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Markets Close Early for Christmas Holiday; Last-Minute Shoppers Hunt for Deals; Obama Signs Up for ObamaCare; Tracking Santa's Sleigh; 49ers Close Out Candlestick with Wild Win

Aired December 24, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. Time to check our top stories at 32 minutes past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Right now two American astronauts outside the International Space Station, performing emergency repairs to its cooling system. It's just the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history.

The future of U.S. troops in Afghanistan appears to be in question this morning. The White House is getting impatient with that government's delay in approving a deal to keep our forces there beyond next year. Washington says if Afghanistan cannot decide soon, it will have to prepare plans that would withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of next year.

Opening bell just rang on Wall Street, the cast of the New York City's ballet production of the Nutcracker did the honors to celebrate the 59th season of the holiday classic. In other words, they rang the bell.

Alison Kosik is keeping an eye on the markets from New York.

I thought we were going to see a picture. But we didn't.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a great picture, actually. They wind up performing a little bit. So I'm missing that today, because I'm at the exchange, but that's OK. We'll maybe show the picture later.

All right. It is Santa's big night, Carol. So don't be surprised to see a continuation of the Santa Claus rally we've been seeing. Expect trading to be light since everybody is in a holiday mood and the markets close at 1:00 pm today Eastern.

While today is expected to be tame, the markets have certainly made some huge moves this year. The Dow has pushed ahead by 24 percent just this year. S&P 500 is up 28 percent and the Nasdaq is higher by 37 percent.

So once again, with Christmas just hours away, retailers pulling out all the stops. That's a silver lining for the last-minute bargain hunters like myself. You can find sales for as much as 70 percent off some items.

Retailers are hoping on this, Carol, because it looks like this year's sales numbers have been a little bit off.

COSTELLO: But I have something that will improve your mood, Alison Kosik. A little gift. Look, we have pictures of the Nutcracker people ringing the bell.

KOSIK: So festive.

COSTELLO: That is awesome. Ah. I love that. OK. That's enough of that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: OK. As Alison says, not exactly been a stellar shopping season this holiday. Retailers say foot traffic is down about 21 percent across the country.

As you know, Target is still reeling from that massive data breach. There are only a few hours left until Christmas Day. So, head out for the big, big, big old bargains, right? That's how retailers are trying to lure you back in the stores.

George Howell is in Chicago, tracking it all.

Good morning.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. Have you been in those stores or you got all your Christmas shopping wrapped up?

COSTELLO: Mine are done. I'm done. And I feel good.

HOWELL: Well, OK, I'm not. I am among the procrastinators, sadly. You have three groups, you've got the people who shopped well ahead of time, the presents are all under the tree. The procrastinators, like myself -- I travel a lot so I do the best I can with this sort of thing.

And then there are those who wait until right after Christmas, looking for the deals. We're talking today about the procrastinators. Here is what you can look for here in the stores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): It's just that time of year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Merry Christmas.

HOWELL (voice-over): The countdown to Christmas is just hours away. And last-minute shoppers are on the hunt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that the best deals are right now and maybe right after Christmas. I don't go shopping right after Christmas. I do all my shopping right before. HOWELL (voice-over): That has retailers pulling out all the stops in the competition for customers, like the bargains Kenya Ramirez found on Chicago's Michigan Avenue.

KENYA RAMIREZ, CHRISTMAS SHOPPER: Regretted shopping after Thanksgiving, because a lot of the deals are going on now.

HOWELL (voice-over): And in New York, stores like Macy's and Toys 'R' Us staying open around the clock through Christmas Eve to give shoppers a little extra time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very convenient. Definitely helped save my holiday shopping. Wasn't too many people. You go in early and you get everything you need in there.

HOWELL (voice-over): The National Retail Federation predicts an increase of 3.9 percent in sales from the same timeframe last year. So, retailers know this is crunch time.

According to one survey, certain stores are expected to do better than others financially over the holiday season. Among them, Walmart, Dollar Tree, Target, Walgreens and Macy's.

Those sales are reportedly down at Target after a recent data breach that compromised the financial identities of millions of customers. Among the bottom five on the survey, Lowe's, Toys "R" Us, Marshall's, Costco and Barnes & Noble. Many of these stores offering heavily discounted deals, from big items to small gifts. Experts say shoppers are looking for everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you're going to see now is one size fits all types of things. Jewelry closes strong right before Christmas. Fragrances close strong when you're not sure or you're a little fuzzy, a gift card will take care of it quite nicely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So gift cards, a big deal according to the National Retail Federation. They make up 15 percent of overall sales this last week, this week right after Christmas. So, Carol, I wouldn't be surprised to see a gift card from me to you down there to the old world headquarters. I'm doing my best. I just have to get out there and get it.

COSTELLO: I'll take it. I will take it, and thank you very much. George Howell, get shopping. Thank you so much.

Let's talk about ObamaCare. President Obama signed up for ObamaCare. Check that. Someone who works for the president signed the president up for ObamaCare. It was a show of solidarity, they say.

In case you're wondering, Mr. Obama signed up for a bronze plan that will cost him $400 a month since he makes $400,000 a year. He doesn't qualify for any subsidies.

Although the president will never use the plan, since he and his family receive medical care through the U.S. military, he did sign up and he is going to pay for that plan, which comes out to about $5,000 a year.

Let's talk about this. Will Cain is a columnist for "The Blaze" and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator. Welcome to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

Maria, seriously? Why not sit the president down and have him sign up himself? (INAUDIBLE) the White House photographer?

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Because of all the security concerns, Carol. His information is not actually in all of the databases that are required to have the information for somebody to actually sign up for real in person. So that's why they actually went to the trouble of sending somebody to have him sign up for real so that he could have the plan.

COSTELLO: But why did they do this? (INAUDIBLE)? Or at least have him gathering papers in Hawaii and send out a picture? Wouldn't that have been better?

WILL CAIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I guess it's symbolic in the respect that Maria just described, because of security concerns. Of course, you know, there's been news stories that many Americans should share the same concerns, your information is not necessarily protected when you submit it to healthcare.gov.

But Carol, I'll tell you, if this were to be truly symbolic, we would need to know a couple of things, like was the president's information correctly relayed to the insurance companies?

We know there is a trend of that not happening. Insurance companies getting blank or ghost forms or wrong birth dates or spousal information. We would need to know if the president was actually capable of purchasing insurance, not just selecting and enrolling.

Was he able to pay for one so that ultimately if he went to an emergency room or a doctor and presented an insurance card, they would accept it? We don't know any of those things.

And those are becoming symbolic of the American people's experience with ObamaCare. But as you describe, by the way, he is never going to present an insurance card or go to a doctor with ObamaCare as his form of payment. It was all just PR and possibly very bad PR.

COSTELLO: No, it was PR. But in fairness, every president has great medical care through the military.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: And you want your president to have the best medical care. Right?

CARDONA: And, Carol, you know what else? You know what else? The GOP has actually, from the moment this law was signed, pushing and prodding the president to sign up. So this is clearly a situation where he is damned if he does, he's damned if he doesn't.

And so for the sake of actually inspiring the millions of people that need to sign up and who have been signing up, by the way, almost 5 million are signed up now through either Medicaid expansion, the state exchanges and the federal exchanges.

I think the president is going to err on the side of making sure this health care law does what it was designed to do. Let's not be Scrooges. Let's not be grinches here, Will. Let's make sure that Americans have security.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: On the subject of not being grinches, because you know, Republicans have prodded the president to sign up so he can, quote, "share in the suffering of other Americans."

But the Republican Jason Chavitz says I'm not going to take a cheap shot at the president for signing up. It really wasn't necessary. But if he didn't do it, we would all bark at him. He's the President of the United States. His health care is a little different than the rest of us. We get that.

So there. Some Christmas cheer this year, Will.

CARDONA: I love it.

COSTELLO: But I did want to go along the lines that Maria was going along. Because we just got new numbers, according to the administration, 2 million people have visited healthcare.gov and 250,000 people have called on the phone to seek help signing up.

Of course, millions more have signed up for Medicaid. So, the numbers are looking better, Will.

CAIN: Well, look. No, no, no, no, no. We have to recognize reality. The reality is ObamaCare has very much unperformed their own projections. They thought they would have 3.5 million people who in the system purchase insurance through ObamaCare. You're talking about hundreds of thousands, maybe a million people who have selected a plan.

You can't pretend this has gone well. It hasn't. I don't know that 2014 is going to be any better for ObamaCare. We're looking at a massive government program that so far is a huge failure. There's just no other way to paint it.

CARDONA: Will, granted, the rollout has been botched. There is no question about that. And it is inexcusable.

But I think that the protest from Republicans are way too strong right now, Carol. I think that they are looking at the fear that so many Americans are not just signed up, Will, enrolled and going to get health care in 2014, that it's going to become politically untenable for them to continue to embrace the repeal because then they're going to be taking health care away from millions and millions of Americans.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: We'll keep an eye on it in 2014 and Merry Christmas to both of you. Thanks so much for being (INAUDIBLE).

CARDONA: You, too, Carol.

CAIN: Y'all as well.

COSTELLO: Will Cain, Maria Cardona.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it is the holiday season but for some of us the big family gatherings are just not possible. After a break, we will show you how to survive Christmas alone.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. ALIDA JOHNSON, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION, BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN: Hi, everyone. It's Capt. Alida Johnson with the 101st Airborne Division in Bagram, Afghanistan. And I would like to wish my husband, Gino (ph), and my kids, Jaden (ph) and Nyla (ph), Merry Christmas. I love you all. I miss you all and I'll be back in March. Merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Love that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Well, I will be home for Christmas. Well, no, I won't be home for Christmas this year. I'll be home alone watching "Home Alone." After all, it's playing endlessly on cable these days.

(VIDEO CLIP, "HOME ALONE")

COSTELLO: At least it will make you laugh. Seriously, there are many of us who will not be home for Christmas or who will spend Christmas alone. I know that sounds unbelievably depressing, and it can be, but it doesn't have to be. Really. Dr. Jeff Gardere is here to help.

Hi, Dr. Jeff.

JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Good morning to you and Merry Christmas to come.

COSTELLO: Merry Christmas to come to you too.

Spending Christmas alone does sound unbelievably depressing but you say it doesn't have to be. Please explain.

GARDERE: Well, I think it's all about the perception. It's not having to be alone but being by yourself and, therefore, having the time to really look at what your life has been about in the past year and having that attitude of gratitude for all the things that you have.

I think it's also an important time for you to volunteer, if you are going to be by yourself. Get out there and help other people. It will get you to dwell a little bit less on your spending that time by yourself.

COSTELLO: I like that. You also say you should connect with strangers. What do you mean by that?

GARDERE: I'm saying that every moment should be a micro moment of intimacy and caring and sharing. And, therefore, having very nice conversations perhaps with a clerk or someone in a store or someone you meet on the street, I think it's so groovy now that we're all finally getting together, if you remember that old song, Carol.

Not dating yourself. But it really is that whole idea of just being able to connect with someone else. And that brings the happiness.

COSTELLO: I absolutely agree with you there. Because you find that people are pretty wonderful and they want to share the love and usually --

GARDERE: That's right.

COSTELLO: -- it turns into a great conversation. I like that one. I like this one, too. You say treat yourself. I love doing that, treating myself.

GARDERE: Yes. Especially -- again, you're having a lot of that time by yourself. Wear your pajamas around your hotel room or in your home. Wear your slippers. Set up the environment with all of your favorite things.

I can't get these musicals out of my head this morning, Carol.

But more than anything, indulge in some of the things that make you happy. Have those guilty pleasures.

But yet at the same time, and our next point, don't get too much into the vices. Drinking too much or afraid of being alone and getting into perhaps relationships that may not be too healthy. So really try to control yourself with those things that you really do like.

COSTELLO: The one you skipped over that is important -- because I am guilty of this -- you say be mindful of unhappiness. So when I'm sitting on my couch thinking back over my year, I tend to focus on the negative instead of the positive. I don't know why I do that, but I do. And it makes me feel sad.

GARDERE: Yes, yes. It's a natural tendency for us to look at the things that make us unhappy or -- a lot of people get into this idea of you don't have to admit that there is unhappiness in your life and then, yes, all of this fake joy going around and that's disingenuous.

You can actually say, look, yes, I am unhappy about certain things but there is always tomorrow. There is always a way to be much more happy. And to begin working on it right at that moment while you are by yourself.

COSTELLO: Excellent advice. You know, I'm lucky. I have to work on Christmas but I work with great people. In fact, one of our writers came in with antlers in the shape of candy canes. It just made me smile. How nice is that?

GARDERE: Yes. Absolutely. If you make other people smile it will bring more joy into your life. Listen, you are loved. We all love you. The CNN family loves you. Just have a great Christmas and enjoy it. You will be home maybe after Christmas.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I was home before Christmas so it was fabulous. Dr. Jeff, thanks for making it easier for all of us who have to work or stay home alone this Christmas. We appreciate it.

GARDERE: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he's made his list, he's checked it twice and now Santa is on the move. I think he's over China right now. We're keeping a very close eye on where Santa is and where he's headed next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 53 minutes past the hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Two American astronauts performing a risky repair job at the International Space Station. The astronauts are putting in a new pump for the station's cooling system. This Christmas Eve spacewalk was delayed a day due to an issue with one of the astronaut's space suits.

It weighed 75,000 gum drops to take off. It's the length of 150 lollipops. And it's propelled by 9 RP. That's reindeer power for those of you who aren't in the know. Talking about Santa's sleigh. Right now we're getting important information about the whereabouts on this Christmas Eve.

Indra Petersons -- you know, the pressure of this assignment you have this morning must be intense.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, I think it's the best part, Carol, right? This is what everyone actually wants to know. I cannot possibly disappoint.

Where is Santa right now? We already know he has left the North Pole. He's already made his way through Russia, through Australia and now he's in China. He's already gone through Beijing, he's already gone through Shanghai, the Great Wall of China.

Let's talk about how busy this man is. He's already delivered over a billion, yes, a billion gifts.

You may ask what does it take? Let's talk about the sleigh. We have a couple of facts for you on the sleigh. I think you were just mentioning some of them.

Do we have that full screen? I don't think we do. There you go. We have it. Length, you just said it, 150 lollipops. Takeoff weight, try 75,000 gumdrops. You want to know about its propulsion there, 9 RP. What is that? Reindeer power, of course.

And its max speed, we know this, faster than starlight, which you have to be if you've already delivered a billion gifts and he still has a long way to go, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Where is his fighter jets? I thought he had fighter jets with him this year.

PETERSONS: He doesn't need them, right? He doesn't need them.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: (INAUDIBLE). Indra, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, curtain closing on the Stick. But the Niners found a memorable way to go out, Joe Carter.

JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was a good game last night. That was a good finish. But everybody is talking about the NHL this morning as a matter of fact, Carol. We have got some great video coming up for you next. Let me just set it up like this: a goalie has a puck in his pants, and his teammates are not happy about it. We'll talk about that coming up.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In the last regular season game at Candlestick Park the San Francisco 49ers went out in style with a wild win over the hapless Atlanta Falcons.

Poor Atlanta, Joe.

CARTER: Tough season for Atlanta. Next year the San Francisco 49ers will move to Santa Clara and they're building a $1.2 billion stadium there. Can you believe that? They will outdo Jerry's World in Dallas. So $1.2 billion. It will be called Levi Stadium. So it's going to be the House of Bluejeans, if you will.

So last night it was so long, Candlestick Park, thanks for all the memories there. The Beatles played their last concert there. The 49ers have played at that iconic stadium since 1971. The Falcons almost spoiled the party last night. Two minutes left in the game, Atlanta went for the onside kick.

Now you'll notice that Navarro Bowman should have recovered it but it bounces past him. Atlanta scoops it up. Puts them in position to either tie or win the game. But then Matt Ryan throws the interception to -- guess who? Navarro Bowman, the same guy who missed the onside gets the interception and goes 89 yards for the score.

The 49ers in the final minute pull off the win and they also with the win clench a spot in the playoffs. What a way to go out at Candlestick Park. We won't know how they are seeded until this Sunday when all the other teams play. But right now they are at least in the playoffs and they walk away with an incredible memorable win.

Reports are swirling that Tony Romo is out for the rest of the season because of a herniated disk problem in his back. If you ask Cowboys Jerry Jones he says no, they're just back spasms.

His head coach, Jason Garrett, said Romo is not out. He's day-to-day at this point. Here's the big catch here. Cowboys have a huge game this Sunday against the Eagles. It's a winner-take-all game basically. Whoever wins that game between the Cowboys and the Eagles takes the NFC East, goes to the playoffs; whoever loses that game is done, has to wait until next season. So that's why it's so critical at this point.

Check out this Christmas card by the ever outspoken Floyd Mayweather. You can kind of hardly see it. But basically what it does here is he mocks and takes a direct shot at his rival, Manny Pacquiao. Yes, he's (INAUDIBLE) saying in this Christmas card, I like how you backed out of a fight. Now you want to get into the fight and you wish you could have more money.