Erica Hill began tonight's show talking about healthcare reform with Jessica Yellin. There were seven votes in the Senate today, mostly from Republicans trying to stop the bill. The vote on the actual bill is scheduled for 7:00 Christmas Eve morning which itself caused controversy as Republicans and Democrats disagreed on the times. The House bill and proposed Senate bill are very different. After the Senate bill is passed there will be a lot of work needed to merge the two.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with Erica earlier on the shortage of family doctors and said that Massachusetts can be considered a model for how to handle healthcare. The healthcare bill may address the shortage by providing loan forgiveness programs for people becoming primary care physicians. Another crucial element is encouraging people to see their doctor rather than just going to the emergency room.
Next Tom Foreman had the raw politics report on how the President is doing. They discussed details on the economy, healthcare, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
David Gergen, Leslie Sanchez, and Tanya Acker also discussed the President's progress so far. On the healthcare bill David Gergen gave the President an A- on political leadership but felt that the substance of the healthcare bill was an issue and gave him a B- for that. Leslie Sanchez gave him a C because of how he handled healthcare in a partisan way. Tanya Acker gave him a B looking at many of the concerns Leslie Sanchez brought up from a different perspective. Next they discussed the economy. Gergen graded him an incomplete because he hasn't seen enough yet. Leslie Sanchez gave him a D because of the continuation of bailouts and spending and the unemployment rate. Tanya Acker gave him a B because of some of the TARP money being paid back and increases in the DOW but she does agree that there still is a lot of work to do. Next they graded Obama on how he has handled the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Gergen gave him a A-, Leslie Sanchez gave him a B, and Tanya Acker gave him an A-.
Randi Kaye was in with the bulletin: a winter storm is hitting the midwest, there have been tornadoes in Texas, in Virginia police officers are trying to talk to a gunman holding five hostages in a post office, Michael Brewer who was burned when a group of teenagers set him on fire is going home, and Prince William spent a night on the street to highlight the struggle of the homeless.
Next was the story of Sean Goldman who will be going back to his father David Goldman, possibly as soon as tomorrow morning. Erica spoke with Robi Ludwig on how Sean might handle the change since he's lived away from his biological father and in a different country for more than half of his life. Sunny Hostin also talked about what is in the best interest of Sean Goldman whose maternal Grandmother said that Sean doesn't want to go back with his biological father. They also talked about whether Sean, at 9 years old, would be old enough to decide where he really wanted to be.
Randi Kaye had the story of a Boeing 737 that overshot the runway in Jamaica, broke apart after landing and almost went into the Caribbean sea. All the passengers were able to escape alive. Ninety people were taken to the hospital.
Randi also had the second bulletin of the night: Richard Heene has been sentence to 90 days in jail and his wife, Mayumi, has been sentence to 20 days, Bernie Maydoff has been moved to a medical facility, Amy Winehouse has been accused of assault, and a man dressed as Santa robbed a Nashville bank.
The Beat 360 picture was of Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi arriving at court for their sentencing hearing. The staff winner was Jill with "Richard Heene, Science detective, and his wife start filming their new reality show: 'Behind Bars'". The viewer winner was Richard with "After the Reality TV balloon bubble bursts, reality sets in."
The shot tonight was another look back at some of 360's favorite moments of 2009 including Anderson learning to cut onions with Bobby Flay, AC handling a snake, the visit from Oscar the grouch, and a replay of the floor crew dancing to Single Ladies.
And many thanks to Phebe for our video extra tonight. Some of you may recognize it from Christmas two years ago but without AC in this week we thought we could all use a few pictures to enjoy.
Happy holidays everyone!
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