMAN: Yes, insanity? I mean, look, I can't imagine what the defense is.
I mean, the "Chicago Tribune" got a hold of his mother who said, oh, you know, Andre was just joking. But the fact is, number one, we need to get some help for this father. Number two, custody is now with the mother. Number three, he needs parenting classes. Number four, he's got to withdraw his father of the year application. And you know what, he works over at Applebee's.
So I think if you're ordering the lime sizzling chicken and Andre is in charge, you better give it a second thought. It's a problem. This guy - this guy is really messed up and there's no joke here. You take a look at that Facebook. What this guy did, there's something wrong with this guy. He needs some help.
And you know what, I'm glad the authorities are in there to take care of this baby.
CHO: It's bad enough honestly. Avery, it's bad enough that he did it. But then, I mean honestly, dumb enough to post it on Facebook. I've just never heard of such a thing. And anyway -
FRIEDMAN: Hey, you know what, well, without dumb people we wouldn't have a legal segment.
CHO: That's true. That's true.
FRIEDMAN: We need people like Andre Curry.
CHO: That's true. Interesting.
FRIEDMAN: You know what, that wraps it all the way into Christmas Eve. It's unbelievable.
CHO: All right. Avery Friedman, always great to see you. Happy holidays.
FRIEDMAN: All the best for the holidays. Same to you. All the best.
CHO: Thanks, Avery.
Coming up, from Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, we'll have a look back at 2011, the year of protests. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. It's half past the hour. Your top stories this Christmas Eve. A big political setback for Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. The two Republican presidential candidates have failed to qualify for the Virginia primary. It turns out Gingrich and Perry do not have enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot. Virginia holds its primary in March as part of Super Tuesday.
It looks like Britain's Prince Philip will spend Christmas in the hospital. The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth's husband of 64 year underwent a procedure yesterday to unblock a coronary artery. No word on when he might be discharged. Prince Philip turned 90-year-old in June.
Last-minute Christmas shoppers, you know who you are. Procrastinators are in luck because a lot of stories will be open on Christmas Eve. Some like Macy's will be open around the clock. Retailers are hoping that the struggling economy won't hold back holiday shopping. So far it hasn't. One estimate says sales are up 2.5 percent in November.
As 2011 draws to a close, the year might be best remembered for massive protests around the globe. From Arab spring to the Occupy movement in U.S. our Zain Verjee looks back on the moments that captured our attention. We want to warn you, some of the images are graphic. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was the year of people power, of revolution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something I've never seen before, a phalanx of men on horseback and camels.
VERJEE: And bloodshed that doomed dictators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one is going to go home. No one is going home. They are in this to the end, even if it means we're going to die.
VERJEE: It started with one man in one country, Tunisia, who set himself on fire when the police confiscated his fruit cart leaving him with no way to make money. That set off a movement that kicked out long time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The region was gripped with freedom fever. Fueled by social media, protests erupted in Algeria, then Yemen. Its leader seriously injured when the palace shelled left the country for treatment, returned, and later gave up power. Protests in Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan. Egyptians filled Tahrir square in the center of the Cairo, protesting for weeks.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": Protests have gone on all day long. It's now almost 5:00 in the afternoon. It's two hours after curfew has begun. But still the square is packed with people and these protests will likely go well into the night.
VERJEE: Their demand, long time ruler Hosni Mubarak has to go. By February he was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ever imagine this would be happening in Egypt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never. One month ago I would never imagined. I'm a young man and I always believed my generation will never make any history.
VERJEE: The Arab spring then hits Libya, the opposition galvanized to get rid of Moammar Gadhafi. NATO launches air support. The country becomes a warzone. Tripoli eventually falls.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an important day especially for the rebel who Gadhafi said would never be able to break his spirit, would never be able to take the city.
VERJEE: Eight bloody months later the tyrant was dead. The world's attention now focused on Syria. Will it be the next domino to fall? Even with the brutal crackdown of the regime, demonstrators are on the streets. According to the U.N., at least 5,000 have been killed since March.
Some fight for their freedom, others protest for bread and butter. In Europe, thousands demonstrate angry tough economic conditions. Furious protesters in Greece balancing against riot police against pay cuts.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A suicide statement, by the bank of Greece governor. He said if we don't pass this, the country is gone.
VERJEE: In England peaceful protests turned ugly. Discontented youth fought with police and looted and destroyed parts of the city. In December the Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York and soon gripped major capitals around the world condemning the wealthiest one percent for leaving the other 99 percent out in the cold.
And by December a glimpse of people power in Russia. Thousands marched, rejecting election results of Vladimir Putin's party, frustrated too with corruption and economic stagnation.
2011 shattered and rattled the political orders of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will send shockwaves throughout the region.
VERJEE: Setting in motion a wave of discontent, the promise to wash into the years to come.
Zain Verjee, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: What a year it has been. Coming up, Jennifer Lopez, not just a pretty face, she's giving back in a big way. My one-on-one with J. Lo is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. We have a special look at the holidays. Josh Levs is here to show us Christmas Jib-Jab style.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I love it.
CHO: I love this, too.
LEVS: I've told you this before. For me showing fun videos on the weekend is like desert. After a long week of covering serious stories, think of this as desert for the year.
CHO: That's right.
LEVS: The folks at Jib-Jab like to take a look at everything that's happened through the year. It's a unique animated look at events. Take a look here.
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LEVS: They are calling it "2011 Bye-Bye." I'm focusing on the lighter stuff here. This was just a lot of fun. People were having fun online. You can see there some of the faces popular throughout 2011.
CHO: Kim Kardashian.
LEVS: Oh, yes. Charlie sheen. A nice emotional touch in the middle of the comedy. I like that. It is Jib-Jab. If you realize someone you forgot to send a Christmas card to. I was checking my mail. The cd showed up as a surprise, set to the music, "Rockin around the Christmas Tree" by the chipmunks. Take a look.
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LEVS: My producer is laughing so hard in my ear. This is so un-me. You can pop in a picture and send it to anybody you want. So not me. That's an old picture of you.
CHO: I was going to say it barely even looks like you now.
LEVS: I've done a little growing up since then happy to say. Finally a little love from people out there like me who don't celebrate Christmas, but Hanukkah. This group of a capella are back a hit this year. Take a look.
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LEVS: Totally a capella. I think the concept of voices creating that is incredible. It's a song by an orthodox reggae rapper. It's all for a good cause. They are drawing attention to a program.
CHO: Did you say "orthodox reggae rapper"?
LEVS: Yes, which just made news by cutting his reggae hair, orthodox hair. However you want to say it. Cut his hair short. A lot of attention there. It's drawing attention to bone marrow donors. Watch closely, a cameo from people in my generation know as blossom. She's helping him out with this. This and a lot more is posted on my pages. I will send a tweet to Alina Cho, whom you should be following. I'll be there, too.
CHO: All right. Josh levs, happy holidays. Thank you so much.
Coming up, my one-on-one with Jennifer Lopez. Plus this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty cool. There's a lot of people with storm trooper scout armor, but I don't know many kids with a bunker in their backyard.
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CHO: Even I know that's a storm trooper. We're going to show you a "Star Wars" Christmas next.
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CHO: Welcome back. Lane Knudson is a self-proclaimed "Star Wars" fanatic who is living with muscular dystrophy. So this year the make- a-wish foundation pitched in to make lane's wish come true.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where we are right now is gold vein, Virginia, population 200. I think we're going to double that population today. We are making magic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today is all about Lane.
AMY KNUDSON, LANE'S MOM: Lane is 11 years old. He has muscular dystrophy. My son made a wish with the Make-a-Wish Foundation. They approved to build him a "Star Wars" fort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The attention to detail is incredible.
KNUDSON: They are making that happen today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just flip it. It will be fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will all scream at the appropriate time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks pretty cool. There's a lot of people with storm trooper scout armor but I don't know too many kids with an indoor bunker in their backyard. That's pretty cool and I'm a little jealous.
KNUDSON: He has no idea. It's super exciting so many people came together to do something for somebody they don't know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I in heaven? Am I dead?
KNUDSON: Make way.
I'm pretty sure this is going to be the only house on the block with "Star Wars." It's heartwarming. Everybody is like an angel to us that has done this of so much goodwill.
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CHO: That's just great. Our thanks so CNN photojournalist Oliver Janning for bringing that great story. It's part of CNN's "Giving in Focus" series. That's coming up in 90 minutes time at 2:30 eastern right here on CNN. Mega star Jennifer Lopez is using her fame to help other moms and babies around the world.
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JENNIFER LOPEZ, SINGER/ACTOR: There was a mom just sitting there. There's something wrong with my baby. No child or mother should have to go through that.
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CHO: How a health scare with one of her twins inspired her to give back. My one-on-one with Jennifer Lopez is just ahead.
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CHO: The one and only J. Lo. Coming up at 2:00 p.m. eastern time CNN will bring you my annual holiday special, big stars, big giving. This year I sat down with Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, Will Ferrell, and one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Jennifer Lopez. It was a health scare with one of her twins that inspired her to give back. Just like she's done in her career she's dreaming big.
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CHO: She's Hollywood's 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, actress, singer, you're a dancer, you're a judge on "American idol."
LOPEZ: I'm tired. What I am is I'm tired.
CHO: How do you do it all?
LOPEZ: I don't know. I don't know. One day at a time.
(SINGING)
CHO: The theme song of her life and also the Maribel Foundation. It was a health scare with her newborn daughter Emi that motivated her to act.
LOPEZ: She had this lump on her head all of a sudden. It was kind of soft and felt like water a little bit.
CHO: What did you think?
LOPEZ: I didn't know what it was. I showed it to Marc. If this baby -- if Emi is not OK, I'm not going to be OK. We called the doctor in the middle of the night, had access to the best health care. We had all this privilege. I realized that lying there at 4:00 in the morning. I was like, what if I didn't have that? What if I was a mom sitting there and there was something wrong with my baby. No mother or child should ever have to go through that. Luckily for us it turned out OK.
CHO: So Lopez went to the world renowned children's hospital Los Angeles and asked them how can I help?
LOPEZ: They were like, there is a very new program called telemedicine program.
CHO: When they said telemedicine, did you know what it was?
LOPEZ: Not really. No, I didn't. It's a technology where basically doctors throughout the world can talk to each other.
CHO: Through video conferencing. The first telemedicine center sponsored by the Maribel Foundation opened this year in Puerto Rico. Panama is next.
LOPEZ: Are you cute?
That's the great part of being in the position I'm in, that we can actually 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.
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CHO: Don't miss my holiday special, "Big Stars, Big Giving." It's coming up soon in a little more than an hour from now at 2:00 p.m. eastern time and again tomorrow on Christmas Day at 4:00 p.m. eastern. I hope you'll watch it. It's something I'm really proud to bring you.
Less than two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, the first major presidential contest. Who is up? Who is down? That's next.
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CHO: It's less than three minutes before the top of the hour. Your top stories now.
Donald Trump is abandoning the Republican Party. The business mogul has changed his voter registration from Republican to unaffiliated. He said Trump switched to preserve his right to run for president, and also because he was, quote, "disgusted with the way Republicans handled the payroll tax cut battle."
Republican candidates are gearing up for a big week in Iowa. Let's turn to political editor Paul Steinhauser in Washington.
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PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Alina. Call it a time-out. The campaign trail goes dark this weekend for Christmas. But come Tuesday with a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, it's game on for candidates.
Mitt Romney actually starts the week in New Hampshire. Their primary one week after the caucuses. The former governor hits the ground midweek as does Texas Ron Paul. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich Tuesday kicks off a 44-stop bus tour in the Hawkeye state. Expect Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum to crisscross Iowa all week as all three need a strong finish in the caucuses to move on to New Hampshire.
And that's where you'll find Jon Huntsman next week as he continues to avoid Iowa and put all his efforts into a strong finish in the grand state primary. Alina?
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CHO: Thank you, Paul.
Your top stories this Christmas Eve. A big political setback for Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. The two Republican presidential candidates have failed to qualify for the Virginia primary. It turns out Gingrich and Perry do not have enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot. Virginia holds the primary in March as part of Super Tuesday.
It looks like the Prince Philip of Britain will spend the Christmas holiday in the hospital. The Duke of Edinburgh, who is Queen Elizabeth's husband of 64 years, underwent a procedure yesterday to unblock a coronary artery. No word on when he might be discharged. Prince Philip is 90-years-old.
Last-minute Christmas shoppers, you know who you are. Procrastinators are in luck today because a lot of stores will be open late this Christmas Eve. Some like Macy's have been open around the clock.
Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Alina Cho. Remember to watch my holiday special.. It's just in one hour's time, "Big Stars, Big Giving" that's 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.
