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President Obama in Hawaii; France to Pay for Breast Implant Removals; Suicide Bombings Rock Syria; Donald Trump No Longer Republican; New Pictures From Space Station; Man Lets Underage Daughter Drive
Aired December 23, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BALDWIN: Top of the hour, here we go. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
President Obama headed to Hawaii now after the signing of the payroll tax cut deal is over and done with. America is also buying more. one government will pay women to replace their breast implants. And we're tracking flights on this busy, busy travel day.
Let's play "Reporter Roulette" here on this Friday.
And, Brianna Keilar, my friend, in Hawaii waiting on the beach for the president, looking lovely, by the way. I'm sure you're enjoying the palm trees and lovely surf behind you. What is the president up to once he gets there?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, there's no public -- nothing publicly scheduled for the president, but a lot of times when he comes here, as he has each Christmas for the past several years, Brooke, he kind of keeps a schedule that looks a lot like what a typical Hawaiian vacation would look like.
Of course, golf factors big. Perhaps he will go to the Olomana Golf Course, where he learned to play the sport as a teen. He took his daughters out on one of his last trips here to go get Hawaiian shaved ice, which is a favorite.
He's also of course gone to the beach. The family goes to a beach on a Marine base not far from the home that they stay at in Kailua about 20 minutes away from here. And remember he grew up here. He lived on Oahu until he was 6, came back at 10 after spending a few years in Indonesia. He hit some of the favorite local spots, reconnects with some old friends. And we're expecting that he will do some of that, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Is it all play and no work or a little bit of work as well?
KEILAR: It's always a working vacation, as you can imagine, for President Obama.
One, coming here on the heels of this political victory in Washington, but also he's always kind of on duty. Remember in 2009 there was that attempted bombing on that the airliner going into Detroit, the so-called underwear bomber. The president always gets his national security briefing every day, whether or not he's on vacation. Either he will be having a briefing in person with someone from his national security team who is here or he will get that briefing in writing
And then last year, you may not remember this, but he actually appointed six recess appointments. And it's a possibility we might see that again, because, remember, the Senate failed to confirm his nominee to head that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created under the financial reform that of course President Obama heralded as a success for himself.
And without a director, that agency has been unable to regulate some of these financial products that led to the financial crisis. So, look out for that. That's a possibility we may see some actual news being made during his trip, Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK. Brianna Keilar for us in Hawaii -- Brianna, the backdrop looks good on you. Thank you.
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
BALDWIN: Next, we go to France for this one, the French government taking action to help thousands of women remove their breast implants. These implants were made from a type of silicone actually used to manufacture mattresses.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the government is strongly recommending that women who have this particular kind of implant now have them surgically removed.
There's about 30,000 women in France who have had this kind of implant. And it's quite a worry for women, as well as the medical authorities, especially after last month, when a woman died of a particular kind of cancer. The government says there's no link between the kind of cancer that she died of or any kind of cancer on these implants.
But they are worried that there are other complications that could develop because these implants have been known to rupture and to leak in about one out of 20 cases. So the government is saying that they will pay for the operations to have the implants surgically removed. That will cost about 60 million euros, about $80 million. But they are strongly recommending that women go through the extra surgery to have them removed and replaced by other implants, if they so wish -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Jim Bittermann, thank you -- Jim in Paris for us.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
BALDWIN: That's your "Reporter Roulette" here on this Friday.
Still ahead: For months and months now, it's been the government vs. protesters, but now suicide bombers unleashing terror in Syria. And some say it looks like the work of al Qaeda.
Plus, a dad is so drunk he tells his 9-year-old daughter, honey, can you drive for me? He's now speaking out. You're about to hear his side of the story.
Also, this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Every great movement begins with one man, and I guess that is me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A wild year for celebrities, especially celebrity train wrecks. You're going to see how all the scandals unfolded live.
Plus, folks are trying to keep kids off drugs, but what do you do when there's a meth lab in school? Yes, meth.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it, "Rapid Fire."
Let's go, beginning in Syria. A new kind of violence hitting Syria. not just one, but two car bombs went off outside of government buildings in the capital city of Damascus.
State-run is reporting more than 40 people were killed and more than 160 were wounded. These attacks happened as monitors from the Arab League are visiting, part of an effort to help end this brutal crackdown on these anti-government protesters. Syria's regime says the attack has the blueprints of al Qaeda. Those opposition forces, though, they are doubting that claim.
And violence weather marks the start of the holiday weekend for you in the Southeast. Much of Alabama and Georgia were under tornado watches and warnings last night. And you're looking at some of the results here of these fierce winds, damaging several homes and businesses near Atlanta. Damage was also reported in several areas across Alabama. Thousands of households lost power as well.
And a series of earthquakes causing damage and destruction in New Zealand today, a country, as you know, still reeling and recovering from that 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 back in February that 6.3-magnitude quake killed 180 people. So no wonder these people hit the deck.
Thousands -- Libya's thousands of unaccounted-for military weapons causing huge, huge concerns for the U.S. And the U.S. is talking now with the Libyan government to buy these shoulder-fired missiles from militia members and also others who may have gathered them up during the war. The State Department won't give out of the details of what officials are calling a classified program. But Western officials are fearful that these heat-seeking missiles could fall into the hands of the terrorists who could easily target civilian planes.
It's the kind of lab that no school ever wants to see. Police say that someone was making meth in this school in Indiana. Our affiliate WFIE reports that this meth lab was a one-pot operation, found in a room not accessible to students. But still parents are upset about this. They're upset for one reason, because they say the school never told them. The police chief says children though were not in any danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC HENSLEY, OAKLAND CITY POLICE CHIEF: I have kids that go to that school as well. And I'm always thinking about their safety. Because of the fact that 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 responsible for that meth lab was not a student.
And bad times for many Best Buy customers. Perhaps you're one of them here this holiday season. Here's the deal. The retailer now is canceling a lot of online orders days before Christmas. Why? Because the store says it has simply run out of some of its hottest products because of the overwhelming demand. And, as you can imagine, a lot of shoppers not too pleased about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT TURINSKE, BEST BUY CUSTOMER: In this situation now, I'm sort of stuck, just sort of stuck. I'm not going there. I'm just not purchasing there anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Best Buy did issue a statement this afternoon that says the issue is being addressed, that the company is very sorry for the inconvenience, and is providing e-gift cards to affected customers.
A much different sentiment in Los Angeles. There he is. We have been awaiting his arrival, as have all these different kids, Santa Claus bringing smiles to Skid Row, home to thousands of needy Americans, many of them destitute. Thousands of toys are being handed out to kids there today. And Saint Nick getting a lot of help. An army of volunteers, including celebrities, political leaders, are serving up holiday meals with that L.A. city mission there in Los Angeles. Coming up, a special treat: Rick Santorum releasing a new ad pop- up video style. So, our "Political Pop" segment today, yes, Joe Johns and I, we're going to have some pop-ups of our own. You got to see this, having a little fun with "Political Pop."
Plus, news just into CNN; Donald Trump is no longer a Republican. He's changed his mind. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Time for America's Choice 2012 Politics update.
For that, we go to Athena Jones.
Athena Jones, breaking news in the world of Donald Trump, who is now no longer a Republican. What say you?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Donald Trump filed this change with the New York State Board of Elections yesterday, according to his spokesman. He has changed his affiliation, his registered party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated.
And a spokesman says this is so that he could reserve the right to run as an independent if he's unsatisfied with who the Republicans nominate next year to run against President Obama.
BALDWIN: Let's talk about this also, switching gears, the new Iowa poll today. Who is looking strong now?
JONES: Well, that's right. We have his new poll by American Research Group, ARG. It's the first poll showing Ron Paul in the lead in Iowa.
Now, if you look closely at the numbers, they are very, very close. They're very stacked up there. It's not a big lead. It's not statistically significant, but it's interesting because it's the first ARG poll in Iowa that has him on top.
It's hard to tell how predictive this poll will end up being, because there are still 12 percent of undecided voters. But you can see them opening up that 10-point gap between third place and fourth place. And so it's looking like it's going to be more of a three- person race, at least right now, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Horse race there for now, according to those numbers. We heard from Newt Gingrich yesterday. Is he lowering his expectations for the Iowa caucuses?
JONES: Well, it certainly sounds like he is. Let's listen real quickly to what he had to say in Virginia and then we will talk about it coming out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My goal is to be in the top three or four. And you can't tell because it's very bunched right now and the sheer weight of money -- to be in the top three or four -- I would love to win, but to be in the top three or four.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Now, this is notable, Brooke, because in our own polling just earlier this month, Gingrich had opened up a double-digit lead over Romney in Iowa. And so you have seen just this latest poll that those numbers are really slipping. They're all now bunched together, which he acknowledged.
And this is all because primary politics is so often about exceeding expectations, just as much as it about winning any one particular contest. So, perhaps it's not that surprising to see him kind of shifting a little bit and trying to manage expectations there, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Athena Jones in Washington -- Athena, thank you.
Now this:
JONES: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever you run into, you just learn to roll with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Do you recognize this guy? This guy was once a viral video star. Now he's a star of his own show on Oprah's Network. Zach Anner's story has really taken the country by the storm. Sanjay Gupta caught up with him, tells us about him ahead.
Plus, a year of celebrity scandals turns out to be a circus from Charlie Sheen to divorces to court dates. You will see how it unfolded live here on CNN next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Got a quick update for you I just wanted to pass along. This is a story we talked about earlier this week.
You remember the Afghanistan war veteran. He went into this pawnshop in Michigan, pawned one of two of his Purple Heart medals. He was apparently in need of a little extra Christmas cash. We have now learned that that veteran went back to the pawnshop, has now picked up his Purple Heart. The pawnshop owner donated the Purple Heart back to that soldier.
So there you have it, a lot of you very interested in that story, I know, earlier this week.
Now to the celebrities, Lindsay, Kim, and Charlie. They all kept us certainly talking this year, and it wasn't necessarily all good. CNN entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter recaps some of the biggest celebrity headlines of 2011.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye, Charlie.
SHEEN: All right, guys. Thank you. Thanks for the gift.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No, Charlie, thank you for making 2011 a winning year in celebrity news.
SHEEN: You're awesome.
WYNTER: He put on an awesome display of erratic behavior.
SHEEN: Keep that in mind, phones are built by trolls.
WYNTER: On the web and in interviews most memorably with ABC News.
SHEEN: It's like winning. Can't is the cancer of happen.
WYNTER: Maggie Furlong of HuffPost TV remembers being stunned.
MAGGIE FURLONG, WEST COAST EDITOR, HUFFPOST TV: He was spewing just this absolute crazy, awesome, just nonsense to anyone who would listen.
WYNTER: He insisted he was not addicted to drugs.
SHEEN: I blinked and I cured my brain.
WYNTER: Sheen's verbal spree came in the midst of an epic feud with his bosses at "Two and a Half Men" -- a dispute that eventually got him fired.
By refusing to bow to his employers or convention, he turned himself into something of a folk hero, at least in his own mind.
SHEEN: Every great movement begins with one man and I guess that's me.
WYNTER: But his act began to wear thin when he brought it on the road.
The tour he called his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" earned as many boos as cheers.
(BOOS)
WYNTER: In the fall, "Two and a Half Men" officially killed off Sheen's character.
JON CRYER, ACTOR: Charlie lived life to its fullest.
WYNTER: Rebuilding the show around Ashton Kutcher.
CRYER: It can't be that bad.
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: It could be. You don't know.
WYNTER (on camera): Ashton Kutcher soon found himself in the headlines, but for other reasons. A tabloid declared his marriage to Demi Moore was on the rocks. And, sure enough, in November, she revealed it was over.
(voice-over): Photos of Demi seemed to show the toll it was taking on her.
FURLONG: She just seemed so frail, so upset, so heartbroken.
WYNTER: Losing streak didn't end with Ashton and Demi.
In August, Kim Kardashian tied the knot with NBA player Kris Humphries in a fairy tale ceremony seen by millions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The groom was pretty dapper himself.
WYNTER: But just 72 days later, Kardashian announced the marriage was over, leaving some of her fans feeling the whole thing had been a publicity stunt.
FURLONG: People are really upset. They really do feel duped. And you can't really blame them.
WYNTER: Lindsay Lohan spent much of her year walking in and out of court with occasional side trips to the county jail. In January, she was accused of stealing a necklace from a jewelry store. She compounded her problems by failing to keep up with court-ordered community service.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You needed to get off the stick
WYNTER: That earned her a stern rebuke from a judge who ridiculed Lohan from the bench.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, she is supposed to be an actress, from what I hear.
WYNTER: But by year's end, Lohan was back on track with her community service and she had even landed work in the pages of "Playboy".
SHEEN: Everybody wins!
WYNTER: Between the Charlies, the Lindsays, the Kims and all the rest, it was a banner year for the famous says Maggie Furlong.
FURLONG: Celebrities really brought their A-game in 2011. Can we get a break in 2012?
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Coming up next: Remember the drunk dad who had his 9- year-old daughter drive for him? He has now learned his fate. Remember this video? He's about to explain what ran through his mind.
Plus, why in the world is Facebook suing Mark Zuckerberg? This legal fight one of the more bizarre we have heard of. Mark Eiglarsh, standing by for us, he's on the case next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Now to the inspiring story of the guy who's a comedian, who is a filmmaker, and now a TV host on Oprah's network. But it's not what he's doing. It's how he got here. Here now is Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZACH ANNER, HOST OF "ROLLIN' WITH ZACH": I'm Zach Anner. Getting my own travel show is a dream come true for me.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Growing up, Zach Anner always knew he wanted to work in film.
ANNER: It was like whatever you want to do we can find a way to do it.
GUPTA: Nowadays he lives in Austin and spends his day writing, editing, and brainstorming with his production and support team, his friends. The rest of the country didn't know who Zach was, and then he decided to enter a contest to become Oprah Winfrey's next TV talk show star.
OPRAH WINFREY, OWN: How old were you when you figured out that you were different than other kids?
ANNER: I knew that I had a windshield, obviously. They didn't shield that from me.
(LAUGHTER)
GUPTA: As a result of the contest, Oprah gave Zach his own travel show, airing on the OWN network. It's called "Rollin' with Zach." And rolling with lives obstacles is just what Zach does.
ANNER: Taking life as it comes and whatever you run into, you just learn to roll with it.
GUPTA: Zach has cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to control body movements. But his condition has never stopped him from doing what he wants to do.
ANNER: Everybody has problems is what I always say, and like mine are no bigger than anyone else's. And I think that's the message that I want to get across. What I have to deal with is really small in the scheme of things. GUPTA: Zach gives his family for a lot of credit for not dwelling on his disability, and his TV show doesn't either. He hopes someday to be an inspiration to others.
ANNER: I would say to anybody who feels really like they are bogged down by their obstacles, just really think of who you are without those and imagine yourself doing what you love to do, because that will drive you to do things that you never thought you were capable of.
I'm getting really stoked.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: In case you are watching already, Zach's show airs Monday night's on Oprah Winfrey's network OWN.
And now we're "On the Case" here. First case, a father who allowed his nine-year-old driver -- daughter to drive because he was too drunk. Remember this video? This is when she hopped out of the car at this gas station. It happened in Michigan back in October. The whole thing caught on surveillance cameras. Sean Weimer pleaded guilty this week. He spoke on ABC's "Good Morning, America" and talked about what happened that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN WEIMER, LET NINE-YEAR-OLD DRIVE: She said yes. We got in the car, drove around for over 45 minutes, pulling in and out of driveways. We found we were out of gas, so we went to the gas station.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So his daughter had to testify against him in this preliminary hearing. Here's what she told prosecutors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did your dad ask you if you wanted to drive?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when he asked you that, what did you say at first?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said yes, but I would be a little scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh joins me now. Mark, she's nine. Do you think he will go to prison when he's sentenced if February? MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. He's going to get probation, and I think that's probably the right outcome. Number one, it avoids his daughter having to testify at a trial. The difference is that she would always feel she's the one responsible for sending him away.
Secondly, I don't know that a jury would automatically convict him of what he's charged with, child abuse. No question it was reckless and stupid and abhorrent and silly behavior, but legally the definition may not be met by the evidence that they have. Finally, he's got a disease. He's an alcoholic. And while on probation hopefully he'll be able to deal with his addiction.
BALDWIN: So if they are avoiding putting this young girl on the stand in trial they sill obviously had her speak and testify during this preliminary hearing. How effective was that?
EIGLARSH: It was unbelievably effective. I know the defense attorneys were thinking, this is not what we want to have to cross- examine at trial. It was compelling testimony. And while I'm sure the defense didn't want to accept a felony because they probably believe that there is a misdemeanor that might apply, they probably took it in order to avoid the possibility of having prison time being imposed.
BALDWIN: We'll see if it's probation that he is sentenced to.
Next case, this guy in Israel, he changed his name after Facebook threatened to sue him. Why? Because he was trying to sell "likes" to companies on Facebook, and that is against their rules. So what does he do? He changes his name to, of all things, Mark Zuckerberg, the same name of the guy who founded Facebook, thinking that could stop any lawsuit, and it has not, has it?
EIGLARSH: No. By the way, Brooke, if you can refer to me as my new name, Bill Gates, I just changed it while we were on the air.
BALDWIN: Very funny.
EIGLARSH: I think this guy is taking a playbook from his childhood. He thinks that when you play tag, if you just get to the tree, you're safe. Just change your name to the owner of the company and somehow you won't be subject to civil liability. It's absolutely silly. But he's the master PR guy because he's getting a ton of publicity for it. And now if Facebook sues him, he will get exactly what he wants, all of the PR that he could ask for.
BALDWIN: So sort of a side question here. If you wanted to become Bill Gates, can you legally change your name to anything?
EIGLARSH: Well, I don't want to say anything. There is certain things I'm sure that they wouldn't approve. But I think that there is a way to do that. We watched a videotape of him actually persuading the young lady behind the counter as to why he needed that name, and it happened for him. Sure.
BALDWIN: Mark Eiglarsh, thank you, "On the Case" with us today.
Still ahead, is Rick Santorum hoping for some last-minute endorsements? Find out who he included in his pop up video political ad.
Plus, as thousands of our troops come home, many will return carrying the weight of war. So there is this one very special program that enlists the help of four-legged pups. Carol Mitch is a mom who is benefiting from this. She's going to join me next. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As we celebrate the holidays, we of course want to stop, pause, remember, honor the men and women coming home from the front lines who many of them now face a new battle, PTSD. The National Institute of Health roughly estimates 20 percent of the nearly two million soldiers have served in Iraq suffer from PTSD and traumatic brain injury. That's about 400,000 men and women. Those people have families who are also struggling right along with them.
Case in point, Jeff Mitchell. While serving two tours in Iraq, he was diagnosed with PTSD. And after coming home, he nearly hit rock bottom. He stayed in his parents' basement days on end and eventually was rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive by his parents.
But that is where his story changed after discovering this amazing program called Paws for Vets, Paws, P-a-w-s. It's where veterans or active duty service are paired with training service dogs. But also sort of unique to Jeff's case here, his pet found running wild in Afghanistan also has PTSD. Here to talk about her son and this amazing program is Carol Mitchell. Thank you for being here, and of course thanks to your son for serving. Has this dog just totally changed his life?
CAROL MITCHELL, MOTHER OF IRAQ VETERAN WITH PTSD: Well, she's changed all of our lives, not just Jeff. The unexpected benefit is that she's helped Doug and I, too.
BALDWIN: How?
MITCHELL: It's impossible to be in her presence and feel bad. She just glows. It's contagious. Just as Jeff's depression was contagious for us as a family, her joy is contagious. And she saved Jeff's life. I'm 100 percent convinced of that. But she's also helped me and Doug, because it's hard to watch your child suffer. And she's the bright spot in our lives.
BALDWIN: I'm a dog lover, I see it's emotional for you.
MITCHELL: Very.
BALDWIN: It's so emotional for you, why?
MITCHELL: Because we came very close to losing our son. First, because he went to war twice. And when he came home from war, his body was there, but his soul was shattered. He was not the man that went to war. And no matter how much Doug and I loved him and supported him and tried to find every kind of therapy there was, it was not enough.
BALDWIN: How bad did he get?
MITCHELL: To the point that he was rushed to the ER at the VA hospital unresponsive.
BALDWIN: We have a clip of your son speaking about some of what he suffered from which that period was like. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF MITCHELL, IRAQ VETERAN: The first time I was home, I was down in the basement. It's a room. There's no windows or anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For nine months?
JEFF MITCHELL: Yes. It was kind of nice not having any windows. You can shut the door at night, turn off the lights, can't see your hand in front of your face. Dark. So I guess it's kind of a little metaphor for what that time was like my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And now Tazzi, as you said, helped save all of your lives.
MITCHELL: Absolutely. Absolutely.
BALDWIN: What message do you have for so many families? It's also something, PTSD, that is not easy to talk about for some of these folks. So what's the message?
MITCHELL: Don't give up. Knock on every door, call everybody you can think of, go on the Internet, do everything that you can. There are a lot of organizations out there who want to help and willing to help and who know how to help. But you have to be proactive. Just get great care at the vet center for the Veterans' Administration. Paws4vets again literally has saved his life and now it's given Jeff a purpose. His goal is to share his story and try to give somebody else who is feeling hopeless hope.
BALDWIN: Thanks for allowing us to share his story and your story. Again, it's Paws4vets.org.
MITCHELL: Yes.
BALDWIN: Carol, thank you so much. Happy holidays to you and your family. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk where we get answers to your financial questions. And joining me this hour, Gary Schatsky. He is a financial planner and the president of ObjectiveAdvice.com. Gail Cunningham is with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Thank you both for being here. Gary, your question comes from Marissa in California. Marissa writes, "I have a triplex that I am thinking about refinancing. I owe $228,000 and go probably sell for about $350,000. I have a variable loan that's at 2.9 percent right now. Does it make sense to refinance at a fixed loan of 4.5 percent? This is all sort of a guessing game where interest rates are going to go.
GARY SCHATSKY, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: I can definitively say, it depends. She's doing what a lot of people are looking at doing, and that's looking at these low interest rates and say, can I lock it in? But rates are not looking like they are going to jump up in the next month or two. So saving 1.6 percent every for the next couple of could be very beneficial. Of course, if you're going to keep it forever, you might as well lock it in and let it go.
HARLOW: And refinancing is always part of it.
SCHATSKY: Without question.
HARLOW: Gail, your question comes from Larry in Maryland. Larry writes "My wife and I will retire this year. We have approximately $700,000 in 401(k) accounts. We get $33,000 per year in Social Security or $60,000 if we wait until we're 70 to draw it down. We will need about $60,000 a year in retirement. Should we wait to draw from Social Security?" This is a question so many people have right now.
GAIL CUNNINGHAM, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT COUNSELING: Exactly. And as you know, there are staggered ages in which people can apply for Social Security. It is always preferable to wait as long as you can. If they can wait until they're 70, that's going to build a larger base in which future cost of livings are going to be based. Also, for survivor benefits it's going to be more beneficial.
I think they are in good shape, to tell you the truth. If they can wait and draw down from the existing retirement plan until they are 70, they will be set.
HARLOW: Very helpful advice. Thank you both. If you have a question that you want answered, send an e-mail at any time to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you're with me and watch the show enough you know I'm a self-professed space geek. So when we got these jaw dropping images from the International Space Station, we had to share them with you. And fellow space geek, Chad Myers, is going to walk us through. So this image we're about to see is from astronaut Dan Burbank. He says this is the most amazing thing he has seen in space.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Can you imagine the things that they have seen in space, over these years and months, how long this guy's been up there a number of times. This is the most amazing thing he has ever seen. Comet Lovejoy trying to make a slash down into the sun. It was a comment. It still is. It was 87,000 miles from the surface of the sun. Everybody thought it was going to plunge to its death. It didn't. It came out the other side and Comet Lovejoy is now running away from the sun, but still alive. Great shots there.
BALDWIN: We're watching the sun rising beyond the earth. It just so happens we have a camera.
MYERS: Of course. If you go to space.com, there are other pictures as well. When we see the mass ejections, you can see it. You can see the comet speeding toward the sun, ready to just slash down and die and it missed the sun by 87,000 miles, which is pretty close in space time, and it's around for another trip.
BALDWIN: Too cool. I appreciate your enthusiasm about all this. Thank you, Chad.
And coming up, we'll check in with Wolf Blitzer, who has been twitter fiend lately, tweeting up a storm. I appreciate the tweet a moment ago, Wolf, about watching me, but let's talk about watching you and the second hour "THE SITUATION ROOM."
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Let's not forget, @BrookeBCNN. What did I just tweet?
BALDWIN: I did, you said so watch my show, and we watch your show. And so, this reporter's notebook, you were in North Korea, six days, this time last year.
BLITZER: Six days in North Korea -- not a lot of reporters get a chance to go inside this mysterious place. We had some unique access inside Pyongyang, which is the capital. During our 5:00 p.m. hour we're going to play the documentary "Six Days in North Korea." It's especially relevant with the death of Kim Jong-il. That whole Korean peninsula is a tense place. There's a million North Korean troops facing nearly a million South Korean troops, which nearly 30,000 American troops right in between along the demilitarized zone. So there's a lot at stake.
A nuclear North Korea, that could be a serious problem. And we don't know what's going to happen with this new guy, Kim Jong-un. He's in his late 20s. We don't even know how old he is. He's untested, inexperienced. Folks at the highest level of the U.S. government, a lot of governments, they're really worried about North Korea, South Korea, that whole Korean peninsula right now.
BALDWIN: I'm always fascinated by these reporter's notebook pieces. Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. As always, we're watching. And happy holidays to you. Now this.
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BALDWIN: Rick Santorum getting creative with the new political ad. He's going for the whole pop up look. VH-1 fans, you with me? But he's also giving the shout out to a couple of political celebrities. Is Rick Santorum hoping for an 11th hour endorsement? Joe Johns and I going pop up video style in the Political Pop segment. Don't miss it. Be right back.
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BALDWIN: "Pop Up Video" returned earlier this year on VH-1, and GOP candidate Rick Santorum has a new ad that has some pop of its own. It's a story tailor made for Political Pop. Joe Johns. It's kind of a fun video to watch.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And think about it. I mean, this is actually what do you call it, a Political Pop-up videos. It's perfect for us. Rick Santorum -- I know. Trying it out. Let's just take a look and talk about it.
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JOHNS: You know, I mean, why didn't somebody think of this before? You've seen the show --
BALDWIN: I know.
JOHNS: -- On VH-1. Why not put it into ads? Actually, when you think about it, we're starting to see video pop-up ads. I think Fiat, the car company has one. What was that?
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BALDWIN: You just got a pop-up. That was pretty funny.
JOHNS: Not even -- there we go again. Who's doing that?
BALDWIN: You do occasionally wear cowboy boots.
JOHNS: I do. Now, that's true, but the basketball thing wasn't true.
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JOHNS: Oh, yes, that's right and he giggles on TV. All right, it's your turn, Brooke, where are you?
BALDWIN: I'm here. I don't know what my pop-up will be.
JOHNS: Let's take a look at Brooke's.
BALDWIN: I'm 5'9" without heels. Did you ever watch?
JOHNS: I did. Do you have a favorite pop-up video, by any chance?
BALDWIN: I'm a big Madonna fan. Any way I can learn a little bit more, the random little pop-up details -- this is what she looked like when she woke up today.
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JOHNS: Who knew? My favorite, Whitney Houston, 2009, "Million Dollar Bill."
BALDWIN: Shout out to Craig Schultz in graphics for doing that. I love it.
Quickly here, we've got a trailer for the new political movie on HBO.
JOHNS: "Game Change" is the movie. A couple of steps closer to reality. That's also sort of the meeting of Political Pop, when politics and Hollywood collide. It's based on the book about the last presidential election by a couple of Washington reporters, Mark Halperin, Jonathan Heilemann, focuses on the John McCain being done by HBO, one of CNN's sister companies. We do have a trailer, and you're looking at it now, so I guess there's no reason to really run it. Ed Harris is the guy playing McCain. Julianne Moore is Sarah Palin. It's supposed to be out in March. So we're all waiting to see that one.
BALDWIN: Out in March on HBO. Joe Johns, have a wonderful holiday weekend, by the way.
JOHNS: You, too, Brooke, and I probably will be talking to you from Iowa next.
BALDWIN: Oh, very exciting. Bundle up. It's cold there this time of year, Joe Johns. We'll see you from the trail, thank you so much, as the caucus is just a couple of days away.
Meantime, thank you very much for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta. Now to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.
